Chapter 3
That night Annie suffered from another horrible nightmare which resulted in her getting very little sleep. when the time neared to visit the district administration office Annie became jittery and upset, Emily and I couldn't seem to calm her down. Her condition was such that we worried it would affect her chances at the hearing; even Emily was starting to go to pieces as well. I was beginning to get really worried myself as I could see this thing sliding out from underneath us. Finally, I grabbed Annie and slapped her hard! "Damn it Annie get hold of yourself! You keep acting like this at the hearing they will take Daniel away from you. Is that what you want? Listen to me, Listen to me Annie I'm your friend, Gale has checked into this he's got friends working behind the scenes, you do your part they will do theirs.
Annie stopped sobbing and seemed to be listening to what I was saying. Just before leaving we got a couple glasses of wine down her, just enough not to get her drunk, but to put on a slight buzz, which seemed to take affect once we were on the tram to the admin building. Once there a matron took the baby which I thought would set Annie off again but the woman convinced Annie no harm would come to him and that he would be in a small room just off the courtroom. We took our seats and eventually the hearing got underway, functionaries from the district testified first describing Annie as schizophrenic and that she wasn't capable of taking care of her child.
Things went back and forth to the point that we couldn't tell how things looked for us, a lot of "legalize" was being flung around like so much shit! Finally I was asked to speak for Annie, as I stood to head up to the witness stand I looked at her. The sad and desperate face that peered back at me wrenched my gut, I simply couldn't let this poor woman and friend down. I worked my way to the front and took my seat; finally, I was asked to speak for Annie.
"My name is Johanna Mason Annie O'Dair is my best friend as well as a fellow victor in the Hunger Games, I'd like to tell you a little bit about this woman who I call friend." I went over Annie's victory in the 70th games the effect of seeing her friends head cut off, the torment she received at the hands of the capitol and the love affair between her and Finnick. I maintained calm and even tone, something I really had to force myself to do. I continued by detailing what Finnick had truly meant to Annie and how he had calmed her down and had put her mind at ease.
Continuing with his service to the rebellion and subsequent death I detailed the double whammy effect this had on Annie, I then detailed the calming and therapeutic effect little Daniel had on her. Emily took the stand briefly to describe Annie's day-to-day behavior and how she took care of Daniel. Finally, I turned over the paperwork Gale gave me and returned to my seat to await the decision by the judge. We sat and fidgeted for almost an hour before the judge returned and announced his decision. Annie would be allowed to keep her baby but that someone would check on her from time to time to monitor her situation but other than that, she was free to take Daniel.
I whispered in her ear about not breaking down or crying which she was able to do, she did her best to smile and we walked out of that courtroom victorious.
I don't know how that woman did it but she held it together all the way out of that building and all the way home. Once we were home Annie hugged me so hard I thought she was going to break my back! Sobbing and sniffling at the same time, she spoke, "Thank you Johanna! Thank you so very much, thank you for my Daniel, thank you for Finnick. I will never forget what you've done for us!" She eased back a bit and looked me in the eye, "I am truly proud to call you my friend, and please tell Gale I can never thank him enough for what he's done, consider yourselves welcome in this house always." She resumed her hugging finally calming slowly and eventually sitting down on the couch with Daniel gently hugging him and kissing his little face.
Annie attempted to smile and laugh but only succeeded in small chuckles but I could tell the world had been lifted from her shoulders.
Later that evening long, after Emily had left and Annie had put Daniel to bed she came and quietly sat next to me on the couch, looked me dead in the eye and softly spoke. "Jo, I have to tell you something but I don't want you to think I'm crazy, I tell you this with all sincerity and truth," I looked at her and thought "uh oh! This doesn't sound good." "Johanna, my husband visited me two nights ago, you know, the night I didn't wake up screaming and assured me everything was going to be all right and not to worry, he told me you would make things right." I looked at her dumfounded; did I do the right thing today? "Listen Jo, you can never tell anyone this, never!"
I promised not to, she looked at me with those sad eyes of hers and continued. "Finnick told me about when you guys were together at the Quarter Quell on that beach and all that you did for everybody, especially Katniss. Despite what everybody else said about you he knew right there you were a good woman." I slowly nodded unsure of how to reply to this revelation, then almost as an afterthought her face brightened and she added. "He also said that if you and Gale didn't get married for the sake of that baby you're carrying he would come and haunt you!"
The look she continued to give me told me she was not lying, a cold chill went down my back so spirits from the otherworld were sanctioning my marriage to Gale, something we had briefly discussed but hadn't done anything about it yet. I had trouble processing this information but her unchanging expression told me this woman was telling the truth, we reached out for each other and embraced for several moments, I finally leaned back and looked Annie in the eye and whispered, "Annie dear your secret is safe with me and if your husband thinks Gale and I ought to get married who am I to argue with a ghost, I'll be sure to bring it up with Gale but I'll leave Finnick out of it."
We briefly hugged again then prepared to turn in for the night.
Later that night I awoke with the feeling that someone was watching me,I looked around the darkened room then went back to sleep. The next morning I packed my stuff and took a quick walk on the beach with Annie and Emily before getting ready to leave for home. We had one more hug fest at the station and made plans for me to return after my baby was born, soon it was time to leave so I boarded the train and took my seat.
For most of the way home I thought of Annie, little Daniel and what if I had a daughter….Naw! Stop being silly Johanna.
Johanna
Gale greeted me on the porch with a big hug and a very emotional kiss, finally releasing his grip he smiled at me and said, "Well, how did things go?" "for awhile I thought Annie was going to loose it but she pulled herself together and came through, plus what you did as far as the official stuff and my standing up for her, Annie gets to keep her baby." "I'm so glad to hear that Jo, this is great." "She's got a lot of grit and determination I replied, "both of us are at the top of her list for what we did for her." Gale simply nodded in agreement.
He indicated the porch swing so we sat down slowly swinging lost in our own thoughts for a moment. "While you were gone my mom called and asked if she and the kids could come for a visit." "when" I asked, "Weekend after next, she's going to be starting a new job back there in 13 and she'll be able to pull the kids out of school for a week at that time." "Fine by me, they're your family," "Well I just wanted to run it by you." I simply shrugged and focused on a distant bird that caught my attention, Gale hesitatingly continued, "Uh she also asked me something else." my ears perked up at this, gently patting my belly he replied "Mom was wondering when I had planned to make an honest woman of you?" With irritation creeping into my voice, I simply said, "she said that!" "Yeah, thought it was high time we got married." With a slight chuckle, I said, "Although I can't say who, your mother isn't the only one who thinks we should get hitched."
"Well I guess we'd better do something about it then huh! "Yeah I think so," although I certainly wasn't going to tell Gale I didn't want any ghosts haunting me. "Well, we could do it the weekend my mom and the kids are here, Posy could kind of be in it I suppose." Gale suddenly got a wry smile on his face and announced, "I know! You could dress like a tree and I could dress like a coal miner." I glared at him for a second before punching him in the chest. "Oww! What was that for?"
"That isn't even funny at all; put THAT right out of your mind Gale Hawthorne." "Sorry, just kidding," "You don't even kid about anything like that," I started to hit him again but he caught my hand in mid flight, "Seriously though we had better plan it for that weekend, I'll check on the paperwork, I don't know maybe we should just do something of our own making, instead of copying something from 7 or 12 just create something fresh." I thought about that and nodded "What do you think we could do?" I replied.
"District 1 has a tradition of trading rings, they tell me at the office it's been catching on around here, I kind of like that, they make some really nice looking rings. Maybe a ceremony involving the mayor marrying us combined with the exchanging of rings or maybe some sort of flower arrangement for your hair, what do you think Jo?" I thought about it for a few moments and expressed no objections. Gale peered at my hair and suggested a wreath made of local flowers mixed with a few small pinecones and spruce needles symbolizing district 2 and 7, I replied that I'd look into it.
