Author's note: I hope you like this interpretation of what the holidays for the Mellarks in District Twelve of Panem would be like. Please review.
Happy holidays and happy reading!
Mellark Tradition Continues
An Everlark Holiday One Shot
"Daddy, can we bake the cookies?" Prue asked, her blue eyes like saucers.
Peeta chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Sure thing, kiddo. Go ask Mommy if she feels up to helping."
"Okay!" The little girl ran off to the living room where Katniss reclined on the couch. Prue shook her shoulder and whispered, "Mommy, Daddy and me is making cookies. Wanna help?"
Katniss opened one eye and smiled. "I'm sorry, honey, I don't feel so well right now."
The little girl watched her mother a moment and put her hand on her mother's stomach and leaned close. "Stop making Mommy sick." She said to the sibling growing there.
Katniss chuckled. "You and Daddy make the cookies. Baby and I will help you decorate and eat them."
"And then we get to put them out for the Coal Witch!" She gave her mother a hug and then shuffled back into the kitchen. "Mommy feels bad."
"Then we better make them extra special, right?"
"Right!" She nodded and pulled her stool up to the counter.
It had "Primrose-Rue's Baking Stool" painted on the top. There was also a field of primroses and rue mixed together with an orange sunset in the background. Peeta had worked many long hours on the detail of the plants and mixing the orange just right. He'd given it to her the previous Yule when she started showing more and more interest in baking with him. She prized it even more than the doll the Coal Witch had left in her stocking.
Peeta put the ingredients in front of his daughter and placed the bowl and spoon there last. "You stir until you can't stir anymore."
"Yes, sir." Prue smiled enthusiastically.
He went to work measuring out each ingredient. She got to crack the egg. She was very good at it, actually, and always cracked the eggs into the batter when the recipe called for it. She never got shells in the batter.
"Did you do this with your daddy?" She asked.
He smiled nostalgically. "I did. He always let me crack the eggs, too."
"Are these cookies just Yule cookies?"
"When we cut them into stars and trees they will be. But we can use the dough for any shape." He took the bowl from his daughter and finished mixing in the flour until the batter finally came together. "I forgot the rolling pin."
"I'll get it!" She climbed down and pushed her stool to the other side of the kitchen. She got back on it and swayed, letting out a little squeal.
Peeta caught her just in time. "Careful there, sweetheart." He kissed her temple and helped right her on the stool once more.
"Is everything okay in here?" Katniss asked from the doorway.
"I almost fell, Mommy." Prue explained matter-of-factly. She handed the rolling pin to her father and then climbed down and moved her stool back to the counter where Peeta was already dividing the dough so that Prue could have some of her own.
Katniss shook her head. "Don't take forever with those. You know the Coal Witch only comes once you're asleep."
"I know." She rolled out her dough and chose a tree cookie cutter. "Did you make her cookies, Mommy?"
Katniss moved closer. "We usually made a small plate for her from whatever dinner we had that night."
"And what did you put on your tree?" She asked. Her tongue stuck out of her mouth as she tried to peel the trees up from the counter. She frowned when it broke in half.
"We can fix that." Peeta assured her.
Katniss sat on a chair close by. "Prim and I made new things each year. Mostly with pine cones. My daddy, too. My mother wasn't so good at it, so she left that to us."
There was a comfortable silence. Katniss rubbed her stomach absent-mindedly.
"You okay?" Peeta asked softly.
She nodded.
"Tea, sweetheart?" He asked as he turned to fill the kettle.
"Yes, please."
Prue yawned.
"Bath time." Katniss announced. "The cookies should all be done."
The little girl sighed and climbed down from her stool. She walked around the counter and held out her hand to Katniss.
"We'll be back." Katniss said.
"I'll have frosting ready and the first batch of cookies." He slid a cookie sheet into the oven.
Prue ran into her room before Katniss to find her new Yule pajamas that she knew would be already laid out on her bed. She scooped them up and then hurried into the bathroom.
"Mommy, is the baby a boy or a girl?" Prue asked as Katniss washed her hair.
"We don't know yet. What would you like?"
"I want a baby brother. My friend Katy has a baby brother and he's really cute."
"What if you had a sister?" Katniss asked.
"Like you had Aunt Prim?"
"Yeah, like Aunt Prim."
"I would like a sister, too." She reclined in the water and moved her arms and legs through the water. "Mommy, did she like Yule?"
"She liked everything." Katniss smiled and picked up her towel. "Come on."
"I'll dress myself, Mommy." Prue declared as she stood up.
Katniss kissed her forehead. "Okay. But be careful." She returned to the kitchen.
Peeta handed over a cup of tea as his wife walked into the room. "The first cookies are cooling in the freezer so we can get them decorated and get Prue to bed." He pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Then after the gifts are out, we can go up to our room…" He pressed his face into her neck.
She giggled and pushed him away with her shoulder. "Don't get your hopes up. I'm still back and forth."
"I understand." He stole a kiss and then stepped away quickly and swung Prue up into his arms. "Let's get those cookies decorated so we can go to bed and wait for the Coal Witch."
"Will she bring me another doll?" Prue asked as she climbed up on a chair and started looking over the frosting her father had mixed.
"You'll just have to wait and find out." Katniss sat beside her and started decorating her own cookie.
Prue kept trying to hide her yawns. Before long she was fighting to keep her eyes open. Peeta took the latest batch of cookies out of the oven and came over with the plate they always used for their cookies. Prue put hers in the middle and then Katniss added her own. Peeta placed one he'd decorated last beside their daughters. His was the best, the ladies agreed. They always were.
"I'll put it by the fire place." Prue took the plate and walked carefully toward the living room. She paraphrased a blessing she'd heard all her life over the cookies and then sat them on the hearth. She then turned to her father. "Daddy carry me up?"
Peeta grinned and easily lifted the girl into his arms. Katniss wouldn't have been able to do that, even without the baby. She stopped them and pressed a kiss to Prue's temple.
"Goodnight, Primrose-Rue. I love you so much."
"Real!" The girl exclaimed. She'd heard her parents play that game. Maybe one day she would understand it.
Katniss wandered into the living room and sat in front of their fire. She stared into the flames and went back to the Games all those years ago, the crowd cheered as her clothes went up in flames. And then the fires of the burning districts. The ruins of Twelve that were still there in the worst parts of the smaller towns.
A hand came down on her shoulder and she jumped. "Just you." She sighed.
"Just me." Peeta smiled and sat down on the floor in several jerky movements. His prosthetic leg stuck out stiffly. The other folded underneath. "Talk to me."
She shook her head. "Same thing I always think about."
"Me too."
She folded herself into his chest. "Is this okay?"
"Fine." He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his nose into her hair. "You never told me what you wanted this year."
"I don't want anything more than what we already have. You know that."
"I do know. But I made you something anyway."
"Wait for tomorrow. You know Prue loves the gift exchange most of all."
Peeta chuckled. "She does. And we should probably put out the gifts and get to bed."
Katniss nodded and moved away. She picked up a cookie from the platter and took a bite out of it. Peeta took another. They ate in silence. After she was done with hers, Katniss stood and held out her hand to her husband. Peeta took it and she hauled him to his feet.
"Hurry." She whispered. "The baby and I want to cuddle."
He smiled and pressed a kiss to her lips. "And I need it. I keep flashing back to before the Games. My mom and… I never had a happy family Yule until you. My dad tried, but it never lasted longer than the cookies going into the oven. She'd always find something negative to point out in one of us."
"And I hate that for you." She rested her forehead against his a moment. Then she stepped back. "Come on, let's make the best of it. This other baby will be here before we know it and we won't have much time to ourselves for a while."
"You go up. I'll get all this."
She suddenly grabbed his hand and pressed it to her stomach. "Do you feel that? It's moving."
He laughed and rubbed his thumb back and forth. "Amazing." He slanted a kiss over her lips. "You love me. Real or not real?"
"Real. Always real." She returned his kiss before going up the stairs to their room.