A Little Something Extra
What if Asclepius had found a little something extra during his scan of Piper in The Blood of Olympus. A fun little one-shot (maybe?) because I am procrastinating on my other story.
Italicized parts are quotes from The Blood of Olympus. I do not own any of the Percy Jackson stories just writing for fun.
Please review!
~~BoO~~
"Well let's see then" he (Asclepius) turned to Piper. "You seem fine my dear. Broken arm when you were six. Fell off a horse?"
Piper's jaw dropped "how could you possibly know that?"
"Vegetarian diet," he continued, "no problem, just make sure you're getting enough iron and protein. Hmm a little weak in the left shoulder. I assume you got hit with something heavy about a month ago."
"A sandbag in Rome," piper said. "That's amazing."
"Alternate ice and a hot pack if it bothers you," Asclepius advised.
(Now me writing)
Asclepius paused and looked at Piper even more intensely for a moment. Then his whole face broke into a huge smile and he clapped his hands together and rose from his desk and came to stand in front of Piper as he rambled. "Well this is exciting, I must be rusty from all the years of paperwork or surely I would have noticed earlier, congratulations my dear, it has been many millennia since I have been able to divulge such joyous news. You are pregnant."
Piper was in shock her brain only partly comprehending what he was saying, but not able to form words to ask for clarification. She instinctually looked to Jason, he definitely looked even more shocked than she felt, even in her foggy state she was sure he was about to pass out. But her brain was forced to play catch-up when Leo's voice broke through the fog.
"I am sorry, what was that did you say pregnant as in a baby, what? how?"
"Of course, I meant that Miss McLean is with child, and as for the how you see young man when a man and and a woman" Asclepius started.
"Thats enough out of you I was being rhetorical, I am not looking for a sex ed lesson here. Although it seems that these two could have used one." Leo cut him off and turned towards Piper and Jason. "When" he questioned not sure he really wanted to know the answer.
Neither Jason or Piper were able to form complete sentences yet Piper managed some "uh, huum, blah" type sounds but that was it. All Jason managed was to turn his head from staring at Asclepius to looking at Piper's stomach so intensely that Leo was sure he was trying to employ Asclepius' gift to see into her womb as well.
Asclepius picked up the slack and explained "not too far along, definitely less than a week since conception. Three four days maybe, accommodating for your demigod status, mortals would take about another week for the egg to actually implant into the uterine wall; and if as Mr. Valdez suggested and Mr. Grace is the father, " at this Jason's head shot up and caught Piper's eye she nodded gently to Asclepius, and brought her hand over her womb in an effort to try and grasp the reality of their baby more easily. "It would explain the slightly increased pace as well him being a son of the big three," Asclepius continued. "Implantation has definitely occurred although I would guess it will be another day or two before the process is fully complete, but with the Big Three genes in the mix I am sure the embryo will be fine. Not to toot my own horn but even in my rusty state I am the only one who would ever be able to make such a determination so soon, although I don't know why; it is truly remarkable how rapidly a woman's body changes to accommodate the new life they cary. Incredible."
"TMI, man, TMI, can we refrain from talking about Piper's lady business at least while I am here. And how did you guys manage to for lack of a better word get busy in the midst of this war and with Buford on guardian duty?" Leo exclaimed.
"Not that it is any of your business, but we probably did it more so because of the war not despite it, I was so worried about losing Jason after he was stabbed that once he came back with Percy healed I was so relieved and decided if something were to happen to either of us I would not want to live or die not having made love to him. And as for Buford he may not be as sentient as Festus but I was able to use my charm-speak to distract him." Piper quickly explained to Leo now that she had found her voice then turned to Asclepius. "But Doctor I do not understand how this happened we took precautions."
"That is likely due to Mr Grace, my dear, sons of the Big Three have greater virility then any other demigod, no form of mortal birth control would be suffice. Even if you we on the contraceptive pill to prevent your body from releasing an egg, his presence if he views you as a mate would be enough to counteract the hormones the pill uses" Asclepius explained.
"Wow, TMI again man, but someone should pass on the memo to Percy, give him the heads up, too late for you guys though, sorry."
"Daughters of the Big Three would also be extremely fertile so you may also want to give your friend Hazel "the heads up" as it were."
Leo shuttered not liking to think of Hazel in that way, even though he had Calypso now it was still awkward, even more so than being here with Piper and Jason for this conversation.
"So this is all my fault" Jason muttered in self-reproach.
"No, Jason" Piper soothed as she reached out to him and grabbed his hand. "I knew the risks, even if we were mortal there is always a risk of pregnancy when you choose to have sex. I would never blame you and I wont stand for you blaming yourself, it is a baby not the end of the world, yes we are a little young and the timing isn't great but we are demigods we have already exceeded our life expectancy. Life's too short, I hope you wont hate me but I am not upset by this, surprised and scared yes but I could never regret having YOUR baby."
Jason wrapped Piper in his arms and kissed her head. "I could never hate you, I love you too much. I am scarred too, am sorry if that fear came across as regret. I swear I will be there for you, both of you."
"I love you too" Piper replied rising to kiss him then turned to Asclepius. "Wait does that mean that after the baby is born, we wont be able to have sex without me getting pregnant again? Am I destined to spend the rest of my life pregnant?" She questioned hysteria now entering her voice as she realized the implications of Jason's increased virility.
"I am out of here, love you guys but I don't need to hear this" Leo cut in before the doctor could answer.
"You need to wait, if you go out before them it will likely prompt Hygeia to reset and then they will have to fight her again when they leave" Asclepius explained.
"Fine I will plug my ears" Leo said then plugged his ears and hummed to drown out the conversation."
"Now to answer your question Miss McLean, once an heir has been produced his potency will most likely decrease and if you were to breast feed that would likely be the most effective birth control for you. Even with mortals they are less likely to become pregnant while breast feeding but that is one thing that benefits demigods I have rarely seen a demigod become pregnant while breast feeding, perhaps this was designed to counteract the increased fertility you have. If that is not enough peace of mind for you I do have a contraceptive mixture I have designed specifically for demigods, but with a child of the Big Three I can only vouch for 50% effectiveness. I could provide some for your two friends as well since we are unlikely to see each other again." Asclepius offered.
"What about Nico?" Piper questioned.
"I don't think we need to worry about him." Jason said.
"That's mean, he may not have a girl friend right now but he is a good looking young man a little awkward and brooding but some girls go for that and as Asclepius said we may never be back" Piper scolded.
Jason realizing his mistake quickly agreed "Your right, the whole child of Pluto thing hasn't held Hazel back any."
Piper raised an eyebrow questioningly surprised at his ready retreat but dropped it for now, they had more important things to worry over right now. Asclepius gave them the pills and they signalled to Leo the all clear so they could finish their task and get out of here before Hygeia resets.
On their way out Piper asked that the others not be told about the baby, she was mostly asking Leo but to her surprise Jason was the one to disagree with her "Pipes they have to know we have to come up with a contingency plan and find somewhere safe to hide you." He said with so much care in his voice that Piper felt that he was somehow trying to use charm-speak on her.
"No Jason, you can not hide me away because I am pregnant, there is no time for contingency plans and no where that would be safe for me. I will be safest with all of you, besides the prophecy of seven I have to be there and Gaea rises there would be no world left for our child to be born anyway. I am probably the safest of all of us anyway because no one sees the daughter of Aphrodite as a threat." Piper argued rationally.
"She's right man, I hate it and I see your point but we have no choice, however I do not think that it is fair to go into battle with out friends without telling them, they need to know, this is a potential weakness, they will know something is up and that you are both distracted. Plus we should give Percy the heads up what if him and Annabeth had similar thoughts.
"I don't want everyone distracted and risking themselves just because I am pregnant. We will not say anything and neither of you will even think about me being pregnant until after Gaea is defeated, forget about it" Piper charm-speaked them.
Jason shook his head "Did you just try to charm-speak me to forget about my child?" he asked angrily.
"I am sorry, you know I don't try to use charm-speak against you Jason, I guess I just panicked and it came out without me thinking about it you know I cant always control it when I am emotional. I would never want you to forget about our baby, I am so sorry I love you." Piper pleaded tears in her eyes.
"Shh, love its ok, we both are still reeling, I am sorry I don't know what to do but everything in me is screaming to but you in a bubble, my protective instincts are in hyperdrive, your rational arguments are having little impact. But, because I love you more than life and I don't want to fight with you or cause you stress right now I am willing to compromise, but Leo is right we need to tell our friends they can help us come up with a plan." Jason soothed.
"It is too late to change anything and I don't think any of us need anything more to worry about, it is too late for us, we can not un-know it but do we need to share the burden, is it fair to do so?" Piper questioned more calmly than before. "Besides," she continued "the more people that know the greater the chance that monsters will find out then I would be a target, I say we go on as planned and make sure there is still a world for our baby to be born into and share the news when we can actually do so happily and not as a weakness."
"Fine we wont say anything for now, but we may have to reevaluate at some point. Piper you have no idea how hard this is going to be for me, I already worry about you so much when we are in dangerous situations, now knowing you are pregnant I don't know if I can focus enough on my own fights and not on you." Jason confessed.
"You will have to trust me, and in return I will not take any unnecessary risks, I will be as cautious as possible considering we are at war. Let your concern empower you not cripple you. And remember if you show too much concern for me that would make me more of a target, so only let me see your love and concern." Piper finished while brushing his cheek lovingly he leaned into her touch.
"Well for what its worth Uncle Leo's got your back kiddo" Leo broke the tension and affectionally patted Piper's tummy teasingly.
*if you think I should continue this story further let me know and feel free to send me some polite suggestions about what you would like to see happen if I did extend it. No promises though I need to finish my Pride and Prejudice story and I have plans for a Harry Potter story I hope to start by the summer but if I have enough encouragement I am sure I can be motivated to do a few more chapters. Do you think they should tell the rest of the crew?