Work Text:
When they return from Camp Jupiter, she feels lighter. Mentally at least.
They come home on a Wednesday, which means Annabeth’s work week is really only two days. But going in on Thursday means enduring a workplace happy hour. Once a month, they host an in office happy hour with booze and snacks. Annabeth has been strategically avoiding them for the last few months. Planning meetings during them or leaving early those days claiming date nights with Percy (which quickly turned into real date nights), but she was fresh from a vacation now and she couldn’t escape this one.
She’s going to have to tell them because the office only ever serves beer or wine. There’s no runaround to be played here by making mixed drinks with no alcohol. Or else, be ridiculed for not letting loose (most of the office already sees her as a workaholic). Annabeth is used to having the all-business-all-the-time attitude but she really doesn’t want her coworkers to think that she’s unable to have fun. Especially since she’s missed the last five or so happy hours.
Annabeth debates on how to tell her co-workers. Does she just show up tomorrow morning in a dress that hugs her midsection? Her bump is definitely noticeable when she allows it to be.
Technically she doesn’t have to notify anyone of her maternity leave until a month before she takes it so theoretically she could just wait and see who notices first and just endure the office happy hour ragging.
Or she can turn this whole happy hour into a pregnancy reveal party.
Thus, she spent most of the day cleaning the apartment and thinking about what to do at work tomorrow. At the end of her Big Think, Annabeth decides she would rather be the center of attention for one event than risk having a whisper down the lane situation in the office.
Not that she’s an attention seeker but being pregnant does take up space in one’s life. You get attention without asking for it. Annabeth likes to be in control. Telling people she’s having a baby versus them guessing she is—it's no brainer. Obviously, Annabeth is going to control the narrative.
How to go about telling them was a whole other beast. Maybe she should make cupcakes or something? Percy is pretty fancy with icing and could help her out.
Between loads of laundry, she quietly gets the right ingredients and lays them on the countertop. Percy pops his head in as she’s tiptoeing to reach the flour. He reaches from behind her and pulls it down for her.
“What’s going on?” He asks, gesturing to her supplies.
“Can you preheat the oven?”
He does.
“I want to make cupcakes for work Happy Hour.”
He must spot the blue and pink sprinkles.
“You’re going to tell them.”
Unconsciously, her hand goes to her bump.
“I’m putting in for maternity leave too.”
Percy smiles and rolls up his sleeves, “let’s get to work.”
That’s what she loves about him: total support. He’s always on her side first and asks questions second.
They end up making just over 2 dozen cupcakes. Percy insists on keeping some for themselves. As he adds blue sprinkles, Percy asks “do you wonder if it’s a girl or boy?”
Annabeth pauses her own sprinkling. Honestly, she’s been so focused on simply doing what’s best for their baby she hadn’t given the sex much thought.
“Not really.”
“Seriously? Notable overthinker Annabeth Chase doesn’t wonder what she's carrying?”
“I want a healthy baby,” she says with a shrug, “I mean our parents went through plenty with us, how hard can a normal baby be.”
“You’re forgetting whose kid it is.”
She laughs, “you’re right, you’re a terrible influence. We’re doomed.”
“Hey! You’re just as bad! You did all that stuff with me!”
“Like what?”
He just kisses her in reply.
Annabeth packs the cupcakes in reusable Tupperware and hides it in a tote bag and leaves them in her office until Julie comes to find her for Happy Hour.
Julie peeks her head into the glass wall office, “Please tell me you’re not still working on the Hapner project, put it down for the night, come have some wine.”
Annabeth looks up.
“I’m finished,” she says, closing her laptop. “Let me just pack up and I’ll be there.”
“Are you sneaking out on us again?” Julie asks.
“No, not today. I told Percy not to wait up.”
Julie smiles, “good, we miss you around here. You used to be the one planning these things y’know? And now you can’t even be bothered to show up.”
Annabeth grabs her tote of cupcakes and her work bag. She has no need to come back to her office today.
“Well, you get me today.”
“I have to tell you around this date I got set up on.”
It’s then Annabeth remembers how much fun hanging out with her co-workers can be.
The walk to the conference room they’ve taken over for Happy Hour is short so Annabeth doesn’t hear the whole first date story but she hears enough to know it was awful enough that there would be no second date in Julie’s future. She might have to start seriously considering setting Julie up on a dating app because Julie’s friends clearly had bad taste.
“Look what the cat dragged in!”
Annabeth turns away from the drink table, saved for another moment from having to decline the alcohol.
“Hey, Dan, how are you?”
“We’re planning Caitlyn’s fifth birthday party already. She’ll be in kindergarten soon. I can’t believe it.”
“They grew up so fast,” she replies.
Everyone’s already kinda gathered around so she figures this is her opportunity.
“Speaking of, I made cupcakes.”
She lifts them out of her tote in all their pink and blue sprinkled glory.
The next day in the office is fairly normal until around lunch time when she receives a floral arrangement from her team congratulating her and Percy on their new addition.