Percy

Okay, that's not actually how I told them I was gay. I don't have that kind of confidence. I just told Paul to believe whatever he wants. Once we got the cookies in the oven, most of the attention was on Nico. And he really wasn't used to that. People being that interested in him. Multiple people, that is.

And the dreaded question that I warned him for had to come up eventually. It was inevitable.

"Where does your mom live?" Mom asked Nico, which kind of threw him for a loop. Because I don't think anyone has asked about Maria or Bianca in... Well, a long time. A few years.

"Uh..." Nico tried to make it so my parents wouldn't pity him. But that's also not possible in this situation. "My mom died when I was little, I live at camp."

Paul's parents are still alive, yes. Well, his Dad and his partner. I've never met Paul's parents. He never knew his Mom, he never really cared. That's why he was never really on me about my dad. He knows what it's like to grow up and they're not there.

My actual grandparents, though? They're both dead. Mom only has a few small memories of them from when she was little. My great uncle raised her and now he's dead.

So when I say they're all I got, I mean that they're all I got. Mom's only sibling died on that plane with Grandma and Grandpa. She doesn't have cousins.

"Oh, Nico," Mom remarked. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Nico promised my mom. "I still had a sister that raised me. She's dead, too. But that's unrelated. That's because of camp. It happens. I'm used to it."

The subject changed to something about food and my parents are my parents and invited Nico to stay for dinner. If he could, of course. Which means they liked him. And that saved me from coming out and turns out they don't like my boyfriend.

I had asked Mom what the plan was for dinner in the first place. And she told me they were going to go out for dinner. A fancy little place that just opened up. Paul's friend suggested it to them, apparently.

And then something came to my mind and I realized something. I looked at my mom.

"Wait," I remarked. "Are you guys babysitting?"

I don't have a little sibling. I think they might have talked about it once. But that was way back when.

"What?" Paul asked as Mom went to go get the mail. "No. What makes you think we are?"

"The baby stuff." I suggested. "Baby food. Formula. Toys. Boppy."

And Paul came to his own realization.

"Oh yeah..." My step dad told me. "We found out the week after you left. Not before."

"Found what out?"

Paul told us to follow him and brought us to what used to be the guest room and was... It was a nursery now. A baby girl was flailing her arms around in a crib. Already had a full head this dark hair. Wearing this cute little onesie that said 'Daddy said I can't date. Like ever.'

She was so cute.

"We found out right after you went missing that your mom was pregnant." Paul explained to the two of us. "She's a month old today. That's why we wanted to go out for dinner. My parents haven't seen her yet and they wanted to see her tonight. I don't think you've met them, have you?"

"No," I told him, shaking my head. "I never saw them at the wedding. So I haven't gotten to meet them."

The baby continued to flail her arms around, kicking a bit, too.

"Well, go on." Paul noticed how badly I wanted to hold her. "Pick her up. She's your sister, too."

So, of course, I walked over to her crib and picked her up. And she was so light, it was amazing. When she saw me, her mouth gaped open and she store at me for a little bit. Nico was recording this to show the others for me.

I went to say hi and she flailed her arms, and ended up slapping me on accident.

This, of course, made her laugh.

And Nico had to make a joke about it when Paul walked out of the room.

"How does it feel to be a dad?" Nico asked me and I looked at him, rolling my eyes.

"Babe." I told him. "She's my sister. Not my daughter."

"Oh?" I don't think I've called him that before, so it took him by surprise. "So I'm a babe now?"

"No, this is a babe." I corrected him, lifting up my sister. "You might be. The jury hasn't made a decision yet."

"Aw, you're sweet." Nico told me as I walked over, as if I'd give my sister up now.

"Do you want to hold her?" I asked and he nodded his head, waiting.

I leaned towards him and kissed him instead of handing off my sister.

"Too bad."

Nico scoffed and I actually handed my baby sister off to him. And I... I was planning on telling them about us at dinner. Because Paul's parents would have to be introduced to Nico, anyways. I could just introduce him as my boyfriend.

That didn't happen, though. It wasn't that easy. And the idea of it just got harder for some reason. I don't know why. Paul's dad was bi, he was married to a guy.

But they asked about a girlfriend. And I didn't have the guts to correct them.

"Do you have a special girl of your own?" Paul's biological dad asked me as we waited for our food and I pretended to be sort of embarrassed by that. Like everyone is when they get that question.

"Uh, no." I answered his question. "Not anymore."

"Oh, I'm sorry. That's always rough." Paul's step dad insisted and I shrugged. It wasn't on me and Annabeth didn't seem to care at all. "Was it recent?"

"A week and a half about." I tried to act like I wasn't counting. But that was because of Nico and not Annabeth. "Don't be sorry. It shouldn't have happened in the first place."

Nico

Their family was nice and I didn't have the heart to lie. Percy had been in the bathroom and this place was a maze so it'd take forever. But his step grandparents started talking to me. Or one of them did. The other one was talking to Sally and Paul. And I was sitting next to this guy. Percy would be across from me. His parents next to him. Paul's parents across from them.

Because I couldn't just say I didn't have a girlfriend. Paul knows. Sally probably heard it, too.

And I just couldn't bring myself to lie.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" He asked me, just to not have weird silence.

"No," I told him.  And I don't know why I said it. But it got everyone's attention. "I do have a boyfriend, though."

No, I didn't out my boyfriend. I didn't out Percy. They didn't ask who he was. But based on how Paul looked at us, he knew.

I didn't think Percy would have such a hard time with that.