Does Sally Jackson ever flinch when her husband Paul raises his hand to grab something from the top shelf
Does she stop breathing when his arms lace around her to hug her from behind
Does she have to hold back a panic attack when she sees minotaur costumes on Halloween
Do they make her feel like she can’t breathe, like its hands are still wrapped around her neck, squeezing
Did her postpartum night-terrors wake the baby every night
Does she cry when Estelle spends the night at a friend’s house, worried she’ll never come home again
Does she cover her ears during thunderstorms
Does a tear roll down her cheek when she drives by an airport
Does she prefer to strain her eyes over getting reading glasses, because wearing them reminds her too much of being gaslit as a child
Can she even let Estelle attend public school, or have Percy’s stories about cannibal English teachers finally gotten to her
How does Paul comfort her
How could Paul comfort her
This wasn’t his world. He only half-understood it, and he wanted to understand it For Her.
Does Paul insist on cooking because he doesn’t want Sally to see him as the scumbag who made her do everything
Do Percy’s demonic enemies send Paul nightmares, trying to convince him to abandon his family
Does he brush his teeth in the car after a night out with friends, worried Sally will recoil at the scent of alcohol on his breath again
Does he keep (what Percy assures him is) a celestial bronze gun in his classroom, in case he needs to protect a student he suspects to be a demigod, even though all he can see is a watergun
Does the terror-stricken look in Sally’s eyes when he accidentally asks her for something—that Gabe always wanted—eat him up inside
Has he ever had to kill someone the mist made him think was his friend, in order to protect a demigod in his school
Do Sally’s nails dig into his back when she’s having nightmares again
Can he ever get the mental image of Percy killing Kelly right in front of him out of his head
Did Paul put Estelle back to bed at every midnight cry, to make sure Sally knew she wouldn’t be alone this time
Does she require hourly check-ins when he leaves the house, to make sure he hasn’t been kidnapped by any queens or giants, and that he hadn’t left her like Poseidon did
That he wasn’t just another tidal wave that would crash over her and wash away; that he would be her rock in the hurricane. The shield to her sword, a loving father to their children.
