"This looks amazing, Sally," Annabeth gasped as she looked at all of the food in front of them. It wasn't the most grandiose of meals, but Sally had made all of it from scratch with the help of her husband Paul. She also had her brownies in the middle of the table; but everyone had to finish one plate before they were allowed to touch them.
"You've outdone yourself, mom," Percy complimented, a wide smile on his face as he scooped a pile of peas onto his little sister's plate. Estelle was bouncing on his knee and looking at everyone around the table in excitement. While she knew Annabeth well enough, everyone was a stranger to her, and she kept trying to reach for Jason's glasses.
Sally, Paul, and Estelle came back Thanksgiving night and had apparently gone right to bed. Sally and Paul woke up early the next day to start making food for everyone. If Annabeth had known, she would have volunteered to help.
"This is seriously amazing," Piper agreed. She leaned on Jason and looked up at him. "Where is Thalia?"
"She said she's coming," Jason replied. "We don't have to wait, Mrs. Jackson."
"What did I say about calling me Mrs. Jackson?" Sally asked rhetorically, and she leveled Jason with a look. Jason blushed and looked down to hide his embarrassment. "We will wait for your sister."
"We might be waiting for hours," Piper jokingly jabbed.
"Well, we won't be that long," Paul commented. "At least not for the brownies."
"I'll take that deal," Percy piped up. He smiled brightly. They were all having their Thanksgiving dinner together. Thalia was supposed to be joining them, but once again, she was running late. As Annabeth was debating texting her friend, they heard the door open.
"Sorry," Thalia apologized as she rushed in. Annabeth glanced at her and frowned slightly. Thalia looked like a disheveled mess. Her hair was all over the place, and she was wearing a shirt that was all wrinkled and looked a day old. "I just got caught up with something."
"Or someone," Annabeth muttered softly under her breath. No one seemed to hear her, but Thalia definitely saw her lips move. Thalia's eyes widened, and Annabeth gave her a knowing smirk.
"Sit already so we can eat," Percy complained. Thalia stuck her tongue out at him and then hugged Sally. She sat down next to Jason and leaned back in her seat. They all began to eat quietly.
Annabeth noticed the smile that came to Thalia's face as her eyes drifted off to the side. Oh, they were going to have a talk after this. Annabeth didn't forget any of the flirting at Lupa's.
"How was the visit to the rest of the family?" Piper asked as she lowered her fork.
"It went really well," Sally answered.
"I don't think my parents let Estelle out of their sight," Paul commented. He looked at Sally. "Should we tell him?"
"We should," Sally agreed, turning to look at Percy. "They want us to come for Christmas. All of us."
"Including me?" Percy asked. "I thought they hated me."
"They don't hate you, Percy. They're just old-fashioned," Paul began.
"You are crazy," Piper commented.
"Very," Jason agreed. Percy rolled his eyes, but a smile broke onto his face. Annabeth smiled as well. She was happy that Percy's extended family was opening up to him.
"You'll have to find a replacement date for Christmas," Percy said as he looked at Annabeth. It only took a moment for her to lose her smile. She had not thought about that. "Jason's too fancy for him to be a disappointment, and they know that you're best friends with Piper and Thalia. Maybe Frank?"
"Frank's too sweet," Annabeth shot down with a dismissive wave of her hand.
"We'll find you a fake date," Piper promised.
"Fake date?" Paul repeated, and he glanced over at his wife.
"Percy pretends to date Annabeth to help her get back at her father," Sally explained.
"My father is always trying to set me up with scholars that he works with, and he always ignores a lot of things about me," Annabeth muttered as she looked at the table. "For Christmas, he has our family reunions and invites all of these extended family members that I don't know. A lot of my family is full of pretentious snobs, and they hated people like Percy. No offense."
"And I'm such a gentleman too," Percy commented, a small bit of sadness in his voice.
"As you very well should be," Sally threatened. A laugh resounded around the table.
"So Annabeth, how is it working with Reyna?" Jason changed the subject. He looked in between Annabeth and Percy. Thalia looked up in interest. "Last I heard she was dating Gwen."
"They broke up a while ago," Thalia corrected. Jason paused to glance at her. Piper frowned as well and had a confused look on her face. Annabeth didn't think that Piper was confused about the answer. It was more like she was confused about who it came from. Wouldn't Jason already know that, or was there more to what he had asked?
"How do you know that?" Jason questioned. Thalia froze with her fork halfway to her mouth. She lowered her fork as Jason watched closely.
"I asked her," Thalia stated like it was obvious. "When she was showing me where the tongs were, I asked where Gwen was. She said she didn't know, and I brought up them dating. She got all quiet after that, so I can guess the answer."
"Speaking of dating, you and Reyna? Tell me about it," Percy said. Thalia gave him a scathing glare. "I'm serious! I can't see the two of you together."
"I came around the gym a lot because Jason was there," Thalia began. "We were getting serious for awhile there, but Reyna was also so focused on her fights. It took first priority for her. There was some other stuff too, but Reyna seems different now."
"How?" Annabeth questioned. She couldn't help but be curious about Thalia's relationship with Reyna because she had never heard about it. It had to be serious, and Annabeth couldn't help that she wanted to know everything.
Thalia shifted and seemed to think about it. She finally sighed and played with her food, "Mostly because Hylla's back in her life. When we were dating, I wanted to meet Reyna's family. She had already met mine, and we all know my family is just crazy. I figured hers couldn't be any worse, but then, she told me that she doesn't talk to her sister. I asked why, and it escalated from there."
"It was such a stupid reason," Jason added. "She always told Thalia that meeting Hylla would mean allowing Hylla back into her life, and it would make it seem like Reyna forgave her sister. It just never made sense to me that Reyna is mad at Hylla."
"Reyna always told Lupa that if Hylla loved her enough, she wouldn't have kicked Reyna out of her house. She didn't fight for Reyna or argue when Reyna wanted to be emancipated. She always said that if Hylla cared, she would have fought it," Jason continued. "Reyna doesn't get that there is no arguing with her when she's mad. She's just like a child."
Thalia gave Jason a miffed look, and he just shrugged. Jason wasn't done yet, though, "What did you call her, Thalia? An idiot and an immature child? Apparently, Hylla also told Reyna that, but for some reason, Reyna can't see that's what she is."
Annabeth looked in between the two siblings. She had always thought that Jason and Reyna were friends who had just drifted apart, but Jason wasn't talking like it. His words sounded like he needed to get this off of his chest a long time ago.
"Reyna shut down after that. Didn't scream back when I was yelling at her. I finally kicked her out, and that was pretty much the end of our relationship," Thalia said with a shrug. She played with her food again. "I still regret ending it that way."
"Reyna only dated you to get back at me," Jason muttered. He shook his head. "I never approved of the two of them dating, and Reyna did it just to spite me."
"She didn't," Thalia snapped suddenly. She looked like she was going to raise her voice, but then, her eyes moved towards Estelle. "Hey cutie, I didn't see you there. Are you eating all your vegetables?"
"No," Estelle answered proudly. Sally gave her daughter a look, and Annabeth couldn't help but smile.
"Good," Thalia said. Sally turned her gaze towards Thalia. "I'm kidding!"
"No dessert for you," Percy teased. Thalia stuck her tongue out at him. Percy stuck his tongue out. Estelle looked in between the two of them and stuck her tongue out as well.
"Oh no," Sally interjected. "Both of you aren't getting brownies."
"Mom," Percy complained.
"I will do anything for your brownies," Thalia said quickly.
"Stop teaching Estelle bad habits," Sally ordered. Percy and Thalia both nodded and went back to eating. Sally looked like she was barely holding back a smile as she looked back at her food. They all focused back on their food, but Annabeth kept looking in between the two siblings in front of her.
Thalia was being defensive of Reyna, and Annabeth wasn't sure if it was because the two slept together or because Thalia was still riding high over embarrassing Reyna so much the day before. Thalia had been flirting with Reyna, and if there had not been a table between them, Thalia probably would have been all over Reyna.
Annabeth knew there was more to the story, but she wasn't going to push it. Yet.
"Annabeth, when is your next fight?" Paul asked. "It's for your title, right?"
"It is," Annabeth answered. "They haven't set an official date yet, but I know it won't be until after Christmas. I'm going to enjoy my holidays, but I'm still going to train."
"And earn us some money," Piper teased. Annabeth rolled her eyes but couldn't help herself smile. "I'm going to help Hazel pick her next fight soon."
"Being a manager seems like an intimidating job. Especially trying to match Octavian. Say what you want about him, but he's good," Jason commented. Piper looked down. "Hey, you're going to be amazing. Don't worry about it."
"I hope," Piper mumbled. Annabeth reached out and grabbed her hand. Piper smiled at her.
"Piper, you're going to do great," Percy added. "You're cooler than Octavian, and I know he'll help you with every step of the process."
"You guys are right. It just makes me so nervous. He just knows everything, and I can't seem to grasp any of it," Piper mumbled.
"Take plenty of notes," Paul instructed. "That is what I always tell my students. It seems to help them."
"Listen to Paul. He's pretty smart," Percy commented.
"Maybe some of that smartness will rub off on you," Piper teased. Percy rolled his eyes and put peas on his spoon. He looked like he was ready to fling the spoon of peas at her, but a look from Sally stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Honestly Percy, you act like you were raised by wolves," Jason joked.
"And, he wasn't," Sally said sternly. Percy blushed and raised his hands. Annabeth smiled as she looked around at the table. It didn't take long for her mind to move back to her impending fight. Annabeth was going to start training as soon as she could. Just because the holidays were around didn't mean she would stop.
Annabeth looked up and met Thalia's eyes. She gave her a look that promised they would talk. Thalia just gave her a small shrug before quickly talking to Estelle about dinosaurs. Annabeth leaned back in her seat and then rolled her eyes. They would have that talk, sooner or later.