Not my first FanFiction, but it is my first Hunger Games FanFiction. Yay for stepping outside the comfort zone!

I was woken early that morning by the shrill ringing of the telephone. That should have immediately tipped me off. No one called here. Haymitch could easily walk (or stumble) over, and Pe

eta was already here. Sure, my mother called occasionally, but never this early. Grumpily, I answered, "Hello?"

"Morning Catnip", I could place that voice anywhere, my best friend, Gale. We hadn't spoken in awhile… nearly a year actually. After he'd been given that job in District 2 he'd gotten really busy, plus Peeta and I had our own life now, not to say that Gale and I weren't still friends, there were just some… lingering issues.

My voice was barely a whisper, "Gale? How are you? What's wrong?" Panic began to creep into my voice, if he was calling, something horrible had to have happened, he was injured, my Mom was dying, they were bringing the games back… they couldn't bring the games back. They just couldn't.

There was a breathy laugh on the other line, "Relax Katniss, nothing's wrong. Actually, everything is… very, very right.

My mind was spinning, "What in the world are you talking about Gale?"

Another laugh, "I just thought I'd call to let you know that you're going to have a new family member."

My mind raced, "My mom isn't getting married is she? At her age? Come on! And how do you know before I do!"

Yet another laugh, I was starting to get angry, "Your Mom isn't getting married, to the best of my knowledge. But I did… actually about a month after the last time we spoke, I would have called you then, but we were honeymooning, and then work just got so busy, and we had a lot going on, especially with the pregnancy; which is of course, why I'm calling you now."

Okay, now he was just pissing me off, "Pregnancy? Who the hell did you even marry? Do I know her? Did you meet her on District 2? I can't believe you didn't tell me!"

He didn't laugh this time, but I could hear the smile in his voice, "Katniss, you didn't even invite me to your wedding. Not that I did it to get back at you. Delly and I just decided we'd prefer a private ceremony. Just us and our families, rather, my family and her brother; but we're happy. Unbelievably happy, especially now that we're a real family, that's why I called of course. Delly gave birth last night. I'm a father Katniss, and you are a godmother. We named her after you, sort of. Her name's Caldera, but her middle name is Catnip. Caldera Catnip Hawthorne, your new goddaughter, and sort of namesake; aren't you happy for me?"

This was a lot to process; my mind felt frozen, "Let me get this straight, you married Delly Cartwright?" Delly was great, she'd been immensely helpful after Peeta's hi-jacking, something that had me indebted to her for the rest of my life. Her sweet upbeat personality was a perfect contrast to Gale. She would be to him what Peeta was to me, my happiness and light. They made sense together. They would be happy. I could see that now. As for the baby, "And you had a baby. And you want ME to be her godmother?"

Gale paused for a moment, "Well I suppose it isn't exactly fair of me to just ASSUME that you want to be a godmother, we'll pay you a visit. The three of us, let you meet little Caldera."

I wanted to tell him not to worry about it, but suddenly I was overwhelmed. How long had it been since I'd seen Gale? Years… definitely years… It had been nearly 8 years since his reassignment in District 2. He visited a couple Christmas's back with my Mother, but I hadn't seen him since. I missed him. "Okay, we'll be waiting. Bye Gale."

"Bye Catnip."

Peeta was oddly excited about Gale's visit. He'd been baking all week, preparing for their arrival. I had a sneaking suspicion that he felt seeing Gale's new daughter would activate my biological clock. Yeah right. But I wasn't going to rain on his happy little baking parade; I was enjoying it too much. Peeta was happy, Gale was happy, and I was going to have them both happily under the same roof. This is more than I had ever dreamed possible, everything was finally falling together.

There was a knock at the door and Peeta and I shared an excited glance, I took a brief moment to doubt his motives again, and then rushed forward to answer the door.

Gale looked just as I remembered him, although he seemed a bit taller, most likely, a result of the time we'd spent apart, and his features were definitely more defined. The traces of boyhood I hadn't even realized that showed on his face were now gone. It was strange, noticing the absence of something I hadn't even realized existed. But underneath, he was still the same old Gale. Without a thought, I leapt forward and threw my arms around his neck, "Gale!"

He chuckled, wrapping his arms around me, "Good to see you too Catnip."

I pulled away and looked over his shoulder at Delly. She was glowing, literally. I mean, I've heard the expression before, and always thought it was an exaggeration, but seriously, she glowed happiness. Her blonde hair flowed around her head like a halo. Just as before, she was a little less than skinny, although I attributed that to her recent condition. Speaking of, the baby was nestled safely in Delly's arms. I craned my neck to get a better look, but Delly just held her out to me, "You can hold her Katniss, go ahead."

I was prepared to object, until the precious little bundle opened her eyes, blinked, and then stared straight at me. Her eyes were the same blue grey as all infants, and her hair was a soft yellow. I looked closely, trying to find a hint of Gale, and saw it in her strong features. She was going to be beautiful. Scratch that, she was beautiful. Gingerly, I allowed her to be placed in my arms. Peeta peered over my shoulder, "She's so tiny." He breathed. I smiled, "She's perfect, don't diss my goddaughter."

I caught Gale giving Delly a knowing glance, on that said, 'I told you she wouldn't be able to resist'. But I didn't care. Caldera was perfect. Although…

"On one condition," I told Gale, his eyebrows rising, "Call her Cal. I think Caldera is just a bit, lengthy, don't you?"

And so it was settled. Gale, Delly and Cal didn't stay long, just a few days. And I surprised myself by how sad I was to see them leave. With as quickly as little Cal would grow, I made them promise to visit again soon. I was her godmother after all, I had rights.

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