Relapse

3 - Annabeth

The kids go in their room to play after breakfast is over. I clean up the kitchen.

After I finish scrubbing a few dishes, Percy comes up behind me and rests his hands on my hips. He kisses the back of my neck, which is exposed due to the fact that my hair is up in a bun. "Wise Girl, let me do that. You go sit down."

I sigh and drop the sponge, but I don't move. "Percy, I haven't had a baby in 4 years, yet you still treat me like I'm 7 months pregnant."

"Don't act like you don't love it." He kisses my neck again, this time closer to my shoulder.

"Percy."

"Mm?" Another kiss.

"I'm doing the dishes. You can go make sure the kids are okay."

"They're fine. I can see them from here."

"And that means they can see us from here."

"Would you rather take it to the bedroom?"

"Percy!" I turn around quickly and he laughs. He keeps his hands on my hips and eases me towards the counter.

"I'm joking," he says. "Move, I'll clean. You go get ready for work."

"I already told you, my shift doesn't start until 12."

"So now you have plenty of time to go get ready."

"Percy-"

"Just go sit down, pretty please? With a cherry on top?"

I groan. "Fine. I'll go sit down."

"Thank you." He gives me a quick kiss then lets me go.

As soon as I go sit down, I get a feeling that someone is in here watching me. No, not a feeling, an instinct. I've been getting these urges and feelings ever since I had that dream 4 years ago. I don't want to tell Percy about them. I'm afraid he'll start acting way overprotective and go into a state of panic. And for once in my life, I don't have a plan. How am I supposed to have a plan when I don't know what's happening or what to expect?

I look into the kid's room. They're smiling, playing, laughing. I look into the kitchen. Percy's washing the dishes. I look into mine and Percy's room. No one's in there.

So why do I have this feeling?

I walk towards the door and look out the peep hole in the door. No one's outside. The balcony out the sliding glass door is empty, too.

What the hell.

"Hey, Perce, I'm gonna go take a nap."

"Okay," he continues to scrub the dish. "I'll wake you up in an hour and a half."

"Thank you," I kiss his cheek and go into our room, closing the door behind me. I make sure my knife (a replacement I got a few years ago) is in my nightstand and that my drakon-bone sword (that I rarely use) is still between the matress and the box spring. They're both in their correct places. Good.

But something isn't right. I feel it deep inside me. I just don't know what it is.

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I stop by a Cafe on my way to work to get a coffee. There's only one girl behind the counter, but there's only me and two other people in line. The one girl behind the counter, however, has a kid back there as well, so she's taking a little long. I don't mind, though. I'm early anyways since the cafe is usually busy by this time. Her kid keeps taking things and running around with them as she tries to catch him. She looks young, maybe about nineteen, and her kid is about three. She looks frustrated.

"Come on already!" The girl in front of me groans. "Just grab your damn kid and throw him in a closet somewhere! I need my coffee! I'm already late to a very important work meeting."

My motherly instincts start to kick in, but I restrain myself.

"I'm not going to lock my kid up," the barista says.

"Oh, come on. Mothers like you are the reason we have all these sheltered little glass children running around, because you don't discipline him!"

"All due respect, Ma'am," the words fall out of my mouth, "do you have any children?"

She turns around at me, her gaze full of fire. "No. Why does that matter?"

"Well maybe you shouldn't judge a mom until you're a mom yourself."

She scoffs. "Please. Like you would know. You're like, 20."

I pull up a photo of me, Percy, and the twins. The photo of my lockscreen. "This is my boyfriend and our two kids. I was 18 when they were born and I worked a minimum wage job in which I sometimes couldn't find a sitter so I had to take them to work often. Daycare facilities weren't open on most days and times that I had to work. It's harder than it sounds to manage a child."

"Yeah, okay. You can live in your little play pretend, but leave me out of it. I just want my damn coffee!"

"Go make it yourself then, if It's such a big deal."

"You know what, I think I will!" And just like that, she sashays out.

I look at the girl behind the counter. "I'm so sorry, I know she was a valuable customer, but I couldn't stand her talking to you like tha-"

She comes out from behind the counter and wraps me in a hug, her face buried in my shoulder. "Thank you so much."

I pat her on the back. "Of course. I know what it's like to be a young, struggling mother."

She pulls away. She wipes tears from her eyes. "My parents disowned me after they found out I was pregnant. I've been on my own ever since. Thank you so much."

I smile at her. "It's not a problem. Really."

She goes back behind the counter. "What can I get you today?"

"Four large iced mochas, please."

She jots it into her computer and gives me my total. I pay her, then put a 20 in the tip jar.

"Oh, ma'am, I can't accept that." She says as she hands me my drink carrier and coffees.

"Of course you can. You deserve it."

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I get off the bus at the office. I got a job in the city rather than in New Rome. They offered me the job when the twins were about a year old and I've been working there since. I'm a lead architect of the San Francisco Institute of Architecture.

I give a coffee to Paisley at the service desk. She smiles and asks what the occasion is, and I just tell her about the little mishap at the cafe. I take another coffee to my secretary, June. She takes it, no questions asked. Probably because she was on the phone with what seemed to be a very angry customer.

I get back to my office with the two other coffees and call Zara, my work partner, in. She's in within a minute, a smile on her face as usual.

"I see you brought coffee," she said, sitting on the edge of my desk.

"Yeah. Hell of a ride to work. Here," I hand her a coffee and she accepts it gratefully.

"Thanks." She takes a long drink. "Ready to get to work?"

"You bet." I pick up my pencil and start drawing plans.

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That was probably the most pointless, boring chapter I have ever written but I didn't want to give yall nothing to read. Sorry it took so long to update. I've been really busy. It's also very hard to keep from writing swear words in this book because I don't want suddenly start swearing, especially if there's kids or people who don't like them reading this.

Love you all! Stay safe!