Chapter 19: Rose’s Birthday

I woke up to someone jumping on my back with a cheer of two words that I haven't heard in forever.

"Happy Birthday," the small voice exclaimed as I shot up with the pain in my stomach

"Ben, be careful," mom said from the door of my room, "remember she's still hurt in her tummy."

"Right," he said as he got off and I felt the left side of my bed sink, "sorry sissy," he said as I looked over to his sad face

After checking the bandage with a touch of my hand to see if it was wet, I answered him. "It's all right little one," I began, "you just have to remember to be careful with people who come from accidents like that," he looked up at me with a beaming face as I forgave him. "Promise me that you'll remember that," I asked as he nodded furiously, "all right now get out of here," I added with a smile on my face

"But I have to give sissy her present first," he said as he jumped off the bed to run over to mom who had Bri next to her. Soon he returned with a piece of colored paper that had something sticking out of it. I was finally moved into my room at the Goldsberry house the day after Christmas.

I took the paper card and opened it, a gift card fell out, before I grabbed the gift card, I looked to see what the card said. It was a hastily drawn picture of the family in stick figures standing next to the house with the words "Happy Birthday Sissy" written in many different colors of crayons. I grabbed the card that fell into my stomach

The card wasn't one from a store, it was a card made with cardstock that said in ten years old "Good for one free play date" I smiled once I read it and looked at the smiling ten-year-old. "Thank you," I began, "I will use this as soon as possible," I finished as he grinned before running off

"Careful down the stairs," Mom yelled while Bri walked up to me as I leaned my back up against the wall

"Good morning little one," I said with a smile as she grinned before giggling. I have since introduced her to the series that my biological mother was writing and she liked it whenever I called her 'little one.'

"Good morning sissy," she said with that same smile, whenever kids smile it's contagious. "I had some help from mom but I got you this," she said while handing me a box in velvet. I gently took it in both hands and opened it

I gasped once I saw what was inside; inside was a beaded bracelet that she had made. There were beads in the middle of it that had the letters spell out, "Love you" on it. "This is beautiful," I said with a grin as I slid it on my wrist, "I'll keep this on for as long as possible."

Bri smiled, "Happy birthday sissy," she said jumping up on my bed to give me a hug

"Thank you, little one," I said, returning the hug, "go play with your little brother, I think mom wants to give me something herself."

She nodded before jumping off the bed and running out the room with mom giving the same warning to her as she did to Ben. She sighed before sitting on the left side of my bed as I scooted closer to the headboard. "Good morning," she began, "hope that was a good wake up for your first birthday celebration with the family."

I chuckled, "That it was," I answered then looked around my room, "it's good to be here."

Mom smiled, "It's good to have you here," she said, "do you want to see that hollow floor the contractors told me about? It does have something to do with your surprise," she added as I smiled

"Sure," I said with the grin, "lead the way," I added while sliding out of the bed. "Should I be in better clothing to explore or," I said as I got up and spun in a circle

"At least put on a t-shirt," she said, "it may be a little cold down there," she added, "how can you even wear that little to bed during the winter?"

I chuckled looking down at the sports bra and leggings I had on, I shrugged, "I don't know," I began. "Must have gotten used to wearing as little as possible for bed without sleeping naked."

Mom chuckled as I slid on a Christmas sweater that I grabbed from my closet, "Okay let's go," she said before leading me to the corner of my room that had a bean bag. She lifted the bean bag to reveal a hole that was big enough for both of us to fit through. It had a ladder leading down into darkness, "Ready to explore?"

I smiled before nodding, "You're going to have to help me with the ladder," I said as Mom nodded before going first. After she went, I sighed before climbing down a ladder, making sure to put the beanbag cover over the whole. "Woah," I said as Mom handed me a flashlight, "This could be an amazing hangout," I said looking around as she chuckled

Even though it was pitch black, the area seemed never-ending, in the faint light I saw that I was standing on dirt compared to the usual concrete of a basement. The light from both of our flashlights showed different paths, one of them looked like it was walked down more than the others.

A noise sounded off to the right as Mom and I both looked down there, she seemed to stiffen at the sound while I jumped. "I'll be back, continue exploring," she said before going towards the sound. I shrugged as I approached the middle of the cavern as the light didn't go that far. I went a little further because something shined in the light of my flashlight, once I got to it, I saw that it was a ball-point pen. Cautiously, I picked it up and examined it, it was a traditional ball-point pen but with a trident on the cap and the word Anaklusmos in a similar color to the trident. I had a feeling deep in my stomach of both dread and the need to uncap it, I followed the gut feeling once I uncapped it almost dropping it when it turned into a sword. I then looked over the sword as it shined a golden light as bright as my flashlight. It seemed to have a leaf shape to the blade, a leather grip and was as long as my arm. I rotated it in my wrist to get a feel of it, I felt a little connected to it as I looked at it.

I heard a sound once more causing me to jump and look around me, once I looked in front of me, I saw a dog with red eyes snarling at me. It had black matted fur and a terrible odor, "Good dog," I said stepping back while holding the sword in front of me. Suddenly the dog launched off of it haunches in my direction, I screamed while jabbing the sword in its direction. Instead of the dog falling on me gold dust fell all around me, I looked around in confusion before jumping once more to an unknown voice.

"Hey," it said and I jerked my head up, lifting the sword in the direction, "please be careful with that, I didn't mean to startle you."

"Who are you," I asked, sweeping the area with the sword and flashlight, and soon I saw the face of a man. He had his hands raised in defense as his face bore a lopsided grin. His raven black hair stuck out in all directions while his sea-green eyes sparkled in the light.

"The name's Percy Jackson," he said, "what's yours?"

"Rose," I began as I got the courage to stand my ground, "Rose Stevens-Goldsberry," I finished

His smile widened, "Good morning Rose," he began, "could I please have that sword back? I kind of need it as a light to navigate here," he finished a little sheepishly, "I'm looking for someone important to me and I think I may find her here."

"Promise not to use it against me," I asked just as footsteps approached behind me

"I swear on the River Styx," he said as thunder sounded faintly above us, "now can I please have it back?"

"Trust him, Rose," the voice of mom said behind me along with someone else in my head

Shrugging I rotated the weapon in my hand and handed it to him hilt-first, "I hope you find the person you're looking for Percy," I said as his smile widened and he grabbed it

"Thank you," he said with a nod of his head, "It's good to see you again Renée," he added as I looked towards mom who was also covered in gold. "Is this one of the adopted children that you were telling Chiron about," he asked as she nodded

"Yeah," she answered, "it's her birthday today too," she added, "have you found your wife yet?"

Percy shook her head as something was telling me that I should know him and why this was all familiar. I couldn't give the name of what was telling me this but it was as if this voice inside my head was trying to talk to him

I'm right in front of you Percy

I blinked as Percy turned to me, "For some reason, you look a little familiar to me," he began. "Did you know both of your birth parents," he asked me and I nodded, "what happened to them?"

I glanced in Mom's direction as she nodded, "You can trust him, I will explain later since you can see that sword," she said as I nodded

"When I was eleven, I got into a car accident with my mother and stepfather as I was heading to my friend's birthday celebration in Toledo. A few days later while I was still in the coma from the crash, I was told that my father died of a heart attack," I answered as he nodded then looked at Mom

"Could you bring her to camp at some point," he asked, "I'm pretty sure Chiron would like to see her."

Mom nodded, "I didn't know that this was an entrance but after today I do plan on taking her to camp as soon as possible," she answered as he grinned

Percy then turned to me, "I hope you have a great birthday and I hope to see you soon Rose," he said as I smiled and nodded

"I hope to see you soon as well Percy," I began with a smile, "and thank you, I wish you the best of luck in finding your wife."

His smile widened, "Thank you," he said before leaving the way we came

Mom sighed as I watched him walk away, "He has a wife," I asked dumbfounded as Mom chuckled

"Yes, he does," she answered as she brushed off the gold dust, "come on, I'll explain everything to you while you get ready."

As I got dressed in a blue dress that was a gift from Maria, Mom explained to me what happened and what was there.

"So, what you're saying," I began as I slid a character shoe on my prosthetic foot, "is that all of the books that are about Percy and his adventures are true?"

"What are you talking about," Mom asked me as I chuckled

"You haven't heard of the book series Percy Jackson and the Olympians," I asked and she shook her head, "what about Heroes of Olympus?"

"No," she answered as my shoulders sagged, "should I know about them?"

I sighed then explained the books to her, soon enough she was looking at me with wide eyes. "Are they true," I asked looking at her as she sat on the beanbag that covered the entrance to the Labyrinth

"Yes, they are," she said as she thought

"Then would you mind if I asked you a more personal question," I asked her and she nodded, "who are you the daughter of?"

Mom smiled as I watched her get up and sit on the bed next to me, "I'm a daughter of Aphrodite," she answered. "I was one of the children who fought alongside Percy and the Seven," she added as I smiled

"I'm glad you survived then," I said as her smile widened

"Me too," she said with a little sadness in her voice, "anyways," she began shaking the memories of the dead from her head. "Let's go celebrate your birthday, I'll tell you more about this tomorrow," she said as I smiled

"My birthday and a New Year," I said as I jumped up from my bed in excitement

Mom chuckled, "Yes, now let's go downstairs," she said, "I'm pretty sure your father figured out how to make your favorite breakfast without burning the house down," she said as I laughed a little. "Let's hope that there's some left because we had some people spending the night too," she added as my eyes widened before I sped out the room and down the stairs with her giving me the same warning as she did with Ben and Bri.

With a dull throb in my stomach combined with the grumbling stomach of hunger, I stopped in front of the kitchen to see four people eating. Two of them were kids while the other two pretty much had some personality of children. "Maria, Cass," I exclaimed before I attacked the two with a hug as the two old friends of mine chuckled

"Well then," Cass said with a chuckled, "good morning to you too, birthday girl."

As she said this Maria just chuckled after swallowing a mouthful of food, "I think this is a good picture of three best friends together," Dad said with a chuckle as he lifted his phone and took a photo. Soon after he set the phone down, I sat between the two and started eating

Mom walked in with a chuckle, "With the way you're moving now would make someone think that you didn't have prosthetics," she said as a smile formed on my face before I returned to my food. "Hurry up eating," she continued after another chuckle, "we have to go to the theater for your surprise and another rehearsal."

I nodded as I shoveled in some more food before I knew it my plate was empty and I was mentally going over the list of what I was going to do today. We were going to run through Eliza's part to see how much I remember from the first run through in case Pippa was still sick after the holidays were over. After that, we were going to celebrate my birthday and the New Year more before heading to bed to wake up to another rehearsal tomorrow.

Soon we were heading over to the theater while Mom was explaining where I was supposed to enter for my surprise.

"Don���t follow us through the stage door," she began, "walk up to the front and find the unlocked door. The house lights will be lit up in a path that you need to follow," she finished as we parked by the theater. "You'll see what happens next," she added before kissing me on the forehead

"See you guys later," I said with a grin as they left the car and entered the stage through our usual entrance. I soon got out of the car and went to the front of the building looking to find the unlocked door. Once I found it, I pulled it open and walked in, making sure that it was closed and locked behind me. I stood there for a minute to let my eyes adjust then walked into the house to see a snake of lights on the floor creating a path to the stage. I followed the line to about the halfway point where I saw a box, I opened the box to see that there was a box of cookies along with a note that read

Happy birthday to the greatest gift in our life, once you make it to the stage sing any song you like!

I grinned, taking a cookie before I closed the box and placing it in one of the seats to get to later. I then made my way to the stage, thinking of the song that I was going to sing. It was a partially true song since my mother had sent me to meet some kids at that same age but not all of it was the same as my life. Once I made it to the last light which was at the center of the stage, I took a breath and started singing 7 Years by Lukas Graham. The world seemed to have dissolved around me as I remember the times with my mother, stepfather, and father. A tear rolled down my cheek as I remembered the friends that I had to leave and the future that I had prepared for myself for high school. As I was finishing lights were turning on to show three other people who were the same age as me. When I finished, I looked behind me to see Sammy with Marcia as Cass and Maria stood in front of me with Charleen.

Hey guys," I said with a smile as they all grinned

"You ready to surprise the cast even more," Sammy asked with a smirk

I smirked in response, "You bet," I said, "are we sticking to the rehearsal part," I asked as she nodded. "Then let's begin," I added as she grinned holding a microphone up to her mouth. Soon all six of us finished singing Ex-Wives from Six and the cast erupted into applause.

"I can't wait to see that," mom said from behind me as we were all facing the audience which had Lin in front of us with Pippa and Leslie on either side of him. If it wasn't for Sammy catching the microphone it would've fallen to the floor, all around me was the cast along with some more people.

People that I haven't seen in forever, after I completed a full circle, I noticed that it wasn't just friends that I had to leave behind.

It was the rest of my family

My grandparents stood on either side of Mom and Dad with my aunts and uncles behind the respective family all of whom were holding gifts of different colors and smiling. My legs crumbled underneath me as everything registered, I was shocked and surprised to see all of them as everyone stood in front of me.

"How," I breathed as tears started rolling down my face

"They had some help," Cass answered with a wink as Sammy helped me sit down

"But this had to take forever for both families," I said looking at all of them, "and friends."

Cass chuckled as Sammy glared at me, "This isn't the best place for you to sit down Rosy," she said as everyone chuckled

"I ship it," a voice from the crowd said as I looked out into the crowd with a faint blush

"All right, Sams," I said with a smile, "I'm getting up, a little help?"

Sammy nodded after shooting me another glare, I held out both of my wrists as she took them and pulled as I pushed myself with my feet. Soon I found myself sitting on a folding chair, opening presents, and giving hugs to family members that I haven't seen in forever. Some of them had tickets to see the show while others just cried because they were so happy to see me. A lot of the friends were like that too, I later found out that much of the cast pulled an all-nighter with Maria, Cass, and Sammy to contact all of them.

After that, we went through rehearsal and then left to count down the clock for the New Year.