The Stories of Our Heroes

Tears

Annabeth's POV

Wonderful. Awesome. Wow. Lovely. Great. Super. I love it when my husband is given a prophecy and has to go questing alone.

I mean, come on. We're adults now. We're supposed to be enjoying the life that most demigods never get. We're not supposed to worry about prophecies or quests or saving the world. But here we are.

Percy and I have been married for four, almost five years. After going to college in New Rome, we came back to Camp Halfblood and built a house in a nice little clearing in the woods, pretty close to where a city was growing. The Greeks were stealing ideas from the Romans, crazy right? The two of us help to train campers during the summer and work year round to manage camp and give Chiron a break. If we're feeling a little bored, we take up jobs here and there in the outside world. I sketch some architecture designs for the firm in Long Island. Percy coaches the high school swim team about half an hour away from camp. I substitute teach, occasionally, at the same school. Life is really good.

However, are lives are becoming not so good with the latest prophecy Rachel delivered. The son of Poseidon is to embark on a solo quest to restore a missing symbol of his father. Needless to say, I did not take the news well.

"What do you mean, alone?" I demanded when Chiron recited the prophecy.

"Wise Girl," Percy warned, laying a hand on my shoulder.

"I understand a solo quest is not, ah, ideal," Chiron started, "but it always makes matters worse to disregard the outlines of the prophecy." He gave us a pitying look.

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As it turns out, that was a look I saw from Chiron for a long while after that. I saw it once on the one-week mark of Percy leaving for the quest. I saw it once again after two weeks. After that I knew that if I looked at him, that's what I would see. So I stopped looking.

I was fine at first, I really was. Percy would surprise IM whenever he could, sometimes during lunch or at three in the morning. There was very little progress on the quest, but not especially dangerous, he had assured me. Simply tedious, time consuming. I believed him.

A month, four days, two hours, and seven minutes after Percy had left for the quest, I sat slumped against the bathroom cabinets, feeling the lump in my throat and the sting in my eyes, but no tears fell. The whole situation was so wrong, I almost couldn't believe it was happening. I was slowly going numb. I hadn't heard from Percy in ten days. I also hadn't heard from Mother Nature in a about six weeks. So here I was, a mess on the bathroom floor, unsure if my husband was even alive, alone, and pregnant. The little white test that sat in the sink above me was the symbol of my despair, which was just so stupidly ironic it added to the pain.

If Percy were just here, I would probably still be crying, but for joy rather than sadness. I would go running to him, shouting excitedly. He'd be confused at first, but soon he'd understand. He'd scoop me up in his arms and swing me around. He'd probably start crying (because he's real emotional like that) and we'd talk about names and buying clothes and getting a crib and everything in between. Or maybe it wouldn't go like that at all. Maybe I wouldn't be able to look at the results myself, I'd be too nervous. I'd make Percy look for me and he'd give me a shoulder squeeze before heading over to the counter. I would see his eyes light up and he'd yell in excitement and tackle me in a hug. Or, maybe I would be feeling sick and Percy would make me see a doctor. When we're told the news, my heart would drop to my stomach and I wouldn't believe my ears. But then I would take a look at Percy's face which I knew would be shining happily and I'd be happy, too. But no, none of that was happening because I was all alone.

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Five weeks later, I was starting to go crazy. I had heard from Percy once since I found out and I didn't tell him. He looked tired and beat down and said that he couldn't talk long because something was coming.

"I just had to let you know I'm okay. And that I love you."

Before I could say it back, he was already slashing through the IM. I tried not to cry, but my hormones said otherwise.

I was determined to not tell anyone until Percy knew, but every day I worried more and more that wouldn't be possible. I ditched the tighter shirts a week or so ago, but pretty soon even my t-shirts wouldn't hide my secret. Every time I looked in the mirror I could only think one thing: if I lose Percy I'll still have a piece of him. And I hated myself for thinking that because he was coming back, he had to.

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It was storming and the night was completely dark except for when lightning would streak across the sky. The whole house shook as I laid in bed with a protective hand over my stomach. I had made up my mind; tomorrow I would tell Sally because I needed someone to help. I couldn't keep it to myself any longer. It killed me that Percy wouldn't be able to deliver the news with me. I could picture the way his smile would be brighter than the lightning and he'd run into his mom's kitchen like a little kid. He'd already have her wrapped in an excited hug but he'd wait for me to say it.

Instead, I'd probably be mumbling it into her shoulder while I cried, which seemed to be something I was doing an annoyingly lot lately.

Finally, when I officially decided I wasn't going to get much sleep, I walked around the empty house. If I really imagined it, I could feel Percy sneaking up behind me, burying is nose in my hair, and resting his hands on the bump. I liked the feeling of him being there, but it also made me feel more upset. I headed toward the porch, hoping the storm would clear my head.

I opened the door and froze. It looked like there was a figure coming towards the house from the direction of camp. I almost ran back into the house to grab my dagger, but something stopped me. When the sky lit up for only a moment, I wasn't sure if my eyes were showing me what I wanted to see or what was really there. The figure was a man with dark, completely dry, hair. Throwing  my sense to the wind, I started running towards him. The rain pierced my skin and my bare feet sunk into the mud but I hardly noticed.

"Annabeth?" I heard Percy yell, sounding a little surprised.

"Percy!" I cried before jumping into his arms. He spun me around a few times, making me a little nauseous, but I didn't care. It went away when he kissed me, anyway.

He started rambling about he was so sorry that he hadn't called in a while and that he was gone for so long and he had worried me so much. I couldn't help. I laughed. He looked at me a little bewildered. But really, I was so ridiculously happy he was back and it was a little comical that he hadn't noticed anything different yet, considering I was completely pressed against him and his hands had been sliding around my waist for a few minutes now.

"Um... are you going to judo flip me now because-"

"Percy, I'm pregnant."

Lightning flashed at the exact moment he started grinning. And just like I predicted, tears shone in his eyes.