Chapter ten:
"I'm sorry…did you say Odair?" I ask, still shocked.
"Yes, ma'am. I'm Finnick's brother. Well half-brother." He clarifies. I blink, expecting him to disappear. This can't be real. I look back to Finnick who's watching me like a hawk. Annie continues to talk fervently, but he doesn't look like he's even hearing a word she's saying. He holds up his hand to her, and she stops talking immediately. He walks briskly over to us, and does something unexpected. He punches Peter square in the jaw, knocking him back. Annie squeals, and rushes over to Peter, as he struggles to get up.
The once ice blue eyes of Finnick's brother, are now dark blue with rage. Finnick pushes me behind him as Peter stomps his way towards us.
"Do you really want to do this? Decide wisely." He threatens in a low, menacing voice.
"You better watch where you step around here Peter. You've been gone my whole damn life! You didn't even check on me when my family was murdered! Don't go near my wife, Mags, or Annie." Finnick explodes. Peter looks taken aback. I'm mostly shocked that Finnick has a living brother and he didn't bother telling me.
"Well as for Annie…That's going to be a problem. We're together Finnick." He says, looking to Annie, whose head is in her hands.
"I'm sorry, may I interject?" I call, stepping from around Finnick. Everything is getting out of hand.
"So you, Finnick's ex, is dating his brother that he clearly doesn't have a good relationship with, and you thought it'd be a good idea to bring him here when me and Finnick come back from the Capitol after going through hell?!" I aim towards Annie, my murderous glare piercing through her fragile eyes.
"I-I…don't know what to say. I am sorry that it hurt Finnick, but you know how I felt when you two got married… After your wedding, I spotted him, and we sort of just hit it off. I needed to get over Finnick." She says, shoving her hands in her pockets.
"With his brother, though? I'm sorry but that was a mistake on your part. Peter, you should've never even let it continue further, knowing that Finnick and Annie have history." I turn towards him. He raises his hands up, palms facing me.
"You two should just get out of here. Please just let me and my wife have one night of peace. You have no idea what we went through in the past week. We'll deal with all of this tomorrow." Finnick announces, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling us forward. Mags shoots Annie a disapproving look and follows us. Annie frowns and tears fill her eyes. I turn back around when I see Peter embrace her.
"Finnick..." I begin, but his arm tightens around my waist, so I drop it. We'll talk about it tomorrow. I'm just so confused about the half-brother part. Did his mom have an affair? Or his dad? I shake my head, trying to clear these thoughts.
We make it to our empty, and dark house. Finnick pushes open the door, and what I see inside startles me. In the foyer sits a baby carriage with a teddy bear inside it. My hand flies up to my mouth. Snow killed our baby, did he really have to do this?
Finnick stops in front of the door, speechless. I cautiously walk over to the mini display of what could have been. I see a white note attached to the teddy bear. With shaking hands, I slip the note off of the overly stuffed arm, flipping it open, I see my dad's handwriting.
"Nikki, my little girl, I just wanted to say how happy I am. I never imagined I would be a grandfather one day. I never even thought I'd be a father again. I promise I will be there for you and that little guy in there. I love you so much, and I can't wait to see her/him. Congratulations to the both of you."
I close the note painfully. He found out. I didn't want him to find out. He's going to be crushed when he learns there is no baby. Finnick is suddenly behind me. He winds his arms around me, and holds me against his chest. I wipe away the stray tears that escaped.
"Nikki, I wanted to talk to you. Do you think we can try again? If it's too soon, I understand completely." He whispers in my ear, the smell of mint on his breath. I turn around, and look into his glassy sea green eyes. In them, I see loss, I see hope, and most importantly I see love.
"I'm scared Snow will kill our baby again. We said we'd protect our baby last time, and look what happened." I throw my arms around his neck.
"Snow won't try it again. You did exactly what he said. Besides, the next time we will be in the Capitol will be in twelve months, the baby will be here by then." He pleads with me. I do want to try again. I want a baby.
"Yes…" I breathe. His eyebrows shoot up, and the smile that spreads across his face is blinding. He lifts me up, and I wind my legs around his waist. Too eager to make it upstairs, he walks us over to the couch. I bring his face down to mine quickly, and start kissing him. He breaks away and looks me in the eyes.
"I love you, and I'm sorry that I failed the first time to protect you and the baby, I swear…" He says, but I place my finger on his lips.
"It won't happen again Finnick, this is us starting over. We won't mess up this time." I whisper. He half smiles and goes back to kissing me.
Eight months later…
Finnick's POV
I feel Nikki get out of bed. I sit up, fully awake now. I squint in the darkness, trying to make out where she is going. I see her sit by the window, looking out onto the beach, watching the dark waves crash to shore. I study the way the bright moon illuminates her figure, bleaching everything silver. She takes a deep breath, and rests a hand on her large protruding baby bump. Eight months pregnant, and I still can't believe we're having a baby.
"Is everything okay?" I ask quietly. She closes her eyes and exhales.
"Yeah, I'm just feeling stressed. In four months we go back to the Capitol. Our baby will only be three months old." She says, biting her lip. Her green eyes find mine, and I can clearly see the worry etched in them.
"Honey relax. I don't think we will Mentor this year. I think Annie and Mags got it." I try to explain to her. She shakes her head.
"Annie is not Mentoring, you know that Finnick. After Peter broke her heart she's been a mess." She tells me tiredly. Ah, yes, Peter. The brother that I do not care for. The brother that is two doors down the hall from us. It took a while for Nikki to convince me to let him stay with us. His house had been destroyed in a tropical storm, and it brought back many memories for Nikki. Out of guilt and sadness for my wife's tragic memories of storms and losing her sister and mother, I finally agreed.
"I'll go. You will stay home with Cannon. I don't want you or him near Snow." I say defensively. I climb out of bed, and make my way to the window seats and sit across from her.
"Okay. I love you." She says. I smile and wonder how did I get so lucky?
"Till the end of my days." I kiss her forehead. She pulls back and takes my hand in hers and presses it to her abdomen. I feel the small kicks Cannon is making. I think back to the very moment I found out Nikki was pregnant the second time.
I walk inside the house, closing the door behind me quietly. My efforts of being quiet weren't as effective as I thought, since Nikki stands before me, a huge grin on her face.
"Sneaking in?" She questions, raising an arched eyebrow.
"No, I was just at Mags house, she was having trouble moving some furniture around." I explain quickly. She waves off my explanation, pulling a blindfold out from behind her back.
"What…?" I begin, a surprised expression on my face.
"Oh hush, just put it on." She tosses me the light fabric.
"I'm a little nervous." I admit. I hear her giggle as I tie the cloth around my eyes.
"Can you see?" She asks me.
"No, I think the blindfold took care of that for me." I joke. I feel her swat my shoulder like she always does when I joke around. She grabs my arms and tows me forward.
I feel her stop after a minute, and turn me to face a certain direction.
"Can I take it off now?" I ask impatiently.
"Yes." I hear the smile in her voice. I quickly untie the blindfold. I'm standing in front of the bathroom mirror.
"You blindfolded me so you could show me a reflection of myself? Not to rain on your parade, but it's nothing new." I raise an eyebrow at her. She rolls her eyes and tilts my head down, where I see four white sticks laid out on the sink. The same white stick I saw in the trashcan at the training center. They all say positive.
"Honey…" I begin, but I can't find the words to express how much joy I'm feeling.
"Finnick, we're having a baby!" She squeals, and jumps into my open arms. I'm not going to lie, in this moment, my eyes tear up. We're having a baby. This time I know nothing will happen to it, or Nikki.
I was right. Nothing did happen to Nikki or our beautiful baby boy, Cannon Odair. I look down at my small and innocent son, and see so much of myself in him. He has his mother's eyes, but my charm. I won't tell Nikki that though. Today, October 5th, our son was born. I've never witnessed a more magical, and loving moment in my life. I am a father, and I vow to myself I will never let anything happen to him. This is my son. I'm responsible for him. I look over, and see my beautiful wife sleeping peacefully. The past three months she's been a worried mess. Now she can rest easy, knowing I will protect her and Cannon.
End of Part One.