I'm Still Here (Rewrite)

Baby Names

Once his mom was out of the hospital and settled, she Iris Messaged Percy, giving him the chance to meet his little sister, Estelle. Even if it wasn't in person.

After the call ended, Percy couldn't sit still, his hands never leaving his stomach.

Every time Nico and Will looked at him, he'd grin at them. His face was bright, the little dimples on his cheeks just visible.

As they lay in bed that night, Percy was unable to sleep, his mind racing.

"Guys." He whispered, receiving no response.

Percy pouted. He wanted to talk about baby names.

Percy sighed, staring out across the room and at the wall, unable to sleep.

Percy perked up when someone turned over, wrapping their arms around his waist.

Surely they were awake. They were going to discuss baby names with him!

"Will? Nico?"

All he received in response was a snore, his face dropping.

So no late night baby name discussions for Percy.

Percy stayed awake the whole night, unable to sleep.

He closed his eyes as he felt someone stir, the arm wrapped around his waist tightening, pulling him closer.

Percy sighed as whoever it was fell asleep again, too lazy to turn around and check who it was.

About an hour later, Percy heard shuffling behind him, watching Nico slowly stumble towards the bathroom.

Walking out of the bathroom, Nico's eyebrows furrowed, finding Percy blinking tiredly up at him.

"Percy," he mumbled, "how much sleep did you get last night?"

Percy shook his head, indicating he didn't get any sleep.

Nico made his way over to the bed, sitting down next to Percy and letting him rest his head in his lap.

Nico started combing his fingers through Percy's hair as he spoke.

"Why not?"

Percy blushed, only just realising that he hadn't slept because his boyfriends had been too busy sleeping to talk baby names with him.

Now he felt silly.

"I wanted to talk about baby names but you two were asleep."

When he spoke, Percy's voice was quiet, making it hard for Nico to understand him.

"What?"

"He said he wanted to talk about baby names but we were asleep."

Will was cut off by a yawn halfway through, a tired smile on his face.

Percy was glad he was facing away from them both, neither one able to see the blush on his face.

Nico placed his hand on Percy's cheek, smiling when the heated skin confirmed his suspicions.

"Sure. Let's speak about baby names."

So they did, all throughout breakfast they brainstormed, suggesting any of their favourites to the others.

They'd had several names of deceased demigods come up, all wanting to honour the dead.

It had been Percy's suggestion of Aurora that got them all thinking harder, deciding they wanted to pick a name with meaning.

Upon hearing Aurora, Nico suggested Dawn, liking the direction they were heading in.

Will in particular liked the names Faith and Hope, sticking with the deeper meaning theme.

In the end, for a girl, they decided on Hope.

Percy remembered reading something somewhere. He remembered the name Asher meant 'a gift of hope'.

He liked the sound of that, so did the others.

So it was decided, Hope for a girl, and Asher for a boy.

The names only seemed fitting, their baby giving them hope, keeping them going.

Their baby was the light in the darkness.

And they had a lot of darkness inside.