Tell Me You Love Me

Nico's POV(Ninety-Four)

I was grinning from ear to ear that morning as our little family woke up. We had three rooms to ourselves in the Big House, a room for Will and I, a room for Bee, and a bathroom. Not much, but we have managed to function for the past four or so years. For once ever, I was the first one up and I made Will and I coffee(you do NOT want to be around Will without his coffee. Everyone thinks he's such a sunshine in the morning, but that's after the caffeine). 

We'd gotten most of our things packed away into boxes already. I was ecstatic about the move. Will, Bee, and I had already been to New Rome to check out the house and it. was. PERFECT! Hazel and Frank were super on top of things and were already almost completely moved in to their house. Reyna had about half of her things moved and everyone else was either mostly packed(us, the Graces, and the Underwoods(how they managed to have packed up all their belongings while taking care of three babies I have no idea)); or weren't hardly packed at all(the Valdez family). Percy was completely oblivious to this whole operation, but that would end later today when our quick trip to Camp Jupiter turned into a house reveal.

Will grumbled in his half sleep as the bright morning sun filtered in through the window. I smiled at the way he hugged his pillow, his face peaceful. I slipped out the door and cracked open Maria's door. The sleeping angle started to stir when I opened the curtains. At four years old, her Aphrodite instincts are showing quite a bit. Piper's the first person we turn to if we ever don't know how to do something or how to handle a situation. She's usually a good help. 

Anyway, I knelt beside her bed and tucked a strand of her dirty blonde/caramel colored hair behind her ear. I kissed her freckled nose and nudged her. She yawned and her little fist smacked me right in the nose. "Bee," I laughed, falling back. She blinked her eyes open and grinned when she saw me on the floor. Her light brown eyes sparkled and she threw back the covers. "Papa!" she shrieked. 

I smiled at her and held a finger to my lips. "Let's go wake up Daddy, okay?" She clapped her hands together and tore ahead of me. By the time I got back to the bedroom, Bee was jumping on the bad mercilessly. Will groaned and tried to turn over again, but Bee jumped on him. "Oh!" He yelled, eyes wide open. "What the-" He saw Bee and smiled, grabbing her in a hug and snuggling back into the covers. She shrieked and giggled. "No Daddy, we gotta get up! Papa said!"

"Ugh! Fine! But only if  there's coffee involved." "Here grumpy pants," I smirked, handing him his coffee. He sat up and downed it in one go. "More!" He yelled, scaring both me and Maria, causing the latter to break out into a fit of giggles again. "Get it yourself," I said, heading for the bathroom that connected the two bedrooms. 

After we had all gotten ready, we went for some breakfast in the Dining Pavilion. Chiron was there and he gave us an amused smile. "You three make quite the racket in the mornings," he said. 'It's all them' I mouthed, pointed at Will and Bee. Chiron chuckled and turned back to his conversation with a camper. 

We saw a bleary eyed Percy at the Poseidon table with the twins sitting on the table in front of him. He was trying to feed them and get Ariana to eat her food at the same time. His head was resting on his hand and he looked about ready to pass out. Luke was trying his very best to be helpful, but really, he was just making more of a mess. 

We took our usual seats across from him and the kids and exchanged some small talk before Will left for the infirmary to get a shift in before we all headed for Camp Jupiter. Little did Percy know, Piper, Jason, and their kids plus Reyna, and Hazel, Frank, and Emily were already there getting a few more things done. 

Maria and I were already dressed for the day, but Percy and the kids were all still in their pajamas. "Do you need any help?" I asked him. "Like seriously?" He asked, hopeful. "Well of course. We could help get everyone ready for the day," I said. Maria nodded enthusiastically. "Oh my gods Nico, you are a godsend. Thank you so much!"

I laughed. "Yeah whatever."

So long story short, Percy got himself and Luke ready, and then vetoed Ariana's initial outfit(she didn't seem to understand the problem with wearing leggings and no shirt in public) so I helped her pick out a better combination. 

Maria was happy to help Percy and I dress the twins. She helped me force Ethan's arm through the arm of his shirt(he would not stop moving) and then his legs into his little pants. Percy had just finished getting Bianca into her close when he cocked his head at Ethan, pondering something. 

"I think he's due to get his hair brushed. His curls get so tangled." So I grabbed the little brush with the soft bristles and combed his hair. His soft blond curls reminded me so much of Annabeth. I felt myself tear up a little. Grief hits a person at random times. 

Once everyone was situated and after I put Ariana's hair in a pony tail, we swung by the infirmary to grab Will, and then headed to the portal. We were through it and in California in less than five seconds. Leo, Calypso, Milo, Sammy, and Rosalie emerged mere seconds after us, just coming in from the portal in Texas. 

"Alright, losers," Leo said, sauntering over to us, "off the the New Rome cafe is it?" Will raised an eyebrow at Leo and nodded. Calypso smacked Leo on the arm. "Think about the example you're setting!" she whisper shouted. "Yeah Dad," Milo said, nudging Leo from the other side. "Think real hard about it." Leo's face went red before he shook it off and motioned for Sammy and Milo to follow him, while Calypso just rolled her eyes and said, "what will we ever do with him?" To Rosalie(who she was holding) who giggled in reply and shrugged her shoulders. 

Reyna, Piper, and Jason + kids were holding a few tables in the back of the cafe for us when we arrived. We soon filled up nearly half the cafe and that was before the Zhangs and the Underwoods showed up. 

Soon after that, we had everyone gathered. It was quite an entertaining early lunch. It wasn't unusual to say that the Valdez kids were the worst behaved, but even then they weren't too terrible. Percy was all over the place trying to keep track of his children as usual. The Underwood triplets were surprisingly quiet. "They're never like this at home, I promise! Look at the little devils!" Juniper swore, "they think this is funny!"

Leo and Jason were arguing over the table about some nonsense while Hazel, Piper, and Reyna conversed quietly. After what felt like forever, Piper cleared her throat and called for attention. "Let's all go for a walk, shall we?"

I exchanged a giddy look with Hazel and everyone grabbed their kids and walked out of the cafe. Reyna led the way through New Rome, past shops and restaurants, the campus and the dorms. I noticed Percy's confused expression when we continued on to the housing. 

We walked a few blocks before we came to what I recognized as the row of seven houses. Reyna stopped and cleared her throat. I snickered at Percy's face. He was so confused! 

Piper walked up and put her hand on Percy's back. "Surprise," She said to him. He continued to stare at her, completely bewildered. Piper nudged Percy and pointed to the middle house. He left the twins in the stroller and took a few cautious steps toward the house. He squinted at the writing on the door. "No way," he whispered. My heart swelled. They would finally have an actual house to live in again. 

Percy's bottom lip was trembling when he turned back around. "Are you serious?" he asked no one in particular. Hazel nodded, smiling through a few tears. "Annabeth designed them all," she whispered, going to hug him. "One for each of us."

Percy palmed his tears and beamed at the house. "Can I..." he trailed off, but we got the question he was silently asking. "Go for it," I said, shoving him towards the door. He opened the door and ran inside like a child on Christmas morning. We trailed behind him, laughing at his excited shrieks. He bounded up the stairs and started peeking in doorways. But he didn't emerge from the master bedroom. I took a step forward, but Reyna stopped me. "There's a note," she explained. "From Annabeth."

Ariana and Luke crept forward, looking back at Reyna for permission before making their way to their dad. The three of them emerged five minutes later, Percy with fresh tears in his eyes and clutching a piece of paper tightly in his hand. 

"So we all get to live on the same street! This is going to be so awesome!" Percy cheered before demanding we show him which houses were whose. 

"And we don't even have a ton of things to move," Percy commented at one point. Oh, right. I had forgotten about moving day. May the gods help us all.