Percy and Annabeth-Their future

Bewilder-er

Summer was flying by, and soon enough, it was almost Percy's birthday. And it was his very special birthday too: 50 years old. 

"What do you think?" I whispered to Sally on the phone. I was paranoid about someone hearing me, even though no one at work would have really cared. "What should I do for him? I have no idea and I feel like a terrible wife for not planning some big extravagant thing like he did and-"

"Annabeth, honey," Sally laughed, slowing down my rant. "Calm down. He just wants to be with you, that's all he really cares about. Get the kids together, have a nice dinner... he really doesn't care how extravagant it is!"

And as nice as that sounded- Luke home at last with all the kids and Percy and I- it didn't feel adequate. I felt that way with Percy sometimes, like there was more I should be doing because he'd given everything to me. Immortality, for one. How was I supposed to compete with that?

"Thanks, Sally," I said half-heartedly.

"You really don't have to stress about this, honey. Anything you do will be perfect, I can promise you that."

I smiled, Sally's words reassuring and reminding me that Percy wasn't one for the extravagance of anything, really. He liked everything simple because our lives were anything but. We were perfect in that sense because I completely understood. But at the same time, he always managed to be elaborate and extraordinary in a completely ordinary way, and I just wanted to give him that. 

"Okay. I'll talk to you later, then Sally. Thank you so much for all your help!"

"No problem, sweetie! I'll drop off those Sweet on America goodies for him later on."

"That sounds great! Bye," I said, hanging up. I resumed my blueprint, but my mind was still reeling. What was I going to do to make Percy's birthday special? It was tomorrow night, for Zeus' sake!

So naturally, because I couldn't work on my blueprint for a paying client, I drafted my birthday card for Percy.

Dear Percy,

I stopped, biting my lip the way I always did when I was thinking really hard about something. There were infinite things to say in this card, yet somehow none of them seemed right. They all seemed like the same old cookie-cutter card. You know, the "You've saved my life countless times and I love you forever and always and you're perfect in every way." Just your typical Annabeth card.

Dear Percy,

Still nothing seemed perfect. Why was my Seaweed Brain so good at birthdays? His surprise for me had been perfect. Absolutely terrifying and ridiculous, but unimaginably perfect. Which was exactly who we were. 

"Ugh!" I exclaimed, nearly spilling the coffee I'd been dependent on all morning. Why couldn't I be the hopeless romantic with adorable ideas that went beyond cheesy and dumb?

I went home early that day, stressing the entire car ride home. Nothing seemed right, nothing seemed me. So in an utterly desperate attempt to salvage my failure at Percy's fiftieth birthday, I followed Sally's instructions.

"Sophia?" I called, elated that she'd picked up. "Oh gods, please tell me you're free tomorrow night for dinner for Dad's birthday?" 

"Of course!" Sophia laughed, as if my question were all that preposterous with their busy schedule. "Logan and I are actually shopping for a gift right now! What time were you thinking?"

"I'm not sure, I'll text you when I know all the details." I sighed, relieved that I had one child checked off my list. 

"Okay, Mom, that sounds great! Listen, I'm about to check out so can I call you back later?"