People Meet Percabeth

Aphrodite

A/N Hey! I am still going to do a Harry Potter part two, but someone suggested this idea lightly, but I took this very seriously. So here, my young grasshoppers, is Aphrodite, the master babysitter. Love you guys! Don't let the monsters bite! Peace out!✌🏻️😘~Maddie.

***

Aphrodite stared at the two demigods blankly. A woman. A man. Three kids. This was all her mind could comprehend. Three kids. A man. A woman.

Babysitting. Three children. Two boys and a beautiful girl. Twins, and a girl. Not that this was a problem to Aphrodite, in fact, Aphrodite was ecstatic. Amazed. Happy. Speechless.

A scream was building in her throat, but she swallowed it. She couldn't afford that, she had to act responsible. Poised. Wise. Not that she was any of those. But she could sure put up an act.

"Well, would that be okay?" They had asked.

"Would you be willing to do that?" They had wondered aloud to her.

"Yes. Of course. Yes." Aphrodite was a bundle of happiness and joy and happiness. Yes, she was definitely that happy. But she was poised. Wise. Responsible. A beautifully constructed.....actress. That was all she was. Well, she was happy. There was that.

Now, she was sort of regretting that choice. The children were wonderful. Adorable. Just like their parents. Zoë, the blonde who was too clever for her own good, the hair and brains of her mother, the eyes and mischief of her father. Luke, the wonderfully sweet boy who was too easy to take advantage of. The eyes and dazzling smile of his mother, the hair and-lack, thereof-brain of his father. And Charlie, the hilariously innocent child who made everyone laugh. The features of his father, the smarts of his mother, the kindness of his grandma Sally. All the children were wonderful, unique, adorable. But they did not get along. It was chaos.

"No! Don't eat that!" Aphrodite ran up to Luke and pulled. He fell into her arms, and coughed, a piece of string hanging from his mouth. Aphrodite yanked the string from his tiny hands.

On the other side of the room, Zoë was holding the phone close to her ear, whispering and smirking. Aphrodite inched towards Zoë, her ears tuned to the language she knew best: love. She was already fantasizing about matching Zoë up with someone, but when she heard these words, her hope shattered. This was not the fun love, only the family kind. Boring.

"Love you too, Aunt Piper." Was what Zoë had said. See, boring, right?

Aphrodite flipped her wavy hair out of her face and marched over to Luke and Charlie, whom were fighting over a particular toy that looked suspiciously like Poseidon.

"I want grandpa! He's cooler! You can have Zeus! He sucks!" Charlie whined, snatching the mythomagic doll from his brother, who began to cry.

"No! You can have Zeus!" Luke said through tears. "Poseidon's way better!" Luke made a pathetic grab for his brother's hand, but failed, and began to cry harder.

"Charlie!" Aphrodite grabbed him and sat him in the couch. "Give me the toy."

Charlie grinned. "No."

"Charlie, please." Aphrodite pleaded.

Charlie stuck out his bottom lip in thought. "What's in it for me?" He asked, his toddler babble kicking in so Aphrodite could barely understand him.

"How about...." Aphrodite glanced into the kitchen. Candy. That's the way to a child's heart. "Candy?"

Charlie's eyes lit up. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." He repeated over and over. "Yeah!"

"Okay. Hand over the toy."

Charlie placed the toy into Aphrodite's hand and jumped up, scurrying into the kitchen. Aphrodite followed him, and agreed to a piece of chocolate, with nothing more than a slender infer pressed to her lips. Shh.

Charlie nodded. "You're the best Aunt Dite!"

Aphrodite melted inside.

***

"Aphrodite!" A woman screeched, startling Aphrodite awake from her slumber.

"What?" She asked groggily. Didn't people understand that goddesses slept too? Like with eyes closed, lights off, and no interruptions. But this moment was the exact opposite. Interruption? Yeah, if you called a fuming daughter of Athena an interruption. Lights on? Oh, of course. And eyes open? Now, they were.

"What are you doing?" Annabeth yelled at Aphrodite, her face red with anger.

"Um.....sleeping! Something you do where others leave you alone. Emphasis on 'leave you alone.'" Aphrodite responded, standing and stretching. "Where are the kids?"

"We could ask the same of you!" Annabeth seethed, steam practically coming out of her mouth and nose. If dragons were scary, Aphrodite thought, Annabeth was a new kind of horror.

Percy was looking at Aphrodite with an unreadable expression. Disappointment? Shame? Aphrodite couldn't tell. What she could tell was that Annabeth and Percy were in love. It radiated off of every inch of their bodies. The linked hands. The touching shoulders. The soft eyes. The two matching wedding bands. And in their children. The children....whoops. That was why Annabeth was angry. Aphrodite was supposed to be watching the kids. Yikes.

"Well," Aphrodite ventured. "The last time I saw the kids, they were....."

Aphrodite trailed off as she made her way to Zoë's room. She peeked in and grinned triumphantly. Asleep.

Next, to Charlie's room. Asleep.

Then, Luke's room. Oh, look at that! Asleep.

"Ha!" Aphrodite pointed a finger at Annabeth. "They're asleep!"

Speechless, Annabeth opened and closed her mouth like a fish. "Aphrodite...."

"It's fine, my dear. It was a pleasure watching them. Adorable. Kind. Tiring. But I enjoyed it!" Aphrodite rubbed her eyes. Poised. Responsible. An adult. That was what Aphrodite was. A Goddess.

"Thank you." Percy finally spoke. "I can't believe you got them to sleep!"

"Well, I have my methods! I am a goddess. Do remember that." Aphrodite laughed.

Percy and Annabeth hugged her and Aphrodite peeked into Zoë's room one last time. A green eyes staring back. A wink. A giggle. Aphrodite gave a thumbs up. The plan worked. Percy and Annabeth believed their acts. Aphrodite was definitely not done babysitting. Or meddling for that matter.

After all, love is the most powerful thing on Earth. And remember, don't pity the dead, pity the living and above all, the people who live without love. Aphrodite was not done with the Jacksons just yet.