Hey everyone!

So I've been wanting to write something like this for a while now, and with today being Mother's Day, it seemed appropriate. It's a little on the short side and I'm really not sure about the beginning- it seemed a lot better in my head, but I think the ending is cute and hopefully you will too.

Disclaimer: All rights to PJO belong to Rick Riordan.

Enjoy!

The music began playing and I watched as Paul twirled my mom gently to it. Almost everyone had gathered around, watching their first dance as husband and wife. I stayed seated at our table, watching through the gaps between bodies. The wedding was small, so it wasn't that hard.

It wasn't that I wasn't happy for them. Quite the opposite, really. My mom was the happiest I'd ever seen her and I liked Paul. He was a really good guy; worlds better than Smelly Gabe had ever come close to being. And I knew he would never even think of doing to her the things Gabe had done. That alone made me like him.

I'd recently told him about my being a demigod, per my mom's request, and he had been surprised, of course, but he'd really been pretty cool about it. I guess I just couldn't wrap my mind around it.

For so long, it had been just my mom and me, and now it wasn't. And it wasn't that that was necessarily a bad thing, but it was different.

They had been married about two hours ago. It was a small ceremony in a small church. I was the best man, which meant I had to wear an uncomfortable suit and a tie that was seriously choking me. I'd tried to pay attention for the ceremony, and I had for the most part, but ADHD made things slightly difficult in the attention span department. That, and I had so much on my mind lately that I normally spent most of my time lost in thought- and not necessarily good ones.

I shifted in the uncomfortable chair, sitting back. I watched as Paul spun my mom under his arm, both of them smiling. They looked so happy together, so obviously in love. I thought so anyway. It was good to see my mom like this. For so many years, she'd put up with so much, between Gabe, and me, and just not a very easy life in general. She deserved to be happy.

A part of my brain noted that at least now, she wouldn't be alone. She would have Paul. And that made me feel a little better because frankly, the outcome of this whole war with Kronos, of me surviving past my sixteenth birthday, was looking pretty bleak. Maybe she'd be able to move on easier with him there with her. I hoped so at least.

I didn't notice right away when the song changed and the guests either joined the two of them on the dance floor or made their ways back to their seats. It wasn't until a familiar voice spoke from beside me that I finally broke free from my thoughts, which had admittedly taken a pretty depressing turn.

"Were you planning to sit here looking miserable all night?" I turned toward the voice, but I already knew who it was. Annabeth stood there, wearing a purple dress and her ever-present camp beads (I was, for the record, wearing mine too.).

I didn't answer right away, mostly because I didn't really know what to say. Ever since the end of the quest last summer, things between Annabeth and me had been… complicated. Still, my heart beat strangely at the sight of her, despite my attempt to prevent it from doing so. This was the first time she'd spoken to me all day, well actually, the first time since that last day of camp. I wasn't really sure what to do.

"I look miserable?" I asked finally, "I'm not trying to."

I turned back to watching my mom and Paul dance. Annabeth didn't answer immediately, but I knew she hadn't left either. "Are you okay?" she asked quietly after a silence.

I looked back at her. Under other circumstances, I probably would have been honest with her, but instead I just said, "Yeah."

She nodded but I could tell she didn't believe me. "Well, you might want to get up. People are going to think you're antisocial. Go dance or something." I didn't answer, and when I glanced back a minute later, Annabeth was gone. I sighed. Well that went well.

She was right though. As much as I hated to admit it sometimes, she always was. I stood up, straightening my itchy suit, and set to not looking miserable. I ended up on the opposite side of the room, standing instead of sitting, but doing the exact same thing I had been doing a few minutes earlier.

The song changed then and I noticed my mom scanning the room, as if looking for something- or someone. Her eyes landed on me and she smiled, leaving Paul's side and walking toward me. He smiled and nodded at me before walking off in the opposite direction.

I took a few steps forward, stopping right before the dance floor to meet her. She looked so different than she normally did. I mean, yeah, she was dressed for her wedding: long white dress, hair elegantly done up and so on, but even aside from that, she looked different. Her eyes, her smile, the way she held herself; it was like she was floating, glowing with joy and love.

"Come on," she said upon reaching me, grabbing my hand and dragging me in the direction of where she and Paul had been standing a minute earlier, "Dance with me."

Oh no. "Uh, Mom, I don't think that's the best idea," I protested, "I can't dance."

"And you think I can?" she asked, looking amused. Okay, so all of that before had been, what, all Paul?

Apparently.

Despite my objections, she pulled me close to her and began swaying with me to the music, similar to the way she had when I'd been little and scared of the thunderstorm outside. She would hold me in her arms and sway me back and forth until the storm passed or I fell asleep. Whichever came first.

"There, see?" she said with a smile, "You're dancing."

I chuckled despite myself, "Yeah. I guess I am."

We were quiet for a minute, swaying awkwardly to the music. "Thank you for this, Percy," she said.

I narrowed my eyes, confused. "For what?"

"For being okay with this, with Paul."

"Oh. You're welcome."

And right there, dancing with my mom, with her looking at me with nothing but love in her eyes, everything seemed a lot better.

For the first time in a long time, I wasn't thinking about the upcoming war, or Kronos, or the inevitable prophecy, or school, or monsters, or Annabeth. For the first time in a long time, everything seemed okay. I wasn't a normal fifteen-year-old guy with a normal teenage life and normal teenage hobbies and friends with an almost guaranteed long life ahead of me; but for a moment there, I could have been; I felt like I was.

Right then, in my her arms, the storm had passed.

Because of my mom. My mom, who had embraced me and loved me from the start, even though I was guaranteed to make her life difficult. My mom, who had put up with an awful, abusive guy for years just to keep me safe. My mom, who loved me, and worried about me, and made me pancakes and blue cookies. My mom, who had done so much for me; more than I even knew.

My mom, who was finally happy.

And for that moment, that was really all that mattered to me.

"You are okay with this, right, Percy? Promise me?" she asked.

I met her eyes then and for the first time in a while, genuinely smiled. "Yeah, I am," I answered, "I promise."

There you have it. Thanks for reading! Hopefully it wasn't too bad.

It's Mother's Day, guys! Make sure you hug your mom (or mother figure) and thank her for all she does today!