The day Percy's life changed, for better or worse, was not the day he met Annabeth or Rachel. It was not the day Lucy was born, or the day Rachel died.

It was the day that the doorbell rang.

It had been a normal Saturday morning. Lucy waking up at five, trying to make pancakes and almost setting the house on fire, Percy calling the fire department because of all the smoke…..

Well…. mostly normal.

The doorbell rang at precisely nine thirty. Percy opened the door, as that was what you were supposed to do when the doorbell rang. He thought it was either the mailman, coming to drop off a package.

Instead, it was someone whom Percy had not seen in a long time. It was Rachel's parents.

"Good day, Perseus." said Mrs. Dare, unfolding her umbrella. "May we step in for a moment?"

"Um, sure?" Percy said, although his statement sounded more like a question.

Lucy peered at them from the top of the stairs. "Who are they, Daddy?" she asked nervously.

"Um…." Percy gestured to the Dares. "These are your Grandma and Grandpa."

Lucy frowned. "But I thought you said-"

"Not right now, Luce." Percy interrupted. "Why don't you go play in your room for a little bit, okay?"

Lucy sighed, slinking back to her room, and closing the door. "Okay, Daddy."

Percy turned back to his mother and father- in- law.

Mrs. Dare appeared to be inspecting the kitchen. "Unclean kitchen." she muttered, scribbling something in a notebook.

"We're here to talk about the placement of Lucy." Mrs. Dare said, sliding her notebook back into her purse.

"Placement?" said Percy. "What do you mean, placement?"

"Well," Mrs. Dare started. "The unclean house, unsteady job, and not having time to spend with your daughter are all signs of an unfit parent." She paused a moment to pull some document out of her purse, and handed it over to Percy.

Percy scanned his eyes over the document quickly, evaluating the words at hand. His eyes caught on a certain section of the paper. Rights of grandparents?

His heart sank. His own mother- in- law wanted to steal his last piece of Rachel from him? His own baby?

"No." said firmly.

"Excuse me?" Mr. Dare asked.

"No, you are not taking my daughter." Percy yelled.

Mrs. Dare sighed, as if this were some mere decision about who got to take home the pink teddy bear rather than the blue one.

"Perseus Jackson." she stated, carefully annunciating each syllable. "You are not a fit parent for Lucia Jackson. Your job as a Marine Biologist doesn't allow you to spend as much time with your daughter as necessary."

"She stays with my Mom when I'm not home." Percy muttered.

Mrs. Dare ignored him. "Also, your house is not the cleanest."

That statement was kind of true. Okay, really true, but Mrs. Dare was going to take away his daughter on account of some dirty socks?

"And also, Perseus," Mrs. Dare continued. "Is it true that you've gone through eleven different jobs in this year alone."

"Yeah." Percy muttered, looking down. So he did go through jobs pretty quickly, but he was pretty positive this job was going to be The One.

You always say that, a little voice in his head told him. She's right, you know. You aren't a good parent for Lucy.

"There is also the matter of a healthy diet. What are you having for dinner, tonight, Perseus?"

"Chicken fingers." Percy answered.

"See what I mean?" Mrs. Dare smirked.

"Rachel would have done better." Her husband muttered.

Something in Percy seemed to click.

"Get out!" He shouted, standing up. "This is my house, my life, and my little girl, and there is nothing you can do to change that!"

"Very well." Mrs. Dare said, standing up. She stared hard at Percy. "I'll be seeing you in court. Wednesday, at precisely three o'clock. And I expect you to bring Lucy."

—-

Percy sat down at the table, massaging his temple. What was he supposed to do? He wasn't a lawyer, he didn't know anything about who got to raise the child. Clearly, Mrs. Dare did- and she was going to let him know it.

"Rachel," he whispered, staring at the wedding ring on his finger he had refused to take off, even though Rachel was long gone. "I need you. Why did you have to go?"

Suddenly, an overwhelming calmness seemed to grow in him from somewhere deep, and replace the large void of sadness Percy had been feeling for four years now. He smiled, staring at the picture of Rachel in his hand.

A/N: So, how was it? Please tell me in your review!