Daddy Day

**Daddy Day** is the seventy-fourth chapter of The Gift of a Best Friend. It was first published on January 8th, 2019.

## Chapter

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**Annabeth's POV**
As soon as we got back to our house, Jasmine and Toothless went to their home, and I went with my family to theirs just across the river from hers.
Once we got there, I went to my room and put my backpack on my bed.
Then I heard a whimper behind me.
“Rufus!” I called.
My dog ran up to me and jumped on me, knocking me to the ground and started licking my face.
I laughed. “Ok, ok. I missed you, too. Now, down. Heel.”
He got off of me and I got myself up from the floor. Then I pet Rufus.
“Annabeth!” I heard my dad call.
“Coming!” I called back.
I left my room and went to the living room where my dad was. He was sitting on the couch. “Yes, Dad?”
“Hey,” he said. “What do you say that we spend all day together tomorrow? Just you and me?”
“Just you and me?”
He nodded. “The whole day. You don’t start school for another week, so let’s enjoy it together. We can do whatever you want. We can go swimming, dancing, shopping for back to school stuff, clothing, shoes, whatever.”
“Umm, ok,” I said. “I do need some new textbooks.”
Great,” Dad said. “We’ll go after breakfast. I can’t wait.”
“Neither can I.”
I smiled all the way back to my room.
I grabbed my phone and sent Jasmine a text.
**Me:** *My dad’s taking me out tomorrow, and we’re spending the whole day together. Just the two of us. No Savanna or Bobby or Matthew.*
Jasmine replied about a minute later.
**Her:** *That’s great, Annabeth. I’m really proud of you for doing this. But I really wish that you would start giving them all a chance by first referring to them as your family. And what did your brother’s ever do to you? You know, if anybody’s truly innocent in this whole situation, it’s them. Like, and this may be a bad example but it’s the only one I think of right now, when a husband cheats on his wife and he has a baby with the woman he cheated on his wife with, that baby is truly innocent, and it wouldn’t be fair for the woman that was cheated on to treat that baby like shit just because he was a result of her husband’s infidelity. That’s not fair. Anyway, I hope you have fun with your dad tomorrow. I’ll probably be with my family. Come see me, or call after you get home to tell me how it goes.*
**Me:** *Ok. Bye.*
**Her:** *Bye.*
I put my phone on my nightstand.
I guess Jasmine was right—she always is. If this is going to work out this time, I have to consider them as my family too, but I’m not sure that I want to yet.
But there is one thing I’m sure of: looking forward to spending the whole day with my dad tomorrow, and I also hope that we have fun and don’t regret a single bit of it.

The next morning, after breakfast, my dad and I got into the car and drove down to the Plaza.
When we got there, I couldn’t help but look at the magnificent structure of the buildings.
We found a place to park, got out, and walked around for a while. We came across a basketball court and went in to shoot some hoops, and a little one-on-one.
I think it’s obvious that I beat my dad. He kept running out of breath and didn’t have very good aim.
“I’m really not made for this,” he said, panting.
“Uh, yeah,” I agreed. “But I think it’s also fair to point out that Jasmine’s grandparents have their own basketball court, and she and I play there almost every day.”
“It would’ve been fair if you pointed that out before we started playing.”
“Then you wouldn’t have known how good I am, and I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of beating you so much.”
“And you wouldn’t have known how lousy *I* am if you didn’t.”
I laughed.
I threw one more hoop into the basket and put the balls away. Then I wrapped an arm around my dad’s waist and helped him back outside. I found a vending machine and got my dad and I a bottle of water. Dad chugged half of it in less than a minute. I laughed again. After a few minute break, we continued on.
We went shopping for a while. We didn’t shop for anything in particular, but if Jasmine were here, she’d make me shop for some clothes, particularly dresses. I’m glad she’s not here. My dad and I bought a couple accessories, but that was it.
Before we knew it, it was lunch time, and with all the walking we did, we were hungry. We stopped at a nearby diner, got a table by a window, and ordered a couple of hamburgers and fries.
“So how was your summer?” my dad asked me while we were waiting for our food to arrive.
“It gets crazier and crazier with every passing year,” I replied.
“That’s all a part of growing up.”
“I guess.”
Dad raised his eyebrows. “So?”
“It’s a long story,” I said.
“We’ve got all day.”
“Well . . . ok.”
So I told him all about my summer.
I started with the gods and how they were on the bridge of causing World War III, and about Percy, and how he saved us by finding the master bolt and returning it to Zeus.
My face felt a little hot when I mentioned Percy. I hope it wasn’t obvious to my dad.
“He, uh . . .” I started. “He was the reason I actually sent you a letter when we completed our quest. He made me realize that we should at least try to give each other another chance, and so here we are.”
Dad took a sip of his drink. “Remind me to thank him someday.”
“I’m sure Jasmine’s already on it herself.”
“She’s a good friend. I’m really glad you’ve had her to be there for you whenever you need her.”
I nodded in agreement. “Me too. But not always, since she purposefully annoys me half the time.”
“Annoys you how?”
“By making me do things I don’t want to do.”
“Like what?”
“Like everything. Dancing, singing, wearing dresses, doing silly immature and weird things.”
“You sing?” Dad asked me.
“Umm, a little bit,” I admitted sheepishly. “Jasmine’s mother is a famous singer, and she teaches us how to sing. They even have their own recording studio.”
“I’d sure love to hear you sing sometime.”
“Umm, ok.”
That’s when our food arrived. I was grateful when it did. I didn’t want to talk about me singing. I don’t think I’m bad, but I don’t want to actually sing in front of anyone except Jasmine and Sarah. Not even my dad.
When I was halfway done with my burger, I noticed Dad smiling at me in an odd way.
“What?” I asked him.
“You look so much like your mother,” he replied.
“I do?”
He nodded. “Yes. Very much like her.”
I look a lot like my mother, the goddess Athena. I’ve met her twice, and even I didn’t think I looked much like her. I wonder what else I shared in common with her besides looks.
“I probably shouldn’t tell you this,” Dad said. “But I will only if you promise not to tell Savanna.”
“I won’t,” I said, maybe a little too cheerfully. “What do you want to tell me?”
“I still love your mother.”
I stared at him. “You do?”
Dad nodded. “Yes, very much. I’ve never met a woman quite like her before.”
“And you probably never will again.”
“No, I won’t.”
There was sadness in his voice. He still loves my mother.
I’m not sure what I think about that. I mean, if he’s loved my mother this whole time since he last saw her years ago, why did he neglect the one daughter he had with her for so many years until now?
I was angry at him for telling me that, but I didn’t let it show.
“Annabeth,” Dad said. “If it works out with us this time, which I hope it does, it has to work out not just between you and me but between you, your brothers, and Savanna. Can you promise me that?”
I sighed. “I promise I’ll try, Dad, but I can’t promise any guarantees.”
“They promised they’d try only if you tried.”
“Then I guess I don’t have a choice but to try.”
“I guess you don’t. Are you going to finish your lunch?”
I looked down at my half-eaten burger.
I was so hungry, but now I’ve lost my appetite. “I’m full.”

We hung out in the park across the Plaza for a couple more hours, then we went home.
We ate a small dinner, then my dad and I watched a movie together, which was my favorite part about the whole day with him. It was a 50s black-and-white romance comedy. I thought that Jasmine might like it, but she doesn’t like black and white.
The couple in the movie were so ridiculous that it made me think about what he told me earlier about him still being in love with my mother. I’m not angry about him telling me anymore, but I do wonder about one thing:
Does my mom still love my dad?

I'm baaaaack! Merry belated Christmas and Happy belated New Year! Wow . . . it's been almost four months. Damn. I did not mean for this to take so long. There were certain tasks in these video games I wanted to complete fully, but I still haven't and I don't think I ever will. I've been meaning to get back to this story for at least a month now, but I kept procrastinating it. I was motivated in some ways, but not so much in others. Mostly because of where I'm at in writing currently and trying to decide how I'm going to write these next couple chapters. I'll decide on something, lol. I've also been getting really pissed off a lot for a while regarding the general original series and so called "fans", but they've helped motivate me to continue so I can get to the part I've kept thinking about all year.
And the last month wasn't exactly the easiest, as I work in retail, and retail is the absolute worst during the holiday season. And if that wasn't bad enough, I got sick twice in the last month. Like I got sick at the beginning of December, and then again at the end of December. It's still lingering, but going away. I hate winter so much, lol. Anyway, I'm going to focus on getting back to writing and updating for at least a month or so to finish this part, stop for a little bit to catch up on some reading, and then come back all the way from now until September (if you don't already know, The Tyrant's Tomb comes out then). Enjoy!
**Please review** here**.**

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## Character Appearances

### Main Characters

* Annabeth Chase
* Jasmine Saturday