Percabeth: As We Grow

Silena Bianca Jackson

Percy's POV

Silena had to stay in the Apollo cabin's infirmary for almost a month after she was born. Annabeth was so sad nowadays about Silena, she just moped around. She wouldn't do anything, really, just ate and slept and stared into space. Let me tell you, although I knew Annabeth was going through a hard time, I was too! Who says I don't care about Silena? But I didn't become a hollowed-out shell of a demigod. Annabeth did.

I was left to cope with Zoë and Luke by myself. Sometimes the others including Will, Nico, Bianca and occasionally Reyna and Thalia when they weren't doing mysterious Hunter stuff came over and helped. I was totally relieved.

I knew Annabeth had to change, had to cope, or she'd be stuck like this forever. I had to do something.

Even the kids noticed something wasn't right. "Daddy, Mommy won't read to me." Luke complained once.

"I know, Luke." I smiled at him wearily. "Mommy's just  upset about your little sister."

"Zoë?"

"No, Zoë's older than you, Luke. Silena, your new baby sister."

"How come she's not here?"

"She's premature, Luke." I said softly. That was one of the good things about Luke, he knew so many words you didn't need to explain the meaning of it to him.

"But she'll get bigger, won't she?" Luke furrowed his brows.

"Yeah, she will." I said firmly.

Silena was finally allowed out of the infirmary and out of her tiny incubator after a month. Annabeth didn't dare to touch her, afraid of hurting her.

"She looks okay, Percy." Annabeth whispered at my side. Her eyes were full of tears.

"She is okay, Wise Girl." I murmured, feeling excited. Was Annabeth truly back to normal now?

"But she's not okay." Tears started to trickle slowly down her face. "Will said she's not. She's premature, Percy."

"What if she is?" I said sharply. Annabeth looked at me in shock, but I was fed up of her moping around all day. "Look, Annie," I began in a softer tone, "she's still here, isn't she?"

Annabeth nodded, tears still falling.

"Who cares if our daughter is premature? I don't, that's for sure. If you force yourself to not accept her as if she is a normal person, she'll grow up insecure and underconfident, and she won't be able to stand up for herself."

Annabeth sighed. "I know, Percy, but I'm scared. I'm so scared she's gonna die, I worry about her constantly, I feel she's too small to survive."

I nodded, confirming that I was listening. Annabeth took a shaky breath, then went on. "And if she's gonna be a strong demigod, how can she run from or fight monsters with a size this small? If she survives infanthood, she's gonna die when she encounters her first monster for sure. Zoë and Esperanza would've died if we didn't happen to hear their screams at the time. What's gonna happen to Silena if we don't get there in time?"

"Annabeth." I said steadily. "She's gonna survive. You know she's gonna survive. She will survive because she will have her mother's wits and intelligence to fight a monster with her own clever way. She will survive infanthood because we will be here, looking over her. And when we're gone, Silena will always have Zoë and Luke and all her other friends to help her through, no matter if she's normal sized or not."

Annabeth took another shaky breath and wiped away her tears. We sat in silence for a long time, just watching Silena sleep peacefully in her little crib. Zoë and Luke were at Leo and Calypso's house, so all was quiet.

I finally stood up and went over to Silena's crib. Sure, she was tiny, sure, she was premature, but she was our daughter.

"Annabeth, she's gonna survive." I said again. "I can feel it. After all, she's a little survivor."

Silena opened her little gray-green eyes, yawning, and Annabeth and I smiled.