Giving birth was every bit as painful as Annabeth expected, if not more. But it faded to nothing in the face of the pain that came after.

The situation was far from ideal. Ideally she'd be older, ideally she'd be married, ideally her water wouldn't have broken in the middle of a fight, ideally Percy would have been there. That was the hardest part by far.

Percy was elated when Annabeth told him the news. She had feared his reaction as it wasn't exactly the best timing, but she didn't think she'd ever seen him look happier in his life. Percy was meant to be a dad. Everyone who knew him could see that. He was sweet, protective, compassionate, and everything else a father should be. Annabeth, on the other hand, was not meant to be a mom. To be honest, she worried she would probably suck at it. That's why she needed him here.

But she couldn't indulge in wishful thinking. Percy was gone. And she had a job to do.

"You're doing great, Annabeth!" encouraged Will Solace, "Just give me one more push."

"You said that about three pushes ago, Solace. I think I'm gonna start calling your bluff," Annabeth said through gritted teeth. She was gripping Grover's hand so hard his fingers were turning a deep purple, but she was in too much pain to feel bad about it.

"I mean it this time," promised Will, "I can see his head. You're so close, Annabeth. You're so close."

Maybe she was growing delirious from the pain and the blood loss but she could have sworn she felt Percy's hand on her shoulder. She imagined his vibrant green eyes, not as they were the last time she saw them staring up at her lifelessly, but as they were when she told him she was spending her senior year in New York, as they were when she'd accepted his proposal. She saw them full of vitality and enthusiasm. She imagined her baby boy having those eyes that she would give anything to see again, and the thought gave her the strength to keep going.

With all her effort and an impressively loud scream, she gave one more push.

"Yes!" Will shouted, "Someone pass me the scissors."

Grover, who seemed just as frazzled and weary as Annabeth probably did, rushed to the command. Sally came over to Annabeth's side, taking Grover's place.

"I'm so proud of you, sweetheart. You did it!" Sally told her, gently rubbing Annabeth's arms in a soothing motion.

Each second that passed made Annabeth more concerned. She heard the snip of the umbilical cord and then… nothing.

"He's not crying," Annabeth said, suddenly panicking, "He's not crying. Will, why isn't he crying? He's supposed to be crying. I read it, like, everywhere that he's supposed to be crying so why- Sally, why isn't he crying?"

Annabeth's words came out in a hurried clump. Her breathing got quicker with each breath as her vision got blurrier, from tears or lack of oxygen she didn't know.

"It's ok, Annabeth," Assured Will, though he didn't look as confident as he was letting on, "Sometimes it takes a second. Kayla, a little help over here."

Annabeth had never felt more powerless as she laid there sweaty and in pain, waiting for what felt like three years.

Finally, Will looked back at her solemnly.

"No…." Annabeth whispered.

"I'm so sorry," started Will.

"No. No no no no no… NO! This isn't… No I- Give him to me."

Will silently handed Annabeth the blanket that contained her entire future. She looked down and what she saw shattered her into pieces. The baby's eyes were closed. She would never get to see what they looked like. There was no chance she would ever get to see those eyes again.

As she held the only thing left of Percy in her arms and watched in vain for any sign of breath, she thought all too late that she would have been a good mother. She would do anything for this kid. But none of that mattered now.

Once the first sob burst out, they never stopped. She may have yelled some things but they were unintelligible even to her. She vaguely recalled Sally cradling her head as someone's arms tried to take away the baby.

"No! You can't. You can't. He's… THIS ISN'T FAIR!" Annabeth sobbed and buried her face in Sally's shoulder, "This isn't fair… It's not fair."

"Oh, sweetie…" Sally started stroking Annabeth's hair, seemingly at a loss for what to say. This must be just as hard for her, Annabeth realized, and yet she was entirely focused on comforting her would-be daughter in law. Annabeth could thank her and think about that later. All she wanted right now was to have her baby back. To have Percy back. To have anything that said "He was here. He was real." besides the gaping hole he left in her life.

"I want my baby back." Annabeth sobbed into Sally's shirt.

"I know."

"This isn't fair!"

"It isn't fair at all. You're right. You don't deserve this after everything you've been through. Percy didn't deserve any of this either. The world is a mean, terrible place sometimes."

Annabeth appreciated Sally for not trying to counter her bitterness. She didn't need consolation. She just needed someone to understand.

They sat in silence for a few minutes while Annabeth processed and slowed her breathing. The more time passed, the more she started to feel… numb. Completely detached from everything that was happening. It felt better than the physical ache she felt before.

"I'm sorry," Annabeth whispered.

"You're sorry?" replied Sally.

"You must be as hurt as I am and I'm sorry that you're spending your energy holding me back. I know that's what you're doing. You're worried that I'll try to get up and do something I'll regret. And I probably would."

Annabeth took a shaky breath before continuing. "And… I'm sorry that I failed. I wanted to give you a grandchild. I wanted you to have the assurance that someone was carrying on your son's legacy. I wanted that too. I'm really, really sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Oh, Annabeth, sweetheart, don't you dare think for a moment that any of this is your fault."

Annabeth started crying again. "If I had taken better care of myself or if I hadn't tried to fight—"

"If, if, if. There's always going to be a million ifs. And they'll never leave you alone but you have to realize that's all they are. If I spent my time worrying about ifs, I would lose my mind. If I had been there, maybe Percy would have lived. If I hadn't sent him to camp, maybe he wouldn't have gone through any of this at all. I could drown in all the ifs in my life. But hindsight is 20/20. The reality is there's nothing you could have done and there's nothing you can do now.

"Shit happens, Annabeth. That doesn't make you a failure. It doesn't make you a bad fiancée. It doesn't make you a bad daughter in law. And it certainly doesn't make you a bad mother, ok?

"I will never ever be upset with you or disappointed in you. I love you. I am sad for you and I'm sad for your baby. Don't go filling your cute, curly head with dread on my account, ok? I'm fine."

Annabeth hugged her almost mother in law tighter, squeezing tears out of her eyes.

Will returned with her baby's body cleaned off and wrapped in a fresh blanket. He glanced at Sally before handing the bundle to Annabeth, probably silently asking if she had calmed down enough to handle it.

The Apollo head counselor's eyes were red and puffy as he said, "Um… you'll need to decide what you want to do with it. When you're ready, of course."

"I want him to be buried next to Percy."

"You don't need to decide right now, really. You can stay with him for up to three days if you—"

"It's ok. I think… I don't think he's mine to take care of anymore."

Annabeth took one last look at their son's face and prayed insistently to Hades that he would make it easy for Percy to find his baby boy in the Underworld. Yeah, Annabeth thought, he's going to be a good dad.