Tell Me You Love Me

The Funeral Part 1(Sixty-Six)

Edited 10/30/18

My favorite version of the song up there 👆. Wait until I tell you to play it. It's for effect:)

It was that morning actually, that I finally decided on names for the twins. September 16th, six days after the babies were born and my wife died. Her funeral will be later today and I'm not sure I'm ready.

As it was, I stood in the Poseidon cabin in my suit and tie, with Luke sitting on the bed looking glum in his own suit. Ariana looked serene as she made slow twirls in the mirror in her little pink dress.

The babies were laying side by side on the bed, the girl in a little teal dress and the boy in a black onesie that had tie printed on it. I stood, staring at them intently, the makings of names on the tip of my tongue. We've all been simply calling them 'the girl' or 'the boy' or even 'the babies'. It'd be nice for them to have names. Especially on a day like today.

A name came to me for the girl and I gave Luke a look and gesture to the babies before dashing out of the cabin. People tried to stop me the whole way to Cabin 13, people telling me they were sorry about what happened, or wanted to know how I was doing.

I pushed past them all; I had a mission. I knocked on the door of the dark cabin and waited. Nico answered the door, a three year old Maria hanging onto his legs. "Oh, hey Percy," he said searching my face for a reason to be knocking his door at a time like this.

He jerked his head, allowing me to follow him inside. "So what brings you here?" He asked in a soft tone, treading water. "I need to ask your permission," I said.

Puzzled, he asked, "For what?" "Well, I was thinking of naming my daughter Bianca, but I couldn't do it without having your permission first." I was talking fast, twisting my hands.

His face broke into a grin. "Percy, of course you can name her Bianca. I love that. Thanks for asking, it means a lot."

I smiled and saluted him before heading back to my cabin. The cabin was still standing when I got back, so I decided Luke had done a good job babysitting.

I sat down on the bed beside the babies who just sat there silently looking around the room. I thought about the names some more and finally settled on them. I was satisfied with my choice and it finally felt right.

"Bianca Zoë Jackson," I told the girl.

"And Ethan Iapetus Jackson," I told the boy. He looked at me and squawked his approval. I laughed and then there was a knock on the door. My mom opened it and stepped in. "Oh, Percy..." she said.

I called her the night Annabeth died. That was six days ago. I told my mom that we'd found her, that she'd given birth to twins, and then died. Mom continued to call me almost every day to see how I was doing, but she could never make it to come see us.

She stumbled to me and wrapped her arms around me in a huge hug and just held me there. Her eyes were spilling tears that she quickly palmed and she kissed my forehead, though I had to duck for her to reach.

"Nana," Ari called without the usual enthusiasm. Her and Luke gave Nana hugs and then she looked at me. "Now I wanna see my grand babies!"

I showed her the bed they were currently laying on and she gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. "Oh Percy, they're beautiful! What are their names?"

"I actually named them like, five minutes ago," I said. "Bianca Zoë and Ethan Iapetus."

"They're perfect, Percy. How are you today?" She asked. I looked down. "I'm scared," I muttered like a child. "I'd be worried if you weren't. It'll be alright," she tried to soothe.