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Madge trembles on her walk to the Seam. By now, she's learned the way to Gale's house without getting lost. Her fingers shake and she can hardly walk straight without a pinch of fear running through her. Gale said that he would talk to them first, but Madge has no idea how he will do that with three other siblings running around.
When the mayor's daughter reaches the small, crumbling Seam house, she can feel her whole body turn cold. Madge weakly knocks and Gale's outside before anyone in his family can see her. She immediately buries her face into his chest, willing herself not to start crying. Gale tightens his grip on her and rests his chin on her head. "I'm so scared." Madge whispers, and Gale's fingers curl into her hair.
"Don't be. It's going to be alright. We're going to be alright." He murmurs, glancing down at her stomach. He wonders when she's going to get big. "My parents know you're coming, so just don't act nervous, okay? I'm going to get Rory to take Posy and Vick into the back room when we talk to my parents." Madge reaches up and brushes a bit of coal from his cheek and he gives her a tired smile. "Ready?"
Madge nods weakly and wipes any stray tears from her face before following Gale into his small house. Posy immediately jumps at Madge, smiling widely, before pulling her onto the couch. Madge can't resist Posy, honestly. She's too sweet.
Gale pulls Rory outside momentarily, so the rest of his family can't hear. "Gale, what?"
"Listen to me." Gale says sternly, forcing Rory to look at him. At the sternness of his brother's voice, Rory pays sharp attention. "Something's happened. I need to talk to Ma and Pa later tonight, and I need you to get Vick and Posy into the backroom. Okay?"
"What's going on?" Rory asks, his eyes narrowing.
"Please just trust me, Rory. You'll know soon enough, I just need you to do exactly what I ask."
Rory finally nods, but then asks, "Is it bad? What's happened, I mean."
Gale sighs deeply, rubbing his face, "It could be, depending on how everything goes." Gale pauses and sighs some more. "Just don't mention this conversation to Ma, or Pa, or anyone for that matter." Rory nods slowly, and the two brothers hurry back inside. Gale immediately plops down to Madge on the couch and his arm snakes around her shoulder while she reads to Posy. He can't help but this she's going to be a phenomenal mother when this baby is actually born.
Gale drops his mouth to her ear and whispers, "I'm ready when you are."
Madge freezes a bit, but then nods. "After dinner." The couple agrees on that, and it seems that the time ticks down faster than either of them would like. They end up washing dishes together, just like every other night Madge is over. As soon as they're done, Gale turns to his parents sitting at the table. Madge keeps drying the last few dishes she has left in the soap suds.
"Pa? Ma?" The two Hawthorne's turn to face their eldest son with bright smiles on their faces. They drop when the see his face. "Can we talk?" At this, Rory scurries out of the kitchen, pulling his two youngest siblings with him. Hazelle glances around at the sudden movement, but says nothing. The two adults glance momentarily at one another, concern flashing through their gaze.
"Of course, Gale." Ian finally says, patting the chair next to him. Gale shakily makes his way to the chair, nerves finally flooding his body. He had tried to remain calm for Madge, but now he wants to explode. Madge keeps drying, finally letting the tears fill her eyes. They're going to hate me, Madge thinks to herself, while finishing up the dishes.
Gale's quiet for several more seconds, running through his words. Should he just come out and say it? No, that would cause trouble. Work them up to it? Gale doesn't know. Finally, he settles on, "Something's happened."
Hazelle raises a brow at her son, but doesn't say anything. She urges him to continue while Ian stares in wonder at his son. "And I don't know how you two will take it." At this, both parents look at each other, great fear in their eyes. Madge finishes the dishes and places them in their cupboard before wiping her eyes quickly. She takes a small moment before turning around to face her fate. She slowly pads across the room and shakily takes the seat next to Gale. His hand almost immediately finds her, squeezing it reassuringly. Madge stares at their twined hands and has to choke back a sob when Gale finally forces out the few words that make everything final.
"Madge is pregnant."
His parents are quiet for a very, very long time. Madge finally wills herself to look up at the two of them to find them speaking to one another without any words. Hazelle's the one who speaks up first, "Madge, dear, come with me." Madge's eyes snap to Hazelle's face and Madge is very surprised to find Hazelle doesn't look angry at all. Madge glances at Gale quickly and he gives her a gentle nod.
The mayor's daughter stands shakily and follows Gale's mother out of the room and into the bedroom. Madge blinks the tears from her eyes when Hazelle gives her a warm hug. "How long have you known?"
Madge chokes out, "A few weeks. I-I don't know." Hazelle is understanding with Madge. "I went to Mrs. Everdeen and she... she told me."
Hazelle nods, "You're going to be alright, Madge." Madge chokes back a sob quickly and Hazelle immediately wraps her son's girlfriend into a hug, "Oh, shh, don't cry, Madge. We're going to take good care of you. Gale will take good care of you."
"You mean... You aren't mad?" Madge shakily forces out, gently wiping the tears from her face.
Hazelle shakes her head a bit and sighs, "I'm not angry with either of you. I'm just a little disappointed that Gale wasn't careful enough, but it's too late to change that, now." Madge starts to cry again and Hazelle shakes her head, "It's okay, dear. We can't change what's happened. But, we can change what happens now."
"I don't want to be a burden," Madge starts slowly, "Two more mouths to feed, it's just..."
"You will definitely not be a burden, Madge. Gale loves you and we do too. Don't worry about that, now." Hazelle smiles a bit and taps Madge's stomach, "Besides, you and Gale? It'll be a stunner."
Madge lets out a shaky laugh as Hazelle starts to instruct her on foods she should eat, what she should and shouldn't do, stuff like that. Madge can only wonder what Gale's father is saying to him because she knows that he'll never tell her.
Ian is quiet for an extremely long time after his wife leaves.
Finally, he speaks. "Well, Gale, I don't know exactly what to say to you." Gale hangs his head in defeat.
"I'm sorry, Pa." Gale starts to say, "I wasn't careful enough and now this has happened."
Ian sighs for a moment, "I'm not angry. Just very disappointed, Gale." Gale swallows thickly and drums his fingers on his knee. "Your mother and I had you when we were young, you know that?"
Gale looks up and shakes his head. "Yeah. I was maybe a couple years older than you, she was about your age. We were scared out of our minds, Gale. I suspect that you are. For yourself, for Madge, for the baby." Gale makes a motion with his head and grunts. "And it seems that you've fallen into the same trap we did."
Gale nods. "I-I'm sorry, Pa. I never thought that she would get pregnant this soon, that I'd be responsible for two more people."
"That's what we thought," Ian says, shaking his head a bit, "but it all turned out well, Gale. You and Madge aren't going to be alone in this process. Your mother has immense knowledge on pregnancy and how to take care of babies, and you and Madge both have a fantastic parental and maternal qualities. Stay here for a second." Gale watches as his father walks across the creaking floorboards to the small chest on top of a shelf in the cupboards. He pulls a small bag out of the chest and pads back to Gale.
"This has been in our family for generations, Gale. The twin for it rests on your mother's finger." Ian hands something small to his eldest son, and Gale takes it. He immediately feels nervous when he realizes what it is. A ring. A small, silver band with a small green gemstone resting on it. "Give it to Madge."
"Pa, I-I can't." Gale says, nerves seeping out of his voice.
"Yes, you can." Ian says, staring his father down. "And you will. Pretty soon, she's going to start showing. And then, people will start to question it. The mayor's daughter pregnant? She's seventeen, Gale. Everyone will be bugging her with it. Especially if there's no one to claim the baby. There will be questions, and there will need to be answers." Gale nods; of course his dad will get into the technical stuff.
"I know. And I'll have those answers."
His father's next words chill him. "What about her father? How will he take this?"
Gale's voice falters. "I don't... I don't know, Pa." Gale's fingers run through his hair repeatedly as his father continues.
"And what are you going to do when the baby's born, Gale? It will wake up this entire family."
"I know, Pa, I'm working on that." Gale's saved from answering when his mother and girlfriend return from the back bedroom. Madge looks much better than she did earlier, and she's starting to get that glow that women get when they're pregnant. Madge takes the seat next to Gale and his arm slowly snakes around her waist. Hazelle notices and gives Madge a small smile.
"Give your father and I a moment." Hazelle says, looking towards Gale. The two adults scurry into the back room and Madge leans against Gale.
"You saved me from a lecture." Gale forces a chuckle and Madge forces a smile back.
Madge sighs. "What are we going to do, Gale?" The ring in Gale's pocket weighs him down heavily.
When Gale shows up at Madge's house, he's worried. His mother pressed his Reaping shirt and pants and Gale looks as presentable as a miner from the Seam can. Madge is waiting for him outside.
"He's not in a good mood." She tells him quietly, smoothing down his collar.
"Well, shit." Gale murmurs and Madge frowns, standing on her toes to kiss him.
"Don't cuss." She murmurs, and he smiles a bit. It seems that now that his parents know she's not as worried. Madge knows that her father will lose it, and she's accepted that. She was just worried that Gale's parents would hate her.
Gale chuckles before asking, "Do you feel any different?"
Her brows furrow and she shrugs, "I mean, my boobs hurt and I'm always tired and my ankles hurt, but other than that no. You?"
"My boobs don't hurt but I guess yeah." Madge shoves his chest a little bit.
Madge leads him into the house and as usual, he's shocked by the grandness of the house. He tries to avoid it, though. Once up the stairs, they pass Madge's bedroom where they made love and his heart nearly skips a beat, but then he remembers what came from that night. Madge knocks quickly on her father's study and there's a quiet voice that says, "Come in."
Madge takes a deep breath and leads Gale by the hand into the study. "Daddy? We need to talk."
Mayor Undersee looks up quickly, a grin on his face directed towards his daughter, but as soon as the Mayor's eyes set on Gale, they turn as cold as ice and Gale feels his bones chill.
"Yes, dear. Is something wrong?"
Instead of easing him into it like Gale did with his family, Madge blurts it out quietly. "I'm pregnant." Gale nearly runs out of the room as soon as Mayor Undersee stands.
"I'm sorry, I believe I heard you wrong. I heard you say that you are pregnant." Gale's fingers dig into her shoulders as Mayor Undersee moves towards his only daughter. Gale can see the anger radiating off of the Mayor. "Is it his?" He motions up to Gale and Madge shakily nods, suddenly very afraid of her father. "Get out."
"Daddy—" Madge starts, her voice shaking.
"I said, get out, Margaret." His voice shakes with anger and Madge knows she should move but she can't, she's frozen in her place.
"Sir, please think this through—" Gale reasons with his girlfriends father, but he's not having it.
"Get out!" He shouts, and Gale feels his heart snap for the girl standing in front of him. A stony silence comes over the room. "You have five minutes." Mayor Undersee looks towards Gale, "Get out now." Mr. Undersee looks towards Madge. "No daughter of mine will be living under this roof if she's pregnant."
At that, Madge completely cracks and tears flood her eyes and stream down her face in a waterfall. She rushes out of the room quickly, her cries echoing. "You're making a huge mistake." Gale hisses, before stomping out of the house, anger and fear coursing through his veins.
Madge appears five minutes later, holding a small bag. She immediately falls onto Gale's chest, sobbing her eyes out. Gale takes her bag and slings it over his shoulder before wrapping his arms around her tightly. When she's finally able to compose herself, Gale wipes her eyes. "We're going to be okay." Gale pauses, starting to lead her to his home, "I promise, Madge. We're going to get through this.
Madge stays on the Hawthorne's small couch for five days until Gale finally takes action. The couple has disappeared into the meadow, and Madge has finally started smiling a bit again. She's been down in a well since her father completely kicked her out, and Gale's hardly been able to get her to smile. There have only been a few times that he's gotten her too, maybe when he finds her knitting small socks and he puts them on his fingers and runs up her stomach, but that's about it.
Gale rolls so that Madge is hovering over him. "I love you," He murmurs and Madge gives him a very small smile and bends to peck his mouth. Gale's fingers skirt under the shirt she's wearing and he smiles when he realizes that soon enough their baby is going to start growing.
"I love you more." She teases and Gale smiles.
"I'm pretty sure I love you most, considering there's two of you in one body." Madge actually smiles at that one and Gale feels his heart leap in his chest. "Madge? You realize that things are going to get really complicated soon."
"I know," Madge sighs, leaning down on Gale's chest. "I might drop out of school when the baby starts growing."
Gale sits up abruptly, "No, Madge, you don't have to do that."
Madge nods. "Yes I do. School stress is not good for the baby, and I don't want that kind of attention. Gale, it's my decision. It's what's best for the baby." Gale finally accepts her decision and nods.
Gale's heart pounds in his chest when he finally speaks again. "Can I ask you something?"
Madge nods and Gale sits up quickly fumbling in his pocket for the object that's weighed him down for the past week and a half. "Will you marry me?" Madge starts to laugh as if it's a joke, but when she sees the silver band twisted in Gale's fingers, her laughing drops and she looks at him in disbelief. "I know... I know that we're completely young and we don't know what we're doing, but it's best for us and what's coming. I love you, Madge, and I want to be with you. It's not just for the baby, but... For us, Madge."
Madge stares at him for a moment, before she lets out a shaky laugh. "I love you," She murmurs, crawling into his lap. "Of course I'll marry you." Gale smiles a little bit and presses his lips against hers, smiling into the kiss. His fingers tangle into her hair and hers fist into his shirt. They press closer to one another and Gale can see a bit of light shine through this otherwise devastating situation.
They decide on Saturday night, so they have a day to themselves the next day.
It's just Gale's family that knows, as well as the Everdeen's, courtesy of Rory.
Madge stands in the back bedroom of the Hawthorne's house. Hazelle demanded that the two didn't see one another before, and Gale already waits at the Justice Hall, where they will be bonded to one another forever. Madge's fingers shake as Hazelle zips up the back of her dress. It's one of her old dresses, one that she was very fond of. It's a soft, blue dress and it doesn't irritate Madge at all. The baby hasn't really started to show just yet, for which Madge is thankful. She won't have to get married with a baby bump.
"You look beautiful, dear." Hazelle muses, brushing a lock of hair from Madge's face. "Ready?"
The nerves finally get to Madge as she, Hazelle and Posy hurry to the Justice Hall. They had to keep this arrangement on the down-low because of Madge's father. Ian meets the three when they reach the Justice Hall. "He's at the top with Rory." Madge nods a bit, her fingers shaking, "Madge? I'm glad that you're going to be my daughter-in-law." Madge forces a smile and she's gently pushed up the steps to Gale.
He turns at the right time, and a lazy smile comes over his face. "Wow." He murmurs, immediately wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning down to kiss her quickly. "You look so beautiful."
Madge smiles brightly, standing on her toes to kiss him again. "Ready?"
"As I'll ever be," Gale responds, leading her by the hand into the Justice Hall. They sign in quickly, and wait for several minutes before they're called into the back. Gale's hands shake on the small of Madge's back as they're lead back. Somehow, they bypassed the fact that Madge is underage. Gale never figures out how they got past that.
The aging man who will wed them slides behind a podium a rests a book on it. The room is musty and filled with cobwebs, but neither of them notice. They're too wrapped up in one another to notice.
"I'll get right too it then," The man says, grinning a bit at the young couple. "We are gathered here today to join these two people, Margaret Undersee and Gale Hawthorne, in the state of Holy Matrimony under the eye of President Snow and the laws of Panem." He pauses, and turns towards Gale, who can't keep his eyes off of Madge. "Gale."
"Yes," His voice is rough and shaky.
"Do you take Margaret as your lawfully wedded wife, to live together under the holy state of Matrimony? Will you love her, comfort her, honor her, and keep her in sickness and health, forsaking all others as long as you both shall live?"
"I do," Gale murmurs, turning to face Madge. She sniffles and he wipes under her eyes slightly.
"And do you, Margaret, take Gale as your lawfully wedded husband, to live together under the holy state of Matrimony?" Madge released a strangled noise from her throat and Gale still can't take his eyes off of the woman in front of him. Not only is she the mother of his child, but soon to be his wife. The thought makes him feel giddy. "Will you love him, comfort him, honor him, and keep him in sickness and health, forsaking all others as long as you both shall live?"
"I do." Madge's voice shakes, and Gale can't help but smile at her.
"Take her hand, Gale." The young man does, and the aging man in front of the couple hands Gale a ring. "Take this ring, and slide it onto her finger." And Gale does so. Madge lets out a shaky laugh when the wedding ring finally rests on her finger. "Margaret?" She's handed a ring, and Madge tries to copy Gale's actions as quickly as she can, but her fingers are shaking so much. Gale's face lights up when the ring finally is on his finger.
"And now, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Gale's lips are on Madge's before the aging man can finish his speech. Madge squeaks into his mouth as he lifts her off of the ground and tightly holds onto her. They're married.
They receive a housing assignment several streets over from the rest of the Hawthorne's. It doesn't seem too far, but honestly, Madge doesn't think much of it. All she can think is that she and Gale are married. He's hers and she's his. Everything that they own they now share.
Gale's family helps them move in. Sure, there's already a bunch of necessities, such as kitchenware and sheets and some cleaning supplies, but the other Hawthorne's bring them more stuff. Hazelle starts to make the bed and Ian and Rory and Vick starts to unpack. Madge occupies Posy for a moment.
Gale seems to be floating on air. He's married to the mother of his child and now she's his wife. He can't think straight the entire time his family is there.
Finally, they're left alone and Madge scurries through the small shack, looking at everything. The wood is rotting in places and the rough leaks in others, and honestly things just aren't in the best shape. Her eyes gaze over the mirror in the bathroom and the counters in the kitchen. Madge hurries into the bedroom and sits lightly on the bed, feeling the springs bounce beneath her. She rubs a bit of dust off the metal headboard and Gale watches her intently, his smile finally dropping from his face.
"I'm sorry," he murmurs, moving across the small bedroom to her side, "I'm sorry I can't give you and the baby more."
Madge's hands cup his cheeks before giving him a deep kiss. "It's okay. It's what we have and it's home."
Gale smiles a little bit as Madge presses them down on the bed and they begin their new lives together, just as a journey begins as well.
A/N: Okay, wow thanks. I worked pretty hard on this and I didn't really get a response on it, so I'm hoping I'll get one this time? Please and thank you.