For the Ups and Downs

By: xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx

AN: Well, I was watching Mobbed(sort of,) and it showed this dad who had problems with his wife and his daughter. Long story short, for some odd reason, that made me think of a couple who was going through a miscarriage. Originally, I was going to write it for a different couple—OC's—but I think Annabeth and Percy fit this quite well.

That being said, I hope I got everyone IC. It's hard to write for older Percy, Annabeth, and Rachel. It's especially hard to write Annabeth angst without her acting like a whiny dog. Now, I did sort of make her like that—Rachel points that out—but... you'll see her explanation(sort of) for that later.

I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO/HoO or any of its characters.

"Hey, how'd it go?" I said breathlessly, looking up from the TV as my two friends walked in.

Annabeth narrowed her gray eyes, choosing to ignore my presence, and instead, she walked upstairs, probably to Megan's room. [1] The air was filled with tension, like she and Percy had just gotten in an argument.

"Was it something I said?" I asked Percy, bewildered.

The son of Poseidon ran a stressed hand through his black hair. "No," he reassured, loosening his tie, "it's not you, Rach."

"Let me guess: The meeting with Dr. Arkwright went crappy?"

Percy groaned as he collapsed onto the couch. "It was terrible!" he moaned. "Absolutely horrible!"

"Oh gods on Olympus, what did he say?" I asked worriedly, leaning towards my friend.

Percy's sea green eyes met my own, and I could see the stress and worry within them. "He pretty much said we were going to get divorced," he said in a hushed whisper.

My eyes widened, and I sputtered out, "What?"

Percy nodded miserably. "He said something like that marriages that go through a miscarriage are either strengthened by it, or torn apart. He said since we've only been together for a year or so that chances are, we'll divorce within the next year."

I rolled my eyes with a slight groan. "Gods, that man is practically asking for his death warrant. Did he say anything else?"

An angry look spread onto Percy's rugged face, and he nodded tightly. "He pretty much implied that Megan wasn't our real child," he spat out through gritted teeth.

"Oh, dear gods."

"Yeah."

"May I ask what your wife had to say about that?"

Percy smiled slightly, eyes suddenly shining with amusement. "Well," he recalled with a grin, "she about punched him."

"That must've been interesting," I said, raising an eyebrow. It wasn't like Annabeth to just punch him and be done with it. She would've wanted to—I don't know—make the man cry for his dead mother, most likely. "Is that it?"

Percy shrugged. "I managed to calm her down before he could get a black eye," he explained. "But, Annabeth insisted on at least calling him a douche bag and telling him to eff off. Oh, yeah, and she went on this long list of threats that nearly made me piss my pants. Gods, my wife is scary."

I laughed slightly, but looked at my friend, shaking my head. "You just realized this now, Kelp Head?"

"No, but never before have I seen a man shake so badly. I swear, it was like he was having a seizure or something!"

"Well, that's pleasant," I commented. "I hope you guys have enough money for a lawyer, because when I nearly attacked him when I was younger, he sued my dad. Uh... let's just say he didn't win that case."

Percy just smiled. "Annabeth made sure he didn't sue or press any charges," he reassured. "She has it all covered."

"Oh, good gods on Olympus, what did she do to the poor man?"

"Well... it's a very long story. It'd be best if you—you know—just went and talked to Annabeth, because when I tried to, she nearly bit my head off."

"Yikes. She's really pissed."

"Oh, yes. Good luck with that. If you need me, I'll just be laying on this here comfy couch." He patted the couch with a cheeky grin and waved towards the stairs.

I rolled my eyes at Percy, who was now lounging very lazily on his couch and flipping through the channels. "If I die," I warned, "I will coerce Nico into letting me haunt you."

"Coerce?"

"It means force, Kelp Head," I said as I walked up the stairs. "Get yourself a dictionary, okay?"

"When I'm married to Annabeth, I don't have to!"

Once again, I rolled my eyes as I approached Annabeth and Percy's bedroom, which was closed. I took a deep breath, then knocked on the door. "Annabeth? It's me—Rachel."

From inside the bedroom, there was some shuffling, followed by a dismal sniffle. "Come on," Annabeth called, her voice sounding stuffy and downright miserable.

I opened the door warily, took one look at the bedroom, and decided that if my room was messy, then their bedroom was a pigsty.

Papers—probably Annabeth's blueprints—were strewn all over the floor. Clothes—both Annabeth and Percy's—hung all over the fairly large room, and tissues were scattered around and on the unmade bed. I couldn't really blame them for not having the... cleanest room, because they had a lot of crap going on right now.

"How're holding up, girl?" I asked softly.

Annabeth gave me a look that said, How do you think I'm holding up, dumbass? I gave her a sheepish smile in response, and she sighed, leaning back onto one of the pillows.

"I'm downright miserable," she said. "My hormones are crazy, I'm stressed out, I have to go back to work tomorrow, Megan is having trouble with school, and on top of that, I have this stupid doctor telling me that because of my miscarriage, my marriage is going to fail!"

"Annabeth—"

"This is so damn unfair!" she said, her voice sounding whiny and miserable. "It's always me, Rachel. Always. Whose best friend got turned into a tree? Mine! Whose other best friend turned into the damn Titan Lord and eventually died? Mine! Whose boyfriend disappeared not even a year after we got together? Mine! It's so damn stupid!"

I wanted to point out that she was acting so unlike herself, but I blamed that on the hormones. Not to mention, I would be pretty whiny if I had gone through all of that, and now was going through the miscarriage of my first biological child.

"I'm sorry, Annabeth," I sighed, taking a seat on her messy bed. "I'd love to say that it's going to all get better, but I'd probably be lying, because I honestly don't know."

"Thanks for telling the truth."

"No problem," I said with a shrug, not caring if that was sarcasm or not. "But, while I don't know if everything's going to get better, I do know that you have a husband—granted, a lazy, Seaweed Brain husband—downstairs that loves you more than life itself. You're strong, Annabeth Jackson, and Percy is too. You'll get through this, just like you got through everything else." I finished my little inspirational speech with a smile.

Annabeth sighed, shoulders slumping. "Rachel," she said, a small smile on her face, "I'd love to say that helped, but it kind of didn't."

"Well, at least I tried, right?"

"Yeah. At least you tried."

I stood up from the bed and flashed her another smile. "I wasn't kidding about your husband though, Annabeth," I said. After a short pause, I added, "Well, I wasn't kidding about any of it, but you get the idea. The point is, Percy will help you get through this. You're not going to get a divorce, okay? Dr. Arkwright is a douche that doesn't know half the things he says."

The daughter of Athena smiled weakly. "Thanks, I guess. Can you send Percy up here on your way out?"

I nodded as I backed out of the room. "Sure thing. I'll see you later, okay?"

After that, I turned and walked back downstairs, wearing a satisfied smile. Percy looked up from his place on the couch, his expression surprised.

"You already cheered her up?" he asked incredulously.

I smiled at him and shook my head. "Nope. Pretty much told her that you would."

"Oh... great."

"Yep," I said with a laugh, patting his shoulder. "Go up and talk to her, okay, Perce? She needs you now more than ever."

After a few reluctant moments(I could practically see Percy arguing with his conscience,) Percy stood up, smiling. "Yeah," he said with a shrug," "I guess you're right." With that, he opened up his arms for a hug, and I smiled as I leaned into his embrace.

"Thanks for being there for us, Rach," he murmured softly. "It means so much."

As we let go, I smiled up at my best friend. "Any time, Kelp Face, any time," I said with a nod. "I'd probably better get going." I turned and walked towards the door, ready to leave.

"See you later?" Percy called after me.

"Wait! One last thing," I added, turning around quickly. The thought had just hit me like a load of bricks—why hadn't I thought of it before?

"What?"

"You do know Dr. Arkwright isn't a marriage counselor... right?" I said, raising an eyebrow curiously.

Percy gaped at me like a fish(no pun intended,) then did a face-palm. I laughed as I opened the door and began walking out.

The last thing I heard from the Jackson household was, "You have got to be kidding me!"

AN: I am pretty sure that's the name of Rachel's counselor... right?

[1]: MEET MEGAN!

Megan is the adopted daughter of Percy and Annabeth Jackson. She has short, dark brown hair and blue eyes, and is five to seven years older. She struggles with school because she is a demigod/legacy, whose parent is unknown right now. She had dyslexia and ADHD, and is often babysitted by Rachel.

Okay, I made Megan up because the couple I'd originally had thought of in this story had a thirteen fourteen year old or adopted daughter. I made Megan younger because she needed to be old enough to be in school, but young enough to need a babysitter.

ANYONE WANNA TELL ME WHAT SONG THE TITLE IS BASED OFF OF? I'LL LET YOU GIVE ME A PROMPT FOR A STORY IF YOU GUESS IT RIGHT! :D

I'm trying to get to 100 stories, by the way.