[✔] False God ━ Percabeth AU

xxxiv. Feel Special

xxxiv. Feel Special

After an exhausting school day, she and Percy took the bus to his apartment, not wanting to walk fifteen minutes in the cold December, and hurried inside the apartment complex when they got out at the bus stop.

"I'm really excited to spend the holidays with you, Percy," Annabeth smiled, recalling the festive decorations that decked the Manhattan street, "Oh, I can't wait for it to snow!!"

"Oh, Annabeth, when it finally snows in New York, you're going to be entering a winter wonderland," he beamed as he unlocked his front door, "I can't wait to go to skating and the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lightning with you. We're going to have so much fun!!"

They walked inside his apartment, expecting to see Estelle and Mrs. O'Leary (who Estelle quickly fell in love with and adored), and immediately frowned, hearing Sally's voice. They went to see what the commotion was: Sally was standing outside Estelle's bedroom.

"Estelle, honey...you have to come out. Hear me out? Please?"

"No!! We will not." Estelle responded inside her bedroom and Mrs. O'Leary barked.

"Estelle..." sighed Sally, then her eyes widened, spotting Annabeth and Percy, "Oh, you guys are home! Um—"

"Is everything alright, mom? What's wrong?" Percy asked.

"Oh, Percy, I have to tell something you in private—let's go elsewhere," Sally then looked at Annabeth with a soft smile. "Annabeth, can you try to get to talk to Estelle and get her to leave her room?"

"Yes," nodded Annabeth.

When Sally and Percy left, Annabeth knocked on the little girl's door and softly called out Estelle's name.

"Go away!"

Annabeth instantly bit her lips and flinched from Estelle's harsh tone the her heart sank, hearing her muffled sobs. Oh, no little girl must have been crying!

"I'm not going to let you take Mrs. O'Leary from me! I want to adopt Mrs. O'Leary! She's mine!"

Oh? It's been a week since she and Percy took Mrs. O'Leary in and Sally and Paul have been debating whether to keep the dog or not. Annabeth guessed they had made up their mind.

"Estelle, I promise you I won't take Mrs. O'Leary! I pinky promise!"

Silence. Then the door creaked open and Annabeth quietly walked inside and sat down next to the little girl and Mrs. O'Leary.

"What's wrong?" Annabeth gave Estelle tissues to wipe away the snot and tears that stained her face.

"I overheard mommy and daddy saying they're taking Mrs. O'Leary to a animal shelter so she could find a new home! Because apparently we can't keep pets here! But this is her home!" Estelle hugged Mrs. O'Leary, "I love her so much."

"I'm sorry," Annabeth softly responded, feeling heartbroken about the situation, and asked, "Do you want a hug? Will that make you feel better?"

"Yes," Estelle wiped her tears away on her sleeve and nodded.

Annabeth's arms enveloped the little girl and she gently stroked her dark brown hair. The two then laughed as Mrs. O'Leary nuzzled them.

"I love you, Annabeth," said Estelle when they eventually pulled away.

Annabeth softly smiled, "I love you too."

[originally published on 12/1/20.]

[12/1/20] author's note! Okay, I'm going to say something about the upcoming chapters: its going be very calm and quite boring (in my opinion) so it's maybe not interest you but you sometimes must have the "boring" chapters to move along with the book! Also happy December-some holidays chapters are going to coming your way soon! I hope everyone had a good Tuesday! Thank you for reading and have a good day/night! Till next time-Much Love, Lucinda! 💙