I don't know how adoption works so this is probably wrong, and I'm sorry.
———
Nico always wanted to start a family.

He always thought he wouldn't get a chance to, considering he was gay and a demigod, he just assumed he would die before he could.

But now, as Will and Nico are coming close to their second year of being married, he honestly couldn't stop thinking about it. And so-

"What do you think about children?" Nico asked, playing with Will's hands, twisting the ring on his finger.

The two were sitting on the couch, a blanket thrown haphazardly across their legs as they snuggled close together, Nico's head laying on Will's shoulder as the movie flashed across the screen of their television.

Will hummed, dropping his head on top of Nico's.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, do you want kids?"

"Oh, yeah, definitely," he spoke softly, and Nico smiled, intertwining their fingers, "do you want kids?"

"Yeah," he replied, "seeing Hazel pregnant and Annabeth- it just makes me want to start my own family, you know?"

"Yeah," Will squeezed Nico's hand, smiling brightly, "I've wanted to have children for a while, actually, I just wasn't sure how you would react." Nico frowns.

"What do you mean? Did you think I didn't want to have children with you?"

"I guess? I just wasn't sure if you'd be comfortable with it," Nico frowns, once again playing with Will's fingers, "and I honestly don't mean that in a rude way, please don't think I'm trying to be mean, and if you want to have children- I would love to have a child with you." Nico smiled, trying to cuddle closer to Will.

"Really?" Will let out a small laugh.

"Really," he squeezed Nico's hand again. Nico giggles, bringing his unoccupied hand up to cover his face, and Will lifts his head to press a kiss to Nico's.

"How would we have a child, though?" Nico asked quietly, Will hummed.

"We could always adopt, or maybe get a surrogate."

"What's that?"

"A surrogate?" Nico nodded the best he could with his head on Will's shoulder, "it's- Well first of all we would choose someone who we want to carry a child for us, and then one of us would get her pregnant and when the child is born, we would have custody of him or her."

Nico frowns, lifting his head to look at Will.

"I- I don't think I like that. By get her pregnant you mean, like, you know?" He blushed slightly, frowning.

"Oh, no. No, one of us would- you know," he put his hand in a circle, like he was holding a can, and made a jerking motion. Nico raised an eyebrow at him, and Will's cheeks flushed, "we'd go somewhere, I don't know what it's called, and one of us would, like, give them sperm, and they would put that in the person we choose to carry our child."

Nico hummed, resting his head back on Will's shoulder.

"I don't think I like that very much. I feel like one of us would be left out," Will shrugs, making Nico giggle as his head lifts up.

"We could always adopt," Will says, kisssing the top of his head again. Nico nodds.

"I think we should do that."

"Yeah?" Will asked, one of his arms weaving around to wrap around his waist. Nico nodded, sighing contently.

———

Will had called an adoption center weeks ago, making an appointment, and finally, it was time to go.

After hours of talking things through and going over papers, the lady smiled and suggested to meet some of the kids.

Nico nodded excitedly, squeezing Will's hand when it slipped into his. She took them to the infants first, and they both couldn't have been more excited.

They had been thinking about adopting a baby, mostly so they could have the experience of having a child through all the stages of his or her life.

And as soon as they walked in to the room, half the babies started crying. Nico looked at Will with a frown, and Will shrugged.

Soon enough, all the babies in the room were crying and the people taking care of them were frantically trying to make them stop crying.

The lady showing them around quickly led them out of the room, apologizing and saying that she didn't understand what that was all about.

She led them to the toddlers next, and Nico squeezed Will's hand anxiously, frowning. Will brings Nico's hand up and gives it a quick peck, and Nico takes a deep breath.

One of the children starts wailing as soon as they walk in. Nico pouts, he has an idea of what's happening, but gods does he hope he's wrong. He looks up at Will for reassurance.

A few of the kids are looking at him, and Nico shifts from foot to foot. The lady guides them into the room, smiling wide, ignorant to the strange shift of mood in the children.

They walk a bit further into the room. He sees a couple of the kids take a step back, looking at him with wide, terrified eyes. Nico swallows thickly and looks down at his feet. The lady guiding them frowns and seems to see how uncomfortable the kids look.

"What's the matter?" she asks one of the children. The little girls clings to the women's leg, her small eyes not leaving Nico's for so much as a second.

"He's scary," She whispered not so quietly. Nico feels his heart clench painfully, and he squeezed Will's hand. The women raised an eyebrow at him and Nico bit his lip. She looked around the room, a few kids were crying, others seemingly frozen in place with scared features.

The women sighs and guides them out of the room.

"I'm sorry," she says once the door closes, "I don't know why the children are scared of you. I'm afraid if they aren't able to feel safe or comfortable around you-"

"I understand," Nico mutters, looking at his feet.

"I'm sorry," she says again. Nico doesn't look up. Then, Will leads him out to the car, buckling him up.

He feels his eyes watering, and he puts his hands over his eyes.

He was so excited. He knew they wouldn't be adopting today, that it could take years to get approved to adopt a child, but he didn't expect the children to start crying when he was in the room.

A sob escapes him, and he can hear Will talking to him, but he doesn't know what he's saying. He doesn't think he wants to know.

He doesn't want to be told everything is going to be okay because he knows it's not true. He knows now that he most likely has no future involving a child of his own because children are terrified of him and no one is going to let him adopt a child if they start crying at his presence.

------

Word about what happened spread rather quickly among his friends. He isn't surprised, though, he knew what he was signing up for when he told Hazel.

It kind of bothered him, because now his friends regard him with a sympathetic look that annoyed the bejesus out of him.

But, around his friends, he didn't let them know that. He kept his chin high even though he cried into Will's shoulder at night.

He hadn't ever expected to have a child, for so many reasons, but now that he knew he could have one, and he knew he wasn't ever going to have one because the children were simply to scared of him?

You would be upset, too.

And now, with Hazel on the phone, asking 'Where the hecky peck are you? It's the first time Annabeth and Percy's child is coming home, it's basically her birthday party. Everyone is here, Nico, you and Will should be to', you'd be correct to assume that he was beyond confused.

He calls Annabeth after Hazel hangs up.

"I'm sorry," she says, "We really did want to invite you so you could celebrate Mia with us, but we know that-" she pauses, "that you have a hard time with children and, you know, she is a new born and we don't want her to be scared or anything," she trails off, and Nico has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep a steady voice.

"It's okay," he replies, "I understand," expect he doesn't. He isn't the one that has a problem with children, it's the children that have a probables with him. And he doesn't get it. Why is he so unlikeable? He'd never say that, though. "I hope you have a good time. I have to go, bye Annabeth."

Then he hangs up, and he cries.

———

This is bad, sorry

I have a bit written out for Misunderstanding (2) and Coming out (3) but, at the moment, I don't really like how either of them are turning out. Sorry <3

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