Effie's Christmas Visit (Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games series.)
The fire burned, throwing the tiniest of sparks in the fireplace. Katniss stared at it, thinking of Snow's words, of Cinna, of what happened nearly five years ago. However, Katniss allowed Peeta to light a fire all he wanted in December. She knew he liked it because of the warmth and glow it brought to the memory-haunted house. They never lit a fire before the Hunger Games had been destroyed. The fire made the house feel different than what how it really was.
"Katniss," Peeta spoke from the kitchen. "Will you get the phone please? My hands are covered in bread dough and flour." He had been kneading bread for nearly five minutes. Katniss wished they had an electric mixer and dough hook like the Capitol did so he could do other things in the meantime. But it took Peeta's mind off reality and the past which was nearly all they wanted since the end of the games.
Katniss jumped off the ground in front of the fireplace. The phone rang and rang until it was a few rings away from disconnecting. Katniss sighed, grabbing the phone on the wall. "Hello?" Katniss hoped it wasn't Dr. Aurelius, who called occasionally to "check" on Peeta and her. Sometimes he called to be serious and ask how she was doing, but most of the time, it was a relief for him to stop talking to other patients.
"Katniss!" Effie Trinket's voice sounded in bubbly excitement. "I haven't heard from you in so long. How's District 12?"
"Peeta and I are good," Katniss sounded, randomly thinking of what it would be like to have Effie's Capitol accent taken away. She hadn't heard her voice in so long that it startled her to hear it now."How are you?" She said this out of politeness, Effie usually spoke of her parties still, which made her confused. Effie thought Katniss kept track of who she knew and what parties she went to last month. It usually ended Katniss in hearing about the previous parties Effie had went to, which Effie had already told her about.
"Oh, I'm doing great! I went to visit District Four yesterday, they're nearly finished with the shops." Effie thrilled, catching Katniss' little attention, thinking of Annie. "But!" Effie paused for her usual dramatic effect, "I was wondering if I could come visit you and Peeta for Christmas."
Katniss closed her eyes, quickly imagining what it'd be like to have Effie come to visit. She'd most likely stay in Peeta and her's house. Would she decorate everything? Katniss thought, the Capitol was most likely full of ornaments and trees at the moment.
"Sure," Katniss decided. "You can stay with Peeta and me if you want." Knowing this would now be a hectic Christmas, she decided what she'd clean first. There was going to be no finish, Effie would not be ecstatic about the luxury of this home.
"Oh, good! I can be there by nine tonight!"
"Effie, it's eight," Katniss paused. "I don't have enough time to prepare everything for you." She didn't care how awful or nice this sounded to Effie, it would be a shock to Effie to see how they lived like.
"Oh it's fine, you don't need to get anything ready for me!" Effie announced, her voice letting in an edge of distress.
"Okay, sure, see you at nine." Katniss hung up. "Peeta!" She hurried into the kitchen. "Stop kneading, Effie's going to be here in an hour- see if Haymitch can help clean!"
Peeta sighed, "Can't I get this over the fire first?"
"No, let it rest longer or something, it won't make a big difference." Katniss began picking up all of the cushions of the floor. She threw each one onto the couch.
"I'll just do it quickly," Peeta placed the bread neatly into the new bread pans Effie sent from the Capitol last year. He pushed in a tray to hang above the fire and pushed the pans on, letting them bake. "Why didn't she give us a bigger warning?" He asked while getting his black button-down coat.
"She probably thought we'd say no, which I would've," Katniss got a broom and began sweeping all the dirt outside. Peeta left, calling for Haymitch in the snow.
Once Katniss was satisfied with the floor she began pushing all of the paint brushes and books she could see into a drawer by the couch. She rushed to the bedroom Effie could stay in, making the bed acceptable. Her fingers reached for the lamps, turning on their lights. The room looked alright, empty but it was all the time she had for it. Peeta came back with a drunk Haymitch.
"Why'd you bring him if he's drunk?" Katniss asked, frustrated. This would not be any help.
"I went in and saw him just drinking.. He asked if I heard Effie was coming, I said yeah. I began to leave but he followed me." He shrugged, "He won't mess anything up. It's fine, she can't care if anything is a mess because of the late notice."
However, Katniss told him to help clean up anyways; Effie was sure to be telling them every wrong detail about their home any minute. Peeta began cleaning the kitchen. He washed the counters, the bowl for the bread, and the small whisk he had used for mixing the yeast and water.
As soon as Peeta had put everything in the kitchen away, there was a loud knock on the door. Peeta hurried forward. Katniss stood still. She attempted to clear her thoughts of what was wrong about the house.
"Peeta!" Within the second he had opened the door, Effie had grabbed him for a hug. "I haven't seen you two in so long!" She gasped, her breath catching for a second. "I hope you're doing well!"
"I am," Peeta said, surprised at the sudden embrace. "How are you Effie?"
"I'm excellent now that I'm here with my two victors!" Effie smiled, Katniss grew frozen at the title.
Effie hugged Katniss while Peeta began dragging her three suitcases into the house. He hoped her room would fit all of her baggage. Once Effie stopped hugging them, and saying hello to the drunken Haymitch, she took in where she was.
"Where's your Christmas tree? Everyone has a Christmas tree!" she gasped, shocked. "Where are your decorations? You can't celebrate without them! Where are they, I'll help set them up."
Katniss and Peeta exchanged looks.
"We don't have any yet. We've been busy with getting settled," Peeta said, after leaving the third suitcase in her room.
"Oh, we can go shop for some tomorrow, I saw some stores on the way. District 12 is finally getting construction done!" She cheered, making a list of things she wanted the two to have in their home.
"Sure," Peeta agreed before heading to the kitchen to grab oven mitts. He pulled the bread out from the fire. The loaves had been baking for forty minutes.
"Okay, well I'll go settle in now," Effie said a long goodnight speech about how excited she was to be there. Katniss had stopped listening half way through, although she was caught as Effie asked what she wanted to do. Katniss blurted out yes in instinct, Effie looked confused at the response. "Oh, well, goodnight!" Effie bid them again, for the third time.
"I'm going to sleep too, Peeta," Katniss sighed. She hurried off. The coming days til Christmas were sure to be busy as they entertained Effie.
That's the first part of it. There's more to come which I am very excited to write. I hope you enjoyed. If you did, please leave a comment. Thanks for reading! :)