Percy's P.O.V
November was cold, really cold. The kid's favorite playground hasn't been visited since last month and the trees had finished their auburn and gold transition. They had just started to litter the ground and our penthouse view got ten times better when the streets were littered with color. Emilii loved stepping on the leaves and hearing the crunch. She jumped in the freshly raked piles of leaves and wanted to be outside all the time. Her hair blended in with the colors of the leaves too, which she noticed and loved to point out. Athakis hated being outside this time of year according to Natasha. Whenever we went out he'd always have a frown on his face.
One day when I was walking him to pre-school he voiced his opinions.
"I hate the fall." He said.
"How come? You don't like all the nice colors?"
"My teacher said gween is good. There no gween."
"Well don't worry. It'll get white soon, then it'll get green."
"I like spring. Then there's summer and fall and then winter." He said proudly
"Good job."
Soon enough Thanksgiving rolled around the corner and Nat was slaving over the stove. I was the one to go out and get everything she needed, the lines at the market were always long but I didn't mind. I called mom, Paul and Andromeda to come over for Thanksgiving and they agreed. Ryan was going with Cassie to her folk's dinner and Wanda and Vision were coming as well. A rather small gathering but we have the twins who are already a handful.
Thanksgiving day Athakis decided he wanted to help Nat finish the turkey. It warmed my heart to watch him sprinkle the rosemary onto the bird and use his hands to rub the rest of the seasoning in. He had his hair in a ponytail, which now fell right above his ears since we cut it. Emilii was watching cartoons in the living room, giggling at the brightly colored characters singing a song that matched the ABC tempo.
I walked up to where she sat and placed my hands over her eyes.
"Guess who." I said
"Daddy!" She pulled away me hands and looked up.
"What is my princess watching?"
"I'm not a princess! I'm a ninja!"
"So how come I can do this!" I started tickling her but she slithered out of my grasp and ran away. I heard her giggles echoed through the hallway until they stopped.
"Sweetie?" I called out. When I rounded the corner a man dressed in black cloth was standing there, my daughter held tight in his grasp, her screams muffled by his gloved hand.
"Let her go." I snarled. The man didn't reply. Without hesitating I charged at him and struck his chest forcing him to drop Emilii. When she was out of his reach I kicked him hard in the chest sending him crashing into the wall. It wasn't a quiet impact and that alerted Nat because I could hear the burners being clicked off and rushed movements. I bent down to Emilii and wiped her tears.
"Go to mommy." She didn't waste any time and ran into the kitchen. The man stirred.
"Who are you?" I asked. Again I didn't receive a response. Instead his foot flew towards my face but I ducked in time, straightening myself out when I had my hands adjacent to his knee. I squeezed until I heard the bone crunch and then I yanked his leg. He fell down howling in pain.
"Who sent you?!" I growled out. He pursed his lips and I saw movement in his cheek.
"Crap!" I tried to open his mouth but it was too late. His cyanide capsule had been crushed and I was soon clutching a life less body. I rushed to the front of the house to make sure everyone was ok. I didn't see the kids, but I noticed a huge chunk of the wall was missing. Nat was fighting off two men, dressed in black like the first.
