A/N Sorry I couldn't update for the last four weeks. My college started it all became so hectic, I almost forgot about my fanfictions. They were pretty hard weeks but don't worry, from now I will try my best to upload them in a timely manner. Here is the next chapter, Enjoy!

-xx-

Chapter 11: Grover loses his pants part 2.

Sally's pov

Even though I am sad to know my daughter's future is so tough, I still love the way her friends acted around her. I knew from the beginning that Percy was going to have a hard life, which all demigods have, but with friends like them, I am sure she will survive and lead a happy future.

Right now my baby was sitting on Thalia's lap as Grover and Piper played with her.

Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along ... well, when I came home is a good example. I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.

"Excuse me!" I exclaimed. I can't believe I will be living with this man. That is not the way a decent man is.

Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."

"Where's my mom?"

"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"

"He DARES to ask a twelve-year-old for -" " Wait, what is cash?" Asked Lady Artemis " Mortal money." Leo supplied not looking up from his work." "he dares to ask a twelve-year-old for money! That scum is DEAD!" Lady Artemis's eyes glowed in anger. I looked around to notice that most gods and demigods were throwing draggers at the book with their eyes.

That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?

Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes.

"What is a thrift store clothes? Is it some new fashion?" Lady Aphrodite excitedly asked. " No, a thrift store is where people buy second-hand clothes. Aka the clothes are already worn by someone. But when that 'someone' doesn't need those clothes anymore they sell them in a thrift store for other people to buy." Leo explained.

" My mom used to buy our clothes from there," Leo added at the questioning glances from the gods. " So did we, when we were on run." Added Thalia with a nod.

When they were on run? Why were they running? It was not just me who was confused by her words because Lady Artemis asked " Why were you on run? Were you being chased by monsters? " " You will find it in the story, Lady Artemis!" Grover explained.

He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something. Yuck!

Lady Aphrodite looked green.

He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer.

"THAT WALRUS DARES TO DRINK IN MY HOUSE!" I Thundered. I most probably would have looked murderous and a bit scary because most demigods and even some gods shifted away in their seats.

Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that "our secret." Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.

Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! oh my! Red-hot anger flared in my chest. That fat no-good man dared to hurt my baby. Then another thought occurred in my mind. I allowed that man in our life. I allowed him to hurt my baby! oh my god! I became what I feared the most, a terrible mother!

I didn't realise until, I felt a hand on my shoulder, that I had tears in my eyes. I looked up to see Grover standing there with Percy in his arms while everyone else was silently watching him. future demigods looked sad and, was that guilt. Heroes of old and most gods were angry. Posiedon himself looked murderous but he was avoiding my eyes. I felt that he thought I am guilty.

Turning towards Grover, saw him giving me a disapproving look. " Don't be guilty, Sally! You did what you thought was best for her. Gabe's smell masked her demigod scent, protecting her from monsters. " My eyes widened and everyone looked surprised." You could not have guessed him to be a douchebag from his smell. "

" Yeah! If smell could tell about a person's behaviour, Aphrodite cabin would be sweetest children in the world. " Piper and Lady Aphrodite huffed and glared at Andrew. Everyone else laughed or smiled and just like that tension was out of the room.

Grover continued in a low voice next to me," And the life of a demigod is not easy. Thalia and Jason themselves had a drunk for a mother who gave away Jason to Hera when he was just a baby. Andrew's father didn't know what to do and ended up treating him badly. Piper's father is an actor who rarely has time for her. Leo... well Leo's mum died in a fire which was done by Hera.

Each one present here has a past, just like Percy has one. But the difference between them and Percy is you. You are the reason why she fights honourably even against a monster. She stayed on the good side. Even her enemies respect her. It is because of you that she is Percy. Gabe was nothing. The bruises and pain he gave her were nothing. As long as you are there, happy and alive for her. " Grover smiled and me and squeezed my hand in support. I nodded in understanding.

Everyone was looking at us in question but I nodded at Lady Hera to continue.

"I don't have any cash," I told him.

He raised a greasy eyebrow.

Goddesses wrinkled their noses.

Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else."You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change.

" Someone is smart for a being so smelly!" Nico commented.

Somebody expects to live under this roof, they ought to carry their own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"

Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "The girl just got here."

" Well, at least there is someone who has a heart !" Lady Hestia commented.

"Am I right?" Gabe repeated.

Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.

" I think I said it a bit early." Lady Hestia lamented. Then she picked up Percy from Grover and put her in her own lap. Percy happily babbled and started playing with the goddess's hair.

"Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."

" Done! " Hermes shouted gleefully.

"Your report card came, brain girl!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study."

" Why do I feel, the word is being used as an insult here."

He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.

I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.

"That is our Percy, the most sarcastic person in the world. " Travis cheered. Percy simply gave him a crooked smile.

Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.

But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic—how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone—something—was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.

Then I heard my mom's voice. "Penny?"She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.

" A true daughter!" Lady Hera commented jealously. " A true mother!" Lady Artemis replied curtly making the fore mentioned glare at her.

My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few grey streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad. I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.

I blushed at her words. I was so happy to find that my baby loves me so much.

"Oh, Penny!" She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"

Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.

"Yummm!" Male Demigods and Thalia licked their lips at the thought of sweets. Suddenly there was a loud rumble. Turned out it was Percy's stomach. She must be hungry. It made several people laugh as Poseidon declared, " we will have lunch after this chapter."

We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her baby girl doing all right?

Lady Aphrodite and Demeter awwed at that.

I was happy with the way she was literally smothering me so I didn't tell her to lay it off.

I was really, really glad to see her.

I smiled at the book.

From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally—how about some bean dip, huh?"

I gritted my teeth.

My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.

" Would a teacher work?" Chris asked teasingly only to get a punch on his shoulder." She is not the Sally of our time to know its meaning?" Did I marry a teacher!

For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself. I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nathan Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad.

" Okay! " Will turned towards his friends and said, " Refrain Percy from sounding upbeat when she tells about her quests. She becomes delusional! Gods help us if she ever described Medusa as Lady Aphrodite or minotaur as a cute calf! " Roar of laughter echoed in the room at the son of Apollo's comment.

Until that trip to the museum ...

"What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"

"No, Mom."

" Don't lie to your mum!" " Hermes, are you all right? " " Yes, I am Arty but even a god of lies also knows that good mother are excellent lie detectors."

I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.

She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me.

"See!" I pursed my lips.

"I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach."

My eyes widened. "Montauk?"

"Three nights—same cabin."

"When?"

She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."

I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.

" That is because he wasted all!" Thalia muttered

Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"

Poseidon growled from his seat at Gabe's appearance.

I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.

" That must be hard for Percy. She doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut!" Clarisse raised an eyebrow.

"I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."

Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"

" Of course, she is, You pig!" Lady Hera shouted.

"I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."

"He better!" Posiedon warned.

"Of course he will," my mom said evenly. "Your stepfather is just worried about money. That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."

"Oooh, bribery! I like that" Lord Hermes gave me a thumbs-up sign.

Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip ... it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"

" You have a budget for your clothes!" Lady Aphrodite looked horrified.

"Yes, honey," my mother said.

"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."

"We'll be very careful."

Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip ... And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."

Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.

"Do that, do that, do that!" Most demigods cheered.

But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.

Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?

"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now."

Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.

"Idiot!" Many people muttered.

"Yeah, whatever," he decided.

He went back to his game.

"Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about... whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"

For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes—the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride—as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air.

" You knew about Percy being a demigod even before herself didn't you?" Piper asked suspiciously. I nodded my head sadly.

But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip. I had nothing to do so I changed also and went to help her.

"Yum! If someone can cook better than Sally is Sally and Percy together! Oh, I am jealous of Gabe now!" Nico commented.

-xx-

Do you think Grover was a bit cheezy in his conversation? I don't know. I thought it was fitting as him being Percy's oldest friend, her protector and knew almost everything about her. Also, there was no proper Grover and Sally conversation in the books so it was fitting to add one here. Sorry for the little angst part, I have been watching the game of thrones rerun on Hotstar so it kind of got me.

Also sorry for the chap being a bit short. I couldn't give it much of my time. Next update is next Sunday.