And So It Begins

Percy

Annabeth had been acting completely un-Annabeth-like that night. In fact, when Percy thought about it, she'd been different all day. She'd come home late from work with no explanation, just flitted in, pecked Percy on the cheek, then flew down the hall to their bedroom before he had even had the chance to ask what had kept her. Even more abnormal, when Percy had tried to follow her, the door had been locked. It had been so shocking that he didn't even attempt to ask her to let him in, just drifted back to the kitchen and continued preparing dinner, feeling like the vegetables he was chopping.

Not long after, Annabeth had emerged as if nothing was wrong or different at all, which just confused Percy more. He tried not to feel insulted when she nudged his pasta and steamed vegetable around her plate instead of eating them.

"Is something wrong?" he finally asked, unable to contain it any longer.

Annabeth looked up from her plate and, for a moment, Percy thought he saw anxiety in her stormy eyes, but she smiled, and the moment passed. "Nothing, I'm just not all that hungry," she said.

Percy wasn't convinced. "What held you up at work tonight?" he pressed. "You missed Jeopardy."

Annabeth pushed her food around her plate a little more. "I was just overlooking the codes for the new building going up in the town square. Took me a little longer than I thought. How was Jeopardy?" she asked with a weak smile.

Even though she tried, Percy knew always loved steamed veggies and devoured her dinner when she got home from work, especially if the day had been long. The dinner table was usually filled with her voice chattering about plans Percy never understood a word of, but tonight she had barely said anything. Her face was flushed and her eyes avoided him as much as possible.

"It was good," Percy finally answered reluctantly, not wanting to change subjects so quickly. "There was a category on fishing so I might have been able to beat you this time."

Annabeth smirked halfheartedly, her eyes flicking past Percy to the hallway leading to the bedroom. "Sorry I missed that," she muttered, then stood. "I'm so tired tonight. I know it's my turn, but could you start the dishes? I just want to go to bed."

"Only if you make it up to me," Percy said with a smirk.

As she passed by his chair, he reached up to pinch her, but Annabeth had his wrist locked in her expert grip before he even got close. He made a strangled noise of surprise and looked into her face. Her grey eyes were burning and narrow, and her grip on his hand tightened.

Then, as quickly as she had grabbed him, Annabeth released Percy's wrist. "Just tired, Percy," she said with a clipped tone, then walked quickly down the hall.

Percy waited in a state of shock as he heard their bedroom door close and the inexplicable sound of the lock turning into place. As long as they had lived together, five years now, Annabeth had never reacted with such anger at Percy's advances. Sure, he knew he could be annoying sometimes, but she'd never just grabbed him before. And she rarely locked him out of their room, and only when he'd really screwed up with, as far as he knew, he hadn't.

Maybe that was the problem, Percy suddenly thought as he gathered the dishes and scraped the leftovers into a container. What if he had done something to upset her without realizing it? If that was the case, he had absolutely no idea what it could be. What was the date? November 20th, right? Their anniversary wasn't for another few months, so that couldn't be it. Birthdays in the Summer, so he hadn't forgotten any of those either. He'd cooked on his days and done the dishes when he was supposed to … had he stolen the covers last night or something?

The more Percy thought racked his brain for things he could have possibly screwed up, the more he felt sick to his stomach. He was so distracted that he nearly scrubbed a hole in the plate he was washing.

Finally, when he couldn't take it any longer, Percy decided that whatever it was, he would just march back there and beg for forgiveness. He would get down on his knees and plead through the door if he had to, anything until Annabeth accepted or slapped him - or both.

He marched up to the door and knocked tentatively. "Annabeth?" he called softly.

"It's open."

Percy turned the knob slowly and entered the empty room. Light shone from under the master bathroom door, which he guessed would be locked, so her breathed a momentary sigh of relief. Percy began to undress, swapping his worn work jeans and t-shirt for sweatpants and a familiar old orange shirt, and waited for Annabeth to emerge from the bathroom.

When that took too long, Percy slowly padded toward the door. "Annabeth… what's wrong?" he pleaded.

"Nothing, Percy. I'll be out in a minute."

"Could you be honest with me, please?"

"I am! Nothing's wrong."

"After three years being married to you, I think I can tell when something's up. You've been acting differently for days now."

"Things change, Percy."

The words were like stabbing an ice pick into Percy's already nervous heart. What did that mean, things change? How much change was she talking about here? He tried to keep from panicking.

"Annabeth…" Percy swallowed past the lump in his throat and leaned against the door, resting his forehead against the smooth, cool wood. "Whatever I did, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, I- I don't even know what I did wrong- but I'll fix it! I promise. Just please, tell me whatever I did-"

Suddenly, the door vanished from in front of him, throwing his balance off completely. Percy pitched forward, sprawling across the floor of their tiny master bathroom. He rolled onto his back, wincing from the pain in his knee that had smacked the tile on his way down.

Annabeth was leaning over him, amusement sparkling in her grey eyes. "What are you babbling about?" she asked.

"You keep saying everything's fine, but I know I've screwed something up," Percy started explaining quickly. "Just tell me what I need to do to fix it and I will, I swear. Whatever it is I'm sorry and-"

"Percy!" Annabeth exclaimed, narrowing her eyes at him. "Alright, you got me. You sure screwed up all right. But you won't be able to make this go away as easily as you think."

Percy's stomach sank to his knees.

"In fact," she continued, "you won't be able to get rid of this for years."

"Wh-what?" He messed up pretty badly sometimes, but Annabeth had forgiven Percy for hitting her car within a couple of days. What could he have done that would take years to rectify?

"Yes, Percy Jackson, years." Annabeth shook her head in disappointment. "In fact, about eighteen years to be exact."

Eighteen years! "What did I do! Wha-what's this?" Annabeth had handed Percy a small, white stick, a purple cap at one end, a viewing window in the middle, but he wasn't paying attention to this. He just wanted to know what he could have done wrong. "Annabeth, please just- What are you pointing at? What does this have to do with what I did? Just tell me- what? Wait, what does this little plus sign thing mean?"

Annabeth was shaking with laughter she was trying to hold in now, her hand over her mouth, her eyes crinkling at the corners. It suddenly dawned on Percy what this all meant.

His mouth fell open. "He looked from his wife's face to the plus sign and back again. "Oh, gods," he exclaimed. "You mean- Oh my GODS!" He threw his arms around Annabeth's shoulders and hugged her tightly as her laughter burst forth. "You- I'm going to be- you are-!"

"Yes, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth laughed. "We're going to have a baby. Ew, that sounds weird."

Percy grasped both sides of her face and kissed her lips, which was difficult with a smile so big his cheeks were aching. He pulled back and shook his head. "No," he said. "It sounds beautiful. We're going to have a baby!" He laughed and kissed her again. "I can't wait!"

Annabeth blinked rapidly and smiled at Percy warmly. "Me too."

"Wait," Percy said suddenly, his face dropping. "So you aren't mad at me for this?"

Annabeth smacked him in the arm and laughed. "No, Seaweed Brain. I'm happy!"

Percy rubbed his biceps and smiled sheepishly. "So am I. I feel like I might throw up though."

"Me too."