The Meanings of I Love You

Chapter 11

Hi! I want to dedicate this chapter to my friend Kate ( katiebug0410 on tumblr) she came up with some really good ideas that are going to be used in later chapters!

"Travis, can you come here?!" Katie yelled from the bedroom, her voice slightly shaking from nervousness.

"What is it?" Travis yelled back from the kitchen, where he was preparing his wife a ham and cheese sandwich. He noticed how Katie's voice quavered and put down the knife he used to cu the sandwich and awaited a response.

"Just come here." She still sounded nervous, her voice getting fainter and fainter with each syllable. Travis too was beginning to feel anxious and made his way to the bedroom in which Katie stood.

When he entered Katie noticed that he needed to shave, a light brown stubble was being to cross his face. Maybe he didn't need to shave, Katie decided, after all it gave him a youthful edge to go with his forever young personality. He looked out of place in their daughter's bedroom with his relaxed tee and ripped jeans among the pink and frills.

Their daughter, Ginger, had turned four just the past week and was a huge fanatic of princesses. She wore her puffy, purple princess costume everywhere they went with her silver tiara that her father may or may not have snatched from the local toy story (Katie made him pay back for that one).

The room was empty except for the two of them and Mrs. Coopers, Ginger's tired and withered teddy bear that sagged at its seams and held on by just threads.

"Yes, dear" Travis asked, wrapping his arms around his wife's body. His hands rested on her enlarged stomach. She was due to have a boy in just two months, but she looked much farther along than she was (though he would never tell her that). Her cheeks had gotten chubbier over the months and it took every ounce in his body not to poke them and tell his wife just how cute she was, after all she still carried her fiery temper from when they were teenagers at Camp Half-Blood.

Travis reminisced on the times there, feeling a pang of nostalgia. He remembered the constant bickering between him and Katie. He remembered the mischievnous of him and his brother and how they'd annoyed Chiron with all their antics. He remembered all the fun he had with his siblings and friends. A sad smile crossed his lips, he missed camp.

Luckily, him and Katie still stayed in touch with the other demigods. His brother, Connor, was the owner of a new phone company and traveled the world by himself, a lone wolf he liked to call himself. Travis and Katie even kept in touch with Percy and Annabeth and their twin daughters, Margo and Taylor. Ginger, Margo, and Taylor were all best friends and had frequent play dates.

"Travis!" Katie snapped, regaining Travis' attention and wiggled out of his grasp.

"Yes?" He tried to feign innocent, as if he hadn't zoned out, even though he knew it would never work. Katie new him too well.

"Where's Ginger?" She said placing her hands on her hips and even sterner expression on her face.

"She's in her.." Sudden realization hit Travis. Ginger was supposed to be playing with her dolls in her room. The same room that was empty except for Travis, Katie, and Mrs. Coopers.

"Yea, that's what I thought. And look!" Katie cried, exasperated and pointed to an open window.

"You don't think that..." Travis trailed off, tittering on his feet. There was no way a four-year-old could climb out a window, right?

"I wouldn't put it past her, she is your daughter after all." Katie said annoyance creeping into her voice. She blew her bangs out of her face in a huff. Thankfully the family lived in a ranch house, so Ginger shouldn't have gotten hurt.

"Well let's go find her then." Travis said already making his way towards the front door. Katie followed him, waddling more so than walking.

"I swear if she's off somewhere playing thief or getting dirty, I won't be the one facing the consequences or giving her a bath." Katie said walking out the door that Travis held open for her.

Travis laughed, but shuddered internally. Giving Ginger a bath was its own special Hell.

The pair searched their yard for their daughter with no luck. They called her name and wandered up and down the side walks.

"Where could she be?" Katie cried I defeat. Tears started flowing fast down her cheeks and Travis was quick to take her into his arms.

"Hey, hey don't cry. She gets into all sort of shenanigans all the time, I'm sure she's fine." He rubbed soothing circles into her back.

Katie sobbed harder.

"I-I just want her back. I want my baby back!" She wailed into his shirt, soaking it with salty trails.

"Katie, come on now. Just take a deep breath, we're gonna find her. Like you said, she's my daughter." Travis tried to give his wife a cheeky smile for reassurance.

Katie picked her head up and nodded, wiping away the last of tears. Her eyes were slightly red, but she was able to calm her self down in a few short breaths.

"Okay, yea we'll find her." She said with a shaky smile.

"That's the spirit!" Travis said with a cheerful grin, taking Katie's plump hand in his own.

Katie shook her head.

"Please, Hera, make this next one more like me." She said placing her hand on her pregnant belly. Travis laughed, knowing Ginger would soon be found.