Percy
"Luke!" I yell across the baseball field, where Luke and Max are playing catch in the snow. "C'mon, buddy! Time to go home!"
"5 more minutes, Daddy?" He asks. I smile and jog over, scooping him upside down and carrying him to the car while he laughs. We wave bye to Max and Malcolm.
"You said that 5 minutes ago, Bud." We get to my truck and he climbs in, buckling himself in the back.
"Did you have a good time?"
"Yes Sir! Coach said at the end of last season he wants to start training me and Max for first base and pitcher! Max wants first and I'll pitch, so we were working on those drills. Baseball season's just around the corner!"
"That's awesome! Think you're ready yet to trade that Braves cap in for a Yankees one like Mama has?"
"Hmm. No. Aunt Lassa gave me this, I want to keep it."
"Of course you do." I smile and roll my eyes. When Annabeth and I went on our honeymoon after renewing our vows Lassa took Luke to his first baseball game, taking him to see the Braves in Atlanta. He was instantly hooked, and swears one day he'll play for them. Much to mine and Annabeth's dismay. I even tried to hide his Braves hat and replace it with a Yankees one, but he had a fit until I gave it back.
"How does Max feel about you wanting to play for the Braves when you're older?"
"He's okay playing for the Braves, the Yankees, or the Reds. Aunt Maryanne and Uncle Malcolm cheer for the Reds."
"There's no loyalty to home states anymore." I say and reach back to ruffle his hair. "So think you're ready to move next week?" I ask him. New Athens is finally almost done, and next week we'll finally be able to move into the amazing home Annabeth designed for us. Leo and I are building t it though. I want to put as much work into it as Annabeth did, so I asked Leo if he'd help me. He said yes, and while the Romans and Hephaestus kids build the rest of New Athens Leo and I have been busy building me and Annabeth's house on the beach. We'll be done by the end of the week and I'm thrilled, especially since we're building on a small peninsula with Houses for Lassa and Jesse, Jason and Piper, Frank and Hazel, and Leo and Echo neighboring ours. Annabeth asked Malcolm to build there too, but he said he'd rather live closer to downtown. Reyna didn't want one, said she wouldn't use it enough since she's living full time in New Rome and could just stay in the Roman cabin at Camp Half Blood if she's visiting. Lassa and Jesse built their own house on Tybee Island, so they're not sure if they'll live here full time yet. My guess is They will since they want to give Noah a safe place to grow up, and will use their Tybee Island house when they visit family. Frank and Hazel decided to have one more as a vacation home since they plan on staying in New Rome too. Nico preferred to have his place built more secluded on the outskirts of the city. But the Graces and the Valdezs will be our full time neighbors.
"Yeah, I'm ready! Max and Ella Claire are excited too. Uncle Malcolm took us to the sports park the other day and we got to check out the baseball fields. They look awesome!" He says excitedly, making me smile. A minute later My phone buzzes and I glance down to see Annabeth texted me.
Can Luke spend the night at your mom's tonight? I want a date night :)
I smile. It's been a while since we've had a date night.
"Hey, Luke, how do you feel about staying over at your Grandmother's tonight?"
"That sounds Awesome! Grandma lets me have Blue Christmas Cookies for dinner!"
"Of Course she does." I say, rolling my eyes. I change direction and head towards my mom's apartment. "Good thing we keep you clothes over there. Make sure you call me and Mama to tell us goodnight." I tell him, honestly hoping he'll forget. Annabeth's agreed to actually try for kids now, and I don't want that interrupted. We get to my mom's, and she gives me a hug and a kiss before I shake hands with Paul and give Estelle a big hug and a buzzard before she and Luke go off into her room. I smile at the Christmas decorations Estelle put up, and the Christmas Tree with presents already filling the skirt for Estelle, Me, Luke, and Annabeth.
Mom catches me up on what's been going on here while I eat some Blueberry Pie, and I let her know what's been going on with Luke in Kindergarten, Baseball and at home. When I finish the pie she offers me some coffee, but I really want to get home to Annabeth so I kiss her goodnight and head out.
When I walk in I see boxes everywhere, Annabeth's got Santa Fe soup in the crockpot, hot chocolate, and Christmas Cookies in the oven. She also put sheets on the couch and it looks like she has a movie cued up. The Christmas tree twinkles in the corner, and I go over to slide the necklace I had wrapped earlier today out of my pocket and under the tree before heading to the bathroom to shower. I pass Annabeth on the way, passed out in the bed. When I get cleaned up I pull on some sweat pants and kneel beside her before I kiss her neck to wake her up. She stirs after a second and smiles at me.
"Hey, Seaweed Brain." She teases and kisses my mouth lightly.
"Wise Girl," I whisper, rubbing some of her hair between my fingers. "You put a timer on those cookies, right?" I ask.
"Crap!" She says and suddenly jumps up and runs into the kitchen, me chuckling behind her. She pulls them out and smiles. "Nick of time." She puts the tray down and I walk over, putting my hands on her waist and pushing her back against the counter before kissing her. Gently at first, then moans and runs her fingers in my hair.
"Percy," She moans.
"Thanks for the date night, Wise Girl." I whisper in her ear. She jumps on the counter and wraps her legs around my waist and I tilt my head to kiss her neck.
"Ouch!" She exclaims, pushing me off and clutching her hand to her chest before going to the sink and putting it under water. "Hit the cookie tray. Sorry, Percy." I smile and wrap my arms around her.
"It's ok. We'll pick it up in a minute." I kiss her cheek and head to the med cabinet to get some nectar. She takes a swig and pours it on her hand, and a second later the burn is gone. "Where were we?" I smirk.
"About to eat, watch It's a Wonderful Life, and open presents." She answers, sauntering over to the couch with a smirk. She's wearing red silk lingerie, trying to drive me crazy and starting to succeed.
"Can we please have sex first? You know we're just going to get tired after we eat."
"True. Fine. But there's a present I want you to open first."
"Christmas is still two weeks away!"
"And I'm giving you a free pass. Please? I got something today I really want you to have now."
"Fine. Twist my arm." I smile and head over to sit next to her. She snuggles into my side and I kiss the top of her head, loving the smell of her hair. She hands me a small rectangle box.
"What is this, a watch?" I ask and pull on the ribbon.
"Open it and see." She smiles and kisses my chest. I open the box and pull back the tissue paper, and - my heart stops.
"Annabeth, are you serious?" She sits up on her knees and I see her eyes are misty as she nods her head.
"Yes! I took two more tests to be sure." The tears in her eyes spill over. "I'm pregnant. My due date is July 28!" She says, lacing her fingers behind my neck. I pull her as close to me as I can and hold her there.
"Boy or girl?" I ask without letting go.
"Either or?" She answers with a laugh. "I won't know until we go see Will."
"First thing tomorrow." I tell her. "I want to make sure everything's fine."
"Percy, everything is perfect, I'm sure." She laughs.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm perfect, Percy. I'm not nearly as scared as I thought I would be, or as scared as I was about getting pregnant in the first place. I'm good." She tells me. "I'm super excited. I kiss her deeply, sighing as her hands slide into my hair.
"Still want to go to the bedroom?" She mutters against my mouth after a minute.
"Do you want to? If you're too tired we can for sure just snuggle and watch a movie."
"I want to, Percy." She smiles. "That's why I took a nap before you got here."
"In that case" I smile and pick her up, bridal carry style. "Let's go." I say and walk her into the bedroom.
…..
My mom agrees to keep Luke for the morning and Annabeth and I load up in my truck and head to Long Island. Will's busy setting up the Hospital in New Athens as the head medic there, training his little brother to replace him for the next few years as he goes to medical school at NYU and get his MD. New Athens is just a few days away from being completely built, and I smile as we drive through to the hospital. It's beautiful, classic and modern in a perfect blend.
Pretty much every building and park is named after an Olympian god or goddess, but as it was designed by Annabeth and Malcolm there are no temples inside the city that's been built, just inside the camp. They even put a Christian church on the beach, an open pavilion like the one on Tybee Island. It's a bold move and is for sure going to piss off the gods, but I'm proud of Annabeth for it.
We get to the hospital and find Will. He smiles when he sees us.
"Alright, Sam, go check on the supplies on floor 3 and we'll rendezvous later."
"Sounds good, Will. Hey Percy. Annabeth." Sam smiles at us and nods in our direction. I return it as he heads off. Will smiles at us.
"Know what my favorite gift from Dad is?"
"What?" Annabeth asks.
"Can't tell if it's sensing things medically or sensing them through some weird prophecy, but Congratulations Y'all." He says. I laugh.
"You can tell just like that?"
"Yeah." C'mon, let's have a seat and I'll give you a full check up." We follow him into a nearby room and Annabeth hops up on the patient bed and I sit in a chair.
"This looks so normal it's weird." I say. Will smiles.
"Way nicer than Cabin 7, huh?"
"For sure. And by the way, we haven't told anyone yet, so please keep it under wraps." He nods. "So what can you tell?"
"The baby's healthy. You're about 2 weeks along. Due Date near the end of July. And do Y'all want the gender or do you want to be surprised?"
"We want to know." Annabeth smiles at him.
"Need to figure out a name." I tell him, my heart rate rising with excitement. He smiles back at us.
"I want to schedule an ultrasound with Y'all in 4 weeks. That's really the first time the baby will be visible on the screen. Sound good?"
"Sure, but is it a son or a daughter?" Annabeth presses. He smiles again.
"You're having a baby girl."
…..
"We have a Luke. What about Leia?" I suggest on the drive home. Annabeth is sitting in the middle of the bench seat in her Kate spot with her hand on my thigh and her other hand twined with mine as I drive.
"Percy, you named Luke after the Hero of the first Great Prophecy. Not after Star Wars. And Leia's a pretty name, but we're not naming our daughter after Star Wars."
"How about Leila?"
"Still no. And we're not doing Padme or Rey either, so drop it."
"Fine." I pout, but lean down and kiss her forehead. "But seriously, do you have any suggestions? I wanted to name Luke after Beckendorf too, but Becca wouldn't go for it. What do you think about Charlotte?"
"Charlotte…" She draws out. "It's very dignified. It means Freedom."
"Freedom? That's pretty cool. I like it. But there's so many people I'd like to honor with her name. Charlotte, Sally, Zoe, Bianca, Selena. All are good names. We can only pick 2 though."
"I mean we could name her Charlotte Sally Zoe Bianca Selena Jackson. But that would be hard for her to learn to spell."
"Could use her name as a peace offering. How about Hera?" I joke. She pinches my thigh.
"Not likely."
"Okay, fine. Maybe one day we'll have enough sons and daughters to honor all the friends we've lost. But for now, two girl names. I really like Zoe."
"I'm not opposed to Zoe. But while I know her story and that she died a really heroic death, I didn't know her that well. I'm not the one who went questing with her. Bianca either. And honestly, I know she was a hero and a great person to name our daughter after, but I don't like the name Bianca. But I knew Beckendorf and Selena. I grew up with them. They were family. And your mom is still alive, let's keep Sally on the back burner."
"I think Nico mentioned one time Bianca's middle name was Isabella. How do you like that?"
"Isabella's good. It means Pledged to God. I like that a lot."
"So Zoe Isabella? Charlotte Selena? Or Selena Charlotte?"
"How about Charlotte Isabella Jackson? We could call her Charlie."
"Charlie. I love it." I smile. She reaches up to kiss me under my chin. "Charlie Jackson."