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14 years ago, Will believed he wouldn’t even make it to 16. Now he’s 27, works at the best hospital of the state and has two beautiful kids with Nico, who he married 6 years ago and hasn’t had any regrets since.
When he was 13, new head of the Apollo cabin after watching his half-brother Micheal Yew fall from the Williamsburg bridge never to be found he had lost a lot of hope. After the battle of manhattan was over it got better, although not for long because then the war against Gaia had started not only a year later. One good thing about the whole Gaia rising and stuff was that he finally got to properly meet Nico.
The first time he had ever seen Nico was when he came crashing into camp on Apollo’s Sun chariot with Percy, Thalia, Grover and his sister and the hunters of Artemis. He was a lot different then, always wanting to either talk about Mythomagic or be playing it. Nico had gotten a nasty knee scrape and Will was there watching when his brother Lee was patching him up and explaining how it was done. Will was pretty new to camp too so he still had a lot to learn at the time. Nico then left camp for the first time after arriving, after finding out his sister Bianca had died and banished a few skeletons while at it.
The second time he had seen Nico was during the battle of Manhattan when he appeared when all was starting to lose hope. Will hadn’t seen him in years so seeing him acting and looking so different was a shock. His hair had grown a bit longer and shaggier, it looked like he had been cutting it with his sword so some pieces curled up like baby bat wings, he was paler and looked like he hadn’t eaten or slept in days. Somehow, even as sickly as he looked, Will was starstruck by how pretty he looked and how amazing he was on the battlefield. Back talking Kronos like he had nothing to lose, fighting alongside campers and slashing his Stygian iron sword at whatever monster came too close and claiming victory like his name: Nico.
After the war he stayed at camp for a few weeks, before disappearing without saying anything to anyone.
Will had finally gotten to meet and talk to Nico properly during the war with Gaia, when Nico had pointed out that his disguise was no use with the golden blonde hair uncovered and Will had held Nico’s hands for the first time while showing him how shaky they were after delivering a satyr baby. After the war with Gaia Will had forced Nico to say in the infirmary for three days for his own good, given that he was ‘one more shadow travel away from fading’ as he had stated.
They got really close after it, then the whole Apollo-turning-mortal fiasco happened, Jason dying which was devastating to everyone and especially Nico (somehow, no one knows, he was able to be brought back to life a year or more so later), then they were sent on a quest to Tartarus where their relationship was really tested. After Tartarus they both were practically clinging to each other at any chance they got. Whenever Will was working on campers medical history files in the infirmary office, Nico would always sit on his lap and hug him close, afraid that he was gonna lose him. They slept in each other’s cabins which usually resulted in either a fight for the blanket or Will waking up and finding Nico sprawled over him or clinging on like a koala bear. He couldn’t find it in himself to complain though because even as uncomfortable as it looked he was grateful to still be alive and to hold his love so close to him. Those times were when Will really knew that one day, he was gonna marry this amazing son of Hades.
They shared a lot of things together, like food, first times, Will’s favourite Star Wars and cabin 7 hoodie and eventually rings.
After a year of marriage they moved into a medium sized house that has enough space for them and future family. The house is close enough to camp half-blood that if there was any emergencies they could make it there in time and also close enough to their other friend’s houses. Percy and Annabeth live just a few minutes away and so do Hazel and Frank. Leo and Jason share an apartment that is close enough to Leo’s workshop that he opened with Calypso before she ended things with him and left their twins for Leo to raise by himself. Luckily Jason is a big help and moved in with him before it all happened so he was like a second father figure to the twins.
After Will was done medical school and secured a job at the hospital, they started talking about kids. During the middle of May, a little after Annabeth and Percy had just had their first baby, Charlie, Hades and Apollo blessed them with their daughter, Bianca Maria Solace - di Angelo. She had Nico’s raven black wavy hair but Will’s sky blue eyes, nose and freckles. She was a perfect baby, didn’t wake them up often at night, caused them little to no problems and was what you would call a dream baby. Nico always said that she got her good sleeping schedule from him, which Will would argue with, saying he would have to force him to go to sleep when they were teenagers because he would always want to finish ‘one more chapter’ or didn’t want any more nightmares which was understandable.
Three years later, their days of peacefulness came to an end. Micheal Lee Solace - di Angelo was born. He had Will’s untameable curly blonde hair, the same freckles Bianca had gotten and Nico’s big brown doe eyes that could get him almost anything he wanted with a pout. He was the opposite of how Bianca was as a baby, calm, peaceful, helpful to chaotic and uncooperative. The first two weeks with him were definitely an eye opening experience. He wouldn’t go to bed and kept them up most nights and since Will had to get up early for his hospital shifts it was usually Nico who was getting up since he quit his job to be able to stay home with the kids. There was a few times Will came home to both Micheal and Nico in tears.
Lucky for them though, around the same time Micheal was born Leo’s twins, Esperanza and Mateo were too so they had someone to play with. They were both chaotic like Leo so Jason’s help was really needed there.
Now, Bianca was turning 3 soon and Micheal was a couple months older and although he was sleeping more throughout the nights, he showed no signs of calming down and was still as rambunctious as ever. It also didn’t help that this week he had caught some sort of cold that had Nico freaked out but Will assured him he would be alright as long as they kept a close eye on him.
“Here comes the sun” by the Beatles played on Will’s alarm he had set to 7:00 AM to wake up for work and to check on Micheal who had eventually found his way into their bed and was nestled in Nico’s arms. Papa’s boy. He got up and showered quickly and noticed Micheal stirring when he got out. He began to sniffle and was about to cry before Will picked him up and soothed him and bounced him until he calmed down. He held Micheal with one arm against his side and brought him to the bathroom with him to not wake Nico and brushed his teeth with the other while listening to a few voicemails left by co workers and patients.
Micheal was in his onesie, sniffling and shaking his head against Wills pec. “I know buddy, I’ll get you some medicine once I’m done okay?” He cooed to Micheal who let out a small whimper. Will set Micheal down on the counter while he changed quickly into scrubs and then brought them both into the kitchen for breakfast. He poured some of Micheal’s medicine into a syringe that they found easier to use with him than any of the other methods they tried and stuck it between his lips and pressing lightly so he can swallow and not choke.
Micheal swallowed half of it then pushed Will’s hands away and scrunched his face up, which meant he probably didn’t like the flavour or was just in a bad mood, it was probably the latter. “C’mon honey, you gotta take it. I promise you’ll feel a lot better if you do.” Micheal shook his head and tears started pricking at his eyes. “Oh baby, it’s okay, I know.” Will cooed, stroking the mess of blonde curls that seemed to be going in every direction on his babies head.
Micheal then started to sob and make grabby hands towards him and Nico’s bedroom door. “Papa’s sleepin’. You can see him once you take the medicine okay?” Almost on command, the bedroom door clicked open and Nico came out, his bed head crazy and the eye bags visible to how much sleep he’s been missing out on since Micheal was born. He cooed once he saw Micheal.
“I heard my baby crying and had to see what was up.” He picked Micheal up and bounced him on his hip while Micheal wrapped his arms around Nico’s neck and stopped his crying.
Will chuckled a bit. “Wow, I see how it is then. Papa’s boy.” He started tickling Micheal which made him giggle and writhe in Nico’s arms. They all started laughing soon. “Tell daddy to stop it or you’re gonna end up in another coughing fit.” Nico warned him. “Okay I’ll stop but he’s gotta take his medicine. I’d hate for papa to have to deal with a sick baby for longer.”
Nico tsked. “You’ve gotta take your medicine bambino. It’ll make you feel lots better.” Micheal whined and buried his face in Nico’s chest. Nico cooed and patted his back, resting his chin on top of Micheal head. Will sighed. “What are we gonna do with him?”. “He’s probably just a bit grumpy right now since he just woke up, I’d give it a bit then he’ll probably take it. It’s not like it tastes horrible.”
“Yeah, probably. I’m gonna make us breakfast in the mean time, anything ya feel like?” Will asked. Nico kissed the top of Micheal’s head then looked up at Will. “Bee asked if we could have blueberry pancakes for breakfast, is that good?” Will nodded “of course.”
“I think Percy and Charlie got her started on the blue food, I knew I should’ve done something about it earlier.” Nico grumbled which caused Will to laugh. “I think she’s got a small crush on Charlie, the other day when I was putting her to bed she asked me if it was okay if she had a crush and then when I said yes she started talking about him until I told her she had to go to sleep.” Will said and Nico groaned. “Oh Merda, I really hope her crush doesn’t turn out like mine did. Always the Jackson kids.”
Will laughed. “I don’t think it will, he seems to like her back too.” As soon as he said that they heard another door click and Bianca’s little head pop out. “Hi daddy, hi papa.” She smiled. Nico smiled back, “Buongiorno Tesoro”.
Will walked over and scooped her up in a bear hug. “Morning honey.” He grinned, setting her down and kissing her head. She laughed “you hug too tight daddy.” Will smiled, “it comes in the: ‘best dad in the world’ contract”. “What about papa?” Bianca asked smiling, walking over to Nico and Micheal to hug them. “He didn’t need the contract, he already won the prize for best papa in the world because he’s so amazing.” Will said, walking over to all three of them and picking Bianca up and holding Nico close and resting his head atop of his while Micheal was smooshed between all three of them.
“I’m not sure about that.” Nico smiled weakly, then kissed Bianca and Micheal heads then reaching up for Will’s chin to peck. “I’m sure, you’re amazing honey.” Will brought his head down and kissed Nico’s lips gingerly. Nico was about to kiss back before Micheal whined and bonked his head on Nico’s jaw causing him to hiss in pain. “Oh you menace.” Will clicked his tongue, taking Micheal and inspecting Nico’s chin where he bonked it then Micheal’s forehead. “All good no booboo’s, but I know one thing that can make it better.” He smiled then turned to Bianca who was in his other arm already reaching to give Micheal’s forehead and Nico’s chin a kiss better. “All better!” She smiled. “Thank you Bee,” Nico smiled warmly.
“Papa told me you wanted blueberry pancakes for breakfast, correct?” Will asked, setting Bianca down and placing Micheal in his high chair. “Mhm! When I had them at Charlie’s they were really good.” “Let’s see if I can make them as good as Percy does then, can’t make any promises though.”
“It’s okay daddy, your pancakes are really good.” Bianca sat in her chair next to Nico, who was trying to get Micheal to take his medicine. Will finished the pancakes just in time to grab a few for the car ride to work and kiss his family goodbye. “Be good to Papa while I’m gone k?” He said while hugging Bianca goodbye. Will walked over to Nico who was holding Micheal and tried to put on his sternest face, “Especially you sir, if you make my husband cry again we’re gonna have to have a serious conversation.” Micheal, who had no clue what Will was saying but could read his face quickly hid in Nico’s neck. “Silly goose.” Will smiled, tickling Micheal’s armpits which caused him to squirm. After he decided he had enough of torturing Micheal he cupped Nico’s face and kissed him goodbye gently like he was a porcelain vase. “Call me if somethings wrong or if you need anything, I mean it.” Nico nodded. “I love you.” “I love you too you big goofball, now go to work.” Nico patted his face and stood up on his tiptoes and kissed his cheek goodbye. Will grinned in return and jogged off to his car.
“Alright you two, who wants to help me bake cookies?” Bianca started jumping up and down with her arms waving around “Me! Me!” Micheal, who couldn’t understand fully what Nico had said but could see Bianca was excited and jumping around threw his hands up and let out a high pitch squeal. “Okay, let’s go.”
-
As soon as Will opened the front door he was greeted with the smell of cookies and dinner cooking. Before he could get any words out Bianca was running up to him and Micheal was crawling towards him from the kitchen. “Hey you guys.” Will smiled. Bianca tried going in for a hug but Will stopped her. “No hugging yet remember? I gotta shower first then we can do hugs and kisses. Dont want any of you getting the hospital germs.” “Ok but hurry up daddy! Papa’s almost done dinner.” Will grinned, thinking about his husband cooking dinner in the kitchen so focused he couldn’t hear the commotion at the front door. “Alright, I’ll be as quick as I can.”
He showered then quickly changed into his old camp half-blood shirt that he was able to steal back from Nico for now and his favourite Star Wars Pyjama pants. When he walked into the kitchen, Nico had his back turned to him and was focused on whatever was in the pot. He put his finger to his lips and Bianca and Micheal copied too, although Micheal started making a loud “shhhh” sound which only caused Nico to turn his head slightly towards the sound to see Micheal but looked back to the food once he saw nothing was wrong. Will waited until Nico had his hands free and was far away enough from the stove to attack. “OH MIO DIO!” Nico shrieked as Will picked him up off his feet and held him up in the air. “Hi honey.” Will grinned at Nico who was out of breath and dangling in the air by Will’s arms. “Vaffanculo! Mi hai spaventato!” He huffed as Will put him down. “Once the kids pick up on your Italian they’re gonna hear about all the no-no words their papa has been saying.” He grinned at Nico who was glaring in return.
”Whatever. Your daddy’s crazy.” He said to Bianca and Micheal while failing to hide his smile. Micheal let out a high pitch squeal which caused all three of them to cover their ears and wince. “I really hope he stops that soon. He could be a substitute for the sonic whistle if he keeps that up.” “Ugh don’t even talk about that, my ears still hurt from when you used it.” Nico groaned and picked up Micheal who was making his way towards their room. “Not on my watch cucciolo. Come help me with dinner.” He propped Micheal upon one hip and walked back over to the stove. Will peeked over his shoulder. “What’s for dinner?”
“Chicken noodle soup, thought I’d make it since Micheal’s got a cold and it helps.” He said while pulling open a drawer for the utensils and pulling out a spoon and dipping it in the soup then putting it to Bianca’s lips. “Taste it and tell me if it’s good, per favore, Tesoro.”
She opened her mouth and let Nico put the spoon in. “Mmm it’s good. Mickey and daddy will like it.” She hummed and went back to her horse colouring book she got from Hazel. “That’s a pretty drawing Bee.” Will pointed out and smiled. “Thank you.” She smiled back up at him then capped the purple marker and moved onto the green. “Need any help love?” He asked, walking back over to Nico pecking the top of his head. “No, just play with him so I can finish this up.“ He said, handing Micheal to Will who picked him up and threw him in the air and caught him. “Alright baby let’s go set the table while papa finishes up then we can play for a bit.”
Will set out the bowls, plates and glasses and Bianca helped set out the utensils while Micheal sniffled and babbled from his highchair. Will picked him and blew raspberries against his neck which caused him to giggle. “Silly boy, let’s go play with your cars now.” Micheal and Will played with Micheal’s toys for a couple of minutes while Bianca finished up her drawing before Nico called that dinner was ready.
“It looks amazing.” Will said as they all sat down. “It’s really not much though.” Nico mumbled. “Anything you make is amazing. Take these two creatures as examples.” Will said, looking at Bianca who had already started eating her soup and Micheal who was picking out the noodles and eating them in the messiest way you could think of. He was definitely gonna need a bath later. “Technically the gods made them and gifted them to us. It’s just my DNA that’s in them so I didn’t really make them.” “Still counts, without our DNA’s they wouldn’t be here.” Nico nodded then smiled at his kids, his very own kids he had with Will.
“Anyways, how was Work?” He asked then took a sip of the soup broth. “Like usual, although I saw two camp half-blood shirts in our waiting room. Turns out the infirmary was on strike for something and was only open to treating the worst wounds so they had to come to the hospital since it was only a sprained ankle and broken arm. I was able to sneak outside near break when they were leaving to give them ambrosia and ask their names, it was two Hermes campers named Julie and Zeth who picked a fight with an Ares one.” Will shrugged then started eating his soup. “Well I’m glad to hear the Apollo cabin has sensible campers now and know their limits. I remember we had to pry you out of the infirmary sometimes.” Nico said, referring to the times him, Kayla and Austin had to physically force him out of the infirmary.
“Hey, someone had to do the paperwork and heal the patients.” Will hummed. “Yeah, but not to the point where I can feel your life force slipping away. You’re impossible.” Nico sighed then smiled. “Bee, wanna tell daddy what you guys did today?”
“Oh yeah!” She exclaimed and her face lit up. “Mateo and Espa came over today with Leo and Jason and we got to play with them!” “That’s fun, what did you guys do?” Will asked, smiling at Bianca. “We coloured then ate the cookies me and Papa made then walked to the park. But when Papa set Mickey down in the grass to crawl a bit his hand went in dog poop.” She giggled and Nico grimaced. “That was not a fun experience.”
“Well that explains why baby boy has his hair washed and is all cleaned up and has his pyjama’s on early.” Will grinned and reached over to pick up Micheal’s spoon that he dropped on the table. “Yeah, he was being una rottura di scatole though while I was trying to bathe him. Bee had to distract him so he wouldn’t flail around and slip out of my grasp and drown himself accidentally.” Will felt himself grimace at the thought.
After dinner was done and Will finished washing the dishes since he stated to Nico ‘You cook the dinner so it’s only fair I wash them’ awhile back and it’s been their system ever since, Bianca practiced her reading with Nico while Will gave Micheal his medicine and then watched Mickey Mouse clubhouse on TV before he started blinking slowly and was slumped in Will’s arms so Will put him to bed. A bit after that Bianca was starting to drift off so Nico got her changed into pyjamas and helped her brush her teeth then him and Will kissed her goodnight.
As they both exited Bianca’s room and shut the door behind them Will picked Nico up and threw him over his shoulder (gently of course, Will wouldn't forgive himself if he hurt Nico while doing that) which caused Nico to let out a yelp and carried him to their own bedroom. “Will what are you doing?” Nico whisper yelled, not wanting to wake the kids. “Just taking you to bed.” Will smirked. “We just put the kids to bed Tesoro, not right-“ Will threw Nico on the bed then crawled on and pulled Nico’s out of breath body towards him and big spooned him. “Oh.. oh you meant that. Oops.” Nico let out a breathy laugh then turned around to face Will. “I mean we can do that if you want.” He smirked, propping himself on top of Nico with his arms on either side of his head. “No, not tonight amore.” Nico smiled and pecked Will’s lips before pushing him off of him. “You’ve got work tomorrow and I wanna be able to walk.”
“And when has that ever stopped us?” Will smirked again. “Will quit it.” Nico raised his brows and had his stern face on. “C’mon, we gotta brush our teeth.” He said, patting Will’s knee and swinging his legs over the side of the bed and walking to their bathroom. Will pouted and sulked for a few seconds before following Nico into the bathroom like a golden retriever puppy. “Can I at least have kisses though?” He asked, wrapping his arms around Nico’s waist and bending down a bit so he could rest his head on Nico’s shoulder and press soft kisses to his neck. “F’course” Nico tried to say while putting his toothbrush in his mouth.
After they were done brushing their teeth and finally got into bed they both sighed from exhaustion. Will had his head against Nico’s chest and his arms around his waist while Nico had his arms wrapped around Will’s neck holding him like he was a giant teddy bear while both their feet were tangled together under the blankets. “Goodnight honey, sweet dreams.” Will hummed, already dozing off.
The last thing Will heard before drifting off into dreamland was Nico mumble something in Italian like he usually does when he gets sleepy.
14 years ago, younger Will would have had his jaw dropped if he saw how his life was now, unable to comprehend how he made it past 16 and got insanely lucky with such an amazing family and friends.