After Time

Two

Andromeda

"O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me Sally Jackson, Manhattan." The mist shimmered and Mom appeared. She was sitting at a desk, typing away on her laptop. "Mom!"

Her head snapped in my direction and she all but jumped out of her seat. "Andy! Oh my goodness I wish these weren't so silent when they appeared." Mom looked at me. "Sorry, Andy. What caused you to call?"

I smiled. "Are you at home?" She nodded curiously. "Don't go anywhere," I told her. She raised an eyebrow. "I'll be there in an hour or so. We should talk in person."

She smiled. "How cryptic," she sighed. "Alright, I'll order pizza as well. It has been a while, after all."

I smiled knowingly. "Yeah, it has."

Line Break

I cautiously knocked on the door. Percy took a deep breath behind me. "Just a second!" Mom called from inside. Percy took another breath.

I looked at him oddly. "Alright Big Bad Wolf, she's gonna let us in. Please don't destroy the building." He rolled his eyes in response.

The door opened and I instantly tackled my mom in a hug. "Andy," she said fondly. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," I said. "And so did he," I pointed to Percy.

Mom stared at him in shock. She stepped towards him and reached out to touch his face. He grabbed her hand with a smile. 'Hi, Mom'

"Percy," tears started leaking from Mom's eyes.  I smiled. They hugged tightly. I wrapped my arms around them both. Then she grabbed Percy by the ear and pulled.

He clenched his eyes as I laughed. "Percy, you are in so much trouble, young man!" He was quite literally unable to argue, so instead he smacked Mom's hand, but she didn't let go. "Running away, leaving your sister alone, you were meant to take care of each other!" I continued laughing harder and harder.

"Oh my gods," I exclaimed.

"And you!" Mom whirled on me and snatched my ear instead. "You went on a life-threatening quest without telling anyone. They told me you were dead! You're lucky I didn't believe them because then I would have two presumed dead children!" I winced.

Percy rubbed his fist in a circle on his chest. The sign for Sorry. Mom was too looking at me, so he grabbed her shoulder and repeated himself. 'I missed you.'

"Oh my babies," Mom pulled both of us into a hug.

We ate pizza together and laughed and laughed. For the first time in years, we felt like a family again. But still, Percy's sadness remained.

'I am going to make cookies,' Percy said. I wondered if he remembered how to make them. He probably did. He had always been the better cook between the two of us. Unfortunately, that's something Smelly Gabe liked to make use of.

Mom, of course, insisted on helping him. I was never very good at baking, but I sat there and talked to them while they worked.

Line Break

Summer was coming to an end. It was the last day. Percy had yet to decide whether to stay at camp or go home with me.

Selfishly I wanted him to come with me, of course. But I also wanted him to be happy. If that meant staying at camp, then I wouldn't argue with him.

"You want to stay?" I guessed, looking at his face closely. He nodded slowly.

'But I don't want to leave you and Mom alone,' he argued mostly with himself. 'I wish you could stay here. You're the only one who understands me.'