Nico woke up laying on top of Percy Jackson, who was currently asleep next to him. Nico blinked his large brown eyes a few times, but didn't move away from the son of Poseidon. He was thoroughly enjoying the warmth, and was also enjoying the feeling of waking up next to the boy.

The son of Hades snuggled closer to said boy, letting out a small sigh of comfort. He nuzzled his head into the tan boy's shoulder, wrapping his arm around him lightly. The discomfort was happening again, either because of the pregnancy, or because he had just slept in the backseat of a car. He thought it was probably both.

After a few more moments, he noticed how the car wasn't moving. He had just assumed Jason had gotten to tired and was pulled over into a parking lot. Jason was always extra-cautious when driving, so it wouldn't surprise the son of Hades. Jason Grace was a mom friend.

Nico could have fallen asleep like this again, cuddled next to Percy, the smell of the ocean in his nose, but he soon felt the other boy move, and got increasingly nervous. "G'Morning," Percy mumbled into the son of Hades' hair. The simple sentence made him feel better.

"Mornin'," Nico mumbled back, making no effort to remove himself from the other boy. Nico felt Percy nuzzle his nose into his dark hair, and found it oddly comforting.

"Did you sleep well?" Percy asked, but do to his tired state it came out more as "didyoong sleemp well?"

Nico, if possible, tried to get closer to Percy. He told himself it was just for warmth, since the car was a bit cold. "Mhm, you?" He said, his words becoming muffled in Percy's shirt.

"Mhm, for it being the back of the car 'n all," He said, laughing at the end. Nico let out a small chuckle, still making no effort to get away from the son of Poseidon. Nico hated himself for wanting to be this close to the boy, but he was like a drug, and Nico was so fucking addicted.

Moments later, the door from the car opened and Jason's voice boomed. "Morning, sleepy heads!" He smiled. Nico heard his seatbelt buckle and slowly sat up, not too willingly.

"Tone it down a bit, eh?" He said, sitting up and looking down at the son of Poseidon. He was still laying down, but his green eyes were slightly opened, his arm still lazily thrown around Nico. The son of Hades couldn't imagine anyone more beautiful just waking up.

"Sorry, I pulled over after an hour of driving because I almost closed my eyes, but," He said, then Nico heard the ruffling of a bag, but his eyes were still smiling down at Percy. "I woke up before you two, and decided to drive another hour to this McDonalds, seriously, you two sleep too much, but here," He smiled, handing a bag of food to the two boys in the back. "Eat," He said, cranking the car a bit.

"Um, thanks?" Nico said, still a bit sluggish from just waking up. He looked in the bag and noticed two pancake, or hotcake, platters. He pulled one out, putting it in his lap before nudging Percy with the bag.

The son of Poseidon opened his eyes a little wider and took in the sight before smiling. "Yeah," He said sitting up slightly, removing his arm from Nico's waist. "Thanks,"

"No problem, and I'll be good for driving for the next bit, I got almost as much sleep as you two, but you guys sleep to much anyway,"

Nico and Percy both scoffed at this, but decided not to make any comments, just happily eating their pancakes. Nico tried to hide the pain that kept accruing from Percy but the son of Poseidon did notice, and sent him a silent question with his eyes, that Nico just waved off.

After the little meal, Nico took a swig of Nectar which still tasted the same as it always did, and buckled up. He also forced Percy to do the same. The son of Poseidon took car safety very seriously. It was the only warning he ever truly listened to.

They drove for what felt like hours before they went to a pizza place for lunch, then Percy took a shift at driving. Nico felt bad for not driving, but they insisted it was fine, and while they knew he didn't want to use the pregnancy card, they were accepting it.

To that, the son of Hades rolled his eyes, but chose to let them win, because he really didn't want to drive. Sitting in the car for as long as they had been, along with the regular pains, it was literally killing him.

It was another ten hours before they arrived in California. When Nico saw the sign, he let out a sigh of relief. He had been twisting and turning in the back of the car for the last few hours. It was absolute torture.

For the next hour, though, the son of Hades thought about his new house. His new house with Percy Jackson. He tried to get three rooms, but Reyna had said how there was no such home available. Nico felt bad, because he knew, one, Percy probably didn't want to sleep in the same bed as him, and then secondly, wouldn't want Nico to have to sleep on the couch.

That was just the way Percy has been, and the way Percy was. He was always doing things for Nico in the past five months, and Nico was beyond grateful for that.

The son of Hades, being himself, starting thinking of what the medics at New Rome would be like. He knew he wouldn't be able to be with Dr. Holt anymore considering he didn't want to drive across the United States to get a ultrasound.

The short boy was positive the medics and campers at Camp Jupiter could handle it, but it was still scary not knowing the people that would be responsible for making sure Nico knew what to do.

As his mind continued to wonder, he thought of Hazel's reaction. He had told her once before he left. She seemed pretty okay with it. She was upset that he had cheated on the son of Apollo, and was more shocked than upset that it was Percy's baby.

She said that she thought he was over him, which the pale boy replied 'I thought I was too'. Besides that, Hazel seemed ready to become an Aunt, and was prepared to be the best one possible.

Then, Nico thought of what it would be like to go Nursery furniture shopping with Percy would be like, and that brought along a smile, accompanied with a blush.

Finally, the three demigods arrived. Jason parked outside the camo, hoping the car wouldn't be in anyone's way, before helping the two soon-to-be dads with their things so there would be no need for another trip.

The three had hands full of bags and carried them around New Rome, asking for directions. Nico would never be able to get over how beautiful this place was. The pillars and buildings were perfect, people were living peacefully. No one really started, just took second glances, at Nico, and the son of Hades appreciated that. He was sure the rumor had gone around.

Eventually they found the road they would be living in, and Nico smiled at all the family friendly houses. Kids running in the yards, one house even had a dog. It was domestic and Nico loved every bit of it. He shook the thoughts out of his head and blamed it on the cursed hormones.

After a bit more walking, the children of The Big Three managed to find the house. It was at the end of a culdasac (A/N:I have no clue how to spell this, autocorrect won't help me), the walls brown brick with white pillars at the corners of a nicely sized porch. There was a sidewalk leading up to the door. Bushes were already trimmed, pink flowers growing in neat little rows. The outside of the house was so beautiful, and Nico knew the inside would be just as, if not more.

Nico pulled out the key Reyna had gifted him through the mail, and unlocked the door. The son of Hades dropped the bags by the door, soon followed by the two taller boys, and gaped at the beauty of the home. When you first walked in, there was a hallway., it had dark wood floor, then walking a bit, you would see an opening to a living room.

There was a blue couch with a large TV, a fireplace, and a black rug, painting hung randomly on the walls. Then, connected to the living room was a dining room and kitchen, white marble countertops, blue rugs by the sink, and very warm family table. Then, on the other side of the hall connected to another hall, which held the bathroom, a simple bathroom with an amazing shower/bath.

There was a room, it was empty, the floors being the same wood as the rest of the house, and the walls white. It was the nursery. Nico smiled and looked around the empty room. There was a closet, he believed it was called a winter-summer closet. There was a two shelves for items.

This was where their daughter would be raised. The son of Hades couldn't help smiling, looking over to the son of Poseidon, who was wearing a similar expression.

After more observing, everyone walked out, heading down to the last room in the hall (besides a hall closet, but that could be looked at later). This room was definitely the master bedroom. It had a blue, king sized bed, the pillows white, the fuzzy rug black. It really captured the two demigods, and it made Nico blush.

Next, he checked out the master bathroom, it was even better than the hall. It had a gigantic tub, well not gigantic, but pretty big, and a shower with a glass separator instead of a curtain. There was his and her sinks, but it would definitely be used as his and his in this home.

After the small little observation of the house, Jason excused himself, saying he had work with Reyna and Annabeth to do, and left the two demigods alone in the - no - their house.

"It's, honestly, amazing, I can't think of another word to describe it," Percy gawked at the walls, so cleanly painted. Nico nodded his head in agreement as he walked down the hallway. He grabbed the bags of his belongings, Percy doing the same.

"I know, it's like - perfect," 'like you' the son of Hades added mentally as he walked back to the bedroom. He walked into one of the closets, there was two, and began unpacking his things into the drawers, hanging shirts in the closet, putting his shoes in the shoe rack.

"Like, it even smells nice," Percy added, walking into his closet. "Not here again," He mumbled.

Nico let out a snort at the horrible pun, placing his now empty bags on a shelf in his closet. "That was a horrible joke,"

"I know," Percy smirked, hanging up a blue swim hoodie. "Horrible jokes are my specialty,"

Nico let out another laugh. "I can see,"

The two demigods finished unpacking, putting away their belongings, but the kitchen, and other rooms, were already stocked. Reyna tried her best to make it as much as them as possible, and in Nico's opinion, she had succeeded.

~POV Switch~

"This place is seriously amazing, I really like the color scheme, you know?" Percy laughed, looking around at all the deep blue furniture and the ocean paintings.

Nico let out a small snort and began to look through the pantry and fridge. "Look, there's food, what do you want to eat?"

Percy walked over to the kitchen and leaned on the newly cleaned countertops. "Do you enjoy cooking? Like you do it, all the time, that's rarely an exaggeration, you cook like, all the time,"

"That's the thing about life, Perce, you got to cook to eat, eat to live, if you truly think about it, humans are very strange. They do the same things over 'n over, and then you do 'em again, it's a continuous cycle, really,"

Percy looked at the son of Hades skeptically. "You...wanna talk about it?"

The boy in question just laughed a bit. "Nah, just constant existential thoughts,"

"Okay?" Percy said, coming out as more of a question."Mac and Cheese would be nice, though," He smiled as the son of Hades pulled out random ingredients Percy saw no significance with.

Percy continued walking around and taking in the amazing scent of 'new house' soon followed by the smell of Mac and Cheese.

Nico called for him, a bowl of Mac ready. Percy took a seat next to the boy. "Thank you," He smiled, putting the cheesy goodness in his mouth and chewing. Nico rolled his eyes, a small blush creeping up his neck.

The son of Poseidon had always seen Nico as a bit . . . cold hearted, but in reality, he was a soft little nugget. Granted, this soft little nugget could kill anything and everyone who tempted him, but, he was a soft lil' thing that would blush easily.

The green-eyed boy thoroughly enjoyed making the younger blush, and he did it anytime Percy complimented him in anyway. This made Percy only want to compliment him more. "I mean, you're really good at cooking,"

He blushed. "No I'm not - I can - I'm not,"

Percy smiled before taking another bite. "I seriously don't think I have had better Mac and Cheese in my life,"

The son of Hades blushed even more. "It's no - It's not really t-that good, I t-think you're over playing it just a bit," he stuttered out.

Percy chose to leave him alone and just laughed a bit. "Mkay, sure," He teased slightly, looking out the window. The sun was setting and Percy was tired from sleeping restlessly in a car all night.

The two boys finished eating, discussing when to go shopping for the nursery. They didn't want to truly do it in New Rome since the mist didn't work and Nico was always aware of the eyes that followed him, especially as his bump got larger as their child grow.

"We can go out in California tomorrow, just explore it 'n everything," Percy smiled, taking his bowl, along with Nico's empty one, and washing them in the sink. Nico walked over to the Nectar resting in the fridge, pouring a shot-sized portion of the liquid, and drinking it.

"Yeah, sounds nice," Nico smiled, putting the carton-like container of Nectar back in the fridge.

Percy plopped down on the couch, the son of Hades following after him. He pulled a black blanket over them, and Percy grabbed the remote. Everything was so new and shiny, Percy felt a bit out of place, though this was their new home, it felt like someone else's. He knew that feeling would go away soon, but it was still strange. He had spent the last week with his mom, now he was somewhere different. A good different, but different.

They flipped through the channels, then watched some strange documentary. Usually Percy never actually cared for the information displayed in the programmes, but no matter what, they were always strangely intriguing.

Nico got up towards the end, "It's getting late, I'm going to take a shower," He said, lifting himself up off the couch.

"You going to go to sleep afterwards?" Percy asked, watching as the short boy stood up.

The son of Hades shrugged.

Percy smiled. "Well, in case, good night,"

Percy easily saw the blush that appeared on the others cheeks, even in the dimly lit room.

"G-Goodnight," Nico stuttered before waving awkwardly and walking away. Percy continued watching the show for a few more minutes before drifting off to sleep on the, more comfortable than his mom''s, couch.

~Author's Note~

Was this better? Shit's going to happen next chapter, so be aware :)

~This work can also be found on ao3~