"Percy... what the hell are you doing?" Annabeth asked, walking out of her and his room in the Jackson/Blofis apartment. She woke to an empty bed, only to find Percy tying balloons and then dropping them onto the living room floor.
"Blowing up balloons," he comments sarcastically. She rolled her eyes at his attitude. "What does it look like I'm doing?"
"Obviously I can see that. But why are you filling the room with them."
"It's Estelle's fifth birthday tomorrow and she likes balloons."
"You could've gotten like a few on a string. Why so many?"
"Because Goddess Estelle deserves the best, Annabeth." He ties another one and drops it to the floor with a sigh. "Can you help me?"
"It's three in the morning. I want to sleep. Some of us don't nap all day."
"It's my vacation!" He exclaims.
"Keep it down, would you? You're gonna wake her up before the surprise is done."
He only sighs then, blowing into a pink balloon. She decides that she won't sleep with him out here and sits next to him. He offers a balloon to her, and she shoves his hand away.
"Please?"
"This was your idea. I'm only here to get sleep." She slowly closes her eyes and lays against his shoulder. He smiles softly as she sighs sleepily.
Her eyes drift open again to find Percy asleep, leaning against her softly, using her head as his pillow. Checking the clock, she sees that it's only five. Two hours of sleep is all she got. Five if you count the whole night. Not too shabby, especially since neither sleep consisted of demigod dreams and nightmares of Tartarus. She still got those occasionally, but she coped better now knowing that Percy would be there when she woke. She looked over the small living room, floor to ceiling, only to realize it would be nearly impossible to maneuver. The balloons at least went up to her knees on the ground, and she was curious as to where Percy got the helium tank to cover the ceiling with balloons as well.
She also wondered how much money her husband had spent on this project. Balloons weren't always cheap. The more she thought about it, the more she didn't want to know. As long as it made Estelle happy, it would be fine.
"What do you think?" Percy asked groggily, stirring next to her as she shifted. She cursed herself for doing so and not letting him sleep longer.
"I think that this will take forever to clean up and I'm not helping."
"I hadn't thought of that. This is why you typically do the planning, isn't it?"
"It is. And now you're dealing with the consequences of your own awful ideas. Did you even let your parents know?"
His eyes suddenly went from a sleepy squint, to wide, ready to burst.
"They're gonna kill me."
"It's possible."
"I need to leave now. I'll stay at camp so that way they can't visit me."
"That's an idea, but good luck getting to the door without popping a balloon and waking them."
He frowns at that. "Dam it. You're right."
"Name one time I've been wrong."
"I have a feeling that you'll kill me, so I'm just gonna not."
"Smart move. Are you feeling okay?"
"Your braininess is wearing off on me."
"Poor baby." She pouts her bottom lip. "It must be so hard. With some brain power, what are you going to do?"
He kisses her quickly. "I love you."
She wraps her arms around him. She doesn't have to say it back for him to get the message.
They hear an alarm go off from his parents' room. His eyes grow wide as he thinks about his mom and Paul's reaction.
"So about the balloons, my favorite strategist..."
"This was not my idea, and I will not accept responsibility."
He sighs. "So this is what death feels like. Tell my family that I love them. And let Thalia know I'm still mad at her. I want all my money to go to Estelle. Mrs.O'Leary is to be given to Nico. My Nemo plushy can go to Leo..."
"And what do I get?"
"You get to pay for my funeral."
"Harsh."
"What is this?" A voice asked behind them.
"Annabeth's idea," Percy decides right there and then, seeing his mom and Paul behind him, just outside their bedroom.
"You little liar," Annabeth accuses. "Percy actually used the little bit of brain that the seaweed is covering to come up with an awful plan."
"Estelle will love it," Percy argues.
Sally sighs. "Seriously? This is what I get asking you to come visit for her birthday?"
"Did you expect me to behave?"
"You're an adult, Percy."
"So?"
Sally just sighs and messes his hair. "You're cleaning this up tonight."
"No problem mom," he says.
"This is 'no problem' but you cry over cleaning up our room?" Annabeth asks.
"But this is for Estelle."
"What's for me?" A voice calls. Estelle comes running out of her room. "Balloons!"
Percy makes his way towards her and sweeps her up. "Just for you Stella. Happy Birthday, goddess." She giggles.
Later, a few of her friends come over for a party.
"Balloons!" Justin exclaims. "There's so many!"
Estelle and him jump through the living room, laughing as the balloons fly into the air. Percy sits in the kitchen, watching with a smug look pointed towards Annabeth.
"I told you the kids would love it," he says as Evelyn joins in the fun of jumping through the balloons. Soon, the rest of the kids follow.
Annabeth smiles softly as she lays the bags of chips onto the counter.
"I never said they wouldn't. I just said it was excessive, unnecessary, and that it's your mess to clean up later."
"But you love me?" She doesn't turn around, knowing that he's giving her those gods-damned baby seal eyes. She would not be fooled by cuteness into helping him out.
"Only a little bit."
"Brutal."
"Get over it."
A knock sounds on the door and Sally greets the pizza delivery boy. The pizzas are put out on the counter, and suddenly, kids come running. There's about eight of them total. Sally kicks Percy out of line as he cuts in front of Estelle. He only laughs as Annabeth physically drags him away.
That night, him and Estelle jump through the living room, popping the remaining balloons and laughing.
"You just made this like ten times harder, you know?" Annabeth tells him, watching from the hall by their bedroom. "You should've just popped each one individually and put it in a bag as you go. Now you'll be finding them for weeks."
"Then it's a good thing that we're leaving tomorrow, Wise Girl."
"Percy!" Sally yells from the kitchen. "I want them all cleaned up!"
"Okay! Love you!"
Estelle giggles as she jumps again, her head still barely above the layers of balloons.
"This is fun! I want balloons every year!"
Against poor Sally's wishes, Percy makes that promise to Estelle.
Balloons kinda became her special thing.