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After a long day of chasing his three kids around, Percy was looking forward to a nice, calm, romantic dinner with his wife. The kids had eaten mac and cheese for dinner, which was requested so often that Annabeth and Percy were sick of it. After she put Chase down and he ran bath time for the girls, they had made a deal that she would get the girls to bed while he made a dinner that was just for the two of them. It was the least he could do, really. She was doing the hard part.
Dinner was chicken parmesan, which sounded fancier than it actually was. The chicken in question was really just frozen chicken tenders he’d covered in spaghetti sauce and mozzarella and popped in the oven.
Percy already had a pot of spaghetti noodles and a pot of sauce ready to go on the stovetop. He toasted some sourdough bread in the toaster oven and threw together a quick salad with previously cut-up veggies the girls didn’t finish. The oven beeped as he was finishing tossing the salad, and Percy slipped an oven mitt on to pull the baking sheet of chicken out and onto the cooling rack on the counter. He turned off the oven and stepped over Bo, who was curled up on the kitchen floor right where Percy needed to be, to get to the fridge. From the fridge, Percy grabbed the tub of grated parmesan and set it on the kitchen island. With the food finished, Percy flicked off the bright overhead light of the kitchen, leaving just the dim lights under the cupboards and the pendant light over the table. He pulled out two plates from the cupboard—real plates, not plastic—and set them on the island with the parmesan.
He heard Annabeth’s footsteps on the stairs as he was lighting a candle on the table. She walked into the kitchen, her face lighting up when she saw what Percy had set up for them.
“Wow,” she said, nodding approvingly.
Percy smiled, happy to have made her happy. He wrapped his arms around her and leaned in to kiss her. “All for you.”
She hummed, pecking the corner of his mouth. “Thank you.”
Percy and Annabeth grabbed their plates and served themselves. Percy sat down at the table, and Bo found a new spot to lie down at his feet. After setting her plate down on the table, Annabeth pulled down two wine glasses from the cupboard. It was more for the romantic aesthetic than anything else, since Percy didn’t drink and Annabeth only did on special occasions. Their wine glasses rarely got any actual use. Instead, Annabeth opened a can of sparkling water and poured it evenly into both glasses.
Annabeth set both wine glasses on the table, then sat down across from Percy. They smiled at each other. Her hair was pulled back in a loose bun, but wispy pieces had fallen out to frame her face throughout the day. She wore a plain brown t-shirt, which she’d covered with a gray blazer during her online work meeting that morning but had since left it draped over her chair in her office. Now, there was a mac and cheese stain near her chest from Chase’s dirty hands after his dinner. Percy thought Annabeth looked beautiful, like always.
“How is it?” He asked her, using his fork and knife to cut off a bite of chicken.
“Much better than mac and cheese,” she told him with a humorous smile.
“Good, I agree,” Percy said. “Did the girls go down easy?”
Annabeth started to nod, but then paused. “Well, Penelope didn’t want to stay in her bed.”
Percy laughed. “Yeah, that sounds right.”
“She was hyper tonight.” Annabeth twirled her fork in her spaghetti noodles. “Hopefully she’s asleep now. I checked on her before coming down and it looked like she was sleeping.”
Percy nodded. “She was hyper all day. One of her teachers told me she refused to go inside from the playground and had to take a long break in the quiet corner. And they want to set up another meeting with us. I told them I’d talk to you.”
Annabeth sighed. “Okay, I’ll find a time we can both go in and email them.”
“Thank you. Sorry to add something else to your plate.”
“No, it’s okay.” She sighed again. “I want to help her. And I’m really glad her teachers do too.”
The conversation from there was light and comfortable. Annabeth told him about her meeting and her current project. There was talk of a possible business trip in the near future, which Annabeth was hesitant about. It wouldn’t be a whole week, just a few days, but she wasn’t sure about it. She hadn’t been away from the house alone for that long since Gracie was a baby. Percy assured her that if she did go, she wouldn’t have to worry about him and the kids.
Annabeth was about to respond, but she paused. She turned her head, listening for something. Percy heard it too, the quick patter of footsteps in the hallway upstairs. Annabeth looked back at Percy, grimacing.
Percy set his fork down and wiped his face with his napkin before standing up. “I got it.”
“Thank you.”
Percy reached the base of the stairs and looked up, where he caught Penelope poking her head around the corner. When she saw him, she darted back and disappeared from his sight. Percy sighed and walked up the stairs.
He went into Penelope’s room, where she was now lying under the covers in her bed, breathing fast. In the yellow glow of her nightlight he could see that her eyes were shut and her cheeks were flushed. He approached the side of her bed and sat down.
“Nice try,” Percy whispered with a faint smile.
Penelope’s eyes stayed closed, but a little grin tugged at her lips.
“I know you’re awake,” he continued, brushing a curl off her forehead.
She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him.
“Can’t sleep?” He asked her softly.
“I want to be awake,” she whined.
“I know,” Percy said gently. “But you need to rest.”
Penelope pouted, clearly not happy with his answer. “I don’t want to miss anything.”
“Oh, you’re not missing anything,” he assured her. “Mommy and I are just eating dinner and talking about boring adult stuff.”
Penelope didn’t seem convinced. “Like what?”
“Work stuff. Scheduling. Pretty boring.”
She made a face.
“But if anything exciting happens I’ll tell you in the morning, okay?”
Penelope nodded. “Okay.”
“Can you close your eyes and try to sleep?”
“No.”
“No?”
“Can you stay with me?”
Percy smiled. “Of course.”
Penelope rolled onto her side and snuggled in with a dinosaur stuffie she was currently obsessed with. Percy rubbed her back soothingly, waiting for her to fall asleep and thinking about Annabeth waiting for him downstairs. Eventually, Penelope’s mouth parted slightly and her breathing slowed. Percy leaned down to kiss her temple before quietly standing up and leaving the room.
Back downstairs, Annabeth hadn’t stopped eating, which he was glad about. Bo was now sitting next to her chair with his head on her lap. A clue that she had probably slipped him something under the table and he wanted more. “Hey,” she smiled when she saw him. “Is she okay?”
“Yeah, she didn’t want to miss anything,” he told her, sitting back down at the table. “And she asked me to stay until she fell asleep.”
Annabeth smiled and shook her head. “You’re a good dad.”
Percy hoped so. He tried to be. Sometimes he worried he wasn’t. “Do you really think so?”
“I do,” Annabeth said without hesitation. “Really.”
“Do you think I work too much?”
Annabeth shook her head. “I think I work too much.”
“I don’t think that.”
“And I don’t think that about you either.”
When they were both finished with their dinner they stayed seated and talking. It was nice to spend time together in between the chaos, even if it was just a simple dinner in their kitchen. They didn’t get time like this as much as either of them wished.
A sharp cry cut through the hum of the baby monitor on the counter. They both snapped their heads to see what was wrong with Chase. Even though the footage was black and white and grainy, they could both see that there was no pacifier in Chase’s mouth, nor anywhere around him in his crib.
Annabeth let out an exasperated sigh. “We put like five pacifiers in there for him and he literally has one clipped to him.”
“He probably threw them all out and rolled on top of that one?” Percy suggested. Chase was still crying and wiggling.
Annabeth stood. “I’ll go up.”
Bo followed her. Percy got up to rinse and put the dishes in the dishwasher while she was upstairs. Through the baby monitor, Percy heard Annabeth greet their baby. She shuffled around the room for a moment, then appeared on screen to hand him a pacifier and scatter a few others in the corners of the crib. He settled down and Annabeth rubbed his stomach before exiting the room.
When she came back down, Percy was transferring the leftovers into glass containers for Annabeth’s lunch the next day. She often came into the kitchen to heat leftovers for her lunch, or if she was so wrapped up in work that she forgot, Percy would bring it in for her. Annabeth came up behind him and slipped her arms around his torso, leaning her head against his back. Percy smiled to himself, placing the last of the leftovers in the fridge.
Percy turned to kiss her, holding her in a close hug. She smiled against his lips and deepened the kiss. Kissing Annabeth now was even more fun than kissing her when they were sixteen. There was so much more love and experience and shared memories between them.
“Do you want to go upstairs?” Percy asked in a low voice.
Annabeth grinned. “Yes.”
Bo went outside to pee, the blinds were closed, and the entry door locks were double-checked. Annabeth and Percy headed upstairs to their bedroom, shutting the door behind them and locking it.
“Do you think we’ll have any time?” Percy asked in between kisses.
Annabeth laughed and pulled him to the bed, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Probably not.”
Percy was slipping Annabeth’s mac and cheese stained shirt off when she suddenly froze. Percy pulled back and frowned, studying her face. “What’s wrong?”
She put a finger in front of his mouth to shush him. In the silence, Percy heard what she was hearing. Someone was crying.
Annabeth closed her eyes and slumped against Percy’s shoulder. Then she pulled her shirt back down and slid off the bed. She opened the door and stepped into the hallway, and Percy followed her. The crying was louder in the hallway, coming from Gracie’s bedroom.
It had been a while since Gracie had woken up from a night terror, a few months at least. They’d started when she was a toddler and had become less frequent now that she was seven. She was sitting up in her bed, sobbing, and it broke Percy’s heart. Bo was already there, his tail wagging and his head resting on her bed. Annabeth sat down on the bed next to Gracie and reached out to touch her arm. Percy sat on the floor next to Bo.
“What’s wrong, baby?” She asked gently.
Whenever Gracie woke up like this, she wasn’t really awake. She answered Annabeth incoherently, gasping for breath. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Annabeth nodded and told her to breathe. Percy told her she was okay and safe. Bo licked her hand. Gracie slowly calmed and Annabeth asked her to lie back down, which she did. Annabeth tucked her back in and kissed her forehead. They stayed with her even after she was asleep again. Annabeth looked over at Percy, and they exchanged a heavy look.
Percy stood and took Annabeth’s hand, and they went back to their bedroom. Bo stayed, curling up on Gracie’s pink rug.
“She hasn’t had one in a long time,” Annabeth said once they were alone again, worry in her voice.
Percy closed the door, but didn’t lock it this time. He sat on the side of the bed with Annabeth, wrapping an arm behind her.
“I’m worried about her,” Annabeth told him, leaning into his touch.
“She’ll be okay. We’ve got her,” Percy assured his wife.
Annabeth sighed, but nodded. They didn’t talk about it further. They’d had many conversations in the past about Gracie’s nightmares and what her status as a legacy of both Athena and Poseidon meant for her and her siblings’ futures. It was anxiety-inducing and terrifying to imagine her going through what her parents had gone through. Anything they could do to stop it from happening, they would.
Annabeth turned her head to kiss him softly. “Do you want to just go to bed?” She whispered.
“Yeah.”
They brushed their teeth together. Percy’s toothpaste fell off into the sink as he was bringing his toothbrush up to his mouth, and they made eye contact in the mirror. They both laughed.
They changed into their pajamas and went back to their room. Percy turned on the fan and Annabeth turned out the light. As soon as they climbed into bed, Annabeth curled up against Percy’s side. “Thank you for making dinner.”
“Of course.” He kissed her. “Thank you for eating it.”
She rolled her eyes. “Bo liked it too.”
Percy laughed. “I knew you gave him some.”
“He looked hungry.”
“You’re a pushover.”
Annabeth shrugged. “Maybe I am.”
Percy laughed again. “Is he still in Gracie’s room?”
“Yeah,” Annabeth smiled softly. “He loves her.”
“He does. He’ll keep her safe tonight.”
Annabeth nodded against Percy’s chest. They were both quiet for a minute, and Percy watched Annabeth close her eyes. He kissed her temple, his lips lingering. He was glad that she was falling asleep. She needed it. He knew he was close behind because his eyes were feeling heavy.
But then their door handle slowly began to turn and Annabeth’s eyes snapped back open. They both turned to see who the culprit was. The door opened fully, and Penelope stood there, holding her dinosaur to her chest. Her eyes were tired and her hair was wild.
“Hi, honey,” Annabeth said. She let go of Percy and scooted to the edge of her side, much to his dismay.
Penelope walked up to Annabeth’s side of the bed and asked in a small voice, “Can I sleep with you?”
Annabeth hesitated for a moment, but then gave in and reached out to help her onto the bed. Penelope settled down between her parents, unable to hide the grin on her face. She snuggled up to Annabeth, who wrapped her up in her arms.
Percy made eye contact with Annabeth over their daughter’s head and mouthed, “Pushover.”
Annabeth rolled her eyes.
Percy just smiled. He loved his family. While he would have loved to have spent more uninterrupted time with Annabeth during and after dinner, that was nearly impossible, and they had both known it. If they were going to be together forever like they planned, they were going to have so much more time for that. Penelope wasn’t going to be manipulating Annabeth into letting her into their bed forever, Gracie wasn’t going to wake up from nightmares forever (hopefully), and Chase wasn’t going to be throwing pacifiers around his room and making them crawl around in the dark to find them forever.
He was content with that. He knew he and Annabeth were good. Their kids were good. This was what they’d fought for, and they’d gotten it.
Percy leaned over to kiss Annabeth, then Penelope, and then returned to his pillow and closed his eyes.