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The past couple of months had been the busiest and simultaneously happiest months of Annabeth's life. After years of fighting for gods that didn't care enough, her and Percy settled into a tiny New Rome apartment, getting ready for New Rome University.
The brand on Percy's arm, that still made her stomach churn, did have its perks in that regard. Instead of being separated in student accommodation, they were offered a tiny shoebox of a place. It wasn't glamorous but at least they were together.
Especially after the Pit, they didn't sleep well when separated so the shared little place was truly a blessing.
Annabeth happily threw herself into her studies, gladly accepting the challenges of academic life. It didn't feel all that challenging after walking through literal hell after all.
The almost tedious monotony of classes, study halls and libraries felt almost refreshingly beautiful and she was relishing in the mundane tasks she had to go through to make it through a day. She knew Percy felt the same.
Her and Percy had been so happy in New Rome, they had been free. It was almost possible to ignore the recurring nightmares and the flashbacks she experienced when the room got dark or a door shut too loud. It was starting to feel like a new life just the two of them could make for themselves, without any godly interferences.
But over the years living in the roman city, Annabeth noticed the little half smiles whenever Percy was talking about his family. He tried to hide it, but she knew him too well that he couldn't hide those expressions from her. She noticed how much he missed his city and Camp Half-Blood but especially his mother and little sister. One night, when they both couldn't sleep, he confessed to her, that he was scared to miss any more of her firsts
No matter how happy she was on the west coast, she knew he would be happier with his family closer and she could never be upset about that. It was her family too.
So one night, close to their graduation, she brought up moving back to New York and his eyes lit up like fireworks. She knew she had made the right decision. She loved seeing the sparkle in his eyes and it felt entirely intoxicating when he gave her a kiss on the cheek, before leaving the room and calling his mom to tell her of their decision.
One month after she graduated from NRU with honors, and Percy stood on that stage proudly accepting his degree, he had worked for so hard, they packed their tiny apartment into a moving van and took it back across the country.
New York was calling both of them home.
.𖥔 ݁ ˖𓅓‧₊˚ ִ☾.
They found comfort in their New York City apartment relatively quickly. It was small, but after the New Rome shoebox it felt like nothing could shake them anymore. They settled into a routine of work and visiting the Jackson apartment regularly.
Annabeth found a job at a small architecture firm that didn't pay particularly well, but it turns out that you can't really put 'Architect of Olympus' on your résumé if you want people to employ you. She still threw herself at her work, grateful for every opportunity she got. She was content with what she had.
Paul helped Percy find a job at a local school. After years of being bullied and not respected by teachers and students alike, he wanted to put his social work degree to good use and help kids who needed it. He told her about the cases every evening at dinner, sometimes excited about how he managed to make a little first grader feel better about himself and sometimes frustrated with other teachers that didn't understand that ADHD wasn't just an excuse for a kid to be lazy.
He told these stories with such reverence and care that made her heart ache. She sometimes wished she had had someone like Percy in her childhood. Annabeth felt immense pride seeing him shine after fighting so hard for this life.
.𖥔 ݁ ˖𓅓‧₊˚ ִ☾.
One weekend in July, the week of her birthday, he proposed.
They decided on a weekend trip to Montauk and a short visit to camp, so they packed two overnight bags and Percy asked Blackjack to carry them to the small, rundown cabin on the beach. Annabeth knew how much it meant to Percy and she also knew how much it meant for him to share this place with her.
When they arrived, they opened all the windows. Wind singing through the cabin, curtains flowing in the soft summer breeze, sand whirling and swirling through the air.
She loved this place.
They had spent the entire day sitting in the dunes, talking, splashing in the surf. Percy giggled and told her he'd be right back and when he surfaced 5 minutes later he came up to her and pressed a rainbow colored conch shell into the palm of her hands.
"For you my love," he said softly, kissing her and for a moment Annabeth forgot where they were. She pulled him closer and kissed him more intensely. The spell got broken when a wave caught them and pushed them over. Annabeth was laughing now at the startled expression on Percy's face. Her specialty, distracting him so much that even he couldn't feel the wave coming.
Their sand castle competition was not even close. Annabeth constructed a three tiered beauty, shells stuck to the sides and little towers adorning the edges. Percy's monstrosity of a castle looked like a toddler built it next to hers.
He was frowning when he stood up to compare the two and Annabeth was sent into fits of giggles at his eyebrow scrunch. She could almost feel him contemplating, him trying to debate her on this and win the competition. She gave him a mischievous smile and he immediately gave up, gave himself up to her and declared her the winner.
That evening, when the setting sun kissed the top of the dunes and drenched the sand in hot fiery colors, they were walking hand in hand through the surf.
She was content with the silence, listening to the waves crashing on the shore and Percy's even breathing.
When he went on one knee she didn't act surprised. She felt it coming from a mile away but when he asked to be hers forever she cried anyway.
The ring he put on her finger was a simple golden band, etched with swirls and set with a few tiny, sparkling red stones. He had told her it was his mom's and she cried some more, unable to comprehend how they would trust her with such an important family heirloom.
It fit her perfectly.
That night they spent under the stars, talking long into the night, just happy to be in each others presence. They had fought so hard for this life and in this moment it felt like all their blood and sweat was worth it just for this moment together.
Zoë's constellation was running around the sky and when Percy whispered a hello to Bob, she felt tears coming, but they finally weren't of regret. Her friends had made it possible for the both of them to be here and they would honor them for it. They would live like they had wanted.
The next few weeks were a whirlwind of telling friends and family and Annabeth throwing herself into wedding planning.
Sally, of course, knew of the proposal but she cried anyway when Annabeth showed her the ring on her finger.
"Oh my sweet darling," she hugged her tightly. "It looks perfect on you."
How she wanted to tell her father she didn't know. A twinge of guilt made her wince when Percy asked her if she wanted to call him. The answer she almost gave him was No.
Of course they called anyway. Annabeth was forcing a smile when she told her father about the wedding. Percy squeezed her hand under the table. She was eternally grateful that she wasn't doing this alone.
•
Wedding planning was a new challenge for Annabeth. She was drowning in cake samples and a million different designs for invitations and table settings. Percy and Annabeth knew early, that they wanted a small wedding, intimate. Their closest friends and family. "And at the beach," Percy added with a lopsided smile that she would never be able to deny him. Not that she had wanted to.
They set a date in late summer and when Annabeth added it to the little, colorful calendar in their kitchen she couldn't suppress a smile.
When invitations went out she was bustling and it almost felt easy writing her dad's name and address on one of them. Almost.
.𖥔 ݁ ˖𓅓‧₊˚ ִ☾.
"Our kids are gonna be named after the great architect of Olympus one day can you imagine that!" Percy was standing, with his back turned to her, in the kitchen, cooking up their dinner. Annabeth was sitting at the counter, her work in front of her, papers littering the kitchen counter. She was trying to get some work done for a project that had stumped her for days.
"Hmm?" she replied, deep in thought about where her calculations went wrong.
"A little girl, Maisie Chase, daughter of the one and only Annabeth Chase," he said with pride and she could hear him smiling. He was wildly gesticulating with the spatula in his hand, flinging bits of egg and potato around the small kitchen.
"Percy Chase has a nice ring to it does it not?"
She was yanked out of her thoughts, almost frozen, unable to concentrate any longer.
Her mind started racing. Percy Chase, Percy Chase, Percy Chase.
Percy, of course, noticed immediately. Sometimes it still astounded her how observant he could be when he wasn't even looking at her.
Turning around, his startlingly blue eyes snapped to hers, his eyebrows in a familiar scrunch they always had when he tried to figure out a problem.
"Is everything okay Wise Girl?"
She almost forgot how to breathe. A big lump formed in her throat and tears threatened to fall.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm just— stuck on this," she vaguely gestured to the papers in front of her, huffing indignantly. She felt awful about the half-lie. He could clearly tell she wasn't telling him everything. He could always tell. But he didn't press. His eyes softened as he looked at her.
He came over to her place at the counter and pulled her head towards his chest. Normally she would protest because more than once he had gotten food stuck to her braids. Not this time tho. Tears pricked at her eyes and she was glad that he couldn't see her face. She felt irrational for crying over this and she couldn't even tell him why.
"Okay," he said and placed a soft kiss on her head. She immediately melted into his chest, sighing silently. "Just tell me whenever you're ready."
She didn't know how to respond to that, guilt settling heavy in her stomach.
.𖥔 ݁ ˖𓅓‧₊˚ ִ☾.
Estelle was fussing and clearly over the day. "I'll get her to bed," Percy smiled as he picked his little sister up and she immediately nestled her head into the crook of his neck. Her tiny hand was resting on his chest and she instantly calmed down, her breathing evening out.
"Beth night," she babbled quietly and Percy came over to her and leaned down so Annabeth could reach the little girl from her place on the sofa. She gave Estelle a gentle kiss on her tiny head and the little girl sighed contently. An endearing smile was plastered over Percy's face as he watched.
He slowly started rocking Estelle, moving through the living room to get her settled in her crib in her new toddler room. Annabeth melted a little every time she saw Percy take care of his little sister. He was so gentle, so kind. Every time she watched the two of them together, she knew, he would be the best father she could ever imagine. Someday. Now it was up to her to break the cycle.
When Percy had left the room she was left sitting on the sofa alone. Quiet music was playing and the setting late summer sun tinged everything in a deep, orange color. The soft noises of the kitchen and Percy telling Estelle a bedtime story where almost white noise, fading to the background as Annabeth cuddled herself into the thick blanket she had wrapped around herself.
She was in deep thought when Sally entered the room with two steaming cups of tea in her hands. She set them on the round coffee table full of colorful pen marks and little stickers, and settled next to Annabeth on the sofa.
"You've been quiet today."
Of course Sally would be able to tell something was going on in her mind. Annabeth was naive to forget where Percy got his observation skills from.
She deflated a little, turning to face Sally.
Her eyes were kind and she knew, that Sally would never push her if she didn't wanna talk about it, but looking at her loves' mother, she knew that if she was ever gonna talk about it it was now.
"Percy wants to take my name."
Sally didn't look surprised. For a little while she didn't say anything. The bustling city was the only noise filling the silence.
"And you don't want that," she stated after a while.
Once again Sally felt all-knowing. Annabeth sometimes wondered if there was some truth in Sally possessing the gift of Prophecy or if it was just a quality of an observing mother. She wouldn't really know the difference anyway.
"It's really nothing, it's gonna sound so stupid," she started. Sally smiled sadly. "I'm sure it's anything but stupid, love."
Annabeth shuddered. Sometimes these positive reinforcements still felt unusual, new to her. She took a deep breath and collected all her courage.
"He is so sure about taking my name, for him it's a given, but… I never wanted to keep it."
She thought of that night again, just a few short days ago, when he so confidently exclaimed to take her name.
"Do you want to tell me why not?" Sally prompted softly, reaching for one of the mugs and handing it to Annabeth. The tea had cooled down slightly and Annabeth took a careful sip, the hot liquid still feeling like it was burning her throat. She wondered if it was the tea at all.
"For years when I was a child," she started hesitantly, "I didn't know what was wrong with me. It always felt like my dad lost interest in me as soon as he married my stepmom and they had kids together. Normal kids, not," she gestured to herself, "someone like me."
Sally frowned slightly at that, the same eyebrow scrunch that she loved so much on Percy, but didn't interrupt her. Annabeth was grateful, she would have probably lost her courage to keep going.
"My stepmom couldn't deal with me, my dad couldn't deal with how i behaved with her. He was never on my side. They made me feel like I was the problem, so I ran away…"
The lump in her throat felt as hot as the tea she was drinking. A red, hot mass of shame seared itself into her stomach.
Annabeth felt her breath rattling in her lungs, breathing getting harder. She felt Sally taking her hand, grounding her. They sat like that for a while until Annabeth felt the strength to continue.
"I'm sorry, I don't… this is so stupid, I'm sorry Sally you have enough on your plate."
"Baby you have nothing to apologize for. Your father wasn't the father you deserved. You had to grow up faster than any child should have. There is nothing to be ashamed of, you are allowed to ask for help or for someone to listen to you. You're not doing this alone anymore."
Annabeth felt single tears falling down her cheeks. Tears of sadness about the childhood she had lost or anger at the people who took it from her she didn't know.
She nursed her mug and cuddled deeper into the sofa.
"My mother's first gift to me was a hat that makes it so nobody could see me anymore," she huffed. How ironic truly. "All I ever wanted was for her to see me and she gifts me something that does the exact opposite."
"She claims to love me but I talked to her once before I met Percy. She never even tried. When Percy went missing she was downright cruel."
She was speaking herself into rage. She felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Now that she was admitting all the things that ate her up for years she realized how unfair it all was.
"A mother who doesn't think it's worth seeing me and a father who doesn't bother treating me like a kid that deserves a childhood. I didn't watch a single movie with him, he never read me a proper goodnight story. And then he married and everyone made me the problem. He says he loves me but–"
Annabeth was crying now. "Someone who loves you wouldn't do this." Sally cupped her face softly, wiping away the tears on her face. Annabeth leaned into Sally's touch.
"No," Sally smiled sadly, "no, they shouldn't."
They were sitting in silence for a moment. Sally holding her, Annabeth letting her tears fall, breathing her in, something about her being familiar and comforting but different from Percy. She took one more deep breath.
"I want to take his name. Your name."
The confession felt freeing, like the weight of the world got lifted off her shoulders again.
"The house my parents lived in was never a home to me. You and Percy were the first people to show me what it means to have a home."
There was a tear falling down Sally's cheek now too and the moment felt tender, the two women holding each other, loving like a mother and daughter should.
"Annabeth I will be honored if you take this name. You are my daughter in all but name, but I would be honored."
Sally squeezed her shoulder, soft. She had a single tear rolling down her cheek. Warmth was radiating off her, the late evening sun just touching the crown of her head and making her glow almost golden.
This, Annabeth thought, must be what a goddess should really look like.
"You know the first summer Percy came back from Camp he told me of a girl with big brown eyes and long braids and I could tell it was already so much deeper than a friendship. He told me you'd ran away from home so young and my heart broke for you."
Annabeth tried to suppress a smile. Of course Percy would talk about her that first summer. She had talked about him, too, however her father barely even listened. Sally remembered every word.
"I didn't know how to tell him Sally. He is always so sure of himself, he loves so openly and I– I don't know how to do that."
Annabeth had emptied the mug of tea and set it back on the coffee table. She couldn't look Sally in the eyes.
"You are capable of the same love baby. Even if your loved ones didn't show it to you."
She was fidgeting with the golden band on her finger. A reminder of Sally.
To Annabeth, Sally Jackson was the mother she had never had. The family that cared and didn't neglect their five year old daughter because they thought she was an abomination. Sally always made Annabeth feel worth something.
At seven years old she had felt utterly alone in a house that was hollow and bitter, at 24 she had managed to build herself her own little family. And this time it actually felt like home.
In front of her, the woman that made her feel loved. She was wearing her ring. She was marrying her son. And she knew he would understand her decision.
"Thank you."
It came out barely a whisper. Her tears started falling again, this time it wasn't anger or sorrow. The tears were grateful and full of love. Sally pulled her into a hug.
"There is nothing to thank me for," she heard Sally say, warm and compassionate.
"Wise Girl?"
She heard her name, said in that familiar voice, his tone questioning, confused. Sally let go of her and turned to her son.
"I'll leave you to it," she put her hand on Annabeth's cheek again and wiped away the last lingering tear.
Leaving the room she squeezed Percy's shoulder and he sat down on the sofa where his mom had been sitting just moments before.
"Is it about the other night?" he asked.
Straight to the chase.
"Oh my gods is it because I got egg stuck in your braids again?" he asked in a mock exasperation.
She rolled her eyes but he just gave her another lopsided grin. She couldn't ever act annoyed for long with him.
"You could have just told me if I went too fast Wise Girl," he started but she shushed him by putting a finger over his mouth. There was his eyebrow scrunch again she loved so dearly.
"Let me explain Seaweed Brain."
He looked at her with that determined look in his eyes, desperate to understand what she was thinking.
"You weren't going too fast. Not at all. We just went in different directions. You thought it was a given that you'd take my name but I never wanted my name to stay with me. Nothing is keeping me to this name."
His eyebrows shot up, almost surprised. For how observing he was, he was still a Seaweed Brain after all. But he was her Seaweed Brain. She gave him an endearing smile.
"I wanna take yours. Your name, Sally's name. I wanna be part of your family, the people that gave me a home and showed me what it feels like to be loved."
"Oh Annabeth you are always my family, were from the very first moment. I'm sorry I didn't realize."
"Don't apologize Percy. I shut you out. I thought you wouldn't understand because you grew up with family that loved you. That was stupid of me, I'm the one who's so–"
Now it was his turn to shush her. He held his finger over her mouth, mischievous grin on his face, proud that he beat her with her own weapons.
"Nope you're not apologizing! I'm not gonna accept it," he said still grinning and she had to roll her eyes again.
When he looked at her it seemed like he was drinking her in, all of her. He radiated warmth that took over her body and spread like a wildfire.
"And besides, Annabeth Jackson sounds beautiful anyway."