Trained Well

I cracked open an eye, a single beam of light assaulting me through a slither in the drapes. With a groan, I flipped over, effectively burying my nose into the hard planes of Jason's back. I lazily glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand and jolted with panic when I saw it was already eight-thirty. Wait, what day is it? Right, Saturday. No school today. I huffed a laugh at the absurd notion that I was still worried about being late for school eight years after I've graduated. Life of a teacher, I guess.

I snuggled up against Jason's back, draping an arm over his waist and relishing in the warmth of the summer sun dancing through the drapes. Everything was so perfect, or at least almost. We still weren't married. Jason had just graduated law school, which meant come September, he'll be doing the bar exam. About ten weeks after, end of November, he'll be getting his results.

That meant that by Christmas, we might finally be able to think about getting married...depending on whether or not he passes the bar. Not that I was worried. He should worry, though. He already made me wait an extra year because, with his football, he could only manage to go to law school part-time. If he made me wait any longer, I was going to fucking kill him.

A single giggle and the clatter of nails on the hardwood floors were all the warning I got before a sudden weight crushed me and knocked the breath from my lungs. Estelle's laughter lit up the room brighter than the sun could as Mrs O'Leary slobbered over me. The commotion successfully woke Jason, who nearly fell out of bed as he scrambled into a defensive stance.

Meanwhile, I was still struggling for oxygen as our oversized black lab licked at my cheeks, and my little sister's weight dug into my torso.

"I want pancakes," Estelle sang in a voice too shrill for the early morning.

"I want to breathe," I croaked in answer, Jason finally registering my predicament and pulling at least the dog off my chest by her collar, where she happily settled in his lap, lapping at his hand as he tried to pet her head.

We had gotten Mrs O'Leary right after we moved into the condo when we met our super, and I realised he was one of Gabe's old friends. Well, friends might be a stretch. Eddie had been our superintendent back in the old apartment with Mum and smelly Gabe. He had come over for poker quite often before he resigned and moved when I was fourteen, right before Gabe had lassoed me into his web. Apparently, he had left our old building to become the superintendent in this building.

I didn't have anything against the man. He was gone before the shit hit the fan, and he never did anything to me. Once or twice, he would even try to defend me, telling Gabe to lay off when he got a little too loud and abrasive. Not that he had the conviction or confidence to drive it home, but he wasn't a horrible human. He probably didn't even know about Gabe's other affairs outside his job at the Cadillac Linen Service.

Even if I didn't hold anything against the man, it turned out that seeing him regularly around the building had been a trigger. The panic attacks had returned with a vengeance. Jason had been at his wit's end as I refused to go to another shrink. Fuck knows I've been to enough to know precisely what they would say. He was looking for other condos and apartments in the area, but I didn't want to move either.

Our condo was perfect - hardwood floors with big windows and a terrace overlooking the Hudson. I was not going to let the smelly bastard ruin yet another part of my life. He had already taken so much from me.

And then Nico pitched up at our door a month later, service dog at his heel. Jason had trained her like a drill sergeant, and I had snuck her little cubes of cheese so she'd like me better. Not that I didn't contribute to her training at all. My students adored her, and Mrs O'Leary was an excellent deckhand on the boats, catching rats and mice around the docks whenever I worked on the Billion Oyster Project. Labs are water dogs, after all.

As for the three-year-old still perched on top of me, my mother had announced her pregnancy right after her and Paul's wedding. Nine months later, little Estelle Blofis popped out. Jason and I frequently babysat since our building had daycare services for when we had work or class, and my mother and Paul were flitting across the country on book tours.

Jason found it amusing when we went out, and people just assumed she was ours. He would always make a joke about accidentally knocking me up in college. I let him have that, though, since Jason had allowed my teacher sleeping with a student joke for four years. In his fantasies, he probably saw Estelle as ours anyway.

I sat up as I finally gasped in a lung full of air. "Blueberry pancakes?"

"Yes!" Estelle squealed happily, throwing her arms around my neck.

"Okay, let's get you fed then," I said, swiftly leaning over to peck Jason on the cheek. "Morning, by the way."

"Morning," he sighed contently. I got up out of bed with some difficulty considering a toddler was dangling from my neck, and carried my sister to the kitchen, propping her onto one of the stools at the island where she observed me as I cooked. Jason had refilled Mrs O'leary bowls before he joined me, starting on my cup of coffee and two cups of tea, albeit one of them a sippy cup, for himself and Estelle.

"I'll take Mrs O'Leary for a jog after breakfast," he yawned as I poured the batter into the frying pan.

"Thank you," I gave him a chaste kiss. "I'll get Estelle dressed and ready for Beth. They're going to the Met Cloisters today."

"Really?" Jason asked excitedly, mostly for Estelle's benefit, who nodded.

"Auntie Beth said it would be fun."

"A museum dedicated the art and architecture of the Middle Ages...with Annabeth...how could it not be?" he asked with sarcasm still lost on my little sister. She would get there, though. In between my mother and me, she will become a master of sass soon enough.

"And then we'll have a Disney movie night tonight to rot away all the culture Beth tried to cram into her," I said, flipping a single pancake onto Estelle's plastic plate and pouring the next one into the pan. Jason drizzled syrup on the pancake, chuckling, and cut it into bite-sized pieces before placing the plate in front of Estelle, along with her fork.

After breakfast, Jason set off with Mrs O'Leary, and I got Estelle dressed. She had wanted to be a lady for her trip to the museum, so I pulled out a powder blue sundress and sandals with a sweater for if it got cold. I pulled her hair into a fishtail braid and stuck a few artificial flower pins into a makeshift flower crown. Estelle was thrilled.

As I packed some extra supplies into the leather knapsack Jason had got her for her birthday; I couldn't stop the thought from popping into my head as it always did when we babysat Estelle. What would our kids be like? It's not like we never discussed the subject. Thalia had even drunkenly offered to donate some of her eggs one night, so our kids could be half mine, kinda half Jason's.

Annabeth came to pick up my sister, again asking me to join them. I politely refused. Truth be told, I went on my fill of museum field trips with my students. It was the last thing I wanted to be doing on a Saturday.

"Have fun," I called after them, Estelle waving happily. I was once again left alone with my thoughts of the future, of possibly blue-eyed, gap-toothed smiles as I made blueberry pancakes and family picnics with Mrs O'Leary bounding through the park. Before all that, though, I wanted to marry the love of my life.

I had initially wanted to do it on the thirteenth of September, for obvious sentimental reasons, but I wouldn't be able to get off from work right after the school year started. With me mainly having time off in school holidays, the best time would be during the summer holidays, July or August. Jason got pretty busy in August, though, since the NFL kicks off in September. So that left us in July.

"Hey," came Jason's greeting from the door, Mrs O'Leary bounding across the room to drink greedily from her water bowl. I dropped my head back from where I was perched on the couch, staring at my Superman upsidedown. Jason kissed my head, thumb gently smoothing out the frown on my brow. "What you thinking about?"

"Next year, first of July," I answered. Jason quirked a brow at me.

"It's been a week since my last birthday. How are you already planning my next one?" Jason asked, confused. "We still have yours in August to look forward to. Let's plan for that."

I rolled my eyes at him. "That's not exactly what I meant."

"What did you mean, then?"

"I want to get married next year, the first of July." Silence fell as Jason stared down at me.

"You wanna get married on my birthday?" he asked evenly.

"At least you won't ever forget an anniversary," I joked, and Jason poked my side. "Think about it, though. First of July, 2028. It's a Saturday. You'll have passed the bar because it's you, and you've never failed a test in your fucking life. It falls right into the sweet spot between when the school year ends and when you have training camps before the NFL while leaving some time for a honeymoon."

"Not to mention, you'll have to get really creative with the extra special birthday sex," Jason wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"You seemed plenty pleased with what I came up with last week," I countered, making Jason snort.

"First of July sounds perfect," Jason smiled. "Getting to marry you would be the greatest gift anyone could ever give me." He leaned down to kiss me deeply. The angle was weird due to my being upsidedown, but neither of us really minded.

"Is Estelle gone?" he asked, biting his lip.

"Yeah," I smirked back.

"Wanna join me in the shower?" he asked, breath dancing across the shell of my ear before he bit down on the lobe. My fingers entwined into his hair, tugging him even closer.

"Yeah," I breathed, getting up on wobbly legs. "Mrs O'Leary." My beloved pup's head snapped toward me at the sound of her name. "We're gonna have sex," I informed her.

Mrs O'Leary instantly ran toward her toy box, grabbed a chew toy, and trotted off to her bed in the guest bedroom, closing the door with her snout just as she was taught. Jason burst out laughing at the display, making his way to our room, already pulling his shirt over his head.

Like I said, I contributed to Mrs O'Leary's training.