Percy

I told the kids and they said that if my boyfriend was going to be there I had to look nicer and they made me change before we left.

The car ride was really nice, though. We met Nico and Carlos and they just rode with us there. The kids had fun in the back of the car and Nico and I talked shit in front until my mom called and I put it on speaker.

"Hey, Mom," I said as we we're about five minutes away from the cabin. "What's up?"

"Hi, sweetie," mom hasn't given up that name yet. She uses it quite a bit. "Have you guys left yet? We just unpacked the food. Your boyfriend only had like 2 kids, right? We only have enough food for like ten people."

"He just has one kid, Mom." I assured her that they had enough food. "You're good."

Nico

I thought Sally was going to have a heart attack when she saw me. She's a sweetheart, everyone knows that. But she knew that I didn't really have much family.

Every year, we get Christmas presents from them. From Sally and Paul. I get them, and I know they send a bunch to camp. I know for sure Grover gets them, too.

Plus, Carlos and Estelle are only two years apart. Estelle is a senior now. Both of them are in the plays, so I see them at least a few times a year.

So she almost had a heart attack. And of course, she gave Percy shit all day for it. Not telling her.

But let's be honest, Paul once told me that he was surprised Percy and I didn't date when we were younger. But he was with Annabeth.

So there went that. Make up for it now.

I mean, that's not how it works. But we're together, that's the point.

And that night, I'm getting ready to lay down, Percy was taking a shower. And I get a text.

From Jason.

Jason: hey, Nico! This probably seems like a weird time to text being we don't talk and it's the middle, almost end of September.

Jason: But I thought I saw something about Percy recently? Like him visiting maybe? Piper and I are like planning a trip right now and we're going to New York for sure, but if Percy's there it'd be nice to know when. His number shows up as international, so I can text it without being charged a lot of money.

Jason: have you heard anything or...?

Jason: if not, that's fine. It's not like you keep tabs on him and whatever else. Not like you still are in love with him, you've had plenty of boyfriends since he moved, I imagine. But I figured being you live in the city, you might know.

I honestly debated not telling him. About the whole hanging out and us dating. But I did. Kind of. Not all of it.

Me: yeah! Carlos and Finn became friends at school and yeah. He moved back.

Jason: who the hell is Finn?

Me: his kid

Jason: PERCY HAS A FUCKING CHILD?

Jason

I'm quaking in my shoes right now, okay?

Leo, his husband (they're fucking adorable, okay), Annabeth, her husband, Hazel, and Frank are here because we're all about to get on a train for New York. All at Piper's and my house.

We we're excited. Nico knew about this. We we're going to stay a few miles from his place. And then we'd hang out and it'd be a fun reunion.

"Guys," I said, freaking out, as they came into the living room. "I'm going to lose it."

Annabeth, Frank, and Hazel are the only ones with kids. Piper and I are trying. We haven't lately. We did a little over a year ago. But maybe after this trip?

Annabeth's kid is 9, and then she has a 4 year old. Frank and Hazel have twins are 11.

And yes, Nico has a kid. But his kid is adopted, it's a little different. He was approved to take care of the kid by authorities. He's been good with him, I guess. He's 15, maybe 16.

"What?" Leo asked me, not expecting much.

"So Percy is back," I confirmed that for them because one of them brought up that everyone but Percy would be there. "He moved back to New York, I don't know why. But that son of a bitch has a kid and he didn't even invite us to his wedding."

"How old is the kid, though?" Frank questioned and I saw Nico's text.

Nico: yeah, he actually has two kids. Finn just turned 16, and Luana is 11, she's adopted.

Me: and his wife?

Nico: hahahahaha

Nico: that's funny

Me: Nico

Me: do NOT become a homewrecker

Nico: I would never break up a relationship, Jason. Especially a marriage with kids.

Nico: he's not married

Nico: I mean he's not single

Me: n i c o

Nico: I mean, I'm his boyfriend

Nico: but he wasn't married or in a relationship when we started going out, so it's not home wrecking.

Nico: it's two single dads finally dating again

Nico: and the kids support it, so you can't even be mad.

I sat down for a minute and just put my phone down because I couldn't.

This bitch.

It took him 20 years to go out with one guy. Twenty. Fucking. Years.

And then I thought about it.

Where the fuck did the mom go?

We got Percy's new number from Nico and we called him to tell him what was going on and to ask him things.

I didn't even know that he was bi.

Personally, we we're upset that he didn't tell us he was coming back.

He laughed at us.

"You guys are overreacting," Percy insisted as I heard laughing in the background. Probably his kids. "The only people that knew I was moving back was my mom, Paul, and Estelle. The only reason Nico found out was because his kid and my kid are friends. Extremely coincidential? Yeah. But that's what happened. It's only been like a month. Right before college term started."

"I'm sorry," Annabeth said. "Your dumb ass had a kid but didn't finish college? Which is why you moved in the first place?"

It was silent for a second.

"Annabeth, I have a PhD in Art and Design." Percy kind of had a good clap back for what she said. "I teach at the Pratt Institution if you would like to attend one of my classes."

Was that the last thing I thought Percy would do with his life?

Yeah, and I wasn't the only one.

"I'm sorry," Leo remarked, thinking out loud. "You lived in Europe for like 20 years, got married and didn't tell us, had two kids, moved here and became a fucking professor? Who are you?"

"Not married." He corrected Leo on that one part. "Dating, he's. Married, no. Why is this such a big deal to you guys? Frank and Hazel live in Canada. All of you are married. I'm sure most of you have kids. Piper's a model. Annabeth is like a world famous architect. It's not like I'm an Olympic athlete."

"Well I mean, we kept in contact with each other, I guess." Leo was the one that explained it. "Not very well. But the Christmas cards or birthday texts or whatever. It's just weird because I guess with each other we saw it progress. We saw the engagement photos and the pregnancy photos and whatever else. All of a sudden you're back and you have two kids and a nice life."

Before Percy could say anything, Annabeth added onto it.

"Not saying it's your fault." Annabeth insisted, clarifying Leo's statement. "It's not like we reached out to you, either. We've been really bad with Nico and Grover, too, about talking. But if you're married, where's like the mom of your kids?"

I could hear his regretful smile.

"In jail." He told us, which threw us off quite a bit. "She wanted a kid, we talked about it. I wanted a kid, too. We had a kid. And then she uh... It was like his third day home. He was crying, it was the middle of the night and it was her turn to check on him."

"So?" I asked.

"She tried to suffocate him." Percy further explained, and that made a lot more sense to is. "Kind of forgot about the like five baby monitors we had in that room because he was only a few days old and I was very paranoid because monsters exist in Germany, too."

"Oh." Hazel remarked.

"Yeah," Percy kind of agreed. "So she's in jail, rotting. As of Luana, she's adopted."

"Your family just has bad luck with parents, don't they?" Piper remarked, probably remembering an old conversation. "Your grandparents died when you mom was little, then your dad is like the worst because gods are just the worst and he's a deadbeat, and now your ex tried to kill your kid. That's..."

"Yeah," Percy agreed. "Good luck with step parents, though... Normally. There was one time, but that was protection reasons and it was different. So you know what, second times a charm."

"That's not the saying."

"It's close enough." He insisted and we heard him yawn. "But uh, it's almost midnight here. And I was up at 5 in the morning today, so I'm going to go to bed now. I'll see you guys around."

Percy

Cuddling was nice. Outside of that first night where a lot happened, we haven't really cuddled and gotten to do a lot of the more touchy feely things.

And I like touchy feely. Cuddling and holding hands and snuggling and like forehead kisses and all of the small stuff?

It's what gives me life in a relationship.

Like, if you're not into cuddling, get the fuck out or learn to like it. I dated this guy one time in college and I didn't realize how touchy I was until he didn't like the whole touching thing. Holding hands was fine, sleeping in close proximity was fine (not cuddling), and like a quick kiss goodbye was the closest I could ever get because he'd get upset if I tried being cute with him.

So it didn't last long. Probably a month.

After that, I kind of warned people after a date or two that I'm very touchy feely. Which also made these last few weeks kind of hard to hide from the kids.

It ends now, though. The kids know, my parents know, our friends know.

I was ready for this.

Nico

I woke up to text messages from Hazel. The first in like 18 years because I'm happily in a relationship with Percy.

So I was honest and blunt about it with her.

Hazel: and I thought you'd fucking learn. I was dumb

Hazel: why the hell would you go out with someone like Percy? Like one, being gay is still sending you to the fucking fields. Two, he's a dumbass. He grew up here, he should have common sense.

Hazel: plus, who the hell adopts a kid when they don't have somebody with them to help with it? That's dumb. I'll never understand why you put yourself through the hell of being gay, much less being with him. How much does he pay you? $300 a night?

Boy did that fire me up real fast.

Me: first of all, fuck you

Me: second, all of the gods have dated of the same gender before, I think I'm fine. Hell, there are plenty of Demigods that biologically have two moms or two dads. So I think if I go there, it'll be other reasons.

Me: three, you haven't seen him in twenty years. Don't talk. He's gotten his act together, he's raising two kids and so far they're really good kids. He adopted Luana because he wanted another kid and he worked his ass off to get the promotion so he could adopt her and take her in. He's actually responsible, believe it or not.

Me: don't base him on who he was when he was 17. When he was fighting wars and going through trauma, just like the rest of us we're. We've all changed, so has he. Just because his ex turned into a shitty person doesn't mean he did, too.

Me: so fuck you. He's a wonderful person and I'd rather spend my life as his friend, his boyfriend, or his husband, than as your brother.