The First Times

First Chore and Allowance

Once Ana has settled into the routine of school, Nico and Will decided to show their trust to Ana.

"Ana." Ana looked up from her school work, she was one of those people who couldn't leave it for the last minute. Nico and Will sat besides her, smiling.

"Something wrong, Dad?" She asked, frowning. She didn't do anything she wasn't suppose to, so being in trouble was out of the question. However, Ana got that bad habit that both Will and Nico were trying to break.

"No, sweetie... We just want to talk to you about something important..." Ana dropped her pencil and paid attention. "As you know, we both spend half our time studying while the other half we spend it at home with you..." Ana nodded at this. "But, now that we have one more in the house, we believe it's time for some... compromise."

"Uh?" Ana tilted her head, not fully understanding.

"What Wi- I mean, Dad means-" Nico wasn't used to call Will 'Dad' completely, but he was getting better. "-is that we think you should help us around the house, so that the chores are less."

"Oh!" Ana gasped, bobbing her head up and down. "I can help!"

"We know you can, sweetie." Will reassured her, smiling. "Though, there are many things we cannot ask you to do because of your age or because of your height, there are some others that you can help without our help."

"Like...?" Ana was curious about it. She was a big girl! She could do anything they asked her!

"Making your bed is one." Nico started, shrugging. Ana nodded, she could do that. "Also, dirty clothes in the hamper would be a grateful help-"

"So, I don't separate them?" Will chuckled and nodded, stroking her hair.

"Always a genius..." He praised her, making her blush. "Putting the dishes away is also a great help and of course, keeping your room as clean as you can is a big bonus..."

"I can do all that!" Ana stated, serious. Without Will or Nico knowing, they just set a challenge for herself that she was not gonna fail. Looking her face of decision, Nico decided to sweeten the deal.

"Also, and depending in your behavior as well, we were considering giving you an allowance every weekend." Ana's eyes widen big. She would get money? She would earn money? And not having to share? "You know we adore you, but sometimes we just don't have time to cook you lunch, so that money could either be saved for those days or for when you want something for you..."

"I don't need anything." She blushed while saying that. Her resolve got even bigger in not spending the money, except for lunch if they forget. Or save it for holidays! "1 dollar the chore." She surprised both her parents. Will recovered quickly, smirking.

"That's too low!" He faked complained, winking at Nico. "2 dollars the chore. Considering we just gave you four-five chores, that's 10 dollars a week, what do you say?" Ana thought it for a second, missing the looks Nico and Will were sending each other. Enough to say, Ana will never get lower than 10 dollars a week.

"Deal!" She pulled her hand out and shook it with both adults.

"Oh, and one last thing." Nico warned her. "School work comes first, always. We can overlook any chores if you're doing homework, understood?" Ana nodded, mentally scoffing, as her school work was relatively easy! Sure, she wasn't considering the future years of middle school or even high school. But Will and Nico were.

"Yes, Papà." She agreed, serious. Both Will and Nico left her alone to finish her school work and started to make dinner. Not even ten minutes had passed, when Ana grabbed her things off the dinner table and rushed to her room. Nico raised an eyebrow to Will, who shrugged, not knowing what was going on.

In the privacy of her room, Ana was getting to work. She assumed correctly that, as she grew older, she would get more chores. So, she created some sort of chart with cardboard and colors. Obviously, giving the 'Ana touch'. Once it was done, she placed it on her bureau and nodded in satisfaction. It was very simple, a strip with the different chore names and a folding paper under it that said 'Done!' or 'To Do!'.

She was very proud of it.

One thing that both Will and Nico forgot when they stuck the deal with Ana was that some of the chores were daily chores. However, Ana caught up with it and took it to her advantage. Two days after assigning the chores, Will found a post-it note on top of Ana's bed cover with the number 2. It took a while for him to understand, but when he did, he laughed so hard he forgot to clean her room.

When the weekend finally came and all chores had been done, Ana proudly walked to her parents and sat down, business mode. Which is adorable for an eight-year-old.

"Everything alright, sweetie?" Nico wondered, looking at the amount of papers on her hands. Will smirked at the sight and shrugged.

"Can I have my allowance now, please?" Nico blinked and nodded, ready to pull out a ten-dollar bill from his wallet when Ana stopped him. "Papà, I did all this chores, do they count as one?" Will lost the battle and started to laugh loud, to Nico complete bewilderment. Ana looked at him, also worried, but Will started to clap, smiling.

"That, my dear, was a move worthy of Athena and Hermes!" He picked her up and twirled her around, earning a giggle from the little girl. "So proud of you!" He kissed her cheek, earning more chuckles. Nico, finally catching up with what was going on, chuckled and hugged them both. "I think she needs a bonus, right?"

"How about some ice-cream?"

"Can I pay?! Pweeeeeeease?"

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Good morning/afternoon/evening!

Can't believe we're entering the second week of August... For some, summer is near the end while for others, like me, we cannot wait till the winter is over! But, as my GoT-boyfriend-lover would say... 'Winter is coming...'

Anyway, for PJO/HoO fans like us, I have an announcement! Next Saturday is Percy's birthday! (Does anyone knows 'exactly' how old is the little rascal? I'd say 25...) So, in his honor, I'll post my next-week-chapters ON SATURDAY! PLUS! A few surprises, so stay tune to my sites and my Facebook page...

Announcements over! Let's get onto the stories!

The First Times: 1 chapter! Thanks for all the comments! Are lovely and heart warming!

Quest: Matchmade (former collab with my buddy ReeReeWithAngst): 1 chapter! Less than fifteen chapters to the end! Thank you, from both of us, to follow this story and like it!

I'll see you guys on Saturday...
xoxo, SilverHuntresses