The Life of Sally Jackson

Chapter Ten

Sally drove herself to the hospital when her contractions got to be about ten minutes apart. She got checked into a hospital and taken to the delivery room. She'd read about giving birth, but it was real now and much more painful than she had anticipated. 

She was having trouble thinking straight, but she was excited nonetheless. Her baby was almost here.

Labor lasted an exhaustively long time, but finally the doctor told her that she was ready to push. And then he was in her arms. He had lungs, that was for sure. He was crying and so was she.

"He's beautiful," she said, brushing his black hair aside and holding his tiny little hands. 

After the nurses took his measurements, she got to hold him again and feed him and she thought about what she was going to name him. 

She had been thinking about it a lot and she wanted to name him something that meant something important. She wanted him to have history in his name, she wanted his name to be powerful. She went through the list she'd made in her head again. 

She had thought about naming him after a god, but decided she better not. She also did her research on a bunch of demigods and she thought about Achilles and Hercules, but she always felt discouraged at their stories. She didn't want her baby to have a life like that and she didn't want his name to have some sort of  bad power over him.

So she decided on the one hero who had a happy ending.

"Perseus," she said to him, her little baby boy. "Your name is Perseus Jackson."

He squeaked and opened his eyes at her and she gasped. They were such a vibrant sea green, just like his father's.

There was a knock on the door and a nurse came in. "Sally Jackson? This was left for you."

Sally frowned. She didn't know anyone who would leave her a gift at the hospital. 

The nurse came over and handed her a blue gift bag. The smell of the sea hit her almost immediately and she pulled away the tissue paper, Perseus laying peacefully on her chest. 

Inside was a stuffed Flounder from the Little Mermaid Movie. There was a note in the bag that read Happy Birthday Perseus.

Sally was confused. She'd only just named him moments ago. 

But she remembered the scent of the bag and the fish stuffed toy and she knew it was Poseidon leaving a gift for the son he wasn't supposed to have and wasn't able to know.

She set aside the toy and gazed down at her baby boy. He had started to cry again. 

"Oh Percy, don't worry baby. I'll take care of you. I promise to love you forever, honey."

She leaned over to press a kiss to his tiny forehead. 

"I love you," she said again until he stopped his crying looked up at her with his gorgeous green eyes. 

She offered him her finger to hold and he grabbed on tight. 

"Oh aren't you strong?"

He squirmed in her arms and she couldn't have been happier. Her heart had never been more full. So she said it again. 

"I love you."

___

And that's the end! I've been working on this one for years, touch and go. I just kept it all in my drafts until I was finished, so here you go, the story of Sally Jackson and the summer she met Poseidon. I hope you enjoyed it, have a wonderful day! Love you demigods :)