Month by Month: Prologue

Month by Month

Prologue

Annabeth paced the small apartment in the Big House they had. Chiron had given it to them after they married – their wedding gift from him.
Percy would be home any minute.
Oh gods, how had this happened so fast?
Her hands were everywhere – across her chest, through her hair, in her front pockets, her back pockets, the back of her neck – but on her abdomen.
She felt a flutter of doubt in her stomach. What if he left her?
Don't be silly, Annabeth, she chided herself, he won't leave you.
The door opened and slammed shut, and Annabeth felt her muscles coil in anticipation – the way they did before a fight.
"Annabeeeeth..." that voice which she loved so much now filled her with dread.
She couldn't do this. She couldn't. She was going to chicken out. She was going to puke.
Then her ADHD seized over her normal, logical brain. Annabeth thought about how much she had been puking lately, and how much she despised puking.
Percy rounded the corner into the room – the kitchen – where Annabeth was standing in, her arms crossed across her chest, staring at her bare feet, her gray eyes wide with terror.

It was the clatter of armor-on-tile was what snapped Annabeth out of her little world. Percy was there, holding her by her shoulders, looking deep into her eyes.
"Annabeth! What's wrong?!"
Her voice stopped working for a few minutes. In that time, Percy had guided her toward the loveseat in their living room. He wrapped his arms around her waist, where his hands settled on her stomach. Annabeth almost started crying.
"Percy...do you love me?"
"Of course, Annabeth!" his voice held a note of confusion.
"Okay...Percy...please don't freak out."
"You're scaring me, Annabeth."
Oh gods, I'm going to pass out.
"I went to Will today, cuz I wasn't feeling good and I woke up puking."
"Right."
"And he did his check up thing on me..."
"Right."
"And he said...He...he said that...That...I'm pregnant."
Percy was shocked. Completely and totally floored. He felt like the Canadian giants he fought in 7th grade trampled over him.
No. That was a bad feeling. The feeling he felt was...It was more like...he'd say flying, but flying gave him a scary feeling.
It was like when he was underwater. Like his and Annabeth's first kiss as a couple – times 5000x.
Annabeth just looked at him in fright.

She was less than encouraged by his reaction. So far, his reaction was nothing but staring at her, those sea green eyes she lost herself in so often large, boring into her own eyes.
So, when he picked her up and carried her the way he did on their wedding day and spun her around, laughing almost madly, she was surprised, to say the least.
"We're gonna have a baby, Wise Girl." he said at last. Annabeth nodded, smiling with tears in her eyes. He sat back down, not relinquishing his grip on her.
"A baby...How long did Will say it'd be?"
"He said I was about 2 and half months along..."
"...Bet it's a boy."
"I think so too."
"Wise Girl, you're supposed to argue it's a girl with me." Percy groaned.
"But I don't think it's a girl! I think it's a boy, Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth protested.
"Alright. I give. Who else knows?"
"No one. I came back directly after I went to Will."
"So, you, me, and Will Solace."
"And Will is sworn to secrecy because of doctor/patient confidentiality."
"Right."
They sat there in silence for a few minutes. Then Percy nudged Annabeth aside and got up, reaching down to help his wife up.
"Well...then...I think we should start with Chiron. Don't you?"

~TBC~