A/N: One day I will write a one-shot that actually stays a one-shot. Today is not that day…this one is all Annabeth, so hopefully the POV switch isn't too confusing. And since it came from a conversation with bibliophile114, I hereby assign the credit/blame where it's due!

Also, thanks to everyone who favorited/alerted, and especially everyone who reviewed. I love that you guys have liked it so far! Now I have to hope this lives up to expectations...

There are some things in life a girl just doesn't want her mother to know. The top spot on my list was currently, "I'm really grateful to Aphrodite."

Of course, since my mom was a Greek goddess in her own right, I suspected she already knew. I'd made a few offerings to Aphrodite in the past couple months, and I doubted they'd gone unnoticed. It was hard to be too upset about Zeus' "zero contact with demigods" decree when it was definitely working in my favor. My mother dropping by was not going to help my concentration.

So I wasn't too thrilled she'd picked today of all days to visit for the first time in six months.

She'd appeared suddenly while I was going over some of the plans for the Argo II. Leo had seen some of my ideas for Olympus and claimed he was so impressed by them that I was the only one he'd trust to design a ship worthy of the memory of Festus. He was a good kid, but not the greatest liar. It was clear he was trying to make me feel involved and important without having me anywhere near the actual building of the ship. I appreciated his tact, but it wasn't really necessary. I was well aware Athena wasn't the goddess of tools. I was all about ideas, not their implementation. So I told Leo not to worry; I'd let him work. My new goal in life was to get that ship built as quickly as possible, and if that happened because I stayed fifty feet away at all times, I was staying fifty feet away.

I had decided to retreat to the Athena cabin to look over the blueprints. Although Leo was just being nice, Hephaestus designs tended to be mechanically sound but somewhat lacking in foresight. True, Leo was doing a better job at predicting potential dangers than I'd expected, but I'd been on more quests than any other camper. If anyone could make this ship ready for whatever we'd face, I could. And since we were officially less than one week from our departure date, I was working feverishly to add as much as possible.

I had been lying on my stomach, chewing on the eraser of a pencil, when I heard my mother's voice behind me.

"My daughter."

I nearly rolled off the bed, which caused me to start cursing under my breath. Yeah, not the most dignified way to meet the goddess of wisdom. I was glad the cabin was completely deserted. My brothers and sisters would never have let me live it down. Their super powered brains came with a ridiculously long memory.

"My lady!" I said, rushing to stand up and give a quick bow. "Um, sorry about the mess. I wasn't expecting you."

"Yes, so I see," Athena said dryly. With her dark hair up in a tight bun and her disapproving expression, she reminded me of a librarian watching a football team tear through her nonfiction section. I winced. "But I can appreciate your mindset. I know I have been…absent for quite some time. And I promise I shall not stay long. I know you are eager to return to your work."

She gestured to the plans on the bed, and I blushed. We both knew why my work was so important to me. "Thank you. We're getting ready to set sail on Saturday, and—"

"Yes, I know," Athena interrupted me. "I may have been unable to visit before now, but that does not mean I have not been paying attention. Close attention."

The disapproving librarian look was back. I shifted uncomfortably. "The whole camp has been working nonstop to make sure everything's ready to go, and—"

"Please, Annabeth, spare me the charade. I have not been the patron of wisdom all these years for nothing. I know I have not been particularly accepting of your…friendship with the boy in the past, but please do not insult me by pretending I am not aware of it."

Athena glanced at me with her eyebrows raised, and I blushed again. "Then you know it's not just friendship," I said finally, meeting her gaze evenly.

She looked surprised, like she wasn't expecting me to challenge her on it. "True. I suppose I should have been more precise. You must understand you are the first of my children in millennia to consider a relationship with a son of Poseidon. It is hard to accept."

"We make a good team," I insisted, appealing to her battle strategy side. "You must see the wisdom in an Athena-Poseidon partnership."

She blinked, then smiled faintly. "A valiant effort, but Olympian feuds are not so easily forgotten. Still, I daresay Poseidon is more fond of you than either of us would care to admit. I was not expecting him to intervene on your behalf with the manticore in March. Zeus was most displeased."

"What happened?" I asked with a frown, worried I'd gotten Poseidon in trouble. No offense to Percy, but I hadn't expected his dad to help me out either. I always figured Poseidon tolerated me for Percy's sake, but that was it. Sort of how my mom viewed Percy; she wasn't going to actively try to blast him, but if he happened to die some other way, who was she to complain?

"Oh, nothing spectacular," my mother said, almost disappointed. "My father demanded to know why Poseidon had interfered. You know how Zeus sees every action by his brothers as a challenge to his authority."

Thunder rumbled overhead, but Athena glanced calmly at the ceiling of the cabin. "You cannot argue the point, Father. You know it to be true."

The thunder gave one last half-hearted rumble, then died down. I guess that meant even Zeus couldn't argue with the goddess of wisdom. It made me feel a little better to know I wasn't the only one.

"Anyway," Athena continued, glaring quickly at the ceiling as if daring Zeus to interrupt again, "Poseidon said simply that his son had pleaded for your lives, and he could not deny his son such a request any more than Zeus had been able to deny his own son's. A wise tactic," Athena admitted grudgingly. "I had thought he would speak more rashly and thus incite the war Hera has sought to prevent."

"But he didn't?" I asked, just to be sure. You could never tell with the gods. Taking somebody's ambrosia was grounds for attacking favored cities. The Trojan War had started over an apple.

"No," Athena said. "Poseidon made a brief reference to the entire episode being Hera's fault in the first place, but I do not believe my father heard it. Despite Zeus and Hera's disagreement over her actions, he would not have taken such an insult to her honor lightly. So for now the tenuous peace we have always enjoyed is maintained."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. I remembered the manticore clearly. I hadn't gotten close enough to find out if it was Dr. Thorn or not, but I was sure I was dead anyway. Rachel too, since she was stupid enough to stick around and try to fight it with me. I mean, the moral support was great, but the girl was just so stubborn sometimes. We both took off running as fast as we could. I managed to hold the monster off for a few minutes, but I knew the battle had been over before it'd begun. Right when I thought we were manticore chow, we came across a river.

As we approached, the water seemed to leap out of the riverbed, grabbing the manticore and drowning it completely. Irrationally, my first thought was to look for Percy. Who else did I know with that kind of control over water?

Apparently Percy's dad. Even now I didn't really believe it. A naiad had appeared out of the water, miraculously holding the full pack we'd abandoned when we took off, and told us to wait for our escort. Ten minutes later, Tyson had shown up bearing a tray of peanut butter sandwiches. Looking back, I think Rachel and I might have offended him at first. My first instinct when I see a Cyclops is still to pull out a weapon, and Rachel was rubbing her eyes and muttering about not being able to tell the difference between visions and reality anymore. Eventually Tyson convinced us he was real, although once he started talking about Poseidon sending him across the country to get us to my dad's, I thought for sure he was crazy. But no, Poseidon had actually helped not only a daughter of Athena, but also the daughter of a man who took polluting oceans as a personal challenge.

It made me think maybe Poseidon wasn't so bad after all, but I quickly added that to my list of thoughts to hide from my mother.

"So is there something I can do for you, Mother?" I asked politely, trying not to sound impatient. As much as it was always good to know the Olympians weren't at war with each other (and destroying all my rebuilding efforts in the process), bronze dragon ships didn't design themselves. Well, not usually. With the Hephaestus cabin, you could never be sure.

Athena pursed her lips. "There is a matter I wish to discuss with you, yes. It concerns Perseus' parents."

I tried not to look too uncomfortable. I'd been avoiding Percy's parents ever since I'd had to tell them he was on the other side of the country nearly six months ago. I felt a little guilty about it, but of the two of us, Percy was the one who was good with people. How was I supposed to tell his mom I was no closer to finding her son than I'd been in December?

When I didn't say anything, my mom continued. "I believe the time has long since passed when you should have told them what Aphrodite revealed to you."

I stared at her. "You came all the way down from Olympus to tell me to talk to Percy's parents?"

I knew it wasn't a particularly wise thing to say, but I was stunned. Since when did my mom care what Percy's parents thought?

"Yes," my mother said severely. "In fact, I had to first convince Lord Zeus personally to allow an audience with you. So I trust you will consider my words carefully and make the correct decision."

The way she was glaring at me pretty much ensured I'd be doing whatever she wanted me to do. Still, if I could avoid facing Percy's mom, I would. "Aphrodite did make me promise not to tell anyone what she showed me. Won't Hera be mad?"

Athena folded her arms over her chest. "And you expect me to believe you are suddenly concerned about Hera's good opinion? Well, I would not be concerned if I were you, daughter. You may safely assume it has been irretrievably lost."

Her mouth twitched slightly, and I got the feeling she wasn't particularly upset I'd lost favor with Hera. For the first time I wondered if she'd ever gotten grief from Hera for being a child of Zeus' with another woman. "Yeah, I thought as much. Nothing says doomed relationship like intestinally challenged cows."

Now Athena did smile. She leaned forward conspiratorially. "You know, while you were worrying about cows, Jason was forced to keep a constant watch for owls at all hours of the day. Quite strange, given owls are usually strictly nocturnal. The mortal birdwatchers could provide no explanation for the phenomenon. A freak occurrence of nature, I suppose."

My mouth dropped open in shock. "Really?"

Athena nodded, the smile still playing on her lips. "And were you aware birds may…relieve themselves up to 50 times per day?"

I laughed before I could stop myself. "Are you kidding? Owls were using Hera's favorite hero as a human toilet?"

My mother tried to smooth her face into its usual impassive expression, but her mouth still betrayed her. "So it appeared. I would not even being to hazard a guess as to why these owls seemed to concentrate on him. As I said, very strange."

A warm feeling spread through me. "Thanks. For, um, documenting the strange phenomenon."

Athena inclined her head. "You are welcome. For documenting the strange phenomenon."

We stood there in silence for a moment, and I knew Athena was waiting for me to say something. I didn't even know where to begin, though.

At last my mother broke the silence. "Unlike my fellow gods, I feel no biological urge to have children."

I looked up, but my mother was now looking past me. I wasn't sure where she was going with this. And did "biological" work when you were an immortal goddess?

She continued. "My decision to have children was just that: a choice. I thought it prudent to ensure the world had at least a few wise inhabitants in every generation, given what I had observed about the rest of the population. I was not aware how great a personal undertaking parenthood is."

Athena paused for a moment, and I wondered if she was waiting for me to reassure her somehow. You know, to tell her she'd done her best, or that I didn't blame her for being gone all the time. The clichés stuck in my throat, though. My mother wasn't the type to accept false sentiments, and all that time with Luke hadn't done me any favors in the forgiveness department.

"As a mother, you feel a peculiar attachment to your offspring. Their accomplishments become yours. You feel their failures as keenly as you have felt any of your own. And woe betide anyone who sends cows against your favorite daughter."

I could feel my eyes well up with tears, but I stubbornly pushed them away. I refused to cry in front of my mother. Still, being called Athena's favorite daughter was almost too much to handle on top of six months of worrying constantly about Percy. I may have been the official architect of Olympus, but I always figured dating a son of Poseidon had dropped me down a few spots on the list.

"I have the benefit, however, of being a goddess. I may keep close watch on my children at all times, even when it appears I am entirely absent. Mortal parents do not have the same option."

I held up my hand to stop her. I knew where this was going. "I'll go see Percy's mom. I should have done it before now, but…"

Athena gave me a knowing look. "While retreat is often the wisest battle strategy for a single soldier, it rarely helps his army win the war."

I sighed. How were you supposed to argue with the goddess of wisdom? I'll bet the Aphrodite kids never had this problem.

I cringed. Not that I don't appreciate everything you're doing for us, Lady Aphrodite! I added hurriedly.

"I know. I'll go, I'll go," I grumbled. I paused. "Did you really request a special audience from Lord Zeus to tell me to go talk to Percy's mom?"

"Yes," Athena said wryly. "She was becoming quite adamant."

"What, about knowing what happened to Percy?"

"No, about knowing what happened to you." Athena fixed her most penetrating stare on me. "I do not believe I have ever received so many sacrifices in so short a period. Sally Jackson was far more concerned for your well-being than her son's. Perhaps because she had anticipated his silence."

My mom raised her eyebrows at me expectantly, and I felt my face grow warm. For someone who claimed to have no urge to have children, she'd certainly mastered the guilt trip.

I sighed. "I'll Iris Message Mrs. Jackson tomorrow," I promised.

Athena's eyebrows crept farther up her forehead as she stared pointedly at the drachmas sitting on my nightstand.

"All right, all right. I'll IM her as soon as you leave."

"Then I shall be on my way immediately," my mother said with a nod.

"You know," I said, unable to help myself as she turned to go, "it wasn't exactly wise to attack Jason when he'd done nothing wrong. Wise of the owls, I mean," I added quickly.

Athena turned back, and luckily for me she seemed amused by the comment. "Perhaps. But sometimes fire is the best weapon against fire." It might have been my imagination, but my mother almost seemed to be smirking. "Or maybe the owls simply enjoyed watching Jason run for cover whenever they appeared. They are rather…flighty, are they not?"

Oh, yeah. She was definitely smirking. The resemblance to her half-brother Hermes was unmistakable.

I grinned. "Thank you, Mother."

She inclined her head. "As I said, you are most welcome. After all, Athena always has a plan." She winked, and I quickly averted my eyes as she disappeared in a burst of golden light.

True to my word, I shoved a couple drachmas in the pocket of my shorts and started toward Cabin Three. I wasn't sure what the rules were on visiting your boyfriend's cabin if he wasn't there, but if I was going to do this, I was going to do it right. Although considering Chiron's reaction the last time he'd caught me sneaking into Percy's cabin…I grabbed my Yankees cap and threw it on my head. Better safe than placed under cabin arrest again.

I tiptoed into Cabin Three and tried to ignore the smell of seawater that permeated the air. It was a little too easy to imagine I'd turn around and see Percy's lopsided grin from the bunk next to the newly repaired fountain. It was just as he'd left it: a mess. He'd been failing cabin inspections for the past six months now, thanks to the Stoll brothers. Whenever their turn came up for inspection, somehow Cabin Three ended up at the bottom. ("We're just trying to teach all the impressionable young campers the importance of tidying up your cabin every day. You never know when you'll be abducted and tragically unable to clean for months at a time!")

I stood in front of the fountain and took a deep breath. I tossed a drachma into the mist.

"O, Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering…"

The next afternoon I was standing anxiously at the entrance to the building where the Jackson-Blofis family lived. My conversation with Mrs. Jackson had been mercifully brief yesterday; she'd been in the middle of a meeting with an editor for her novel, but she'd made me promise to come by today before I left. If I hadn't sworn I felt the eyes of my mother watching my every move, I would've bailed and curled up in a ball somewhere where no one could find me.

No, I decided firmly. I wouldn't have done that. I had been taking the easy way out for six months now. I squared my shoulders and ignored the strange look the doorman was giving me. I strode confidently into the lobby and made it halfway to the elevators before my knees gave out and I collapsed on a couch in the lobby.

My cell phone began to ring, and I groaned as I looked at the caller ID.

"You really are psychic," I grumbled as I answered the call. Forget attracting monsters. I'll bet demigods ditched cell phones just so newly appointed Oracles couldn't call whenever they felt like it.

"I'm sure that's Annabeth-speak for, 'I'm totally here and nothing short of a monster attack is going to stop me from completing my mission.' " It was amazing how Rachel could sound simultaneously peppy and patronizing.

I brightened. "Do you really think a monster might attack?" Gods, I'd take on the manticore right now, godly help or no godly help.

I could almost hear her roll her eyes. "No. You know they're pretty much fleeing New York. Unless Percy's mom moved to San Francisco or Greece when I wasn't paying attention, I think you're on your own."

"Great," I muttered.

"Sorry," Rachel said, and she actually did sound sorry. "If I could be there, you know I would."

"I know," I said with a sigh. Rachel didn't officially get done with school until the end of June, but apparently the name Dare extended to school administration too, because she was allowed to miss the last month of class to come with us to San Francisco. Unfortunately that meant she still had three more days until she could come back, so I really was on my own. I hadn't realized how much I'd come to rely on Rachel these past few months. If you'd told me a year ago I'd be depending on Rachel Elizabeth Dare to maintain my sanity, I'd probably have introduced you to the sharp end of my knife.

Still, I wasn't entirely sure I wanted Rachel here for this anyway. I'd been keeping a pretty huge secret from her, and I felt guilty enough about that. I'd tackle this one person at a time.

"Look, it's Percy's mom," Rachel pointed out sensibly. "You always felt like part of the family before, right?"

"Sure, but Percy's always been here before," I argued. "It's a little different when you have to walk in and tell everyone you're no closer to finding him than you were six months ago."

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic." She was rolling her eyes again, I could tell. So I stuck my tongue out at her in return, just to make me feel better. "You know you're going to get there aaaaaaand cue the predictable slow motion reunion scene complete with crying and hugging and Paul standing there awkwardly."

This time I was the one rolling my eyes. "More like I'll be the one standing there awkwardly. I'm not exactly the touchy-feely type."

"That's not what I hear from your boyfriend," Rachel said teasingly. "Word around Olympus is someone rented Titanic and was bawling her eyes out by the end…"

My face felt hot. "Those were tears of laughter, thank you very much. That movie is completely different with the perspective of a son of Poseidon."

Rachel laughed. "If you say so. Hey, sorry, I've got to run to class. Madame Defarge is going to be ticked if I miss another lesson on the crucial role of knitting throughout history."

I blinked. "Is her name really Madame Defarge?"

"No," Rachel said cheerily. "But she actually catches on if I call her Madame Totally Fake Accent. Charles Dickens references, on the other hand, are completely lost on her."

I grinned. "You artists. So snobby."

"You know it! I'll call you as soon as I can, okay? Snobby artist OUT!" Rachel yelled the last word, which made me suspect her teacher had just walked past. As she'd promised her dad, she was really trying to make the Clarion Ladies' Academy work. But as soon as she'd gotten there, Rachel had realized no one wanted to risk offending her dad by saying anything bad about his daughter. She had now perfected the art of making her intentional annoyances seem entirely accidental.

I don't know how she'd done it, but the phone call from Rachel had been just what I needed. I summoned my courage and took the elevator up to Percy's apartment like I'd done a gazillion times. I'd never been anxious before. If I followed the familiar routine, I could almost make myself believe this was just like any other visit.

Someone must have heard me coming, because before I was even close enough to knock, the door swung open and revealed the smiling face of Sally Jackson, with Paul Blofis standing right behind her.

There was no slow motion, though. Before I could even blink, Mrs. Jackson had swept me into her arms and I was facing the most enthusiastic hug I'd ever received. As Rachel had predicted, we were both crying before I knew what was happening. I realized this is exactly why I'd been avoiding this visit for so long: I'd broken down in less than five seconds. Mrs. Jackson was murmuring about how glad she was that I was safe and how much she'd missed me, while I was desperately trying to apologize for not coming by sooner. After a few minutes of this, we heard Mr. Blofis clear his throat and we broke embarrassedly apart.

"I brought cookies!" he said cheekily, holding up a plate of blue chocolate chip cookies. Freshly baked too, judging by the smell. I grinned. He put down the plate and came over to hug me too. "We're so glad you're all right, Annabeth. We were starting to get worried we were going to have to explain to Percy that he needed a new girlfriend, and we all know how long it took him to finally man up enough to get you."

My grin grew. I'd forgotten how much I missed them. "I'm really, really sorry. I just…I didn't think I could handle it."

Mrs. Jackson smiled understandingly. "We don't blame you in the slightest," she assured me, although I didn't see how there was anybody else to blame. It just seemed silly now.

"Yeah," Mr. Blofis chimed in, "We're well aware we take quite a bit of patience. Every time you're about to come over, Percy reminds us we have to behave ourselves. Imagine how upset he'll be that you came over when he didn't have a chance to make us promise not to pull out the photo albums!"

It might have been a joke, but an hour later that was exactly what we were doing. Mrs. Jackson had unearthed her oldest photos of Percy, and she delighted in pointing out things that would have made Percy blush brightly enough to put Apollo to shame. By the time we got to the obligatory bath time photos, we were laughing so hard we were all crying again. Little one-year-old Percy was sitting naked in the middle of the tub, making waves over his head big enough to hold his plastic battleships.

"He was always so proud of it," Mrs. Jackson remembered fondly. "He'd laugh and clap his hands, and of course then his concentration was broken and his mother was soaked."

"And it took this boy how long to figure out he was the son of Poseidon?" asked Mr. Blofis disbelievingly, shaking his head at the picture.

Mrs. Jackson's smile faded. "I just hope he can still remember these things one day."

Mr. Blofis put his hand on her shoulder, and I took a breath. "Actually, that's the reason I wanted to talk to you. Well, the main reason, at least."

They both looked at me expectantly, and suddenly the words were tumbling out of my mouth before my brain had a chance to catch up.

"A couple months ago, Aphrodite came to visit me in a dream, and I'm incredibly sorry I didn't tell you this sooner, but she made me promise not to say anything, so I've been keeping it to myself since then, and yesterday my mother of all people made me promise to break my promise and tell you too, since you deserved to know, and I just wasn't sure how to start, but you definitely should have been told before now, but I was just such a coward—"

"Annabeth!" Mrs. Jackson interrupted, taking my hand in hers. "Just start from the beginning. We'll be patient, I promise."

I drew a shaky breath and tried to calm down. "Well, for spring break this year, Rachel and I went to San Francisco. We were hoping for some sort of sign of the Roman camp where Percy's been staying, but instead we got attacked by a manticore."

At this, both adults gasped and immediately began to search my face as though I were hiding hideous manticore injuries from them. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, although I had to admit their concern was touching. "We were fine, because Poseidon intervened and made sure we got back to my dad's house safely." I could tell Mrs. Jackson, at least, knew what a big deal that was, but she didn't interrupt. "Later that night, Aphrodite visited me in a dream, like I said. Percy saw the manticore attack us, but Lupa—the Roman camp director—wouldn't let him leave. So he'd prayed to his dad for help, I think, and Poseidon saved us. Aphrodite also mentioned something about Percy's driver's license…?"

Mrs. Jackson frowned. "Yes, Chiron sent over Percy's wallet and a few other things a couple weeks after he disappeared. His license was missing, which was strange, because I know he never takes it out. I assumed Hera had taken it for some reason—" I watched as my words finally began to sink in. "Wait, do you mean Percy remembered you?"

I nodded, unable to stop the smile creeping across my face. "If what Aphrodite says is true, he remembers pretty much everything. Of course, Aphrodite couldn't get through a sentence without squealing, so it's hard for me to be positive. You might want to watch out. To be honest, I think she might be a little in love with Percy. Probably not such a bad thing considering how many gods want to kill him, but—"

I never got to finish, because suddenly I was engulfed in yet another round of hugs. I was feeling guiltier by the second, though. Sooner or later they were going to realize I'd known about this for two months without saying a word.

"Well," said Mr. Blofis as everything finally calmed down again, "I say this deserves a celebration! Will you be staying the night, Annabeth?"

I froze. "No, of course not, Mr. Blofis. I just wanted to tell you in person; I really didn't mean to impose on you even this long—"

"Nonsense!" Mr. Blofis said, cutting me off. "You at least have to stay for dinner. We'll order takeout and have a marathon Greek mythology discussion, now that Percy's not here to complain I'm taking up all his time with you! And you know you're always welcome to call me Paul. I'm the cool stepdad, remember?"

I laughed despite myself. "Thanks, but I think you'll always be the cool stepdad 'Mr. Blofis' to me." We'd discussed this before. It just didn't feel right calling Percy's parents by their first names, even when they insisted. Percy made fun of me, since he called Mr. Blofis "Paul" without a second thought these days. But their family was so close, I still felt like I was intruding sometimes. I mean, they accepted me without question as part of everything they did, but family had always been a difficult concept for me. Percy and I had only been dating four months when he'd disappeared, and four months just wasn't enough for me to feel comfortable abandoning the more respectful "Mrs. Jackson" and "Mr. Blofis." I was just glad Mrs. Jackson had kept her last name when she and Mr. Blofis got married. It would have been even more awkward to have to call her "Mrs. Blofis" every time I saw her.

"Well, then," Mrs. Jackson said as she stood, "I have a million cookies to bake this afternoon, and I think that's going to require a top-notch battle plan."

"Luckily battle plans happen to be a specialty of mine," I said, still smiling. "Just don't let me near the actual oven. I've already been banned from ship-building this week."

They both looked confused, but I waved off their looks with a quick, "Long story." They shrugged, and Mr. Blofis immediately escaped to the other room to "grade papers," which made Mrs. Jackson roll her eyes. Apparently Mr. Blofis wasn't the baking type.

Mrs. Jackson began mixing up dough as I searched for various ingredients. I was definitely more of a searcher than a baker. Besides, you never knew what you were going to find in the Jackson kitchen. Mrs. Jackson had decided they should all try eating healthier at one point, so Percy and Mr. Blofis had started hiding junk food wherever they thought she wouldn't look. When I went to raid the giant stockpile of blue food coloring in the cupboard, I found a half-eaten bag of Doritos that could only have been Percy's. Clearly Mrs. Jackson wasn't being too strict about the healthy eating thing if he was hiding Doritos in her baking supplies. Or maybe he really was a complete Seaweed Brain.

"So," Mrs. Jackson said as she looked up from mixing, "what else did Aphrodite have to say?" She winked at me, and I could feel myself go red.

"Not much," I answered with a shrug. When Mrs. Jackson didn't even bother to pretend she believed me, I couldn't help insisting, "Really! All she said was that I was supposed to stop chasing manticores because it made Percy cry."

Mrs. Jackson laughed. "So she's making sure Percy's pride stays intact, I see."

I laughed too. "It was probably her idea of a compliment. Although considering her compliments also include the word 'tragic,' I'm not sure that's necessarily a good thing."

"Well, like you said, at least she's not trying to kill him. From what I can tell that's a step up from every god who isn't his father. And that's just what I've gathered from Percy's highly edited accounts," she said dryly. "I can't for the life of me figure out why that boy thinks he's being sneaky when he leaves things out. Does he think I'm not going to realize something's missing from, 'The Minotaur showed up again today, but then we all went out for ice cream'? His concern is sweet, but what he doesn't tell me I just have to imagine for myself. And in my version, suddenly the Minotaur can breathe fire and kill people with a single glance. One of the perils of being an author, I suppose."

She smiled at me, but it was a little sad. All the guilt came rushing back and my eyes filled with tears. "Look, I'm really, really sorry I didn't fill you in before now; I know it was selfish and you must hate me—"

Mrs. Jackson dropped her mixing bowl and rushed over to hug me yet again. "Oh, honey, we could never hate you! I meant it when I said we didn't blame you in the slightest. I can't even imagine what these past few months must have been like for you!"

I sniffed and hugged her back. "Way better than they were for you. You lost your son."

She gave a watery laugh. Great. I was making my boyfriend's mom cry. I was so not winning any 'best girlfriend' awards here. "After awhile you sort of expect it," she said. "I have a demigod son. He's going to disappear for months at a time and come back having saved the world. Again. And in between he's going to fight some monsters and almost die. But he will come back. If nothing else, vanishing for six months without a word to me is going to ensure I get a fantastic belated Mother's Day present."

I laughed shakily. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he's stuck in the mall for hours."

Mrs. Jackson gave another laugh, stronger this time, as she pulled away. "All right, let's get back to these cookies. They look like they could take awhile, so maybe I'd better call Chiron and let him know you won't be back tonight."

"No, really, that's not necessary—"

"And you can tell me all about Aphrodite and this trip to San Francisco you've got planned. I'm sure Percy wouldn't mind you using his room for a night." Mrs. Jackson's eyes twinkled. "Then you can tease him shamelessly about the underwear he didn't bother to clean up before he left for camp."

I debated for a minute. It was probably the least I could do for making them wait six months for news of their son. And I couldn't deny this was the closest I'd felt to Percy since he'd left. "Deal," I said finally.

Mr. Blofis suddenly stuck his head around the corner. "Does this mean it's finally safe for someone who's allergic to crying to enter the kitchen?"

Mrs. Jackson shook her mixing spoon at him. "Not unless you're going to help."

He pretended to consider this for a minute before sighing theatrically. "I suppose I have to in order to spend any time with Annabeth?"

Mrs. Jackson nodded. "She's just about to tell us a story, in fact. There's something she left out about her meeting with Aphrodite."

"How were you so sure?" I asked, curious.

"Mother's instinct," she said knowingly, and for a minute I could believe it. She looked exactly like my mother.

"More like women's intuition. You can't hide anything from this one," Mr. Blofis said wryly, swiping a cookie from a plate on the counter. "You might as well spill the beans now. She won't give up until you do."

Mrs. Jackson swatted his hand away from the cookies, while he pretended to be hurt. I grinned. Aphrodite liked Percy too much to be upset if I told them the whole plan, right?

I cleared my throat to get their attention. "Well, apparently there's this clearing in the woods behind the Roman camp…"