A Drop Of The Ocean - ( Percy Jackson Fanfiction)- Completed

Ch 19

She was gone when he was finally done in the shower, so he dressed and found his way through the apartment and back to Jason's room. The light spilled in from the hallway, illuminating her face as she sat in the rocker nursing their son. Her fingers danced over Jason's cheek and his chubby hand searched for a lock of her hair. Annabeth lifted her hand and grabbed her son's fist, kissing his little fingers. Percy couldn't do anything but watch.

In the few months that Jason has been born there had been so many moments like this one. There were times that Percy felt so overwhelmed with love for them that it was like he couldn't even breathe. All those years ago, when he and Annabeth were stuck in the Underworld, this is what he wished for the most. A future. A family.

There were also some times when he was angry, though. It pained him to think about how his own father didn't do this. He couldn't imagine not being with Annabeth and their child or the other way around. Annabeth grew up without her mother, her father being both parents, as Sally was to Percy. They knew what it's like to raise an infant with both parents, neither one could imagine life without the other.

"You okay?" Annabeth's voice brought him back. She readjusted her shirt and brought Jason to her shoulder.

"Yeah." He smiled softly and made his way to them. "Perfect." He rested a hand on Jason's back and kissed the top of his thick black hair. His son looked up at him with wide gray eyes, just like Annabeth's.

Percy's fingers ache to reach out and pull her into his arms and kiss her. In the first weeks after Jason's birth things had been difficult. He and Annabeth both struggled with their son's sleeping patterns, not to mention hourly feedings and everything else that came along with a newborn. Though they had both been present when Estelle was a baby, it was different now. Sally came to stay with them for a few days, but Annabeth struggled still. It was her self-doubt that brought her down, no matter what anyone said to her. Even when her father and stepmother visited, taking turns talking to her as she hid away in the master bedroom.

Then, one day, she'd showered, made coffee, fed and dressed Jason, and was working on a one of her projects before Percy was even out of bed. He didn't ask her about it that day, but they'd eventually talked about it. Being a mother was something that Athena wasn't good at and Annabeth could be a lot like Athena if she wanted to be.

But she didn't want to be.