1 - Annabeth

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The doorbell rings for the third time in the past 5 minutes. I'm trying to put these damn pearl earrings in.

"Just a second, dad!" I yell. "Percy, can you get the door?"

"Hang on," he says. "Where's Si's inhaler?"

"In the medicine cabinet in their bathroom!" Ugh, finally got the earring in!

I hear Percy open the door and greet my dad. The kids run up to him, laughing in excitement.

Percy walks into our room, where I just finished getting ready for our date. "Wise Girl, I told you you didn't have to wear the earrings."

I smile. "I wanted to, though. You like them so much."

He pulls me close and kisses my temple. "But you like your owl earrings so much."

"But I love you so much."

He laughs. I tip my head up and give him a quick kiss. "What would I do without you?" He asks.

"Well you'd probably be dead, first of all-"

"Shouldn't you go see your dad before we leave? Wouldn't want to miss our reservation."

I push past him. "Nice save, Jackson."

"Bold move, Chase." He puts his hand on my lower back as we walk out.

My dad is sitting on the couch while the twins laugh and play on him, asking questions like, "Why are you here?" "Where are Mommy and Daddy going?" "Are you gonna give us 20 bucks like you did last time?"

"Leave grandpa alone, you two," I scold. "Hi dad."

"Hey sweetheart." He gets off the couch and wraps me in a hug.

"Thank you so much for watching them. It means a lot."

"Of course. You two need a night off."

"Got that right," Percy mutters. We've barely had any alone time in the past 4 years.

"You guys enjoy your night," Dad says. "I got them. You guys don't worry about a thing. Go be teenagers for a while."

"You know where everything is, right?"

"Yes, Annie."

"Emergency ambrosia in the fridge, Ray's favorite bedtime story is the one about the bear, but if you read that one then you need to read Princess and the Pea for Sia so she doesn't get upset. Oh, and Sia's inhaler is on the counter, you put it on the counter, right, Percy? Yeah, he did, I just saw it. And no ice cream past 8, they need to sleep-"

"Annabeth," my dad says. "I got it." I can tell he's about to say something like I practically raised you and that's pretty much the same thing or I've dealt with twins before, I have some of my own, but he stops himself before he can ruin my night.

"Okay." I kneel down and give Sia and Ray a big hug. "You two be good for grandpa, okay? Act like me and daddy are still right there in the next room and will come out and kick your ass if you misbehave, okay?"

They both laugh and say, "Okay!" simontaniously.

I kiss both their heads. "I love you both so, so, so, so much-"

"Annabeth," Percy says. "We gotta go, it's almost 6:30 and it's a 45 minute drive to the restaurant."

"Okay, okay, I'm going." I blow one last kiss to them all and Percy shuts the door behind us.

"I can't believe it. This is the first time we've been outside of New Rome without them. Ever. In the four years of their lives."

"Hey," Percy says. "They'll be fine. Your dad babysits them all the time."

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