Annabeth's POV
It was Saturday morning and today Charlie was celebrating his 13th birthday and I was super excited to see all our friends. I had Percy run out this morning to buy some party decorations while I was home making a chocolate cake and doing some last minute cleaning. All the kids were sitting at the table eating breakfast except Selena who was sitting on the counter mixing the cake batter.

"Ok guys, are rooms clean?" I asked suspiciously even though I asked them this yesterday. I heard a chorus of yes's.

"But why did my room have to be clean? The party better not be in there!" Zoe said putting her cereal bowl in the dishwater.

"Because the house is all clean and its a good excuse to make you all clean your rooms," I responded. I put the cake in the oven and all the dishes in the sink. I walked over to the counter.

"Come here my little baker," I said picking up Selena who was covered in flour. I plopped her on the floor. "Ok sweetie you need a shower!" She ran upstairs to go shower and get dressed.

About 20 minutes I pulled the cake out of the oven and set it to cool. Just then the doorbell rang and I walked over to get it. There stood Piper and Jason with Meredith, Tristan, and Maeve who had come down to celebrate Charlie's birthday. His real birthday was actually on Wednesday but we wanted to have a party to get everyone together so what better way then to have it then to celebrate Charlie's 13th birthday too. The party wasn't supposed to officially start until 1:00 but with most people coming from out of town and flights and long car drives we just said come whenever you get to New York.

"Hey Annabeth!" Piper said giving me giant hug. "We've missed you guys!"

"Hey Pipes, hey everybody! Aw it's so great to see you all! Come in come in!" I said gesturing them in. "Percy is out grabbing some party supplies and I think the kids just disappeared upstairs to get dressed." I yelled upstairs to the kids and they all came running down the stairs giving their best friends a hug. Then I remembered,

"Oh yeah Charlie and Zoe, this is Maeve."

"Hey Maeve," they both said and Zoe gave her a little hug.

I watched as all the kids ran down to the basement together. After so many years we had finally re-decorated and put some comfy chairs and a tv down there to make a cool hangout. The kids (mostly just Charlie and Zoe) had a secret room where they had a game system and all kinds of cool things. Selena and Luke still played with the toys in their rooms. Percy had a "man cave" in his own room with a bar and big sofa for watching football and baseball. I had my crafts room where I kept my scrapbooks/Atheny stuff like papers and designs and magazine clippings.

I beckoned Jason and and Piper into the living room.

"Do you guys want anything?" I asked them.

"No, no I'm good," Piper replied. "Jason?"

"Oh no I'm fine but thanks. So Annabeth, what's new with you guys?" Jason asked.

"Oh nothing really, just the usual 4 kids stress," I said and Piper and Jason laughed. "hows Maeve?"

"Oh she's really transitioned well now, she's so much fun," Jason replied. "I'm happy she fit in so easily into our family."

"Aw that's nice," I said and then I heard Percy walk in the door.

"Hey Annabeth I got everything you told me to get!" He yelled.

"Good!" I yelled back. He walked into the living room then and he saw Jason and Piper.

"Bro! The Pipes!" He said all excited giving Jason a bro hug and giving Piper a little kiss on the cheek.

We talked a little bit together and then Piper and I went into the kitchen and iced the cake. Around 1:00 all the other guests started rolling in and the Jackson and Grace kids came upstairs. I answered the door and Hazel tackled me with a hug.

"Hazel! Frank! Nina!" I said giving them all a huge hug.

Nina laughed and gave everyone a huge hug. She was tall and pale like Frank but had Hazel's gold eyes and cinnamon brown hair. I watched as her, Maeve, and Selena ran into the living room together. They were all not quite the same age but pretty close. Nina was 5, Maeve was 4, and Selena was 3 and a half. I could tell they were going to be great friends.

The Valdez family entered with Ellie and then the Underwoods with Violet and then the Stolls with Rj and their new 3 year old Greta. Apparently Greta was technically matured 3 years when the gods "made her" so she was never actually a baby at all. The Stolls were ok with it luckily and decided to just skip her 3 baby years and put her in preschool instead of holding her back. I have a feeling Athena's maturity gift went a little overboard.

Meredith, Charlie, and Rj all looked so happy to see each other. Both boys hugged Meredith and then Charlie took them upstairs.

Finally Connor and Miranda arrived and everyone swarmed around them.

"Hey everybody!" Connor said holding the pink polka-dot diaper bag. He's a good sport, I thought to myself.

"We would like you to meet Shannon Catherine Stoll," Miranda announced proudly and everybody cooed at the newborn. We finally made our way to the living room and all squeezed onto the sofa and chairs. The kids came in and sat together on the floor or on their parents laps. Piper and I brought in the snacks we made proudly and set them down on the coffee table. We all wanted to catch up a little together.

"Happy birthday Charlie!" Leo said starting us off.

"Hahahaha thanks Leo," Charlie said laughing.

"So who's ready for camp?" Percy asked the kids.

"I am!"

"Meeeeee!"

"I can't wait!"

"Only 2 more weeks!"

All the adults laughed at the kids happy expressions at the sound of camp.

"Let's see..." Jason said. "Its gonna be Meredith, Rj, Charlie, Zoe, Ellie, and Tristan." The 6 of them cheered. Apparently they were all great friends at camp.

After we ate hamburgers and hotdogs for dinner, we sat out on the patio and did presents while eating cake.

"Whose this one from?" I asked sitting down with my paper and pencil to take notes for thank you's.

"Me," Rj answered squirming in his seat with excitement.

"Dude! You got me a signed Yankees jersey! This is awesome!" Charlie said and Rj beamed. "How'd you get it?"

"Oh I bought it at my old neighbors garage sale," Rj answered.

"The old neighbors that made us weed their yard because we got a football stuck in their garden?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah them," Rj said casually.

"Cool!"

"Thanks Rj that was very thoughtful," I said to him.

"Yeah of course Mrs. Jackson," Rj said.

"Please Rj call me Annabeth," I laughed.

"Whatever you say Mrs. Jackson."

We went through gifts and then after we decided to play a game of Capture of the Flag. (the mortal version of course) Some of the little kids weren't really playing, we just put them on a team to think they were. Miranda sat out with Shannon, and Calypso also joined her.

The teams were boys against girls so we did:
Team 1 -
Me
Piper
Hazel
Juniper
Katie
Meredith
Zoe
Maeve
Selena
Nina
Greta
Violet

Team 2 -
Percy
Jason
Frank
Leo
Grover
Travis
Connor
Charlie
Rj
Tristan
Luke

"Ok team," I said huddling up. "heres our game plan. I'm 99.9% sure their flag is in that group of bushes at the entrance to the neighborhood."

"How are you sure?" Meredith asked.

"Because that's where it is every time," Zoe replied.

"What if they change the spot to trick us up?" Meredith countered.

"Percy isn't that smart," I said laughing. "but I love that observance Mere keep up the good work." I said giving her a high five.

We decided that Piper would lead the distraction team of Meredith, Maeve, and Greta. Juniper, Violet, and Selena would guard our flag and yell "COOKIE" if anyone tried to attack. Hazel and Nina would work together to create a tunnel to lead right into their jail so we could easily tag people out and also from our headquarters to the flag. I would lead the team of Me, Katie, and Zoe to the boys' flag and quickly escape through the tunnel again.

"Ok," Katie said. "lets do this!" We all put our hands in. "1, 2, 3 TEAM!"

The 3 of us stealthily snuck into the tunnel. I pulled out the flashlight I had grabbed before we started. Occasionally Zoe would peek out of the tunnel to see where we were. After about 3 minutes of walking we arrived at the bushes. We knew the flag was there because Travis, Charlie, and Rj were all standing guard. I heard COOKIE in the distance and hoped someone went to help out the defense.

"Ok, we need a distraction," I whispered.

"Did you hear that?" I heard Charlie say.

"Hear what?" Rj asked.

"Never mind, I thought I heard voices," Charlie responded.

"Ok, I'll distract," Katie said.

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

"You're not the only one with a plan daughter of Athena," Katie smiled mischievously.

She emerged from the tunnel quietly and slid behind a tree. She snuck up behind Travis and tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned around she kissed him wrapping her arms around his neck. I watched as Rj and Charlie stared at them disgusted.

"Ugh dude you guys are gross," Rj spat.

Zoe and I snuck out and hid behind the same tree. I caught Katie's eye and she gave me an urgent look. Zoe ran into the bush and grabbed the flag leaping out in victory.

"We got it! RUN!" She yelled.

Katie tossed aside Travis like an old toy and sprinted after the two of us.

"Hey! Wait!" Travis yelled and I heard 3 sets of footsteps behind us.

"FASTER!" I yelled.

Katie made some weeds tangle around Rj, Charlie, and Travis slowing them down a bit but it wasn't strong enough and they broke through. Charlie tackled Zoe and almost had the flag but Zoe chucked it and by some miracle I caught it and kept running. Wow, who knew this mama was still in shape! I leaped onto our side and cheered in victory. Our team ran up to Zoe, Katie, and I and we all cheered together.

"WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! AND WE KEEP ON FIGHTING TILL THE END!"

The boys looked all mad at us but we didn't care.

At 10:00 everyone started to pack up to go home. We said goodbye to our friends and they got into their cars and drove off.

"Well that was a lot of fun!" Charlie said crashing onto the sofa.

"Yes-it-was!" Zoe said crashing next to Charlie.

Percy and I left the two of them there and picked up the already sleeping Luke and Selena and carried them into their rooms. Percy and I finally got into our room and didn't even bother changing.

"Good job today Wise Girl," Percy said giving me a kiss.

"You too Seaweed Brain," I responded kissing him back. "G'night, love you."

"Love you too." And with that we both snuggled up together and fell asleep.

Hey everybody!! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Charlie is a teenager! Wow they've grown up. I hope all your dads had a great Father's Day yesterday! Remember to keep commenting and voting! Love you ❤️ We Out