Percy

I climb down the fire escape, then hit the pavement and start running. Today, I wish a monster would find me. I could use the fight. Between Becca and Luke, Annabeth still gone, and now Jesse screwing my little sister. I could use a monster to blow off some steam. But, that's not going to work. Probably not anyways, unless there's one within a quarter mile of here, and that's unlikely. I've killed a lot of the monsters in New York.

So, I run. I run until I'm drenched in sweat and about to throw up. Somehow, I ended up back at my apartment building. Taking a deep breath, I climb back up the fire escape and sit down,

Okay, Jesse slept with Lassa. But he also wants to marry her. He screwed her, but he didn't rape her. They've been together for three years, I'm sure he's not the only one who was struggling with lust, and he would never do that to her.

Jesse loves her. He didn't leave on purpose, either, Hermes hijacked him. He slept with her, and probably hurt her, but I know that's not what he ever wanted to do, and now he wants to make it right. He has a way to get them a place to live, and he's Less than a month away from shipping out to the Navy. He'll be able to provide for her. And again, he loves her.

I take a deep breath and head back inside the apartment. Jesse was laying down on the couch, but shoots up when I come through the window.
"Relax, Jess." I say and he sits back down with an apprehensive look on his face. "I'm not going to lie, even though I know it takes two to tango, I'm still pissed you couldn't keep it in your pants. It was your job to protect Lassa, and that included saying no even when she said yes." I tell him, pushing down some frustration trying to rise up. He hangs his head and rakes his fingers through his hair.

"I know, Percy. I'm sorry. I can't say it enough."

"No, you can't. But I'm also not the one you should be saying it to."

"I'm going to see her soon, I promise."
"When you go," I stick my hand out. "You have my blessing. You can marry Lassa. If her stepdad gives you any trouble, I'll go to bat for you. But don't be physical with her again until you've tied the knot. Deal?"

"Deal. I wasn't planning on it anyways."

"Alright. I'll call Blackjack and Sunburn. Let's go to Tybee."

…..

Jesse

Sunburn spreads his wings to slow down and lands behind Blackjack in the front yard of Lassa's house on Tybee Island. Seaver is sitting on the front steps playing a PSP. He looks up when we land and jogs over.

"What are Y'all doing here?" He asks. "Where's Lassa? Is she okay?"

"Lassa's fine, Seaver." Percy tells him. "She's at camp. We came to talk to your parents. Are they home?"
"Is this about another quest?"

"No." I answer, dismounting and rustling his hair. "No more quests for a while I hope. We just need to talk to your parents." He scrunches his eyebrows together and looks up at me.

"What's going on, Jesse?"

I kneel down and look him in the eye.

"Some grown up stuff, Seaver. I'm sorry. I promise I'll tell you later, though. Are your parents inside?" I ask again. He sighs but nods. "Alright, thanks."

"Thanks, Seaver." Percy tells him and ruffles his hair as he walks by.

We walk into the house, and I see Maya sitting on the couch with her laptop, probably doing inventory for the restaurant. She sees us in her peripheral vision and looks up.

"Is Lassa okay?" She asks. Just like Seaver, I guess she sees the two of us and assumes the worst.

"She's fine, Maya." Percy smiles at her, and I see her body relax. "I just saw her this morning teaching Pegasus riding lessons at the camp. She's excited to be coming home in a few days."

"Oh thank the Lord. Okay, then what are Y'all doing here?" She asks and comes over to give us both a hug. "And Jesse, where have you been? Lassa's been worried sick about you. She wrote and told us that all of the Hermes and Mercury kids just disappeared last month. What happened?"

"Wish I could tell you, Maya. I had to swear an oath on the styx not to. But We're all okay and home now. Where's Cass?"

"He's in the backyard cleaning the grill. Why? Y'all are always welcome, but if Lassa's okay then what are you two doing here?"

"I just needed to talk to Y'all about something." I say.

"Okay." She says, and walks over to the back door. "Cass!" She hollers. "Percy and Jesse are here. Come inside."
"Jesse's back? He's okay? Is Lassa here?"

"Yes, Jesse's back and he's okay. He can't tell us about the quest he was on though, he was forced to make a Styx Oath to keep his mouth shut. No, Lassa's not here. Just Jesse and Percy. Said they want to talk to us about something."

Cass walks inside, wipes his hands off and comes over to shake our hands.

"I'm glad to see you back safe, Jesse. Lassa wrote to us about everyone disappearing. We were worried about you."
"Thank you, Sir."
"And Percy? How goes it?"
"Not much change. Still in the midst of a custody battle. Thank Y'all for helping with the legal fees, by the way. You didn't have to do that."
"We want to." Maya says. "That girl lived with us for months, remember? Unless she's done a 180 with her life, she shouldn't have Luke. And from what I've heard, she hasn't."

"No, she hasn't. But I'm not here about that."
"Okay, what are Y'all here for?" Cass asks as he and Maya make their way to the living room and sit down on one of the couches, me and Percy on the other across from them.

"I saw Seaver outside, where's River?" I ask looking around for a meddlesome 12 year old.
"He's scrubbing the fishing boat." Cass smirks. "He got caught yesterday with some playboys under his mattress. Unfortunate, but worked out. I needed someone to scrub the boat good."

"And Seaver didn't have any magazines?" Percy asks. "One twin, not both."
"I'm sure he has them stashed somewhere." Maya rolls her eyes. "But River won't rat him out and we can't find them. We try to operate on innocent until proven guilty. But anyways, it must be something important for the two of Y'all to fly down here from New York. What's going on?"

I take a deep breath, then look up at both of them.
"No soft way to break the ice, so I'll just plunge in. I want to marry Lassa. I was going to wait until she was 18, but I'm 18 now and just came into a lot of money as a reward for doing well on the quests I just came back from. I know Lassa will want to live here on Tybee close to Y'all, and it's enough to build her whatever house she wants. For income, I'm shipping out to Boot Camp next week. If we're married, Lassa will get my paychecks. I'm ready for this, and Lassa is too. Poseidon already gave me his blessing. Now I just need yours." I say. Both Maya and Cass just look at me for a second before Cass gets up and goes to the kitchen cabinet and pulls out a bottle of rum and a shot glass, then comes back and sits down.

"Okay. Now let me repeat what you just said so I know I heard you want to marry my sixteen year old daughter?"

"Yes Sir." I say. "We've talked about it before, I know she's in this for marriage too. We'll build a house close to here, and I'll be able to provide. But I've been waiting for years already, and I don't want to wait anymore." Cass pours another shot, but Maya smiles at me.

"We weren't much older than Jesse and Lassa when we got married." She says. Thank You God for Maya.

"Maybe not, but we were still adults who had finished High School and you were pregnant."

"Lassa has finished High School, remember? She skipped ahead and graduated early."

"She's still only 16."

"Which is old enough to be emancipated, and old enough to get married if she wants to if we're willing to sign off on it."

"Look, Jesse, I like you a lot. I like you with Lassa. You're a good kid. But my daughter's just too young." He tells me.

"Cass, before we decide anything final, Let's go talk about it together in private." She says, and takes his hand, standing up.

"Okay, Okay." He says, taking me more shot and follows her out the back door. It doesn't close all the way though, so both me and Percy can hear what they're saying.

"You should give your blessing, Cass. We both know Jesse loves her with everything he has and he's got a heart for God. If he can take care of her now, why make her wait?"

"Because I don't want to lose her so soon. I was supposed to get a minimum of 18 years with her. I'd like it better if I could get 21 so she doesn't get married until after college."

"She's my daughter Cass. Patience isn't in her nature. She's also Poseidon's daughter. Obedience is extremely hard for her. If she finds out Jesse wanted to ask her and we said no, how do you think that's going to go? The tighter you squeeze your hand the more sand will fall through it. You could lose her by trying to keep her. Besides, as much as we hate thinking about it, Demigods have a shorter life expectancy. Monsters may not find her like they used to, but any day could come a fight she loses. Let's hope that doesn't happen, but if it does at least she'll have been able to spend some of her life married."

"You're right, that's something I don't like to think about. I'm not saying no, Maya. I'm saying wait two years. I'm not backing down on this, Love." Cass tells her, making my stomach turn. Percy puts his hand on my shoulder and goes outside with them.

"Sorry to interrupt. Look, I know my say doesn't have as much weight as yours. The only reason I have any say at all is because Poseidon trusted me with it. He tied his blessing to mine. I gave it. I truly think Lassa's ready for this, and she'll be close by to you. Please don't shut Jesse down. He wants to do the right thing."

"Lassa's ready? You got married when you were sixteen, Percy. Tell me, how's that working out for you?" Cass asks.

"Cass!" Maya says in a reprimanding voice.

"I'm sorry, Percy, but you're not exactly the picture of a healthy marriage." Cass tells him. Percy is quiet for a long moment, and I know he's having to choke down some anger at that comment. Honestly, so am I.

"Lassa and Jesse are honestly in a better spot than Annabeth and I were." He says quietly. "Plus, Lassa's not stupid enough to go on a quest while she's pregnant. Jesse's smart enough he'd never let her. And I'm sure he's learned from me what Alcohol can do to you. They won't make our mistakes, Cass. They're ready."

"I'm not. Two years." Cass says, and walks back inside. I stand up. "I'm sorry, Jesse. But the answer's no for now. Come back when Lassa turns 18."