Stucco hearts

Chapter 12

Annabeth is actually cooking.

Well. Not cooking, exactly. But she's sitting on the counter of the home in which Percy grew up and is handing his mother different ingredients as she prepares a meal for the four of them, which is, in Percy's book, good enough. He peers into the kitchen from where he sits in the family room, pretending to talk to Paul, and thinks about the way his mother is beaming at Annabeth, and the way Annabeth is telling a story with her hands.

She never acts like this around her own family. She isn't quite as alive around her own family, but when Percy watches her with his mother, he sees a safety that is between the two of them that makes his stomach ache with everything that is good. Annabeth is his soul mate. She was always meant to be a part of his family.

Just like Paul was. And despite the fact that Sally Jackson's timer hadn't gone off on Paul Blofis, Percy is now certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Paul is the man who his mom was supposed to end up with. This is how it's going to be for the rest of their lives. Percy and Annabeth, his mom and his step-dad, and they're going to have holidays together and Sunday dinners and Annabeth and his mom are going to laugh as hard as they're laughing right now.

Watching them together reverberates all the way through Percy, until he can't help but itch to finish his conversation with Paul so that he can join them and find out what they're discussing. As soon as they're done talking about the new addition to the house that Sally and Paul are trying to get approved, Percy excuses himself and heads into the kitchen, where he leans against the counter and places his chin on Annabeth's shoulder. She absently kisses him on the top of his head as she passes his mom a spoon to stir the soup with, not breaking conversation.

"So, Perce," says his mom, and Percy raises his eyebrows expectantly, waiting for his mom to finish throwing avocado into the taco soup so that she can finish her question. "How's work lately?"

"It's good," he lies automatically. Annabeth's brow furrows as she looks down at him, trying to scrutinize his expression. But Percy just gives her a huge, goofy smile and kisses her on the lips. "Seriously," he says, more to her than his mom. "I'm fine."

Annabeth doesn't think he's fine. She's been making concerned comments for weeks about how exhausted he is after work, and how much harder he has to work in order to make up for Frank dropping the ball at the office. Percy's been sleeping more than ever lately, unable to stay awake long enough to make more than a few falsely cheerful exchanges with his wife. He misses her. He feels like he's only ever awake enough to enjoy her company on the weekends.

When it comes down to it, Annabeth doesn't think that Percy is happy. And maybe he isn't happy-- at least not with work. But he is happy when he comes home to her and gets to pepper her face in kisses. He likes clamboring on top of her on the couch and tickling her, making her shriek with laughter that isn't held back by any form of propriety. He likes kissing her until she's breathless; likes knowing the ticks of her body.

As many times as he has communicated this to her, Annabeth tells him that it isn't enough. She says that, if he isn't happy getting up and putting on a button-down shirt, he should find a job that him excited to dress up or dress down or do whatever it is that will make him thrilled to wake up in the morning.

Percy has never known anything but this job-- these people. He's been with them since he was a kid. Since he wasn't able to complete his education, and they took him under their wings and gave him money to support his mother with, before she met Paul. Before this job, they'd never had enough. Now, Percy isn't going to do that same thing to Annabeth. Whatever he had wanted to do before is utterly insignificant. Annabeth's comfort is what matters now.

"I keep telling him that he needs to find a job that makes him happy," Annabeth is saying, exchanging a conspirational look with his mom. "Maybe you can talk some sense into him, Mrs. Jackson."