Annabeth:

It felt hard to breathe as I woke up in a cold sweat. I couldn't fully describe my sudden alertness in the morning or the feeling of dread that came with it. I only ever woke up like this if I was A) having a nightmare about Tartarus or B) dreaming about my break up with Percy. Today's winning letter was of course B) dreaming about my break up with Percy.

It had been five years since then. Five years since I've seen Percy in person. Five years since I've held on to my own regrets of how I handled things. I probably should have heard Percy out and gotten his side of things and maybe been a little smarter about how things played out afterwards.

I had blocked his number after two days and when the semester was finally over I went fully remote and moved back to California to be with my dad during my pregnancy. Dad wasn't too happy but with the help of my step mom he eventually came around to the idea of being a grandfather. The twins were excited about a new family member to dote on and decided that I was too good for anyone on the planet. They still hijack the few dates I go on.

For a while there I went back and forth on keeping Percy and I child and what the best course of action would be. I scheduled an appointment one time to end the pregnancy and flaked at the last minute. Then there was the scheduled adoption appointment that Rachel eventually talked me out of at three a.m. the previous day before I would meet the couple.

Then the day finally came, Daphne Thalia Chase was here and her grey eyes and black hair captured the perfect mixture of Percy and I. I couldn't bear not having her in my life at that point and decided to raise her on my own.

I finished school and joined an architectural firm here in California right after given birth and tried my hardest to balance being a mom and work. Most days my step mom watched Daphne while I worked late in the office and redesigned San Francisco in my own style as ideas to pitch to new and recurring clients. As Daphne grew her personality was growing more and more into Percy's every day, even though the two had never meet. Her little features looked more and more like him than me. Her black hair, her nose, the shape of her eyes, and even the way she talked was just like Percy. The only feature she got from me were her striking grey eyes.

Buzz, buzz, buzz

The alarm clock on my side table was going off notifying me that it was time to get out of bed and face the world.

I made my way to the hallway and looked across at the door painted in Oyster Bay green with the words Daphne's Room spelled out in an arch. As I opened the door I heard little snoring sounds escape from the little body wrapped up in two or three blankets. Daphne always had her baby blanket, favorite blanket, and matching bed sheet blanket in her bed ready to use. I knelt down near the bed to take in the full view of my little girl sleeping soundly. Sometimes I hated waking her up. Not because she was just perfect and so sweet as she slept but because waking her up was like waking up a grizzly bear out of hibernation. She could either be alert and ready to go within seconds or she could be out cold and I would have to move her to the dinning room table and set a fresh plate of pancakes in front of her to coax her fully awake.

Luckily for me she decided to choose the easy route and woke up as I lightly tapped her shoulder.

"Mommy?" Her groggy voice was still so full of sleep.

"Yes, baby. It's time to get up. First day of school remember."

I brushed her hair back to reveal her grey eyes.

"Food?"

"Not ready yet, but if you get up now we can make it together."

Daphne nodded her head and slowly made her way out of bed and into my arms for me to carry her to the kitchen. We made our breakfast and got ready for the day.

Afterwards I dropped Daphne off at school and headed into work

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Most days my step mom would pick Daphne up from daycare or the sitters house, but with today being the first day of kindergarten I made it my mission to be the one to pick her up.

Waiting in the school pickup line I relished in the moment excited on how my daughter would explain her first day and tell me if she made any new fast friends, how her teacher was and so on.

When the school bell rang a plethora of school ranging from five year olds to ten exited the building chatting and running in multiple directions, happy to have the first day officially over. It took a while for Daphne's two pig tail braids to appear in my sight but when they did I could feel the smile on my face grow. I crouched down and opened my arms for her as she ran into them.

"Mommy, mommy I made a new friend." She could barely contain her happiness as she left my arms are turned around whizzing her head back and forth looking for something.

"Tanner!" She screamed a name and ran off toward a boy with brownish black hair.

She quickly came back hand in hand with the boy proudly showing him off to me as a prize

"Mommy. This is Tanner. He's my new best friend."

She really was just like Percy. Making friends was so easy for them. Enemies to but that was a different story.

"Hello Tanner, I'm Annabeth, Daphne's mom."

Tanner nodded and quickly turned to Daphne whispering something in her ear before running off.

Daphne pouted at his quick exchange but quickly turned back to me gesturing at the car. I opened the backseat door for her and helped her into her car seat before getting behind the wheel.

"Tanner seems like a shy boy, baby."

Daphne continued to pout puffing out her lip more. "He said mommy was pretty. But he was wrong. Mommy is beautiful."

I didn't know what to say behind that statement. She was too sweet and while it hurt to hear her say he was wrong she cleared up my doubts pretty fast.

"Thank you, baby. How does homemade pizza sound?"

"With extra spinach?"

Spinach was the only vegetable I could get her to eat so I was not going to deny her any extra spinach.

"Definitely."

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Daphne and I made our way into Whole Foods fully expecting it to be packed with, which it was. We made our way through the various aisles grabbing supplies for dinner and the nights following.

Daphne insisted on not being in the cart because she was 'a big girl now and big girls don't ride in the cart' as she put it. So image my horror when I looked away to grab pasta sauce off of a shelf and heard her crying at the end of the aisle.

When I got to the end cap a man was beside her comforting her.

"You should stick by your mom's side sweetheart."

It couldn't be.

"Do we need to call her on the intercom?"

This can't be happening. He shouldn't be here. This is California, not New York City.

"Mommy's right there." Daphne's hand pointed pass him and at me.

I suddenly felt hot and panicky as he turned his head.

His face was just as shocked as mine. After five years I was meeting Percy Jackson again in a super market.