Christmas' Eve Story Time.... Chrisse style!

Prologue

Christmas Eve, 8 pm

"But, I don't wanna go to sleep!!" Silena complained, when her father picked her up from the floor. She was watching the Disney Christmas' Special in her wait for Santa and the presents, but the little five-year-old had already yawned several times, which lead to her parents to decide to get her to bed "I wanna wait for Santa!!"

"Silena, Santa won't come if he knows you're awake..." Silena's Daddy, Chris, tried to negotiate with her. Watching her, Chris knew it was the physical reincarnation of his wife's best friend. That's why the name "And, he'll know you're awake..." Silena stubbornly (a thing she had learnt from her mother) shook her head "Oh, and why not?"

"Because, I'm very silent..." the little one whispered in a not-very low voice. Though Chris would be immensely proud that Silena could walk around the house without being detected, he knew she wasn't there quite yet.

"Really? I'll make you a deal, then" Silena was all ears to her father "If you can sneak on Mommy while she does the dishes, you can wait for Santa... and, I'll wait him with you" he added at the end. Chris wasn't ignorant that his daughter will collapse with sleep after the strike of nine at the clock. He had placed that bet with knowledge.

"Deal!" she compromised, wiggling in his arms for him to let her down. Chris did so and watched, amused, as his daughter was practically walking around in tiptoes, trying to surprise her mother, who was on 'washing the dishes' duty.

Silena walked in almost silence, but stepped on a crack in the final feet, gaining Clarisse's attention. She was no strange to this ambushes, since Chris did them to her all the time. It took her a time, but she started to face those ambushes with her hands open and not with knives and stuff, in case she hurt Silena accidentally. She continue washing the dishes, though she was wearing a smirk. One... Two...

"Gotcha!" Clarisse grabbed her daughter by the arms, getting them soapy, and lifted her up. Silena started to screech and throw kicks at the same time, which made Chris laughed from the back ground.

"Mommy!! I was so close!!" she pouted, when her mother put her down, a hand on her hip.

"So close to what, uh?" Clarisse wondered, though she knew the answer.

"So close to surprise you like Daddy does!" Silena admitted, not even embarrassed. Clarisse shared a look with Chris, who shrugged in reply. Clarisse sighed before returning to her duty. She knew how badly Chris wanted for Silena to show some kind of inheritance trait from him, since she showed her Ares' side when she was three and a half and punched a kid on the Nursery when he took a toy away from her. Chris was impatient, she knew that, but said nothing about it.

"Then, you're gonna have to keep practicing, munchkin" Clarisse still felt awkward showing her soft side, even to Chris. With Silena, she had the same problem, though it was not as big as with Chris "Now, off to bed" she ordered, closing the tap.

"You heard her, Sil. Off to bed" Chris repeated, picking her up. Silena started to wiggle around his arms, protesting and whining. She moved so much, Chris was having a hard time to get her in bed "Silena, don't do this"

"I wanna wait for Santa!!" she whined, almost fake crying. Chris raised an eyebrow and looked at her "Please!!"

"Silena Rodriguez, what part of 'Santa won't come if you're awake' you didn't understand?" he asked her, almost amused when Silena put a thinking face.

"The awake part!" Smart girl, I give her that... Chris sighed and sat next to her on bed.

"If I tell you a story, would you go to sleep?" he negotiated with her. Silena nodded and, on her own, tucked herself into bed, her head on the pillow and her stuffed Toothless under her arm (inner joke between Chris and Clarisse) "Alright, which story you want?"

"One that has you and Mommy!" Silena replied, smirking. Chris smirked too, because he loved to tell Silena stories about their life inside Camp Half-Blood. But, if Silena asked for a story of Clarisse and him, that also meant... "Mommy!! Daddy is going to tell me a story of you two!!" Quick and energetic stomps were heard around the apartment, ending with the vision of Clarisse staring at Silena and Chris.

"Scram along, punk. You'll tell the story wrong" she pushed Chris aside. Chris didn't budge and made her sit in front of him, since Silena's bed was against the wall.

"She asked me the story to me" Chris argued, still smirking "You're welcome to stay and listen, right Sil?"

"Yes, Mommy. You're welcome to stay and listen" Silena giggled, knowing what that meant. Chris chuckled as well, getting ready for it. Clarisse still didn't understand the whole point of this, but decided to stay.

"You still haven't picked a story yet" Chris reminded her. Silena gasped and nodded.

"I want one that I haven't heard yet!" she demanded, making the grown ups share a look.

"Well, I didn't tell her how we met..." Chris pointed out, making Clarisse frowned "What?! You said the battle of Manhattan, and the Battle of the Labyrinth! I told her those..."

"Many, many times, Mommy" Silena supplied, shaking her head at her, as if saying 'Man, aren't other stories around?'. Clarisse thought about it and nodded.

"If you get anything wrong, I'm correcting you" she warned him. Chris rolled his eyes, but said nothing.

"OK... So, once upon a time..."