EPILOGUE

Annabeth's POV

"So, pizza for dinner?" Percy asked me as we walked hand in hand down the street back to our apartment. It was 3 years after graduation. Percy was now a junior at UCLA, and he was doing amazing. In early August/late July after graduation, Percy and I bought an apartment (with some help) and moved out to California. You'd think that after almost 4 years of dating someone, I'd get bored, but it was different with Percy. I never got bored—it was like things were always new, like we were only just starting the journey, and had a long path to go. But I liked it that way.

"Sounds good," I agreed.

"And Netflix?"

"Yup."

"Okay." Percy smiled down at me and pecked a kiss to my head. I laughed.

><•><

"My period is like 4 days late." I walked into the kitchen, across from Percy where he was getting water. Normally, I never really paid attention to my period. It always came, I dealt with it, and it was over. And I never kept track of whether it was perfectly on time, but this was starting to go a little fatter than usual.

"You don't think...?" Percy trailed off.

"I mean, no, I-I couldn't be," I said.

"I mean, probably not," Percy shrugged, a silence settling over us. "You wanna check?"

"Yeah let's check," I agreed.

We went into the bathroom, Percy standing in the doorway. He stood with an eager expression that kind of made me worry. What if I was pregnant? Would Percy leave me? I prayed to every god of every religion that I wasn't because we weren't really ready for a baby. We weren't even engaged yet. Things had been pretty hectic lately, because we were planning on buying a house soon and Percy was getting crammed with college work.

I exhaled. "Okay, so we need a plan," I said.

"Yes." Percy nodded. "So if you're not pregnant,"

"Life goes on as usual, nothing changes," I finished, then paused. "But if I am..." I trailed off, waiting to see what Percy would say.

"Then, we're having a baby," He chuckled before biting his lip. I breathed an 'okay' of relief. So Percy wasn't going to leave me if I was pregnant, and that gave me some serenity.

I bent down and began to dig through the cabinet under the sink. It took a few minutes, but I found the box. I pulled it out and closed the door. "Okay, here it is." I was tense.

"It's probably nothing. But either way, we're gonna be fine," Percy said, consoling me and rubbing my arms.

"Yeah," I nodded. "We're gonna be fine." I took out a test, reading the back of the box. "One line means negative, two lines means positive," I read aloud. "I don't have to pee, though." I looked up at Percy.

"Hold on." He left the doorway and returned with a cup of water. "Here," he said, handing it to me. Then he turned on the sink, letting the water run. I drank the water he gave me. "Is it working?"

"Uh..." I thought about waterfalls and rivers for a second. "Yeah I have to pee now."

"Okay," Percy laughed, making me laugh too.

I quickly took the test and washed my hands. "Okay, let's see." I picked up the test. I felt Percy's breath on the back of my neck as he peered over my shoulder. There was one line. "Okay," I sighed with relief. "One line,"

"Really?" Percy asked. "Isn't that a second one, right there?" He picked up the test, and I looked at it closer.

I swallowed. "Oh my god," I breathed. "I think it is." We stood there in silence for a few seconds, which felt more like a few hours. "Um," I swallowed again, my breathing quickening with panic and my eyes watering.

"Hey," Percy whispered. I turned around to face him. "What's wrong?" He asked, smiling. "We're gonna have a baby." There were tears in his eyes.

Looking into Percy's eyes, seeing him smile in a situation like this, gave me hope. I took a deep breath. "Yeah," I breathed, starting to laugh. "We're gonna have a baby." I smiled so wide, and Percy's expression mirrored mine.

"You're gonna be a mother, and I'm gonna be a father." He grinned. "We're gonna be parents,"

"We're gonna be parents," I repeated, a tear rolling down my cheek. Percy brushed it away with his thumb, his hand cupping my cheek. He kissed me, slow and gentle. We pulled away after a minute and looked deep into each other's eyes. Percy's eyes still captivated me just like the first time. Staring up into his sea green irises, I saw happiness. I saw our future; our family. I saw hope. I saw love and care that he had never failed to give me, that I knew he would give this baby. We were ready. We were going to bring this baby into the world surrounded by hope, love, and family. This baby would live a great life, because it had great parents.

"I love you," I whispered.

"I love you too,"

"We're ready." I nodded my head, smiling as tears dripped off my chin.

"We're ready," Percy repeated, determination on his face.

And we were.

We really were ready.

><•><

I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
And I don't care about the presents
Underneath the Christmas tree

It was one of my favorite times of the year: Christmas time. Everyone had gathered back together at my dad's house for dinner and gifts. And, by everyone I mean everyone. We had the whole gang—Piper, Jason, Leo, Calypso, Hazel, Frank, Nico, Will, and Reyna, as well as my family—Dad, Helen, Bobby and Matthew, and of course Percy's family joined us—Sally, and Paul Blofis (the two were newly engaged, and everyone was so excited when they found out. Though Percy was skeptical, reasonably so, but he came around. Paul makes Sally happy and that's what's important). It was certainly a house full, but it was great and we all couldn't be happier.

We all sat around the table, ready to dig in to the huge feast that we all pitched in to make. The food looked amazing, and seeing everyone's smiling face made everything better.

"Before we start eating," I announced, standing up. "I have something—we have something," I caught myself and motioned for Percy to stand up, "to tell you guys."

No, we hadn't told anyone—except for my dad and Sally—that I was pregnant. This was it, we were going to announce it to everyone now. I knew that it would be fine that we weren't engaged yet, because my family was never really so strict and traditional, which was great, because I never would have fit in then. My dad smiled at me, knowing exactly what I was going to say.

"Right," Percy agreed, nodding. "So this is pretty big news, because Annabeth," Percy looked at me, waiting for me to finish his sentence.

"Is pregnant," I said, smiling and biting my lip.

"Oh my gosh!" Everyone immediately began to congratulate us and come up to us for hugs.

"Percy, what have you done?" Leo joked. Leave it to him to make some sort of sexual, embarrassing reference.

Once everyone was settled back into their seats, a few questions were asked.

"So how long have you known?" Piper asked.

"Since October," I said sheepishly.

"You know for that long and didn't tell any of us?!" Jason exclaimed.

"Well, we told my mom and Frederick, but that was it." Percy shrugged.

"Come on guys, were a team here!" Reyna chimed in, looking at the parents.

"It wasn't our news to tell," Sally insisted, shrugging and chuckling.

"Anyways," Hazel interrupted them. "Do you have any names in mind?"

"To be totally honest," I told them, "we haven't really thought about that, like, at all."

"Whoops," Percy shrugged, making everybody laugh.

"Well, you have time," Will said. "You got 6 months to think so,"

"True," I shrugged. "Alright! Can we start this feast, because being pregnant makes you hungry."

"Yes, let's dig in!" Helena announced. And so the feast began.

All of us together, I was feeling all of the love and warmth that you feel around family, and every person in that room was my family. At first I thought that this place, here in New York, would always just be a house. But I was so wrong, because I knew that this was home.

I was home.

><•><

"Okay, Annabeth push one more time!" I groaned in pain as I pushed again with all of my strength.

I was finally giving birth—I was pretty late and past my due date, but at least our baby was born. Percy held my hand through the entire birth, and I thought I might break it from squeezing so hard. He had been everything that I needed and more throughout the pregnancy. I couldn't have been more grateful for him.

Finally, I heard the cries of a baby—our baby. I dropped my head back, sighing from exhaustion.

"You did amazing," Percy whispered, kissing my hair.

A few minutes later, the nurse came to us with the baby. "Here is your beautiful baby girl," she said, carefully handing her to me.

"Oh hello," I whispered. She was possibly the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. My heart was overflowing with an indescribable feeling of love.

"She's perfect," Percy said, peering over my shoulder.

"She is."

"Do we have a name?" The nurse asked.

"Evelyn," I said. "Evelyn Grace Jackson,"

"That's gorgeous." The nurse smiled at us.

"Thank you," Percy said. I was just so fascinated and enraptured by her. I was just in awe of how incredible this entire situation was.

"I love you," I said to Percy.

"I love both of you," Percy smiled at me, then Evelyn. She was just the most precious little thing.

The next few days were spent at the hospital. Everything went smoothly, though breastfeeding is not as easy as it looks. But, we made it through, and everything was good.

I just had this immense feeling of joy and satisfaction and just content. I knew that even if things weren't really happening in order, it was okay. It was okay because no matter what path I took, I was going to end up in the same place—happiness. But I knew, I felt, that I was in the right place. I had Percy and our beautiful new daughter, Evelyn. I had a huge family which is my great support system. Everything was pretty much perfect. I was on the right track in my life.

I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

•••

It's officially over.

12/5/18 - 10:51 pm.

I love every single one of you, just thought I'd let you know
-bella💕