No Day But Today

 

“It’s been twelve years, hasn’t it?”

 

“Yes, twelve years.”

 

Zeus sighed and looked at the twelve year old boy currently doing homework at the kitchen table some ways away from them, though he could see familiar sea-green eyes (it still hurts so much to see them) peeking at them every so often.

 

“I don’t know how you and Hades managed to pull it off, but I am not against it. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me though,” he scowled.

 

“I’m surprised you managed to be ignorant of it for so long, and that we managed to keep you in the dark,” Hera replied in amusement. Her amusement died down a little. “We wanted as little people to know as possible, just to keep from overwhelming him at his age –you know they all would have come and bombarded him with their presence. And we also didn’t want it to spread to too many people at all. Too many is just too many, especially since we were trying to keep it quiet and selective. As of now, only you, Hades, Poseidon, myself, and Hermes know of Percy’s existence as he is now.”

 

Zeus nodded, but he was lost in thought as he watched the child painfully.

 

“So how has life been for you as a single mother? I can’t seem to be able to see you enjoying it and all the dirty work,” he said wryly, forcefully changing the tune of his mind.

 

Hera smirked though. “Says you. I’m a wonderful mother. Ask my child. Percy will claim I’m the best mother in the world and fight you like an adorable, stubborn child about it, despite the futileness of it.”

 

Zeus raised an eyebrow at her, but her smirk just widened before becoming a fond, contented smile.

 

“But seriously, I truly have enjoyed this time. I even changed his diapers myself, when he was a baby. It was disgusting at first…but when he would gurgle and give an adorable happy toothless grin at me, with his beautiful eyes sparkling…Oh, it was so worth it. I didn’t mind after awhile. None of those messy chores and obstacles dealing with a young one, not anymore. And he showered me with such love and affection. A child of mine finally really loved me so much,” Hera looked lovingly over at her child.

 

“But he wasn’t your child at first,” Zeus prompted.

 

Hera frowned. “No…he was reborn to a couple that both died. The father long before the birth, by a car accident, ironically. The mother died in childbirth. Hades managed to manipulate circumstances enough that Percy would be born to this ill-fated couple, so that with their death, Percy would not have any outside ties and it would be easier for us to take him in. Hades managed to then fast-track an adoption. In absence of a father, Poseidon comes frequently and is like a surrogate father to Percy. Hades comes frequently enough –but you know him. He doesn’t want to be seen as a relative. On the other hand, while Hermes sees similarly, he can’t keep away.” The doorbell rang. “Ah, in fact that’s him, I’m sure.”

 

“Mama, do you want me to get it?” Percy looked curiously over to her, shyly ducking his head when he accidentally looked into Zeus’ eyes.

 

“No, darling. I’ll get it. You just finish up your work so you can go, okay?” Hera seemed so utterly tender and soft, that Zeus had a hard time seeing her as Hera, the one he’d known for millennia.

 

Percy had always changed them, but in the time as her child, he seemed to have changed Hera even further.

 

Hera left for the door, which left Percy and Zeus alone.

 

“H-hullo,” Percy softly greeted first.

 

Zeus quietly noted that this Percy seemed so similar and yet different. The Percy before him was much more serious, and even a little smarter and studious. Perhaps an aftereffect echo of his time with Athena that transferred over…That and Percy was being raised by Hera, who would be rather strict about that perhaps. And as not a demigod this time around, perhaps it seemed that the usual troubles a demigod went through would not be visited upon him this time around. He wondered about that, and of whether or not Percy would have his power still. Or if because he wasn’t born to a god or goddess, and was only a reincarnated demigod, he wouldn’t have anything associated with a demigod –no powers, but no dyslexia, ADHD…

 

But as a complete mortal, it worried him about Percy’s safety and monsters.

 

Hopefully, as truly a mortal this time, Percy would not be bothered by monsters as he had been in his past life.

 

“Hello, Perseus,” Zeus finally greeted back, giving a small friendly smile.

 

“It’s Percival,” Percy corrected. “Mama named me Percival. But I like being called Percy!”

 

Zeus gave a wider smile. “Percy then.”

 

Though it was rather strange and exasperating (but also painful and yet achingly wonderful) that Hera and Hades managed to name Percy the same as before –minus being Percival versus Perseus, but distinguishes always had to be made from present to past –Zeus found it made it harder to forget the Percy from before, which inevitably led to remembering his death, and then his long absence from everyone’s lives…

 

“I am Zeus,” he introduced himself. “You remind me of a very special person I once knew –his name was Perseus and he also preferred being called Percy. He was very brave, kind, and very, very loyal…”

 

Yes, the pain was still raw and had truly never gone away.

 

Just then, a little girl gracefully strode in with a smirk broadly plastered on her face, and was followed by a very familiar god.

 

“Hermes!” Percy happily jumped from his seat. “Luc! I promise I’m done with my work, so can we go now?”

 

Luc…

 

Zeus blinked and warily looked at the girl, who noticed and gave a friendly (if cocky) wave at him. Hermes looked at him hesitantly, and he gave a simple nod at the other. Hera sidled next to him.

 

“That Luc wouldn’t be…”

 

“Formerly Luke Castellan, reborn hilariously and ironically as a female. Personality’s all intact though. Still as cocky, brash, conceited, prideful, and arrogant as he ever was, even being reincarnated and female,” Hera rolled her eyes. “Born Lucille Castellan. Yes, Castellan –blame Hermes on that. Although, he might have taken it from my cue on keeping Percy’s name the same…”

 

“Of Sally Blofis…” he suddenly asked about, since they had gone on talking about things of the past.

 

Hera looked wounded, and averted her eyes away from her husband, looking mournfully at Percy from where he was talking animatedly with Lucille and Hermes.

 

“I wanted to tell her,” she said suddenly. “I wanted to tell her so much. I wanted her to be the first to know.”

 

Zeus kept listening, frowning as Hera sighed and slumped slightly.

 

“Zeus…Athena is still with her.”

 

He cringed and understood.

 

“I wanted Sally to have known, to have been a part of his life from the beginning…but Athena is still in her service, and to tell Sally would be to somehow get Athena to be involved sooner or later. She would have noticed, found out…” Hera gave him an accusing, angry look.

 

Zeus looked away. He knew that all those involved in this, hadn’t wanted Percy to ever get involved with Athena ever again. No matter what, it seems.

 

He felt torn. It had been a long time and he wanted to forgive Athena and not have her miserable, as well as stop the others…but he also couldn’t forget Percy and how he was treated and how he’d died. And the others were rightfully angry and in pain.

 

He cared for Athena truly and wanted to help her…but he had also cared a great deal about Percy, who had been snatched away so quickly and painfully from them all.

 

“I don’t want her anywhere near my child,” Hera quietly spat out.

 

Zeus stayed quiet and still.

 

He also couldn’t help feeling like he couldn’t let her near Percy again.

 

“I do not want Athena to come to know Percy once again,” he softly admitted. “She should not be allowed to…”

 

“She doesn’t deserve to,” Hera glared at him. “I’d rather be mortal and die a mortal, than let that woman come destroy my child again.”

 

Zeus nodded solemnly. “I understand. I will not push for you to allow such a thing. Not even I, at this moment, would condone it. The pain…the pain is still too fresh. I do not wish to see it happening again, and have history repeat itself.”

 

“As long as we are clear,” Hera grumbled in aggravation.

 

“Alright!” they heard Hermes exclaim and clap his hands excitedly. “Then it’s off we go, isn’t it?”

 

“Yeah!” Percy grinned widely. “Bye Mama…Mr. Zeus,” he turned shy.

 

Zeus gave another sincere, fond smile to the young boy. “Goodbye, Percy. Enjoy your day.”

 

Hera said her goodbyes too and then the trio was gone, with Hera and Zeus still there.

 

“Though I could not tell her, I wanted to do something for Sally Blofis in return,” Hera spoke regretfully. “I blessed her. It’ll be a bit soon, but…she’ll have another child. Hopefully, it won’t be too late…”

 

Zeus hummed an agreement. “Percy would have had a sister.”

 

“Has a sister,” Hera corrected him gently. “Though not by blood anymore, Percy –no matter what –would –will consider this new one a sibling.”

 

“That would be like him,” Zeus murmured. “Do you think it would be alright if I came around a lot? It would be nice to see him…to watch him grow and be happy this time…”

 

Hera laughed lightly. “Of course. Who would notice us and where we go? And no one would care what we got up to, especially with the council meetings becoming just as infrequent as they usually had been before the war.”

 

Zeus’ lips twitched up. “It’s very convenient, indeed.”

 

Twelve years had been a very long, agonizing time, but there is no time like the present.

 

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Paul sighed, threading his hand through Sally’s hair. She was looking so pale and sickly these days.

 

It had been a very long twelve years, and time hadn’t made things easier or better for them. Sally grew more depressed as the days passed, and then she was taken to the doctors and being prescribed Setraline to deal with her depression. She seemed so tired all the time, and sometimes got severe headaches. There were nights where she couldn’t sleep, and he’d wake up to find the bed empty and to look for her, only to find her in Percy’s room crying, or she would be in there looking at his photo albums. Sometimes she would be just too nauseous to do anything.

 

Some days were better, but some days were not.

 

“Paul,” Sally murmured tiredly, weakly opening her eyes.

 

“Yes, sweetheart?” he gave her a small smile.

 

“My stomach is really hurting,” she moaned. “I feel like something is trying to tear out of it.”

 

He grew extremely worried. “Do you want me to take you to the doctors?”

 

“Please? I don’t know what’s wrong.”

 

“Okay, Sally. You have to take your meds first before you forget, alright?” he helped her sit up and took the set aside water and pills, helping her take them and then drink water. Afterwards, he helped her up and get out of the bed, before letting her put almost all of her weight on him as he supported her out of that room and down the stairs. His eyes darkened angrily as he caught sight of Athena, who looked at them before quickly ducking her head and avoiding his gaze.

 

“Look after the house. We’ll be gone,” he said shortly, not saying any details and not waiting for an answer from her.

 

He ignored her and went passed quickly, helping Sally out the door and to their car. After strapping his wife in, he got into his side and drove out of their driveway. It wasn’t long until they were hurrying (as much as they could in their state) into the ER and having her checked in. After awhile of waiting after some tests, they received some very unexpected news.

 

“Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Blofis, You’re going to have a baby,” the doctor announced.

 

Paul’s eyes widened, while Sally sputtered inelegantly.

 

“A-are you sure?” she asked hesitantly. “I haven’t had any clue until you said so. Shouldn’t I have known any signs?”

 

The doctor nodded understandingly. “I believe, as you are currently on Setraline, that the negative side effects from the medication masked your pregnancy. You’re actually four months pregnant.”

 

“Would the medicine affect the baby?” Paul asked, trying not to hold his breath.

 

He felt dread rise up in him, and thought maybe he shouldn’t have made Sally take her medicine (but the doctor had said she needed to take it and he had to help her).

 

“There is a chance the baby would be affected and even possibly have birth defects, but it is definitely rare,” the doctor informed them.

 

It made Paul feel lighter, but he was still worried. He could tell Sally was too.

 

“I don’t understand,” she said in confusion. “I’m already four months. How can I not have known? Even with the Setraline, couldn’t I have found out at all?”

 

“It really isn’t that rare for such cases to happen,” the doctor was trying to reassure them. “Some women have been known to not know they were ever pregnant even right up to when they go into labor, where they finally find out. They might even have to actually give birth to the baby first. It’s a case of sometimes women don’t always show the usual signs, or not noticing absent periods because it’s a norm for some women. Some signs are just taken as something else, and it’s really not too noticeable.”

 

They were both rather dazed, but continued on with the appointment. Sally was prescribed some prenatal pills and then they were off to go back home.

 

“Paul…I won’t take the Setraline anymore.”

 

He looked at her in alarm. “But –”

 

She shook her head, staring at the window. “No. Not…not while I’m like this. Not when I’m pregnant.”

 

For a second, silence reigned in the car. Then he reached over and grabbed one of her hands, squeezing.

 

“Okay,” he said quietly.

 

And it had started with that.

 

Paul helped with bringing Sally back into the home, steadfastly ignoring Athena and saying nothing to her. The goddess opened her mouth, but didn’t say anything. She quietly closed her mouth and left them alone.

 

After putting Sally to rest in her bed, Paul walked back down the stairs and headed into the kitchen, where he slumped in a chair at the table.

 

He was going to be a father. He had a baby on the way.

 

Could he do it?

 

He’d failed Percy the first time he tried to be a father. Even though they weren’t related in blood, Paul had considered Percy his anyway. For a brief moment, he resented this coming baby for the added stress it was putting on Sally and for making him feel like he was trying to forget or move on from Percy with it. But he quickly dismissed the thought, because he knew Percy would have loved and spoiled the child to bits, and he felt a small bit of warmth in his heart for it already as well.

 

But now he was back to worrying.

 

Trying to calm his mind and his emotions, Paul got up and started for the door. He grabbed his coat on the way, before he saw Athena quietly standing nearby. He clenched his jaw and his eyes darkened, before he dismissively looked away and then he was out of the house.

 

He hated her.

 

He felt raindrops starting to lightly plop down from the sky, and frowned as he realized it was about to rain. He got into his car, and thankfully saw that his umbrella was already in the back. He didn’t want to go back inside and face that woman.

 

Paul turned on the car and determinedly drove to his destination.

 

At the graveyard, he navigated through the maze of grave markers until he found Percy’s. Holding the umbrella above his head, he stared down remorsefully at the grave.

 

Perseus Jackson

Beloved son and a hero.

August 18, 1993 – January 27, 2012

 

“Percy…what do I do? Please tell me what to do,” Paul choked up near the end and fell to his knees, the hand not holding the umbrella landing on the grave marker. “How can I do this?”

 

The hand holding the umbrella sluggishly fell to the side and he sat up slightly, though he was still a bit hunched over and slouching over Percy’s grave. The umbrella solemnly lay on the ground beside him, useless as it got pelted by rain and Paul was getting drenched himself.

 

“I want this baby, but I don’t. Tell me, Percy. Is it really okay? Is it really alright for us to move on and replace you? But I don’t want to. And Sally won’t ever. So tell me what to do now! Please, Percy!”

 

Even though the rain hid his tears, Paul could feel them clearly on his face.

 

How could he ever do this to Percy?

 

He lifted up his face and closed his eyes, feeling the rain on his face. It was miserably cold and he was numb and wet, but nothing seemed to really matter right then. And in a way, like this, he could even imagine he felt Percy through the rain, like the boy he’d loved truly as a son had been absorbed into the waters and become part of his father’s domain.

 

No matter being cold and wet; he felt a little bit closer to Percy like this.

 

Suddenly, he felt a cold nose sniffing at his hand and he slowly opened his eyes and depressingly looked over, seeing a hunter-type dog there. It had no leash (seemed a stray) and it was spotted.

 

“Hey there, Beautiful,” he gave it a half smile. “What are you doing around these gloomy parts? Go on home.”

 

It barked loudly at him and moved to steadfastly sit by his side.

 

“You really want to stay and brood here with me?” Paul muttered, but he fondly rubbed its head.

 

It snapped its jaw up and accurately caught his sleeve, getting up and tugging it as it tried to pull him away.

 

He looked hesitantly at it and then at the grave marker. “But –”

 

It gave a harder pull and it was enough to almost make him topple over. Blinking several times, he looked to the hunting dog, who was still tugging at his sleeve. He swallowed and looked to the grave.

 

“I’ll see you, Percy,” he murmured.

 

He slowly got up, picking up the umbrella on the way, and began the trek out of the graveyard with his new companion trailing at his feet.

 

Auburn hair danced in the wind, before a figure vanished.

 

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The next few months were harsh. Sally stopped taking her medicine and she began to be more irritable and have rapid mood swings. She was also suffering from horrible withdrawal, but Paul tried his best to be patient. Even though he had Athena there to help, most of the time he had her away and took care of Sally himself, unless there was a real need for more help. Anything so that Sally would feel less pain and wouldn’t suffer so much…

 

She was delighted with the new dog though. He was too, especially after bringing it home and how it growled menacingly when it was first confronted with Athena. He’d patted its head and said “Good girl” at the action.

 

And yeah, it was a girl. They’d name her Luna too, because the white sheen of her coat glinted like the moonlight.

 

Sally would cuddle up with Luna on some of her bad days, and it would help ease everything, at least for a bit. It made Paul happy that he’d managed to find the loyal stray, and that they were able to keep it after checking it out with the vet and everything.

 

“Paul…Paul! I think my water just broke!”

 

His eyes widened and he rushed over to Sally, who had Athena bracing her before bodily lifting the pregnant woman up and holding her. He hid his grimace and just led the way out of there, heading to the car and starting it up. Once the two women were in, he backed out and went straight to the hospital.

 

Athena stood outside the room, while Paul was in there and holding Sally’s hand, trying his best to soothe her and help through the process. Despite that, panic was inwardly consuming him as well.

 

And then Sally gave birth to a baby girl.

 

Paul held the tiny infant in his arms, in awe at the new life and how small and vulnerable she was in his arms.

 

“She’s beautiful,” he heard Sally weakly say and he excitedly looked up to see if she felt strong enough to hold their baby.

 

His excitement fell and his smile was wiped away when Sally gave him a sad smile and closed her eyes. She breathed a few more times, before he saw her chest stop rising.

 

“We’re losing her!”

 

It was such a blur of motion and he stood there staring at her, not even noticing when one of the nurses assisting in the birth gently took the baby from his numb arms, quietly slipping to a corner and rocking the baby sweetly. A quiet few whispers and she tenderly kissed the baby’s head, and the baby glowed briefly.

 

A few moments later, Sally was really gone and she was wheeled away, and Paul was sitting in one of the chairs in the waiting room, curled up with his knees up as he rocked back and forth and clutched painfully at his hair.

 

Artemis respectfully sat next to him in silence, carefully holding the baby in her arms as she stared out in front of her.