Author's Note: So it was recently brought to my attention that I've been writing a lot, but all of it is Harry Potter and it's been a while since I wrote a PJO story now. This is a fair point; and also I have been sitting on this story for... wow, months now. So many months that this was written before The Hidden Oracle came out and everything got painful. But it's dusted off now, and ready and cute and I hope you enjoy it! It also gets to be one of the firsts (if not the first) PJO story in the writing forum I'm in, so that's cool too!

Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns everything, including my sanity.

Warnings: NA

Stacked with: MC4A; Eternal Rhapsody; Shipping Wars; Spring Bingo

Individual Challenge(s): Summer Vacation; Seeds; Tiny Terror; Old Shoes; Mountain Dwellers; Wise Seaweed; Neurodivergent; Booger Breath; Worth 2 Quid; The Real MC

Representation(s): Percy/Annabeth wedding; gods aplenty

Bonus challenge(s): Bandstand; Eternal Boredom; Second Verse (Fire Song); Chorus (Not a Lamp);

Tertiary bonus challenge: NA

Word Count: 8362

Shipping Wars

Ship (Team): Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase (Wise Seaweed)

List (Prompt): Summer Big List (Beach/Ocean)

Summer Bingo

Space Address (Prompt): 1C (Beach/Ocean)

Word Count: 8362

It Had to Be Done

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again

Lucky we're in love in every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

-Jason Mraz, Lucky

"Is this straight?" Percy asked, pinning up a strand of fairy lights. When she turned back towards Percy to check, she nearly fell off her stepladder.

"Annabeth!" Percy cried.

"Don't hurt yourself, sweetheart," Sally said. She'd caught Annabeth by the waist. "We need you in one piece tomorrow."

"And ideally longer," Percy said.

"I'll get there," Annabeth said. "And to answer your question, yes it's straight. This place looks great already."

That it did. They'd rented out the pavilion on the beach- this huge, open, wooden pavilion that hosted Bingo nights and First of July BBQs during the busy summer months. They'd done a good job at polishing it up- nailing tiles back down on the roof, sanding down splinter hazards, and things like that. They'd pushed all the long tables to the sides, once they'd fixed those up. An eclectic assemblage of lanterns and strands of fairy lights and sea glass hung around and zig-zagging across the ceiling. Tyson was helping Estelle fill glass jars with sand and pebbles and sea shells from the beach to make candle holders.

"It absolutely will," Sally said. "I think that's everything for the reception space…"

"Yes," Annabeth said. "And we can't really do anything else until tomorrow."

"So we can go swimming now?" Percy asked.

"See, this is why I said we shouldn't do this on the beach," Annabeth said. "Easily distracted spouse. But yes."

"Bring your sister," Sally said. "She's been waiting all day."

On his way to the water, Percy scooped up his little sister from where she was kneeling with her plastic shovel and bucket, and shouted out: "Estelle! It's happening again! You're suddenly being turned into a mermaid!"and ran with her into the water. Tyson was hot on their heels, also shouting about mermaids.

Sally watched them with a smile on her face as Annabeth stepped down from her stepstool. She put a hand on Annabeth's back. "I know Percy needed a break, but do you need help with anything else?"

"No, we really do have everything. Piper's on liquor duty, the nymphs will be here to cater and set up everything tomorrow, Paul's picking up the firewood, my dad is - oh, you have Estelle's dress, right?"

"I do," Sally said. "Are you staying with us tonight?"

"Actually, the girls rented one of the cabins down the beach a night early," Annabeth said. "It's going to be the Californians' cabin tomorrow, but for now it's going to be bridesmaid center."

"Cute," Sally smiled. She wrapped an arm around Annabeth. "Though I suppose it doesn't really matter, since you're already in the family." Annabeth leaned against her.

They watched Tyson, Percy and Estelle splash around. Estelle did a handstand in the waves and Percy and Tyson clapped when she emerged, Percy calling it a 'ten out of ten' and Tyson telling Estelle that she'd just performed 'the handiest handstand ever!'

"I want to show you something," Sally said. "And I don't want you to feel any pressure…"

"Okay," Annabeth said.

Sally went to the pile of backpacks and purses they'd made on one of the tables and took a flat carboard box from a reusable grocery bag. She cracked it open and showed Annabeth the veil inside. It was plain, nothing too complicated about it, but it looked delicate and old.

"Is this yours?" Annabeth asked, her stomach clenching.

"Yes," Sally said. "It was actually my mother's first— it's one of the only things of hers that actually made it to me through a cousin who'd borrowed it before she… I know you are making this as easy and low-maintenance as possible, but I noticed that you didn't have a veil and I thought that maybe, and again no pressure, but if you want to borrow it…"

Annabeth threw her arms around Sally.

It had to be done, really.

When Percy and Annabeth had told Sally and Paul that they'd gotten married, Sally had gasped audibly and put her hand against her mouth. She had removed it once to ask them 'oh wow sweethearts, how did… why, umm… how did that happen?' And then it had gone back on, and her eyes had stayed round like saucers until they'd finished the story, and she hugged them both at once. But it had been a shocker. Annabeth's parents had been similarly surprised. All of the above had been a lot more relaxed when Percy and Annabeth had mentioned that Poseidon and Athena had been alright with it, or had at least backed them up, because, well, if those two were onboard.

Piper McLean had been the most honest person, expressing the common concern of oh, so we won't have a wedding to go to and get drunk at?

"No," Percy had said. "Also here is the shoe you threw at us. The naiads wanted to keep it but I thought you would want it back."

"How thoughtful," Piper said. "Thank you."

She took her shoe back, and then grinned. "That doesn't matter you guys, I'm teasing. We're happy for you."

But in a way, it did matter. Hazel Levesque was positively outraged that there had been no proper wedding (Frank had also been too mad about the lack of a party to defend his girlfriend's old-fashioned tastes), Reyna had had a migraine for a week after she'd found out, and Grover had cried. Estelle hadn't understood how someone could get married outside a ballroom and without a prince or a superhero present.

"But you only had Percy there," Estelle had told Annabeth, frowning.

"That's true," Annabeth admitted. "But they made an exception because I told them I loved him."

Percy liked the sound of that, but Estelle wasn't satisfied and thought Annabeth had been selling herself short. This was not an altogether crazy position for a five-year-old to take.

Aphrodite, who had appointed herself their patron, had slipped copies of Olympus Weekly under their doors for months- both Cabins at camp, and their apartment in New York. For at least three weeks, Olympus Weekly published daily with new pictures and headlines about them, which Piper had helpfully used to make collages which she had pasted around camp, making sure to keep a photocopy of each for her own personal amusement. Chiron had been badgered for a quote for a week, which meant that Percy had spent weeks cleaning out the stables and raking the sand in the arena and doing all kinds of other fun jobs as penance. Annabeth had also had a chore list, but Chiron had kept them completely separated.

Annabeth didn't regret marrying Percy. She knew that Hera was going to be pissed until the end of time. But she liked living with Percy and buying real furniture, she liked wearing her ring, and she liked the look she'd gotten out of Percy when she'd shown him the completed paperwork to change her name to Annabeth Chase-Jackson just before she got her architecture license. Those things were important to her.

But so was family. Annabeth was officially allowed to come to family reunions with Paul's side of the family and help keep Percy sane now. When Bobby and Matthew came to New York over spring break, Percy kept them busy at the American Museum of Natural History and fed them hotdogs and pretzels and they actually liked him. They now had seven parents and in-laws apiece.

And family hadn't been in Las Vegas. So they were going to throw the party here and hope that made everyone feel better.

Annabeth stood up to her ankles in the tide. When he spotted her, Percy plopped Estelle on Tyson's back and wadded over to her.

"Don't touch me, you're soaking," Annabeth said. He grinned, his hair sticking up senselessly. She'd (lovingly) told him to get a haircut so he didn't look homeless at their wedding, but he hadn't. "I just wanted to say goodnight, because-"

"Hey bitch," Piper said, also wadding into the water. She didn't hesitate to give Percy a hug.

"Hey!" Percy said. "When did you guys get here?"

"Ten minutes ago," Piper said. "Jason got lost driving."

"Come hug me too!" Hazel cried, from the shoreline—staying far away from the water. Percy wadded over to give her a hug too. Annabeth rolled her eyes, and chased him back to the shoreline.

"Percy?"

"Right!" Percy said. "But why goodnight?"

"I'm being kidnapped," Annabeth said.

"Yes, but only for a bit," Piper said. "The first time you got married, you guys didn't plan it so we didn't have time to throw her a bachelorette party. Your second wedding also only gave us a three month heads up during which none of us were in the same city—thanks for that—so there won't be a bachelorette party. Having one would be awkward because you already ruined it by getting married. So we're having a slumber party instead."

"Yes," Annabeth said.

"It's going to be the best," Hazel said. "I'm a little relieved there won't be strippers involved."

"You got overruled?" Annabeth asked Piper.

"I shouldn't have let Reyna vote," Piper said. "But when Reyna gets here, she'll have pizza, so I guess it's a good thing we got her onboard."

"Right," Percy said.

She stood on her toes and kissed Percy.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," Percy said. "Are you going to say goodbye to Estelle..?"

"Actually she'll be coming," Piper said. "At least for a bit, since she's the flower-girl. Just enough for us to hype her up on ice cream and send her back to your parents."

"We have a t-shirt for her," Hazel said.

"May I have a t-shirt?" Percy asked.

"No. Now say goodnight so we can get out of here."

As it turned out, Annabeth had left a list of things for Percy to do on the fridge of the family cabin.

Seaweed Brain:

-Take your clothes out of your suitcase so you're not wrinkled and gross tomorrow

-Shave or else I'm not kissing you, I don't care how many people are watching.

-Double check if my dad is still picking up Chiron tomorrow because Piper will probably confiscate my phone tonight so I can't do it

-Don't forget to sacrifice to Hera (and Athena, Aphrodite, your father- the usual- maybe get my mother twice)

-I love you

Annabeth was pleasantly satisfied. She and Reyna were sharing a bowl of popcorn and sitting on the bed while Wonder Woman played on an old, grainy TV. Annabeth's foot was sitting on Hazel's lap since she's insisted on painting her toenails. Estelle was laying on her lap, falling asleep but trying not to because she wanted to make sure Dianna won against Ares. Sally was braiding Annabeth's hair so it didn't explode overnight, Magnus was sitting on the floor and licking envelopes stuffed with cards that said Thanks for coming! and Piper was mixing lemonade, blueberry vodka, and gin. Or Kool-Aid powder and bottled water, if you were Estelle. Every now and then, Annabeth sprung up.

"Where are my shoes?"

"In the box underneath your dress," Piper said.

"And before you ask, your dress is hanging in the bathroom," Rachel said. She was sketching the whole scene, leaning against the bathroom door.

"Right," Annabeth said. "I knew that. We double-checked that payments had gone through for the..?"

"Yes," Piper said. "Five hours ago. When we went through your entire checklist and then update your spreadsheet. And I've been texting Jason, and Percy went through his checklist too. And also you made a double checklist to make sure you didn't forget anything on the first checklist, and that checked out too. Now please have a drink and calm down."

"No thanks," Annabeth said. "I rather have the Kool-Aid."

"You're doing fine," Sally whispered in her ear.

"This was less stressful last time," Annabeth said.

"That's because you have time to stop and think this time and there is far less champagne involved," Reyna said. Annabeth punched her, and Reyna punched back.

"Yeah, imagine how stressful it is for those of us who are actually engaged for a while!" Hazel said. She finally selected a bottle of nail polish from her makeup bag. "This colour good?"

"Yes," Annabeth said. "Thanks, Hazel. But Estelle knows best, what do you think Stella?"

"Beautiful," Estelle said, sleepily.

Hazel looked up and smiled before turning back to her work, biting the tip of her tongue when she focused. "Good. I'll do your tip toes next if you want, sweetie."

"I wanna match my sister," Estelle said.

Hazel looked up with a soft look on her face, as if she'd just seen a puppy. Annabeth reached down and tousled Estelle's hair. Estelle didn't understand family relations so well yet, which was acceptable when you were five. It must be especially confusing since Annabeth had been around for her entire life. But being called a big sister? This Annabeth liked.

Sally tossed the end of Annabeth's second braid over her shoulder. "There you are, all done."

She wrapped her arms around Annabeth, and between that and her sweater and her pajama shorts, Annabeth had never been cozier.

"Hey, I love all of you," Annabeth said. "This cabin has my favourite people in it."

"Except your husband," Piper said. "But we appreciate the sentiment."

"Sorry man," Jason said. "Piper says she lost our copy of Wonder Woman."

"No worries," Percy said. They were in the midst of a Harry Potter marathon and playing Skip-Bo on the floor, because the chairs were all lost under boxes and suitcases. They were also drinking wine from mason jars because they'd run out of wine glasses yesterday and nobody had done dishes, and they weren't going to start now.

"Hey, actually," Percy said. "If you feel guilty, you can do me a favour tomorrow."

"I didn't actually feel that sorry, but sure," Jason said.

"I got something for Annabeth that I need someone to give to her," Percy said. "Frank, can you reach my coat?"

Frank lunged across the floor, and managed to take the ring box out of the pocket. He tossed it to Percy, who opened it up.

"Whoa," Grover said.

"The craftsmanship on that…" Leo gasped.

"Yeah, I thought she'd like it," Percy said.

He was proud of himself. The metal matched Annabeth's wedding ring, and it was the most interesting-looking ring he could find. It fit an architect; the coppery braids had perfect spaces to nestle crystals. They had agreed not to replace their wedding bands, so he hadn't wanted to get a ring with extra diamonds. He figured she wouldn't be too mad with him since she didn't have an engagement ring.

"Oh please," Grover said. "Please let me bring that to her tomorrow."

"Finish your drinks, Harry just used Expelliarmus," Nico said pointing at the TV screen, and the rules of their Harry Potter Drinking Game posted above it. "Sorry was that anticlimactic?"

"Yes," Will said.

They did finish their drinks, and ended up falling asleep on the floor.

"Fuck, can you guys not do anything right?" Hazel said, which surprised the life out of Percy and Annabeth since Hazel Levesque does not swear.

"What's wrong?" Annabeth asked, holding a Rubbermaid bin in her arms.

Hazel sighed. "The groom and bride aren't supposed to see each other before the wedding."

"We didn't think it would be a problem since we already had a wedding," Percy said. "Sorry Hazel."

She wandered off muttering in either Creole or Latin, to help their other friends who were setting up rows and rows of chairs on the beach.

He kissed Annabeth's cheek, and took the box from her. "This is too heavy for you."

"I'm fine, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said. She looked cute with her braids and her denim shorts and her sweater.

"What's in here anyways?"

"Strands of sea glass," she said, "to set up as an archway where the alter would usually go. Not that heavy."

"It doesn't matter, I'm carrying it now," he said. His voice quieted down. "How are you feeling?"

"Happy, good, excited," Annabeth said. "You?"

"Happy, good, excited," Percy smiled back. Now that her hands were free, Annabeth raised her left hand to show him her other ring.

"Whoa, what's that on your finger?" Percy asked. "Is that… are you already married? Wow, I wish we'd known before getting that cake," Percy said.

"I'm sorry, I thought you knew," Annabeth said. "This is embarrassing. Hazel's really going to be mad, now."

At around noon, they did in fact separate so that Hazel could unbraid Annabeth's hair, pin the veil in it, and they could get married.

There was a knock on the front door.

"Percy?" Reyna checked suspiciously.

"No," Chiron said. So Reyna opened the door, and Chiron ducked inside. He was wearing one of the suit tops that he wore when he posed as a teacher in middle schools, glasses perched on the tip of his nose.

"Hello, everyone," Chiron said. He looked at Annabeth and smiled. "You look lovely, child."

"Thank you," Annabeth said. If she lived to be seventy-five, Chiron would still call her child. "Have you seen Percy yet? Is he presentable?"

"Very much so," Chiron said. "I just wanted to see if you needed anything…"

"No, Jason and Piper have been playing the messengers," Annabeth said. "If my husband's ready to get married, I'm ready."

Hazel popped up in the doorframe again, her corkscrew curls loose down her back. She was already wearing her light grey bridesmaid dress and the white Toms they were all wearing because as it turned out, sand was a problematic substrate to get married on.

"People are coming in," Hazel said. "I think we're ready to start on time."

"Great," Annabeth said. She took a deep breath, and reached for her bottle of water to take one last sip. "Stella, do you have my flowers?"

"That's what Super Flower Girl is for!" She said. She handed Annabeth her bouquet with a smile that made Annabeth smile back. She looked adorable with the white ribbon and the bow around her waist and the headband in her hair and the lip gloss Piper had snuck her. She was also wearing a superhero cape, because she'd asked Percy first and Percy was physically uncapable of saying no, and she had been way too excited about it for anybody to issue a retraction.

"Thank you," Annabeth said. Her stomach churned inexplicably. "Alright, let's get this done so that we can get to the party."

"The real reason we're opening up this can of worms again," Piper said.

"Can someone get my dad?" Annabeth asked.

"He's just helping Paul organize the nymphs," Sally said.

"Can either of them see nymphs?" Hazel asked.

A beat passed.

"No," Sally said. "So I'll double-check on that too before going to Percy."

She kissed Annabeth's cheek.

"I'll go get the boys," Hazel said. She darted away, and came right back, hanging in the doorframe. "Oh, by the way, you should know that, umm, this extra row of chairs kept appearing and Frank and I couldn't figure out why they were there or why they kept coming back- but there's a few gods there now. Just so you know."

She darted away, and Annabeth sighed.

"It's not that I wasn't expecting this," Annabeth said. "It's that I hoped it wouldn't be too bad."

It wasn't too bad. Holding onto her dad's arm as Reyna and Piper, the last two bridesmaids, walked down the aisle, Annabeth scanned the crowd like a battlefield. She had known that her mother would be there, she'd made sure to mention it in her prayers. But somehow Athena, in a long traditional Grecian dress, had ended up sitting next to Poseidon. Hopefully they would last through the ceremony.

And of course Hera would be there- they had hand-delivered the invitation to the 100th floor of the Empire State Building this time. She was wearing her diadem, not even being subtle. Zeus sat next to her, although Annabeth couldn't imagine why he'd want to be there. She recognized other deities from her time designing Olympus.

"Look at Percy," her dad whispered. "He's the one you're here for today. Don't get overwhelmed."

"Thank you," she whispered back. He squeezed her hand. Then the music changed.

"I think that's our cue," her dad said.

"Yeah," Annabeth said.

She did look at Percy the second she came out. And he smiled when he saw her, and a grin broke across his face when he realized that she was wearing her $20 Target wedding dress from Vegas. And he was wearing the blue shirt from Vegas too, but with cleaner pants this time. And that put a smile on her face too. It felt like they were whispering it to each other in front of the world: we're already together, this is for the crowd.

When they reached the end of the aisle, Percy stepped down and Annabeth was a little surprised when her dad hugged Percy. Then Percy took her hand and they joined Chiron at the altar, holding hands. They'd asked him to perform the ceremony, and he'd agreed after a stunned silence.

"Friends, family, Lords and Ladies of Olympus," Chiron started.

Annabeth smiled at Percy, and Percy stuck out his tongue. Annabeth gave him a look, and he smiled. She rolled her eyes. Of course he was going to be like this now.

She stuck her tongue out back at him, because what the hell.

Because Katie Gardner insisted and specifically requested it, and there was no saying no to Katie really, Annabeth tossed her bouquet. Piper caught it and immediately turned to give Jason a look.

"After my doctorate is done," he grumbled.

"Dude, she's going to propose to you if you don't," Frank said.

"I'm not saying yes until after my doctorate, either."

"You've been saying that for years," Hazel said.

"Yeah Jason, you've been saying that for years," Piper said. She stuck a flower behind his ear.

"It—these things take a long time!" Jason said, flustered. Piper smiled and kissed him.

"We're going to have to wait and let everyone recover from this wedding anyways," Piper said. "Have you noticed that some of the gods were pre-drinking during the ceremony?"

"Don't tell me which," Jason said.

"You know exactly who."

"I think we'll be able to tell soon enough," Hazel said.

Dinner was surprisingly uneventful. The nymphs had outdone themselves, which is what Annabeth thought every single time she ate the nymphs' food now that she was subsiding on her own cooking abilities, and Percy's slightly better ones. She scooted her chair closer to Percy's and held his hand under the table during toasts and speeches, since she was too emotionally unstable to listen to all the kind things that Grover and Sally and Rachel and Chiron and Malcolm and everybody else who came up with a last-minute tidbit had to say about them.

She was pretty sure that they were done now, when Piper -their MC of the night since, in the worst-case scenario, she could charmspeak the crowd into compliance- took the mic again.

"We're going to have to close the open mic now," she said. Jason stood next to her. "Even if it's so nice to hear all these stories of nonsense. It's especially useful for Jason and I, who along with quite a few people here, have only known Percy and Annabeth since they've been together. Which come to think of it, is too bad, because it would have been a privilege to see how the hell this ended up happening…"

Piper paused to let the crowd laugh, and Percy started noticing that Hazel, Frank, Reyna, Rachel and Clarisse were starting to scatter plastic plants across the dance floor, and planting props. Oh gods.

"But we did our homework, and we talked to a lot of first-hand witnesses, and we have a pretty good idea of how things went down…"

Jason passed her a clip, Piper put her hair up and from behind the podium, she pulled out a blonde shake-and-go wig and put it on. The crowd starting roaring and Piper looked Annabeth right in the eye. Percy realized what was going to happen and he starred at Jason, jaw dropped and finger pointed in accusation. Jason starred right back and put on a beanie and took off his glasses, and the room went up to a dull roar.

"Annabeth sweetheart, this is a skit that's going to take a while, you're going to have to stop shaking your head or you'll hurt yourself," Piper said. "Alright, narrator, come on up…"

And Grover, that traitor, took her place behind the microphone and took a script out of the inside of his shirt.

"The First Summer…" he read dramatically.

When Percy smashed cake in Annabeth's face, he knew she'd be mad. In another part of his brain, he had a mental note that Annabeth didn't get mad, she got even. Still; the two ends did not meet until Annabeth threw a handful of cake at him and hit him in the jaw. He was shocked, but he burst out laughing, and threw cake back at her.

"They're wasting perfectly fine cake," Grover said just as Leo smashed an entire slice into his face.

The casualties in the reception hall were far and wide. The Stoll brothers themselves got twenty people. Estelle got both Sally and Paul in one go. Chiron managed to get Mr D and at least ten years of grievances off his chest. Since Cabins 5 and 7 were at the peak of a Capture-the-Flag rivalry, the damage could have been worst. Sources said that Poseidon even took the opportunity to get Athena smack in the back of the head, and Frank swore that he saw the goddess with icing in her hair later that night, and would stand by this until the day he died.

"Are you going to wipe the icing off on your shirt?" Annabeth asked when she and Percy were given fresh new slices by some incredibly disapproving nymphs.

"No," Percy said.

She gave him a critical look, and then passed him a napkin.

Jason, Leo, and Piper were in charge of lighting the fire outside. They'd set-up a fire pit that morning and were building up a bonfire now, to give people someplace to go if they didn't want to dance or needed a break. Piper was predicting that half-bloods would be making out there all night- she'd found Will and Nico there before even lighting the damn thing. Candles in jars and lanterns and torches lit up a path to get there, or to the beach volleyball pit that wasn't too far off either. Additionally, Cabin 11 had buried coolers full of beer in the sand at strategic locations across the beach "in case we run out of booze", in Cecil's words.

"Hey," Percy said. "How's it coming along?"

"Good," Jason said. "Kindling's caught."

"Awesome," Percy said. "Hey, you should go grab some cake and eat it by the fire. We have, umm, less than we thought we would. Long story, not my fault at all. I can watch for a few."

"Sure," Leo said. Piper smacked Jason in the ass and ran up the turf. Jason rolled his eyes and followed her back up.

Percy took a deep breath and looked at the stars, and at the sea.

"I was hoping you would come," he said.

Hestia smiled. She sat on the edge of the firepit, her eyes glowing amber like the growing fire.

"I wouldn't have missed it," she said quietly. "This is the most exciting wedding in centuries."

"Yeah," Percy said running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I told my Mom to make sure Estelle got out of there before nine, when the inner alcoholics of all half-bloods explode."

"That was probably wise," Hestia said. "Though you would have to ask your new mother-in-law to confirm."

Percy laughed and sat down on the edge of the firepit too.

"Although I suppose she isn't quite new," Hestia said. "How long has it been, already? Three years?"

"Three years since Vegas, yeah," Percy said. "I guess you would know that. That's how long Annabeth and I have shared our home."

"That's not true," Hestia said.

"We did live together in college," Percy nodded.

"That's not what I meant," she said. "She's been your home much longer than that, Percy. And you've made her feel safe and sound and steady for just as long. I wish you many more years together."

"Thank you," Percy said. "That means a lot from you."

"Nonsense," Hestia said. "I predict that sometime later tonight, after a few more cocktails, Aphrodite and some of the more major gods will start promising to bless you with the most beautiful children and possibly immortality- though of course, there will be no follow-through."

"Probably," Percy said. "But the thing that I've realized about gods over the years is that 'major' and 'minor'… well, that's all about perspective."

Hestia cocked her head to the side for a moment and then smiled.

"Your friends are coming back," she said. "You should go inside. Your first dance will be soon."

"Right," Percy said. "I'll try and come say hello again later."

"Don't," Hestia said. "You'll only have a second wedding once, but you always know where to find me."

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, lords and ladies, folks all around, we are back," Piper said into the microphone. "If I can have everyone turn their attention to the dance floor, Percy and Annabeth now owe us their first dance, since we haven't seen that yet."

By this point in the night, truckloads of half-bloods shuttled from Camp by Argus had poured into the reception pavilion, and it was getting rather rowdy.

"Okay, settle down, hooligans," Piper said pointing to a specific spot in the crowd that was packed with children of Aphrodite and Hermes- a dangerous combination for the evening. "Now, not only do Percy and Annabeth- hey, you two, get up, who do you think I'm talking about?- well, not only do they owe us their first dance, but tonight they're going to keep a promise they made with Estelle because they got married once without her. Estelle, how about you tell us what they promised?"

She knelt down and put the microphone near Estelle's smiling mouth.

"I got to pick the song," Estelle said. She was pretty shy, so Piper picked her up and propped her on her hip.

"You did," Piper said. "Okay Estelle, now you have to tell me the truth. Were you a good sister who picked a good song, or a great sister who picked a song that would be funny?"

"It's my favourite song because Percy is my favourite," Estelle said.

She got really bashful when the crowd started clapping for her.

"Thank you, Estelle," Piper said. "Alright, so I know that some of you have already been drinking, so here's a quick recap- Percy and Annabeth are going to dance- Percy put your hands on her waist, damn, I'm not asking for much. Everybody else pay attention."

Percy made a face at Piper, and put his hands on Annabeth's waist. She put her arms around his neck and they waited for the music to start. When it did they automatically melted to the floor and burst out laughing at Estelle's song choice (because of course this was her favourite), but they got it back together and started dancing by the time Elton John started singing.

"There's a calm surrender to the rush of day
When the heat of a rolling wind can be turned away
An enchanted moment, and it sees me through
It's enough for this restless warrior just to be with you

And can you feel the love tonight?
It is where we are
It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer
That we got this far

And can you feel the love tonight?
How it's laid to rest
It's enough to make kings and vagabonds
Believe the very best

…"

They danced, Percy holding Annabeth close and smiling at her the whole time. Annabeth smiled back. She leaned in and kissed him.

"Your sister picked well," she whispered before resting her head on Percy's chest. He propped his chin on top of her head and started counting the curls in her hair. It was like counting stars. When they were in college and Percy's Tartarus nightmares were still ongoing, that's how he fell asleep.

"There's a time for everyone if they only learn
That the twisting kaleidoscope moves us all in turn
There's a rhyme and reason to the wild outdoors
When the heart of this star-crossed voyager beats in time with yours

And can you feel the love tonight?
It is where we are
It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer
That we got this far."

Percy whispered in Annabeth's ear for permission, and she nodded frantically. When they'd spun so that Percy could see Estelle he beckoned for her and mouthed come here. She ran onto the dance floor and hugged his leg. He scooped her up, and propped her up on his hip. Annabeth took Estelle's hand and swung it to the music.

When Annabeth looked up to see Sally, she saw her wiping away happy tears, which nearly set Annabeth off all over again. But, she held it together and smiled back at Percy and listened to Estelle softly sing every word to the song. Percy sang back.

"And can you feel the love tonight?
How it's laid to rest
It's enough to make kings and vagabonds
Believe the very best

It's enough to make kings and vagabonds
Believe the very best."

When the song was done he leaned in to kiss Annabeth again. Estelle started clapping, still in his arms.

"That was cuter than expected," Piper said taking to the mic again. "Alright, everyone. Our next surprise for this evening—stop complaining, losers, this is our last organized event. Percy and Annabeth had made it expressly clear that even if they're already married, they still want a first dance with their parents."

Sally shook her head looking at Percy with a happy and surprised disapproval as she joined him.

Annabeth's dad looked at least twice as surprised, but he still came on the dance floor when Annabeth held out her hand to him.

"I didn't think you'd want this," he admitted to her quietly when the music started.

"Think of it as our apology for not inviting you to our first wedding," Annabeth said.

"No, I mean, even then, I…" he looked away from her. "You are such a strong woman, Annabeth. For a very long time, I was afraid that I had messed you up somehow. That I hadn't been a good father. Which I haven't, I know—"

"Dad, don't say that," Annabeth said. "Dad, you… I wasn't easy, either, and you were alone. I can't imagine that."

"I was an adult," he said dismissively. "And you were a child, and it took me so long to realise what I had to do and what I had to let go. Even if I've always loved you, I've done a poor job at showing it, of learning how to channel that…"

"But you did," Annabeth said. "'Wisdom is not a race.' You used to tell me that when I was studying."

"I can't believe you remembered that."

"It's the only thing that kept me going at camp and in college. I… can I tell you something? But you'll be the first person we've told, so you're going to have to stay composed, okay?"

He looked at her frowning.

"I'm pregnant, Dad," Annabeth said.

His face slacked and he sucked in a deep breath. "Really?"

"Yes," Annabeth said.

"How long have you known?"

"Three months," Annabeth said.

"I- I had no idea, you're not showing," Frederic said.

"My dress is very loose," Annabeth said. "I've been careful. It's hard for demigods, to have children. We didn't want to tell anyone prematurely. But I'm telling you because I love you too, dad. We're not perfect, but I love you. And I'm not going to be a perfect mother, I know it too, so I hope that- I hope that I can have that with my child. I hope that I can be imperfect, that they can be imperfect, and that we'll love each other still."

"Oh, Annabeth," he sighed. "Annabeth, you're going to be wonderful."

They stopped dancing and he just held her.

"Hey Mom," Percy said quietly. "I think I should tell you something."

"What, sweetheart?" Mom asked. Over her shoulder, Percy saw Annabeth's father holding her tight, this look of incredulity and happiness and shock on his face. Annabeth had happy tears in her eyes, or at least Percy hoped they were happy- it had been a long day for her. They made eye contact, and Annabeth nodded and mouthed I blew it.

"Umm," Percy said. He smiled. The words were right on the tip of his tongue, but he hadn't actually had to use them yet, and it felt so blissfully ridiculous and exciting to say it…

"Annabeth is pregnant," he whispered in her ear.

Mom looked up, mouth open in an O. He felt her hand on his shoulder slack for a second.

"Really?" Mom said. "Oh my gosh… Oh, Percy… Percy that's so…"

"Mom, shh, don't cry," Percy said. "Nobody except you and Frederic know."

"Oh my gosh," she said. He'd made it worst. "How is she? Is she okay? Any morning sickness? How far along is she?"

"Four months."

"Four months? And nobody knew?"

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you earlier, we just… we wanted to be sure."

"I'm so happy for you," Sally said. "I'm so happy you get this. That you got to grow up and go to school and find work you love and marry your best friend, and now this… You gave me a few scares."

"Yeah, me too," Percy said. He smiled and hugged his mom. "But you always pulled me through."

"Don't say that," Sally said. "You did that all on your own."

"But I couldn't have done it without you," he said. "Nobody else would have stuck by me like that."

When the music ended, Frederic and Sally let go of their children and crossed the dance floor to hug the other.

While most of the reception-goers thought this was cute, Rachel was inherently suspicious as a human being. Also she read lips, gasped, and grabbed Piper's arm halfway through the song.

When the dance floor was flooded by dancers and gods, Rachel grabbed Percy and Annabeth and pulled them to the side, just outside of the pavilion, with Piper, Frank, Nico and Hazel in tow.

"Oh my gods," Rachel said. "Oh. My. Gods."

"Red, calm down," Percy said, looking over his shoulder at the crowd. "We're trying to be subtle."

"Oh," Rachel said. "Sorry."

"Well, that's out the window," Piper said. "What's wrong?"

Annabeth looked at Percy annoyed, but her face broke into a smile when she saw his, and she turned back to them.

"I'm pregnant," she said.

"What?" Frank by far had the loudest, most excited reaction.

"Dude," Percy said.

"How?" Frank asked.

"I'm not explaining this to you," Percy said.

Next to him, Annabeth mouthed to the girls: "Black stilettoes." Hazel nodded, Rachel clapped.

"Oh gods," Piper said. "That's why you weren't drinking yesterday!"

Annabeth nodded. Percy's hand rested on her hip. Hazel squealed.

"We knew we wanted to have a reception eventually, but we realized that there really was no point in doing it once Annabeth was too pregnant to enjoy it- or that having a baby around would make it more complicated," Percy explained. He smiled at Annabeth, whose hand lay against his chest. He didn't look away. "And, well, the baby's on its way."

"Gods, I'm so glad we told people so I don't have to keep it together anymore," Annabeth said tears welling up in her eyes. Percy smiled and kissed her forehead as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She turned back to their friends. "You wouldn't believe how real the struggle is, I have been a mess."

"You have not," Percy said.

"Compared to usual," Annabeth said. She still smiled, which made the whole thing too much for Hazel's poor little heart. She wrapped her arms around Annabeth and broke out into this is the best day ever congratulations oh my gosh I'm going to be an aunt!

Frank and Piper and Rachel snapped out of their surprise and it was hugs and congratulations all around. Except for Nico, who was strangely silent.

"Nico," Hazel said, poking her brother in the hip. "What do you say?"

"Oh, I knew," Nico said.

Frank's jaw dropped.

"Are you kidding?" Frank said.

"Yeah, no, I thought… I thought everyone knew!" Nico said. "What the fuck do I know, when people start saying these things? It's been, like, four months that Annabeth's life force is worth three."

Percy was going to say something sassy, but Annabeth interrupted him.

"Wait- three?" Annabeth said.

"Yeah," Nico shrugged.

"Okay Nico, I know you don't know a whole lot about the female body or how babies are made, but it's… only one at a… time…" Percy trailed off.

"Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth said, slapping his arm. "This is your fault!"

"I didn't do-" Percy trailed off. "Holy Styx, Wise Girl…"

"Look at you Nico, you're spreading joy," Piper said.

"Yeah, and thanks for that," Annabeth said. "Okay, I know I can't possibly stop you from telling your significant others, but if at least 60% of guests could go home without knowing tonight, that would be great, you guys."

"That's not fair," Frank said. "Who do Hazel and I tell?"

"You can share Leo," Percy offered.

"And I'm single as fuck," Rachel said.

"Gods, aren't you tired of giving people news they don't ask for?" Annabeth said. "Besides, you're sleeping with Reyna on the side, tell her."

"Seriously?" Hazel said, looking at Rachel in shock. She turned to Frank. "We don't know anything."

"Whoa, that's a whole other can of worms-" Rachel said.

"And we don't have time to get into it," Annabeth said. "Please do us this one favour as a wedding gift. We'll start attracting attention if we don't get back on the dance floor."

As everyone started milling away, Annabeth grabbed Percy's arm and said "Not you."

The dance floor was quite the tumultuous place to be that evening. Even gods had to take a breath, which was how Poseidon ended up at the bar alone when someone poked his leg. He looked down at Estelle Blofis, who was all flower crowns and superhero capes, sipping on a Capri Sun.

"Hello," he said.

"You look like my brother," Estelle said.

"What's your brother's name?" Poseidon asked.

"His name is Perseus Jackson," Estelle recited.

"Oh, I know him," Poseidon said. "But as a matter of fact, he looks like me. I had this look first."

"My mom says I stole her look," Estelle said. "But my dad's hair. And Annabeth says I stole her heart."

"That all sounds likely," Poseidon agreed. "How old are you now?"

She put her juice box down to show him five fingers.

"Impressive," Poseidon said.

"And how old are you mister?" Estelle asked.

"It's a very long number to remember," he said. "You don't really want to know."

"No fair, I told you," Estelle said.

"Fair enough. I'm ageless," he said.

"That feels like a lie too," Estelle said. "Will you lie if I ask you another question?"

"Well, what's the question?" Poseidon asked.

"I saw you holding a giant fork earlier," Estelle said. "And there was a lady over there holding a sword. Are they heavy?"

Poseidon let a second pass.

"I'm not going to answer that question," Poseidon said. "It's a story for older girls. When you're a little bit older, why don't you ask your mother? She knows."

"You're not very fun to talk to when you lie and make me wait," Estelle said. He could appreciate the honesty, and if not that, then man was this child adorable.

"Well, I can be some fun," Poseidon said. "Do you want to hear a story about mermaids?"

"Mermaids who sing?"

"Not quite," Poseidon said. "But they have swords and spears like superheroes."

"Cool," Estelle said, putting her Capri Sun back to her mouth.

Percy put his hand on Paul's shoulder- he was talking with who Percy thought was Aphrodite, but she was always a little hard to spot. Still, she looked more like Annabeth than Athena did, so it was a fair guess.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt," he said. "Do you have your car keys on you?"

"Jacket pocket," he said. "Why?"

Percy stole the keys.

"Thanks, I'll bring them back," he said. He lowered his voice. "Also that's not Mom you're talking to, it's Aphrodite."

"What?" Paul asked.

"Oh sweetie, aren't you the cutest," Aphrodite said.

Paul looked at Percy like help, but Percy was already running away.

About twenty minutes later, they were parked outside the closest convenience store. Annabeth was sitting on his lap, her feet resting on the passenger's seat, shoes discarded and abandoned somewhere in the back, happily eating her Ben & Jerry's. His arms were wrapped around her waist, and his hands landed on her stomach. Not only did she not push him away, but she also fed him ice cream. It wasn't the usual New York Super Fudge Chunk that she usually brought home from the grocery store or that he ran out to get in the middle of the night if she couldn't sleep. But she seemed happy enough with the fudge and almonds and whatever else was in there.

"Better?" Percy asked.

Annabeth nodded, spoon in her mouth. She smiled at him, pulled out the spoon.

"I'm happy," she said. "Are you happy?"

"I'm happy," Percy said. "Are you happy being married to me?"

"We've been married for years, Seaweed Brain," she said, strategically loading up a spoon with all the toppings and flavours in the blend.

"Okay," he said. "What's your favourite part of being married to me?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but took the spoon out of her mouth. "The fact that I wake up next to you. So if I have something to tell you or if I want someone to hold me or if I want us to go out, you're always right there."

"That's cute, Wise Girl," he said. She made a face at him.

"Okay, same question," Annabeth said.

"I like telling people you're my wife," Percy said. "Like, whenever I introduce you or when someone looks at the pictures on my desk and asks. It makes me feel like I've done something right, and that it can't be taken away. Because things only get better."

"Twice as better?" She laughed at Percy's face. "I think I'm going to wait for a doctor to show me two babies on a sonogram before I believe Nico di Angelo."

"Sounds good," Percy said. "Although, for the record, I'm pretty sure we could handle anything."

Annabeth nodded and gave him a spoonful of ice cream before taking the last.

"All done," she said. "We should go back before someone notices we're missing."

"Okay," Percy said. She crawled off him and sat back down in the passenger seat, and buckled her seat belt.

"Hey," Jason said standing next to Annabeth.

"Hey," Annabeth said.

"Congratulations," he said quietly. "Piper told me."

"Of course she did," Annabeth said. "And thank you."

"Also I have a message from Percy," Jason said. "He wants to know if you want to dance with him."

Annabeth looked across the room and gave Percy a look. Jason burst out laughing.

Annabeth was just stepping off the dance floor for a second to take off her shoes and abandon them when she was ambushed.

"My Lord," she said surprised, bowing her head to Poseidon.

"At ease, Annabeth," Poseidon said. Somebody had dug up Cabin 11's cooler from the turf and dragged it inside, Poseidon took a beer for himself and offered one to Annabeth though she, of course, politely declined.

"I must say, I think this might just boost you into Hera's good books," Poseidon said.

"I hope so," Annabeth said. "Though we weren't expecting quite so many gods- not that I'm complaining, My Lord…"

"I understand," Poseidon said. "We are not the, ah…. Most rational batch. Although I hope you understand what it means to have Olympus in its near-entirety celebrating in your honour."

Annabeth blushed. "I think we also have chain party-goers to account for."

"Oh, definitely," Poseidon said. "But I haven't seen so many sea gods turn up in one place since the Titanic sank. We're happy to have you among our ranks, Annabeth."

She blushed.

"I'm sure Percy must have mentioned it somewhere along the way," Poseidon said. "But what belongs to the sea always returns to it. Remember that."

"Thank you, My Lord," Annabeth said.

Poseidon looked over his shoulder. "Speaking of which, I should stop Triton from getting into it with Percy just now. Enjoy your night, daughter."

Percy kissed the top of Estelle's hair and told Mom that she should get out of here before some sort of nude scandal took place.

"I think we'll call it a night too," Mom said.

Paul pulled Estelle back in his arm. She had fallen asleep under a table, surrounded by empty Capri Sun juice boxes, mumbling something about mermaids in her sleep. Annabeth had also shepherded her mortal family out.

They stood watching the parking lot, and Annabeth put her head on his shoulder.

"I love you," she said.

"That's really good because guess what we did today…"