The Next Chapter of Our Lives

Family Twist

*TRIGGER WARNING LATER ON**

Sometimes I hate having a lot of friends, and people I consider family. If I wanted to have a get-together, I'd be inviting over twenty people, maybe even thirty. Nevertheless, I needed to calm down, so when we got back home, I put up more powerful defenses around the house. Unbeknownst to me, Apollo called most of the family.

The family included my dad, Amphitrite, Triton, the Seven, the Team, the band, Will, Nico, Hades, Hestia, Artemis, Hermes, Chaos, Tartarus, and Nyx. Having that large of a group you consider family tends to make you separate hang-outs. Usually, I would hang out with the Team one weekend, and the next, I'll be with the band, or the Seven. There was one point a few years ago when Apollo created a group chat they used for surprise parties/ get-togethers. Tonight was one of those instances.

So there I was, strengthening the defense spells when Dad, Amphitrite, and Triton showed up.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I let them through. I could see Triton about to say something, but Dad beat him to it.

"We wanted to visit! Besides, we haven't had the chance to meet my granddaughter." His voice was giddy, especially towards the end. With a chuckle, I told them to check the living room before they check her nursery.

I sighed as I wished I could have a dome of protection, but having some security over the windows and doors should be enough. More and more people showed up, Nico and Will, Jason and Piper, the rest of the Seven, everyone. Well, everyone except the Primordials. I smiled at the crowded living room. I was grateful to Apollo for this, I know I need it, but I don't know if I'm up for it.

I wanted to enjoy this, even more, when I heard dad playing with Marisol. So, to start the night, I summoned two decks of Uno (pre- shuffled, of course) and allowed everyone to gather around the table while I passed out seven cards to 27 people. We played uninterrupted for about an hour before Marisol got hungry and we had to leave a sticky note with Luke's name, and the direction it was going in.

Half an hour and a sleeping baby later, we resumed again, finishing 1 hour and 30 minutes later. After that, we talked for 15 minutes before I heard crying coming from the nursery. I tried getting up, but Apollo stopped me.

"Let me," He told me as he rested his hand on my knee.

"She's probably hungry."

With a nod, he still got up to tend to her. I looked over and saw Will fidgeting a lot.

"Hey, Will, can you help me?" He got up, and we went to the kitchen. I took out a large pot and told him to grab 8 boxes of mac and cheese. When he did as told, he asked what I was doing.

"We are making dinner while talking about what has you so nervous," I told him while filling the pot up with water.

"If we talk about that, can we do that thing where we speak in each other's minds?" He sounded so shy, I kinda wanted to hug him.

With a kind smile, I mind-messaged him, "Of course."

"Thanks," an appreciative smile etched on his face as he said it.

In a normal voice, I asked him to take the packages of cheese out of the macaroni and hand them to me when he finished before reestablishing the MM connection.

"So, what's wrong?" I asked while we were doing this.

He pursed his lips, "Nothing's wrong, per se, I'm just a little anxious."

"Why are you nervous, Will?" I asked as I put in the 5th box of macaroni.

He focused on fishing out the cheese from the box. "I- I'm going to ask for Nico's hand."