Notes: An outtake from Take Your Time Coming Home - a small segway between chapter six and seven. Also, the name Aidyn means 'little fire'.
He is up bouncing and babbling in his crib before Rosy wakes up. Aidyn Mellark may not be older than 10 months, but even the little boy knows when it is Christmas morning. The change in atmosphere is almost too much to bear, as the aura in the house swirls from the crackling yellow of anticipation into a bright orange of uncontrollable excitement.
When Katniss comes into her son's bedroom, turning the baby monitor off on her way to his crib, she picks him up and twirls him around with a smile on her face. "Merry Christmas, my little ball of fire," she says, planting the tiniest kiss on his nose. He giggles as his pudgy arms wrap around her neck securely before she takes him downstairs.
"Dada," Aidyn says once the smell of cinnamon rolls reaches his button nose. Katniss smiles and turns into the bright white kitchen just in time for Aidyn to reach out his arms to Peeta who has finished taking the rolls out of the oven.
"Morning little guy," Peeta greets, taking his son out of Katniss' hands. "Merry Christmas." Aidyn giggles again as Peeta places a kiss on the boy's round cheek.
"What about me!" Rosy's high pitched voice cries, as her tiny bare feet quickly carry her body into the warm kitchen.
"Merry Christmas to you too, pumpkin," Katniss and Peeta chime in unison, making them exchange smiles.
"Can we open presents now?" Rosy bounces on the balls on her feet as her face dimples with its wide grin.
"Not yet, little duck," Katniss reprimands lightly.
"Clove and Rue said they get to open their presents right away, why can't I!" Rosy whines, loudly.
"I thought you liked opening presents with Noah?" Peeta gently asks.
"I do, but…"Rosy starts again. All Peeta has to do is raise his hand and his little girl is quiet immediately.
"This is Aidyn's first Christmas. Let's show him how important it is to be patient, by eating breakfast and getting dressed first." Peeta smiles, softly. Rosy sighs and climbs into her booster seat at the kitchen table. Katniss places a kiss on her daughters head before placing Aidyn in the high chair as Peeta puts a roll before Rosy. Aidyn giggles as he leans over his chair and cries to grab at the sugary treat.
"Ah ah, hold your horses there little buddy. We have a special Christmas breakfast for you," Katniss says while popping the top off of a container of blended cinnamon roll. Unlike with the usual mixture of veggies and fruits, Aidyn eats quickly and without fuss. Katniss is even able to get him into a pair of baby jeans and a sweater without too much squirming.
When the doorbell finally rings, Aidyn screams from his activity saucer as Rosy runs to the door. Bouncing up and down, he makes the gadgets on the saucer sing, shake and rattle.
"Merry Christmas, you little rugrat," Johanna says, as she picks the boy up and out of his confinement and hands him a candy cane. Holding the foreign treat inside his tiny hand he gives it a quick glance before sticking it into his mouth. Tasting nothing, Aidyn pulls the treat out of his mouth and shoves it back into Johanna's face with a displeased gurgle. "Fine, be that way you ungrateful troublemaker," Johanna pinches Aidyn's nose and raspberries his neck before putting him on the ground. Only to have Finnick nearly trip over him, after having made a quick beeline towards the illuminated tree with colourfully wrapped packages.
"Someone is eager," Finnick grins at Aidyn. He looks up at his uncle with his big gray eyes.
"Can you blame him," Johanna says, falling onto the couch with a thud, "he gets the biggest box of them all."
"We shouldn't have spoiled him," Finnick continues to grin as he sits down beside her in his corner seat.
Johanna shrugs, "There probably won't be another time we get to experience a first Christmas, might as well make the most of it."
"Your level of confidence in having children is very reassuring," Finnick pokes her in the ribs with his foot; earning him a rough shove before Rosy and Noah run into the room and seat themselves beneath the tree beside Aidyn.
Noah and Rosy sort through which presents belong to whom and who gets to open what first, when Katniss and Peeta come into the room. It takes merely an hour after the couple's arrival that the organized living room becomes a chaotic disaster. Wrapping and tissue paper, boxes, bows and ribbons lay disheveled in each pocket of the room to be dealt with after the thrill of brand new gadgets, accessories and toys lose their initial excitement.
As the day wears on, Rosy grows tired of drawing with her new pencil crayons and Noah falls asleep in Madge's lap after having been read pages from his father's journal. Though, unlike the big kids, little Aidyn's fire continues to burn as he works up a heavy sweat pushing his large, red fire truck back and forth across the room. Katniss tries to pick him up and settle him down with a bottle before bed, but Aidyn kicks and crawls out of her arms and back to his truck immediately.
"It's Christmas, Katniss, let the boy stay up a little longer," Peeta says lazily, as he runs his figures through Rosy's loose, brown hair as she takes a break in her father's lap. "The kid'll tire himself out soon enough." Katniss gives Peeta a pointed stare before a sigh pulls her shoulders down into a shrug.
Aidyn zooms right past her before turning and head back towards Finnick and Madge. Katniss cannot help but smile and laugh lightly.
"I don't miss those days at all," Finnick chimes as he stops Aidyn's fire truck with his bare foot as he bumps the toy into the sofa. "Not that Noah was overly active or anything, but trying to keep up with him when he had his bursts of energy was exhausting." Aidyn struggles to pull it from Finnick's grip, but Finnick refuses to let go of the toy.
"Does it … get easier?" Gale speaks up as he twists one of Noah's dark, wavy locks around his index finger.
"No," Finnick says, turning away from Aidyn's sour, pouting face and over to Noah's calm, sleeping one before looking up at Gale with a warm smile. "It just becomes different." Gale smiles back, gently. Turning to Madge, he softly kisses the top of her head.
The bright orange aura of energy falls from a soft yellow and green and resides in a calming blue as Aidyn watches the three adults share their moment. As if right on cue, Aidyn's tiny lungs push a yawn through his throat as he rubs at his heavy gray eyes.
"Now you want to sleep," Katniss grumbles, picking up her son who then lays his head in the crook of her shoulder. "I should make you sit here and play some more until you start to fall asleep on the rug."
Aidyn gurgles a whine at her.
"You're lucky I love you, baby," she teases. Turning on her heel, he waves goodnight to their guests as she takes him up to bed slowly.
Another yawn slips past his lips once Katniss walks into his room, making her smile. "My little fire's burning out, better get him tucked in before he extinguishes," she sing-songs and pokes his tummy. A laugh rumbles in his chest as he lies perfectly still on the changing table. Tugging him out of his sweat soaked clothes, Katniss dries him off with a towel and puts on a fresh diaper. While shimming him into his pajamas, Aidyn's eyes began to flutter closed. Scooping him into her arms, she hums and rocks him until his body falls limp with sleep.
"Goodnight and Merry Christmas, little one," Katniss smiles, kissing the soft spot on his head. Aidyn returns his mother's smile as the calming blue fades into a deep purple then a silencing black.