Hallo, everyone! Happy Labor Day to all you Americans and Canadians out there! And to all you other lovely people, happy Monday. :) So basically, this is an idea I've been trying to write for a little over a year now, but me being the unfortunate procrastinator that I tend to be at the most inconvenient of times, I only wrote it over the summer. I've got the first 4 chapters finished, and I wasn't going to post this until I was totally done, but I figured, heck, why not. I've got over a month to finish the next few chapters (please come beat me up if I refrain from my weekly updates with this story). And besides, it's a little ironic that I would publish this story today, given that it is Labor Day (just a different kind of labor...) Ok, I promise I'm shutting up now, and that my future AN's for this story will be no more than a sentence or two. Now, thank you for reading this far, and I hope you enjoy! :)

Annabeth stared at the plastic white stick resting on the edge of the bathroom sink, her eyes boring into its face like a cop interrogating a suspect. Two and a half minutes later, she scooped it up and examined it, her hand trembling slightly. The results, two pink lines, stared back at her defiantly, though she could've cared less.

She was pregnant.

At the moment, any worry or stress or uncertainty that she'd been festering inside of her disappeared, and the only emotion she knew was pure joy at the knowledge that she was going to have a baby. She was going to be a mom! She and Percy were going to be parents!

Percy! She thought suddenly, realizing that he would obviously want to know the exciting news. Though she was tempted to just march straight out of that bathroom and tell him immediately, she knew that she really wanted to do something special for him. After all, this would be their first child, and that was an incredibly momentous milestone. It would practically be a sin for her to waste her planning skills (gifted to her by her mother Athena, of course) on something as simple as a card, or otherwise.

With the determination of a hundred-man army, Annabeth scurried from the bathroom to her desk and began planning, an elaborate idea already beginning to form...

"Percy," she cooed quietly, her blonde hair falling in her face as she bent over her sleeping husband. She could feel her soft side coming out as she watched the rise and fall of his chest, and the tousled black strands of hair that were all askew. Even the drool that dripped onto the pillow looked peaceful, so she felt guilty waking him up. "Percy, wake up. Come on, Seaweed Brain. Wake up. Percy... Percy..."

Finally, her resolve to be gentle faded - along with her patience - and she trudged to the bathroom, filled up a bucket with ice water, and returned along with the bucket, right before she unceremoniously dumped it onto her husband's head, greeting him with a roaring, "WAKE UP, SEAWEED BRAIN!"

"Gaaaaaah!" he cried loudly, though when Annabeth turned to look at his expression, she found that he was already standing atop the bed with Riptide fully extended, both feet planted in a battle stance.

"You drool when you sleep," she informed him brightly, plastering a warm, sunny smile on her face. She nearly burst out laughing at the sour look on his face, but she felt merciful enough to avoid making such loud outbursts. For now, at least.

"Di immortales, Annabeth" Percy cursed under his breath, his eyes wide with alarm. "What was that for?!"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "It was time for you to get up."

Percy stared at her the same way that a food addict might look at you after you tell him that he can never eat again. "Annabeth...you do realize it's Saturday, right?"

"Yep."

"And that we don't have to work until noon today, right?"

"Yup."

"So that means that I can sleep in!"

"Nope," she answered with a shake of her head, grinning at the dismay on his face. "We've got stuff to do today."

"Stuff? What kind of stuff?" he whined like a four-year-old who's been told that he can't all of the chocolate chip cookies.

"Secret stuff," was all she said, mischievously wiggling her eyebrows.

"Ugh," he groaned, though a smile had started to creep its way onto his tired face. "I hate surprises."

"Not this one!" she promised as she handed him a piece of paper. It was about the size of an index card, and had words written in Sharpie with her neat, font-like handwriting scrawled across it.

He flipped it over. "What do you want me to do with this?"

"What do you think you do with it, Seaweed Brain?" she asked, exasperated. "You read it!"

With a roll of his eyes, he squinted at the letters, struggling to make out the words. "Blah

"I wrote it in Greek on the other side," she said quietly. They both still struggled with dyslexia sometimes, Percy more so than Annabeth, especially if it was 6:00 in the morning.

He flashed her a grateful smile before flipping the card over and reading, with ease this time:

Go to our closet

And pick out some shoes

The Nike's or Adidas,

Whichever you choose

He glanced up at her, slightly confused. "So, do I just...?" He gestured towards the closet, and she nodded with a roll of her eyes. When he hesitated at the door of their closet, she couldn't help but roll her eyes again.

"I promise there aren't any giant scorpions in there, Percy!"

He poked his dark-haired head out, a wary look in his sea-green eyes. "But what about hellhounds? Or harpies? Or really scary babies that like to eat adult sons of Poseidon?"

Though she knew her husband was only kidding, Annabeth's heart skipped a beat when he said the word "baby". But instead of dwelling on it and letting it show, she just swallowed and said with a shake of her head, "I promise that there is nothing scary in there, Seaweed Brain."

He nodded uncertainly, but disappeared inside the small room all the same. Not a moment later, he screamed loudly, "Annabeth! You liar!"

"What?" she called, confused.

"There is something scary in here!" Seconds later, he burst out of the closet, a horrified expression on his face as he brandished a second sheet of paper in the air. "Another clue!" He feigned terror, while waving the card in the air like a surrender flag.

"Ugh," she groaned, though she was grinning. "You are so annoying."

"Annabeth! How rude."

She ignored his mock-hurt, saying, "I'm just thankful you actually managed to put on a pair of shoes that match. Nike's," she added with an approving nod. "Nice choice."

"You know me," he replied with a wink. "The fashion guru of Camp Half-Blood."

"Well, Mr. Fashion Guru," she said impatiently, "would you mind reading the next clue? I'm not getting any younger here." And neither is our baby, she thought, but didn't dare say.

He stuck his tongue out at her before turning his eyes to the card and reading:

The directions are simple

For your second clue.

Just visit the Oracle

She'll tell you what to do.

"The Oracle..." Percy glanced up, excitement illuminating his green eyes. "We get to go see Rachel?"

At one time, long ago, this reaction of Percy getting to see Rachel would have made Annabeth unbelievably jealous, but that had been a long time ago, when they were only kids. She had enough faith in Percy as both a person and her husband to know that he would never do anything to hurt her, ever. And besides, they had been a couple for nearly 15 years now: dated for ten, married for five. She was certain they were what you would call "solid".

"That's right, Seaweed Brain," she said with a grin. "But not until you get dressed and eat something substantial. We've got a lot of walking to do today."

So...what did you think? Please please PLEASE review, because you honestly have no idea how much y'alls (y'all's? you guys'?you's guys's? eh, whatever, I'm from the South, I'll just pretend like that's right) opinions matter to me. Thank you for reading! I'll see you next week for another update. :)

Stay positive, and I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day! (Or Monday.)

Love,

~Princess Andromeda II