AN: Dang! It's been a while since I've gotten a new chapter out for this story.
But, hey, this is, like, four one-shots crammed into one, so it's up to you to decide if it was worth the wait! (If you were even waiting for it, of course.)
This one is future!Percabeth/Caleo/Frazel/Jasper, where I put my own spin on their kids. I was going to put Solangelo in here, but, sadly, their pairing just didn't fit with this theme. :( Maybe I'll get them next time.
I hope you guys enjoy, and that everything is alright! If not, then please let me know what exactly I did wrong instead of just a vague statement that pokes fun at my entire story.
Percabeth
Percy and Annabeth sit on the couch, watching TV in silence. One of his hands massages her foot while the other rests on her swollen belly.
Her right hand covers his own, twining their fingers together before she asks, "What should we name them?"
He immediately knows what she's talking about. They just came back from the doctors' office to learn the genders of the pair of twins currently inside Annabeth's stomach.
"Well," Percy starts, rubbing his thumb over her bellybutton, "we're going to name one of them Luke, of course…"
"No."
He gives her a surprised look. "But I thought you wanted to name our first-born son Luke."
"I know, but I just…" She struggles to find the words to explain her idea. "I was just thinking…since we're having male twins…that…it'd be perfect if we name them after Bob and Damasen."
A grin spreads on his face and he flips his hand over so that he can squeeze hers'. "It sounds perfect," he says, and she smiles back.
"But the one named after Bob will be legally named Robert," she announces. "My brother used to get so much teasing for his name being Bob."
"Okay," Percy agrees easily. "What about their middle names?"
"You decide," she replies.
"Hmmm." He thinks over it a moment, then removes his hand from her foot to snap his fingers. "Leo and Jason!"
"Robert Leo Jackson and Damasen Jason Jackson," Annabeth muses. She smiles broadly at him. "It sounds great."
Then she frowns. "You're not giving Jason's name to Damasen to call him DJ, are you?"
"Maaaaaaaaaaybe."
"I swear to the gods above, Percy…"
;
"Daddy! Daddy!" Atalanta jumps up and down excitedly, looking about ready to burst. "Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy! Guess what Uncle Leo told us about today?"
"What'd he tell you about, Lannie?" Percy asks, opening in the door to their house, balancing baby Luca in one hand. (He's the stay-at-home parent.) Smallest Bob and DJ run right inside, while Lannie walks backwards so that she can make sure her dad is listening to her.
Percy had just picked Smallest Bob, DJ, and Lannie up from the park where Leo and Calypso (they were visiting New Rome) had offered to watch the older children alongside their own kids while Percy got some actual cleaning done. Apparently, Leo had told quite the exciting story.
"He told me all about my namesake!" Lannie crows, puffing out her pudgy cheeks.
He raises an eyebrow at his daughter, shutting the door behind him. Luke (baby Luca) picks at his hair. "Did he now?"
"Yeah!" Lannie loses her footing for a moment, tripping over her untied shoelaces (Percy can never tie them right) before regaining her composure. "He told me that the first Atalanta's momma was a bear! And she was the fasterest runner ever! And she killed the mightiest pig around!" She turns around, mimicking stabbing with spear with such glee that Percy doesn't have the heart to correct her about the fact Atalanta killed a boar, not a pig.
"And-and then," Lannie brings her hands up in a way that's supposed to be claw-like and bares her teeth, "she turned into a lion!" She leaps onto the couch. "RAWR! I'ma lion, too!"
Percy eyes go wide and they snap to his four-year-old daughter in horror. "He didn't tell you…why…Atalanta got turned into a lion, did he?"
"Nope!" Lannie answers gleefully, pouncing on a pillow. Percy sighs in relief, and then his daughter cranes her neck to look at him. "Why'd she get turned into a lion, Daddy?"
"Well, it's because…" Percy searches his head for ideas. If only Annabeth were here. "It's because…Atalanta was the mightiest warrior of all time, and the gods needed to put her in a body that could contain her…powerful spirit."
"Woah!" Lannie does nothing but stare at him, marveling at the lie (white lie, because what four-year-old needs to know the R-rated details of their namesake? Not his daughter) he spun.
Her attention span sizzles out, and she asks, "What did the other great hero I was named after do?"
"Bianca?" Percy says. Lannie nods. He smiles and sits down, propping Luke on his knee. "Well, it all starts because of your Uncle Grover…"
;
"Daddy! Daddy!"
Percy turns around, catching the flash of blond curls before Luke falls on the ground.
"Hey!" he greets, chipper. "How was your…"
He cuts himself off when he feels wet tears on his neck where his child's face is pressed. "Hey, hey, now. What's wrong? Tell Dad what's wrong."
"The kids at school–" Luke cuts off with a gasp before restarting.
"The kids at school were making fun of me because my name is Luke and I'm a girl!" she blurts all in one breath, the five-year-old sobbing into his neck, clutching the back of his shirt.
Percy immediately feels bad. He and Annabeth had known this would probably happen, but they agreed that four was the number of kids they would have before they stopped, and they both knew that Luke (the son of Hermes) deserved to have one of their kids named after him.
They honestly thought that Luke (their daughter) was going to be a boy, since the morning sickness was like that of when Annabeth was pregnant with the twins and not like when she was pregnant with Lannie. They skipped over learning the gender, and were surprised when they heard the It's a girl! Not having another name idea, they had just changed the first name from Lucas to Luca and the middle name from Frank to Reyna. They kept the nickname, Luke, the same.
He runs a hand up and down Luke's back. "It's okay, sweetheart; they're just a couple of mean kids that have no idea what they're talking about," he sooths, but Luke turns it around.
"I have no idea why you even named me Luke!" she screams, kicking her legs and punching at his arm.
He sighs, not really feeling the things Luke decked out on him. "Let me tell you, then," he offers, sitting her down in the front seat of the car so that he's at eye-level with her, cupping her small hands between his own, much larger ones.
Tears stream down her red cheeks. Her curly blond hair is tousled and her green eyes are bloodshot from crying.
"When your momma was a little girl," Percy starts, brushing a tear away from his daughter's cheek, "she had a hard life. A dangerous life. And she couldn't always protect herself."
"But I thought you said you protected her," Luke mumbles.
He shakes his head. "I couldn't protect her before I knew her," he says. "But that was okay, because two other people were there for her. One of them was your Auntie Thalia, and the other was a son of Hermes.
"Aunt Thalia…went out of the picture for a little while, and she couldn't be around for Mom anymore. But do you want to know who was?"
"The son of Hermes," Luke answers.
"Right. The son of Hermes protected her, and, even when he strayed from the right path for a while, he always had her best intention at heart. Like me and Lannie and Smallest Bob and DJ and Mom are you're family, he promised to be her family. Forever. And he kept that promise, until…until the very end."
He squeezes her hands. "So…Luke…What do you think the son of Hermes's name was?"
She sniffles. "Luke," she guesses.
"Right. His name was Luke." He nods. "And, now you're name is. Your momma and I knew that, if we gave you that name, we knew that you'd go on to do great things. You'd protect people, like he did. You'd save people, like he did. You'd save the world, just like Luke did."
;
Caleo
They sit in the nursery, moonlight coming in through the window being the only light in the room. Arms wrap around their knees, hugging them close to their chests. The only sound is the breathing of their baby.
"We've gotta name her," Calypso says, breaking the silence.
"I know," Leo replies, tugging his knees closer.
"She can't stay 'Baby Flame' forever," she reminds him.
"I know," Leo grounds out. She gives him a surprised look at his gruffness, and he sighs, forcing himself to relax. "I just…She kind of snuck up on us, you know? We've only been back a year, and we just moved into the shop…"
"It's okay." She sets a hand on his shoulder, and he immediately leans into her touch. She places a kiss on his forehead. "We'll get through this."
"I…" He loses his voice for a moment. Taking her hand from her shoulder, he presses his lips against her palm. "We have a baby, and we aren't even married," he murmurs against her rough skin. "We aren't even engaged yet, for Hephaestus's sake!"
The baby grunts in her crib, and Leo immediately silences.
"You said yet," Calypso says softly.
"Hmm?"
"You said we aren't engaged yet."
He turns beat red. "Ah, what the heck?" he says to himself, taking a box out of his pocket and handing it to her. "I'm not finished with it, but…"
When she opens it, she gasps. It's a Celestial bronze band, encrusted with the glowing crystals from her cave. There are some spots where the crystals are missing (obviously his not finished parts), but it melts her heart to know that he's making the ring. He's making it. For her.
"So this is what you've been doing for the past couple of days," she mutters, staring at the glowing ring.
"Months, actually," Leo corrects. Calypso turns to him sharply and kisses him hard, one hand twisted in his shirt, the other clutching the box.
When they pull away, panting, he asks, "So…are you gonna let all that time go to waste or are you gonna say yes?"
"Of course I'm going to say yes, you idiot," she mutters. He grins, and then his hair catches fire. Calypso doesn't care, because he's slipping the ring on her finger.
They kiss again, and this time Calypso says something first. "We've still got to name Baby Flame," she says, talking about the name Leo had been calling the baby for the past couple of days.
"Well," he says, "since you're insisting about removing my already perfect name, I think her name should mean fire. She's always going to be our baby flame."
"What names meaning fire do you know?"
"Hmmm…" He thinks for a moment. "Adan," he says finally.
"Adan," Calypso repeats. "I like it." He grins at her. "And the middle name?"
"Ogygia," he answers without hesitation. "Adan Ogygia Valdez."
She leans into him. "Okay."
;
"Twins," Calypso breathes, clutching his hand like she finally registered the news the doctor gave them. "We're having twins."
"Twins," Leo agrees. He squeezes her hand back, and turns the steering wheel.
"What are going to name them?"
"Well, obviously, since we're having a boy, his name will be Festus–"
"Leo!" Calypso scolds. "We will not name our son after the dragon!"
"Fine, then, the girl can be Festus."
"Festus!" Adan crows from her car seat. She bursts into flames, but it's okay, because Calypso and Leo had the sense to fire-proof everything that they owned.
Leo gives Calypso a look. "See? Even Adan wants her little sister to be named Festus." Removing his hand from Calypso's, he reaches back to tickle his daughter. She squeals and squirms, flames ticking at his fingers. "Isn't that right, Danni?"
"Leo!" Calypso chides again, smacking his arm. "Don't get her all riled up!" He shrugs. "And we're not naming any of our children Festus!"
He sighs, "Fine, Sunshine. We won't name the kids after the dragon."
"Good." Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she nods.
The car falls silent for a moment. Then, she says, "Esperanza."
"Huh?" Leo glances at his wife, then back at the road.
"Since Adan is named after my home, we'll name the girl after yours."
"You want to name our daughter Houston?"
"No." She shakes her head. "Your mother. We'll name her after your mother."
"Oh," Leo says casually. Then his eyes widen. "Oh." He feels like crying out of joy. "You-you want t-to name our daughter Esperanza?"
She nods. He has to wipe a tear from his eye before clutching her hand tightly.
"Thank you," he whispers.
"You're welcome," she replies. "And the boy?"
"Well…" He has to swallow a lump in his throat. "Since we're going for family, and I doubt you'd want to name our son after your family…Samuel. Sammy. His name will be Sammy." She smiles lovingly at him, knowing the story behind the name.
"Festus!" Adan crows.
;
Frazel
"I'm home!" Frank announces, kicking off his shoes and placing down his bag.
Hazel smiles at him from next to the table, where she's helping Forrest and Rowan cut up pieces of construction paper for an art project. "Hey, praetor," she greets.
"Daddy!" Elm crows, throwing himself into his father's arms, followed closely by his fellow triplets, Laurel and Sylvan. Elm rocks himself back and forth, a bright smile on his face. "Daddy, guess what we learned at school today!"
"What did you learn?" Frank asks, lowering the five-year-olds to the ground.
"I said guess!"
Placing a finger on his chin, Frank thinks for a long while. It's long enough for Sylvan to blurt, "We learned about trees today!"
"Did you now?" Frank says, looking at Laurel for confirmation. She shifts on her feet, nodding.
"Yeah!" she says quietly.
"C'mon!" Both Elm and Sylvan take either of his hands, dragging him over to the table. They, along with Laurel, hop on their chairs and pull out their homework.
Turning to Hazel, Frank says, "Hey there, beautiful," and plants a sweet kiss on her lips.
"Eww!" Forrest says. The eight-year-old covers his eyes. "Mom! Dad!" At just a year younger, Rowan covers his eyes, too, but he turns into a snake and puts his tail over his head to do so.
The triplets finally get their homework out of their backpacks, and place notebooks on the table. Sylvan leans on the wood, tapping his finger against his pad.
"We learned about trees!" he repeats. "See? That kind of tree is called oak, and that one's a birch!"
"Ooh, ooh!" Elm bounces on his feet, vying for Frank's attention to show off what he knows. "This tree is called ash, and this one…" He pauses for moment, his chubby face twisted in confusion. "This one is called laurel!"
"Really?" Laurel gasps, leaning over to see her brother's pad. A few black, rogue curls fall in her face. "It is!" she exclaims. "I've got a tree named after me!"
"There's a tree named after me, too!" Sylvan insists, tapping over the sylvan tree. "And one for Rowan and one for Elm!"
"And one for Mommy!" Elm says.
"And…" Laurel glances at her oldest brother, wonder written all over her face. "They all live in a forest."
"Whoa!" Forrest leans forward, suddenly interested, and Rowan slithers on the table next to Laurel's book.
"Hey." Hazel gives Rowan a pointed look. "What's the rule?"
Rowan slithers back onto a chair, turning into his normal dark-skinned, straight-haired self. "No being an animal on the table," he sighs.
"Thank you, dear," Hazel says.
He nods, leaning forward to stare at Elm's book, and that's what the kids do for the rest of the night.
;
Jasper
"What does my name mean?"
Cleta blurts this question one night.
Piper is sitting on the couch, reading a book, and Jason and Jasper are seated next to her, watching the moving that's playing. Cleta is sprawled out on a separate chair, her head draped over the armrest to look at her family.
"Well…" He hesitates for a moment, knowing his daughter's humor, but continuing on all the same. "Cleta–the original Cleta–was a part of this special group of daughters of Zeus, okay?"
"The original Thalia, and not your aunt, was a part of this group, too," Piper says, her eyes still fitted on the book.
"Right." Jason nods. "Your aunts' name means 'good cheer'–which I find kind of funny–while yours means renowned. You were also named after your aunt in a sense that the original Cleta was sometimes said to be the third member of the special group of Zeus's daughters instead of the original Thalia. Like, making room for a new generation."
"What was this group of Zeus's daughters called, Dad?" Cleta asks. "I mean, they gotta have a club name, or something."
Jason cringes. He had hoped that Cleta wouldn't ask this question. "They were called…" He pauses. "They were called the Graces."
"The Graces," she echoes, thinking it over for a moment. Then, a grin spreads across her face. "The Graces," she repeats. Then she bursts out laughing.
She curls up on her side, clutching her stomach, and ends up falling off the chair. Using her powers, she suspends herself in the air for a moment before she loses control of them and falls onto the carpet with an "Oomph!"
She keeps on laughing, her older sister looking at her with the classic wtf are you doing, sibling? You're embarrassing our family look. Cleta rolls on the floor, kicking and laughing and squealing.
"Oh my gods!" she gasps. "My-my name is li-literarily a pun!" She wipes the tears from her eyes. "Best–day–ever."
Once she calms down, she climbs back on her chair, still chuckling, and Jasper asks their parents, "Since there's such a great story behind Cleta's name, what's the story behind mine?"
"Oh." Piper shrugs indifferently. "We just liked the name."
AN: The last Question of the Chapter answered! Now for the new one: Which kid's name twisted your feels the most? Percabeth's twins, Luke, Caleo's twins… (I've gotta go for Luke.)
Okay. *takes deep breath* You guys might want to get comfy, because I'm going to explain how all the kids' ages fit together! Okay, here we go:
Robert, Damasen, and Adan were born about eight years after the Second Giant War (when Percabeth is twenty-five-ish).
Jasper was born about nine years after the Second Giant War.
Forrest and Atalanta were born about ten years after the Second Giant War.
Sammy, Esperanza, and Rowan were born about eleven years after the Second Giant War.
Cleta, Luke, Laurel, Sylvan, and Elm were all born about thirteen years after the Second Giant War.
Whew! There! I haven't even gotten to Solangelo's, Groviper's(?), and Chrisse's(?) kids yet, but I'll spare you guys for right now.
REVIEW CORNER:
To (I think you're The Pleased Procrastinator? I guess?): Here's how I'm gonna explain it: Yes, Cleta and Jasper can choose between Greek and Roman, because their dad is Roman and their mom is Greek. But Percabeth's kids can't train at Camp Jupiter, since they're full-blooded Greeks. Though, since Frank is a descendant of Poseidon, Frazel's children can go to Camp Half-Blood, but I'm not too sure about Caleo's kiddos, because I don't know if Calypso was a part of Roman myths, too.
I hope that answered your question and didn't bore you to death! :D
This was not beta'd, so all mistakes are mine.
Constructive criticism welcome, and reviews really do mean a lot to me!