Beyond Tartarus (A Percabeth Fanfiction)

Chapter 46-The First Appointment

Percy

I woke up to the sound of vomiting, a good sign. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the bathroom door, slightly ajar, and my wife, kneeling and leaning over the toilet, spilling her guts out. Nothing too unusual.

I forced myself out of bed, making my way to the bathroom door, opening it hesitantly. As I fully entered the room, I kneeled down beside Annabeth, rubbing her back in a circular motion, lightly. When she finished, she gave me a quick glance, a seemingly-apologetic look on her face.

"I'm so sorry you had to see that," she frowned, turning directly to me. I grabbed some toilet paper and cleaned her face quickly. I smiled at her, "Don't apologize, this is a good thing. I just hope that you're hungry enough for a homemade meal of eggs, croissants, and coffee. Maybe a little bacon too, what do you say?"

She smirked, "Why is that even a question? Of course, get on it, chef Percy." We laughed, and then she gave me a very serious look, her eyes shimmering, glazing over with desire. For food, of course.

"Seriously, Percy, get on it, I am super hungry."

Annabeth

Percy and I continued to chat at the kitchen table as we finished off breakfast, courtesy of Percy and his excellent cooking skills. Well, decent cooking skills, but hey, I'm not complaining. Once we finished off our food, Percy offered to clean the dishes, but I objected immediately. He shook his head, "No, I'm doing the dishes, you did them last night."

"No, Percy," I said, looking at him sternly, "You made me breakfast, you don't need to do the dishes too. I've got this, just head upstairs and get ready."

"Annabeth, I get you want to do your share, and take control, but today's a big day, and I don't want you to overexert yourself before the appointment. Or at all, for that matter, you need to relax." He gave me a bright smile, and I sighed, but not in defeat.

"I'm doing the dishes, and that's the end of it, Percy." He frowned, then suggested we both wash the plates. I just rolled my eyes, "Percy, there are two dishes, I can handle it. Please." Defeated, Percy gave me a quick kiss on the forehead, and walked upstairs to get dressed while I quickly washed the dishes, smiling to myself. I was extremely excited, as today was going to be a very momentous occasion. The two of us had an appointment with Percy's doctor, and she was going to give me an ultrasound. It would be our first glance at our baby, and then we would have the opportunity to find out the gender of our child. I was ecstatic, and I couldn't relieve myself of my anxious energy. So much was going to happen today.

Percy

As we entered the doctor's office, I found myself swallowing nervously. After verifying our appointment with the secretary, Annabeth and I took a seat in the patient's room. My foot tapped repeatedly on the floor, my whole body humming with impatient energy. I looked to Annabeth, and gasped as I saw her hands were shaking, laying against her thighs. I grabbed them quickly, holding them under my own.

I rubbed my thumb along her palm, trying to relax and reassure her, as I said,"Annabeth, whatever you're worrying about, you don't need to. I don't want you to fear something that you have no control over, because no matter what happens, we will manage it together. Okay? Don't fear the possibilities, just think about what we know."

She sniffled softly, and looked up at me,"What do I know? What is there to really know, when everything is unpredictable in this case? I just am so...worried, about...everything. There's nothing I can do to change the outcome, whatever it is, and that freaks me out. What if our child has developed autism, because of me? What if they have severe ADHD, because of the both of us? What if they become dyslexic? I have no power over these things, and here I am, damning my child before they're even born. It's not fair. I don't know if I'll be able to handle it, I don't know-"

"Babe, please. So, if our child does have deficiencies, does that mean we're not going to love them as much as we would if they were considered 'normal'? No, because we love this child, we are attached to this baby and all it's imperfections. We ourselves have experienced being different, having difficulties with our dyslexia and our ADHD, but did our parents desert us because of it? No, because even if sometimes we were huge pains, they devoted so much of their time and love so that we would become good people. And that's exactly what we want for our child, don't you think?"

Annabeth remained silent, then lifted her head up and gave me a small smile, nodding in response. I smiled back at her, then leaning over to kiss her. She leaned into the kiss, wrapping her arms around me and hugging me. I grinned, exhaling as I wrapped my arms tighter around her. Soon enough, the two of us were called to enter my doctor's office for our appointment.

Author's Note

 So, granted, I feel absolutely terrible at the fact that I haven't updated in MONTHS! To all the wonderful and supportive readers, I am terribly sorry for the tremendous wait. This chapter was supposed to be longer, but I decided I needed to get this out, since I wrote it a long time ago. I don't want to excuse my lack of writing, but recently a very close family member of mine passed away, and my whole life became very hectic because of that circumstance. Anyway, I'm really sorry, I hope you guys will forgive me, for I have some great and promising chapters in the works! Stay tuned! Thanks for your support!

-Elisa Marie