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Annabeth thinks back to that potato leek soup she ordered on April Fools Day, remembers wondering how early was too early to be having pregnancy cravings, and telling the waiter she’d been craving that soup all week had definitely been too early; she now knew this to be true.
How did she know? Pregnancy cravings were far more intense.
She’d always been a sort of sweet and salty girl. Dipping pretzels into melted chocolate was fairly standard for her pre-pregnancy cravings.
So much so that Percy kept a bowl of chocolate in their living room and always got a sampling of salty snacks to choose from anytime he went food shopping.
Now, she wants that soup. It’s the middle of July. Hot enough that you’re sweating before you even step outside and this baby wants goddamn soup.
Annabeth does what any smart and rational person would do—makes reservations at that same restaurant for tonight. Then, she calls Percy.
“Hey, everything okay? Do you need me?”
He’s sweet. Percy’s always been sweet but since April, Annabeth has noticed that he’s even more attentive.
“I’m okay, baby’s okay too.” She subconsciously places a hand to her stomach. “I made dinner plans for 5:30.”
It’s only half past 3 now.
“I’ll be home by then. I’m finishing up at mom’s now.”
Percy had gone over to hangout with Estelle because Sally had gotten called into work. Filling in for a sick co-worker.
She can hear Estelle in the background.
“How is she?”
“We were halfway to making brownies from scratch when she switched tactics and now I’m in a tiara.”
Annabeth grins. “Take some photos for me.”
“Absolutely not.”
But she knows better. Percy probably already has taken said photos.
“Okay, okay,” Percy is saying, “Stella wants to talk to you.”
There’s laughter in his voice as he passes the phone to his sister.
“Beth.”
“Hi Estelle. How are you?”
“Percy and I made you a gift.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yup, I did most of the work though.”
“Hey!” Percy exclaims.
“I bet you did. That sounds just like my…” She wants to say husband. But he’s not yet. “Percy.”
“Our Percy,” Estelle corrects.
“Yes, he is ours. Get him back to me safe, okay?”
“I will.”
“Can you put him back on?”
Estelle makes an affirmative noise and Percy’s back.
“So a gift huh?”
“Yeah, Estelle’s quite the artist as you know.”
Their apartment’s fridge was just as covered as Sally and Paul’s.
“I do.”
In fact, she’s looking at one of those drawings now. Hanging as close to the top of the fridge as it can be is a rainbow. Sitting above the rainbow: a small village, a few houses and some stick figures in various colors.
Annabeth knows it’s Estelle’s version of Olympus. She drew it as Annabeth told her about the renovations she was doing there. To Estelle, Olympus is still a myth. A nice little story to explain how the world works. Someday, she’ll know the truth. Maybe she’ll even have the sight to see through the mist like her mom.
Annabeth wonders if their baby will have that too. Being a child of two demigods, they must have a good chance.
“Beth? I think I lost you.”
“Hun? Oh, I’m, um, here. Sorry, distracted.”
“I asked, why the sudden dinner plans?”
“Soup.”
“What? Soup?” He’s chuckling.
“April Fools Day. I got that potato leek soup.”
“I see, your cravings are weird.”
“At least I’m not eating pickles and ice cream.”
“Don’t knock it till you try it, Chase,” Percy says.
“You’re so gross. You’re never even eaten it and you’re defending it.”
“That’s it, after you get your soup we’re having pickles and ice cream. I’ll stop at the store on my way home.”
“No!” Annabeth laughs, “I don’t want that.”
“What flavor do you want?” He ignores her. “Vanilla? Chocolate? I think mint chip would be a little too much green.”
Annabeth is shaking her head. “Just get blue sprinkles and we’ll be good.”
Percy does indeed get blue sprinkles, a jar of pickles, and a pint of half vanilla half chocolate ice cream. In a second bag, he has chocolates and two different bags of chips. He really does know her.
After Annabeth gets her soup, he makes sundaes. And she has to admit, she was right, it's so gross. Percy on the other hand goes back for seconds.
She’s staring at her future husband dipping pickles into chocolate fudge thinking she’s the luckiest woman alive.
“Percy?”
Spoon in mouth, he looks up with eyebrows raised in question.
“We should probably start thinking about names.”
“I think we should leave Greek heroes out of it.”
Annabeth smiles, “okay that’ll narrow it down.”
They both decided not to find out the baby’s gender. So their baby name list becomes a bit all over the place.
“How long do people normally take to decide on a name?”
“Sometimes parents decide in the hospital,” Annabeth tells him, “we won’t be that couple.”
“Noted.” He examines their list again. “I still like Penelope.”
“I thought you said no Greek heroes?” She chuckles.
He shrugs, “maybe we’re limiting ourselves.”
“If you get to add Penelope, I get Diomedes.”
She’s only mostly kidding.
“I’ll put Phillip back on the table.”
“Because it means fond of horses? No.”
They do a lot of playful fighting. A lot.
“Fine, Alexandra.”
“Just because that was almost your name does not mean it should be our potential daughters,” Percy says.
“So what? It’s a good name.”
“Okay, how about Chris then?”
Annabeth stares blankly at him.
“That was almost my name. After my grandpa.”
“I could not see you as a Chris.”
Percy laughs, “me neither.”
“So where does this leave us?” Annabeth asks, looking over their list.
“With 3 girl names and 2 boys,” Percy answers. “Should we discuss middle names?”
“Another day, can’t we just put a movie on?”
Annabeth snuggles into his side. She might not make it through this movie. Percy made for an awfully comfortable pillow.
A week later Annabeth wakes up hot. And alone. She pats the space next to her and finds only disturbed sheets, no Percy. She gets up and turns on her fan before venturing to the bathroom; she might as well pee since she’s up anyway.
She quietly pads down the hallway afterwards noticing a light coming from downstairs. It’s the kitchen. Maybe Percy had gotten up for a glass of water. Annabeth decides she could use a drink too. Even if it means she’ll have to pee again.
Instead of seeing Percy leaning against the sink nursing a glass of water, she sees him hunched over a notepad scribbling something down.
“Am I interrupting?” She asks.
He falls out of his seat.
“Shit, are you okay?” Annabeth says, kneeling on the floor next to him.
“Fine, fine.” Percy brushes her off and stands up on his own before helping Annabeth to her feet too.
“What are you doing up?”
“Got hot.”
He nods.
“Why are you up?” She asks, grabbing a glass from the cabinet.
Percy shrugs, “I had some ideas for baby names. And I decided on a middle name.”
“Oh? So I get no input on the middle name?”
She’s mostly teasing but it is their baby. Annabeth is not about to let Percy make this decision alone.
“Alright, hit me.” Annabeth opens the fridge to pour herself some water. “What name did you choose?”
He smiles. Like he’s got a secret he can’t wait to share with someone.
“I think it’ll work as a gender neutral name,” he tells her. “Though it’s usually male.”
She sips her water waiting for the big reveal. Percy’s never been one for keeping secrets very long from her. The longest one was probably his proposal but even then they had so many discussions about marriage it was always a matter of when he’d ask her, not if he would.
“Chase.”
Annabeth softens.
She wanted to be a Jackson when they got married. Sally and Percy welcomed her into their family when she was young and she always felt safe with them. Paul and Estelle were just added bonuses. There weren’t enough Jacksons as far as Annabeth was concerned. But being a Chase meant a lot to her too.
It was the name she always had. Something tying her to her dad, her brothers. Even when some days she wished she didn’t have that tie, it was still who she was. Being able to incorporate the only identity she’d know into their baby’s was enough to make her tear up.
“It’s perfect.”