A/N: Here it is guys, my Christmas one shot!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.
Under the Mistletoe
By Blueberrychills94
"Christmas time, mistletoe and wine, children singing Christian rhyme!" Madge crooned into her huge red and white spiral lollipop as she skipped along the snow coated path in a pair of huge woolly boots. Peeta walked alongside her, his head driven mad from the multitude of carols he had to endure ever since they left the Christmas market. "So here it is, Merry Christmas, everybody's having fun! Look to the future now, it's only just begunnnnn!"
"Madge?" Peeta interjected.
"What?" Madge asked. She stopped skipping and walked like a sane person, taking a huge bite out of her lollipop in the process.
"Shut up, I'm begging you. You're giving me a headache," said Peeta. The lyrics to all the carols that had escaped Madge's mouth over the course of the day circuited in his brain like a pack of jolly hyenas, scratching their claws against the side of his brain and trying to break through his skull.
"Oi, humbug, where's your Christmas spirit?" Madge bumped him with her huge bag of shopping, grinning a huge smile that revealed pieces of sugar stuck between her teeth when Peeta hit her back with his own bag. "Surely you're a little bit excited? Who wouldn't be, it's bloody Christmas Eve!"
"Bloody Christmas Eve," Peeta repeated. "Your point being?"
"Scrooge," Madge accused, spinning on her heel and charging up the path to her house. Peeta followed her, picking his way across the icy terrain that was her front yard and trying not to break his neck in the process. "Come on, you have to be excited. Nothing beats Christmas."
"Easy for you to say, you won't be spending it alone," Peeta pointed out. He didn't mind having to spend Christmas alone, really. He had done it for five years now. But the magic of Christmas seemed to have died for him long ago, probably when Santa got taken out of the equation when he was ten and all there really was to look forward to was a visit to Church and a turkey dinner.
"Gale and I said you could come round tomorrow," said Madge upon entering her house. She shook the snow off her hair and hung her scarf up on the coat hook. "I even said you could stay tonight if that's what you wanted. But what did you say? 'Oh no Madge, I'm okay, I don't mind spending Christmas alone. I'll just make a pie and watch the Doctor Who Christmas Special'."
"Well, I probably will," said Peeta. He shut the door behind him to keep the warmth in Madge's house and dusted the snow off his coat before hanging it up beside Madge's. "Look, Christmas just isn't my thing anymore. Why drag a tree all the way down from the attic just to haul it back up again after New Year's?"
"You're going to be turning the Charity Men away next," Madge smirked. She unceremoniously dropped her shopping bags beside the sofa and threw herself on top of it. The interior (and exterior) of her house was like Santa Claus himself came in and threw up Christmas Cheer everywhere. Every window, every mantel, every piece of wall space was taken up with decorations of some description. The whole house glowed like a beacon and at night time you could see it from miles away.
Peeta lifted a cuddly reindeer off the armchair and passed it to Madge before sitting down. She hugged the creature with a dopey smile. She bought a bunch of toys this year for her son, who she was due to give birth to any day now. She was swollen like a whale and could barely hold herself up right. She craved sugar-hence the huge lollipop Peeta had to buy her upon exiting the market-and it was a wonder she hadn't lost all her teeth over the course of the pregnancy.
"I've been meaning to talk to you," Madge said. She leaned back on the sofa and placed a protective hand on her swollen tummy. "I've actually been meaning to talk to you for a while now."
"I know, I'm sorry," said Peeta. "Everything's been hectic what with the snow and stuff." Panem had experienced a huge snow storm the previous week. It knocked out all phone lines and no-one had been able to leave their houses for days. Peeta was thankful that he had convinced Madge and a few other people he knew to stock up when the first weather warning came in about it. Sometimes being paranoid can be extremely helpful.
"I know, I know," Madge waved off. "But this is important."
Peeta narrowed his eyes. "How important?" Last time Madge had something important to tell him, they ended up on a ferry to Italy because they got on the wrong boat.
"I want to set you up with a friend of mine!" Madge declared. She announced this as if expecting Peeta to light up and probably whoop with joy but instead all she got was narrowed eyes and a confused frown.
"If it's anything like last time, I don't want to know," said Peeta. The last person Madge had tried to set him up with had been called Finnick Odair. He was a good guy but was kind of over confident. They dated for a couple of months-an enjoyable few months that were mainly taken with diner dates and sex-but they broke up mutually after agreeing that they were polar opposites who just didn't fit right together.
"Oh come on, this guy's hot, trust me," Madge insisted. "His name's Cato Hadley and he's a personal trainer. You know what that means." She gestured at her torso and mouthed, "ABS!"
"Wow Madge, make me look like a conceited pig, why don't you," Peeta muttered.
"Come on, give it a shot. You two are perfect for each other, trust me!" Madge declared. "He's coming around soon, I told him you'd be here."
"What?!" Peeta exclaimed.
"Call it a Christmas gift," Madge beamed.
"I told you not to get me anything this year!"
"And you knew that I just couldn't do that," Madge responded, rolling her eyes as if this were obvious. "Get in the mood! You deserve to loosen up, especially after all those extra hours you've been putting into work. Those children better be bloody grateful."
"Yes, because I'm sure they're aware of the fact that I put in extra hours to teach them how to paint," Peeta answered. "And it's not work, it's volunteering."
"Orphans don't need to know how to paint," Madge replied.
"Is the baby getting to your head and making you loopy?" asked Peeta. "They don't need to know how to paint, I just like teaching them. Besides, if I don't take them every afternoon for lessons, they'll be stuck with that horrid woman Alma for Maths."
Madge shuddered. "I can't believe they'd consider teaching depraved children math instead of art," she said. "Their lives are bad enough, why make it worse?"
Peeta rolled his eyes. "I'm going to chalk that one down to pregnancy brain as well."
Madge winked. "You do that." She stuffed her hand down the side of the sofa and threw something onto the coffee table. "I bought those for you as well. For tonight. Y'know, in case Cato jingles your bells."
Peeta stared at the pair of red skimpy underwear that read 'SANTA BABY' along the ass in distaste. "Even if he did jingle . . . my . . . bells . . . I wouldn't ever wear those."
"Ah, c'mon, they're zetzy," Madge said, pronouncing the word 'sexy' strange and adding too many 'z's.' "And kinky, too."
"I don't do kinky," Peeta responded.
"You're just a vanilla ice-cream, aren't you?"
The doorbell rang. Peeta groaned as the tune to 'Rocking around the Christmas Tree' filled the room and drove a couple more chiselled smacks into his skull. "Where did you even get a doorbell that does that?" he asked, holding his hand out to signal for Madge to stay put when she began to struggle to get off the sofa. He stood up himself and made his way to the door.
"I got it on sale!" Madge called after him. "Gale knows a guy, it was a bargain!"
Peeta turned the door knob, trying not to knock the wreath Madge had wrapped around it off, and pulled it open. In the doorway stood someone who could almost be mistaken for Madge's brother. He was tall, had blond hair the exact same shade as Madge's and had these green eyes that almost matched the colour of the mistletoe hanging off the door frame. Peeta's brain seemed to wake up upon the sight of the handsome man and he forgot completely about the carol that was still ringing around on loop.
"Cato, I presume?" he asked.
"Yeah. I'm guessing you're Peeta?" Cato responded.
"Yeah," Peeta replied cautiously. He stepped out of the way of the door to let Cato in.
"Mistletoe!" Madge shouted. "I put it there for a reason!"
"What? So you can kiss the mailman?" Peeta shouted back. He shut the door but the doorbell kept ringing. "Madge! How do you shut this thing up?!"
"Smack the door five times!" Madge called back.
Cato took the liberty of doing this, slipping past Peeta and using his fist to thump the doorframe five times. The doorbell's insistent carolling ceased and the silence that filled Peeta's ears was so merciful he almost burst out laughing. "Thanks," Peeta said.
"No problem," Cato replied.
Madge sat on the sofa still, grinning like a Cheshire cat by the time Peeta returned. "What are you grinning about?" he demanded.
"Nothing," Madge smirked. She heaved herself off the sofa and started waddling to the hallway that spanned off to the left. Panic seized Peeta as he realized that she was leaving him alone with Cato. With such a h . . . with such a h . . . such a hot guy. "I'm going to have a nap. The baby has been moody today."
"Are you sure that's not just you?!" Peeta hissed, grabbing her wrist and tugging her back.
"Oh grow a pair Peeta. You've dated guys before. I've set you up with guys before. Let me sleep! Cato's a good guy. You're perfect for each other, trust me," Madge replied. She winked and slipped her wrist out of Peeta's hand. She wandered off to her room and shut the door firmly behind her.
Peeta scratched the back of his head and slowly turned on his heel to face Cato again. He sat in the opposite armchair with his feet propped up on the coffee table. "So," Peeta said, awkwardly sliding into the armchair in which he had previously sat on, "how do you know Madge?"
"We were in the same Biology class in college," Cato answered. "You?"
"Uh, friends since pre-k," Peeta shrugged.
Cato seemed surprised by this. Peeta could understand why. He was kind of shocked that Madge had never brought up the fact that she knew such a . . . such a . . . an attractive guy. Surely, out of all the people that she thought of to set Peeta up with, this guy would have come up at least once before now.
"So how many guys has Madge set you up with before now?" asked Cato.
"Um, one," Peeta answered. "And a half if you count the fact that she pushed me into this guy at a bar once when I was drunk."
"Why's that a half then?"
"I hardly count a one night stand as a feasible relationship," Peeta elaborated. He internally winced. Had it really been relevant to bring that up? God, he didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. What was that thing called that people have in their brains that control what comes out? Oh yeah, a censor. Peeta didn't have one of those. Well, he didn't seem to have one when he was around insanely hot guys.
"Right," Cato said slowly.
A silence fell between them. Peeta flicked the hair out of his eyes, trying to figure out something even half decent to say. He was never good around new people. Madge usually hung around for at least the first hour of the blind dates she sent him on but now that she was pregnant, her attention span was short and her stamina was poor. She didn't have the energy she used to anymore. Hopefully it would get revitalised or something when she gave birth to the baby.
"How many guys has she set you up with?" asked Peeta.
"Zero. I don't do blind dates," Cato answered.
Peeta raised his eyebrows. "Why not?" he asked.
"It just hasn't been my thing," said Cato.
Peeta pulled his knee up to his chest and pressed his chin against it thoughtfully. "What changed?" he enquired.
Cato shrugged. "Madge showed me a picture. She was absolutely convinced that we'd make a perfect match. I don't know, I haven't dated in a while and I thought you were cute. Besides, if we didn't hit it off I thought 'no harm, no foul'."
Peeta didn't hear anything about the word 'cute'. He flushed bright pink and tried not to smile. "I see," he said.
"I also haven't been laid in a while and I figured, even if there wasn't a relationship in this, I'd still get at least that," said Cato.
Peeta narrowed his eyes. "You think I'd have sex with you?" he snickered.
"You don't?" asked Cato.
"Well . . . well . . . not on the first date!" Peeta spluttered.
Cato smirked and rolled his eyes. "Okay, right," he said sarcastically.
Peeta let his knee fall again. "You're another one of those self-satisfied dicks, aren't you?" he sighed. "Why does Madge only know self-assured, ignorant . . . jerks? Does she attract them? Does she have some sort of beacon light that calls you guys toward her?"
"Wouldn't that make you a self-assured, ignorant jerk as well?" Cato challenged.
Peeta's eyes widened. "No!" he exclaimed.
"Then your point seems illogical," Cato replied. "If everyone Madge knows is a self-assured, ignorant jerk then that would make you a self-assured, ignorant jerk as well."
Peeta rolled his eyes and scowled. "I'm beginning to re-contemplate whether Madge knows me at all. She obviously has some delusional idea of what I'm looking for in a relationship. It seems that she believes all I want is some sexy guy with no personality what-so-ever."
Cato seemed satisfied with something. Peeta's scowl deepened. "What are you grinning about?"
"You think I'm sexy," Cato stated, as if this was what he had set out to achieve in life and was perfectly content now that he had completed the task.
"With no personality what-so-ever!" Peeta added. "You're like a Christmas box professionally wrapped that has nothing inside it!"
"How would you know?" Cato challenged with a cheeky smirk. "You've haven't unwrapped me yet."
Peeta rolled his eyes, face annoyingly burning. "Like I'd want to."
They met eyes and Peeta noticed that Cato's eyes were bright green. He wasn't sure which shade, exactly, all he knew was that he didn't have the type in his paint box. They stared at each other with chagrin, both clearly fed up with each other already. What made Madge believe that they would match each other at all? Peeta had only been in the room with the guy for-what-ten minutes? And he wanted to tear his hair out!
Whatever Peeta was doing-what it was, he wasn't sure-was clearly bothering Cato as well. He had fire in his eyes, an annoyance that could only be caused by plain irritation. Peeta almost wanted to know what it was he doing. He was being the reasonable one! At least he wasn't being rude or full of sexual innuendos!
"At least we can both agree on one thing," Cato said.
"What's that?" asked Peeta.
"We are clearly not right for each other."
Peeta scoffed. "You're right about that," he agreed. "You're too much of a filthy pervert who obviously can't see that not all sustainable relationships have to begin with . . . with . . . smut!"
"Smut?" Cato laughed. "You're one to talk, you're such a prestigious idiot. Can you hear yourself? You're so pretentious! Who says smut now-a-days?"
"Me!" Peeta said.
Cato rolled his eyes. "Any more extended vocabulary from the 18th Century you'd like to share?" he asked.
"I think you used them all up!" Peeta fired back. "Prestigious? Pretentious? Who says those words anymore?"
Cato raised his eyebrows in amusement. "Lots of people."
They stared each other down again. Peeta ground his teeth together and clenched his fists, feeling the urge to leap out of his seat and punch Cato in the face while also having an undeniable desire to jump into his lap and kiss him until neither of them could breathe. How could such a gorgeous face have such an ugly interior?
Peeta opened his mouth, hoping that a clever come back was to come out last minute, but was interrupted.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
The scream was so piercing, Peeta's heart almost stopped in fear. "Madge?!" He turned in the armchair and awkwardly climbed over the back, common sense seeming to have been consumed in his fear. Cato was a few steps behind him as he went down the hallway to Madge's room.
The door to Madge and Gale's bedroom burst open and swung on its hinges, smacking the wall on the other side with a loud bang. Peeta jumped backwards in surprise and bumped into Cato, was the equivalent to a brick wall for all the impact caused him to move. Madge stumbled out of the bedroom, her hair askew and both hands desperately clutching her baby bump.
"Madge! What's wrong?" asked Cato.
"I'm going into labour!" Madge roared back. Her face crumpled in pain and she leaned against the wall. She proceeded to scream at the top of her lungs, the sound so high pitched it tore through Peeta's ear drums like a knife. Peeta guessed it was a contraction, but he had no idea what to do.
Thankfully, Cato seemed to have a little bit of an idea of what to do. He still seemed unsure but his brain seemed to connect to his limbs faster. He went to Madge and lifted her off the ground with strength that Peeta wasn't surprised that he contained. Madge groaned as the pain of the contraction passed. Peeta watched as Cato passed with wide eyes and was only able to move when they were nearly out the door.
"Madge!" he shouted, finally able to find his voice. He ran after them and slammed the door shut behind him. Night had fallen and the sky was calm and tranquil, black as the ink from a biro pen. There weren't many stars, apart from one that hung in the middle, a beacon of bright yellow that stood out against the darkness of the night.
Cato was picking his way down the icy path with Madge in his arms. Peeta skidded his way up to them. "We can't go anywhere! Gale's got the car!" he shouted.
"We better call an ambulance then," said Cato.
Peeta searched his pockets and groaned when he realized that he had left his mobile at home. He could practically see it sitting on his bedside table, the 'switched off' message still on his screen from when he had blindly pressed the hang up button when he realized he had forgotten to turn off his work alarm and had been rudely awakened to the loud-but not unwelcome-lyrics of Taylor Swift's 'Trouble'.
"I don't have my mobile," Peeta said.
Madge groaned and let her head hang over Cato's arm. "You doofus!" she said. "It's on your bedside table isn't it? You complete idiot!" She tried to grab Peeta by his hair so she could shake him until he puked but Cato stepped back a little so she couldn't reach.
"Get mine," Cato said, turning around and rolling his hip outwards towards Peeta. "It's in my back pocket."
Peeta stared at Cato's back pocket in awe. He could see a bulge in his jeans in the shape of an iphone, he was just in complete shock over how he was expected to get it out. "Uh . . . what?" He was supposed to . . . wedge his hand . . . down . . . there?!
"Who's being the smutty one now?" Cato asked, making Peeta blush. "Just do it, this is a dire situation, we don't have time for you to be awkward!"
"Um . . ."
"Just do it Peeta!" Madge roared.
Closing his eyes and exhaling through his nose, Peeta stepped forward and slipped his hand into Cato's back pocket. He tried to be as quick as he possibly could, his fingers scrabbling to find purchase on the iphone and trying not to dig into the muscles of Cato's firm-not that Peeta noticed-backside.
Once he'd fished it out, Cato smirked and said, "Didn't think you'd be so forward on the first date," while dropping a wink in Peeta's direction. Peeta's blush deepened and he ignored Cato's clear idiocy for a moment while he dialled the number for the ambulance.
"WAIT!" Madge suddenly yelled. She grabbed the phone from Peeta's hands and squirmed out of Cato's arms. "We have to get Gale!"
"Madge, Gale works on a farm in the outskirts of the city," Cato said carefully.
"I'm too far along!" said Madge. She bent over like a frail old lady and started waddling up the pavement; in the complete opposite direction to where the hospital was located. "I'm not giving birth without Gale and with the city traffic he'd never make it on time!"
"You're being unreasonable," said Peeta, following Madge with Cato in close tow. "You can't walk to the Everdeen's farm, it's too far away!"
"I'll make it, somehow," Madge grumbled.
"How, follow the star?" Cato joked flatly. He gestured at the single star that seemed almost lonesome without any company. Peeta felt almost sorry for it, if it weren't such an alarming situation he'd probably have lingered on the problem longer.
"Fuck off," Madge snapped, her Christmas cheer clearly lost in the agony of the contractions.
Peeta and Cato both grabbed her arms at the same time and exchanged a look. How were they going to do this? They couldn't carry her, she'd kick and scream and it would come off that they were trying to kidnap a pregnant woman, maybe it steal her baby or something. They couldn't call the ambulance either unless Madge agreed to stay in one spot, which clearly wasn't going to happen.
There was only one option. They were somehow going to have to get to the Everdeen farm and find Gale.
"We could call Gale?" Cato suggested.
"Do you have his number?" asked Peeta.
"No!" Madge panted. "No time! We'll have to get to the farm ourselves!"
"How?!" Peeta exclaimed.
Then, as if by magic, a donkey appeared. The three of them stared at it dumbly, wondering what the hell a donkey was doing wandering the streets at nine at night on Christmas Eve.
"That's right!" Madge exclaimed. "The Snow's had a petting zoo put into their back garden as part of their decorations for the house. It's part of the Nativity scene!" She headed towards the animal, suddenly invigorated by the idea of riding out of the city bare back on a donkey.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Peeta said as he followed her.
"It's not that bad," Cato reasoned. The donkey was tame and didn't protest as Cato held Madge's hand and helped her clamour onto its back. "Could be worse. There could be three wise men and a bunch of Sheppard's."
"Don't speak too soon, who knows what we'll find in the Everdeen's fields," Peeta muttered. He grabbed the rope connected to the donkey's muzzle and reluctantly started leading it in the direction of the Everdeen farm. The night air was occasionally pierced with Madge's hoarse screams as contractions hit her in waves.
"So," Cato said casually as they neared the outskirts of the city, "why do you hate Christmas so much?"
"I prefer Halloween," Peeta shrugged.
"But why?"
"I don't know. I'm not religious so why should I celebrate the birth of a Messiah I don't even believe in? It's not my right to," said Peeta. "There's no obligations to celebrate Halloween. It's just . . . Halloween. No religious ties, no pretending to be a part of something that opposes who I am so strongly I can't even get married or have a family."
"Ah, I see," Cato said. They walked in silence for a few more minutes but it didn't take long for Cato to speak again. "I used to think like that. I used to hate Christians and anyone who couldn't accept me for who I am just because a book that was written centuries ago tells them that some God who may or may not exist says I'm an abomination. But then I thought, 'Why am I getting so worked up about this?' I shouldn't have to worry about other people or their opinions of me. I should just enjoy my life the way I like it. Which, as it happens, includes being as straight as a sound wave on a New Year's Eve party at the final countdown."
Peeta chuckled. Out of all the straight analogies he had heard in his life that was a new one. "So you don't care that the law says you can't get married?" he asked.
"I don't need it," Cato shrugged. "If I love someone enough, why do I absolutely need this piece of paper to tell me that I love them?"
"I guess," Peeta replied unsurely.
"If I love them enough, I will make sure they know it," Cato continued. "I don't need a piece of paper or a ring. I'll make sure they feel my love without it."
This Cato seemed so different to the one Peeta had been talking to in the living room. Had the arrogant douche switched places with this sensitive soul? The donkey's hoofs crunched in the snow as they got further and further away from the city. Madge lay on the length of the donkey's neck, groaning feebly every so often to punctuate the point that she was in great pain.
"F.M.L," she mumbled tiredly into the donkey's mane.
"Okay, question," said Cato, "if you hate Christmas as much as you claim, why was there a pair of racy underpants with 'Santa Baby' written on the ass lying on Madge's coffee table? They can't be hers, her ass is swollen like a planet! She wouldn't fit in tho-OW!"
"Fuck up, Cato," Madge muttered. "I'm pregnant, not deaf."
Cato scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Heh heh, sorry."
"They're not my underpants," Peeta explained, giving the donkey a gentle but encouraging tug when Madge's shouts of pain continued to get closer and closer together. "Madge bought me them but I wouldn't be caught dead in something like that. Ever."
"Why did she buy you them?" Cato frowned.
Peeta's face flushed and he refused to answer. He wasn't going to tell Cato that Madge bought him skimpy underwear just in case they hit it off. It was too embarrassing! "Uh, I'm not sure. A Christmas gift or something."
"Nah-uh!" Madge protested. "It was in case you two were going to fuck tonight. I thought since Cato likes asses so much, I had to somehow get you to at least let yours express its awesomeness in one way or another. Since you only seem to wear those baggy khaki pants."
Peeta felt like his face was on fire. He ducked his head into his chin and brushed his hair back to distract himself. "Shut up, Madge, aren't you supposed to be in labour or something?"
"I'm between contractions," Madge replied.
"Maybe you should relax your mouth," said Peeta, patting her gold curls and discreetly pushing her head into the donkey's mane. "You know, so you don't stress the baby."
Peeta glanced around his shoulder at Cato but quickly turned around again when he realized that Madge's explanation had peaked the older man's curiosity and he was checking him out. "Uh . . ." Peeta said, pretending to not have noticed. "So how much longer do you think it's going to take to get to the Everdeen farm?"
There was a pause, as if Cato hadn't heard him at first. "Five, ten more minutes," he finally answered, sounding deeply distracted.
"Right," Peeta responded.
They continued to walk for five minutes and finally the barn from the Everdeen farm came into view. Katniss Everdeen's house sat at the bottom of the hill but all the lights were out. Sometimes Gale worked late and Katniss occasionally went into town to meet her friends while he continued to work. Katniss most likely wasn't home, probably away out to party on Christmas Eve.
Peeta ran up to Katniss' door and pounded on it as hard as he could. There was no response, as suspected. "Damn it!" he yelled, whacking the door with his fist in frustration. He spun on his heel just as Cato caught up with Madge. She cried out in pain and sobbed into the donkey's mane, the pain reaching past the point of unbearable. "Where does Gale work? We have to find him!"
"In . . . in . . . in the barn!" Madge gasped.
Peeta and Cato looked up the hill, where a small barn sat. The desolate star lingered over it, sparkling like a diamond in the sky. "This is getting weird," Cato declared.
"The irony is killing me," Peeta muttered. "Well, come on, we better get up there."
They climbed the hill-thankfully the donkey was able to hold out-and as soon as they reached the top, Madge roared, "GALE! GALE HELP ME!"
Instantly, Gale rushed out of the barn. Sticks of hay stuck in his hair and his hands were a little scratched up from his work. As soon as he laid eyes on Madge, his face melted in horror. "Oh my god, Madge, what's happened?!" he exclaimed.
"I'm in labour!" Madge shouted at him.
Gale rushed over to the donkey and lifted Madge off it. "What are you doing here?! You should be at the hospital!"
"She wouldn't go," Peeta said.
"Quite literally," Cato added. "She didn't want to give birth without you."
"Fuck's sake Madge, are you mad?!" Gale exclaimed. He hurried into the barn and laid Madge down on some of the hay.
"I'm sorry but I didn't want you to miss it. There's no way you'd have made it in time!" Madge yelled.
"I think we should just focus on getting the baby out right now," Peeta said. He came into the barn and stood by as Gale helped Madge pull her underwear down to have a look at how far along she was. He took one look at what was going on and passed out face first into the hay.
"Gale!" Madge screamed.
Peeta pressed his fingers against Gale's neck, just to be sure, and was washed with relief when he felt a heartbeat beneath his fingertips. "He's alright. He's just passed out."
"Gale, you complete pussy!" Madge roared at her husband, who was still unconscious and unable to hear.
"To be fair, the pussy was kind of what freaked him out," Cato pointed out.
"Not helping," Peeta said. He grabbed Gale's underarms and dragged him out of the way. "Does anyone have any idea how to deliver a baby?"
"Something to do with towels?" asked Cato. "And hot water?"
"Two things we don't have," Peeta pointed out.
"I don't care if you two are gay, I'm spreading and I'm pushing!" Madge shouted. "I can't fucking bear this anymore!"
Peeta rolled his eyes and fell to his knees in front of Madge. "I'm not repulsed by it, you know," he said, pushing her skirts up a little to have a better look at how far along she was. "I'm sure Cato's not either."
"It's more that there's too much maintenance, you see," Cato explained, approaching Peeta and standing by his shoulder. "I don't know how straight guys cope."
Madge screamed, her face turning red and sweat breaking out across her brow. "I'm gonna push!" she shouted. She squeezed her eyes shut and roared, so loud to beat out any sound she had ever made prior to that moment. Peeta winced and could almost feel it vibrating in his bones. Cato acted as an encourager of sorts, egging Madge on while Peeta sat and waited for it to happen.
It was unlike anything he had ever witnessed before. He was literally watching life being created. Albeit it was messy and by the time it was all over, Peeta's ears were ringing and his hands were soaked in blood. Relief could not describe the expression that washed over Madge's face as the baby came out into Peeta's hands and immediately began to cry.
Peeta stared at the tiny creature in his hands in awe. It was a boy. A tiny, little baby boy.
"Give him to me," Madge whimpered, holding her hands out and sticking out her bottom lip.
"Hold on," Cato said. He reached behind himself and yanked his shirt off, handing it to Peeta to wrap the child up in. Peeta wrapped the baby up and handed him over to Madge, who greedily grabbed him and held him against her chest. Apparently babies were relaxed by the sound of their mother's heartbeat.
Cato nudged Gale with his foot. "Is he going to wake up?"
"I don't know," said Peeta. He stood up and stepped back to stand beside Cato. They both stared at Madge, at the beautiful sight of her cradling her child and silently crying in happiness.
Cato glanced at his watch. "Huh, would you look at that. It's 12:15am."
"Christmas Day," Peeta mused.
Cato slung his arm around Peeta's neck and pulled him closer. "Merry Christmas Peeta," he grinned.
"And many more," Peeta beamed back.
A little while later, Gale woke up and he and Madge spent ages huddled over their child. While they waited for an ambulance to come and collect them to check the baby over, Peeta and Cato gave them time alone and stood in the doorway of the barn. The star was still there, vivid in the night's sky, still without any companionship.
"So, do you always deliver babies on your blind dates?" asked Cato.
Peeta snorted. "No, I don't make a habit of it," he said.
"Still think I'm one of those self-assured, ignorant jerks?"
A small smile curled on Peeta's face. He couldn't help it. "I suppose not as much anymore," he admitted sheepishly. "You actually seem like . . . like a really cool guy."
"And I suppose you're not so pretentious either," Cato grinned.
Peeta looked at his feet. "This whole night has been so weird," he said.
"Tell me about it," Cato laughed. Peeta couldn't meet Cato's eyes. Now that he knew how kind and genuine Cato actually was, he felt like a blushing school boy all over again. If he looked Cato in the eye, especially since Dominic-they decided to call their baby Dominic-was still wrapped up in Cato's shirt, then Peeta knew he'd blush and be completely unable to stop blushing until he was at home in bed.
"Oh would you look at that."
Peeta glanced at Cato through his hair and frowned when he saw the older man looking up. He looked up to see what Cato was looking at. Oh. Oh God.
A piece of mistletoe hung from the top of the doorway.
"Oh," Peeta said quietly. "What do you think we should"-
Cato cupped Peeta's face and dragged him forward for a kiss. Peeta was surprised at first but he was so ecstatic about the fact that he was being kissed that he quickly accepted it and melted into it. His hands found Cato's hair and he threaded his fingers through the golden silky strands. He had to push up onto his tiptoes but the kiss was so overwhelmingly perfect and sweet at the exact same time that he almost couldn't bear it.
"Sorry," Cato said shyly once he pulled back. He glanced at his feet nervously and scuffed his shoe against the snow. "I couldn't help it and . . . uh . . . kind of have been looking for an excuse to kiss you since Dominic was born."
Peeta smiled weakly. "It's okay. I . . . I liked it."
Once the ambulance took Gale, Madge and Dominic to the hospital, Cato and Peeta saw them off. "So . . . what do we do now?" Peeta asked.
"Do you know where Madge keeps her spare keys?" asked Cato.
"Yeah, under the flowerpots."
Cato wound his arm around Peeta's waist and pressed a kiss onto the top of his head. "Do you think we could stop by and collect those festive underpants?"
Peeta's face heated up but he smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I quite like that idea," he replied.
Maybe Christmas wasn't that bad after all.
A/N: Merry Christmas everyone! And a happy New Year! ^_^