Alright, so for a while I wasn't sure what kind of story I wanted to write for Jason and Piper and then this idea came up. And then I toyed with it because I wasn't sure if it was 'romantic' enough, and then I remembered that the beauty of Jason and Piper, for me at least, is that Piper makes Jason a "normal" teenager. She makes him worry about whether or not he's brushed his teeth and if he kisses well and what's he going to do when he meets her dad and how he can spend more time with her instead of, you know, the fate of the world. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the PJO series.

Deep Breath

"Hey you, I didn't even hear you leave this morning," Jason said, squeezing the phone between his ear and shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm half-ninja that way," Piper replied. He could hear her nails clicking against a keyboard on the other side of the line. "We're in for a busy day on my end."

"It's campaign season," Jason said. "It's like this every time, we know." While he was on the phone, Eleanor tried to make a run for it, and Jason had to drop a strand of the braid he was attempting to make to grab her shoulder and keep her steady. "Eleanor baby, if you want daddy to do you hair, you have to sit still."

"Jessica doesn't have to sit still!" Eleanor protested.

"Jessica's finishing some homework, not getting her hair done," Jason said. "Stay put. Sorry Pipes, what was that?"

"Are you talking to Mom?" Jessica yelled from upstairs.

"Yes," Jason yelled back. "Are you doing your math homework? Yes? Good! I'll be up to help in a second! Sorry Pipes, what was that?"

"Sounds like you've got your hands full," Piper said. He could hear the smile in her voice in the same way that he could remember the smell of cinnamon or the taste of lipstick or the number of freckles on her nose without her being there.

"They're okay," Jason said just as his youngest daughter tried to take off. "Eleanor, if you do that one more time your hair is staying down at school today."

"Noooo!" She yelled with as much despair as a kindergartener could possibly muster.

"Stay still, then," he said.

"Did Alice brush her teeth?" Piper asked on the other end of the line.

"Oh shoot," he said before calling out, "Alice did you brush your teeth, baby?"

"I'm still eating," Alice called back.

"Oh wow baby, you're going to have to speed things up a bit," Jason said crossing the strands of Eleanor's hair. "Okay- sorry Pipes- what were you even trying to tell me?"

"I'm going to be home late," she said.

It was bad when she could warn him about that before the clock hit 9:00 AM.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Oh, check the papers. Mr President put his foot in his mouth and swallowed it whole," Piper sighed. "Shit, I didn't say that if someone asks, okay? He was grossly misinterpreted by the press. Anyways, we're overloaded with briefs to write about something else I can't disclose, and there's that debate coming up… You get the idea. I know it's not the first time this week, I'm sorry."

"That's okay," Jason said. "We've got leftovers in the fridge, right? Some of that curry or..?"

"It was Korean meatballs," Piper said, "and you guys had that for supper yesterday. Unless you ordered pizza. You didn't order pizza did you?"

"No."

"Good, I'd hate to miss it," Piper said. "Anyways, yeah, tonight there should be leftover zucchini casserole for supper- I know you hate it, but the girls love it. Don't forget to drop off the twins at gymnastics- make sure that they have their green leotards, they have to practise in them before that competition."

"Green leotards, got it."

"And Jessica may have asked for the car last night but I don't remember, so you probably want to check up on that."

"Yes I do," Jason said making grabby gestures in front of Eleanor's face for her to hand him her elastic so that he could tie up her braid. "Does Jessica have anything after school?"

"I think that yearbook's tomorrow, why?"

"I'm tutouring after class," he said. "My eleventh grade classes are writing their tests tomorrow and most of the kids are losing their minds."

He patted Eleanor's shoulder and she ran off.

"Go find your bag!" Jason called after her before walking upstairs to go see where Jessica stood on the thin line between not understanding her homework and despair.

He crossed the kitchen. Alice was sitting at the breakfast nook, her hair already brushed out and held out of her face with a headband that matched her shoes (as per usual). She was just finishing up a toast smeared with peanut butter. The second she saw him she looked at him with big, colourful eyes and she held out her arms for a hug, and Jason went to hug her. She got so anxious for school every morning, he couldn't just not.

"You're going to be okay, baby," he said. "You're going to have gym like yesterday today, won't that be great?"

Alice swallowed and nodded. Jason picked her up and plopped her on the ground.

"That's my girl," he said. "Okay Alice, now go brush your teeth, baby."

She walked off.

"I totally missed what you just said, sorry?" Jason said into the receiver.

"That should be fine, Jess can watch the twins tonight," Piper said.

"Do the girls have lunches?"

"Yes," Jason said glancing over the staircase railing to make sure that the lunchboxes were lined up on the counter.

"All three of them?"

"Jessica needed a lunch?" Jason asked, frozen in panic.

"The cafeteria's closed all week," Piper said. "I forwarded you the email."

"Shit," Jason said. "Umm- okay, yeah, I'm on it."

"Don't worry about it," Piper said. "Just focus on getting the three of them out the door, she can walk to Subway or something. Don't worry about it, take deep breaths, you're all over the place."

It was refreshing to hear that, don't worry about it. Since he was little, Jason had had things to worry about. His very name was an attempt to stop his stepmother from murdering his entire family. His ascension to the position of praetor had been supposed to redeem the Fifth Cohort. Holding the position of praetor itself meant that Jason had an entire fort to lose sleep over for the few months that he was actually in Rome- including demigods to tend to, newbies to introduce and crazy political enemies to tame. As the leader of the Seven, he'd had to make sure everyone was as safe as possible despite the strength and leadership that poured from everybody else.

He'd thought that that pattern would just carry on. He'd assumed that he'd have to watch his every move or work around Piper and act as properly as possible. Once Jessica was born, he'd been so, so sure that he should never even doubt himself about how one was supposed to interact or care for a baby. He'd thought that once they were married he really couldn't screw up. When the twins came, he'd gotten obsessed with time management and keeping things as orderly as possible and made lists of absolutely everything… but every time, Piper had talked him down from all the hustle and bustle and stress. Every time, Piper was there to remind him that he'd chosen his life and that he should be in love with it every step of the way, that he should take things less seriously to make them more meaningful and fun.

It was nice to hear don't worry about it and for it to be okay if Jason screwed up. He'd always thought that it was one of the big reasons he loved Piper so much; every word and touch from her was a deep breath and a second spent away from the real world. She was calmer and kinder than anybody else was despite the strength and power she could easily access and use. She had no expectations for him except for his honesty and integrity. As long as Jason was himself and did his best, there was no degree of fucking-up that would throw her off. Actually; Jason thought that that was a big part of love.

"Perfect," Jason said.

"Are you ready for school?" She teased.

"Yeah, I think I have my twenty three piles of correction," he smiled. "Do you think you can survive your day or should I bring you coffee?"

"You should most definitely always bring me coffee," Piper said.

"Yeah, I can think of a few people with objections," Jason said as Jessica burst out of her room. "Did you get your homework done, Jess?"

"No, but screw it," she announced before trampling down the stairs. She was shaking with frustration. He didn't even know why she'd taken biology as a class, she hated sciences. At least physics he could explain to her…

"Jess," he said pressing the phone against his shoulder and catching onto her hand. She turned around to face him, eyebrows scrunched up and eyes angry. She looked like she was about to shoot lightning bolts out of them.

"Breathe," he said. "It's only one homework assignment out of a thousand others that you're going to understand better."

He kissed her forehead.

"Love you."

"Love you too," Jessica said going down.

"Jason?" Piper asked in the phone.

"Yeah?"

"You breathe too. You sound exhausted."

"Yeah, as it turns out: three girls trying to all catch buses on time is a hard phenomenon to correlate," Jason said.

"I have faith in you," she said. "Hopefully I'll be home earlier than last night."

"Hopefully," Jason agreed. "I don't know how much longer the girls can take my lousy microwaving skills."

Piper laughed. "Love you."

"Love you too."

"Love you more. Go to work, now."

"Get back to work," he said. She laughed again before hanging up.

Jason took a deep breath.

"Okay girls, who's ready to put a coat on?"

"I have to change!" Jessica said.

"I don't want to go to school!" Alice said.

"I have to finish my game!" Eleanor yelled.

Like Piper said.

Deep breath.

Upcoming ship weeks

September

07- 13- Jason and Piper

14 -20- Frank and Hazel

21 - 27- Calypso and Leo

28 - October 7- Percy and Annabeth