Found Light in the Shadow (Solangelo)

Chapter Seventeen

Nico

I didn't even remember falling asleep last night. I was laying on the couch watching t.v. with my baby and the next thing I knew; I was in bed with Will laying behind me. It looked like it was still dark outside, so I knew that it was way too early to get out of bed. However, my bladder was insisting that I got up. I slid Will's arm carefully off of me, trying not to wake him up. I quietly walked over to the bathroom and closed the door before turning on the light. After relieving myself, I went to the sink to wash my hands. I couldn't help staring at my reflection in the mirror. I guess I never really stopped and thought about how much my life has changed over the past few years. I went from being basically a little kid to a full size adult in what seemed like a blink of an eye.

Ever since Thalia, Percy, and Annabeth rescued my sister Bianca and I from Westover Hall (where a monster was hidden in disguise waiting to capture my sister and I), I felt like my life was in a whirlwind. I had always thought that I was bad luck and disaster followed me wherever I went. However, looking back, there was a lot of good in my life that I was too stupid to notice at the time. I looked at the reflection of my face in the mirror now with a goatee now on my chin. No longer was I just a young punk running from place to place, trying to hide from my own shadows. Now I had friends and a husband that loved me very much. Maybe, had I not been such a fool, I would have realized years ago that there were actually people that cared about me. Perhaps I could have found some happiness in my life then.

I smiled at the face in the mirror and turned off the light. Then I walked back over to the bed where my sleeping lover was waiting for me. I slid back under the covers and found that Will was now laying on his back. I snuggled back up to him like I usually slept, my head resting on his shoulder and my arm wrapped around his warm body. My loving husband, who loved me unconditionally with all of his heart. He would do anything to protect me and I would do the same for him. Regardless of what was going to happen, nothing was going to keep us apart.

...

I wasn't really sure what time it was when we woke up and frankly, I didn't care. I was with the love of my life and nothing was going to ruin our day together. The attack on the camp would come later tonight and I was going to spend every moment that I could with my husband. We spent our morning like we usually did, breakfast and lounging around in just a pair of basketball shorts. Will was doing something in the kitchen for a while, but he would do stuff like that while I was watching t.v. It was nice just to be able to relax and not feel the weight of the world on our shoulders, even though the weight was still there.

Around noon-ish, Will made me get a shower and get dressed for the day. As we were leaving the apartment, he grabbed our school backpacks and handed me one of them. I threw it on my back as we headed out the door. Will wouldn't tell me where we were going or what was in the bags. I walked beside my husband hand in hand as he led us through the small city. He led us through some streets and alleys that I have never even seen before. After a few more twists and turns, we came out from between the buildings and went through some trees. We were now standing in front of the lake. I had been to the lake before, but never to the spot that Will had brought me to. This was more like a cove, set back in from the main lake and surrounded by trees and shrubs. The afternoon sun was shimmering on the water and the leaves on the trees were waving in the light wind. This spot was very nice and also very secluded.

"Baby, this place is beautiful. How did you find out about it?"

Will gave me a quick peck on the forehead before he answered. "Jason told me that I should bring you here sometime. He gave me the directions while you were taking your full day nap."

Will led us over to a nice grassy area right beside the water. He took the backpack off of my shoulders and opened it. After pulling out a blanket, he spread it out on the ground in front of us. We both sat down on the blanket and Will took off his own backpack. He opened it up and started pulling out sandwiches, fruit, and two bottles of water. I was completely shocked that he did all of this and pulled it off without me knowing. It was one of the sweetest things that he has ever done.