Tell Me You Love Me

Day 3(Fifty-Seven)

Edited 9/3/18

It's been three days since Annabeth was kidnapped. We charted out her pregnancy on a calendar. Will was able to pinpoint how far along she was(1 month) and the stages of pregnancy and her due date. It's February 5th and she's due September 1st.

We also plotted out starting locations to search and we would check them off if we'd searched and didn't find her. Jason, Piper, and Riley left yesterday and were going to search along the LA area. Reyna went home two days ago to assemble search parties to look in the San Fransisco area.

Will and Nico were staying in New York and Leo, Calypso and family were searching all around the Texas area.

Hazel and Frank and Emily stayed here as well, at least until things died down a little. Then they would lead a Camp Jupiter team to search the Western states.

Camp Half-Blood sent out many search parties to search all along the Eastern coast. I was completely torn. It was all I could do to obey orders and stay put for the moment. I wanted to go look for Annabeth more than anything, but I was compelled by a force deep inside me to not let the kids out of my sight.

I guess I was afraid. Afraid that if I turned my back for even a second, they'd be taken from me. Just like Annabeth had been. And I couldn't risk that.

So instead we were heading into the city to visit my mom. And break the news.

We arrived at her house and the kids didn't run to the door as usual. In fact, Ariana held out her arms to me and I carried her the rest of the way. Luke held my hand and dragged his feet.

Luke rang the doorbell when we got there and we heard some rustling before Estelle opened the door, smiling wide. Estelle is turning eleven soon.

She yelled over her shoulder, "Mom! Percy's here with the kids!", before finding space between Luke and Ariana to hug me. "Hey, Stella," I greeted with a small smile. She cocked her head to the side, sensing my mood. She moved aside and motioned is into the entry hall.

Mom came into view, wiping her blue hands on a towel. Upon seeing her, Ari wiggled around in my arms until I set her down. "Nana!" She squealed and ran to Mom. Luke just buried his face farther into my side. I rustled his hair and came forward to greet her.

She gave me a nice warm hug, smelling of chocolate chip cookies. She then knelt down and gave Luke a hug, kissing him on the forehead.

"Come on in, cookies are in the oven," she said, motioning us to follow. "Did you know we were coming or something?" I asked, bewildered. She chuckled. "You know, you're not the only one who likes blue cookies. I have to supply Paul and Estelle as well."

I smiled, but then my smile dropped when I remembered why we came here. "Hey, where's Annabeth?" Mom asked. I looked down. "She's—she's..."

Sensing my distress, mom suggested we take this outside. "Estelle, entertain the kids," she said. Estelle gave a puzzled look and then led the kids away, telling them about her coloring books and her toys.

Mom led me out the back door and onto the patio. "What is it, baby?" She asked. I just shrugged, not quite able to speak, and not really willing to stem the tears that were now making their way down my cheeks.

"Honey, I need you to tell me, okay? Or else I can't help," she reasoned. "It happened three days ago," I choked out. Mom nodded, urging me to go on. "It happened right in front of me. I turned my back for five seconds, and then..."

"And then what?" She whispered. "And then they took her. Kidnapped her right from our apartment. The monsters got her, Mom. They have her and I'm scared," I finished. She wrapped me in a hug. Rubbing my back, she said, "We'll find her, Percy. If there was ever a girl who could take care of herself, it's Annabeth."

"That's not it though," I mumbled. "Surprise, you have another grand baby on the way."

Back at camp, I relayed the conversation in my head. I'd say she took the news pretty well. She tried to keep her cool when I told her Annabeth had been taken, but she started crying when I told her about the baby.

She suggested reporting her missing to the authorities so we could have extra eyes looking for her, so we did. They promised they would do everything they could to find her, preferably before the baby was born.

I currently sat on my bunk in the Poseidon cabin with my head in my hands. I was so scared. I had no idea what to do and I couldn't stop shaking. No, I wasn't just scared. I was terrified.

Ariana walked into the cabin then. Grover opened the door for her, smiled sadly, and then left. She plopped down next to me and leaned her head on my arm. I looked over at her and tried to muster a smile, but my throat just got tighter and it quickly turned into a grimace. Gods, she looked so much like Annabeth.

"Where's Mommy?" Ari asked quietly. "I don't know," I whispered back, trying to choke back the sob building up. "Can we find her?" She asked. "Daddy, can we go look for her?"

"Yes, of course," I answered. "We will stop at nothing to find your mother, do you understand me?" Gaining more confidence, I turned to look at her full on. Though she was just a toddler, was was very smart. "We're going to find Mommy okay?"

"Okay,"