Tell Me You Love Me

Christmas With the Squad(Seventy-Six)

Edited 11/14/18

It's December 24th, Christmas Eve, and we are having Christmas with the Squad at Camp Half-Blood. Luke, Ari, Jason, Piper, and Riley helped me set up a big Christmas Tree and decorate(and clean) the cabin for our guests. Our typical tradition is to spend Christmas Eve with the Squad and then Christmas Day with Mom, Paul, and Estelle.

Chiron allowed it to snow inside of the borders and Christmas lights decorated the cabins. The arts and crafts project for today was to bake Christmas cookies and Ariana was happy to help with that, so we got to take a couple dozen.

We were all decked out in our Christmas sweaters(the twins in their Christmas onesies) while we waited for everyone else to show up. The first ones to arrive were Hazel, Frank, and Emily. As soon as Hazel set Emily down, she toddled over to the tree and plopped down. She looked over her shoulder at Frank. "Daddy...cookies!"

Frank shook his head, gave me a quick hug, and smiling, went to grab Emily a cookie. Hazel hugged me and then went to talk with Piper about her pregnancy or something.

Reyna came next, along with Will, Nico, and Maria. Everyone looked super cozy in their sweaters. Thalia even popped in for the night(probably for presents).

Next came the Valdez family. We could tell it was them long before they even opened the door. The first thing that tipped us off was the screaming children. It was mainly just Milo and Sam running around and shoving each other into snowbanks.

The second thing that tipped us off was probably the smoke. We could smell it from inside the cabin, even over the scent of the candles and the cookies. The door blew open and Leo stood there posing with a flaming Rosalie sitting on his hip.

Sam and Milo squeezed through his legs and ran squealing into the cabin where they were met with the other kids. Calypso came up behind Leo toting the presents.

About ten minutes after that, Grover and Juniper showed, along with their newborn triplets. They weren't even in the door when Juniper handed me one of them. It just so happened that all three of them were identical satyr baby boys.

"So which one is this?" I asked as Jason was handed another one. "That's Nathan," Grover said, and then turning to Jason, "and that's Trevor. Right? Wait no. Percy, you're holding Collin and Jason is holding Nathan. Right babe?" He said, asking Juniper.

She rolled her eyes at him. "No. I've got Nathan, Percy's got Trevor, and Jason has Collin."

"Oh my gods, they are so cute!" Piper said, coming over to see them with Hazel, both of them already holding one of my twins.

Once everyone was settled down, we sat around the Christmas tree and let the kids open their presents. "So three boys, huh?" Calypso asked knowingly, because she too had three boys(granted one of those boys is Leo, but I don't know if there's much difference).

Juniper nodded. "Yeah, it was one hell of a pregnancy that's for sure. All three boys kicking me with their hooves. It was uncomfortable to say the least."

"I haven't had the luck of carrying a boy," Hazel put in, smiling. "I wouldn't call it luck," Juniper said.

After the kids were done opening presents(some idiot got them all nerf guns) the adults exchanged gifts. Ariana and Luke came over to me holding a small wrapped box. I noticed everyone go quiet. Piper was smiling sadly and Jason had his phone out, filming for some odd and probably stupid reason.

I carefully pulled the paper off the box and a chill went through me. I took the top off the box and my lips parted in surprise. My vision went blurry as my eyes welled with tears.

"We recovered it from the cell in California," Jason spoke, "we thought you'd want to have it."

"Thank you," I croaked. Ariana gave me a hug. "It's for your necklace," she said, fingering the leather bead necklace around my neck.

I gingerly picked up Annabeth's wedding ring as if it could break at any second. I unclasped my necklace and slid the ring onto the leather band, clasping it around my neck.

I pulled Ari in tighter and reached out for Luke with my other arm.  Tears streamed down my face, but I didn't really care.

Eventually Luke and Ari started squirming and I let them go. I palmed the tears out of my eyes but a few escaped anyway. I smiled shakily and Jason patted my on the back. Grover wiped a tear out of his own eye, probably something to do with the empathy link.

Ariana studied me intently for about thirty seconds before nodding to herself and running off. I made eye contact with Leo and we both cracked up. She came back and shoved a cookie in my mouth. I choked, having not expected to be attacked with a cookie, and took it out of my mouth. Ari was smiling proudly.

"Thank you," I told her, and proceeded to eat the cookie.

After awhile of having fun, Thalia announced that she had to get back to the hunters. I'll admit it was a little strange seeing her. She was still in the body of a sixteen year old girl, while we were all in our late twenties. I know it's hard for her too, knowing that she'll outlive all of her closest friends.

She gave Nico a hug, and then Jason, leaning over Piper and talking to the baby bump. Then she gave me a hug, shocking me in the process. "Hey!" I complained. She just laughed and punched me in the shoulder. "Take care, alright? See you soon hopefully." "Yeah sure," I answered.

"Love you guys! See ya!" She yelled before disappearing through the doorway, stealing one last glance over her shoulder as she went.

"Love you Pinecone Face!" Nico yelled after her.

"Death Breath!" We heard her yell in the distance. Nico smiled to himself in triumph.

Something about the environment really put me at ease. We sat talking around the Christmas tree, bathed in its light. The candles and the sweaters and the love just seems to wrap you in a hug. I just tried to soak it all in and enjoy being with friends.

I'd say Christmas with the Squad was a success.

Hey everyone! How's life treating you? If it isn't too much trouble, make sure you comment who else's POV you'd like to see. Or any ideas or events you want to happen. It would be much appreciated! Thanks for sticking with the story and I hope you've enjoyed it! Love you demigods:)