Child of the Dove and the Eagle

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Chapter 1

Greco-Roman Adult Life

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Apollo was driving Sun Chariot high in the Californian sky. It was such a beautiful day that you would think he was on cruise control. But it was pretty hot, so he could be in a drag race. Don't do anything crazy, Lester, Piper thought.

She sauntered through the streets of New Rome, passing by all the cafés, teenage soldiers, and ghosts. Many seemed festive for the holiday—dressing in the right colors, playing with sparklers, and displaying the star-spangled banners. She felt some leering from some passersby. Regretting wearing skinny jeans and a tank top. She kept her sunglasses on, hoping no one would recognize her. Not today. Especially not today.

She arrived at the housing area of the city. One that was somewhat secluded and built pretty close to the lake. Most of the houses were Roman. This two-story house was a Greek revival. A nice big front porch but a nicer one in the back on the water. Above the front door was a carving of an owl and a trident. A cozy, friendly home. It was a pretty symmetrical place, but Piper was more into asymmetry, as she had a braid on the right side of her hair.

Taking a deep breath, she clenched the bag in her hand and climbed the steps. After removing her glasses and knocking, the door opened to a smiling, smaller Poseidon without the lines on his face.

"Pipes! Happy 4th of July," Percy joyfully greeted.

"Happy 4th of July, Percy." She gave him a quick hug. It was shocking how much more he looked like his father with the beard.

"Come in. Come in. You're the last to arrive. And now the party can start," he said, leading her inside.

They entered the living room. The place was an open floor design, so the kitchen was adjacent to the right and the dining room to the left. The back wall led straight to the back porch and the dock.

"Piper!" Annabeth rushed out of the kitchen to pull her into a constricting embrace. "How are you? You look great," she continued as they separated. "You dyed your hair." She admired her new dark hair color.

"Thanks, I did it for the movie. So it'll be more accurate. You look great, too. I love what you did with your hair," Piper commented, admiring Annabeth's sorter, curlier hairdo. "This is for you." She handed her the gift bag. "For the hostess with the mostest."

She took it while saying that Piper didn't have to and pulled out a jigsaw puzzle of a building's blueprints. Annabeth's face lit up.

"I saw it and thought of you," Piper said.

"I love it. I can't wait to do it." She gave her another hug.

"Err! ADHD overload," Percy said when he looked at the design of the thousand-pieced puzzle.

The rest of their friends came up to greet her. Frank and Hazel, Grover and Juniper, and Leo and Calypso. She gave each of them big hugs.

"I gotta say, Beauty Queen," Leo spoke cheekily, "I wasn't expecting the big-time movie star to show up."

Calypso elbowed how in the ribs. "Leonidas!" she scolded.

Percy took that time to hand Piper a glass of wine, but she nervously declined and asked for some water instead. "I'm just feeling dehydrated," she said. He didn't seem to overthink that as he got her a glass of iced water.

"Now that everyone is here, I hereby announce that the annual Seven Demigods reunion is in full swing. Happy Independence Day," Percy announced once everyone had a drink. He raised his beer and said solemnly, "Here's to those who can't come. To Jason."

"To Jason." They clinked their glasses.

With that out of the way, the party truly began.

The men mostly just sat in the living room, looking for a good game to watch. The women sat around the kitchen island chatting and gossiping.

"Hey, Pipes! How's that new movie coming along?" Leo bellowed over from the couch.

Piper rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "It's going fine. My costars are great, and it's fun filming. We only have a few more scenes to film before it's done."

"Is there like a big red carpet premiere where—"

"Yes, but I don't know how many tickets I can get for guests. Sorry, Repair Boy."

Over on the couch, the guys started a conversation about Frank's praetorian duties and that he was still the first adult praetor other than Hazel.

"Yeah, the job is still stressful, but after all these years, I've gotten a good grip on it. And Hazel is very helpful."

Percy butted in. "Yeah, and the kids love ya, man. You're like Chiron for Camp Jupiter."

"And just like Chiron, your both can have a real horse's ass," Leo joked. Percy nearly choked on his drink, Grover bleated, and even Frank cracked a blushing smile.

"How's the oceanography business, Perce?" Frank said to switch the conversation.

"Oh, you know, fish, water, currents. It's all the same," he said.

"Grover," he turned to the satyr, "how's being a nature lord?"

Grover shrugged. "Kind of chaotic," he said. "I've been helping Meg with her projects to reforest California. Other than that, me and Juniper have been trying to find some time together. We've been thinking about taking a trip to Yellowstone National Park."

"Let's hope the super volcano doesn't blow while you're there," Leo said.

"Yeah…" Grover said nervously.

They watched the game a little more until it went to a commercial. Then Percy remembered something.

"Hey, you guys know how sometimes women would text their guys sexy pictures of themselves to get them to come home early?"

They nodded when they were sure the girls in the kitchen couldn't hear.

"Well, when a guy tries to do something similar, it's just creepy. But I heard that instead of dressing down, you dress up. I tried that about a week ago. I squeezed myself into my suit. Even poured a glass of wine. Then, I took a picture of myself and sent it to Annabeth at work with the message, 'Will you be home soon?' She got home not long after. For her, I kept the stupid suit on with a nice meal waiting for her. Well, I can say that she wasn't that hungry."

The men shared knowing grins.

"Hey, Frank," Leo suddenly spoke. "If you'd try that, which suit would you wear? The classic black tux or the monkey suit?" He burst into a fit of laughs.

Frank blushed hard.

Over by the kitchen, the women watched the guys laugh like maniacs over stupid things.

"Is that thing about Percy sending a sexy picture to you true, Annabeth?" Calypso asked.

Annabeth gave a cheeky smile. "Yes, he did," she replied. "And I can say… it worked."

She took out her phone to pull up the image. The ladies admired how well-dressed he was in the black suit with no tie and the glass of red wine in his hand.

"No wonder the cabin ten never stops swooning over him," Piper said. She admits that Percy was handsome but was still not her type.

"Speaking of which, how are you and Caroline doing?" Annabeth asked, turning to Piper.

Piper seemed to grow ridged. "Oh, we, uh—we broke up," she said, avoiding eye contact.

"Oh no. What happened?"

"It just wasn't working out with us. We weren't together that long anyway."

Hazel touched her hand. "If it's not right, it's not right," she said, giving her a side hug.

She was pleased when Annabeth changed the topic.

"Percy's parents moved into a house in Oakland. They wanted to be close to us in the case of any grandchildren coming into the picture."

"Well, that's nice," Juniper said, with the others agreeing.

Annabeth shrugged. "Yeah, but…." She then seemed to struggle to find the right words to say.

"Are you worried that they're pressuring you to have kids?" Piper finished for her.

"No, they are very reasonable about that. They understand that we have a lot to take care of before deciding to have any."

"That's good to hear."

"I read Sally's book," Hazel said. "I would love to talk to her about it."

"Yeah, the book was great," Juniper agreed. "I especially loved that the main character's lover…."

Piper sort of tuned out the conversation. The talk of in-laws and kids almost slapped her in the face. She excused herself to go to the bathroom. While she was in there, she worked her nerves. "Come on, McLean. You have to do it. You have to tell them."

She wished she could pray to the gods for strength, but most of them won't be any help. Maybe her mother….

Screw them.

When she reentered the living room, she looked at their collection of photos on the wall. Quite a few of them were from when they were young. A couple of their Percy and Annabeth's families. And some art pieces. There was a painting that depicted two human heads showing their brains. The one on the right was made of seaweed, and the one on the left looked like all the wrinkles of her brain were lined with quotes from history's greatest thinkers. It was unofficially titled "Seaweed Brain." It was made by Hazel as a wedding gift to the couple.

Next to it was a picture of their wedding day. They were on the beach of Camp Half-Blood. Annabeth's gown was Grecian, and her hair was half up and half down. Percy looked dapper even though he was most likely suffering wearing that tuxedo. His bowtie was blue—no surprise—as were the groomsmen's ties and bridesmaids' dresses. Piper was the maid of honor. Standing with her were Hazel and Thalia. Their dresses were sapphire blue and short, but not too short. Thalia hated wearing that, so she added her own accessories, such as her spiked leather jacket with those old band pins. Grover was the best man, and Frank and Leo stood with him. Percy's little sister, Estella, was the flower girl and nearly stole the show for how cute she was. They were all barefoot with the Long Island Sound lapping at them.

That was a fun day. They were twenty-four years old at the time. It was young for some couples to get married, but not all had a demigod's life expectancy. So few demigods live to twenty. That was a day to rejoice. Full of hope for the rest of the Half-Blood community.

Lucky, Piper thought, caressing her stomach.

Looking out the side window, she could see the apple tree on a hill. Percy proposed to Annabeth the Ancient Greek way. By throwing an apple at her. Being the sentimental types, they kept the seeds and grew a tree from them in the garden. So now everyone can eat the fruit of their love. It was cheesy but nonetheless beautiful. Piper was sure her mother gushed over it. Heck, she probably blessed it. They were some of the best apples she had ever had. They were going to have apple pie later for dessert. What made them even more special was the color of the fruit. Aphrodite must've followed Percy's and his mom's quirk for blue food.

Maybe Percy and Annabeth should grow an orchard to sell them. Blue apples, for crying out loud!

Jackson-Chase Apples? Percabeth Apples? Maybe Athenian Apples? No, that last one might be controversial.

Why did they have to lead such a perfect life?

Percy walked back into the house from the back patio. "Burgers are on the grill—and yes, Piper, so is your veggie burger."

"Thank you."

"They'll be ready in a few minutes," he finished.

"Got the new Foreman, Percy?" Leo asked in mock offense. "So, you didn't think to ask me to build you a super swanky demi-grill with self-cleaning, electric starter, and hidden bazooka for monsters."

"Well, no offense, Leo, but I have mixed feelings about using a grill built by a guy who can spontaneously combust." He scratched his beard.

"Fair enough."

"I told you," Calypso said, sitting down beside him.

Annabeth joined that discussion. "Oh, it's not Leo's fault. Percy is just obsessed with that grill. It's his second favorite thing, next to the lake. If we moved it closer to the deck's edge, to the water, he would be sitting in the water, grilling all day."

"I would not," Percy objected. "And you're wrong about my favorite things. First, it's a three-way tie between you, my mom, and my sister—maybe four for my mom's cookies. Then the grill and the lake."

"Seaweed brain."

It was now or never, Piper reasoned with herself.

"Hey, guys, I-I got some… some pretty big news." She rubbed her arm. They were all staring at her standing before them. They must've read the anguish on her, judging by their faces. She swore she would finally say it now. She needed to say it eventually. It was now or never. "I'm pregnant."

Everything was completely silent. Piper could hear the burgers sizzling on the grill outside, along with the lapping of the waves on the dock. Her friends were shifting uncomfortably in their seats. Hazel started to fan herself. Percy was tugging on the hair on his chin.

Leo broke the silence. "Who's the daddy?"

"Leo!" everyone yelled at him.

Piper rubbed her face. "Guy, please, before I tell you, don't judge me! I still hate myself for falling for this and letting it happen…."

Annabeth walked up to her to hold her hands. "It's okay, Piper," she said gently. "We're not judging you, and we're here for you. Now… can you please tell us who the father is?"

Her gray eyes held so much care. Piper looked around. All her friends started to stand up to gather around her. They had the same look in their eyes. She could trust them. There were no other people whom she trusted more. They shared the same past and the same troubles. Heck, they were all related somehow. Although not by DNA—so don't start playing Sweet Home Alabama—thank the gods. She had to tell them. She hated it. She wished it had never happened and she wouldn't be in this situation and feel incredibly stupid. Or have to deal with the actual work afterward.

And so, she answered. "Jove…."

Thunder boomed overhead.

A/N: Whoa! How did that happen?

By the way, what do you guys think of Percy having a beard? I'm somewhat biased about it because I have a beard—and they're fun. Also, he would look more like his dad, and I think Annabeth wouldn't mind it, too.

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