AN: I decided that I enjoyed writing ideas like these because I love these characters so much and it's been 6 years. I still believe they deserve every bit of happiness which explains this. Hope you enjoy it!
On the nights when Annie doesn't have a deadline to catch, or if Finnick's not closing at the library, they do film marathons. It was something they did back when they first started dating. He had taken her to see a romantic film that she thought was very bad to which Finnick defends after because he thought it was okay and Annie was just being snobby. They don't agree much on these things but when they do they end up both crying or laughing at the same time. So, it's become a regular hobby for them both and they make sure they have time for it.
If it's not an exhausting week, Annie puts on one of those slow-burner or thriller horror films that gets unnerving enough for Finnick that he has to watch it behind his hands (or her hair which he hides his face into). By the time they turn off the tv, he's behind her with a tight shaky grip which sometimes makes Annie laugh. Not everyone knows that the local charming, sexy librarian Finnick Odair gets terrified of horror films enough to hide behind his small wife after it.
However, on the nights when Finnick gets the pick, he chooses the romantic comedy ones or a cheesy animated one, sometimes so ridiculous it makes her want to go straight to bed or substitute film night for sex. Most of the time it works (at first) until he's figured it out and he makes a rule that there can be no distractions of sorts during film nights. There was one night she had to sit through a film about talking automobiles that she didn't know how many bathroom breaks it would take for her husband to get the gist that she hates it. To her annoyance, he pauses the film and patiently waits for her to get back.
"I'm starting to think that was my punishment for leaving you alone for 5 minutes while The Exorcist film was on," she says after before he turns off the lights. He lets out a tired wicked laugh before kissing her cheek. "It was entertaining, wasn't it? Did you know they made a sequel?" He says tiredly.
She groans at that and Finnick laughs.
For this particular night, Finnick chooses something lighter, he's googled a lot of films about parenthood but nothing seemed right for the night. Cecilia from the library, however, had mentioned something about raising wild animals/kids and briefly mentioned a film about it. He's got the film ready as soon as he got home from his relentless research.
It had been a bit of a week with Annie's morning sickness finally ebbing itself replaced by the sudden desire to consume heaps of noodles and ice cream. It doesn't help that there's an influx of students coming in at the library for finals week. He couldn't count the number of times he's had to close up and drive around at ungodly hours looking for the food on her emoji-ridden grocery list.
He's preparing the tv set when she walks into the living room after a nice shower; one hand on her growing stomach and the other towel drying her long hair. He's set it all up just in time as she takes her seat. He greets her with a soft kiss before she turns to the sofa.
"You're awfully nice to me tonight," she starts as he takes his usual place.
"I'm always nice to you darling. How do you think I got you those strawberry sprinkled sundaes?" he teases. Annie rolls her eyes.
"For the record, you have two people to feed, and it just so happened that the other one wanted those strawberry sprinkled sundaes" she defends.
"Well I'm sure he's enjoyed it," he says, softly patting her belly. She lets out a small giggle at that.
"Oh, we definitely did." She agrees.
"So what do you have for us tonight?" she asks, mindlessly drying her hair. She puts her feet up his lap as she does so, allowing him to see her swelling belly from where he's at and he finds it adorable.
"Cecilia briefly mentioned it earlier at lunch. It's something about wolf children and raising them," he says, caressing her ankles.
"Wolf children? Is this a documentary?" she asks, her interest spiking up. Annie's helped with a few shots for documentaries under Plutarch Heavensbee's direction. She hasn't considered working on television or film sets yet as she's mostly interested in working for the women's magazine she's currently in. She's brought it up once after an exhibition where Mr. Heavensbee was one of the guests. He's bought at least 5 of her works while teasing her about the job offer. One of these days he thinks she might consider it as Plutarch had been interested in her portfolio, not to mention there's not much money in libraries these days and he thinks they might need the extra income when the baby arrives.
"No, it's a Japanese animated film. Had to look it up myself after. It's good though." He pauses. "The reviews."
She eyes him suspiciously, "The last time you said that you put on a very disturbing bee film."
He laughs, "Well I didn't know it would be that disturbing."
"You do your researches on these films before you put them on and somehow you managed not to do it well for that one?" she asks in disbelief.
"Yeah well, it was a long day and I wanted something fun," he defends.
"That was not fun, none of it was" she points.
"Come on Ann, trust me on this one. I promise it won't be as ridiculous as falling in love with a bee,"
Annie rolls her eyes at that. He gently puts her feet down and scrunches closer and plants a teasing kiss on the skin of her shoulder.
"This is gonna be good," he promises. He puts on his serious face on and sometimes she finds it so ridiculous given their petty situation that it elicits a small smile, "Fine. But only because I love you,"
He gives out a tiny sound of victory before kissing her cheek. "You won't be disappointed."
And she wasn't. It's actually a beautiful film. She finds herself tearing up 30 minutes in, coupled with a few laughs at the mess the children had gotten into. She notes the sudden nervousness that parenthood will bring.
Finnick enjoys it so too. She's got his head on her lap, her fingers running through his bronze hair every now and then.
They're halfway through when she feels it. A fleeting moment inside but enough to startle her from the film. She starts, the sensation overwhelming enough as Finnick turns from his position in her lap to stare at her in surprise.
"Annie?" he starts, his voice small.
"Did you feel that too?" she asks. The OB-GYN hasn't really told them much about the kicking parts as she thought it was still kind of early. Annie didn't expect it to be this soon.
He nods, speechless at it. There's another sensation going through her and she feels its soft kicks again enough to make her laugh and grimace at the same time.
"Oh, he's done it again!" she laughs, "Quick, give me your hand so you can feel it too."
He sits up, as she lifts her shirt up enough, so he could see her stomach and places his hands on her smooth skin. There's a tense pause with her eyes on Finnick's surprised ones as he stares at her bulging stomach. nig
When she feels the baby kick again, there's a look of awe on his face that she wished she had her camera down her for it.
"Oh," he says, his voice tinged with awe and love. He looks back at her with excitement. "That's amazing," he says quietly.
"It is, isn't it?" she agrees.
"He's not even out yet and he's here enjoying this film as we are!" he laughs.
Annie rolls her eyes at that as Finnick leans in to kiss her softly on her lips, her cheeks and neck. 8 years in and she's never gotten tired of his kisses. His warm breath cascades smoothly on her skin as she pulls him closer before he peppers soft ones on her stomach.
"I can't wait for him to see all these when he comes out," he says after. She stares back at him lovingly; in their dim living room, she can see how clear he is against the darkness. She wonders if their baby will have the same green eyes, the same dimples and the curly bronze hair he has. She cups his cheek with her left hand at the thought of it and smiles.
"What's he gonna be like when comes out?" she wonders, quietly.
"Beautiful like his mommy," he says, his breath warm on her skin as he plants another on her stomach. She'd have thought being with him for 8 years now would have her immune to these things but instead, she blushes and laughs.
She looks back up and remembers that they've missed a few important scenes in. "Ahh, now we have to rewind," she groans.
"That was an unexpected distraction," she continues, her hand soft covering her belly. Finnick smiles. Of course.
"We have all the time for it darling," he says. He pauses the film and peppers her with another set of kisses, "We have all the time in the world."
AN: The film they're watching if Wolf Children by Mamuro Hosoda. My tumblr is finnicksghost.