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

Chapter Thirty: Under Arrest

Chapter Thirty: Under Arrest

Percy

The next few weeks were nice. Calm. It was a huge change from what had been going on previously. As Rosie got more comfortable at school, she started to open up at home a lot more. She became the happy, bubbly girl she once was. Annabeth wouldn't come right out and say it, but I could tell she was happier too. While she was able to overcome her grief after her daughter had 'died', the resentment was still there. Some of that has faded, but the hatred for Luke was still boiling strong.

Now mid-May, school was coming to a close. Annie usually visited Rachel once a week on the weekends. Those days were strange. I did worry that something would happen to Annie, but it was toned down after a few visits.

A knock at the door put me out of my thoughts. I sprung up to answer. Standing there, was a woman I didn't recognise. She had brown hair in tight curls and brown eyes.

"Um...hi?" I said.

"Is Annabeth here?" she asked.

"Yeah? Who are you exactly?"

"I'm one of her co-workers. My name is Shriya."

"Okay...come in. I'll go grab Annabeth for you." She stepped in the door and stood there awkwardly. I went downstairs, seeing her at her desk.

"Hey...there is a person named Shryia who wants to see you." I said.

"Right, right. She is my co-worker. We needed to discuss some things about the rebuild of the library so I invited her over."

"That's great. If you want us out of your hair, I can take the girls out for ice cream or something." I suggested.

"Yeah, actually that would be great. Can you pick me up a coffee from Dunkin?" she asked.

I grinned. "Sure thing, love."

"Thanks." She gave me a quick kiss before getting up to go see Shriya.

•••

"Where do you guys want ice cream from?" I asked. There were quite a few ice cream shops in our area.

"Can we go to Giffords?" asked Rosie.

"We haven't been there in forever...please, Dad?" Annie begged.

"To Giffords we go." We chatted and sang along to the radio, and I smiled. These kids...I'd do anything for them.

"So, what flavor do you girls want?" I asked.

"Cookie dough." They said in sync.

"Well, that was easy." I shrugged as I turned into the Giffords parking lot. There wasn't much of a line, so we only had to wait a few minutes.

As they arrived at the counter, they were greeted with a familiar face.

"Estelle?" I asked happily. "You never told me you worked here."

"I just got the job. Hey, I'm off in five minutes, if you guys wait a sec I'll take extra time making your ice cream then I snag one of my own so we can eat together."

"Sweet." Annie said.

"Who's Estelle?" Asked Rosie.

"Oh, Mom told me you were back. Kid, you've got some explaining to do." Estelle pointed at Rosie.

"But how can I explain if I don't know who you are?"

"I'm Percy's sister." She deadpanned.

"Oh, um–okay?"