Thanks so much for all of the kind reviews! Just hit 100 today and the followers have already gone past 100! There will be one more chapter to wrap up their time in the Capitol and then an interlude before we jump ahead a few years in their story leading up to the kids!
Chapter 21
When I woke the next morning, Peeta was spooned up behind me under the pile of blankets we had brought to the solarium the night before to swaddle ourselves in. I could feel his steady deep breaths on my neck and I smiled to myself when I lifted the blanket a little to find the hand of the arm resting over my torso was lightly cupping one of my breasts.
I looked around the room and estimated that it was around 10 o'clock by where I could see the sun in the sky through the glass walls. I hated to wake Peeta but I had to pee so I gently extricated myself from his arms and chuckled softly when Peeta scooted over into the space where I had been laying and buried his face in my pillow as he fell back to sleep.
I pulled a hooded sweatshirt on over the tank top I had worn to bed on my way to the bathroom located on the same wall as the door we had used to enter the room. I was instantly horrified by the way my make up from the night before had spread over my face and almost screamed when I saw myself in the mirror but slapped my hand over my mouth to hold it in.
I grabbed a washcloth after relieving my bladder and gently began to wipe my face clean with warm water. "You are a good, good man Peeta Mellark." I said shaking my head as I washed mascara from under my eyes. I couldn't believe that Peeta hadn't said anything to me about how I looked after our encounter the night before or even during our walk down the hall to the solarium, but I appreciated his not having looked terrified and insist I sleep somewhere else.
When I left the bathroom a few minutes later, I found Peeta stretched out on his back in the middle of our makeshift bed stretching his arms and legs and yawning loudly. "Morning." I chuckled and flopped down on the couch closest to him and curled my legs up under my butt.
"Morning." Peeta smiled and wrapped his arms backwards over the pillow behind his head revealing his dark blonde armpit hair. "Sleep well?" He asked and raised himself up on his elbows giving me his complete attention.
"Of course I did, I was exhausted after the day we had." I grinned and Peeta offered me a sly grin of his own in response.
"And perhaps a little bit after the night we had?" he asked and I wasn't sure whether he was alluding to the amount of alcohol we had both consumed or the frantic love making we engaged in from the foyer to the hallway, to our bedroom. It didn't matter which he was talking about, they were both pretty embarrassing.
"Did I tell Johanna I was going to spend…" I began but Peeta cut in and finished the rest of the sentence with me as he grinned proudly. "…the rest of the night with my legs locked around Peeta's waist?" I buried my face in my hands and groaned.
I could hear Peeta chuckling as he climbed off of the floor and came to the couch where he tugged me up onto his lap. I groaned again and dug my forehead into the crook of his neck as I felt my cheeks flaming with embarrassment.
"I cannot believe I said that." I whimpered and Peeta rubbed my back with one hand and kissed my cheek beside my ear.
"Hey, don't worry about it. She had it coming." Peeta said softly and tilted my chin up to make me look into his eyes. I just stared at him, my cheeks still hot with the mortification of what I had said to Johanna Mason, of all people. I couldn't hold my sour expression long when a smile tugged at the corners of Peeta's lips and he leaned in to kiss me once, twice and then moved his lips down my throat to my chest.
I sighed (happily this time) and dropped my head back to give him better access as he slid a hand up between us and slowly began to unzip the hooded sweatshirt I was wearing. I never before thought the slow dragging sound of a zipper being lowered could be such an enormous turn on, but quickly learned that it was when I flipped myself around to straddle Peeta's thighs. He began pushing the sweatshirt off of my arms and let it fall to the floor.
"That was amazing last night." I whispered nibbling on the shell of his ear until he moved his lips down lower on my chest and tugged the low collar of the tank top down until it sat beneath my breasts and left them both open to his attention.
"Yeah…it was…intense." Peeta murmured before tugging at one of my nipples with his lips and then rolling it between his teeth gently. I gasped and gripped the sides of his head, holding him there as I began to press my hips down into his erection.
"Good intense?" I asked trying not to sound self-conscious as he kissed his way over to the other breast and repeated the same action. Peeta must have sensed the change in my tone and he lifted his head and looked into my eyes seriously.
"Amazing intense." He said with a shy smile and settled one hand on my hip and held my cheek lovingly with the other. "I don't think you'll ever be able to understand just how much I love you Katniss." He whispered and stroked my cheekbone with his thumb. "But I sure as Hell am going to enjoy trying to show you for the rest of my life." He whispered looking into my eyes and through my soul like only Peeta could.
I moaned softly and reached to pull the tank top over my head and tossed it away. Then I bit my lip as I stood from his lap and kicked the cut off sweats I had worn to bed aside so that I was standing naked in between his knees. "Show me now?" I asked stepping an inch closer so that my knees brushed against his where he sat.
Peeta tilted his head slightly, taking in the full sight of me. I realized with a secret little thrill that he traced the lines and curves of my body with his eyes the same way I had watched him do to the paintings at the museum. Knowing how much he loved art gave me some idea of what Peeta saw when he looked at me.
Not the fire mutt I assumed he would see before we were first intimate. He saw a girl he'd been in love with his entire life. A girl who he recognized beauty in just as plainly as if it had been painted on a canvas. I certainly didn't see myself that way, but knowing Peeta did sent a chill through me that stoked the embers of desire that had barely enough time to have gone out from the night before.
With a slow nod, Peeta reached for me, placing his hands on my hips and pulling me forward until I was forced to straddle his hips again with my knees digging into the soft cushions of the sofa. His hands slid down my hips and backside until they reached the bends behind my knees and he gently tugged me forward until my hips were pressing into his again.
I moaned as he recaptured my lips and I felt him thick and hard through his sleep pants against the bare skin of my lower belly. We began to push our hips back and forth against one another as if we were already connected. "Kat…" Peeta cried out softly and pushed his hips harder up against me. His hands slid up to hold onto my waist, kneading and squeezing with each thrust against me.
"…yes…please, Peeta…" I mewled when he brought his hips back down to my chest and licked and sucks on each breast in turn. I knew it was becoming more and more difficult for Peeta to control himself when he stood abruptly from the couch with me still in his arms. I locked my legs around his waist and continued to scratch his scalp lightly and occasionally tugged on his hair.
He lay me down amongst our pile of blankets so that my head was resting on one of the pillows. "…love you so much." He murmured and gently unwound my legs from his waist and lay them straight on either side of his own. I stroked my hands up and down his back as Peeta began kissing down my neck on one side, his lips brushing over my shoulder and down my arm all the way to my fingertips. He repeated this action on the other side of my body and when he reached the fingers of that hand, moved his kisses over to my hip and belly which he nuzzled. I could feel the soft puffs of air from the heavy breathing caused by his arousal so near to where I wanted his mouth.
"Peet…" I gasped and raised my hips shamelessly toward his wandering lips. I felt Peeta smile against my lower belly as he nipped his way across to the other hip and then down the top of the thigh to my knee. I squirmed and dropped my legs open invitingly around his upper body, groaning when he kissed from that knee to the next and slowly moved up the top of the second thigh but again, avoided where I wanted him most.
"Patience, Everdeen." Peeta chuckled looking up at me with hooded eyes as he slowly lifted my legs by the calves and settled them over his shoulders so that my calves were resting along the length of his back.
"Please…" I whispered with as sexy a smile as I could muster and dropped my head back on the pillow when I saw his head descending between my legs. "PEETA!" I cried and lifted a corner of the pillow to my mouth and bit down on it hard as he went to work 'thanking' me for the trip to the museum or trusting his opinion to come to the Capitol that week, I wasn't sure. But this was always the way Peeta physically showed his thanks since we'd been in an actual relationship and I reached my hands down to hold his head, stroking my fingers through his hair to say 'you're welcome'.
I glanced down briefly as he picked up the pace and went back to biting down on the pillow and moaning over and over into it as my hips moved against his mouth and I was driven closer and closer to my orgasm. I knew Peeta could tell how close I was when I felt him sink two fingers into me just beneath his tongue and began pumping them in and out quickly.
What finally pushed me over the edge was when he reached up with his free hand and took one of my hands out of his hair and threaded his fingers through mine and I screamed some combination of his name, 'I love you' and possibly a really profane curse word or…5.
I grabbed one corner of the comforter beside us and pulled it up over Peeta to the back of his shoulders while he kissed his way up my body until he reached my lips. It was still a little strange to me even after all of this time, to taste myself on his lips but all of the other wonderful feelings that came with this act trumped that strangeness.
"Hi." Peeta murmured against my lips and settled his full weight on top of me gently. We were both breathing heavily and already sweating even though a chill had begun to slowly creep into the room since the fire burned out.
"Hi." I panted back and shifted my hips enough to line up with his. Peeta brushed his nose against mine with a grin and reached down to tug the comforter up over his back as he stretched out on top of me better. I reached down to push his sleep pants down enough to free his erection and Peeta slowly began to push in.
"Mmmppphh…" we both moaned together when he was all the way in. I moved my hands to Peeta's back, stroking my short fingernails up and down the length of his smooth skin there lovingly as we just held still, enjoying the feeling of being joined together as much as if it were the first time.
"Love you…" I whispered and kissed Peeta's lips and then his cheek gently.
'Love you too, Kat…" Peeta grunted quietly and began to move his hips slowly back and forth.
We spent the rest of the late morning making love on the floor and then once more in the hot tub.
I was lounging on the bench in the tub opposite Peeta when he mentioned that we better head back to our room soon since my mom was planning to be on the 1 o'clock train back to District 4.
"Mmm…" I grunted sleepily and lifted my head from the edge of the tub. "Yeah, and I told Johanna she could come with us when we go back to the museum today." I shared and Peeta lifted his head in surprise, but smiled.
"Sure, that sounds like fun." He said reaching for the towels by the tub and scooted until he was sitting on the top step into the tub before swinging his good leg over and wrapping the towel around his waist when he hopped to floor. He held the second towel up for me, wrapping me in it when I climbed out of the tub myself.
We dried off and pulled our pajamas from the night before back on and headed back to our room where we showered and ate the brunch that we'd asked Avitus to send there before we left the solarium.
At noon, there was a knock on the door and I opened it, letting my mother in to say good-bye to us. I knew I had to redeem myself for being such a dolt and having to rely on Peeta to think about asking her to stay with us. I really was thrilled that she had decided to stay not only one, but two nights and I know we both felt there had been some progress in dealing with our shared grief over losing Prim.
She had hugged Peeta and tilted his head down to her with a hand on either side of his face to kiss his forehead, telling him that she was so pleased with the progress he'd made with his hijacking episodes. She quietly told him she was equally pleased that he and I were 'really' together now and she wished he would be able to one day look upon her as a mother to ease the pain of the family he lost and she would look upon him as another child to her.
"Together…" She said taking one of my hands and placing it in Peeta's and then holding them both together with one of hers. "…we'll make a family of our own and be okay." She said and we both smiled and leaned forward to lay our heads on each of her shoulders. She petted our hair gently for a moment before we pulled back and all released each other.
"Call when you're back in 4 so we know you're safe?" I asked as Peeta put an arm around my shoulders and we walked my mom to the door of our room.
"Of course. And you two call when you get home." She said with a disapproving sigh. "I don't very much like the idea of you driving all the way back to 12 by yourselves but I guess you made it here alright…" She said and pointed between us. "Just be safe and stop to sleep when you need to okay?"
"We will." Peeta promised and Mom looked between the two of us once more with a secret little smile and headed down the hall. We watched her until she rounded the corner to the stairs and then Peeta shut the door and gently tugged me into his arms.
"You okay?" he asked rubbing my back gently as he rocked me back and forth on my feet. I nodded and rested my head on his chest for a long time before I pulled back and smiled up at him.
"How bout we go get Johanna and head to the museum for a little? Apparently there is an indoor swimming pool in this place and Annie and I talked about taking Zale in it when he gets up from his afternoon nap so I want to be back for that." I said and Peeta released me to go over to the bed and pull on his shoes.
"Little young for swimming lessons, isn't he?" Peeta laughed softly and I shook my head as I moved over to sit on the end of the bed and put my own shoes on.
"Annie says in District 4, it's tradition to take infants into the ocean for the first time before they are 10 days old. But being as he was born in late fall, it was only to dip him in for a few seconds and to fulfill the tradition so he hasn't had a lot of real experience in a large body of water yet." I explained and Peeta nodded.
"Mind if I join you?" he asked and reached for the handle of the door. "I'd like to see that myself…and I can show off my swimming skills." He teased as we headed out the door and down the hall to Johanna's room. I tried to keep a smile from my face when we saw that Johanna was already outside of her room waiting for us to go. She was dressed for an afternoon out and had
"Morning." I said still fighting a smile and Johanna narrowed her eyes at me when she realized she was about to be the butt of a joke.
"…Morning..." She replied hesitantly and folded her arms defensively as she looked between the two of us. "How'd that 'legs locked' plan go last night?" She asked with a smirk. "Well I assume since everyone looks rather chipper this afternoon."
Peeta and I both rolled our eyes and turned without another word to head down the hall towards the stairs.
We took the same car we'd been given to drive to the museum the day before and our security detail followed in a separate dark vehicle. They told us that they would follow us at a discreet distance and only interfere if other visitors to the museum came too close to us or were not able to move on beyond a simple 'hello' or 'how are you?'.
We spent 2 hours walking around the museum again and I happily watched Peeta take the lead, revisiting all of his favorite paintings and explaining to Johanna and I what it was about each one that he enjoyed so much. We quickly learned that touring the museum with Peeta as a guide was a more valuable experience than if we had been led around by the musuem's own curator.
"You know it's amazing how much he knows about art coming from District 12 and all." Johanna said while we sat on a bench in the middle of the landscapes room where Peeta was, once again, standing in front of the rainbow painting inspecting it closely.
"Hey, what do you know, that almost sounded like a compliment." I smirked at her and she grinned and nudged my arm with her elbow.
"It was a compliment." She chuckled and shook her head as she looked back over at Peeta lost in his own little world as he looked at the painting. Johanna watched him for a few moments before turning back to me. "Jeez, is he this intense about everything?" She asked and despite my best efforts not to, I blushed. "Ah…glorious." Johanna said sighing happily and it was my turn to nudge her arm.
Johanna and I followed Peeta from room to room and I promised that if we ever had to come back to the Capitol again, we would visit. Little did I know, when we were heading for the exit at the end of our visit, the curator and a few of the higher ranking staff in the museum were waiting for us at the door.
Peeta immediately looked a little frightened and I grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"Peeta…" The curator began with a pleasant smile as we stopped in front of him. "…we know that you'll be heading home to District 12 tomorrow and well…we can obviously see how much you've enjoyed your visit to our museum here so we'd like to give you something." He said nervously and placed a small cube about the side of an orange in Peeta's hand. I could tell by the way his hand dropped a little that it was heavier than it looked. Peeta shrugged with a nervous laugh and looked at the curator for explanation as the group standing around us bustled with nervous energy. "Well…simply put…it's…the museum." The curator explained with a similar nervous laugh.
Peeta looked to both Johanna and I for clarification but we both were just as puzzled by the statement so the curator stepped forward to elaborate. "This box here, contains life-sized holograms of every room in the museum." He said turning the box over to indicate a screen with a touch screen scrolling list of names of rooms I recognized from the plaques we'd seen as we passed through the museum. "You need only touch the name on the screen and a full-sized replica of that room in your own home. Every painting, every sculpture in crystal clear high definition right in front of you." He said brightly and Peeta's eyes bugged out of his head. He held the cube closer to his body, almost cradling it as if it were the most precious thing in the world.
"Th…thank you…I don't really know what else to say…" Peeta stuttered and I stepped up beside him to help out.
"Thank you, I'll be sure to remind him he has it any time I feel like he's pestering me and I want some time to myself." I joked reaching out to hold Peeta's hand and the staff as well as Peeta and Johanna all laughed.
Peeta thanked them again and shook each staff member's hand before we left with Peeta still holding his gift close.
We stopped at a paint store on the way back to the house and I insisted on buying Peeta some new supplies for him to use back home. He'd scoffed at first, saying he could just order them from the Capitol at home and have them shipped there but I told him I wanted to and that he should just shut up and accept the gift. Johanna watched our interactions with a mixture of amusement and envy and I made it a point to corner her later that night and ask her about this 'casual' relationship she was carrying on back in 7.
When we arrived back at the house, Johanna said she was going to go lay down for a while and she would meet us for dinner after our swim. I didn't invite her to join us because I didn't know if she was any better about water after the way she was soaked and electrocuted as part of her torture when she had been captured by the Capitol.
Peeta and I found bathing suits and large fluffy towels waiting on our bed when we returned to our room and we quickly changed and headed to the pool. Annie was sitting on a lounge chair by the pool removing Zale's diaper when we got there.
"Hey, how was your afternoon?" She asked lifting the baby up onto her shoulder and rubbing his tiny back to keep him warm. I couldn't help but notice that she cut a quick look at Peeta's prosthetic leg as he sat down in a chair to remove it, but to her credit, Annie said nothing about it.
"It was great!" Peeta said excitedly and told Annie about the hologram box and how it would allow him to see all of the paintings in the museum from our home in 12.
While they talked,I climbed into the warm water of the pool first and looked suspiciously at the naked baby in Annie's arms as she climbed in a few minutes after me. "Is that thing loaded?" I asked pointing to Zale's lower body with a smile.
Annie chuckled and kissed his head as he squirmed against her chest trying to pull into a ball to keep warm. "He's on empty for now. We've probably got about an hour or so before we need to worry about contaminating the pool." She grinned and gently lowered Zale into the water as she held him under her arms.
Peeta came up behind me in the water and wrapped his arms loosely around my torso as we both watched Annie introducing her and Finnick's son to the world his parents came from. She slid to her back slowly, folating easily like someone whose been in the water all of their life only can and kicked her feet so that she was swimming slowly across the pool on her back. She lifted her head and blew softly in Zale's face just before submerging him completely in the water for a few seconds and then popping him back up above the surface.
We all laughed at the surprised look on the baby's face and he spluttered water from his mouth. Annie smiled and continued to paddle around the pool, blowing in his face before each time she submerged him. Peeta and I watched amazed as Zale eventually got the idea and was able to hold his breath for longer and longer periods of time as Annie swam with him.
When she had circled all the way back around to where Peeta and I were, she nodded to Peeta and asked if he would stand about a foot across from her so that she could try something.
Peeta looked a little apprehensive but agreed and Annie turned the baby towards Peeta, blew in his face and submerged him before giving him a gently push out of her hands. Peeta's eyes widened as he watched the baby's instincts take over and he dog paddled straight into Peeta's hands.
"Wow! Look at you!" Peeta laughed raising the baby to his shoulder and cuddling him. I tried to ignore it, but I felt a little tugging at my heart seeing Peeta be so loving and gentle with Zale. "He swims better than I did after a month's worth of lessons!" he laughed as the baby cooed and rubbed his face into Peeta's neck.
Annie smiled proudly and motioned for Peeta to send him back to her. He looked a little unsure but Annie nodded and gave him such a trusting, reassuring look that he slowly turned the baby out towards her and blew in his face the way he'd seen Annie do and then gently pushed him over to her under the water.
Zale swam just as well back to his mother and when he popped up out of the water with his big green eyes wide we all clapped proudly and Annie cuddled him close in her arms and kissed all over his face.
"What a big boy!" I laughed softly and slid over to stand next to Annie and reached up to stroke Zale's back gently.
"Here, Katniss. You take him for a little." Annie said passing the baby over to me. I took him gingerly and held him close when he was in my arms. It was one thing to hold a fully clothed, dry baby on land but I wasn't so sure about holding a wet, slippery naked baby in the water. "Just relax, he trusts you." Annie assured me and I nodded and lay back in the water, setting Zale on my chest.
He placed his hands on my shoulders and gently lifted himself up wobbily to look into my face. I smiled and cooed to him as I reached up to let him wrap his little hands around my thumbs as I placed my feet back on the bottom of the pool. We swam around for a few minutes, Zale being pulled along through the water still holding my thumbs and when we got back to Peeta and Annie, I handed him to Peeta next.
Of course, he took Zale happily and swam around the same way I had with him. I watched Annie watching Peeta with the baby and knew that she couldn't help but be picturing Finnick in his place. I reached out through the water and took one of her hands which made Annie turn her head toward me.
"Thank you, Katniss." She said and I nodded once before we both turned out attention back to Peeta and the baby, laughing when Peeta held him out of the water above his head and blew a raspberry on his bare belly which made Zale squeal happily.
"Watch it there Peeta, he hasn't peed in a while." Annie chuckled and Peeta quickly placed the baby back in the water and cast him a look similar to one you might give a ticking time bomb.
He swam back over to us slowly and apparently just in time as Zale began to whimper lightly.
"Awww…you did a good job baby." Annie said taking him back from Peeta and cuddling him against her chest. Zale stuffed his fingers in his mouth as he looked up at his mother who began rocking him back and forth slowly in her arms. It saddened me so much to think that Finnick would never get to see Annie like this with their child and I promised myself that each time I held Zale, kissed his chubby face, or laughed at some funny face he made, I would be doing it for Finnick.
We stood talking quietly about going home the next day and promising each other that we would all keep in touch and visit when we could. It was in the midst of this conversation that Peeta looked down and smiled at the baby who had fallen fast asleep against Annie's chest in the water.
"I should probably dry him off and wake him up so he can eat." Annie whispered and excused herself. I moved over to stand in front of Peeta, looping my arms around his waist and leaning up to kiss him softly.
"That was some pretty good swimming there partner." I teased and Peeta chuckled and looped his arms around me too.
"I was terrified I was going to drown him." He admitted and I nodded, saying I had the same concern when I was holding him.
We watched Annie lay the sleeping baby on a towel and dry him off before she placed a diaper back on him and swaddled him in a blanket from his diaper bag that was beside the lounge chair they were using. She sat back down on the chair and adjusted the top of her suit so that she could feed him.
"He's just so little…" Peeta whispered and leaned down to kiss me softly. "Maybe having kids is something I could wait a little longer for afterall…" he murmured and I sighed against his lips before we pulled back. I looked up into Peeta's eyes sadly and took a deep breath to collect my thoughts before I responded.
"Peeta…I know you think I'll eventually change my mind about the whole…kids…thing, but what if I don't? Will you still want to be with me?" I whispered and Peeta looked at me and sighed himself.
"I will always want to be with you Katniss. I've told you that." He said sternly. "And I still think that eventually, you're going to want to have one or two of those…" he said nodding to Zale. "…with me." He smiled softly and I groaned and rested my head against his chest. "Just like I think one day you're going to say yes when I ask you to marry me."
Now I knew he was just showing off and I rolled my eyes. "Pretty sure of yourself, aren't you Mr. Mellark?" I asked with a smirk and Peeta shook his head.
"Nah…" he whispered and stroked his hands up and down my back. "I just know for a fact that you aren't as cold and calculating as you still sometimes think yourself to be."
I snuggled into his arms and said nothing, but kissed his chest at the place where I knew his heart to be and we just held each other for a long time.
At dinner later that night we ate, drank, and laughed together, determined to enjoy our last night all together for who knew how long. Haymitch managed to stay sober enough to keep up with the conversation and he even held the baby for a little while (he was really given very little choice to do otherwise as the poor kid was passed around the table at least 5 times between appetizers and dessert).
We had dessert in the living room, all spread out and carrying on separate conversations. Peeta and I were sitting on one of the couches together watching Johanna playing on the floor with the baby when Effie approached us and sat gingerly on the couch across from where we were sitting.
"Katniss, Peeta, I just…wanted to let you know that I want you to continue to keep in touch with me and if you ever need anything for your home or for your bakery then you give me a call and I'll…I'll get it right to you." She said and I could tell by her voice that she was trying to keep her emotions in check.
"Of course we will Effie." Peeta said with an easy smile and leaned over to take one of her hands. She looked surprised at first but then gently held his hand between both of hers and patted it twice lightly and smiled back at him.
"Oh…" She said looking around the room to make sure no one was listening to our conversation. "And I just wanted to…apologize again for the other night…" She said and I tried not to smile at the way her voice rose a few octaves from nerves. "I suppose I still think of you two as those 16-year-olds I first met at the reaping 3 years ago." She said looking away with a sigh.
Peeta and I shared a look and I reached out to place a hand on top of Peeta's and Effie's that were already joined. "It's fine, Effie." I said with a shrug. "Peeta and I will just have to learn to use door locks for their intended purpose." I said thinking of the first morning when Johanna walked in on us too.
"Well, that would be the proper thing to do." Effie reminded us in the way only she could and I somehow felt like the apology she was offering was being turned around on its head to make us feel like we were at least partly responsible.
'Point Trinket.' I remember thinking to myself and held in a chuckle when I realized Peeta had come to the same conclusion and was trying not to laugh too.
She excused herself for the night and told us we better get to bed ourselves if we were to be up and ready for the farewell luncheon the next day.
"On top of the schedule as always." Haymitch mumbled and he and Effie smirked at each other as Effie left the living room heading for the stairs to the second floor. Everyone else slowly made their way out of the room and headed to bed.
Johanna, Peeta and I were the only ones left before Peeta said he was heading up to bed and hinted that he might also take a peek at how that hologram cube worked before he went to sleep.
"Have fun, try not to break it." I teased when he leaned over to kiss me good night and I said I would be up shortly.
Johanna and I sat on opposite ends of the couch that was facing the fire as we listened to Peeta ascending the steps with the tell tale step and thump of his prosthetic leg.
"So does he wear that thing during sex or does he go truly au natural?" Johanna asked and I glared at her for a second and then slowly turned to face her and folded my arms.
"How bout for a change we talk about your sex life, Mason?" I asked with a smirk and Johanna shrugged and made a face.
"Not nearly as fun as talking about yours." She sighed whistfully and I kicked her knee lightly with my foot. "Alright, alright…it's…nothing, honestly. Like I said, totally casual." She shrugged and I smiled.
"You like him." I said nudging her with my foot again and she slapped it away as she fought a smile. "You do, admit it!" I chuckled.
Johanna shrugged and said "eh." which for her was like saying she wanted to marry the guy. "He's alright. He's from 3 originally so he's kind of a tech head." She said and then snorted a laugh. "Who'd have thought I'd end up foolin' around with some guy from Nuts and Volts' district?" She chuckled and I shook my head.
"Aside from what I'm sure is his obviously huge talent in bed," I smirked and Johanna grinned devilishly. "What do you like about him? I mean…what made him worth 'fooling around' with?" I asked and Johanna turned her attention to the fire. She looked into it for so long that I almost thought she wasn't going to say anything but then she began speaking, clear and strong.
"For starters, yes, he's magnificent in bed…" She said with a soft smile that had none of her usual bravado behind it. "…but he also…I dunno, treats me like a girl…" She shrugged as if she didn't know how to find the right words to describe what she meant, but as a fellow 'strong female' I knew exactly what she meant.
I knew it because it was the same way Peeta treated me. Opening doors for me, wrapping me in his arms in a way that made me feel small and in need of his protection even though when it came down to it, I'd be more likely to protect the two of us from harm. And yes, the way he treated me in bed too.
"He's happy just to hang around the house with me when I'm having a bad day, which is more often than not if we're being honest." She said quietly and folded her arms around her knees which she had drawn to her chest. "I take sponge baths most of the time." She admitted and rested her chin on top of her knees as she turned her head to look at me. "I can only stand to take a proper bath or shower once a week and he…helps me get through it." She explained and I smiled softly, thinking of all the ways that Peeta and I helped each other through what would be considered mundane activities to anyone else but were sometimes painful reminders of the horrors we'd faced as tributes.
"How does he help you?" I asked turning towards her a little better and wrapping my arms around my own knees. I was shocked but tried to hide it when I saw a blush creep to Johanna's cheeks.
"You know…h-he…gets in with me usually…" She shrugged and I grinned and bit my bottom lip. "Not like that he just holds me in the tub or sits outside the shower and talks to me to keep me calm." She said quietly but then the patented Johanna Mason wolfish grin appeared again and she lowered her voice. "Though he does help with the sponge baths sometimes too and that usually leads down some pretty fun roads." She teased and we both laughed.
"If you don't mind me asking…how do you and Peeta deal with the nightmares and his episodes and all that? I mean, I know you have the letter and you hang that on the door knob, but for the day to day stuff…" She asked and I smiled sadly and looked into the fire myself.
"Together." I said after a long time and turned my attention back to Johanna who was giving me a look that plainly said that my response had a strong effect on her gag reflex. "I'm serious Johanna…" I said kicking her foot gently again. "None of us can make it through this life or this…thing resembling a life we were all left with after the Games and the war and everything we've been through without a little help from someone who cares about us enough to put up with all of the horrors that come from being a victor." I said and smiled as I stood from the couch and stretched.
Johanna turned her attention back to the fire and nodded slowly. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks…Katniss." She said and I smiled at her use of my name. "You going to bed?" She asked and I nodded towards the stairs.
"Yeah, Peeta usually can't fall asleep until I'm in bed with him." I said and shrugged. "Besides, I should probably make sure he really hasn't broken that holograph cube. It looked pretty expensive." I chuckled softly and Johanna smiled. "You going to bed?" I asked and Johanna smiled as she continued to look at the fire.
"In a little…I'm going to sit down here for a bit and…think some things through." She said and I handed her a blanket from the back of one of the fireside chairs.
"Thanks…" Johanna said taking the blanket from me and then looked up into my eyes. "And…thanks." She said again and I didn't need an explanation of what the second thank you was for.
I left the living room and headed upstairs to the room I was sharing with Peeta. I found him sitting cross-legged in the middle of our bed turning the hologram cube over and over in his hands and looking like he was about 6-years-old.
"Having fun little boy?" I asked dropping my clothes to the floor on my way to the bed and pulling a nightgown from the dresser on before climbing onto the bed beside him.
Peeta nodded excitedly and pushed a button which seemed to put the cube into some sort of a sleep mode before he placed it on the nightstand. He scooted back to the pillows so that I could pull down the comforter on the bed and we climbed under together.
"Tonight was nice…having dinner together like that…" Peeta said as I moved over to cuddle into his arms. "It was kind of like having a…a family again." He said and I leaned back to look at him puzzled. "No! No, I mean…I know you're my family and…and your mom now and Haymitch…sort of…" he chuckled. "But it felt like having an extended family again." Peeta said stroking a hand up and down my back as we snuggled back into the pillows together to sleep.
I nodded and turned my head to kiss Peeta's lips softly. "It was...and it was kind of nice, wasn't it?" I asked and Peeta mumbled a 'mhm' against my lips. "Maybe we should make a point of inviting them all to District 12 a few times a year to visit?" I suggested and Peeta pulled back from our kiss and smiled down at me as he held my cheek in one of his hands.
"That sounds like a really nice idea." He whispered and kissed me again gently before tugging me back into his arms and guiding my head to his chest to sleep.
"Night Peeta, I love you." I whispered and kissed the spot over his heart before I closed my eyes.
"Night Kat, love you too." He whispered back and I fell asleep to the steady beat of his heart.