The Wants of a Young Demigod Heart (Nico di Angelo, Leo Valdez x OC)

Baby Shopping

3rd Person POV

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After the death of Tracy, the group of six retire to bed, Ryan resting his new baby daughter on his chest, against the wishes of Merrily.

The next morning, Taylor starts wailing her butt off and of course, nobody has any food for her. Merrily goes over to Chey, leaving Ryan bouncing a crying baby.

"Chey, uh, this might be the first time I'll ever ask this, but..."

"There's a Wells Fargo right around the corner from here?" Chey grins. "Yeah, let's do this!"

"No that's not what I-" Merrily starts, but Chey is already gone. Thirty minutes pass and Chey returns, breathless, pulling off a ski mask and holding a giant plastic bag full of cash.

"Is this enough?" she asks, face full of innocence. Merrily sighs, and nods.

Once in town, they sneak past the group of police officers surrounding a Wells Fargo and make their way to the town square.

"Okay guys," Merrily tells everyone. "We'll spilt up into groups of two."

At this, Abigail chimes in looking mischievous. She and Ryan had been whispering earlier. "How about, Merrily and Leo, and then Chey and Nico and then Ryan and I can go together." Merrily looks constipated, but can't complain for fear that people will realize she does not like Leo. And of course, Leo and Chey have no objections.

"Fine," Merrily sighs. "Leo and I will go get the stroller and blankets, Nico and Chey can get the clothes and Abigail and Ryan can get the formula and diapers." Chey distributes the money evenly, or so everyone thinks. Merrily personally thinks that Chey and Nico will be making a stop at McDonald's.

Leo and Merrily enter a stroller store. Merrily drags Leo to some of the more practical strollers. Merrily points out a gray stroller with coral and mint flowers.

"But that's so boring!" Leo complains. "I could make one! I'd give it rocket boosters so Ryan wouldn't have to push all the time and the baby could steer from time to time!"

"See, Leo," Merrily says annoyedly. "The point is safety. Do you know what that means?"

"Not really, no," Leo answers with an impish grin. The first one they'd seen the entire trip. "Okay, how about this. I'll give it a cereal dispenser and add flamethrowers!"

"One of those is a good idea," Merrily says. "The other is not. Care to tell me which is a good idea?"

"The flamethrowers?" Leo asks innocently. Merrily sighs and gets the gray stroller, ignoring Leo's protests that he'd only add one rocket booster and the baby didn't have to steer, it could just be on autopilot.

The lady at the register looks at the two of them, confused. "Are you two together or something?"

Leo turns red and Merrily says, "Uh, no I'm not- we're not- he's not dating, uh, um..." Needless to say, they got out of that store fast.

The next store they went to, Leo insisted on getting a red blanket with flames on it and also accidentally set a basket on fire. They got a different small basket, against Leo's wishes, who wanted to have the baby sleep inside of Festus's engine area. By the end of the two hours they spent in that store, Merrily was worn out, yet Leo still seemed to have endless energy.

Meanwhile, Chey and Nico were eating McDonald's. No, it wasn't a date, and no, they do not like each other at all. But if you asked the passerby, who saw Chey grab Nico's hand after being scared by a pigeon, they might have a different story to tell you.