Percy arrives home to find Annabeth pacing in front of their apartment, her hands wringing together. He frowns at her as he sets down his shopping bags, something feeling off in his stomach as he surveys the tense posture of his wife.
"Um," he says, because that's the first thing he thinks of. "Hi?"
Annabeth startles, her eyes widening as she turns to him.
"Hi," she replies slowly, nostrils flaring slightly. Uh-oh. She's hiding something. Her nostrils only flare when she's this close to being found out. "Um, so, Jason said that you were supposed to be gone for another two hours."
Percy watches as Annabeth fidgets, brushing her hands over her soft, worn blue jeans and adjusting the hem of the flowy red shirt which is designed to float over her belly.
"Honey," says Percy. "What did you do?"
Annabeth hesitates.
"Okay," she says, "before I tell you, I need you to know that I love you."
"Noted."
"And that I'm kind of proud of myself for not doing this before, because being pregnant has made me feel... meddly."
"Oh crap. You didn't."
"Define... didn't."
"Annabeth!" Percy groans. "You didn't!"
"I had to!" she snaps. "Someone had to handle it, and nobody else does, and I am pregnant so nobody can yell at me."
"I'm about to yell at you!" he declares, throwing his hands up. "I told you to stop worrying about them. They're fine. They're getting through it in any way they can."
"But they could get through it better if they just spoke to each other!"
"Annabeth," Percy says impatiently, "we agreed that you would stop making decisions last week after you bought two iguanas and a frog."
"You've been saying that you wanted a pet."
"I said I wanted a dog! Who wants a frog? You can't even pet them. They're all slimy and gross."
"But we could have named him Ribbit."
"We could name our dog Ribbit."
"That wouldn't be a pun," Annabeth spits out, pushing a strand of hair away from her face bitterly, with a bitter expression.
"Neither is having a frog named- you know what, never mind. I cannot believe you tricked both Hazel and Frank into coming to our apartment at the exact same time and locked them inside!"
She crosses her arms defensively over her chest, confirming Percy's assumption.
"I don't know why you're so upset. You love Hazel and Frank. Don't you want them to be together?"
"Of course I do!" Percy says, running a hand through his hair exasperatedly. When he sees Annabeth open her mouth to protest, he grabs her hand and squeezes it, silencing her momentarily. "But, Annabeth, we can't change the fact that their timers don't match up. We know that they're soul mates, but the government doesn't agree, and doing something like this doesn't help anyone. It just makes it harder for Hazel and Frank."
For a moment, she just stares at their entwined hands, hiding her face from him. When Percy lifts her chin with his forefinger, trying to get her to look at him, he sees her mouth turned down and her lower lip quivering.
Oh shit.
"No!" he says hurriedly, pulling her hand until her body is flush against his. Her shoulders are starting to shake, so Percy runs a hand lightly up and down her back, murmuring comforting things in her ear. "I'm sorry, Annabeth. I know you were trying to help."
