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Sally just wanted her baby to be safe. She knew the life he was destined for, and hoped she could protect him for a while before he marched off for a war he shouldn't be a part of. She needed a way to hide his scent, however she didn't want to put him under the same roof as some of the repulsive mortals she had seen. Her due date was in a month and she was running out of time to make a plan.
Amity Park Haunted?
Couple in Amity Park claim ghost are real-
She didn't even read the rest of the article that caught her eye. With the things she had seen all her life she could easily believe in ghosts. Would the strangeness of this little town help hide her baby?
Looking at the clock she had forty-five more minutes before her time was up on the old library computer, so opening a new tab she looked into the town. The Fenton family seemed to be the strangest part of the town, yet with digging she found no hints of anything Greek happening nearby. Tyche most of been smiling on her, because the house next to the Fenton's was for sell. Thanks to the parents' experiments the listing was dirt cheap.
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Moving states so close to when she was due may not have been her brightest idea. She somehow managed it, and got mostly settled in before having to knock on the Fenton's door in the dead of night to ask where the nearest hospital was. Maddie was a saint no matter what anybody else said. If only for how quickly she took control of the issue. The other woman loaded up both Sally and her young daughter and rushed to the hospital. They both waited there until Percy was born.
Young Jazz was in awe of the little boy, and asked if her own brother (who was due the next week) would be just as small. The Fenton's came back a few days later to take Sally home, before the whole Fenton family rushed back to the hospital the next day to welcome little Danny to the family. Jazz loved him even more than little Percy.
The families were close with Jazz regularly bringing Danny over to play with Percy. It did worry Sally how well Jazz could carry the boys and loud them into the stroller she always had with her.
The first time Jazz told her to, "rest I can take care of the boys while you sleep." She quickly put her foot down, handed Jazz some colors, watched all the children, and made a large dinner. She would just have to keep a closer eye on those children. Jazz in particular.
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Scary things still happened, but she wasn't alone. When the boy's went to daycare, and a snake somehow got into Percy's cot, Jack called a friend to ensure the daycare had child safe precautions in place to stop wildlife from entering the building. When the boy's started school and Percy was diagnosed with dyslexia Jazz offered to help him with homework. When Percy got into fights with the kids picking on Danny both Sally and Maddie went to the school to deal with things.
When Danny got into his parents 'office' Sally dutifully cleaned the exoplasm off of him. When Jazz knocked on her door saying dinner had blown up somehow Sally simple pulled out more plate for the table. When Danny tried sports to fit in and failed, Sally sat him down and together they listed all his good traits, because we are always more than our failures.
When the children were asked to draw their families they always drew three parents and children. Percy's was only different because of the small ship he also drew in the background. Lost but never forgotten. Most of their teachers at one point or another called the wrong parent about the wrong child. Not that Maddie or Sally minded the excuse to have tea while talking about their babies.
The Fenton kids even joined the Jacksons' on their summer beach trips each year. Sally and Jazz relaxing on the beach while the boys played in the water under their watchful eyes.
Jazz long ago told Sally how scatterbrained her parents were, and how glad she was for Sally. Sally had simply nodded and accepted she had three children instead of one. That was just fine with her. The house key Jazz wore around her neck said she was fine with it too.
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When Grover knocked on her door she really should have seen it coming, but Jazz had a school dance coming up and needed a dress. Danny and Percy both had science projects due, and for some reason thought a volcano with exoplasm was the way to go. She just didn't have time to think about the camp her ex wanted Percy to go too.
Grover told her about how he had been in class with Percy and Danny. How he was sure one of them was a demigod but the scent was so strong on both boys he couldn't tell which one it was coming from. He explained all about a world she already knew about. His concerns about her sons', because he truly couldn't tell the boys weren't brothers.
That night he left her a business card and a map to Camp Half-Blood. With a heavy heart she made plans to take Percy this summer. She couldn't hide him forever. However she knew she couldn't send him away without telling the children why. They were at the Fenton's' for the night, but tomorrow was Saturday and nothing would keep those three from her weekend pancakes. She would just tell them over breakfast.
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What should have been an easy drive was quickly turned on its head when they were hunted down. She didn't really remember what happened, but in the aftermath she had three crying children in her arms. It took two months for Maddie and Jack to stop shocking people with their newly updated 'ghost' shield.
It was four before she stopped waking up with a child in her bed. The three children seemingly made it their mission to make sure she wasn't stolen in her sleep. Clinging limbs and teary eyes were part of her day to day for now. Though Percy was clung to just as much as the other two children slowly got the story of his summer from him.
From what Jazz told her Sam and Tucker were keeping a close eye on Percy at school as well. They were concerned about the scars on his palm and poking out of his shirt. None of the children knew if they should tell the two the truth. Sally left the choice in their hands while she focused on trying to get things back in order from the crazy summer that she knew was just the start of things.
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When Jazz stormed into the living room yelling for Sally she found herself with a fourth child. Not that she minded she had plenty of space, but what did a cyclops eat? The, now three, boy's followed behind her. They told her about their new friend who was living in a box, so less than a week into the new school year she had a new child.
Honestly at this point Poseidon should be sending her child support.
Tyson settled into the family with easy, and Jazz latched onto the younger boy just like she had her other brothers. The four could often be found working together on school work. Jazz had taught herself ancient Greek over the summer and translated all of Percy's work for him. Danny sat with the others but rarely touched his work instead working on more complex lessons Sally tossed together when she found out how bored he was with his school work. Sally simply danced around the kitchen making dinner and passing out snacks.
The teachers never even batted an eye when Sally showed up to change Tysons' paperwork listing herself as his contact. She wasn't sure if that was thanks to the Mist, or if they truly cared so little about Tysons' safety.
With Tyson nearby any monster that might have tried to hurt her baby was scared away. When Percy asked about the lack of attacks Sally told all of them about scents and how monsters tend to avoid each other. As soon as Jazz heard she tasked herself with learning all she could about her little brother's world.
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The school had minimal damage after Percy and Tyson ran off to camp. Danny, the loyal brother he is, took the fall for the damages claiming one of his parents' new gadgets fell in his bag. It wasn't the first time one of their gadgets blew up and no one thought it would be the last.
Jazz filled Sally in as Danny sat grounded in his room for the first week of summer. Sally made sure to sneak him an extra large batch of cookies. All they could do was wait for their brothers to come back home.
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Percy came home alone. New scars and troubled eyes. The four sat together at the dinner table as Percy told them everything. Firstly reassuring them Tyson was safe with their father, and very happy to be working in the forges. The Sea of Monsters. He saved the camp and a cousin he thought died long before he joined the camp. Annabeth's fear that no matter how much she wanted her older sister back all this meant was a new pawn for their enemy to try and use.
A full dinner with cookies and ice cream for dessert. After Percy passed out gifts Tyson wanted each of them to have. Sally had a new necklace that would change into a chest plate if she was in danger, and a shiny new dagger Percy promised to teach her to use. Jazz had a bracelet that functioned the same way, but also had a bow and quiver shaped charm that would turn into the weapon in question. Percy apologetically informed her she was on her own to learn how to use the bow. Danny had a cuff that functioned the same as Sally's necklace, and dagger that could easily be hidden in his school bag.
Their weekends were now spent mastering their new weapons. The children spent so much time together that Percy's strong scent covered them all, and Percy felt they all needed to know how to fight. The Jackson family dinner table was turned into a makeshift war room as Jazz quizzed the boy's on all things Greek. From day to day monsters to Titan weaknesses.
Sally found two more children added to the war planning when Percy was caught by a monster while walking Sam and Tucker home. The brothers easily worked together to kill the hellhound, but had to tell their mortal friends everything. Sam and Tucker were quickly folded into the families day to day. Tucker jumped on the chance to help Jazz with research, however he chose to look into anything past children of Poseidon could do. Sam helped make a workout plan they could do while walking to and from school.
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Winter break Sally drove Percy, Annabeth (who her son got red-faced around), Grover (his best friend ranked just behind his siblings), and Thaila (his new cousin) to a boarding school that Grover was sure housed two strong demigods. Percy had agreed to help out his friend while Danny and Jazz went on a camping trip with their parents.
Sally was looking forward to some peace and quiet over the break. The young girl in all black waited on her steps when she got home only slightly changed those plans. Letting Sam in and making tea while listening to the girl's latest fight with her family Sally relaxed. The two relaxed for the night. Sally let Sam paint her nails a lovely shade of black and they watched the romcoms that Sally loved while Sam made fun of them.
In the morning, after pancakes of course, Sally drove Sam home and handed her a spare key to her house. No child should ever have to wait outside for her. What if it had been raining?
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The new year started with a streak of gray in her young son's hair. His quick trip to camp with the children of Hades, now just child of Hades, was just as eventful as a full summer. The tears in her son's eyes as he told them about the land with no rain broke her heart.
Danny, who had been tinkering with his parents' ghost tracker to see if he could get it to track monsters, showed them how it could track demigods. Plans were made to spend every spare moment looking for the lost boy, and folding him into their group once found. Sally for her own part just prepared the last spare room in the house. If they could find Nico then she would make sure he had a room ready for him.
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When Danny asked to talk to her alone she was worried. Why did one of her babies look so scared? An accident, he said. His parents had given up on it and called it a failure. He just wanted to look at it. He didn't mean for this to happen. Sally was just shocked. One of her babies was half god yes she'd always known this, but this this was something else. Now one of them was half dead! His hair was so white, eyes sickeningly green, and he flouted just above the ground as if he was one push from fleeing.
Wrapping her arms around him she reassured him of her love. The armor Tyson made him cold around his chest. It must have tried to shield him from the portal when it killed him. She could see the black jumpsuit under the burnt bronze of the chest plate. Some ghost had slipped through the portal, and he didn't know what to do, so as the responsible adult she sent him to get his sister. While he was gone she woke up Percy, and told him everything. They could work together.
The three children promised to tell Sam and Tucker the next morning and rushed off to catch the ghost Danny saw. The next morning Sally found all three piled onto Percy's bed sound asleep. This morning was a french toast type of morning then.
The group of children had pushed all of her furniture out of the way and turned her living room into a training room. Tucker was helping Percy learn to use water vapor in the air to make water anywhere while Sam and Jazz helped Danny learn to control when he went untouchable. Sally just provided snacks.
Sally mostly just watched while keeping the children from testing the more dangerous things they had read. Fire resistance, and earthquakes being a few. Even if she was sure they simply waited till she went to work to test the things she said no to.
Dinners now included tales of the ghost the children fought and captured that day. Danny was happy to find the armor he wore in his 'ghost form' worked to protect him from ghostly attacks while also keeping him safe from monsters. Even his dagger could be used in both forms, but Jazz's arrows and Percy's sword couldn't hurt the ghost. Tucker thought it was because Danny had his with him when he went into the portal.
Sally kept a close eye on how Maddie and Jack acted around Danny, because as much as she liked her friends she worried about their ghost hunting hobbies. She could understand why Jazz and Danny both begged her not to tell their parents about Danny. Thankfully it was always easy to convince the two that their gadgets were simply on the fritz when Danny was around. Danny's dagger was just magical enough to cut though ghost nets when caught in them.
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With Danny now able to fly the range they could look for Nico grew by quite a bit. Nights the boys couldn't sleep were now spent with Danny carrying Percy as they flew off to look with the help of the modified ghost tracker. After a few weeks the boys came back with a young boy in a too large jacket, and a ghost trapped in the Fenton thermos.
Sally made hot chocolate and wrapped Nico in a blanket fresh from the dryer. Percy and Nico talked through the night about what happened, and how sorry Percy was for what happened. Jazz sat next to Nico arms wrapped around the small boy explaining what she thought his sister may have been thinking. How all-consuming a sister's love for their little brothers could be, and how she must have known how much he looked up to Percy. How she must have wanted Percy to take care of Nico. Danny had left to toss the 'old perv into the ghost portal to hopefully get lost'.
After a lot of tears and much more hot chocolate than Sally normally let the kids have in one sitting Nico agreed to move into his room. Tucker had helped Sally search the net for all things mythomagic, so Nico walked into what must have looked like a merch store. Posters of high level cards on the walls, a Hades themed bed set with a Cerberus plush, and every deck Sally could get her hands on setting waiting to be opened on a dark wood desk. Wide eyed Nico looked around before thanking Sally. Ruffling his hair Sally sent him to bed.
The next morning Sally and Nico both burnt a small offering to Hades, Tyche, and Hermes before going to school to get Nico enrolled. Hopefully Hades would help since Sally was volunteering to raise his son, and Tyche, the goddess of luck, was always good to have in your corner. Hermes earned her a questioning look for the demigods, but after explaining they would be lying their way into hopefully not needing real documents for Nico both nodded.
Entering the office at the school Sally was happily shocked to hear that Nico's documents had just arrived via the post and they could get him enrolled to start next week. The meeting was quick, mostly just her being handed paperwork and a list of things Nico would need. The boy in question was happily waiting for her, having been listening through the door.
Just like that Nico was folded into the family. The boys introduced him to Sam and Tucker who loved the younger boy. Jazz helped with his work and translated it just like she did for Percy. The girl was thrilled for a new brother. Tucker added Children of Hades to his research. Nico was a quick study who soaked up the information given to him.
After Nico mastered shadow travel they moved on to control over skellingtons. Sam had a lot of fun finding dead things for Nico to practice on. Sally tended to avoid the children those days. Her stomach just couldn't handle the half dead rats Sam kept finding. The lessons were going well, and all of the kids were doing well in school.
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Sally kept a stocked first aid kit in every room of the house. With the increase in monster and ghost attacks she had to. Bandages, burn cream, and pain killers for the more mortal wounds. Ambrosia, nectar, and exoplasm for the less mortal wounds. She also signed up for basic first aid at the local YMCA. With children like hers knowing how to do CPR, make a tourniquet, and drain poison seemed important. Why they included draining poison became clear when the tall, blond, blue eyed god walked in as their teacher.
Sally left the class with the skills she needed to help her boys, a bag full of godly coins, a refill for her stock of godly medicines, and a letter for Nico. Zeus may have said parents couldn't talk to their children, but there was nothing stopping them from sending other gods to pass along their messages.
Passing along the message resulted in Nico roping Tucker into looking up any information they could find on his mother whose name he now knew. The two boys agreed to spend the summer researching since Nico didn't feel ready to return to camp just yet.
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Dropping Percy off at camp, Sally stopped by Montauk. Glazing out at the sea she thought about her life before she met Poseidon. She was a lonely girl who had lost everything. She longed for a large family she could love who would love her in turn. She got all of that when she moved to Amity for her son. She had three wonderful boys, and a beautiful daughter. Friends that while scatterbrained they did seem to care about the children. If you told her fifteen years ago this would be her life she never would have believed it, but here she was.
She left the beach at sunset. A single slice of blue cake was washed away by the tide. She had children to get back to.