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Percy Jackson always liked a minimalist decorating style. Only the most important momentos made the cut, when it came to what he presented or not.
For instance, Percy, the oldest and most consistent resident of Cabin 3, only had two items tacked onto the wall above his bed.
The first, was the Minotaur horn that Percy had gained possession of when he was twelve years old. He keeps it to remind himself of that dreadful day. That first ever fight he had with a monster. The anger he felt when he thought that his mother had died.
The other decoration was a little more new than the fifteen year old Minotuar horn, but no less precious to Percy Jackson.
It was a polaroid picture, tacked to the wall with a silver thumb pin. The photo was still glossy, with very few fingerprints smudging the image. It was, after all, in Percy’s room.
The image took place in the camp medical wing, white curtains and beach wood walls and Argus standing in a corner, all of his visible eyes tearing up.
Annabeth was lying in the hospital bed, a stiff, white blanket pulled up to her hips. She was wearing a medical gown, pieces of her curls sticking to her sweat-slicked forehead. Her eyes were trained on Grover, standing at the foot of Annabeth’s bed, and holding a small bundle of blankets. He was tracing the contours of the baby’s face, as if he had never seen a baby before, let alone had two babies of his own at home.
You couldn’t see him, but behind a camera, Percy was capturing this moment between three of some of the most important people in his life.
Now, the photo looks upon a new scene between those two best friends, and the no-longer-quite-so-tiny bundle.
Jada Colleen Jackson is splayed on her back in a blue polka-dotted sleep sack. Four blackout curtains surround her in an effort to keep light from disturbing her nap time. After all, Jada doesn’t have much peace these days, what with being only eighteen months old, and not quite understanding that the reason her father wasn’t home was because a vengeful goddess had erased his memories and dropped him off half way across the country.
Not even Annabeth could really process that information sometimes, and she was almost thirty.
Annabeth has her eyes trained on the baby monitor, watching her daughter’s slumber, and listening to the soft sounds of her breathing, despite the fact that only four feet and black out curtains separate them.
“Annabeth?” Grover asks gently, his hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
They were sitting on Percy’s usual Cabin 3 bed, heads pressed together as they both looked down at the same, tiny screen.
Chiron had been allowing all three of them to stay in Cabin 3 since Annabeth had first announced her pregnancy to him more than two years ago. Jada was, afterall, Poseidon’s granddaughter, and unlike in Cabin 6, Annabeth never had to worry about privacy, or the threat of a random sibling waking up her daughter.
It didn’t hurt that the saltwater scent in the air reminded Annabeth of her husband. Her husband that she hasn’t seen in nearly six months. The husband that she would, hopefully, be able to see within the next few days.
If she could manage to get on that ship, that is.
She looks up, and meets Grover’s eyes. He looked just as tired as she did. They’d both been working tirelessly, between looking for Percy, and watching over Jada.
And now, Annabeth would be gone for who knows how long. Leaving both her daughter and best friend behind.
Annabeth set her gaze back on the baby monitor, blinking back tears as she gazed at her daughter. It wasn’t easy to tell with the gray visuals, but Jada had a mane of black curls which was now spread behind her head like a halo. Her eyes, however, were Annabeth’s, large, blue-gray, and filled with curiosity.
Percy used to say that Jada was the perfect combination of the two of them. Now, those words feel like a knife to Annabeth’s currently fragile heart.
Annabeth shakes her head. “I can’t let her go.” Grover gives her a sympathetic look. “I know I have to. I can’t take her on a dangerous quest. But I don’t want to leave her.”
Grover gulps, as if preparing to say something that he knew Annabeth wouldn’t like to hear. He squeezes the shoulder that his hand is resting on. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. They can always bring someone else.”
Annabeth bit her lip. That was true. They didn’t technically need her.
She could just stay here. Raise her daughter. Ignore the quest her mother sent her on, and stay on the sidelines.
There’s always a first time for everything.
But, deep down, Annabeth knew she couldn’t just wait . It just wasn’t in her nature. She couldn’t stay at camp while her husband was missing, at some enemy camp, and on his way to probably certain doom.
Not to mention, Annabeth didn’t trust anyone else to do the jobs that she had been given.
She couldn’t stay on the sidelines. But, that knowledge didn’t stop her heart from hurting either way.
She sadly shakes her head. “I can’t do that. I have to go. I need to help them. I need to help him .”
Grover nods. “I get it. If I had the chance to get him back, I’d take it. But still… leaving Willow and Jonah… that’s not an easy thing to do.”
“It’s not easy.” Annabeth agrees, looking down at Jada in the baby monitor once more. Her chest was moving up and down, her breathing deep and even.
“She’s so peaceful.” Grover remarks.
Annabeth nods, swallowing hard. “She deserves it.”
In her waking hours, the recent pains were not lost on the little girl. Jada missed her father. He was the one that stayed home with her each day. Jada would ask where he was, and Annabeth had absolutely no idea how to answer her daughter. It still hurt her to think that Percy wasn’t around when Jada said her first word: “Dada”.
“Grover? I need to ask you something.”
He looked up, his eyes glassy. “What’s up?”
Annabeth settles deeper into the bed she was set up on, bringing her knees to her chest.
“Can you look after Jada while we’re gone?”
Grover’s eyes widened comically. “Wha- really? Me?” His voice came out like a squeak.
“Well, Juniper too.” Annabeth murmurs, the corners of her mouth quirking upwards.
“Well.. yeah! But… really?” He starts stroking his goatee.
Annabeth rolls her eyes. “No. We chose you as her godfather because of the goat legs.”
Grover was blinking a few times. “What about Sally?”
“Her, Paul, and Estelle are still in California. It would just be easier to bring her with us to Camp Jupiter than send her with Sally.”
The Blofis family moved to Hollywood because Sally had gotten a deal to make one of her books into a movie. It had been an opportunity that she just couldn’t pass up.
Grover blinks a few times. “You really want me to watch your baby for you.”
“Of course.” She says as loudly as she can while whispering. “You’re one of my best friends. I trust you so much. Plus she gets along with Willow and Jonah. I wouldn’t ask you if I didn’t mean it, Grover.”
He blinks a few times, and swallows. It takes Annabeth a few seconds to realize that he’s trying not to cry.
Before she realizes what’s happening, Grover launches himself at her in a hug. “Yes! I will! I promise I won’t let her out of my sight for a second.”
“Shouldn’t you talk to Juniper first?” Annabeth asks, though a watery chuckle bursts from her lips at his reaction.
He waves her off. “She adores Jada. And it’s not like she’s a handful or anything. I just… still can’t process that you trust me this much.”
“You watched her those weekends I went searching for Percy.” Annabeth reminds him. “And you’d trust me to watch Jonah and Willow.”
“Well, yeah!” Grover brushes her off, as if the prospect of not trusting her was foreign to him. “But… this is the big leagues. Months of taking care of her, and you want me to do it!”
Annabeth puts her hands on his shoulders, and looks him straight in the eye. “Grover Underwood. I have known you since I was seven years old. I couldn’t have gotten to where I am without you. Never doubt that.”
Grover let’s out a soft bleat. “You sure know how to make an old goat feel significant.”
“You literally look younger than me,” Annabeth mutters, rolling her eyes.
Grover just shakes his head, wrapping his arms around Annabeth in a tight hug.
“You can trust me.” He whispers into her neck.
“I know.” Annabeth murmurs.
Annabeth savors the last few hours she has with her daughter. Even as Jada sleeps, Ananbeth can’t find it in herself to follow her daughter’s lead. She just spends the whole night listening to Jada’s breathing, and watching her from the baby monitor.
She presses her lips to Jada’s head the next morning, before handing her over to a waiting Juniper. When Grover hugs her, they both pretend that they don’t notice the tear stains they are leaving on each other’s collars.
“Bring him back to us.” Grover whispers into her ear.
“I will.” Annabeth promises.
Annabeth brushes off Piper’s inquisitive stares when she finally boards the Argo that morning. She simply says that she will be taking a nap in her cabin, and nobody bothers to disturb her and her reeling thoughts.
Leaving Jada was one of the hardest things Annabeth has ever done. And yet, the burning fire in her heart lets her know that her daughter is in the safest hands she could find.