Percy held a tiny hand as he walked across the parking lot of Solace's Sunshine Daycare. That tiny hand connected to a tiny arm, which connected to a tiny shoulder. That shoulder connected to his four year old daughter. He looked down at the small girl who was skipping along beside him, jumping over the cracks in the road. Percy smiled.
His daughter, Sofia, had thin dirty-blonde hair. Her eyes were green, like his. Today she was wearing a purple dress and pink leggings.
Percy looked beside him, at his wife. Annabeth smiled at him, keeping a firm grip on their sons' hands. Luke was walking alongside her quietly, while Bob, their other son, was struggling against Annabeth's firm grasp.
Percy reached over and grabbed Bob's hand from Annabeth. Annabeth mouthed Thanks to him.
Percy noticed a small tug coming from the side of his shirt. He looked down at Sofia.
"Are the other kids going to be nice?"
"I'm sure they will, sweetheart."
"But what if they aren't?"
Luke chimed in, "They were nice to me."
"That's easy for you to say, you were there last summer!"
"But it's still true!"
Luke now turned to his youngest brother, Bob. "Are you scared, Bob?"
"I'm never scared!" Bob said, pointing proudly to himself.
"See Sofie? You're the only one who's scared."
"Sofia, there's nothing to be worried or scared about." Percy looked down at his daughter.
"I'm not scared!" Sofie protested, "I just said that I was worried."
"Boys, stop picking on your sister. She can be a little worried, she hasn't ever been here." Annabeth sent a stern glare Percy's way and he had to struggle not to laugh.
"Neither have I." Bob pointed out.
Percy grabbed the door handle. "Well, Sofie, if you get too worried, you can always ask Nico to take you home."
"Uncle Nico is in there?" Sofia asked, pointing inside the open door.
"Yes he is." Annabeth let go of Bob's hand as he ran inside, following Luke, who had broken out of Percy's grip.
"Well... Alright, I'll go." Sofia walked inside cautiously.
Percy slipped an arm around Annabeth's hip as they walked inside.
The only other parents that were there when they walked in was Leo and Calypso. Their daughter was refusing to let go of Calypso's legs.
"Come on, Esperanza, let go of mommy's legs." Leo was saying as he tried to pry her from his wife's legs.
"Uh-uh." Esperanza said, shaking her head.
It was obvious that Calypso was trying to stifle a laugh. It was pretty amusing to watch a grown man try to pry the small girl off of her legs.
Leo looked over at Percy. "Any help over here?" He called over.
"No, I think you've got this." Percy called back.
Leo rolled his eyes. Calypso slowly bent down, pushing her daughter away from her, then grabbing on to her arms. "Esperanza, it's going to be okay. Daddy and I will be back before you know it, and you'll have so much fun, you won't even miss us."
"Really?" Esperanza's deep brown eyes stared at her mother.
"Mommy's right," Leo said, "all the kids here are nice and will play with you."
"You have to promise to come back though!" Esperanza said, crossing her arms.
"We promise." Calypso nodded. "Now go play." Esperanza ran off to go and play with Bob right as a door to Annabeth's left opened. A satyr who was about sixteen came out, munching on an apple.
"Hi Chuck," Annabeth smiled. "How have you been?"
"About the same, thanks. Dad's still trying to get me to play football, but I really don't feel like football's my thing, you know?"
"How is your dad, by the way?"
"Still a health nut. Last week mom brought home some chocolate cake as a treat, and dad went crazy, hitting it with his baseball bat and screaming 'Foul chocolatey beast! You won't get me this time!' ... I seriously think he's going nuts."
"That sounds like Coach alright." Leo managed to get out after laughing at Chuck's cake story.
"Where's Will and Nico?" Percy asked him after he was able to catch his breath.
"Will said he had some papers to sign and file, but I haven't seen Nico around yet..." Chuck frowned. "I'm sure he'll be here soon though."
"Alright, well were going to go ahead and go," Leo called out, holding the door open for Calypso. "Catch up with you all later, we can arrange something." The door closed behind them and a small bell tinkled as the door closed.
"We should probably go too, you've got that big project for Chiron, and I've got a swimming lesson in half an hour." Percy told Chuck. Sofia ran up to Annabeth and hugged her, then hugged Percy.
"Bye mommy, bye daddy!" She smiled and ran back to her brothers, who were trying to teach Esperanza how to play pirates.
As Percy and Annabeth reached the door, Piper grabbed for the handle on the other end. Annabeth let go of the handle as the door swung backwards and a small girl darted in. From behind Piper and her son, a voice called out.
"Selena!" Clarisse called after her daughter. Selena just giggled, hiding behind a couch. Clarrise ran in the door, hair in a ponytail, a small smile on her face. She pretended to be puzzled. "I wonder where Selena is..." Selena giggled from behind the couch as Clarisse looked around with mock cluelessness. She crept up on the couch and swooped up Selena in her arms. Selena squealed.
Piper walked through the the open door, her son holding her hand beside her. He held a book under his arm. "You can go and read now, Tom." Piper let go of her son's hand as he ran and sat cross-legged on the ground, book in his lap.
"Hey Piper. Where's Jason?" Annabeth asked.
"He wasn't feeling well, so he stayed home."
"Oh. Percy and I were just heading out. We should all meet up for lunch sometime though."
"That sounds good." Piper smiled as Percy and Annabeth walked out the door.
Clarisse let her daughter down gentley. "Go play with Chuck, alright?"
"Okay mom!" Selena giggled and ran toawrd Chuck, jumping on his back.
"Don't hurt him!" Clarrise shouted after her, laughing. She looked over at Piper, nodded, then walked outside. Piper watched Reyna pull up in to a parking space as she left the building.
Reyna pulled on her work hat as she walked inside. She opened the Employees Only door, hung up her coat, and was about to walk back in to the drop off room when Nico matterialized. She jumped and he smirked.
"Sorry, Reyna." He said. "How many kids are here right now?"
"I don't know, didn't count." Reyna looked out the door. "Bob, Luke, Sofia, Selena, Tom, Esperanza," Reyna looked over at the door. "Frank and Hazel are bringing in their twins, Emily and Sammy. Oh, and the Stoll brothers just drove up with their wives and kids, so that's five more, Andy, Sarah, and Nick are Connor's, then Cathryne and Katie are Travis's."
Nico counted off on his fingers. "Okay, so that's... Thirteen. Not bad for the first day."
Will came up behind Nico and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. Nico jumped, then relaxed. "I'm glad we were able to make a Camp Half Blood for kids."
"Well, it's not exactly like Camp Half Blood or Camp Jupiter, but it is a safe place for kids. It's also nice that their parents don't have to worry about their kids all day. It's safe here."
"Well, we better get out there," Nico suggested, looking out the door. "I think Cathryne just found the snack cabinet."
