After Time

Eight

Andromeda

Mom had insisted that Percy come home for the rest of the break, and he knew better than to argue. I smiled at the satisfied look on her face as she led him into the house.

Mom always loved Christmas. Even with Gabe there, she always made sure to do something for Christmas for Percy and me, and once we were old enough we did our best to do something for her, and each other.

This would be Percy's first Christmas since coming home. He seemed excited, which gave me some relief. He had told me about going to that island and meeting Calypso. I could tell he liked her just by his expression when he told me about her. It surprised me at first. My brother had never really expressed any interest in romance, even when we were older. This girl must have been really kind of Percy had fallen for her.

It had made me slightly angry, that the gods could give someone a punishment like that. Successive heartbreak seems cruel, even compared to Tantalus or Sisyphus. Then again, it's exactly the type of thing that Aphrodite or Eros would think of.

Percy was absent from his bed when I woke up on Christmas morning. I wasn't completely surprised. He was an early riser, I was not. At Camp, I would often wake up and find him sitting up and doodling in his notebook.

I got up, stayed in my pyjamas, and walked to the kitchen. Percy was already leaning on the counter by the kettle, talking with Paul and Mom. He didn't drink coffee, so he must have been making it for Mom and Paul. I smiled. "Merry Christmas," I said to them.

It was not uncommon for me to be the last one awake, but no one minded. They all extended their greeting.

"Percy," Paul looked at my brother. "Where are you staying if you don't live here?"

I raised an eyebrow, but Percy responded easily. 'I go to a boarding school in Long Island,' he said. 'Lots of practical stuff. Not many people, but one of the teachers knows sign language so that's pretty cool.'

Mom nodded, "they also have a summer camp."

"Great," Paul smiled. "It's good that you have a place where you fit in, even if there's a language barrier."

I nodded in agreement, nudging Percy's elbow. "Yup, us weirdos gotta stick together." He smirked back at me.

'You would know all about that.'

"Hey!" I rolled my eyes. Mom and Paul were laughing. I looked at them and pouted. "Traitors."

We continued talking casually for a while longer. After waiting a few minutes for everyone to wake up, we walked to the couch to open presents. "I'll go first, I guess." Paul picked up a paper bag from where he left it by the front door. We each kept the presents we were going meant to give in our own places since the apartment had no room for a tree. Paul handed out the gifts and sat back down. "I don't really know how you three usually do this, I only got a rough run-down," he started. "I guess you open them one at a time and I explain why I got it?" Mom nodded to him with a fond smile.

Percy went first. "Sally told me you liked to draw," Paul said. "I got you this cool paper to draw on that's sticky on one side. The idea is you can cut out shapes and draw your own designs on everyday items, like a video game controller, or a mug that's particularly bland."

'That's very cool. Thanks, Paul,' Percy smiled as he looked at the paper. 'Hey Mom, get ready to see tridents and wave patterns on all of the plates.'