Cooking and cleaning the house, Katniss is making sure everything is perfect for her daughter's first birthday. Peeta is tending to his bakery down the road, so Katniss has taken over most of the responsibilities on her own. She has a modest amount of guests arriving very soon. There are decorations hanging from every corner and there are snacks laid out on every table. She's nearly exhausted by the time she finally hears Peeta coming in the door.
"Oh good, you're finally home." She says as she catches her breath. "Does the house look okay?"
"It's perfect, Katniss." Peeta smiles and gives her a kiss on the cheek. "I'm sorry I couldn't be here to help you. However, I was able to get her cake finished right on time!" He picks up a white box and opens this lid to show Katniss the most beautiful cake she has ever seen. It has the lightest shades of color and simplest design. The words read out, "Happy 1st Birthday, Rose." Katniss looks at Peeta with hope that this will be a great day for their baby girl. They named their daughter Rose because they wanted to pay tribute to Prim, but felt that their daughter needed a new name of her own.
"You go on upstairs and get ready, Katniss. I'll finish up everything here. Everyone should be arriving very soon." Peeta sits down the cake and helps a tired Katniss up the stairs.
"Thanks. I'll be in the bathroom freshening up. Let me know when people start to arrive." Katniss stops by the bedroom to grab her clothes and makes her way to the large master bathroom. It shines with cleanliness and perfect white porcelain. She turns on the shower and steps in before it's even warm enough. All she wants is to feel relaxed.
After about 15 minutes of washing off and just standing under the faucet, Katniss finally turns off the water and reaches for her towel with her eyes closed. She hasn't even stepped out yet, but she has the strange feeling that she's not alone. Peeta could have come in to brush his teeth or something. Just in case of an alternative, she wraps her towel around herself and opens the curtain cautiously. She stands in shock when she sees the short, spiky hair, the small frame dressed in a very business-like suit, and the attitude already showing in those deep brown eyes. After applying lipstick in the mirror, she turns to Katniss.
"Long time, no see, brainless." Her voice seems deeper now, more powerful, but somehow still the same.
"Hello, Johanna…" Katniss is doing her best to stay covered. "I didn't know you were coming today. I didn't get any kind of RSVP from you."
"Oh, well I've been busy, Katniss. I'm sorry. Owning your own business can make a person lose track of things. Anyways, how could I miss little Rose's birthday?" Johanna moves closer towards Katniss with a huge grin on her face. "How could I not come and see you and the baker man?"
"Johanna, you are aware that it has been 17 years since we have seen each other, right? This is your first time even seeing Rose, why are you acting like you've been around this entire time?" Katniss is annoyed at the way Johanna has barged into her and Peeta's home as if she lives there. However, Johanna doesn't seem to act like it's a big deal.
"You know, it's a two way street, Katniss. Ever since you and Peeta got married, you practically stopped calling me. I decided to give you your space, since that's what you seemed to have wanted." Johanna turns away from the still dripping wet Katniss and attends to her lipstick once again. Her tone is so serious that Katniss lowers her head in guilt. "I'm sorry. I never wanted you out of my life. It's just that I was so unsure of myself ever since that night."
"What night?" Johanna tries to act like she didn't know what happened.
"You know what I'm talking about, Johanna. The night you kissed me." Katniss feels contradicted and shows very little emotion. Johanna notices the neutral tone and responds with a light smirk, "I believe I remember you kissing me back, and getting upset when I pulled away."
"Well. That's why I never called. You kissed me and then pulled away the moment I started to kiss you back. Why, Johanna?" Katniss readjusts the towel that's still wrapped around her and starts to walk towards the door. Johanna smoothly steps in front of her and clicks the lock. Katniss pauses and just looks at her without a word.
"You know. You could go get dressed and then head downstairs. You could see all of your boring guests and pretend to be happy to see them." Johanna starts to walk in a circle around Katniss. "You could link arms with Peeta and play the perfect little mother and wife role. You could listen to Finnick Jr. go around telling people how he's too cool for these little kid parties now that he's a teenager. Or listen about how Haymitch has been sober for 5 years now, even though we all know he's not sober at all." She stops directly behind Katniss, who's frozen in her standing position. "Or, you could stay in here with me just a little bit longer…" Katniss is startled when she suddenly feels Johanna's lips brushed against her ear as they whisper "And drop the towel."
Katniss can hardly comprehend what's happening. Her husband, her daughter, and a handful of guests are probably downstairs waiting on her, but for some reason, she doesn't seem to want to walk away. "What- what are you doing, Johanna?" Her voice sounds shaky and scared.
"Well, you seem upset that I pulled away that night. Even though it was almost 17 years ago, I figure I could make it up to you now. So, are you willing to let me make it up to you? Or, are you going to resist me?" Her lips are still right on Katniss' ear, while she keeps her hands away, waiting for permission to take control.
Katniss stares ahead of her, feeling the warmth of Johanna's breath on her ear and neck. She decides that she can't stand the internal battle anymore, and the towel slowly falls to her feet. Johanna smirks and whispers one last sentence, "Are you sure?" Katniss closes her eyes and slowly nods. Johanna takes Katniss left hand and grabs the right side of her waist, pushing her forward towards the sink.
Johanna keeps her right hand on Katniss' waist and puts the left on her back. She slowly pushes Katniss down until she is completely bent over the sink. Katniss feels nervous and awkward, being so bare in front of Johanna like this, but she doesn't do anything to stop what's going on.
Johanna, being as gentle as one can be, runs the tips of her fingers up and down Katniss' outer thighs as she slowly edges her left knee between the inner. Katniss hesitates at first, but then finally obeys Johanna's unspoken command to spread her legs. Johanna continues to explore Katniss' thighs, moving slowly in between them. Katniss begins to feel something stir inside of her. It's as if she now needs Johanna so bad, it could kill her. She whimpers softly and whispers, "Please, Johanna, please." Johanna immediately covers Katniss' mouth as an order to stay quiet, and Katniss knows that she must obey if she wants the brown-eyed woman to continue. Johanna then proceeds to let one of her hands search closer to Katniss' middle, still being very gentle. Her free hand slowly moves up Katniss' back to softly grab a handful of hair, as she begins to tease her entrance. "Oh." Johanna whispers almost silently, "It feels like someone is ready for me."
Katniss knows that it will be impossible to be quiet, because she's having the hardest time even now. She reaches for a nearby hand towel and bites down on it to silence any uncontrollable sounds. She's just in time, too. Seconds later she feels Johanna enter two small, yet power fingers into her. Katniss bucks back as Johanna thrusts in and out of her. Shortly after, a third finger begins to rub Katniss' clit violently. Johanna's free hand grabs onto Katniss' hair even tighter to keep both of them balanced, however she does let go periodically to dig her nails into Katniss' back. "You're being a very bad girl, Katniss. Everybody is waiting for you downstairs, but you're up here getting fucked by me." Johanna says accusingly and as proudly as she can. Katniss moans and gives her a cruel look through the mirror. She feels so guilty for Peeta, but she wants nothing more in this moment than to have Johanna continue to be inside of her.
After a while, Johanna decides to move the third finger inside, causing Katniss to scream into the towel she now has shoved in her mouth. Johanna is pleased when she feels Katniss tighten around her fingers, and then a flow of wetness seconds later. Johanna stands still for a few moments, letting Katniss feel her just a little bit longer before she slowly pulls out. Katniss collapses onto the sink to catch her breath, and that's when there's a knock on the door.
"Katniss? Are you okay in there? Almost everyone's here and we're all waiting for you to light the candles!" Peeta is right on the other side of the door. Johanna cracks a smile but Katniss can barely even speak. "Oh honey, I'm almost done. I'll be down there soon, I promise!" Her voice is nervous and weak, but Peeta doesn't seem to notice. "Okay. Have you seen or heard Johanna up here? She got here a little early so I told her she could tour the house." Katniss is finally able to stand up and Johanna silently mouths "I'm standing right here, you fucking idiot." Katniss smacks her arm as she replies "Oh yes, Peeta. She knocked on the door a couple of moments ago. I think she went to see the baby's room."
And with that, they hear his footsteps grow further away. Katniss quickly picks up her clothes that she had picked out and begins to get dressed as Johanna heads to the door. "You okay there?" She says quietly. Katniss shakes her head, feeling that she's unsure of the situation. Johanna walks back to Katniss and takes her right hand. "You know. I think about the night I kissed you every day. I may have pulled back, but do you want to know something?" Katniss just looks at Johanna impatiently; at this point she doesn't care what this woman has to say. "Well, no matter how much I kissed you on that cold bed in 13 that night, you still would have ended up with him. I wasn't going to torture myself like that."
Almost immediately, Johanna turns away and opens the door. "See you at the party, brainless." And the door shuts firmly behind her.
~End of chapter 1~