Welcome to My World

Hi, I'm Katniss Mellark. I'd like to welcome you to my world. I'm going to introduce you to myself, friends and family. If you've read "The Wedding," "We're Having a Baby," "Trapped" or "Everlark Holiday Specials" you probably know everybody, but this will be a great review.

Like I said, I'm Katniss. I'm a New York City homicide detective in my early... er... mid thirties...um, okay, I'm thirty-four. I live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with my husband Peeta, our daughter Lily and our nanny/housekeeper/nurse Glimmer. She lives in an attached studio next door. Oh yeah, people call me Kat or Kit-Kat.

Peeta is a partner in a downtown law firm. And you've probably guessed, he is blond, super handsome and makes me tingle inside. Mmmmmm tingling. Focus Katniss...FOCUS!

Lily is the most beautiful baby in the world, if I do say so myself. She was born last June and is two and one half months old. She is our greatest treasure.

We have a nanny named Glimmer. That's not her real name, that was her stage name. You see, she is a former stripper. That's right, you heard me right. I, a cop, have a stripper for a nanny. She started as our housekeeper, moved up to nurse when I was sick now is our nanny. Glimmer is in her twenties, blond and stacked. I guess it was a job requirement. She is really good at her job and I wouldn't trade her in for anybody else. Oh, before I forget, her real name is Sharon.

Peeta and I are originally from Panem, New York. It's a town in Orange County which is northwest of the city. It's close enough to see our parents often but far enough to give us some space. My parents, Frank and Rose, still live in the same house I was brought up in. Dad is a retired cop and my mom works part-time as a nurse. Peeta's parents, Peeta Sr and Corinne, live close by and his father operates the bakery that Peeta's grandfather started. I have, let's say, a strained relationship with my mother-in-law. But Peeta Sr loves me. YAY, free cheese buns.

Peeta's two brothers, their wives and kids also live in Panem. That includes my precocious niece, Olivia. She's my favorite, but don't tell my nephews.

Speaking of sibs, that brings me to my little sister, Prim. You've been told that she is the nicest girl in town. That everybody loves her. HAH! I do love her, but she is the most self-absorbed, aggressive person in the world. She's four years younger than me and drives me crazy sometimes. She also makes guys nuts. A reader of the last story, SmileyRiley, wrote me for her phone number because he wanted to fuck her.

Prim is blond, thin and gorgeous. She's also smart. A neurosurgeon at New York-Presbyterian Hospital uptown. According to Effie, the world is deprived of her beauty by not appearing monthly on the covers of the fashion magazines.

And let me not forget my Grandma Lil. She's a little hard of hearing, but she's in good shape. And then there is my dad's parents, Nan and Pop-Pop. He is also a retired cop and they live in Florida. They think married people are boring so they go on single's cruises a lot.

That's the family, now the friends.

My best girlfriend growing up, Madge, is married to my best guy friend growing up, Gale. It is both their second marriage. They got married just before Lily was born and the funny thing is that until four years ago they really couldn't stand each other. But things worked out. Madge works part-time for her Congressman father and her mom does lots of charity work. Madge is a trust fund baby but I don't mind that she's rich.

Gale is my police partner. We hunt criminals together. Get it, hahaha.

His mom and dad live in the house around the corner. Our backyards butt up against each other. His dad, Vic Sr, like mine, is a retired cop. Our dads hang out together.

The rest of the Hawthorne kids are also around. Posy, Vic and Rory. Oh poor Rory. He unfortunately dates my sister. She has him twisted around her little finger. They have been dating off and on forever. Right now it's on but you never know.

My best friend Jo and I were college roommates. She is an editor at Vogue. And finally a published author. She wrote a children's book called "Kit-Kat Kop" modeled after guess who. That's right, me. It's being released this fall and I think I'll tell you about the launch party if anything interesting happens. She also is editing her novel. Which has nothing to do with me.

Jo is living with a bartender. They met at "The Wedding" in a closet. Leave it to Jo. They fell in love and moved into Jo's apartment. Clove is the sweetest girl in the world, next to Annie, of course. Her real name is Chloƫ Vee. She acquired her nickname growing up. They're very happy.

Jo and Madge both live in my neighborhood.

Then there is the sweetest woman, no, person in the world, Annie. She is older than me and works at NYU. I met her while going there. We became fast friends. It was my idea to introduce her to Peeta's friend Finnick. It was love at first sight. Which kinda surprised me knowing Finnick's reputation as a womanizer. But I always thought that was all talk. He is a tremendous flirt though. And serial groper. They live on the Upper East Side.

Besides Gale at work there is our boss, Captain Emma Dever. She is my mentor and friend. She is married, has two daughters and has climbed the department ladder successfully. She inspires me. Her best friend Eleanor is my OB-GYN. She's a quack, but she is the best quack in the city.

There is also the other members of our squad, Connie, Carol and Jimmy Darius. And Emma's boss is Assistant Chief for Manhattan Cray and his boss is Chief of Detectives Thread.

And we've met some of Peeta's co-workers. His boss is Annika Hansen. The senior partner is John Clarke. The managing partner is Alma Coin. She was an ADA and we've worked on cases together.

Jo works with Effie Trinket. She is a photo editor at Vogue. I hate to bring it up, but she dated Peeta while we were on our "break." She has her good points. Effie introduced us to the fashion designers, Cinna and Portia. Their designs are brilliant. They introduced us to The Roman Bath Spa's owners, Flavius, Octavia and Venia. Those three are a little odd, but they do a good job.

There is also Peeta's and my poly-sci college professor, Haymitch Abernathy, also known as the wine-o. He's an old hippie that hasn't seen a situation that doesn't deserve a protest. He's a flaming liberal. Ugh! But he loves Peeta. He tolerates me. That's not exactly true. It's my job he dislikes. Liberals, UGH!

There are also a few others. Cato, Gloss, Marvel and Brutus are male strippers. Madge's Aunt Masilee has made appeared. I have an Aunt Violet and Uncle Jeff. Caesar Flickerman has a television and radio program. He had some doctor friend of Prim's named Rue on his program. We'll probably meet her soon.

I'm sure I probably left someone out, but those are the major people in my life.

I will narrate the serial and it will be about not only me, Peeta and Lily but all of my family and friends. I hope you enjoy all the stories. If you haven't read the other stories in my universe give them a shot. "Trapped" is serious, but the other three are very funny.

Enjoy the reads and send me reviews, pm's and emails. I'll try to answer them all but sometimes I get so many I can't. But you guys know I love all my readers.