Annabeth
"Let's go, Luke." I smile as I lift him up on Blackjack. "You've been on Blackjack before, right?"
"Yes!" He giggles. "Daddy takes me riding sometimes."
"Remember, Blackjack, we're going to see Lassa. Know where that is?" I ask. The Pegasus snorts, seeming to say of course I do. "Will carrying our bags and us be too much?" I ask. He whinnies in protest. Luke giggles.
"He said he could carry twice our weight."
"Okay, Showboat." I mutter, then get behind Luke and hold tight to him and Blackjack's mane. "Let's go." I tell him and hold tight as Blackjack takes to the skies.
I finished Iris Messaging everyone an hour ago. Sadly, Grover is in another part of the world on a mission to preserve the wild, and won't be able to come. Sucks. I miss the old goat. Thalia also, is on a mission with the hunters, and can't get away this time. Only Piper, Jason, and Reyna can come on such short notice. Chiron is stuck at camp, but my father is coming and this time, he's bringing my stepmother and half brothers too. Malcolm and Maryanne along with Ella Claire and Max said they wouldn't miss it, and Sally, Paul, and Estelle are also coming. When I Iris Messaged Lassa, she said their church on the beach in Tybee would be open for the wedding tomorrow morning, Her pastor could officiate, and her mom could host and cater. It'll be good to see her too. I've missed my little sister more than I've wanted to admit.
Blackjack makes the flight from Manhattan to Tybee Island in 30 minutes. The analytical part of my brain wonders about Pegasus speed, and how it works. Blackjack and a couple others flew us from San Francisco to The Empire State Building in three hours once, but he also got tired chasing a van at 60 mph from NYC to Washington DC. But without riders they can teleport anywhere in the world. But it still took him 30 minutes to get from NYC to Tybee Island, and that was less than 900 miles vs the 3000 it took to get from California to New York when we were kids. But he's older now, and probably wasn't trying to fly top speed since this wasn't an emergency. I think about asking him and having Luke translate, but I don't want to accidentally insult the Pegasus.
When we land I get off and carry Luke on my hip as I go to knock on the door. Before I can I see Lassa on the porch, sharpening a knife.
"Lassa!" I say to her and she looks up. Luke giggles and squirms to get down. Lassa's eyes light up when she sees her nephew running towards her and wraps him up in a big hug when he reaches her.
"How's my favorite nephew?" She asks. Luke just giggles in response.
"He's been excited ever since I told him we were coming to see you." I tell her, stroking Blackjack's neck. He dips his head in a bow to her.
"Nice to see you too, Blackjack." Lassa smiles at him. "Luke, could you take Blackjack to the paddock? There's fresh hay there. I need to show Annabeth around." She asks as she tickles him. Luke squeals and nods his head yes, then gets down and waves for Blackjack to follow him.
"Is it safe for him to go by himself? He's still a toddler." I question.
"Telepathy with Pegasi, remember? Blackjack's babysitting. If he manages to get into trouble, Blackjack will protect him until we can get there."
"Oh." Is all I say. I was excited to see Lassa when we started the trip down here, but I can already feel the tension between us.
"You don't like me very much anymore, do you?" I ask as we walk, deciding on the direct approach. She looks down and sighs as we walk.
"Percy wasn't the only one you cut out, Annabeth. He's not the only one you hurt."
"I'm sorry. I couldn't separate you, or Jesse for that matter, from Percy. My head was pretty far up my ass, huh?"
"Yeah. I am glad you're back. And Jesse's already forgiven you. It's just going to take some time for me to learn to trust you again. But if Percy can manage it, I'm sure I can too, eventually."
"If eventually is what I can get I'll take it." I respond. She nods.
"So how are you and Jesse anyways? Percy told me you got married." I ask her. She nods with a slight smile.
"We did. We have a son, and we're talking about trying again soon. Jesse's with him now, he took Noah to Poseidon's palace for the day."
"Poseidon's palace?"
"Yeah. My father gave Jesse the Blessing of Poseidon as a wedding gift to us so we could visit him at his place. Jesse is a really great father, he loves Noah like Nothing else." She smiles. "A lot like how Percy is with Luke." I try not to think about Jesse being given such a blessing. I'm a child of Athena, one of Poseidon's biggest rivals, of course he wouldn't give the same to me. But he did give us that amazing Greek honeymoon. Lassa and I walk the rest of the way in silence, but the tension already feels easier.
We get to a beautiful open air pavilion on the beach with rows of wooden pews and an altar at the front in front of the ocean. A small but proud smile tugs at Lassa's mouth.
"My dad helped build this when our last church building burned down. A bunch of idiot kids were pulling a prank with fireworks, but it got out of hand. It was supposed to be temporary until the new building was up, but everyone loves it so much we only really use the new building when the weather's bad now."
"It's beautiful. Thanks so much for helping us use it." She briefly grabs one of my hands and squeezes it, then let's go.
"That's what family is for. You are still my sister, even if we're in-laws."
"Thank you, Lassa."
"You're welcome. Now c'mon, I'll go introduce you to my pastor."
"Does he know-?"
"That I'm the child of a pagan god?" She smirks. "He's one of the few. He's also my mother's cousin, and I guess seeing through the mist kinda runs in the family."
"Oh. That's cool." I say and she leads me back into town. When we get to the church building Lassa takes me inside and to her cousin/pastor's office.
"Hey, Coven." She says and he looks up at us. "This is Annabeth, my Sister in Law. The one who wants to renew vows tomorrow with my brother." He smiles at me.
"Hello, Annabeth. Nice to meet you."
"Good to meet you, Pastor Coven."
"So you have had quite the interesting life, from what I hear. Daughter of Athena, right?"
"Yes sir. Never met a pastor who knew about the Greek gods."
"Well there's not too many of us out there." He winks at me. "I've heard a lot about you, Annabeth, over the last 5 years. It's nice to finally put a face to the name. Gotta say, I'm so glad you and Percy were able to work things out. He's missed you terribly. I'm honored to officiate you renewing your vows."
"You know Percy?"
"Not as well as I know Lassa, of course." He smiles and gets up, tugging her braid when he comes over. "But I've met him several times over the last 3 years. He's a good man."
"Better than I deserve." I mutter. He smiles sympathetically.
"I know at least one person who'd disagree with that."
"Who?"
"Percy. And if he thinks you're good enough for him, believe him."
"Th-thank you."
"You're welcome. Now, do either of you know when Percy's going to get here?"
"Probably around 8, 8:30 tomorrow morning. Why?" Lassa answers.
"Huh. Well that doesn't leave a lot of time."
"For what?" I ask.
"Before I marry any couple, I like to do at least one premarital counseling session. I know you two are already legally married, but you've been separated a long time and your previous vows were on the River Styx, not before the Lord."
"That's true. It's one of the reasons we decided to renew. We wanted to do it as Christians now, and make sure Lukas could have an understanding of what marriage actually means."
"Good thinking. I'm glad he'll have the demonstration. But It'll only take about an hour. If we start as soon as he gets here, we can still be done with enough time for you to get ready, I think. Is three hours enough time?"
"It should be. I don't wear a lot of makeup."
"Then I'll see you tomorrow." He smiles and shakes my hand. "Don't let Lassa get in too much trouble." He winks.
"Ha ha, Coven." She rolls her eyes and grabs my arm. "Let's go check on Luke."
"Love you!" He says cheerfully and tugs her braid again as we head out the door.
"You can stay on The Wavecrest tonight. Mama and Daddy said you and Percy can borrow it for a week to take a honeymoon. And that's a gift, not a suggestion. Mama already stocked it with all your favorite foods and anything else Y'all will need."
"Lassa, have I ever told you how generous and kind your whole family is? Yourself included?"
"A few times before you left. Never hurts to be reminded." She smiles. "Just make sure you remember to thank my mama."
"Wouldn't dream of forgetting it."
….
"How was that, Kaleb?" I ask as we hop off Blackjack. He, however, thinks he just flew in an open canopy small airplane.
"Dude, that was awesome! If you have a pilot's license, why are you at the fire station?"
"Cause I like being a fireman." I shrug. Anyways, We're here. Let's rendezvous with my mom and then I have to go to that counseling session with the pastor and Annabeth beforehand."
"Whatever happened to the whole can't see the bride on the wedding day thing?"
"Eh, I'm not that superstitious." We walk until we get to Lassa's house where my mother, Paul, and Estelle are all on the Porch with Lassa's parents.
"Mom!" I cup my hand around my mouth and holler. She smiles at us as we walk up.
"Good to see you, Kaleb." She says and gives him a side hug. He shakes my stepdad's hand and ruffles Estelle's hair.
"Glad to be here, Sally." He answers her. I kiss my mother's cheek, clasp hands with Paul and throw Estelle onto my shoulders, making her shriek and laugh.
"Percy!" She laughs. "Percy, Put me down!"
"No!" I say and start to tickle her, making her hold onto me tighter so she doesn't fall. "It's good to see you again, Maya. You too, Cass." I say to Lassa's parents. "Thank You for letting us use your home."
"Of Course, Percy." Maya says and comes over to kiss my cheek. "Don't think I've forgotten you and Annabeth are the ones who got my baby girl home alive from her quest. And Jesse too, of course. This is a small favor in comparison."
"Besides," Cass smirks at me. "I like having Poseidon kids around. It makes for good fishing."
"I'd love to stay and chat, but Annabeth said as soon as I get her I need to meet her and Pastor Coven. Anyone know where I should be heading?"
"Over yonder." Maya says and points down the beach. I look in the direction and see the church pavilion. "On that note, I best be getting inside. I have 20 people to cook lunch for."
"I'll help you, Maya, and don't you even think about saying no." I hear my mother tell her as they head inside. I smile at the argument they're about to have on basically who can be more helpful and start walking to the pavilion where we'll be renewing our vows later and Coven is counseling us now. When I get in view I see Annabeth in cut offs and one of my hoodies sitting on one of the pews hugging her knees to her chest talking with Coven, seated a respectful distance away. I decide to sneak up behind her and wrap my arms around her torso. She tenses for a second but realizes it's me and leans back. I look up and smile at Coven.
"Hey, Coven."
"Percy." He smiles. "Have a seat and we'll get started." I sit down on the pew next to Annabeth and grab her hand, facing Coven.
"Let's start." I say.
"I've already heard Y'all's story from your point of view, and before you got here Annabeth was just telling it from hers. Pretty much you agree on everything that's happened up to this point, so we don't need to go into the history of Y'all's relationship. So we're just going to spend some time talking about the future. First off, Percy, I know you and Annabeth have talked about it already to a degree, but tell me, what is it you feel you need from her as a wife moving forward?"
"Like I've told Annabeth before, I need her to respect me as the head of our household. To trust me, even when she doesn't agree with me. And if I'm wrong, don't hold it over me."
"Okay. And you, Annabeth?"
"I'm not in a position to demand anything from Percy." She says quietly, making my heart sink a little.
"Hey. We talked about this. I forgive you, Wise Girl, for all of it. You don't need to carry it around." I say and take her hand.
"He's right, Annabeth. Percy's already forgiven you. You need to forgive yourself now." Coven tells her. "Carrying all this around is just going to hurt you and your relationship. If you're doing everything right, but you're doing it out of guilt and not love, it's not going to mean anything."
"Can it be done out of both?" She asks, an ironic smile at her mouth. Coven chuckles.
"It can, but it still wouldn't mean as much."
"You make it sound so easy. Forgiving myself. For So much damage and pain to every person I care about. Percy especially."
"Everyone else has let it go. And keep in mind, God's not watching from above going don't do it don't do it don't do it…Aww! You did it! Oh well, I forgive you. He knows already every decision you ever had or ever will make. He knew you were going to leave, and he knew you were going to come back. But I understand it's not something you get over in a day. All the same, let's get back to the question. What is it you need from Percy as a husband moving forward?"
"I…I just need him to love me. That's all I need."
"Okay. What would you define as loving you?" He asks, and she looks me in the eye.
"I'll respect your decisions, but I still need you to listen and give weight to my input. I promise not to run away again, but if anything hard happens, and if I lose it and leave for a little while to cool off I need you to wait for me to come home and have faith that I'll be back. I need you to trust me. Not…give in and get trashed." She says and looks down. She doesn't say it aloud, but I hear don't cheat and get another woman pregnant loud and clear. I squeeze her hand.
"I won't." I promise.
"This is a good start." Coven says, reminding us where we are. "I don't know if Y'all realize this, but what you both said is straight out of the Bible for how a marriage should work. To paraphrase Ephesians 5, it says to submit to each other out of love. Wives, respect your husbands as the head, as Christ is the head of the church, and husbands love your wives as Christ loves the church. Now, as far as authority and decision making goes, how did your marriage operate before you two separated?" He asks, and Annabeth takes a deep breath before responding.
"We were equals. Everything was 50/50, supposedly. But when we would disagree I would usually fight until I got my way."
"There's two main theological views on how a marriage should work in a Christian context. Egalitarian and Complementarian. Both see each person in the marriage as an equal, but in different ways. Egalitarians see husbands and wives as equals in everything, each getting a vote on every decision. Complementarians also believe that man and woman are created equal, but for different reasons and purposes. So they have different spheres of authority. It sounds like you were previously egalitarian, but now both of you are leaning more towards complementarian. Which is good, since that is far more backed by scripture. I'll be sure to give you a list of references to check when you get back from your honeymoon." He explains. I knit my eyebrows together
"Honeymoon?"
"Lassa's parents are giving us the Wavecrest for a week. It's a gift we're evidently not allowed to refuse." Annabeth smiles.
"What about Lukas"
"Lassa said she'll watch him. Or I'm sure Malcolm and Maryanne would be happy to."
"Speaking of Luke, Percy, what are your expectations for Annabeth in terms of Motherhood? And I understand she'll be the only one filling that role, now that I hear Becca is finally completely out of the picture?" He says it more like a question, I sigh.
"Yes, Becca is gone. Moved to Los Angeles. She's called a total of twice in the last 3 months. I'm not sure if there will be a third call."
"And about Annabeth?"
"I don't know about expectations, exactly. I need her to love Luke like he's her own, which she already does. By letting her back in my life I'm letting her in his. I'm giving her full rights as his mother. Speaking of which, I was thinking, just in case Becca tries to pull anything with custody in the future or if something were to happen to me, it is probably a good idea for you to legally adopt him. Just to make it official." I look at Annabeth as I say it. She smiles.
"That sounds like a great idea. But nothing's going to happen to you."
"Of course not. But…If."
"Don't even talk like that, Percy."
"It's a possibility, Wise Girl. You know it is. Either of us could die in an accident at any time."
"I know! I know. Just…I don't want to think about it."
"It sounds like something the two of you should discuss." Coven says. "But not right now. We're running out of time. I think the two of you should do marital counseling for a few weeks. Think you could come down once a week? Or would your Pegasi go on strike?" He gives a small smile.
"As long as I feed him donuts, he'll be fine." I reply. "How many sessions should we have?"
"I'm not charging you, so let's not put a number on it. Just until we all feel like you're in a solid spot. Before you go, I just want to outline the new vows you'll be taking in a few hours, make sure you understand them. They're not that different than the ones you made the first time, You're just making them to a much higher power than the River Styx. From this day forward you'll be one flesh. Both literally in terms of having sex, and figuratively in saying that you're a team in every aspect of life. As you'd expect, you're exclusive to one another. This goes beyond physicality. While of course it's okay to have friends, even of the opposite sex, it's important to reserve a certain level of vulnerability and intimacy in conversation and emotion for just each other. And protect yourselves from adultery. If someone else even catches your eye, pray about it together. Don't bury things. You need to be honest and open and communicate. There shouldn't be shame between the two of you. Like we discussed, Scripture outlines a complementarian view of marriage. That means, Annabeth, that Percy is in charge even when you don't agree or get your way. You need to respect him and his authority in the home no matter what, like how the church submits to Christ. And Percy, no matter what, you need to love Annabeth. Be patient and forgiving, always, regardless of circumstance. Just like Christ loves the church. And as I'm sure you remember, Sex is a huge part of marriage." He voices, making Annabeth lightly blush. "It's something that will bond you together and make you stronger. But it isn't for just when you're both in the mood. Think of it as both duty and a gift. It's each of your duty to give the gift to each other as often as possible. Does that make sense?"
"Umm, I guess." I answer and scratch the back of my neck, then look at Annabeth. "Hear that, Wise Girl? Looks like life's about to get pretty…active." I smirk.
"Percy!" She blushes harder. Coven smiles.
"Despite what modern culture dictates, sex isn't something you need to be embarrassed about. We'll go into more detail later. Last question. What do you two see as your dream future? Annabeth, you first."
"Well…I guess A steady marriage with a husband and son who love me and that I love first. Secondly, Parthenon Architecture doing well, and hopefully eventually being able to build a New Athens within Camp Half Blood's magic borders so future Greek demigods can live in peace like the Romans do."
"Hmm. Percy? What's your dream future?"
"Well…Annabeth's company doing well enough that she can work less, and spend more time home with Me and Luke. Having a steady and peaceful home life. Maybe a few more kids." I smile thinking about it. "But I want to have a home like Malcolm's and Marryanne's. One where everyone know the door is always open if they need help, and are always welcome no matter what."
"You want more kids?" Annabeth questions. I knit my eyebrows together and look at her.
"Of course I do. We've always talked about having three or more kids."
"Yeah, but that was…that was before. I think I'd be satisfied with just Luke."
"If Luke's the only kid I ever have I'll be more than happy with him, but wouldn't it be good to give him some siblings to grow up with? That's something I always wished I had. Sure, Tyson, Lassa, and Estelle are great but I didn't get the chance to actually live with or grow up with any of them."
"Okay, so this is typically something I'd say you need to work out before you get married, except the two of you have already crossed that bridge. Kids are a seriously important thing to agree on. I don't think you two particularly are at risk of this, but a lot of couples have split over wanting kids or not. I'll add it to the list of things we need to go over next week. Do either of you have any questions for me before you both get ready for the ceremony?"
"No." Annabeth says.
"I'm good." I reply.
"Then I'll see you in a few hours." He tells us and smiles, getting up to go get ready himself. I look at my wise girl and smile.
"You look so beautiful."
"Percy, please." She rolls her eyes. "I'm in cutoffs and a hoodie."
"And you're still beautiful." I tell her, reaching up to cup her face with my hand. She leans into it.
"You should go. I need to get ready." She tells me. A smile plays on my lips.
"Or not. Coven did just tell us sex is a super important part of marriage." I say, starting to slide my hand up the inside of her thigh. "It bonds us together. I think we should feel particularly close today."
"Now?"
"Now. Right here on this pew."