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Sally Jackson feels happiest when she knows Percy does things a normal, mortal kid would.
He’d left with Tyson just now, they were off to get ice cream— or so Percy says, and while Tyson wasn’t exactly mortal, she’d smiled at them and waved them off to go.
After all, she knew it was only a matter of time before Chiron requested Percy back at camp.
She’d been so disoriented last year, coming back home to their small apartment and finding Gabe yelling at her about his car, about nachos, and about meatloaf. She didn’t know what he was talking about really, seeing as it was his usual list of complaints.
That was until her little boy came home.
Percy came home to her that night with tears in his eyes. Her beloved son rarely cried, but that wasn’t the most daunting thing that drew him into her arms.
Percy looked older, almost as if they'd been separated more than months. He was taller, and smelled a lot more like his father— something woodsy and so akin to the sea. She’d never forgotten that smell.
She could see the bags under his eyes, his pale face more sunken, blending into the white walls marred by Gabe’s cigarettes. When Sally wrapped her arms around him, hands sinking into the ripples of his shirt and his hair, the feel of his ribs was more apparent, the curls of his blond hair more tangled.
And when she let go of him after what felt like eternity, Sally peered into his blue eyes, so much like his father’s, usually bright and twinkling— so dimmed. The shine and color in his eyes were muted, but they attempted to sparkle at the fact that they were together again.
He was just a little boy who wanted his mother.
And he’d gotten her. He’d have her, for as long as fate allowed her.
After she’d petrified Gabe and sold his statue for more than what was ethically acceptable for a stone carving (really, petrifying a human wasn’t ethical either anyway), Sally packed their bags and moved them to a much better apartment.
This one was brighter, facing the rising sun so sunlight seeped through the windows when they’d have a peaceful breakfast together, full of blue pancakes and orange juice she’d color the same. He finally told her how he’d ‘gotten her back’ and if she ever had the unfortunate opportunity to meet Luke Castellan and Zeus, she’d give them a piece of her mind.
But then his topics shifted.
He’d speak of happier moments when he’d gotten the darkness out of his system.
The day after he’d finished telling her the end of his quest to the Underworld with a visit to Olympus, he’d told her all about camp.
Percy told her of the lessons they were taking— how he was terrible at archery (he’d nearly hit Grover, and he was standing beside Percy,) how the food didn’t compare to anything she made, and laughed at how stupid everybody kinda was for not figuring out his dad was Poseidon when all he was good for were water related activities like canoeing.
She ignored the other things he talked about, filing them for a later time. Percy briefly spoke of other people he met. Dionysus, the camp director, how he was essentially Gabe in god form minus the violence, and Chiron who really was just Mr. Brunner with horse legs. He told her of this mean girl named Clarisse, of Luke before he betrayed them, of his and Grover’s shenanigans.
But there was one name that was mentioned a minimum of twenty times in their small household.
Sally Jackson was counting.
“Yeah, Annabeth and I didn’t like each other at first.”
“Would you believe Annabeth had to push me in the water for dad to claim me?!”
“Annabeth was there in the infirmary when I woke up.”
“She always told me I had a bad aim, Annabeth is much better at archery than I am.”
“Annabeth has this really cool dagger, well— Luke gave her it but you know it's still cool.”
“When we met Medusa, Annabeth and I were going to have a taco eating contest but the snake girl had to interrupt.”
“Annabeth was so mad when I locked her and Grover out. She says it’s because she could’ve handled it but I think she was worried for me.”
“At camp Annabeth taught me Greek, and I get it really good now. She’s great.”
“I told Annabeth that Jaws was really nice, I hope she watches it this summer.”
“Annabeth has really pretty hair mom, it’s kind of harder to take care of than mine, I think.”
“I wonder if Annabeth and I are officially the first twelve year olds to play a slot machine. Don’t look at me like that mom it was magic or something we didn’t do it willingly….kind of.”
“Mom, did you know Grover was the one to find Annabeth too? We were basically made to be best friends! At least I think we’re friends..”
“Yeah this necklace is supposed to say how many years we’ve stayed at camp so I only have one. But mom, Annabeth, has seven. Can you believe that!”
“Huh, this air freshener kind of smells like Annabeth, she likes to use a lemon shampoo.”
“All she talks about are buildings, I’m pretty sure Annabeth wanted to be an Architech, she wouldn’t shut up when we got to the Gateway Arch.”
“How long does a letter take before making it to Virginia mom? I want to know if Annabeth watched Jaws or Star Wars already. Whoever decided old monsters could use new phones are stupid.”
“Mom, how long do your cookies last before going bad? Do you think I can take some to camp? Grover missed them and Annabeth said she really wanted to try.”
“Annabeth’s kind of cool— but don’t tell her I said that. She’s basically the leader of her cabin and she’s only twelve! Yeah I know I’m technically the leader too but that doesn’t count because it's only me and I can barely take care of myself.”
“I kind of miss Annabeth….and yeah Grover, and everyone, and camp. Especially the small beach. I wonder if Annabeth and Grover would swim with me sometime.”
“I call Annabeth Wise Girl because she called me Seaweed Brain once and it’s not fair that only I get a nickname and she really is wise actually, even if her mom wasn’t Athena.”
This was what Sally regularly heard from her son. It really was kind of cute, and she could see the early signs of something blooming, and she instinctively knows she’s right because her chosen genre for her writing career wasn’t romance for no reason.
Percy was starting to get a little bit whiny actually, the longer a reply took from Annabeth to arrive. He’d begun to brood and worry his lower lip when she’d catch him checking their mailbox plastered to the door.
She had to assure him everyday that a letter was coming, and that Annabeth was probably busy that’s why it was taking time. Sally privately cooed at him when he’d run a nervous hand through his hair or bit his lip nervously.
Sally was glad when a reply finally came from Annabeth, it was thick, and tied neatly with colorful string. Percy shot up from his chair, fist-pumping the air before kissing her cheek and retreating to the comfort of his room. She was so happy for him that she didn’t even reprimand him for leaving the table before he finished his breakfast.
She’d packed his lunch and cleared the table, smiling when she heard roaring laughter coming from his room.
Percy didn’t laugh a lot when he was younger. Sally was gutted to know that Gabe made sure of that. A Percy who cried was rare, but a Percy who laughed was moreso, and if mere words scribbled on paper from this girl was able to let Sally hear sounds she longed to, who was she to do anything but thank the gods for Annabeth Chase?
Tyson came to their home not long after that letter, and Percy became even happier, finally having company that wasn’t Sally. She was his mother yes, but her son was a teenage boy who she knew longed for company his age.
And this is where she now finds herself, lugging a basket of Percy’s clean laundry across the hall to his bedroom. Sally pushed his unlocked door open, glancing at the floor lest she trips from some of the figurines and objects littered on the floor.
She owed him so much from his childhood that the second she got the money the posh museum offered as payment, she’d allow Percy to splurge on items he’d quietly longed for when he was a kid.
His bedroom was decorated with action figures and posters and memorabilia Sally was too old to keep up with. Percy’s room was generally decorated in Earthy colors and shades of blue and it was so very Percy in a way Sally was grateful for. This was her son in his real element, and this was who he was always meant to be.
She stowed away his clean clothes in his cabinet, gathering Percy’s dirty ones and stray garments. Sally grabbed the significantly lighter basket with a flourish, taking one more look around his lively room.
Her eyes landed on his fuller vanity, and Sally smiled widely at the new editions to the mirror. Aside from his hygiene items on the table (she raised her son to be cleaner than most boys his age, thank you very much,) and random toys he had laying around, she could spot new photos that adorned the reflective surface.
There was a photo of the three of them, Percy, Annabeth and Grover, clinched to the corner between the wood and the mirror. They were smiling at the camera, with Percy’s arms laying across his friends shoulders. Seeing Percy smile was one of Sally’s favorite things to see, and she was glad it was becoming a regular occurrence.
Sally made eye contact with her reflection, watching her smile become near feral when she spotted a particular image, front and center, held up by pieces of washi tape.
She knew for a fact that Percy didn’t know what washi tape was.
Raising her eyebrows, she put the laundry basket down and skimmed her finger over the image. The tape was even, straight, and perfectly aligned across the edges. It was a photo of Annabeth pointing to the building behind her, smiling wildly at the camera.
Sally wonders if she was smiling at the camera or for whoever's going to receive the photo.
She shook her head, she was only but a woman starved for a love life after all, so who was she to dictate what her son does with his?
That doesn't mean she doesn’t get to tease him, and she sees a perfect opportunity to do so after dinner. Tyson always sleeps early, and Percy usually likes to accompany her while she cleans up late around the house.
Percy Jackson loved to tease people, and that particular trait was not inherited from Poseidon. With that thought, Sally picked up a fallen sock from her son’s pile, and made her way to the laundry room, humming a tune.
She couldn’t wait for her boys to come home.
—
“Hey mom,” Percy shouted from the hallway. Sally heard shuffling, followed by much louder shuffling.
A blonde mop of hair came into view, followed by a head of black hair, and Sally absent mindedly patted their cheeks gently in greeting while she stirred a pot of spaghetti sauce.
“We bring Ice Cream!” Tyson cheered, holding out a tub of the sweet in front of her. Sally’s lips curved on their own, accepting the tub while she pulled Percy in front of the stove to keep stirring the sauce.
“Thank you dear,” she cooed, placing the ice cream in the freezer to have later, “You’re so sweet.”
“Hey! It was my idea!” Percy protested. He was still stirring the sauce as diligently as can be, “He only carried it home.”
“And that must have been much more difficult than handing over paper to a cashier,” she replied solemnly. Sally placed a long kiss on Percy’s kiss to let him know she was joking. “Thank you, Percy, my darling baby boy.”
Percy made a face, face flushing, ears turning red, and Sally laughed loudly while giving Tyson a hug. “Stir that for five more minutes then turn it off will you, Percy? I’ll just change my shirt.”
“Got it mom.”
Sally swapped her shirts quickly, grimacing when something sluggish made contact with her cheek. Swiping it, she made her way back to see if her son had burned down her kitchen.
Percy was already setting the table, with Tyson grabbing cutlery from a higher cabinet, and Sally had to pause and lean against the doorway to take in the sight. She’d suffer more time under Gabe’s thumb if it meant that Percy got a minute more of just this.
“Ready when you are, mom,” Percy called out. Behind him, Tyson mock saluted her before slowly sitting down on one of the chairs. His eye darted from Percy to hers in question. Sally still couldn’t believe it was taking this long for Percy to figure out that his summer buddy wasn’t mortal at all.
They ate while they talked about nothing, Tyson occasionally nodded along and listened carefully at his stories. Sally could see it fascinated the young cyclops, and she only hoped he’d be able to get to make his own stories too.
She didn’t dare think of the stories of what a young cyclops actually has to do.
When they’d devoured their meals, they began their usual nightly routine. Tyson retreated to his room at the end of the hall, a hand on his stomach. Percy grabbed his unfinished lego set from a shelf in the corner of the room and spread it out on the coffee table at the center.
Sally took a seat in front of him. She didn’t forget her agenda after all, and the smile she’d had on the whole day turned wider when he looked at her suspiciously.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Annabeth finally replied to you, right?” she asked.
Percy put down the lego piece that was in his hand, sitting up straight. “Yup! She’s apparently vacationing right now with her family, she sent me photos too, do you want to see—,”
“Oh yes, I’ve seen them.”
Her son, realizing what she was alluding to, bonked his head on the table, making the pieces of lego bounce. She’d laugh out loud soon if her son didn’t stop his antics. “It’s not like that,” he protested weakly.
“Where did you even get rolls of washi tape?”
“Washawahat now?”
Sally covered her mouth, trying and failing to hide her amusement. Percy was looking everywhere but at her, and him turning head to the side only gave her a glimpse of his rapidly reddening ears and neck.
“I think it’s cute. She must like polkadots.”
Recognition dawned on his face. Percy ran a hand through his curls in embarrassment. “She said something like that once, it was only fair I decorated her photo with it… you know and stuff.”
“Yes, I know..., plenty.”
He continued to simmer, face glaring pink while he pretended to turn his attention to the unmatched blocks in his hands. Sally knew her limits when it came to teasing Percy, and that was more than what she usually did.
She stood up, walking to the window to bask in the moonlight. When she looked down she could see a young couple swinging a toddler between them and laughing at the giggling child.
Sally felt a pang in her chest.
“For the record, I think your friends are wonderful dear.”
“They really are,” he whispered in reply, now building his Lego for real.
“Do you know that saying, Percy?” Sally asked, eyes staring absentmindedly at nothing outside the window. Percy looked up at her from the lego set he was attempting to assemble. “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer?”
He hummed in agreement, murmuring quietly, “Annabeth used to say that you should understand your enemies really well so you can try to win against them.”
Sally nodded a small smile sneaking its way on her face. That was ‘Annabeth’ count thirty-two. Heaving a sigh from her spot by the window, she plopped softly beside her son.
“I want you to listen to me,” she gently grasped his shoulders, and turned him to face her, brushing a curl from his eye. She smoothened the lines beginning to form on his forehead.
“Is there something wrong?”
“Nothing my love,” for now, she added silently, “But I want you to throw that saying out that window.”
“But—”
His head tilted of its own accord in her grasp, and she squeezed his cheeks in response. Sally gazed tenderly at her one and only son, so extraordinarily selfless and kind for someone so incredibly young, “Keep your best friends closest to you. A friendship like yours with Annabeth…and Grover are special, Percy. Never, ever let it go, and hold on to it as tightly as possible.”
Percy nodded, his adam's apple bobbing. Gods when did her little boy begin to even have an adam's apple?
“There will come a time where they’ll be put in danger, and you won’t ever expect it.” For a brief moment, she remembered the strangest visions that would plague her dreams late into the night, “Remember what is most important to you at that moment, and do everything to get it.”
He stays silent, and Sally knows he’s trying to process the heavy topic she’d sprung on him, but if Sally knows Percy, she knows he’s trying to remember all this information to use later.
“I know you know that nice things rarely come into our lives,” Sally’s eyes began to shine, and Percy scooted closer in concern, wrapping a comforting hand behind her back. They were eye level now.
When did he grow to meet her eye when they sat down?
“But know, Percy, that you’re the nicest thing that ever happened to me,” she pulled his head down to kiss his forehead, lingering, hoping that a few seconds could convey a lifetime of her love.
“I love you mom,” he choked out, “So much.”
“I know,” Sally tugged him toward her, scooping his legs to lay over her own. She cradled him as best as she could, letting his weight comfort her. Sally remembered the last time she’d held him like this, many years ago before Gabe was in the picture.
Percy snuggled closer, and she trembled, her fingers grasping the wrinkles of his clothes. She couldn’t believe that despite all they had to go through— they will go through, they’d be able to do so together.
It was more than she bargained for.
She may have passed down her disguised mischievousness to him, but that wasn’t all. Sally Jackson was fiercely loyal to those she loved, and it just so happened Percy is the only one who fit the bill.