Work Text:
Annabeth never really thought about having kids.
Not because she didn’t like them, she secretly really loved them. But at the age when most little girls were playing with baby dolls, Annabeth was learning how to fight with a dagger. When she should have been dreaming of weddings and white dresses, she was trying to learn how to outsmart a monster and make it out alive. She didn’t grow up planning a future. She had grown up just trying to survive another day.
There was no point in dreaming of it. Demigods barely made it to sixteen, much less adulthood. She learned to plan her life in increments—the next day, the next quest, the next month. Another year was lucky to come by. She didn’t dare plan too far in the future because the Fates were rarely merciful to young half-bloods like her.
Besides, even if she beat the odds and made it to adulthood, she could never fathom that idea that someone would be committed enough to her to put a ring on her finger. Someone who would want to stay long enough to raise a family with her. It was illogical, irrational, and completely out of the cards for her. She shoved every thought of it out of her mind, knowing it was not a wise fantasy to spend her time on. Hope, Annabeth learned at a young age, was a liability.
Then Percy Jackson crashed into her life and completely turned her life around. The annoyingly adorable son of Poseidon, destined to die at sixteen, came to camp when she was twelve. They went on their first quest together and Annabeth tried to distance herself, work together but do not get attached. The last thing she needed was another person that would inevitably leave her.
However, Percy always had this uncanny ability to ignore every single one of her plans. He was the most dorkishly charming, fiercely loyal boy she had ever met. He would do anything for the people he cared about and somehow, someway Annabeth became one of those people. He chose her without question. Trusted her opinion like it was scripture. Stayed by her side when no one else did. He defended her with his life, travelled across the country to save her, and stood up for her loudly in crowded rooms she wasn’t even in. He became extremely hard to ignore. He became her absolute best friend. She began to fall in love with him, despite all of the red flags in her head that told her how terrible of an idea that was. His loyalty to her made her extremely loyal to him, and all the consequences that came with that.
Eventually, he admitted his love for her once he survived his prophecy against all the odds. His love was just like his character. It was constant and unwavering, an overwhelming sense of deep devotion that Annabeth had never known. Despite his seaweed brain tendencies, he was all things good in this world and she adored every single part of him.
And now as she watched her boyfriend rock his baby sister to sleep, her bones ached with a domestic dream she could never dream of before. As Estelle’s eyes fluttered closed, a warm grin spread across his face. He lowered his mouth, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as Annabeth sighed dreamily. She could watch him with her all day long. She’d seen him do some incredible things, but watching him with Estelle was at the top of the list. How could the most powerful fighter she knew be the most gentle at the same time?
Percy Jackson was an anomaly.
He peeked up at her, tilting his head to the side to study her face. “What are you thinking about?”
She smiled, reaching over and brushing a piece of black hair out of his face. “Oh, nothing.”
He shook his head, his gaze filling her stomach with butterflies like it had since they were twelve years old. He knew better than that. “Annabeth.”
She pressed her lips together, gathering the courage to let the words come out of her mouth. “Can we have one someday?”
“Have a what?” He paused, the realization hitting him as he raised his eyebrows. “A baby?”
She nodded sheepishly, a blush creeping up her neck. Vulnerability was a foreign thing to Annabeth. Strategy dictated never letting the opponent in, never letting anyone close. And yet, after years of friendship and now love, she found herself trusting Percy Jackson more than she trusted her own judgment.
He swallowed and then grinned, giddy and breathless. “Of course. Gods, Annabeth. With you, yes.”
She let out a breath as she returned the smile, warmth flooding her chest.
“Do you promise?” She whispered, scared if she said it loud enough some god would hear it and take all of this away from her.
“Promise.”
Annabeth locked his words away in her heart like an oath. She leaned over, careful not to disturb Estelle, and planted a soft kiss on his warm lips. “I love you.”
“I love you more,” He replied, leaning back on the couch to reposition his sister on his chest, reaching out an arm to Annabeth. She beamed, melting against him as his hand began to rub circles on her waist. “So, do you think our kid would be a little genius with blonde hair? Or a seaweed brain who can breathe underwater?”
She snorted, a smile still plastered over her face. “Blonde genius, duh.”
He scoffed and Annabeth felt his lungs vibrate. “No shot. We will be giving them their first bath and the water will start to levitate, then you will see I was right all along.”
She wanted to argue, but just the idea of giving their baby their first bath made her whole body feel limp. “Whatever. As long as they are ours, I won’t care one bit.”
“Me neither. I just know I want all of that and I want it with you.” He kissed her forehead and Annabeth wanted to freeze this moment in her mind forever. “So, how soon are we talking? Because I can totally go put Estelle in her crib and-”
“In your dreams, Seaweed Brain,” She interrupted, despite his joke making her whole entire body feel hot. He seemed to have that kind of effect on her.
“Every night, Wise Girl.”
“Let’s make it through college and get married first,” She said, leaning up to look him in the face. “Then we will talk.”
He huffed, rolling his sea-green eyes that Annabeth prayed their children would have one day. “Yeah, yeah. I guess I have some things I wanna accomplish before I have a mini Percy or Annabeth to carry around.”
“Oh, yeah? Like what?”
He shrugged. “Maybe pass this semester of college algebra first. I bet having a kid would make that a lot harder.”
Annabeth laughed, leaning in to kiss the smirk off his face. “Good point. One step at a time.”
“I’m looking forward to it, though.”
“Me too,” She muttered as she nestled herself deeper into him, closing her eyes and listening to the steady rhythm of Percy’s heartbeat. It was her favorite sound in the whole entire world, a sound she cherished more than anything.
There had been a time when every second with him felt borrowed. Sixteen had loomed over them like a countdown, a deadline she couldn’t outthink or outplan. She had prepared herself to lose him. She convinced herself that she would survive it like she survived everything else, but she knew better than that. Even at sixteen, when he was just her best friend, she loved Percy more than she’d ever loved anyone. It would have shattered her, thrown her world completely off its foundation, left nothing behind but mere pieces of the girl she was before.
But he was still here. Beside her, warm and alive, holding her against his body like he’d never let go. He’d proven time and time again that he never would.
When Annabeth was younger, she’d dreamt of glory. Of quests, honor, of proving herself to the gods. She wanted to be remembered for the things she’d done and the feats she’d accomplished.
She’d done those things. She helped save the world twice, redesigned all of Olympus, completed a quest for her mother that cost hundreds of her siblings their lives.
But none of that compared to this. This feeling of love, security, hope.
It was still unfamiliar, still something she held carefully, like it might shatter if she held onto it too tightly. Old habits didn’t disappear overnight. A part of her still expected the world to shift beneath her feet, for something to go wrong, for the Fates to remember her name and come to collect what they were owed.
But in this moment, she could feel Percy’s warmth underneath her. Hear his heartbeat, the steady rhythm of his breathing. Maybe that was something strong enough to put her hope in.
Annabeth was beginning to learn that love wasn’t a weakness. Hope wasn’t a weakness. They are the very things that make this life worth living in the first place. You can be the greatest soldier, the smartest strategist, and the most powerful god, but still have nothing if you had no one to do it for.
She let her mind drift to the future she had once refused to imagine. A house filled with laughter. An older Percy, just as adorable as the day she first met him when they were twelve. A child—their child—curled up between them, asking too many questions, wanting to hear stories about monsters and gods like they were bedtime tales instead of scars that painted their bodies.
It was terrifying how much she wanted it.
It was him. It had always been him. But maybe someday, it could be more.
It was the least the Fates owed them.