Second Chances

Uncle. G for Goat

It was sunny the day I took Luke to the park. There, he enjoyed building all sorts of things in the sandpit. Me, I just liked to sit on a bench and watch. I liked the park, it was almost peaceful—if you ignore all the other whining-snot-nosed-kids, the dogs and the families having a picnic. The park was one of my few escapes. A substitute for not going to the beach.

The beach only brought up painful memories of the life I left behind.

"So this is where the Hero of Olympus spends his days." A gruff voice chuckled from behind. I cocked my head to the side and caught sight of the orange rasta cap, the brown curly hair and the crutches. Grover. No doubt, I had a stupidly cheesy grin plastered to my face as I tackled him in a very manly hug. Very manly.

"What are you doing here?" I pulled away and lay my hands on his shoulders, his hands at my elbows. My cheeks were starting to hurt but I didn't want to stop smiling. Grover just grinned at me.

"Juniper said I should visit you—see how you were doing. Besides, Jimmy really wanted to go to the park." I frowned a bit and looked down at the small boy clutching Grovers leg like a lifeline.

"He yours?" I breathed and the older satyr gave an affirmative nod. Grover had a son. My eyes grew wide. Grover had a son and I was the lousy friend who didn't know. I wanted to kick myself.

"So where's yours?" Grover must have sensed my guilt and saved me from my obvious embarrassment. I blinked for a moment then searched the playground for the familiar mess of blond hair.

"Over there." I pointed to the sandpit, where he sat alone—I really wish he made some friends. Grover nudged Jimmy, and with only a moment's hesitation, the boy proceeded to trot over in Luke direction. Grover gave me a friendly smile.

"So, tell me," He let out an exaggerated sigh as he lowered himself onto the bench, placing his crutches by his feet. "Nearly five years and not a word, we've got a bit of catching up to do." I smirked and sat down beside him. A surreal feeling washed over me.

"Yeah, we do." I waited for him to say something, to lead the conversation but he just continued to look at me, with an all knowing glint in his eyes. "How's Juniper?" I asked, sheepishly.

"Good. Very good." I leaned my elbows on my knees and clasped my hands. My mouth got a bit dry.

"How's..." I swallowed nervously and scratched my head. "How's Annabeth?" Grover inhaled sharply and looked back towards the sandpit.

"She's okay. Went over to Europe to study, acutally." I could feel him giving me a sideways glance. I knew he could see it, the faint cracks beginning to show. "She said that she just needed some time away from everything. At first I didn't want her to go, couldn't bear it if she was left alone to fight all those monsters, but," He paused for a moment and I could feel the guilt slowly climbing its way into my throat. "After a while, I realised that if anyone could survive this world it would be her. And you." My eyes were moist. After all this time, all the monsters, and dangerous quests, and stupid prophecies and pain-in-the-ass Gods, we had come to this. She was on the other side of the world, alone, and I don't think I could ever forgive myself if something happened.

"Was she upset?" I whispered, discretely wiping away the tears.

"I think she understood."