The babysitter

Thirty-Nine

I sighed as I lifted the of the clothes from the washer into the dryer. " Why do you guys have so many clothes?"

Jason laughed, " Do you not have many clothes?"

I looked up, after starting the dryer, " No. I'm an orphan who is trying to save up for college and pay rent."

" I'll take you shopping, Doll." Jason smirked at me and winked.

I rolled my eyes, " Shut up. I'm good with the clothes I have."

" You have ten outfits." Damian scoffed.

" Did you count them?" I asked, since it was a thing he would do.

" It was an exaggeration."

Jason and I looked at each other, then at him. Jason walked up to him and put his hand on his forehead, " Are you feeling alright, Demon? Do you feel warm?"

" Quit it, Todd!" Damian growled and knocked his hand away and threw a pulled punch to Jason's gut.

" Guys, cut it out." I waved a towel between them, shaking my head at Cass who was also shaking her head. Smiling I went back to the task at hand.

The day went by pretty quite with listening to Jason and Damian squabbling and having normal conversations between us three with Cass nodding along. Six was coming up fast as I was reaching Cass how to play chess. Fortunately, she caught on fast because it was giving me a headache.

I leaning against the couch next to Jason's legs watching the kids go back and forth. " You okay?"

" Yeah, just a bit tired." I smile softly. It was almost sad to think that these next two weeks might be my last in the manor. But it will be a good change of scenery, I guess. The college itself was basically paid for but I still needed money for food and I could start a fund for when I go back to the mortal world.

I would definitely not stay in New Rome for my whole life. Since the risk would mostly die down after I finish college I could live semi peaceful being a marine biologist on some random coast. Maybe I could settle down with someone and have a bunch of pets.

Jason nudged me, " You good, Jackson?"

" Hmh?" I flinched.

" Your off work now, come on. We gotta go get coffee." Jason pulled on my arms and hoisted me up.

" Wait, I have to tell Alfred or Bruce I'm leaving." I groaned and tried to walk away but Jason kept hold of my arms.

" Alfie!" Jason screamed. I tried to shush him but he yelled over me, " We're leaving!"

" Jason, this is my job, and I'm leaving for the day. Not my house and leaving for a party. This isn't professional." I pulled away from him, " Alfred?"

Jason stepped in front of me and pulled me over his shoulder, " We're leaving."

" Dami!" I screamed in my last hope, " Damian!"

" What do you want, Percy?" Damian walked from down the hallway.

" Help me!" Damian rolled his eyes and walked away, " Traitor!"

Jason laughed and kept walking, closing the door on the way out. Slinging me down next to the car, he opened the door and waited for me to sit down, " Alright, Doll, where to?"

" I have no idea. I never go shopping." I shrugged.

" Have you never gone shopping in your life?" Jason laughed slightly.

" When I was little and I shopped at Justice."

" Oh, you were a Justice kid?"

" We all were." I lightly smacked his arm, " How about we just go get coffee and I can shop later."

Jason shook his head and smiled while looking out the side window for a second. He rubbed his lips with his knuckle, " Alright."

We chatted for a little bit then slowly pulled into a small cafe. Taking the table that was farthest away from everyone, and sat down. " So, we order pancakes and then we start breaking down your past and what ever the hell you meant by what you said in the cave."

" Oh, my whole past? Because I feel like the I could write at least ten books about the important parts you want to talk about." I skim the menu trying to find the best option.

" Really? Okay, just give me the watered down version."

I snorted, " Please tell me you didn't just say that."

Jason looked at me, smirked, then looks away at the window. After a few minutes of me debating between chocolate chip peanut butter pancakes or double chocolate pancakes. " Well, you gonna sit here all day or are you going to tell me your story?"

" I'd rather wait till we have our food so the waitress isn't interrupting us every five minutes." I explain, but we waited. After we had gotten our drinks and our food, I told him, " First summer, nothing super happened, just found out I'm a daughter of Poseidon and found out my friend Luke worked for Kronos. Second summer, nothing important happened-got turned into a guinea pig, thought. Christmas break, held the sky, third summer, went through the labyrinth, and fourth summer. The war."

" Where Manhattan fell asleep?" Jason asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

" Yeah," I nodded, then told the rest of the story including the Giant War. " My parents and sister died in a car crash when I was eighteen. Decided I needed a leap year and need a job to help me stay alive I got a job babysitting. Well, first at McDonald's, but then I got fired. But now I'm going to college in the fall when it starts up to be a Marine Biologist."

Jason sat back, taking everything in. When I told him I fell into Tartarus he cut his witty comments and started staring at the table. He had his arms crossed over his chest and he was deep in thought.

" Any questions?" I asked kind of timidly. Sometimes I forget that this is a lot to handle, with demigods you don't get time to process stuff slowly. You get told something then shipped off to a question or see your friend die in front of you, sometimes both.

" Did you really get turned into a guinea pig?" Jason glanced up.

My faves burned red and I hit it in my hands, " Is that the only thing you took from that?"

" No, I learned that your life was shit before you met me. Your welcome." Jason moved his hands as to gesture to this small cafe diner, as if this solved all my problems before.

I rolled my eyes, " Whatever, Todd."

" But," Jason cut in, trying to piece together his words, " How water down was that?"

I sat back against the sit with a huff, crossing my arms. Mentally going through all the trauma and what I told Jason, " A lot was watered down. But most of it was just random quest that built to the wars."

Jason took that in. He was silent for a long time, so I went back to eating my chocolate chip peanut butter pancakes. " So, what's after two weeks?"

" Well, I move to New Rome and start college. I'll probably go to camp in the summer or maybe babysit another rich family on the west coast. Eventually get my masters in Marine Biology, get a job on some random coast and settle down, start a family." I stare out the window and see a couple walking down the streets laughing at a joke or something and hold hands.

" You could come back and babysit this rich family again. And settle on the east coast with your family." Jason glanced up at me through his eyelashes.

I smiled, " Maybe."

1276 words

11/29/21

Wouldn't it be funny if I left this book like that. I feel like that's a good ending lol.

Pieces Angels and Stay Safe