Last chapter - I tried to make it good! Hope you all like it :) It ties in with chapter 6! Thanks for all the favorites, reviews, and followers (stalkers). Each and every one of them made me smile and feel awesome. Thanks for taking the time to read the story in all its OOCness, length, et cetera. You people are awesome! Enjoy the fluff of this last one.

Disclaimer: I didn't get the rights of PJO or HoO or Christmas, so sadly I own nothing.

Note: This last chapter is dedicated to my family and the 12 Days of Christmas book that I own.

Note: Look up Akaios' meaning and who he was in mythology if you want to understand the joke there.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… Twelve lords a-leaping.

Percy

"Daddy, Daddy!" Cordelia giggled, running up and hugging him around the waist. Aubrey wasn't far behind, toting both her and her sister's backpacks.

"Hi there, 'Lia," Percy grinned, sweeping her up into his arms. "Come here 'Bre, what do you have there?"

His daughter had two tiny backpacks slung over her shoulders, a lunchbox in one hand, and a book in the other. It was their last day before holiday break, so Percy had no idea why the teacher would send them home with a reading assignment.

"I got a book! My teacher let me borrow it because I wanted you to read it to me," she said, as he picked her up as well.

The girls were in first grade, and although they could read to themselves perfectly fine, they always wanted him to read to them instead. Being such a softie, he always complied, even though he could barely make it through the words.

"Let me see that book of yours," he said as they walked back towards their house. Between his and Annabeth's jobs, they had managed to save up enough money to buy a real house closer to Camp. It was much more suitable for their family of five – two stories tall with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a tiny but useful yard. It was also only half a mile from the elementary school, and only a few miles from their jobs.

Beaming, Audrey held up a thin book titled "The Twelve Days of Christmas." The cover portrayed two brown bears dancing with a fancy winter scene in the background.

"Ooh, did Mr. Cameron read that to your class today?" he inquired.

"Uh huh! It was silly! The boy got the girl a whole bunch of birdies and there were twelve days of Christmas instead of just one!"

Percy remembered the story. His mother used to read it to him a lot when he was really little, and it was one of the first books on the road leading to his dyslexia diagnostic. The part that he never understood was the end. What was a lord? He had always thought of them being associated with kings and queens, kind of like advisors, but then why would there be twelve, and why would they leap? The book portrayed them as frogs hopping around the yard, but why would any kind want frogs in his castle? Then there was the raccoon, always trying to steal food from Mr. and Mrs. Bear's garbage can. That had never made sense to him either. After all, why could the raccoon just go in and ask for some food, and why would he want stinky garbage?

"So Mommy is going to read this to you tonight, right?" he joked. The girls never let Annabeth read to them. Nighttime stories were Daddy-Daughter bonding time, just like the walk home from school, which happened to fall during Percy's hour-long lunch break. Akaios, the only boy child in their family, was still in half-day preschool, so Annabeth wasn't back at work yet, and the kids got 'Mommy time' practically all day.

Aubrey made a face, and her sister squirmed next to her. "No Daddy, you read to us!" she squealed.

"But Lia, Mommy reads better than Daddy, remember?" he said, trying in vain to dissuade them

"Daddy, you're funnier when you read! Even Kai says so and he's little," Cordelia reasoned, her lower lip jutting out stubbornly.

Percy tickled her lightly on the tummy, "I'm not funny, silly!"

"Yes you are!" she gasped in between giggles. The second he stopped tickling her, she wormed out of his grasp and ran to stand five feet away. Aubrey pulled away as well, dropping the lunchbox following her twin's lead. Even from such a small distance, it was impossible for Percy to tell them apart aside from their clothes. Closer up, he would see the little scar on Cordelia's fore head where she had hit a door when she was just learning to run, or notice the flecks of green dotting Aubrey's grey eyes. Now all he had to judge on was Bre's purple dress versus Lia's black jeans and blue sparkly shirt.

"Come on you two, Daddy has to go back to work soon so we have to hurry, okay?" he said, picking up Aubrey's lunchbox.

"Yes Daddy," they chorused, holding out their hands for him to hold. Grinning, he took them and they walked on in silence.

When they got into the house, a sweet smell greeted them, along with voices from the kitchen.

"Mommy!" the twins called, dropping their coats and backpacks and running to the kitchen. Percy scooped up the forgotten possessions and followed.

The kitchen was an organized mess, with cooking gadgets and ingredients littering the counter space and cookie sheets on the stove cookie sheets on the stove. Annabeth was helping Akaios stir something in a large blue bowl. There were two other people in the room too, whom the twins were hugging fiercely.

"Hey Mom, hi Paul," Percy said, grinning as the girls pulled away.

"Hi sweetie! How are you?" his mother greeted, hugging him.

"I'm pretty good; I just have to go back to work soon."

"Gosh, that's weird to hear you say. I'm still not used to you being all grown up."

He laughed, "Me either. Don't take this the wrong way, but why are you guys here? I thought you weren't coming until Sunday, for Christmas Eve."

"We wanted to surprise you, so we called Annabeth last night and she said to come today," Paul said, grinning.

"Well, it worked, I'm surprised," he said. "Please tell me that you're helping Annabeth and Kai with those cookies though. Otherwise they won't be nearly as good as yours, Mom."

"Don't worry, I kept an eye on them to make sure they didn't add too much sugar again," his mom winked.

Annabeth grumbled something, a wry smile forming on her face. Kai looked up and smiled.

"Daddy! Hi Daddy! We're making cookies, and grandma said they're gonna be nummy this time because she has the magic cookie touch," he said, showing Percy the spoon.

"Wow Kai, I think grandma's right! It looks great," Percy said, ruffling his son's hair.

The little boy giggled, then went back to stirring while Percy kissed Annabeth on the forehead. "Aubrey got a book today at school, you'll have to read it to them later, Wise Girl," he whispered.

"You know they won't want me to," she said back. "Why can't you? It's their special time to spend with you – reading."

"I know," he replied, "but someone has to go out and get their Christmas presents without them knowing, and they'd notice if you left. With me, you can just say that I had a horsie who took a little extra time to fix."

"I suppose," she muttered. "What book is it?"

"The Twelve Days of Christmas. Just be sure to tell them what a leaping lord is, okay? And explain the raccoon. It's confusing, otherwise."

She laughed, "Only you, Seaweed Brain, only you."

He grinned, "Yep. Well, I better go back to work now. See you tonight, Annabeth."

"Bye Perce," she chuckled. Grinning, he said goodbye to his parents and children, handed Aubrey her book, and then shrugged on his coat. Christmas had always been a good holiday for him, but now it was even better, spending it with his family.