Come Back to Me[Sequel to YME and Crossing Paths]

Chapter Sixteen: Don't Die With a Full Bladder

Chapter Fifteen: Don't Die With a Full Bladder

Annabeth

Two days later, I pulled into Piper and Jason's driveway. They haven't had time to themselves since Jonas was born, so I decided to kick them out of their house for one night.

I got out of my car and went inside, not bothering to knock. "Hello?" I called out.

"Coming!" I heard Jason's voice, paired with a scramble of footsteps. He appeared in the entryway in a black tux, fiddling with his tie. "I am so glad you told us to get out of the house. We needed a break. Thank you."

I smiled, "No problem. Besides, you know I love Jonas to pieces."

"You spoil him too much," Jason rolled his eyes.

Piper came striding towards us, Jonas bouncing happily on her hip. He smiled his toothless grin when he saw me, holding out his chubby hands.

"You want to see Auntie Annie, don't you, buddy?" Piper handed Jonas to me, and I booped his nose.

"Hey, little guy." I looked up to Piper and Jason. "Go, have some fun. But not too much. We don't need another one of these things running around just yet." I nodded towards Jonas teasingly.

"Shut up," Piper said. She turned to Jason. "Can we go now?"

•••

I sat on the floor with Jonas. He was clapping blocks together and giggling, showing his toothless gums. He looked up at me, his smile disappearing. When he realized that his parents weren't here, he started wailing.

I sighed, picking him up and bouncing him on my hip. "You're okay, buddy. Mommy and Daddy will be back later."

Jonas kept crying. He didn't want food, and his diaper wasn't full. I brought him upstairs to the nursery, looking around for something to entertain him. I spotted a book laying on a nightstand. The Three Horrid Little Pigs. I sat in the rocking chair and set Jonas on my lap, opening the book.

"Once upon a time, three horrid little pigs lived with their mother in a tiny house."

•••

Once I'd finished the story, Jonas was asleep and drooling all over my chest. I lay him in his crib and went back downstairs to wipe the drool off my shirt.

My phone began to buzz on the countertop where I'd set it prior. I looked at the caller ID. Unknown.

Confused, I picked it up and answered the call. "Hello?"

An eerie, deadly calm male's voice can through the speaker, "Down on your knees, hands behind your head." I froze, terrified. There could be someone trying to get to me, and Jonas was sleeping upstairs. I couldn't let another child die because of me, so I obeyed. If I cooperated, this person may not think to check for other people.

"O-Okay," I slowly got down on my knees with my hands behind my head.

"If you call the cops, I'll shoot." I stayed silent. I heard the door burst open, and I stopped breathing, terrified of what could happen in the next few minutes.

The man walked into the kitchen, and I held back a yelp. Glowering down at me was the one and only Luke Castellan.

My voice was trembling as I asked, "Why are you here?"

Luke scoffed, kicking my abdomen. I doubled over and begged myself not to cry out in pain. "Did you honestly think that I'd just leave you alone after I'd thrown the daughter I'd never wanted into the river? I thought it would be polite of me to at least let you join her." my eyes widened as he pulled out a gun, aiming it at my head.