It's Maggie's fault!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope that you are having a wonderful holiday season! This is a little drabble I wrote or Winter in Panem over on tumblr.

"Maggie Odair! Wait for me please!" I yell at the stubborn five-year-old that belongs to two of my oldest friends. They needed sometime today to finish up shopping for little Maggie and her little brother, Theo. I volunteered to watch Maggie while they took Theo with them. It was much easier on Annie since Theo, at six months, is still nursing.

"Come on, Kitty!" she demands impatiently. We were going to play at our favorite park, but the temperature keeps dropping and it's getting more and more cloudy. That snow that the weatherman predicted might be closer than everyone first thought.

"I'm coming, you impatient youngin'," I chuckle under my breath. I open the truck door for her and she climbs in, settling herself in her booster. Soon I'm in, and we are pulling out of the parking lot. "Where do you want to go?"

She sighs dramatically as only a Odair can, making me chuckle. "I want to go look at toys, but I don't want to go to the big store. Can we go to the toy store?"

I nod as I turn down the right street to head to the toy store. Annie and Finnick had said that they were going to the mall, so they were safe to stop. "Don't you want to go get Mommy and Daddy anything?"

Maggie nods. "We are. It's at the toy store."

"What are you going to get them at the toy store?" I can't help but to ask.

In the sweet way Maggie puts together her words, she says, "A unniicorn." She giggles and it's so musical I can't help but to join her.

"You are so silly, Miss Maggie May," I tell her, using the nickname I gave her long ago. She continues to tell me about her week, and in just a moment, we are pulling up in front of the shop. I love how excited she is for the coming holiday and how it's getting me excited too. This didn't use to be a good time for me.

We go on into the friendly shop, now run by another old friend, Madge. Maggie passes her and throws her hand up like only a five-year-old can on her way to find whatever it is she thinks her parents need. "Hi, Madge," I say.

She smiles as she watches Maggie walk down the aisle with the dolls. "She is getting so big."

I nod. "I can't believe that she is five. She also said that Finnick and Annie's present is here. I have no idea what she is looking for."

Madge chuckles, then she leans closer so she can whisper, "There is someone here who—"

Maggie's little voice talking to someone interrupts us. Madge smiles and says, "I think she found him."

I look at her puzzled but she just smiles at me. I walk across the front of the store looking for her when I see her talking to a man. Alarm almost takes all of the air from the room, until he looks up at me. Relief floods my senses when I see those same blue eyes that were featured in many day and night dreams in my life. And there are those same messy curls that haven't changed since high school. I feel a blush making my cheeks red as I remember the one time I got to run my finger through their softness. That was the last time I saw him. That memory makes my spine stiffen with remembered rejection. I can't help the coldness that creeps into my voice, "Come on Maggie. Let's leave him alone."

He straightens while I'm talking, and it sends a pang through my heart when I see him flinch at the coldness in my voice. "It's ok, Katniss. I was just asking if she could help me pick out a present for my nieces, Bram's girls. I have no idea what to get them."

"Aren't their names Lacey and Becca?" I ask.

Maggie hears me, and hops around. "I know Lacey! She is in my class!"

We both chuckle, but I stop quickly when I hear him also. Peeta says, "Yes I guess Lacey is about your age. Do you play with her at school?"

Maggie nods, her strawberry blonde curls bouncing. "We like to play with the dolls and go outside. But Lacey likes to play dress up the best."

I smile at the relief evident on his face. "Do you know what dress-up clothes here she would like?" Maggie nods, her sea green eyes wide in her face. She trustingly takes Peeta's hand and leads him to the clothes.

I roll my eyes and stick out my tongue at Madge as I pass her. She shakes her head at me while she wraps the presents for the customer in front of her. I watch Peeta and Maggie from the end of the aisle as she picks out a pretty purple princess dress. I shake my head when I see that it's the one she's been asking for and Annie has wrapped under their tree at home.

"Now Maggie, do you know Lacey has a little sister?" He waits for her to nod. "Do you know what kind of presents she would like?"

Maggie solemnly nods. "Of course I do. I was three once."

I have to bite my lip as I watch Peeta try to keep from laughing too. "Well then. What did you like when you were three?"

"Unicorns."

This time, I can't stop the laughter from escaping. "You also liked dolls, and stuffed animals, and books."

Maggie looks pensive before she says, "But Becca needs a unicorn. That's what Lacey said."

Peeta crouches down so he is eye-level again with Maggie. "Well, then let's go find her a unicorn."

Maggie brightens and grabs his hand. She leads him to the aisle where she knows they are. After careful consideration Maggie hands Peeta a soft, baby pink one. I don't miss Maggie grabbing the purple one and hugging it.

"Well, thank you so much Maggie. I couldn't have picked them out anything at all if it hadn't been for you."

Maggie, who is not normally a shy child, turns and hugs my legs. I rub her back and encourage her, "Can you say you're welcome?"

A muffled, "You welcome," is heard. We share a glance and a smile.

I pat her on the back again and suggest, "Why don't you take the presents to Ms. Madge and see if she will wrap them for Peeta?"

Maggie steps back form me, and focuses on him. "Is that your name? Peeta?"

He nods. "And you are Maggie, and that's your mom?" He asks, nodding towards me.

I'm cant seem to find my words, so it's Maggie who answers. "No silly. That's my Kitty. My mommy and daddy—" she pauses for a moment, but before I can say anything, she says, "They are Mommy and Daddy."

This time, it's Peeta who flushes red. He fumbles with the toys as he hands them to Maggie before she goes skipping to find Madge. "I'm sorry, I thought— "

I shrug. "She's Finnick and Annie's daughter. They had some last minute shopping to do, so it's me and her hanging out today."

Oh crap, I can't help but to think when he smiles that stupid smile that I waited all my high school days for. "She does have Finnick's eyes. How are you Katniss?"

"I'm alright. How are you?"

"I'm in visiting Bram for the holidays."

"Where are you living at these days?" I ask.

"I was living in Atlanta, but somethings have fallen into place so I'm actually looking into reopening the bakery."

"Oh, that would be good. I know that it's missed." Peeta's parents passed away not too long ago and Bram already had a good job, and didn't want to leave it. So the storefront has been standing empty all this time. "Are you going to live upstairs?"

I blush, wondering how that sounded. "I didn't know you noticed where I lived," he whispers.

I nod, but don't say anything not wanting to tell him anything else. I do whisper, "I noticed a lot of things about you. You weren't paying attention."

He reaches out for me then, lightly touching my arm. He lets his touch linger. "I was paying attention. I just thought— "

This time, its Madge and Maggie calling for us from the front of the shop that interrupts us. He grabs my hand, and squeezes before he stops touching me. I turn away from him, and something clinches in my heart as I do. I hear him mumble behind me, "Hmm, Katniss?"

I turn back to him, and for the first time in a long time something feels right when I answer him, "Yes?"

He smiles at the warmth in my voice. "Can I see you again? I mean before I go back to finish stuff up in Atlanta?"

I dig in my purse, and find one of my cards from work. I fish a pen out of the bottom of my purse, and scribble my cell number on it. I hand it to him, and he gives me another one of those mega-watt smiles that makes my heart flip-flop.