Can you believe it's the hundredth chapter already?!? Holy schist!
Percy was going on a 'guys trip' with Leo, Jason, Grover, and Frank. So naturally, I volunteered to watch the grandchildren.
I mean, Percy does this by himself every single day. Plus, I'm a mother my self, and I'll have the help of Paul and Estelle. How hard can it be?
That's about the exact moment when Percy knocked on the door. Estelle screeched in excitement and went to open it. Percy stood there holding Ethan with Ariana holding his hand. Luke pushes himself around Percy and ran inside, giving me a hug.
Jason stood just behind Percy holding Bianca, and Leo, Frank, and Grover were huddled in the doorway as well.
"Come in, come in," I said. Paul peeked his head in from the kitchen and smiled when he saw everyone. Percy set Ethan down and pulled me into a hug.
After a few seconds, I turned to Ariana. "Now, I didn't get a hug from you yet!" She giggled and came to hug me.
I went around and gave everyone else hugs before Jason handed Bianca over to me. I kissed her nose, making her giggle.
"So how're the girls doing then?" I asked. Frank grimaced. "Well uh...they're super happy to have all the kids to themselves. Especially uh, Juniper."
I laughed. "I sure hope you got a babysitter to help her, Grover." Grover blushed. "Yeah uh, she's got Nico, Will, and Maria staying with her to help with the babies."
"Ah," I answered. "And how about you, Jason? Piper's got everything under control?"
"Yes she does!" He answered proudly.
"And you Leo? How's Calypso doing?"
"Uh I think pretty good," he answered. He looked a lot less confident than Jason did, that's for sure.
"So you'll be gone four days, correct?" I asked. I knew this already of course, I just wanted to be sure.
Percy frowned, glancing around at his kids. "Yeah," He said. "Perce, we've got it covered. You need to get away for awhile. They'll be fine with us."
"But Mom," he protested.
"We've even got some spare weapons just in case. I raised you, for crying out loud. We'll be fine."
Leo laughed at that. Percy still looked tense and unconvinced. I grabbed his hand. "Percy, everything will be fine. Now go."
I did realize too, that it was a little bit of a separation issue. He'd been with his kids almost every day since Annabeth died and I knew how worried he got, especially after the apartment incident. It was tough for him to leave them.
But it was also healthy for him to get away once in awhile, and that's why I think this boys trip is a great idea. Though, I'd feel better if Annabeth were with him. At least then I'd know he'd be okay.
It hurt to know that that would never happen though. Not anymore.
Percy hugged me again, kissing my cheek. "Thank you," He said to both Paul and I, holding his arms out to Estelle, who jumped into them, letting Percy spin her around.
He then gave Ari and Luke long hugs, said goodbye to the babies with a kiss, and then they were gone.
I let myself breath for a minute, preparing myself for bedtime soon to come. Paul was just setting the table, getting the food on.
"Estelle, can you take Luke and Ari to the bathroom to wash hands please?" She nodded and led the other two off to the bathroom.
With Bianca in my arms, I reached out a hand to Ethan and he got on his feet and walked with me to the table where I had the high chairs set up.
After a nice supper, the kids sat in the living room watching TV for awhile. It was when we uttered the words "bed time" that all hell broke loose.
Ariana started screaming and throwing pillows everywhere. Luke simply sat on the floor and twirled some water around his finger. When Paul asked him to get ready for best, he splashed the water in his face. He claimed it to be an accident, but I wasn't so sure.
I guess the twins were feeding off their energy or something because they both started making noise and causing havoc.
It took us an hour to calm everybody down. We set up some pack-n-plays in the office for the twins and we laid them down to sleep. We could still hear them crying.
Ariana sat on the couch in her pjs, clutching a stuffed seal close to her. Luke, also in his pjs, was sat at the table calmly coloring in one of Estelle's old coloring books.
I sat down next to him with a glass of wine. "Do you often act like this for your dad?" I asked.
"Nope," he answered simply, not looking up from his coloring book. I sighed.
And I have three more days of this.
"I don't know how you're dad does it," I told Luke.
"Me neither," he confessed with a smile. I ruffled his black curls and got up from the table.
"Let's get you and your sister to bed, yeah?"
"Yeah."