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It's quiet.
Too quiet.
This is the first thing Annabeth notices - which is pretty unusual considering she gave birth to Percy Jackson's kids. Glancing at the clock above the kitchen counter, she finds, with a surprise, that it is 2:30.
Had it been this time on any other day, the house would be full of raucous laughter and squealing kids chasing each other around the living room.
So what's wrong? she wonders, traversing in and out the rooms out of curiosity, looking for the life forms that usually resided in the Chase-Jackson household.
As she approaches a sparkly pink bedroom door, aptly adorned with huge block letters (in, you guessed it, pink ) that spelled out the name, "Bianca Jackson", she can hear her husband's deep soothing voice, murmuring something intelligible to Bianca.
Pushing open the door, she is shocked to find her little girl, her baby, covered in dirt and darkened soot, complete with a skinned knee. Of course, her natural reaction is to find to the bastards who did this to her baby and sock them in the face. But Annabeth shoves aside that violent side of her (for later), and kneels down on the ground next to her Seaweed Brain.
Bianca is whimpering gently into Percy's chest, and Annabeth's heart breaks in that instant. Her raven black hair is curled up in places, a little damp from freshly shed tears, and her desolate cries tugs at Annabeth's heart as Percy tries to quell her sobs. Gently taking Bianca from Percy's arms, she pats Bianca's back, gently bouncing her up and down to calm her frazzled nerves. Annabeth looks to Charlie for an explanation as Bianca's cries continue to gradually soften, shrinking to short gasps of breath as she attempts to stop bawling.
Her son, bless him, very nearly growls when he relates the story about his younger sister; how two very mean guys in Bianca's class had made fun of her dyslexia, calling her 'stupid' and other demeaning remarks, the insults growing worse until they had shoved her down to the floor in an attempt to display their dominance as the alpha males. Charlie worriedly stands over Annabeth's shoulder, watching his sister in concern as efforts are made to wipe tears away and snot cleared from every surface.
"T-they w-were mean to me, mama," she sniffles, and Annabeth's heart breaks all over again. Why are kids so cruel? she wants to wail, but unfortunately, she's never really had experience with this kind of stuff - having a god as one of your parental units and running away from home at seven years old are not exactly parts of what you'd call a normal childhood.
So of course, Annabeth, being Annabeth, will rely on logic, something that she has endless amounts of.
Smoothing back hair from Bianca's face, Annabeth holds her at arms' length, making sure that they're at eye level so that she understands every single word that Annabeth is about to say.
"They were just jealous, honey. You know why?" At this, Bianca's green eyes are enlarged, the big puppy dog eyes ( inherited from Percy ) hanging on to every word that is spoken. "Because dyslexia makes you a tiny bit different from everyone else. And that's a good thing, because if everyone in the world was exactly the same, this place would be a bit boring. Think of it like this, honey: dyslexia is your superpower. Only amazingly gifted people like you have the power to see the world differently than others." Annabeth pauses for emphasis, bopping her child on the nose, eliciting a giggle from her.
"You know, this means you're kind of like Annie in the bedtime story Daddy always tells you guys."
Bianca wipes away any tears immediately at the mention of Annie (Annabeth doesn't want to spoil the surprise that Annie is an actual real-life heroine; better to save that for another day) and sits straight up in surprise, spine straightening as memories of bullies are tossed aside.
"R-really?" Bianca sniffs, lip wobbling in an attempt to smile, rubbing her nose with her pointer finger.
"Really." Annabeth nods, hugging her daughter close, reluctant to release her back into the cruelty of the real world. She wishes that kids weren't like this, teasing others for differences that they can't control, but it's just how the world is. It's just how the bullies are dealt with, Annabeth supposes, examining the scrape on Bianca's knee carefully, internally wincing at the angry red marks on her otherwise smooth skin. Annabeth gently pats her daughter's knee, grinning as she sweeps Bianca into her arms, carrying her bridal-style as shrieks of laughter clear air.
