Work Text:
When Sally had told Percy that Estelle needed picking up from school because both she and Paul were busy, Percy had been ecstatic. Being away in New Rome, living on the other side of the country, it meant that he didn’t get to see his baby sister as much as he wanted to. Heck, part of him had wondered whilst he was over there whether there was going to be more than just Estelle, but he was kind of relieved to come home and see that there was only his little sister running about and causing havoc.
Anyway, yes. Percy had been asked to pick his little sister up from school. Pulling into the school parking lot, it didn’t take him long to go and stand with the other moms, hands in the pockets of his puffer jacket. His mom had called the school ahead of time to tell them that Percy would be picking Estelle up, but considering he’d just got back to New York, he knew that Estelle didn’t know that he was there.
And that, of course, was proven true when, as soon as Estelle emerged from the school with her friends, her eyes scanned the area (most likely for her parents) before latching onto Percy. The grin that appeared on her face ran from ear to ear as she practically sprinted for him, and Percy crouched down, arms out so that he could grab her and swing her around.
And grab her and swing her around he did, earning himself giggled of glee.
“You’re home! You’re home!”
Percy kissed her on the top of her head as he set her down, crouching down in front of her again as he cupped her face in his hands. “Yeah, I’m home. Gods, Estelle, you’re so grown up now.”
The smile that had been on her face morphed into a scowl. “Uh, no.”
His eyebrows rose. “No?”
“No.”
“At what?”
“No, I’m not grown up yet.”
Percy took a few seconds to really process what she was saying. He tried not to think that her behaviour right then was reminding him of Hebe, because he didn’t exactly want to catch the attention of that goddess again, and instead let go of Estelle, leaning back a bit. “Well… no, of course not. The grown up would be me.”
“Exactly.” The bright smile returned to her face, and Percy had to stifle a laugh at that as he pushed himself to his feet, reaching down and taking her free hand in his. “I don’t want to grow up.”
A small part of Percy had to admit that that was pretty valid. Being an adult sucked when you had bills to pay, and everyone expected you to be able to fend for yourself when really you just felt like a kid in an adult’s body — a giant kid. “I mean, you’ll grow up one day.”
“But not today.”
“Not today.”
They were almost back to the car when she continued:
“Besides, if I was a grown up, you wouldn’t buy me ice cream after school anymore.”
Percy recognised that tactic. It was a tactic Annabeth had used on him more than once to get something that she wanted. It was a tactic he’d heard his mom use to tease Paul to get something that she wanted.
Estelle had heard both of them use it, and was using it on him instead.
…That girl was in elementary school, and was using high school-level tactics.
Reaching the car, Percy pretended to think about it. “Well, I mean, if you were a grown up, you could have three scoops instead of one…” he pointed out.
Estelle smiled at him sweetly as he opened the door for her. “But you’re gonna get me two anyway like you always do, because you’re the best big brother ever.”
Damn. She’d won that one. He couldn’t beat that. “…Call me that again and you’re getting three scoops.”
“Super best big brother ever!”
“Well, damn, I can’t fight that one.” He buckled her in and kissed her on the forehead. “Three scoops for Stellie it is!”
She cheered all the way to the ice cream parlour.