The First Times

First Bicycle Ride

Both Will and Nico thought Ana needed some distraction after the empusai incident.

They had informed Chiron and the rest of the demigods what had happened and all were offering to help, anyway they could. All the grown ups visited afterwards, with silly excuses and were certain- except Rachel, who assured them she was only 'a little shocked but fine' -that Ana was traumatize about what happened.

However, Ana was not even traumatized.

She confided in Aunt Rachel- mainly, because she was like her, completely mortal -admitting she was more shocked about how fast things happened than the actual incident. She knew it was a monster and that she wasn't gonna cry for her, unless she had done nothing bad, like Uncle Tyson and Aunt Ella- she knew they were good monsters, but had never met them.

Nico had come up with a plan to make her think in something else, as everyone was thinking Ana was turning shy and silent because of the incident, Nico specially blaming himself for displaying violence in front of her. But the weather conditions weren't helping and the plan was getting postponed until their hated Ice Queen stopped throwing a tantrum.

Apollo helped a little, giving them sun in the first weekend of February. Nico, not an early riser, had woken up before everyone and done breakfast, something that surprised greatly the sunshine duo.

"Good morning!" Will frowned upon hearing Nico so cheerful, but Ana smiled, hugging him and eating her breakfast. "Won't you eat breakfast?" He asked, slightly innocent.

"What are you planning?" Will whispered at him, while Nico simply smiled bigger before turning to Ana.

"I was thinking that today we could hang a little with Grandpa Apollo..." Ana raised an eyebrow. "Well, not literally, but it's a very sunny day and we could go outside for a while..." Understanding, Ana nodded with a smile and continued to eat her breakfast, while Will got more and more suspicious. However, he held his enquiries until Ana went to change.

"What are you planning?" He repeated, serious this time.

"Teach her how to ride a bike." Nico admitted, leaving Will silent. "Piper got her that bike for Christmas and I think is a nice activity for her, not to mention a great mind focus..." Words were left unsaid, but Will understood the full idea. Not wanting to place pebbles in the way, he decide to help by preparing a basket for lunch.

"Papà, Dad, you think it will be cold out today?" Ana showed up, showing two very different shirts. One was practically for winter while the other was practically for summer. Will and Nico shared a look and both answered at the same time.

"Yes."

"No."

Ana blinked in confusion before giggling and wondering away. Meanwhile, Nico and Will started a staring contest. Obviously, one wanted her to be warm while the other was thinking that someone will make it hot today. Ana saved the argument coming back completely dressed with a three-quarter-sleeve shirt and a wool hat.

"I'm ready!" She announced, urging the grownups to go get ready. She wondered why they were being so secretive when her eyes set on her new bicycle, the one Aunt Piper had got her- correction, the bicycle her Uncles and Aunts got her together -for Christmas. It was being carried by Will, who winked and made her follow him with a smile.

"Ready for your first bike ride, Principessa?" Nico held the hand of an overly-excited Ana, who was skipping down the building.

"I'm gonna ride a bike~! I'm gonna ride a bike~!" She sang, smiling, earning a chuckle from Will, who was making sure the training wheels were in position, and one from Nico, who was placing a helmet over her head. "Papà!"

"Papà nothing, Ana. Safety first..." Nico insisted. And no amount of pouting from Ana was gonna make him change his mind. Ana said nothing else, allowing him to adjust it correctly to her head. The black helmet matched the bike- obviously, picked up by Piper but she insisted in saying that all the Uncles and Aunts had coopearted for it -, but Ana was too excite to be still.

"Don't worry about falling, sweetie... Papà and I will be next to you, alright?" Will assured her, earning a nod from his daughter. She climbed on the bike, holding the handle a little tight. "Now, each feet on a pedal- we'll hold you." He got ahead of himself, seeing how Ana was nervous of falling once her feet left the ground. "Now, push down with your feet..."

The first attempt obviously ended with a small shriek and an abrupt stop. Ana held tight to the handler and tried not to be scared, before nodding and trying again. Second attempt was better than the first, as she fully gave a spin to the pedals, though she didn't move far. But that was enough for her to be excited again.

"Come, Ana... You can do it!" Nico encouraged her, earning a very determined face and Ana almost sprinting away with laughter.

"Yay!!" She celebrated, shakily trying to turn around to them, who held her just in time. "Papà, Daddy! I did it!!"

"Yes, you did!" Will picked her up and kissed her face around, earning more chuckles and shrieks of delight from her. "A little more practice and she can do it without the wheels, what do you say, Nico?" Ana's eyes opened wide at the mention of no wheels while Nico chuckled softly and decided to tease her.

"Will, we have to keep the wheels... Or she will fly away from us!" Ana shook her head and hugged him from Will's arms.

"Don't worry, Papà. I'll always come back to you."

----

Good morning/afternoon/evening, everyone!

First, I want to apologize for not posting yesterday, but I was having problems with my electricity- half the block was without power- and I just wanted to make sure it wasn't happening again. Better safe than sorry!

I want to ask you all... How was Thanksgiving? Black Friday? As we don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, I wouldn't know the first thing about it and Black Friday here is just a commercial holiday that only applies, in its majority, to online shopping, so... yeah. Tell me your experiences! Do want to know!

Also, this week is the birthday of a fellow writer and friend of mine, so I'll probably be posting something before the week is over! Hope you guys like it!

Onto the story!

The First Times: 1 chapter. Don't let the title fool you, includes the aftermath of the previous chapter!

See you in December, guys!
xoxo, SilverHuntresses