Nico saw Bianca and Michael playing on the swings. They were laughing and smiling and it warmed his heart. He was glad they were having fun.
“Nico! Hey!” Annabeth greeted him. Nico stood excitedly and hugged her as she set down her bag. They had set up a playdate so the kids could hang out. Bianca and Michael missed Percy and Annabeth’s twins, Luke and Zoë.
“Hey Annabeth! Hey twins, what’s up?” Nico said, crouching down to the twins’ level.
“Hey Nico! Can I go play with Bianca?” Luke asked, twisting and fidgeting with his fingers. Luke and Bianca very obviously like each other, which made Percy happy that he even though he wasn’t Nico’s type, his kid was Nico’s kid’s type.
“Sure! Let’s go find them!” Nico grabbed Luke and Zoë’s hands and they headed toward Bianca and Michael on the swing set. Nico quickly let go of their hands when he saw an older mother yelling at Bianca while Bianca was in tears.
“Hey! Quit yelling at my daughter!” Nico knelt down and picked up Bianca, glaring at the mom. He put on arm in front of Michael, who was also crying. Luke and Zoë both rushed over and Zoë hugged Michael to get him to stop crying. Luke stood next to Nico, and tried to do his best death glare.
“Well, I’m sorry, but your daughter hit me!” Nico’s eyes went wide. He put the sobbing Bianca down.
“Bianca, did you hit her? You know that you are not allowed to hit someone!”
“Daddy, she patted my head and scared me! You said we don’t have to be nice to strangers that touch us!” Nico turned to the woman.
“Why’d you touch my daughter?” he asked coldly. Annabeth had rushed and was holding Michael and keeping the twins from butting into the conversation.
“Well, I was trying to compliment her! She wasn’t listening to me or acknowledging me!”
“You don’t get to touch my kid! I see why she hit you, you scared her! There’s no reason to start screaming at her!” Bianca’s tears soaked the shoulder of Nico’s shirt, but he didn’t much care. He was angry at this woman. Annabeth put her hand on Nico’s other shoulder.
“Ok, Neeks, I’m fully on your side here, but let’s leave, ok? Not worth the time or aggravation. I completely understand, but I think the best thing would be to get the kids away from her, okay?”
Nico took a deep breath. “Yeah, Annabeth, you’re right. C’mon twins, let’s go.” Zoë took his hand and walked with him, practically running while he speed-walked away angrily.
“It’s ok, Nico. Bianca’s ok now, thanks to you.” She smiled. Nico couldn’t help but smile back.
He heard Luke talking to his mother. “But mommy, I wanna play with Bianca and Michael. Can we go to a different playground?” he asked.
“Yeah, baby. I’m gonna talk to Nico. I don’t know how he’s feeling right now, he’s a little upset, but we can see if there’s another playground.”
Nico put Bianca in the car and started buckling her into her car seat. She was 7, but a little on the smaller side, so she was still in a car seat. Once all the kids were ready to leave, Annabeth stopped Nico before he got in his car. She wrapped her arms around him, surprising him.
“I know you’re angry. Just…take a deep breath. Bianca’s okay, everyone’s safe now, it’s alright. I know you’re angry with that lady, but I think you’re mostly scared. Am I right?” Nico didn’t answer. He just hugged Annabeth back tight. Some tears fell down his cheeks and soaked into Annabeth’s shirt. He pulled away and apologized.
“Hey, I’m a mom. I’ve had worse on my shirt.” Nico laughed. “But seriously, I get it. And I think the kids still want to play. Want to come over?”
Nico smiled. “Sure. I’m going call Will, and tell him to come over, that okay?”
“Yeah, totally! It’ll give me some extra time to clean up!” she said, laughing. Nico laughed in turn, and turned on the car. He started the AC, then stepped out to call Will. He didn’t want the kids to hear his conversation, not only because he was going to use some colorful language, but also because he just wanted to breathe and talk to his husband. He dialed the number and let it ring.
“Hey! What’s up?” Will’s cheerful voice was so comforting.
“Well…we’re leaving.”
“Why? What happened?” Will’s voice was full of concern.
“Um…this lady. She scared Bee because she patted her head, so Bianca hit her. The lady started screaming at her until Bianca and Michael were both crying.”
“Oh my gods! Are you all okay?”
“Yeah, they’re both fine. The twins and Annabeth were comforting them.”
Will was quiet for a moment. “Are you okay?”
Nico took a shaking breath. “Yeah. At least, I will be when I see you. Just come to Percy and Annabeth’s, okay? See you there.”
“I love you, Nico.”
Nico smiled. “I love you too.” He hung up the phone and climbed in.
“You kiddos ready to go to Percy and Annabeth’s?” Bianca and Michael both cheered and giggled. Nico smiled and put the car in drive.
When they got to the Jackson house, Luke and Zoë rushed to the door to greet the children. They all ran to the playroom. Nico greeted Annabeth again and thanked her for inviting them over. He said hi to Percy, who was talking to Will. Will jumped up as soon as he saw Nico and hugged him, and kissed his forehead.
“Hey!” Nico said. “Percy, how’s the aquarium going?”
Percy sighed. “Yeesh. It’s surprisingly hard to get an aquarium built with like 100 different tanks. But at least the fish are free for me. I swear to all the gods, all the fish ask me if they can be an exhibit every time I go for a swim.”
Nico laughed as he sat down. Annabeth came into the living room with a tray loaded with Sally’s leftover blue cookies from when she last visited, and some coffees and a hot cocoa for Nico. Nico didn’t like coffee, it was too bitter for him. Will on the other hand, liked to say her liked his coffee how he liked his men. Dark and bitter.
Percy and Annabeth had both started drinking coffee in college, because the cafe was on the way to their classes in New Rome.
“How’s Estelle and your mom and Paul?”
Percy smiled. “They’re good. They were over the other day, hence the blue cookies. It’s hard to believe she’s 15 already.” Percy sounded almost sad, but wistful.
They talked and the kids played. Eventually it was dinner time, and Nico and Will packed the kids up to leave. They got home, they ate, and then they had to go to bed.
Will and Nico sat cuddling on the couch, watching Brooklyn 99. They laughed and laughed, because who doesn’t find Jake Peralta funny? Nico’s head was in Will’s lap and Will was playing with his hair.
“Hey,” Will started. “You sure you’re good from today?”
Nico turned so he looked up at Will. He smiled. “I was since the moment you hugged me.” He sat up and pulled Will into a kiss.
I must say, you know you slept well when you wake up in your lover’s arms.
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A/n: I was thinking about having them be Aunt Annabeth and Uncle ____ but Uncle Nico didn’t sound right…
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