I stepped off the plane and smiled. Naturally, while we were freezing back home in Boston, it was 72 degrees and sunny in San Francisco. My little brother Bobby was supposed to be waiting for me somewhere by the baggage claim, but knowing Bobby as I did, he was either late, or he'd sent Matthew.

"Annabeth?" I saw the panting Bobby burst through the airport doors, his face drenched in sweat.

"So you decided to pick me up after all!" I laughed, watching as his face twisted into a grin. "How are Nicole and Taryn?"

Although I hardly ever came out West, I stayed in decent touch with my brothers' wives. Nicole and Monica Chase were definitely on my recent calls list. Bobby and Matthew? I called on Christmas and their birthday.

"You'd know better than me," he smiled, reading my thoughts. "Want me to take you bags?" I handed him the small black duffle I'd brought with me for the weekend, and he raised his eyebrows.

"I'm a girl, Bobby... I have a lot of things to bring." He probably thought make-up or clothing or some other girly items, but I happened to bring the dagger Logan and Sophia had renturned to me a few years ago, just in case I happened upon any unwelcome guests... or hosts.

We left the airport, walking toward Bobby's car. A cool breeze swept through the street, reminding me that it was almost always necessary to have a light jacket in the city.

"Mom and Dad are going to be so excited to see you. To be honest, I don't think Dad really wants to move, but after that fall he took last October, Mom wanted to be sure he was okay."

My parents weren't that old, but they were in their late seventies. At least, my dad was. My step-mom was a few years younger, and had only gotten more paranoid about his weak bones as my dad aged. After my dad fell off a ladder trying to simulate the planes' movements in World War I, my step-mom punished him by making them seriously look at retirement homes.

"This should be an interesting weekend," I sighed as I buckled my seatbelt. It was a bit of a drive from the airport to my parents house. It didn't help that it was Friday night, and rush-hour traffic was impossible. Bobby had to bite his lip to keep from yelling at every last driver who cut him off.

Both Bobby and Matthew had grown up so much since Percy first met them. No longer were they irritating little brats who played with legos, but civilized gentleman with wives and kids and jobs. Bobby was in insurance. He knew a lot about it from growing up as himself... He broke many an insured, and uninsured, item. Matthew was much more mellow than Bobby. He'd turned out to be pretty smart, and was a professor at USF.

We finally pulled into the driveway of my parents house. They'd moved into a flat on Green Street that had a great view of a lot of the city, but it was on the top floor, and my dad wasn't great at stairs anymore.

Bobby opened the car door, motioning for me to step out. "Brace yourself," he warned me.

My parents' house looked like a cross between a storage facility and the dump. My step-mom was neatly packing their things into tidy boxes, and my dad was not-so-neatly unpacking them.

"I'm not moving into a Home! I'm not disabled! AND I DO NOT NEED ASSISTAN-" I moved out from behind the boxes and smiled at my dad. His mouth still hung open from his screech.

"How're you doing, Dad?"

"Annabeth! We haven't seen you in so long!" Naturally, my dad dropped his box, breaking half a dozen wine glasses and almost breaking his toe.

"And this, Annabeth, is why he has to go!" My step-mom wrapped me in a hug before turning to assist my father. He cursed under his breath as he stood.

"How are Percy and the kids?" My dad still felt guilty about my childhood. His deep brown eyes went soft when he looked at me, and I knew that he wished he could take it all back.

"They're great. Crazy, but great." I combed back through my memory, trying to recollect anything else my father might enjoy. "Oh, Sophia loved her 20th birthday gift from you... that was very generous." That was the other thing my dad did- shower my kids with gifts he thought I should've gotten at their age.

"And Rion and Lena... they're going away to school this September, right?" I gulped. Yes, they were.

Bobby interrupted our moment with a loud clearing of his throat."Matthew just called... he's bringing the truck around back. We've got to get these things down at some point."

My dad picked up a box, ready to assist himself, but my step-mom shooed him away. "No! Fredrick, that was not the deal..." I listened to them argue their way down the stairs, knowing that deep down, they loved each other.

"Let's get this thing done."

                                                                               ~~~

We had completely loaded up the truck by 11 o'clock. My parents were already at their new place, which I was anxious to see. Matthew, Bobby, and I squeezed ourselves into the front seat of the rented UHaul. Naturally, I got the middle seat.

"We both want to sit next to you," Matthew tried, but I knew they just wanted space.

The drive across the Golden Gate Bridge was silent. I was exhausted (it was 2 am my time), Bobby was on the phone with Nicole, assuring her that they were not in fact going to fall off the bridge (she was a bit of a worry-wart), and Matthew had his eyes locked on the road, being the cautious driver he is.

California was in another drought, and the green hills of Marin had turned a rusty yellow color, just waiting to catch on fire. I tried to think about other things, because I had a feeling I could be responsible for the burning of Marin if I kept at it.

We drove for another 20 minutes before we pulled into the parking lot. I saw my dad in the window groaning about something and sighed. Bobby pulled something out of his jacket. It was a bottle of wine.

"Drink up," He laughed, taking a swig. "It's going to be a long night."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hey guys... so I've been horrible this past month :( I have had computer issues (my computer was just crashing... in fact, it still is *sigh*) and every time I was stupid enough to write it on there and have faith in my computer, it crashed and made me scream at various non-living things.

But I (finally) got this chapter up. Next one is coming soon! (maybe even later tonight) and the topic was mentioned somewhere in the chapter... see you if you can figure it out!

It was so fun to write about Bobby and Matthew, because I hardly ever mention them in the story. I hope to involve them a bit more from here on out, but its so hard with so many characters! My notes on this story are insane.

We just got back from skiing yesterday for ski week... did any of you have a Feb. Break? I was so happy to not have school, but it was brutally cold :( After living on the West Coast for so long, my body still isn't quite acclimated.

I'm re-reading Harry Potter, and it's so much better than I remember it from when I was little! I could also say the same thing about Downton Abbey, which I'm rewatching in hopes that someday, I'll be able to write a 1910s/1920s story... I have a million other stories to write first, though.

Again, I'm really really sorry I haven't updated in a month, but I hope you can forgive me... I also hope my computer starts working again, because I can't stand using a mouse, and the computer I'm writing on right now only functions with one.

Well, I'll talk to you soon!

QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER:

What do you think the next chapter will be about?

XO

~PercyAnnabeth20owl