Life Changes, A Percabeth Future Story

Chapter 8

Percy's POV:

I wake up one morning to find that Annabeth isn't in bed next to me. Immediately, I sit bolt upright and look around for her. I find her curled up in a chair across the room, with a book in her lap, and let out a small sigh of relief.

Without even looking up from her book, she tells me "You still drool in your sleep."

"Love you too, Wise Girl," I reply, pulling a change of clothes out of the dresser. "Why weren't you in bed this morning?" I flash her a concerned look.

She responds with a reassuring smile and "I just couldn't sleep. Is that really so unusual?"

"In the 3 and a half years we've been married, plus the time we lived together before that, it's only happened a few times, aside from the times you had morning sickness." I pause, and a bubble of hope starts expanding inside me. "Annabeth, are you pregnant?"

"No," she sighs, shaking her head. And just like that, the bubble bursts. "Percy, we've been trying for over a year, with no luck. Maybe we should look at other options."

Before I can respond, the doorbell rings. "I'll go see who that is," she says, then leaves the room.

I quickly finish getting dressed, and I'm already heading down the hall toward the stairs when Annabeth calls out "Percy, come here please." I start walking faster, afraid something is wrong. But she doesn't sound afraid or upset in any way, she just sounds confused.

When I get down there, Chiron is standing in the entryway.

And there's a baby in a carseat on the floor in front of him.

So... What'd you think? What do you think is going on with the baby? Will Percy and Annabeth ever have kids of their own? Let me know what you think! I know this chapter was really short, but...

Jk, jk, the chapter isn't over yet...

I stare at the scene in front of me, just as confused as Annabeth seems.

After a moment, Chiron clears his throat. "One of the Hunters found this child just inside the border of camp early this morning. She needs somebody to take her in until we determine who her family is. Quite possibly even longer. The two of you were the obvious first choice, but there are other options if you do not wish to do this."

For a minute, we're all silent. Annabeth looks at the baby, then at me. We stare at one another, each silently asking the other the same questions. What do you think?  Should we do it? Slowly, I nod. If Annabeth agrees, I think we should do it.

The baby has woken up, and is beginning to cry. Annabeth crouches down to take her out of the carseat. As she does so, she says "We'll do it. We'll take her in."

"Wonderful," Chiron says. "You will be updated if there is any information discovered about her or her family." Then, he nods as if to say You'll do just fine and walks out the door.

My wife is gently swaying and hushing the tiny baby in her arms.

"We're parents, Wise Girl," I whisper.

"Foster parents," she corrects me softly. "For now."

"For now," I agree.

I make a quick trip to the store for the few things we need for the baby--while I'm gone, I make a mental note that we need to give her a name soon, we can't just keep calling her "the baby"--and when I get back, Annabeth shoves a piece of paper into my hand. "Look at this," she insists. I look at her, but I can't read her expression, so I try instead to read the note in my hand.

It isn't any easier to read, though, since it's written in messy, loopy handwriting that would probably be hard to read even if I didn't have dyslexia. Little by little, though, I'm able to make it out.

To whoever becomes this precious girl's parents:

Her name is Calliadne. You can choose her middle name, but her first name is Calliadne. I suppose, really, I can't stop you from changing her first name as well, but to me she will always be Calliadne.

Please know that I didn't do this because I didn't love her. I did it because I love her too much to let her be stuck in the life we would have if I kept her. She is a Legacy, but I will not--can not--say who she is descended from, to protect everyone involved, including her. Her father knows of her existence, but has decided, like me, to stay away, to give her her best chance.

She was born just before midnight last night (December 10th, in case this note isn't immediately found). In the margin right by this part is a note that must have been added later on. It reads: Why did I write that??? Even if the note wasn't found until later, they would still be able to figure out what day she was born! I can't help but let out a little laugh at that part. The letter continues: At least when she asks one day about more information about when she was born, you can tell her that much.

The other note is for her, when she is older. When she can understand. I will let you decide when that is, but it contains information she will want to know, so maybe sooner, rather than later.

Thank you for giving my Calliadne a real family.

Hey y'all! Merry Christmas to any of my readers that celebrate it, lol. I kinda wanted to keep going with this chapter, but this seemed like a good place to stop it, and I couldn't totally decide how to continue it without making this chapter really long. Plus, I really wanted to post a chapter for Christmas, so I had to post this tonight. Actually, I wanted to finish this chapter earlier, so I could get the next chapter posted for Christmas, but that obviously didn't happen (in fact, this one barely got posted in time, lol). The next chapter will be coming soon (by New Year's, hopefully, but I can't guarantee that). Stay tuned for more big things happening in the next couple of chapters 😜!

Also, I will be doing some minor edits on previous chapters, so if you see me publish any chapters in the next couple days, that's all it is. Mostly it'll just be fixing typos I noticed or changing some words a little, so you don't have to read any of them. It's just for me to be slightly less annoyed by my own past self (too many times I have looked back at things I've written before, and just cringed because I keep noticing mistakes and being like "whyyyyyy did I write that??"). So yeah.

Anyway, what do you think should happen with Calliadne (btw, her name is pronounced Cal-ee-add-nee, in case you were wondering)? Should Percabeth eventually adopt her officially? Should one (or both?) of her bio-parents come back to claim her? Should Percabeth adopt her, but eventually, through some strange twist of fate, she ends up meeting her bio-parents later on somehow? Any other ideas?? If nobody responds, I know what I'll do, but I just might take your ideas into consideration in some way if you give me any.

💖💖💖 Cam