Frazel Nico-Again?!

                                    

                                          
Nico POV
                          
"Nico, can you watch Emmi and Sammy for a few hours?" Hazel gazed at me pleadingly through the Iris Message. 
                          
"Really, no hello at all?" She flushed and I smiled. "Course I can babysit, I love the kids and you know it." 
                          
"Thank you so much, Neeks! We just need some free time without them, you know what I mean?" 
                          
I shrugged. "Not really."
                          
Hazel grinned. "Thank you again, Nico. We'll pay you."
                          
I shook my head. "Absolutely not. It's a family favor. See you in ten."
                          
Hazel nodded and swiped her hand through the screen.
                          
After grabbing my jacket and a granola bar to sate my hunger a little bit until I had dinner with the kids, I leaned against a shadowy wall in the corner of my living room and focused on Hazel's foyer. Specifically, Frank's shadow, since he was standing in the doorway to the living room.
                          
Emmi shrieked with laughter as I popped out of my half-brother-in-law's shadow, scaring the Hades out of him.
                          
"Di Immortales, Nico! I could have killed you!" He yelped. I noticed that his arms had gone furry and stifled a laugh.
                          
"You wouldn't go full grizzly in your own home, you would be too scared of hurting the kids." I reasoned as Hazel came in, carrying a sleeping Samuel.
                          
"Good point." Frank conceded as I recieved the snuggled child, wrapped in his royal purple blanket. It had the Roman SPQR decal embroidered into the corner. 
                          
"Bye Emmi, Mommy and Daddy are going out for a little bit and Uncle Nico is going to play with you, okay?"
                          
The three year old on the floor waved her hand and giggled, stuffing her other fist into her mouth. 
                          
I carefully placed Sammy in his Pack-And-Play to let him sleep then scooped up Emmi and placed her on my hip as I searched the kitchen for Hazel's dinner instructions. 
                          
Finally my eyes caught sight of a yellowish piece of paper. Snatching it off the counter, I quickly skimmed the mixed Latin and Greek. It was sweet that Hazel tried to write the note in the language I was more fluent in, but she didn't know all the complications of the language, so there were a few phrases in Latin. 
                          
Opening the fridge, I mentally checked off what was on the list.
                          
Bits of steamed carrot cauliflower for Sammy and Emmi, check.
                          
Bottles of milk, check. Neither kid had inherited their father's lactose intolerance.
                          
Pear chunks for Sammy and peach cubes for Emmi, check. I knew better than to give them both the same fruit. Sammy was allergic to peaches.
                          
A portion of a chicken pot pie, check. I smiled. Hazel always made sure to have something homemade for dinner when I came over so I would eat. I had a sneaking suspicion that she and Will collaborated to figure out what they could make me eat.
                          
 Sammy let out a loud scream from the other room, alerting me to his waking up. 
                          
"Crap!" I muttered, rushing into the other room.
                          
I was too late. Several gold nuggets and a single diamond sat on the floor under the crib. Little Sammy was squirming on his stomach and wailing. 
                          
"Alright, Emmi, time to go down." I plopped the three year old on the floor carefully, scooping some stuffed animals towards her and hoping they'd distract her until I could calm Sammy.
                          
"Up ya go, kiddo." I picked Sammy up and grabbed a rag, draping it over my shoulder. I'd learned never to pat a baby on the back without a rag the hard way. That had been when Emmi was only a few weeks old and she'd spit up all over my shirt.
                          
As I bounced the three month old, I grabbed a broom and awkwardly swept the precious materials into a corner. 
                          
"Gotta remember to tell Hazel that..." I muttered.
                          
"Neeky, look!" Emmi shrieked excitedly. I turned, expecting her to show me her stuffed animals dressed up in one of the many outfits she had. What was really there made me yelp in surprise.
                          
Emmi sat on the floor playing with the ears that had suddenly grown out of her hair. A cat tail sprouted from under her little jumper-dress.
                          
Now I was officially panicking. We had found out Sammy had control over gems and such, ferrokinesis as Annabeth called it, when he was only a week old and had woken up crying, only to have gems and gold sprout all around him. Emmi, however, had not shown any of her parents' powers yet.
                          
Taking both kids into the kitchen, I slipped a Leo-modified BlueTooth into my ear and dialed Hazel's number as I bounced up and down lightly, trying to occupy a crying Sammy and a confused Emmi. 
                          
"C'mon, Haz, pick up!" I muttered, pouring myself a glass of water and setting Emmi on the floor for a moment to take a drink, trying to calm myself down.
                          
"Hey what's up?" Hazel finally picked up.
                          
"My niece just grew a tail!"
                          
"Oh, again?" 
                          
I spat out the second gulp of water I had taken.
                          
"AGAIN?!"