PeaceMaker

"W-what do you want to do Mother?" Annabeth trembled, her voice weak and her legs quivered, " after all, the punishments fall in your hands right? Please fix this mother."

Annabeth turned around and shot a targeted gaze at her father, "since father is too afraid to do so." 

Mrs. Crowly clutched her hand, clenching it tightly. 'What can I do?' she thought to herself. 'What was in my power to fix anymore?' She turned around and looked at her family, each of them stained with a sin she had failed to recognize? 'What was in my power to fix?' Her precious elder daughter, one she had raised with her husband for a year before the birth of another. One that she had poured in all her love into, raised with only her in mind even if it was just for one year. She had dressed her in the finest clothes from the moment she was born to even now, hoping that one day her love would be returned when she became a beautiful woman. 'What was all that work for?'

Her daughter she had poured everything of her first time as a mother into was now this. White clothing stained with wine and left to dry. There was no returning back, what had been done was permanent.

She then turned to Marie, her second born. A small smile had lingered on her face, how happy she had been with two girls. She had looked forward to the days dressing them up in the prettiest dresses, stunning everyone at every party with their beauty and figure. It was her dream after all to have two girls. Her second time being a mother was just like the last, putting everything into loving and caring her kids and laughing when her husband protested only having girls so far. She fulfilled most of what she was looking forward to. Adorned them in jewelry and designer outfits a hundred more Aire than hers. When was she going to have that all paid back?

Her second always liked her elder sister and loved to follow her. She had even followed her down into the hell she had watched her older sister enjoy. It had welcomed her too.

Mrs. Crowly looked away from Marie. The trek down to their hell was too far. She didn't want to follow. It hadn't been for her youngest. 

His birth completed his father's happiness. He had even cried when he figured out it was a boy and then nearly dropped him in the next second. Mrs. Crowly smiled, she could remember raising him too. She taught him how to dress, never letting her husband's unfashionable hands touch the outfits she bought, and even taught him how to make tea and properly behave at a tea party with his sisters even though her husband argued it was too girly. He was the one she breastfed for the longest to give him the most stable foundation. The one she had groomed the longest to make sure he always looked the best everywhere he went and the one she had the most marriage proposal requests for him to reject. 

She had taught him manners. Where did that go? All it took was just a few talks, a new toy, and a change of mind and everything was diminished to nothing. Her teachings? They were gone. As if they never existed.

And Annabeth… her third born. The one she struggled with the most. After two successful years of being a mother, she had gotten too comfortable with the job and started off roughly. She didn't breastfeed her long enough because she was so preoccupied with taking Marie and Jena more which resulted in Annabeth being a weak child that was prone to being sick. By the time she had started treating Annabeth better, Justin was already on the way and it was only a few months after she was born. She had treated Justin so well because she wanted to make up for raising Annabeth so badly. 

Annabeth never blamed her for not spending enough time with her, she never threw a tantrum to get attention or tore apart a toy when she was mad. She rarely snapped and whenever Mrs. Crowly had apologized for being a bad mother Annabeth had simply just smiled and thanked her for making good siblings. 

The one she had treated the worst was now her treasure and saving grace. How ironic.

And her husband? The one she trusted the most? The one that sat beside her through it all, her pregnancy, helped raise the kids, and even motivated her in the times she felt down, he didn't even tell her the things she cared about the most and hid the secrets from her. It was frustrating. It was a betrayal. Betrayal of her entire family to themselves and to others in the family and she had sat in between it all, looked straight into their eyes, and wasn't able to stop it.

"Mother?" Annabeth turned to her mother, awaiting the reply to her question. 

"You do it yourself," Mrs. Crowly plainly replied, her voice too hoarse and heart too broken to say further.

"Mother, you are supposed to be looking after this family. YOU ARE THE ONE THAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE HELPING US SOLVE THIS! WHERE ARE YOU RUNNING TO?!" Annabeth snapped. 

"Running to?" Mrs. Crowly chuckled, her laughter very strained. "I have nowhere to run to Annabeth. No one to turn to. This entire family that I worked my hardest to fix came tumbling down and I wasn't there to fix it. Why should I try now?"

"BECAUSE YOU ARE MOTHER! THIS IS YOUR HOUSE!" Annabeth yelled, "THOSE ARE YOUR KIDS AND HUSBAND TOO! SO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT."

'It was so frustrating. Why did she expect a lot? Why couldn't she just do it herself? She did a better job at being a mother than I did,' Mrs. Crowly thought to herself. 

"MOTHER!" Annabeth screamed, tears falling down her face. 

"SHUT UP!" 

SLAP

Mrs. Crowly's hand shook after it hit Annabeth's face. 

"Why didn't you tell me all of this at the start?" Mrs. Crowly cried, "WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST TELL ME SO I COULD HAVE STOPPED IT EARLIER!!!"

"Because I trusted you," Annabeth muttered, touching the same place her mother had slapped. She looked up into her mother's eyes with anger, "I TRUSTED THAT YOU KNEW YOU HAD MESSED UP ENOUGH RAISING ME AND WOULD TRY TO CHANGE IT! THAT YOU WOULD TRY TO SEE IT! BUT NO."

"HAHAHAHAH," Annabeth burst into laughter, tears falling down her face like a stream, "but of course you won't."