Aftermath-Percabeth

Chapter Twenty-One

The wind whistled and pounded at the windows of their small and cozy apartment. Percy peered down at Annabeth, who was wrapped in a blanket and still asleep, the noise not waking her.

He looked up and realized their movie was over and that the annoying menu song was playing over and over again. He sighed and reluctantly pulled himself off the couch, stretching his legs as he went.

After he turned off the television he headed over to the window to peak outside. Snow was in the forecast that night, and Percy was curious to see if it was correct.

Just as he'd expected, white clouds of fluffy snow flakes were pouring out of the sky and landing on the ground, covering the whole city in a white blanket.

A grin appeared on his face as he ran over to Annabeth, carefully crouching next to her. "Annabeth."

No response.

"Annabeth, wake up," he whispered. "It's snowing outside!"

Whenever it first snowed, Percy always shared the experience with Annabeth. Ever since living in California for several years without snow, they had both grown to miss it.

Percy exhaled deeply before lightly shaking Annabeth, causing her to weakly open her eyes and peer up at him. She had a questioning look on her face, so Percy filled her in. "It's snowing. For the first time."

Annabeth sat up slowly, a small and vague smile appearing on her face. "Well, it's almost Thanksgiving. And, by the way, you're like a child, Percy."

Percy grinned and rushed over to the window, intensely peering out at the small storm.

She joined him at the window and wrapped the blanket around herself and Percy. "We should be expecting a call from Sally any minute now."

When they lived in California Sally would call them whenever it snowed since they couldn't get to see it. Estelle loved it, too and often joined Sally on her calls.

After a few minutes of breathlessly staring out the window, Percy's cell started ringing. He reluctantly removed his arm from Annabeth's shoulder and reached for his phone.

"Hey, mom," he said immediately. "It's snowing."

She laughed half heartedly. "I noticed. That's part of the reason I called."

"Part?" Percy asked curiously while still eyeing the snow outside. "What's the other part?"

"Well you and Annabeth are married now," Sally started.

Percy nodded and chuckled. "Uh, yes. I noticed, actually."

"I thought it would be nice for you two to, you know, host Thanksgiving this year. Since you're married and all and I thought you two needed the practice," Sally explained simply. After all, I won't be hosting Thanksgiving forever."

Percy stared out the window, his face quickly turning worried. "W-what? Really?"

Sally laughed. "Yes, really. I trust your cooking ability. And besides, Annabeth can handle anything."

"What's Sally saying?" Annabeth asked, her face turning concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Okay, mom!" Percy said, a confident smile appearing on his face. "We'll do it!"

"Great, that's just amazing!" Sally said, clearly relived. "I'll bring the stuffing and potatoes, you guys can do the rest."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "What did you sign us up for?"

"Love you, mom," Percy said, assuring Annabeth he'd tell her in a moment. "See you at Thanksgiving."

After exchanging goodbyes, Percy hung up and explained the plan to an equally confident Annabeth. At first she'd been skeptical until Percy threw in the part about Sally thinking she could anything. That compliment, of course, went straight to her head.