Son of Poseidon (PercyJackson x Batfam)

Christmas

Christmas breakfast smells wafted from the stove and oven, as Alfred and I cooked together.

He had to do Christmas Eve dinner all by himself, so I could at least help him with breakfast and the rest of the meals today.

"Merry Christmas!"

The phrase rang out through the house as the boys woke up, scrambling down the stairs like a herd of elephants.

In a sing-song voice, I gave a good morning, humming a Christmas tune while pulling bread pudding out of the oven.

"Good morning Percy, Alfred, boys," Bruce came down the stairs in a suit, "it sure smells good in here you two."

Both of us smiled at him as the others tumbled to the living room, "Present time!"

Making our way to the Christmas tree, we swapped presents with each other, which turned quite chaotic very quickly.

I made Jason celestial bronze bullets, burning a couple fingers lightly in the process, to which he realized the many band-aids around my fingers were for.

And I have to say, he was very happy with the gift.

"These are the best, fricking bullets, ever," He grinned.

I managed to get a book created for Tim, with different plans the Hephaestus cabin helped me with on my trip to Camp, when I invited some of the others over for Christmas dinner.

His eyes started to sparkle as he skimmed the pages, letting his fingers brush over the carefully designed prints, "Wow, thanks, Percy."

Next, was Bruce.

I couldn't wait to see his face as he opened the present: They were celestial bronze battarang's.

His eyes looked at them in wonder, "These are very well made, Percy."

"I made them when making Jason's bullets," I wiggled my other burned fingers, "I had a little help from the Hephaestus cabin, which explains why I still have them all."

Letting out a chuckle, he placed the present onto the coffee table, "Well, I think the best gift is that you are still intact from making ours."

We all laughed, sipping on our hot chocolate before I handed Alfred his present.

"Why, Master Percy," Alfred smiled, "these are perfect, I was just going to buy a new set of cooking knives this month."

"Not just any cooking knives," I smiled, lop-sided, "they are enchanted to be extra sharp without the need to re-sharpen them."

He chuckled softly, "It is indeed a good present, thank you."

Now it was Damian's turn, and I could see the sparkle he failed to suppress in his eyes.

He was still a kid, and Christmas was still an exciting for him, even if he tried to hide it.

Lifting up a long package from behind the couch, I wordlessly passed it to him.

"Wait till you see it," I was fidgeting in my seat and I couldn't help but blurt it out.

Slipping it out of the package, he gasped softly, "I- I do not know what to say."

In his hands lay two swords, both made of celestial bronze, both being katanas.

They were perfectly balanced, with a sharp edge, but weren't too heavy. On the hilt of the one were the words, "Brother in Life" and on the other, "Brother in Arms."

"I love them," He whispered, lifting them up to the light, "they are perfectly crafted."

Running his hands over the golden engraving, he carefully put them back in their case, "I shall put them at the center of my sword wall when I first get the opportunity. I cannot wait to try them!"

Grinning, we got to breakfast, racing each other there, and our smiles didn't waver for a moment.

(skip)

I heard a yell of surprise before racing to the living room, almost tripping onto my face.

"Percy!"

"Nico, Will," I crushed them both in a hug, laughing at their matching ugly Christmas sweaters.

Nico's, of course, was skeletons and skulls in tinsel, while Will's was the sun in Christmas lights.

Wincing, they touched my lightning burns, "It's fine, they're not that bad."

Sure, they still bothered me some, but that's not why I flinched.

"Why," Will was insanely calm, "are you always getting hurt when I'm not near? It could've been a lot worse if we weren't called! You know you need to keep an eye out for dangers like that!"

Nico mouthed slowly, slinking into the shadows to hide, "Run."

Without another thought, I was running through the manner with a crazy angry child of Apollo on my tail.

Zig zagging through the halls, I collided with a pair of bodies, collapsing onto the floor with said crazy angry child of Apollo.

"Hey Percy, we decided to break in instead of using the door," Conner started.

"because we heard this was one of the most secure houses," Travis ended.

Grunting, I hauled myself and Will up, as they yelled together, "Merry Christmas, ya' filthy animals!"

Laughing, racing to the living room, Alfred was holding Estelle and talking to Chiron, Bruce and Reyna spoke softly, while the others were comparing knives and weapons with Thalia, and Grover spoke to Barbara.

I heard small giggles from behind me, and if it was possible, I was sure my face cracked from smiling.

Launching themselves into my arms, every single one of my littles laughed, "Merry Christmas, Percy!"

"Merry Christmas," I smiled, playfully tugging on Cilia's golden curls, and ruffled the boys' hair.

"It is time for supper, everyone," Alfred opened the dining room doors, "and please, do make yourselves comfortable."

Everyone sat at the table, and as we finished, they complimenting the chefs, before collapsing next to the fireplace.

Accounting old holidays at Camp, and other silly stories, we exchanged gifts with each other, sipping on egg-nog and hot chocolate, while eating Christmas cookies.

Looking around at everyone's happy faces, I couldn't help but feel a warm and joyful something bubble up inside.

Thinking about crazy the near year and a half I've had here, the vigilante work, the friends I've made, the new family I've gotten, I realized something.

Aphrodite was right...

Love did find me again.