The Johnsons flashback (private Green and John)

6 years ago, Canada

Greg was in his house, 6 years ago in Canada, his current home. Well, less of a house, more of a mansion.

He ran through the house, pulling his favorite toy truck through the hallways. It was red and it had dog stickers all over it, Greg's favorite animal. It was about the size of an average cat. Greg of course had to make the "vroom! vroom! vroom!" noises to accompany his truck, much to the dismay of his butler, the chef, and his dad. He was so happy, it was almost Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year. Greg was so excited for Santa Claus! He parked his truck when he made it to the kitchen on the third floor, hungry.

"Nyle, can I have some of that?" he asked, pointing at the living room table full of delicious smelling foods. It varied from turkey to rich people food. There were also wine glasses prepared for the adults. Greg turned to the chef, Nyle, a middle-aged British man who smiled at him. Nyle was friendly, making him his favorite person that worked for his father.

"Now, now, Greg, you know that food is for later, for your cousins coming for an early Christmas dinner. No eating, yet. Although, later, you can stuff you're face!" Nyle declared, making Greg laugh.

Greg quickly went upstairs to put away his favorite truck, in his room, and then went to the first floor. He stared out of the window at the gentle snow flurry, and the yard-keeper shoveling the couple feet of snow from the sidewalk, for their guests. He couldn't wait for his cousins to arrive, he hadn't seen them since last Christmas! There was Andrew, who was his playmate and played trucks and superheroes with him, Malcolm, the kinda nerdy one who was fun to talk to, and Abigail, who was like a bazillion years older than him. Greg was okay with Abigail, but usually didn't talk to her. There were clear rules about a 10 year old talking to a 15 year old. Also he heard his dad say something about how teenagers were horris-money?

Greg thinks that's a very smart term.

He jumped up and down, waiting for his cousins.

Malcolm, at the age of twelve, stood at 5'6 which was above the average height of a preteen. He was built like a freight train which made him timid so he wouldn't hurt anyone on accident. He hadn't seen this side of his family for quite some time The son of Hephaestus wore a black turtle neck sweater with dark blue jeans. With books in his hand, the young engineer walked into the mansion, gazing up at the architecture. It was specular! He made a mental note to talk to Greg's father whenever he had the time. His mother, Josephine came in right behind him. She wore a long, slimming black dress that complimented her body well with black two inch heels. Her hair was cut short, stopping at the base of her neck with highlights in them. Malcolm's eyes fell on his cousin which made him smile a bit. "Hey, Greg." He waved a bit before walking over to him.

His mother smiled widely and walked passed her son to give Greg a hug and went to walk to see if she could find her brother. "Hello, hello." She called, looking around in the kitchen. ."Ah, Nyle! It's so nice to see you again." Josephine gave him a hug. "Where's everyone else?"

Around Christmas time, there was always one girl in particular who always acted out. Abigail Johnson was never happy this time a year, and oddly enough, rarely even wore a coat outside. With her mother, not-so-biological father, and brother, she walked up to the doorstep of a relatives home. Her mother was somewhat unhinged, it was almost as though she didn't know her children were special. Sometimes Abigail wondered if she did. She yearned to take Andrew and bring him to Camp Half Blood with her, but she knew it just wasn't an option. She wouldn't make the trip, especially if she was defending Andrew the entire time. She cursed her family for living so far on the west coast.

Her knife was tucked securely in her pocket, a folding one, made of celestial bronze. Sneaking it accross the border was a huge risk, but she had to go with her family, to protect Andrew if it came to that. She knew before he did that he was a demigod, that he was something special. He saw the monsters and the weird visions as she had at his age. Though, for him, it was rare at the moment. He chalked it all up to be simple odd visions. Abigail knew better. She comforted him when he was frightened by these sights. And just in case any sort of monster appeared, Abigail would be here to make sure it didn't touch her brother.

"Abb, you went a little more thick on the perfume than usual, huh?" Lincoln said to her, her adoptive father. She didn't reply. She was bipolar with the man, sometimes willing to accept him and other times not.

"Oh, Link, quit teasing her. You know she's at the age in life where she's trying makeup and perfume." Amanda spoke, though her tone was simply a joking tease.

Abigail hated that about her mother. She didn't know it was to ward off monsters. She would know, if she wasn't so unhinged in her pool of denial.

"Why did you spray me with it..?" Andrew asked, still angry with his sister from before when she sprayed him with perfume. As angry as it made him, she simply shrugged. She played it off like she was a big sister being mean, but the reality was that she was masking his scent, and saving his life potentially.

"Abigail, don't pick on your brother!" Her mother said, before she took her last look at her family before ringing the doorbell. She gave her husband a quick kiss before the door to the manor was opened.

Andrew was indifferent about seeing his cousins once more. It wasn't really often they saw one another. And he was spooked after the things he'd lately seen, though Abigail had given him assurance. That it was actually quite normal. He loved his big sister, but she was different now than she was two years ago. For a while now, she had randomly been spraying him with perfume. If only he'd known why.

"Don't worry, son, I'd be freaked out if it was my cousins all hanging out in Canada too." His father whispered into his ear, which earned Andrew a silly laugh.

The adults all began talking, which left Andrew to see his cousins. "Greg, Malcolm!" The words came from his mouth happily as he approached them to greet them. Abigail, however, leaned up against a wall, between adults and children. Her eyes remained towards the group of kids, protective of her little brother always.

Greg was quite surprised when Malcolm arrived- well, to rephrase that better, he was surprised how much different Malcolm was. He was like at least ten feet taller now. Greg's attention went towards his mother, who was dressed quite elegantly. Or, in Greg's current vocabulary 'really pretty.' He was old enough now to understand that Malcolm and his mother were a different race from him now because Malcolm's mother was his daddy's adopted sister. Greg found it funny that Malcolm didn't have a daddy and he didn't have a mommy around, and he liked to bond with Malcolm over that. He shyly waved at his aunt at first, but then was pulled into a hug. "Hi, Aunt Jo!"

Josephine was too long to say, so he called her Aunt Jo. Greg's attention was turned to his bigger/older cousin. He smiled. "Malcolm! Do you want to go play superheroes?" he asked, before a voice surprised him. It was his father's.

"Now, now, Greg, no playing before dinner. We don't you too hyper." Greg's father knew how out of control Greg's ADHD could get, and was also aware Malcolm had the same problems from his adoptive sister. Speaking of her, he went over to Josephine, hugging her. "Josephine! Pleasure to see you! Mario, get this woman a glass of vodka!" he shouted the last part to the butler, Mario, before he obeyed with a, "yessir," and went to get her some.

Soon after this short family reunion, Andrew and Abigail and company came. Greg's father went into conversation with the adults, having Mario get each a glass of an alcohol beverage of their choose.

Greg's attention turned away from Malcolm and to Andrew and Abigail. "Drew! You're here!" he yelled, earning a look from his father, and put on a big smile. He was glad now that all of his cousins were here, at least, Malcolm and Andrew. He was intimidated by Abigail's presence. He gulped a little, before getting a whiff of Andrew's aroma. He smelled it a few more times.

"Drew, you smell like shampoo!" the ten year old declared. He giggled a little after.

"So, do you guys want to go watch some Spongebob before eating?" he asked, pulling at the 'fancy and proper' outfit he had on a bit. His British accent shone through, because until recently, he lived in England. This was his first year living in Canada. "Follow me to the living room!" he said, before running as fast as he could in the tight dress pants, to the living room, where a huge flatscreen covered the wall.

"What would you like to watch, Master Greg?" Mario the butler asked, now in the living room finishing up cleaning after getting the adults alcohol beverages.

"Spongebob Squarepants!" he said, sitting on the very luxurious couch they had.

"Uh-" Before he could answer, Mario suggested that they shouldn't get to excited before dinner. Malcolm couldn't help, but to agree. It read in some article that children would become more jumpy after having "fun time". Plus he had some books he wanted to read over again just in case he missed something the first time. The books in his hands where on basic physics, architecture, and ancient Greece (Which his mother didn't want him . For some reason he was drawn to the Greek book more.

Then the door open and Andrew, Abigail and their parental guardians came through the door. "Hey, Andrew. It's nice to see you again." He turned to look at Abigail, giving her a nod. "Hi, Abigail." However before he knew it, Greg had suggested to watch tv in the living room. "Okay." He would prefer to watch the History channel when they showed 'How It's Made', but knew that the other two boys didn't want to watch it. They might consider it boring. At least he had his books to help him company. Once Malcolm found a comfortable seat in the living room, he opened to the last page he was on in the ancient Greek book. Olympian gods.

First there was Zeus who seemed like a god who couldn't keep it in his pants. Aside from that, he was the most powerful of all the gods. With his master lighting bolt in hand there was no one to rival his power. Not even his other two brothers who had domain over the sea and the underworld. Malcolm felt something ping inside him which edged the unclaimed demigod to read on.

Andrew was baffled by all of the servants. Back home, Andrew had a maid, but that was it. He watched his mother introduce his father to everyone, and he, as always, began cracking his jokes and telling his acting stories. Andrew loved his new dad. He nearly always wanted to be around him. His dad had recently taken up hunting much more frequently, and Andrew had been promised that someday soon, he would be allowed to go with him. Andrew couldn't wait for that day, not in the slightest. But for the time being, he followed his cousins. "Hey Greg! Hey Malcomn!" Andrew replied. Drew? That was a name he was rarely called. He didn't mind it. But he did note how little he was ever called anything other than "Andrew" in the entirety of it. Abigail, on the other hand, couldn't stand it when people shortened her name. Everyone except family was banned from it, practically.

"Hi, Malcolm." Abigail returned to her younger cousin. Her monotone was emotionless, which wasn't so uncommon. Though, as she eyed him, she noticed something in the book he was reading. The pantheon. The reminder almost made her angry, but she was learning to cope with life as a demigod. She looked back towards Andrew, he wouldn't have it as hard as she was, she promised herself that she would see that through.

Andrew was at an odd age. He wanted to seem mature for his father and his sister, and for them to not see him as a kid. And as much as he loved watching Spongebob, he simply didn't match Greg's excitement. He was torn between being who he felt others wanted him to be and who he wanted to be. And that spiteful tempter wasn't doing him any favors.