Little Big Three

Chapter 9

RedLions78, thanks for reading!

About a week after the adoption, Sally had realized three things.

Firstly, Paul was a truly amazing father. Obviously, she had already known from his interactions with Percy and his job as a teacher that he was good with kids, but watching him interact with Nico and Thalia never failed to flood her heart with fondness.

Secondly, they would definitely need a bigger apartment. Thalia and Nico insisted that they were okay sleeping in the living room, but it didn't sit right with Sally. How could it? She had adopted them in order to provide them with a place to truly call home, and she didn't think that could be accomplished when they had to fight over the comfy spot on the couch every night.

Thirdly, and arguably most importantly, Thalia and Nico needed to be enrolled in school. School had only started a few weeks ago, so there luckily wouldn't be too much to catch up on-- or at least there wouldn't be if Thalia and Nico were normal students. But they weren't. One of them had been a tree for however many years and was now an immortal huntress, while the other was quite literally from the 1940s. Furthermore, Sally wasn't sure how she was meant to enroll children who didn't have any valid legal documentation of their existence. She considered reaching out to Poseidon to see if the gods could forge something for her, but luckily an easier solution came in the form of an Iris message from Chiron.

"Sally, congratulations on the adoption! I'm sure Nico and Thalia have been on their best behavior." A tired smile came to Sally's face at Chiron's sly greeting. She was admittedly tired from the stress of ensuring Thalia and Nico were adapting well to their new life, but her love for them outweighed the stress tenfold.

"Chiron! Thank you. They're such darling children, I'm glad to provide a home for them."

"Ah, yes," Chiron said with fondness. He could relate to wanting to provide a proper home for demigods. He continued, "that's one thing I wanted to talk with you about. I'm sure you've realized the complications--"

"--of enrolling them in school?" Chiron laughed as Sally finished his sentence for him.

"Exactly! I would like to offer my expertise, as I've delt with this for many years now."

Sally sighed in relief,

"Oh, I'd appreciate that. I have no idea where to start. Paul works at a school and he doesn't know either!"

"Yes, things are always harder when it comes to demigods. Percy attends Goode Highschool, correct? Are you planning to enroll Nico and Thalia there as well?"

Sally nodded,

"Yeah, that would be ideal. I'm not even sure which grade those two should go into..."

Chiron smiled reassuringly,

"I can figure that out Sally, don't you worry. Leave it to me, they should be set to attend by next Monday."

Sally was starting to wonder why she hadn't reached out to Chiron sooner. She expressed this to Chiron and he let out a hearty laugh.

"It's the least I can do, my dear Sally. Say hi to the children for me, and remind Percy he promised to clean the pegasus stalls this weekend!"

With that, Chiron ended the Iris message. Well, that was one thing solved! Sally felt like a weight had been taken off of her shoulders. Unfortunately, she still had to figure out the apartment dilemma. She looked around the current apartment. Percy and Paul were both at school and work respectively, and Nico and Thalia had offered to go grocery shopping for Sally, an offer which Sally had been quick to accept. It was the first time she has had the apartment to herself since the adoption, and while she was glad to have a moment to herself, she also found she much preferred the chaos and warmth of having her family home with her.

Sally sighed. To figure out a new apartment, she'd almost definitely have to contact Hades. After all, he was the one who had agreed to finance all the costs that came with the adoption. Only, she wasn't quite sure how to do that. It's not like the Lord-King of the Underworld had a phone number she could call. And she didn't want to ask Nico, because she didn't want him to feel responsible for solving her problems. Maybe if she just...

"Lord Hades??"

Sally winced. Just shouting his name was not going to do it, and it was honestly embarrassing that she even tried. Except... there was a rumble and then a knock on the door.

She opened it and saw the lord of the underworld standing there.

"Ahh, Sally, I was wondering when you would call for me!"

Hades gave Sally a warm smile and let himself into the apartment.

"So, you were just waiting for me to call?"

Hades nodded without shame as he sat on the couch, absentmindedly fluffing a pillow.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before you requested my help with finances. Let me guess, you want a new apartment?"

Sally nodded, and Hades smiled.

"Alright, lets see. Something not too far away from the school..." Sally didn't ask how Hades knew which school the kids were going to go to, much less how he knew where the school was. The god continued, "spacious but not so fancy it feels sterile..." He closed his eyes for a second, and they sat in silence. Sally watched as Hades' fingers twitched slightly in the air, almost as flipping through an invisible catalog. One of his eyes popped open and fixed itself on Sally, "How does a five bedroom penthouse sound? New York housing is a bit of a mess, as I'm sure you know, but theres an opening in a nice building thats only a 5 minute walk away from Goode..."

Sally just shrugged,

"If you're financing it, I couldn't care less. I'm just gonna trust your judgment, Lord Hades."

Hades smirked in a way that was borderline cocky, and snapped his fingers. The snap had an otherworldly echo, and Sally could have sworn she felt wind blowing through the apartment. With a flourish of his hand, Hades conjured up a set of keys, and tossed them to Sally. She was torn between frustration over how easily the gods could get arduous things, such as BUYING AN APARTMENT, done, and gratitude that she somehow was on good enough terms with enough gods that they would use their powers to help her. The benefits of having a son who saved the world, she laughed to herself.

After giving her the keys, Hades also handed her a sticky note with the apartments address scrawled on in. She nodded her thanks, and Hades rose from the couch.

"If you need anything else, just shout. Close your eyes." Sally shut her eyes and felt the moment Hades had flashed out of the room.

Word count 1135!

I'm not dead! This is very short, out of character and not very well written! BUT! It's fun, and that's what matters. I just want to be very clear that this story is literally like 5+ something years old (MAY OF 2017!) and past me did not leave any sort of plot outline, so current me is flying by the seat of my pants. That's just my way of saying: There will probably not be a very solid plot, but instead just crack. Hopefully y'all enjoy, I refuse to give up even if I barely remember the canon events of the series.