After that long break here is the new chapter. Again sorry for such a long wait and thank you all for your understanding. Hope yall enjoy this.
Annabeth's POV
I woke up to Percy nudging me gently and whispering my name.
"Annabeth, wake up. We fell asleep." He whispered, propping himself up on his elbow.
"What time is it?" I muttered, rubbing my eyes and looking up at him.
"Um….three ish." He said, checking his phone and getting up.
"Do you want me to go? I can wake Piper up and switch with her, she's in the guest room." I said, slowly rolling over to my side and facing him as he turned on a lamp.
He looked at me for a couple seconds before finally answering.
"No…I just think it would be more comfortable if we weren't in these clothes." He said, starting to take off his pants before realizing what he just said. His face turned a bright red before he started stuttering trying to clarify what he meant.
"Percy it's okay, I know what you meant." I said, smiling at him flustering still.
He nodded and walked over to his dresser, pulling out a shirt and giving it to me. He then took his shirt off and put some gym shorts on. I asked if he could help unzip me and after he did I slipped out of my dress still facing away from him and put his shirt on. I could feel his eyes on me as I was putting the shirt on. I smiled to myself before turning around and seeing he was still shirtless, I stared at his scarred upper body and lingered on the scar from the manticore.
"I can put a shirt on if you're not comfortable with me shirtless…" He said, noticing me staring at him.
"No it's okay, I'm sorry I just…I'm sorry." I said, slowly walking up to him and placing my hand on his chest. He looked down at me, meeting my eyes and slowly grabbed my hand.
"It's okay." He said, softly and gently lifted my hand up, he held on to it as I slowly moved it up to his face and held his cheek.
I leaned in and as our lips were millimeters away, he stopped and pulled away.
"I'm sorry Annabeth, I just…I need time." He said, looking at me clearly confused and sad.
"It's okay. Don't apologize, you have every right to need time." I said, stepping back and trying to hide my disappointment and embarrassment.
He nodded slowly, still feeling bad about it. We made our way back into bed, this time getting under the covers. He turned the light off and we laid there looking at each other for a while before he finally spoke.
"We can cuddle…if you want to." He said softly.
"I would love to."
We situated ourselves in the dark that ended with me laying my head on his chest and his arm wrapped around me holding me. I listened to his heartbeat and breathing as we both slowly drifted off back to sleep.
Percy's POV
I woke up feeling my hands around the bed, it was empty. I opened my eyes fully and sat up, looking around confused and tired. I then checked my phone, it was 8:37 AM and Annabeth had texted me. I opened my phone and looked at the message.
"Good morning Piper came in and woke me up to go get some coffee and donuts. We'll be back soon if Diana wakes up just let her watch a show and make her some eggs. Thank you!"
I got up out of bed and made my way to the kitchen, as I walked down the hall the door to the guest room Diana was sleeping in slowly creaked open and a sleepy Diana walked out. Rubbing her eyes she looked at me and waved.
"Good morning Percy." She groggily said.
"Good morning sleepyhead, your mom and Piper are out getting donuts. Wanna come with me to the living room and I'll put on a show for you?" I said, smiling as her eyes perked open when I mentioned donuts.
She nodded and followed me into the living room where she sat down on the couch as I turned on a show for her.
"I'm gonna go make some bacon and eggs for us just yell if you need anything." I said, pointing over the kitchen.
She nodded again and just focused on the tv now, she clearly was still tired and trying to wake up. I smiled at her and went on to make us some food. About half an hour after I started cooking the front door opened up, Piper and Annabeth both announced themselves and said good morning as they came into the kitchen with a box of donuts and some coffee for themselves and I. As Annabeth handed me my coffee I thanked her and she gave me a side hug.
"Thank you for letting me stay last night and watching Diana this morning." She said as she pulled away.
"Of course, and thank you for staying last night." I replied before taking a sip of coffee. "And thank you for this coffee."
"You're welcome." She smiled back before going over to say good morning to Diana.
Piper walked over and sat the donuts down on the counter next to me.
"So, how was last night?" She curiously whispered.
"Good, we talked and just slept." I said, emphasizing the fact that it was just sleeping.
"Well, I would say to keep in mind my advice on trying to date around but I think if you guys want to make things work for Diana's sake since you're telling her today, you probably shouldn't." She said, looking over to Diana and Annabeth talking on the couch.
"Dating anyone, even Annabeth, right now is the last thing on my mind. I just want to be a good dad and make up for everything I missed. That's also the only reason I haven't raised hell on the gods." I said, plating Diana's and Annabeth's breakfast.
"You'll be a great dad. Don't overthink it." Piper said, rubbing my back. "And don't worry about the gods, I'll take care of it."
"Thank you. For everything you've done." I said, looking over at her and giving her a hug.
"It's no problem at all for Perce." She responded, hugging me back.
I picked up the plates for Diana and Annabeth and took them over to them. As I handed them the plates Annabeth thanked me and sat down with Diana to eat their breakfast. Heading back to the kitchen to make Piper and I a plate as well Piper stopped me, handing me a plate of food and pushing me back to the couch where she followed and we all sat and ate.
After we finished our breakfast Annabeth and I decided that it was time to tell Diana. Piper went off somewhere to give us some privacy and we each sat in front of Diana while she was on the couch. As we explained that I was her dad she seemed a little confused at first. But after Annabeth explained it as if we had gotten lost from each other and we finally found each other things were gonna change but for the good.
"Like how?" She asked, still looking puzzled.
"Well Percy, your dad, is going to pick you up from pre-school now and you'll get to hang out with him until I come home from work. And eventually when you feel like it you can stay over here for a night or two and get to just be with your dad." Annabeth explained, trying her best to not make it confusing.
"What about you? Will you sleep over too?" She asked.
"If you want her to then yeah she can but it's always up to you." I chimed in, looking at Diana and then at Annabeth.
"Okay…so are you and mommy married?" She asked, after taking a second to think.
"Umm, no but maybe one day. Like mommy said, we lost each other for a while so we-" I had started but Diana cut me off.
"But mommy said you have to be married to have a baby." She said, looking at me and Annabeth skeptically.
"Well you see we were but since it's been a while since we have seen each other we aren't anymore. Now I think Piper wanted to take you shopping to decorate one of the rooms here to be your room!" Annabeth explained before pivoting the conversation, thankfully.
"Oo okay! Piperrrr!" Diana's eyes lit up as she hopped off the couch and ran down the hall to find Piper.
"Well that went better than expected." Annabeth sighed, flopping down on the couch.
"I guess." I skeptically said, looking over towards the hall.
"Did you really mean what you said, about us maybe getting married one day." Annabeth asked, grabbing my hand to get my attention.
"I mean I know we had a lot of emotions and stuff going through us last night but I do love you Annabeth. I just…I just am confused and too overwhelmed now to think of being in a relationship now. And honestly I need time to trust you." I said, sitting next to her and gently moving my hand from hers.
"Okay…I'm sorry Percy, I really wanted to tell you but…"
"It's okay, Annabeth. I know. We agreed last night we both need help and have things to work on before we can have a relationship." I gently said, no cutting her off.
"Okay…" She said, looking sad but clearly accepting the situation.
~~Time Skip: October a Week Before Halloween~~
Annabeth's POV
I walked into my house and smelled dinner being cooked and the sound of Percy counting. As I turned the corner Percy was counting with his eyes closed in the kitchen while I heard the sounds of Diana running upstairs. Percy peaked his eyes open and saw me before yelling out "Ready or not here I come!".
"Hey, how was work?" He said, checking on the food that was in the oven before walking around acting like he was looking for Diana.
"It was okay, just a long and draining day." I tiredly said, making my way to the wine cabinet and getting myself a glass.
"I'm sorry-MAN WHERE COULD DIANA BE? HAVE YOU SEEN HER MOMMY?- dinner is just about ready. If you want I can stay and clean up for you too." He said, yelling momentarily to get Diana's attention. Normally I would find it cute but after the day I had I got a tinge annoyed that he loudly announced my presence. I did my best though to stay calm and not snap at him and I did find it very sweet of him to ask to stay, even though it feels like he's been doing everything for the past month.
"I don't care, it's up to you." I said, coming off more annoyed and frustrated than I had wanted.
"Is everything okay?" He asked, looking up the stairs as the sound of Diana's footsteps rapidly approached.
"I just had a hard day and am just overwhelmed and exhausted." I said, pouring a glass of wine and taking a long sip.
"Mommy!" Diana exclaimed, as she rushed down the stairs and came towards me with her arms out for a hug. I put on a smile and happy look, which was easy to do since I was happy to see her, and hugged her.
"I missed you today! Dinner's almost ready so why don't you go clean up while daddy and get the table ready and then you can tell me about your day." I said, pulling back and standing up. She excitedly agreed and ran off to the bathroom.
"Look, I am not in a good mood and am doing my best to keep calm. I'm sorry for the way I responded. It's just you have been doing so much and I feel bad and feel kind of useless a little. But I know you are just trying to be helpful. If you are okay with it then yes you can stay and help clean up. I would appreciate that a lot." I burst out at Percy, who looked at me apologetically.
"Okay, I'll stay. After dinner you can go up and relax, I'll keep Diana occupied until it's time for her to go to bed if you would like." He said, heading over to the oven and pulling out the food.
"Thank you…" I quietly said, taking a small sip of wine. Now feeling a little bad about how I kind of just burst every out.
Diana walked back in and helped me get our drinks and sat at the table while Percy came in with our plates of food. We all ate dinner and Diana talked the entire time about how her day was and how she and Percy had gone to the store to get some candy for Halloween next week. She also talked a lot about how she couldn't wait for the Halloween festival tomorrow after preschool. After we had finished eating Percy told her that I was going to go upstairs and have some "mommy time" and she gets to help him clean the dishes and then can watch a show before bed.
As I walked up to my room I looked down at Percy and Diana as she tried opening the dishwasher by herself not realizing it was locked. I smiled to myself before heading towards my room. I drew myself a bath and laid in it relaxing and resting my eyes. I wasn't sure how long I was in there but before I knew it Percy had come and softly knocked on my bathroom door.
"Hey Annabeth, Diana is ready for bed and asking for you to tuck her in." He said through the closed door.
"Okay…I'll be out…. in a minute." I slowly said, getting up from the bath and drying myself off.
As I stood up I realized how much wine I had drunk. Trying to not stumble I carefully dried myself off some and put on a robe. As I walked into Diana's room Percy was finishing up reading her a book and she was helping him finish some of the words as his dyslexia was clearly making it a little hard to read aloud to her. He smiled at her and thanked her before getting up and giving her a kiss on the forehead goodnight. He stepped aside and I sobered up the best I could and gave her a kiss goodnight too and tucked her in while letting her know I loved her. As soon as Percy closed the door he looked at me concerned.
"Are you okay?" He concernely asked.
"Yeah…I just drank…a little more than I thought." I slowly said, trying not to slur my words.
"Okay let me help you to bed." He said, grabbing my arms and guiding me to my room.
"Well aren't you just Mr. Perfect, you do everything and it's like it's nothing…easy peasy for Percy Jackson…" I said, getting upset again.
"Annabeth, I'm sorry I've been overdoing it. I'll step back a bit. And this stuff isn't easy for me. I've just been trying really hard to just keep going and not let it show. I'm sorry." He said, as he sat me down on my vanity and got my bed ready. "Do you have anything on, under your robe?"
I nodded no and opened my robe to show him, realizing I was flashing him too late. His face turned red and he quickly turned away.
"Okay…um let me get you a shirt and underwear." He said, heading over to my closet.
"Sorry…I'm a little drunk…" I loudly giggled, "Did you liked what you saw?"
He came out of my closet and handed me a shirt and underwear, ignoring my question.
"I said. Did. You. Like. What. You. Saw?" I enunciated as I stripped the robe off and took the towel off my head.
"Annabeth…put these clothes on please." Percy sighed looking at me in the eyes.
"Not until you answer me." I said, placing my hands on my hips.
"Yes…" He mumbled, handing me the clothes as I snatched them from his hands.
"Thank you…." I said, putting my underwear and shirt on. I stumbled over to my bed and laid in it.
"Do you wanna fuck? I've had a hard day…my new client is Kenneth. And he of course is harassing me…sexually. Which is getting me more upset than usual because…I want you inside me and to hit on me, not him."
"You're drunk Annabeth, if I even wanted to have sex with you I'm not gonna fuck you while you're drunk like this…and I'm sorry he is doing that and that he's your client. Maybe you should talk to your boss about it tomorrow." Percy softly said, tucking me into bed.
"So if I wasn't drunk you'd fuck me?" I seductively asked while carassessing his face.
"Maybe. Now goodnight, I'll come by in the morning to check on you and help get Diana ready." He smiled, taking my hand off of his face and laid it down before making his way to my door.
"Percy, stay…please." I said, on the verge of tears now.