Hey guys!

So, I know, it's been FOREVER since I've been on FF and a lot of you are waiting on updates to Little Sister among other things. I'm sorry. I'm still alive. College has just turned into quite the time-consuming endeavor. You will still be seeing stuff from me, just slightly slower than you used to.

Anyway, this is the first installment of what I plan to be a two-part story. This first chapter is Percy talking to Frederick, and then the second part, which I should hopefully have up in, like, a week or so (maybe), will be his conversation with Athena. I imagine this as taking place before the beginning of my story Climbing Mt. Everest, but you definitely don't have to have read that to read this.

That's it, really. I hope you like it. Leave a review and let me know what you think!

Annabeth's family lived in a white house, colonial with a front door of a deep black. It wasn't overly sophisticated like many of the houses I'd seen in California; the yard and garden were well kept, but overgrown just enough for it to look homey. A basketball hoop stood on the side of the driveway. I'd been to the Chases' home a number of times since graduating high school. I had great memories of the times spent here with Annabeth and her family. And yet, never before had this house seemed so imposing.

Which was stupid, really, because what I was about to do really wasn't that big of a deal, considering it was Annabeth's mortal parent I was currently dealing with and not her godly one. But still.

I mounted the single step onto the porch and walked to the front door. The Chases weren't specifically expecting me, though Annabeth had told me that her dad said to stop by when she'd spoken to him the week before and told him I'd be in the area today. I'd been in New Rome for the day, helping Frank and Reyna with plans to spruce up the Neptune Temple at Camp Jupiter. The Praetors had decided that my dad's Roman form had been underrepresented long enough and asked for my help in changing that. Nico shadow-travelled me there as a favor that morning. It was almost 5pm now. I hadn't originally planned to stop by the Chases' for any specific reason other than to say hi, but I'd decided a few days earlier that it was time I did something about idea that had been ever-present in the back of my mind for months now and, since I was already here, it made sense to speak with Annabeth's dad today.

I paused a second on the porch, and then took a deep breath and knocked on the door. It was answered a minute later by Theresa, Annabeth's step-mom, who looked slightly confused at the unexpected visitor, but who turned instantly welcoming at the sight of me. "Percy! Come in! Frederick said you might stop by," she said as she stepped aside, gesturing for me to step inside, "How are you?"

"Good," I answered as she closed the door behind me, "How are you?"

"I'm very well," she said with a smile, leading me into the kitchen, where the scent of the cooking meal filled the air. "Can I get you anything to drink? We have iced tea, soda, lemonade…"

"I'm fine for now, thanks."

"Alright. Let me know if you change your mind. Boys!" she called into the next room, the living room, where sounds of a video game could be heard, "Come say hello."

"To who?" one of Annabeth's brothers asked. Even so, the game's noise stopped and a moment later, one of the fourteen year old twins, Bobby, I was pretty sure, appeared in the kitchen entrance, followed a second later by his brother.

"Percy," the twin who was definitely Bobby said in surprise, smiling, "Hey."

"Hi," I replied, "How's it going?"

"What are you doing here?" Matthew asked.

"Is Annabeth with you?" Bobby asked at the same time.

"No," I said, "It's just me today." In response to Matthew's question, I continued, "I was in the area. I had some time so I stopped by."

"Cool," said Bobby. "We're playing Halo," he gestured vaguely behind him toward the living room, "Wanna play?"

"Um, yeah, maybe in a little while. I was kind of hoping to talk to your dad first." I turned to look at Theresa, "Is he here?"

The twins shrugged, unconcerned, almost simultaneously and turned to go back to their game. "We'll be here if you want to join," Matthew called over his shoulder.

I nodded in acknowledgement and looked back at Annabeth's stepmom. Theresa's expression had taken on a knowing quality a lot like the one my mom often wore. "He's upstairs in his study," she said in response to my question. "I can go get him for you if you'd like. I'm surprised he didn't hear you come in and come down himself by now."

"Um, actually," I answered, "Do you mind if I go up there? I was kind of hoping to, uh, ask him something. In… private."

Judging by her answering smile, I was willing to bet that Theresa knew exactly what I intended to talk to Frederick about. "Of course," she said, "Go on up." As I turned to go, she added, "While you're up there, if you don't mind, could you let him know dinner will be ready in twenty minutes?"

I managed a smile. "Sure thing."

Frederick Chase's office was at the end of the hall. The door was slightly ajar. I could see a sliver of the wall-to-wall bookshelves through the crack as I approached. With only the slightest hesitation, I knocked. "Come in," Annabeth's father said. I pushed the door open. "Percy," he said, leaning back in his chair behind the desk, his face breaking into a smile. "Sorry, I didn't hear you arrive. How are you?"

"Good," I answered from the doorway, just barely refraining from adding 'sir' to the end. Even after all this time, it still felt weird to call Annabeth's father by his first name, no matter how many times he told me to. I usually preferred to not really call him anything whenever possible. "You?"

"I'm very well. Glad you could stop by. What can I help you with?" he asked, and then, a moment later, seemed to realize something, sat up straight and glanced down at his watch. "It's not time for dinner already, is it?"

"No, not yet," I answered, "Theresa said about twenty minutes…"

"Oh, excellent. Are you going to eat with us then?"

I blinked. "Um, yeah, I can. If it's okay."

"Of course! We'd love to have you."

"Alright, yeah. Thank you."

"Not a problem," Frederick said with a smile, leaning back in his chair again, "Was that everything?"

"Oh," I said, glancing away from him and around the room quickly before looking back, "Uh no, I was actually wondering if I could, um, talk to you about something."

Frederick, looking curious, said, "Of course. Go ahead and close the door," gesturing to a battered chair off to the side of his desk.

"Thanks," I said and complied.

"Is everything okay?" Frederick asked, looking slightly wary. He was obviously remembering the last time I'd wanted to speak to him in his office like this. Then, it had been to tell him that Annabeth had been captured by the manticore.

"Oh," I said quickly, "Yeah, everything's great. I…" I paused. "I wanted to talk to you, um, well, I mean, actually, I wanted to ask you…" I trailed off, suddenly nervous again.

Frederick's eyebrows rose slowly higher as I spoke. "Yes?"

I paused and began again. "I wanted to ask you for permission to marry Annabeth."

Frederick blinked and raised his eyebrows. "You-you want to propose to my daughter?"

"Yes, sir," I answered, "I love her more than anything."

"Oh, I don't doubt that," Frederick said and then smiled, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to give the wrong impression, Percy. Of course you have my permission."

Some of the weight that had seemed to press down on my chest lifted and I exhaled and smiled, "Thank you."

"Honestly, I'm just surprised that you asked me at all. I was sort of under the impression that asking permission was a thing of the past. Especially considering everything you've done."

I smirked and shrugged. "I want to do it right, I guess."

Frederick hummed and nodded. "I appreciate that." He eyed me. "Am I to assume that you plan to ask Athena's blessing as well?"

"Um, yeah," I answered slowly, trying to keep from cringing. I must not have been all that successful because Frederick chuckled.

"That's very brave. Athena can certainly be intimidating, far more than myself."

"Yeah…" I replied, "I've, um, noticed that."

Frederick chuckled. "Good luck."

"Thanks," I said halfheartedly. He nodded, still smiling.

"Well," he said, getting to his feet, "Whatever Athena thinks, I can honestly say that I can think of no one better for my daughter."

"Thank you," I said, getting to my feet as well, "That means a lot."

Smiling, Frederick held out a hand. "Welcome to the family, Percy."

I shook his hand and smiled. "Thank you, s-um, Frederick." Annabeth's dad smiled wider, but otherwise ignored the slip.

"You let me know when you plan to pop the question, will you?"

"Sure," I told him.

"Excellent," he responded and then smiled widely. "I'm excited for you two."

I smiled in reply. "Me too."

Annabeth's dad clapped me on the back, still grinning, and then glanced toward the closed office door and at the watch on his wrist again. "Well, I suppose we should head down there. Theresa tends to get annoyed with me if I let the food get cold." He looked at me and pointed congenially. "That's something you have to pay attention to when you're married. As someone who's been married a while now, believe me when I say: find out what ticks your wife off and avoid those things at all costs."

I chuckled with him as I followed Frederick out of the office and down the hall toward the stairs. "I'll try."

"Good."

Downstairs, Theresa was putting the finishing touches on the set table. I joined in helping bring the finished meal from the kitchen counter after she told me, in no uncertain terms, that I would, in fact, be staying for dinner before heading home. She then proceeded to exchange a glance with Frederick, who must have answered her unspoken question. She came up beside me as I set a hot dish down and wrapped an arm around me, looking elated. "Does your mom know?"

I smirked. "Yeah. She's ecstatic."

Theresa smiled wider. "I bet. Keep us updated, okay?"

I nodded at her and she nodded back in response before turning to inform the twins that dinner was ready. I couldn't help thinking before we sat down together, that, despite the stigma surrounding it, the idea of in-laws didn't seem all that bad.

If only the same could have been said for Athena. She, unfortunately, was a whole other story.

Thanks for reading!