For the Rest of Our Lives

Chapter 4

Credit where due

One week later

Percy's POV:

They didn't tell anyone about Annabeth's condition. As far as he knew, only himself, Annabeth, Will, and Kayla were informed.

A Roman child of Apollo had come to camp to help with the surgery considering it was one Will had never done. Annabeth was set to have her hysterectomy tomorrow morning. That meant she wasn't allowed to eat anything prior to it the night before.

So when they all sat down for dinner and she wasn't eating anything, Luke asked, "Mommy, where is your dinner?"

Annabeth and Percy both looked at each other. He thanked Athena for making Annabeth so witty. "I already had dinner with Auntie Piper."

Luke shrugged and continued to eat his food. He saw Annabeth release a breath silently.

~~~~~

He and Annabeth fell asleep peacefully that night. She complained about being hungry, he laughed, then they said their 'good nights' and 'I love you's. Both of them were ready for tomorrow. They were thankful to have Will as well, who was willing to get it done without many people helping him.

Annabeth fell asleep pressed up against him. She laid basically on top of him, but still off to the side. She had the covers up to her face, just how she liked it. She shifted around one last time, then closed her eyes. He had his hands resting folded on her back and soon he followed her in sleep.

He woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of something hitting the ground hard. It sounded dense, and heavy. Then something crashed, like glass. Annabeth wasn't next to him anymore. Then he heard screaming.

Percy shot out of bed and ran in the direction of noise. It led him to the nursery. More screaming came, but it was muffled.

He cursed in an effort to open the door. It was locked. He thanked Charlie Beckendorph for teaching him how to kick down doors.

When in the room, Annabeth wasn't there. Bianca was on the floor, now screaming. But her screams were not like the ones he had heard. No, that was Annabeth.

Her crib had been flipped to the side. The most noticeable thing was the window, now shattered. He hurried to it and looked out. All he was was the sound below, waves hitting the sand.

He yelled himself in anger. Annabeth was gone, someone had taken her. Someone had snuck into their home and abducted his wife. He would have sat down and cried had Bianca not been doing just that.

He picked up his baby girl, careful not to step on the broken glass. She had a few shards of glass stuck in her small body. It dented his heart further to see.

He quickly pulled out the big ones. She screamed louder. He held her close to his chest, thankful she was at least alive.

Luke and Silena came out of their rooms and into Bianca's. They both looked confused and scared. Silena gripped her blanket tightly.

"Daddy, what's going on?" Luke asked, mortified.

He would have loved to console his children and tell them everything was fine, but he was one person. "Luke," he said seriously, "go get your brother and take your sister and go into my room. Stay in my bed and lock the door. If anyone tries to get in except me, do not open it."

Luke, who had been trying to be tougher in his father's eyes, took this seriously and began to do as told.

Meanwhile, Percy dashed from his own home with Bianca and ran to the Big House. He'd never run faster in his life. He skipped up the stairs of the porch and knocked speedily on the front door.