Madge POV

Chapter 2

"Madge! Where is my shirt?"

"I told you, it's in your closet," I yelled from the kitchen to my husband on the second floor for the second time. I turned to give Gale an apologetic look, but he didn't seem to notice as he read the newspaper and drank his coffee.

"It's not here!"

"Look again," I said and shook my head. We'd lived with each other for over half a year, you would think that he'd figure out I color coordinated his closet by now. "And Gale is here, can we not yell to each other like barbarians?"

"Like I give a shit."

This earned a chuckle from Gale who set down the paper to look at me. "Really Madge. I've been here enough times, you don't need to act with formalities around me."

I huffed even though it was true. Gale would come over for breakfast almost every time he was back in District 2. Even before Milo and I got married and bought a house, we'd all come together and have breakfast in one of our apartments. It was a tradition that no one wanted to break.

"Scrambled?"

Gale, who had just picked up his coffee to drink, paused and raised his eyebrow. "You're cooking?"

I sighed in exasperation. "Yes! I am cooking. I will not burn them I promise."

He chuckled as he took a sip of his coffee, "Don't make promises you can't keep."

I quickly grabbed a towel and threw it at him. But I didn't get the satisfaction of hitting him because he caught it with one hand like it was nothing. Jerk.

"Yes, scrambled is fine," He said. "Want me to make some bacon?"

Normally the thought of bacon made my mouth water, but today it made me want to hurl. I knew if he started to cook it that just the smell would make me sick. "I don't think my stomach can handle it today. Let's just do scrambled eggs and toast."

He gave me a look, but nodded in agreement. Just then Milo burst in through the doorway in his button up green shirt. I loved that shirt on him, it really brought out his bright green eyes.

"Found it!" He announced like he accomplished a great feat.

"Congratulations, where did you find it?" I said flatly while I broke some eggs into a bowl.

He paused before he answered, "In the closet."

"Shocker," Gale said grabbing his coffee again.

"Hey! Whenever I put my clothes away they never are where I left them. Madge just has to have her system, which makes absolutely no sense by the way."

"I color coordinate your button up shirts and dress shirts in the closet, Milo. I've told you a thousand times. Dress pants and blazers are the same way. Your socks and underwear are in the top drawer of your dresser. T-shirts and undershirts under that. Long sleeves under that. And your jeans are at the bottom. How hard is that to remember?"

"I know all that, but I can never find the specific one that I need."

I rolled my eyes and decided not to argue. It was better to just let it go. Otherwise Milo would want to drag it out until he won or it turned into something bigger than it was. He was stubborn like that.

It seemed Milo had the same idea as me because he changed the subject. "Gale, did you let my wife near the stove? You know that causes trouble."

"Oh my gosh, I'm not that bad." I turned to see Gale and Milo exchange a look. "I'm not!"

They both started laughing, which caused me to pout. Just because I usually overcooked the food, forgot an ingredient, or almost caused a fire did not mean I was a bad cook. I was just not talented in that area of life. Plus, I was getting better. I hadn't started a fire in over three months and I always triple checked the recipes now to be sure that I didn't miss anything.

Unlike Gale and Milo, who grew up in families that taught them how to cook, I did not. The only thing that I would do whenever the maid cooked was peel the vegetables or bring over the ingredients. The one time I got to cook I ended up burning my hand. It was completely my fault, but the maid got scolded for it and half of her paycheck was cut that week. After that, I didn't cook until I had to learn to live on my own.

On my own...

That sobering thought reminded me that my parents were gone from this world. Passed away, resting in peace, dead. I had no family any more. Both were killed, no, murdered in the bombing of the District. They were the first to go.

And me? I was left in the Capitol, alone, in a clean white jail cell, to rot. It was too white, too clean, too lonely. Even when released I had no one and no where to turn to. It was all so suffocating.

A warm touch to my arm brought me back to reality. Milo was standing in front of me, looking concerned while Gale had got up from the table to move over to me. I hadn't realized that I had let my face slip, but when it did the boys must have known something was wrong.

"You okay, Madge?" Gale asked, rubbing my shoulders before Milo pulled me away from the stove and into his arms.

I allowed Milo's warmth to envelop me before I answered softly, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."

"You sure?" Milo asked, pulling away to look at me.

I noticed a stray brown lock that had fallen out of place, so I brushed it back with the others and examined my husband's face. When I was growing up, I had always been attracted to the boys from the Seam over the boys from Town. Their dark coloring was always so intriguing and beautiful to me while the pale blondes were so plain. Gale, of course, was my first crush. He was very handsome even when young. But as we grew up, I started to like other guys from the Seam. Aspen, Thom, Rowan. They were all forbidden to me, which was part of the appeal I believe. However, with the war over, I could finally go after them.

But I didn't want them any more. I didn't want any man in my life. When I was taken in by the Capitol I was verbally, physically, and sexually abused by men. I didn't get anything near as bad as most who got tortured or maimed. However, it was enough to make me never want to trust a man again.

Yet, here I was. With a man, dark and handsome, and in love.

"Yes. I'm fine," I said, running my fingers through his wavy brown locks and getting lost in his green eyes.

Memories of our times together flowed through my head, including how we met, by him slamming me into the wall of the District 2 hospital. I had only called out to Gale once when I found myself against the wall with my arm pulled straight back. It was so painful, my arm felt like it was twisted out of its socket and snapped in half. However, Gale immediately recognized me and told him to stop before any real damage was done.

Though not as tall as Gale, his body was large, all muscle, and I was completely scared of him. He reminded me of the men from the Capitol. Although, he didn't look like them in the least, his forcefulness and brutality upon first meeting me made me skittish.

Milo was really apologetic and tried multiple times to break my shell while he worked with Gale. But it wasn't until after I left intelligence and Milo was reassigned that I allowed him into my life. Gale brought him around when we went for drinks, or brought me around him and his friends from work, where I saw him casually and in a different light. I found he was a joker, a gentleman, a protector, and ultimately a great lover. It wasn't long before I fell in love.

Reality swam back into vision as he leaned down and kissed me softly on the mouth. I kissed him back and allowed his feelings to flow into me. His feelings of worry, comfort, and love ran through my body down to my toes, making me feel so, so safe and happy.

Now, I did have a family. And it was him.

"Mhmmm, you taste good, and you smell good too. How do you always smell like strawberries?" He asked as he leaned down to kiss my exposed collar bone.

"It's a secret," I whispered, though it was totally the perfume and shampoo that I used. You'd think he would have figured that out by now too, but sometimes I liked to leave him in the dark. I had to keep him tempted, so I can't tell him all of my techniques.

"I could just eat you up," he groaned as he started to suck on my pale flesh.

I felt myself start to get turned on and through the fabric of my skirt, it felt like he was too. But Gale was here, and this was not okay to do in front of him, at all. We'd both promised not to publicly display our affections in front of anyone; that was just not appropriate.

"No, off lover-boy." I wedged my arms between his chest and mine to try to push him away, but I found he held me fast and continued his exploration. This made me growl with anger, "Milo."

The next thing I knew I was up in the air, making me squeak, and plopped unceremoniously on the table. His green eyes burrowed hungrily into mine as he straddled me with his large arms and leaned in close, "Come on Madge, let's make a baby."

He moved in to kiss me and, though I was tempted, I knew we had to stop. In one smooth motion, I covered his mouth with my hands and lifted my foot up to his crotch. "Hold it right there mister, or there will be no babies for you in the future, ever." His eyebrows scrunched together in anger and I gave him a victorious smile. However he, the stubborn man that he was, would not let me win and licked my hand in spite before walking away. "Ew! Milo! Gale, why did you let me marry this brute?"

Gale, who was chuckling the whole time at our antics, finally let out a full laugh. "No way you can blame that on me. You two were the ones who decided to date and get married. I just watched the hilarity ensue."

As I passed by him to wash my hands, I stuck my tongue out at him playfully, "Meanie. And I was supposed to make the eggs, remember?"

He shrugged as he scraped around the last of the eggs in the frying pan, "You guys seemed busy and I was hungry. So might was well eat while being entertained right?"

"Ha ha," I said humorlessly as I went to help by putting bread in the toaster.

The phone rang from the hallway and I moved to get it when Milo answered the phone. After waiting a moment, I didn't hear him call for me, so it must have been for him. A pit formed in my stomach the longer he stayed on the phone. For some reason, I had a feeling it was about work. A part of me felt a little hurt that they would call so soon after he just got back, but I knew it was part of the job.

"So are you two really trying for a baby?" Gale asked as he dished the remaining scrambled eggs onto a plate.

I blushed, absolutely mortified that Milo said that and Gale caught it, "Well, I mean, we, um- we've talked about it. But we aren't actively trying. It-It's one of those things where if it happens, it happens."

Gale laughed at my awkwardness, "No need to get all riled up, Madge. It's not like I'm asking about intimate details of your sex life, please keep them to yourselves. I was just being a curious friend, wondering if you two were actually trying for a baby or not. Either way I'd support you, but I just wanted to know."

I nudged him lightly and smiled, he always knew how to rile me up and calm me down. "No, not actively, but if it happens then it wouldn't be unwelcome. However if it does, Milo really wants a boy."

"Uh oh, that's not good, that means he's going to end up with all girls," he laughed, which made me chuckle.

"That's not true."

"Isn't it?" he raised his eyebrow at me playfully, which I jokingly returned. We held each other's stares for a bit, neither breaking eye contact, before bursting into laughter. Gale smiled before adding, "Well, either way, good luck. If you need help with a baby now, or in the future, let me know. I'll help you out. I know a thing or two about babies." He finished with a wink.

Remembering he grew up the oldest of three siblings, I realized he actually would know a lot about raising children. Better than myself, an only child, and Milo, the youngest. Plus, I knew he had to do a lot by himself, with just his mom to take care of the family after his father died, so he definitely would be a big help.

"Thanks," I said sincerely.

Familiar arms grabbed me around the waist and swung me away from Gale. Sometimes I wondered if I was a sac of potatoes, the way Milo would throw me around sometimes. My husband held me close as he poked Gale in the chest and said, "I hope you don't mean 'helping' by having sex with my wife."

Gale and I laughed at his amazing timing. Even as I shook my head at him, I had a smile on my face, "Really, Milo?"

"Shush woman, I'm defending your honor," he said as he kissed me on the cheek and sat me down in the chair closest to him.

"And what if I did?" Gale asked with a devilish smirk, setting the scrambled eggs down on the table as he took his own seat.

"Not while I'm alive!" Milo playfully threatened as he puffed out his chest. He then grabbed a piece of toast and held it like he was wielding a sword. "You'll have to fight me to the death!"

"Hmmm," Gale pretended to chew on the matter as he munched on his eggs. After swallowing, he shook his head. "Nah. Too much work."

I laughed at their exchange, which earned me a toothy smile from Gale and a victorious one from Milo.

"Good. Besides, you'd lose. I'm just too handsome and strong," he said as he held out his arm for me and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

I giggled and squeezed his rock hard biceps. "Ooo, so strong," I jokingly gushed to appease him.

"You know it baby," he said before giving me a quick kiss and then diving into the food.

Breakfast was fun with playful banter between Milo and Gale, sometimes at my expense. I stayed mostly quiet as they talked, preferring to listen rather than join in. They were always more talkative than myself, especially Milo, but Gale was sure to get me involved when he could. He was always considering his friends, whatever he was doing.

When I had first run into Gale, I thought that he wouldn't want to speak to me. But I guess our time spent together while Katniss and Peeta were in the games had changed his mind because he welcomed me with open arms. Gale didn't let many people into his circle, but if you were, then you were there for life. I found that out the more time I spent with him. He was considerate to me and always trying to help me out. He really cared about doing what is right and helping those he loved.

We all finished breakfast and since Gale cooked, it was up to Milo and I to do the dishes. I decided to wash the plates and silverware, while Milo dried. As I handed Milo the first plate, he turned to me and said, "Remember the call from earlier?"

"Yes."

"Well it was to tell me I have to go to work this afternoon as a body guard for General Powell and a few others."

A small sigh escaped my lips; I knew it. "So soon? You just got back."

He scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, it's an unscheduled mission that we need to take care of quickly. I can't give you all of the details, confidential. They couldn't even give them to me over the phone, but it doesn't seem like it should be too bad or take too long."

"Actually I'm on that mission too," Gale spoke up from the table. "I got a few additional details, but, again, they're confidential. However, like Milo said, it shouldn't be too bad or take too long. We just have to be sure to do things right and fast, which is why we're leaving today."

I chewed on my bottom lip, nervous because it was rare for them to have an urgent mission. They hadn't had one in a while. The last one that I remember was while Milo and I were still dating. They were back within a week but they told me afterward that it was a dangerous escaped convict that they needed to get a hold of quickly. No one got hurt, but still.

"It... It's not like last time, is it?" I asked.

Milo gave me a questioning look, but Gale must have remembered because he spoke up, "We aren't supposed to tell you that Madge." Though he gave me the answer by shaking his head while he spoke.

I felt a little more relieved, "Okay. Well either way, you two should be careful."

"Careful is my middle name," Milo said.

"Yeah right! More like reckless."

"Never," smiled Milo, giving me a peck on the cheek as he put the last plate away. He then turned to Gale and said, "I'm kind of excited. It will be just like old times, you and me and Troy. Powell and a few other jerks will be there, but as long as us three are there, we've got this. I've missed working with you and him."

"Yea, it will be nice to work with you and the big guy again. And make sure to only call them jerks behind their backs and not to their faces, okay?"

Milo let out a booming laugh that made me jump, "That only happened once!"

"And we both know how that ended."

"Yup! Couldn't see out of my left eye for a week."

"Well you shouldn't have called General Bear an actual bear."

"Milo!" I admonished, never knowing that he did that.

Milo shrugged, "What? He deserved it for being a big ass."

"Then you deserved the punch," I said.

"Never said I didn't deserve it."

"He probably deserves more than that for all he's said," Gale snickered.

I shook my head at the men as I walked out of the room. My bladder was killing me and I thought I'd better get Milo's uniform out because there was no way he would find it without me. If he couldn't find his shirt in the front of the closet, there was no way he could find the uniform in the corner.

Author's Note: Sorry about the lackluster ending. I didn't want to make it too long and figured this was a good spot to end.

Now you have a little background about Madge and Gale's relationship, as well as Madge and Milo's. I can't reveal everything about their pasts because they aren't important, or will soon be revealed. Ooo mystery. Isn't that fun?

Believe me, this will be a Gadge story. I can't give you all of the details because I don't believe in giving away what will happen, at least with this story. I might give a hint here and there. Like this one: here is a little something, next chapter is Gale's POV! I feel like a troll writing that... all well! Heart you guys!

Suggestions, criticism, comments, or predictions? Please leave your thoughts in a review! I love reading them and they are great motivation.

Thanks for reading!