Chapter 20: Primrose and Lizzy

[Winter after the 72nd Hunger Games]

Talking to Mayor Undersee about shorter work hours for a few weeks was easier than I had expected. When I explained my predicament with my injured girlfriend, he told me:

"Don't worry, Ryan. At this time of the year there's not much we can do outdoors anyway, and if you can just spend a few hours here and there in the office with me to help with paperwork, this is good enough. You have done so much already, like with the sports field and the playground this year, that you earn some rest. Take good care of your little girl and let me know if you need anything!"

"Thank you, sir, I will!"

When I was home again, the next challenge waited for me. Prim՚s long hair needed daily attention, and she insisted that I learn how to brush and braid it. Having only brothers at home I lacked experience in doing that, but I had a patient teacher, and apparently I was going to have plenty of time to learn properly.

For the next few days I spent most of my time at home and only a few hours per day working in the Justice Building. On the weekend Lizzy came to the bakery for a visit. First she timidly opened the door to the bakery, not quite sure if she was really allowed in, but my father was there and welcomed her, as I could hear from the back room where I was helping out at that time. I could hear Dad asking her in, and they both came to the back room. I smiled at her:

"Lizzy, it is nice to see you. I will be taking another half hour or so completing what I am doing, I guess. Dad, can you please do me a favor and walk her upstairs?"

"Of course!" Dad replied, and her turned to Lizzy again: "Come on, young lady, I will show you upstairs so you can talk to Prim."

Lizzy giggled a little – I guess that she was rarely called a 'young lady' - and followed my father. I continued to work on the baking, completing the dough for the next batch of bread loafs I had started to prepare, and slightly more than half an hour later I was done and could also go upstairs, to find Lizzy and Prim engaged in very lively conversation. Prim beamed when she saw me, and I excused myself for a moment to go to the bathroom and clean up.

"Rye!" Prim shouted when I was back in the room. "Can you imagine that Lizzy is now helping Mom to do her rounds and treat people? Isn't that just totally great?"

Lizzy added: "Well, I have been interested in healing for some time already, but I thought that I was not good enough to assist Mrs. Everdeen. A few days ago I heard her sighing and telling my mother that the work was getting to much for her, and I just asked if I could help. She asked me a few questions and was happy about my answers, and she has taken me around already, explaining what she is doing and allowing me to assist in simple tasks, like getting something for her. This is great, and I love it!"

"Wow!" I commented on that. "I am glad that Mrs. Everdeen is getting some help, and I am happy for you, Lizzy, that you can do something you like."

"Yes!" she smiled back at me, but than her face turned to a concerned look. "But I miss something. Prim used to help me with homework during study periods at school, and now I am all on my own. I mean, I am certainly not stupid or so, but some of the teachers don't really explain stuff well..."

I nodded: "Yes, I know, and I have been there with Prim, too. Hey, if you want, you could come over like every other day or so and study with Prim. She needs some company anyway, and you could update her on what you have learned. If you have questions, you can also ask me."

Lizzy looked up at me and replied: "Really? I could do that, Mr. Mellark?"

Before I could confirm Prim cut in: "Of course you can, and I'd love it!"

"Sure," I added, "and I have one request, Lizzy: Please call me Ryan or Rye rather than Mr. Mellark."

"Okay, Ryan, great." Lizzy smiled.

"I can give you some girl talk time while I work," I continued, "and when I come back later you can ask if you have any open questions. Want to start Monday afternoon after school? Would you want me to ask your mother if this is okay?"

"Perfect! And yes, I think my mother should be asked, I guess."

"We can do that; I will walk you home tonight and ask her. For now, would you girls like to play something?"

"I cannot really play a lot, I guess." Prim was concerned about her arms.

"Well, what about … a game of pretending – you two are princesses, with Princess Primrose inviting Princess Elisabeth for tea, and I am the loyal servant assisting Princess Primrose, who is not feeling too well today?"

Both girls giggled, and Lizzy asked: "You would really play such a game with us?"

Prim boldly stated: "He will when I tell him to!"

I told Lizzy: "I guess that you will need to step outside for a moment and then knock, like you're just coming for a visit. Can you pretend to behave and talk like a princess?"

Lizzy giggled again and nodded: "I can try at least, I guess."

Lizzy went out and Prim also giggled now: "This will be fun, I guess; shall I call you by a different name? Rye sounds odd for a servant..."

I smiled and told her: "Yes, I guess I go by 'James' for the time being."

At this time there was a knock at the door. I went and opened and said: "Welcome to Evermore Castle, mylady. How can I be of assistance?"

Lizzy did her best to avoid giggling again and said: "Ah, yes, I would like to visit my best friend, Princess Primrose, please."

I nodded and told her: "Sure, mylady. May I have your name please, so that I can properly announce you?"

Lizzy was close to giggling again and replied: "I am Princess Elisabeth!"

"Of course, your highness – why don't you come in and I will ask if Princess Primrose is disposed to receive you."

Turning around I asked in my best formal voice: "Your highness, a Princess Elisabeth has just arrived to visit your grace; will you be able and willing to receive her?"

Primrose smiled and responded: "Of course I will receive her, James. Please guide her into my parlor!"

Lizzy stepped inside at my signal and the two girls pretended to greet each other. A few minutes later Prim looked at me and said:

"James, Princess Elizabeth and I are going to have tea. Off with you to the kitchen, and be back with tea and scones as soon as you can!"

I bowed and responded: "As you wish, your highness!" and hurried downstairs towards our kitchen. Behind me I heard the two girls laughing, and when I met Wheat in the kitchen, he asked what we were doing. I told him about the game of pretending, and he laughed. Then he suggested:

"Do you think that there is a way for me to also be part of your play? Maybe I could be the castle's ghost?"

"What about the court jester?"

"Oh, you hurt me now!"

We both laughed, and I went to prepare two cups of hot chocolate, which I knew the girls would prefer over tea, and two plates with pastries, cheese buns, and cupcakes. Ten minutes later this was done and I carefully carried the tray upstairs. I knocked on the door, and when there was a "Come in!" I entered. Prim looked at me and said:

"James, it's about time! What took you so long? I really may need to think about cutting down your salary!"

Lizzy looked at her, obviously shocked that Prim dared to talk to me like this; she could not know that I probably enjoyed that kind of acting as much as Prim did. We had done a little bit of acting several times on the meadow, trying to do something more funny than the cruel play which we had had to do at school a few years ago.

"I beg your pardon, your highness. I have utterly failed to make the water boil faster on your behalf."

With those words I placed the tray on the table and stepped aside. Prim said:

"Well, I guess I can let it pass this time. James, I am not feeling so well today, and my arms feel kind of weak. Make yourself useful and feed me!"

"Of course, your highness!"

I took a chair close to her, and first held the cup with the hot chocolate close to her lips. With the first sips her attempt to scold vanished, and she could not avoid showing an expression of bliss when tasting one of her favorite drinks.

We continued the 'tea session' for some time until both 'princesses' admitted that they were properly fed and could not eat anything more. When we were done and I had taken the tray down to the kitchen again, Lizzy said:

"Prim, I have to admit that I am quite envious of you. I can't imagine a single one of the boys at school playing like that with us, and your boyfriend even seems to enjoy it!"

I smiled when hearing this and added my own comment: "Well, I might not want to do something like this for anybody else, but I do love to play with my wonderful girlfriend and her guests."

After some more talking it was time for getting Lizzy home. She said good bye to Prim and I walked her home. Both her parents were at home now; her father was a coal miner, like many Seam men, and had just returned from his shift. I explained that Lizzy would like to visit Prim and me at the bakery more frequently for homework and playing, and I confirmed that she was welcome there at any time.

Mrs. Anderson looked and me and replied: "This is a kind offer, Mr. Mellark. Normally I would be careful with my daughter going to a merchant home on a regular basis, but Mabel Everdeen, who is a good friend of mine, told me much about you, so that there should not be a problem."

We did some small talk, and eventually I took my leave and I went home, while the night was descending on the district. At home, it was about time to get my 'princess' to bed, and once we had completed our bathroom chores, I read another chapter of our good night book, and she quickly fell asleep when I was done.

Having Lizzy around two or three times a week worked quite well. She and Prim like to talk to each other, Lizzy told Prim about what happened at school and what they were supposed to learn, and Prim helped Lizzy to get homework done. Sometimes we played a few games, and sometimes we talked about other topics.

One of those days Prim told me when Lizzy was around:

"Rye, do you recall that we started to talk about household chores a long time ago. Can we finally make that list?"

"Oh yes," I replied, "we wanted to make a list of who was going to do what in our future shared household, right?"

"Yes, indeed," Prim nodded, "and as I am supposed to do the diaper changes on our babies, what are you going to do?"

"Hm," I hesitated, "maybe watching and admiring you? Standing at your side and telling you that you're going to do a good job?"

"Not good enough!" Prim objected.

"Okay, okay, what about..." I needed to think, but got a few ideas: "I can do most of the cooking!"

"Yes, that's a good start," Prim nodded, "and what else?"

Lizzy had big eyes now and asked: "Are you two seriously making plans for running your own household and how to take care of a baby?"

"Yes we are," Prim confirmed, "why not start early in getting this organized?"

"This is so unreal;" Lizzy stated, "most kids our age don't even have boyfriends yet and still think that boys are silly, and Prim already plans household chores with her boyfriend..."

"I also think that boys are silly," Prim replied, "and in particular my boyfriend!"

"Hey, what was that for?" I objected.

"I wouldn't want you otherwise, my dear;" Prim explained, while looking at me, "and I would not love you as I do if you were not silly from time to time!"

Okay, I guess I could live with that. Over the next days we got quite a list of things to take care of, including regular chores like doing the laundry and washing the dishes, but also not so regular ones like finding nice presents for friends on their birthday.

At Christmas Prim was much better, but not fully healed yet. Her left arm was good and usable by now again, but the right one, which had been broken, was still splinted and needed another week or so. This was not a problem at all – she was very welcome to spend the holidays with us Mellarks in general and with me in particular. Lizzy had been a frequent visitor in my room, and the two girls nicely studied together. I sometimes explained something which was unclear and provided nourishment when they were hungry and thirsty.

Just before the holidays Lizzy's father had also caught the nasty cold virus, and his wife needed to spend a lot effort taking care of him. I had suggested to them to have Lizzy over with us as well over the holidays, and Mrs. Anderson had told me:

"Mr. Mellark, this is a great idea. It will be sad not to have our daughter at home for Christmas, but my husband is not really doing well, and it would help a lot not to have to take care of our daughter as well. I know that she and Prim are good together, and thank you indeed for your kind offer."

I had informed Mrs. Anderson that I'd pick up Lizzy on the next day. At home, I talked to Prim about where Lizzy would sleep when she'd come tomorrow. I offered my bed with me taking the couch downstairs, but Prim did not like that at all.

"Well, the bed is definitely too small for all three of us!" I stated.

"Yes," Prim admitted, "but don't you have a spare mattress around maybe?"

"Sure, we should have one or two."

"Let's put it in your room, and Lizzy and I can share it, while you stay in your bed. Lizzy and I can have some girl talk together that way."

"But I might be able to hear your 'girl talk'?"

"That's all right – you are allowed to. Besides, I still need your help sometimes when I need to go, you know."

I guess that this was settled.

Next day, December 24th, I picked up Lizzy and her bag of clothes from her home and brought her to the bakery. Dad cordially welcomed her and made sure that she was comfortable, and he lead her into our living room, where our traditional Christmas tree was already decorated. She stood in the door frame and gawked for a while, and I explained:

"Lizzy, this is a tradition in our family. We always have a small fir tree in our living room for a few weeks, we decorate it, and we light a few candles in the room when darkness falls. In the evening, we spend some time being thankful that we have food and a nice house and each other, and we hand over a few presents."

"This is beautiful!" Lizzy blurted out. "We don't do anything on December 24th, and only share a special meal on December 25th, and if we are lucky, we find a few presents in the morning."

"As being Townies, we have a few more options, but we like to share with others." My father explained. "Sharing is not always easy, as some other residents mix up sharing with charity and don't like it."

Looking at Prim, he continued: "Your sister, Prim, is such an example, I think. But that's all right; we do not force anything on her."

Lizzy looked at my father and replied: "In such a nice environment and with such nice people around I do not mind sharing at all!"

It was quite obvious that Lizzy loved to be with us. Of course Wheat did some occasional teasing, like asking her if she had a boyfriend and if she had been kissed yet, but she had not and did not mind replying truthfully. She opened up later in the evening and told us more about the passion she had found when working with Prim in the Everdeen garden and with Prim՚s mother assisting injured or sick people.

"That is the first time in my life so far", she said, "that I have an idea what I might like to do once I am an adult. I know that this is still far off, but I think that I'd like to be a healer, like Prim and her mother. And this is not just because Prim is my best friend."

I nodded and responded: "I can understand this. Sometimes you do something and feel like that's your calling. I had know for quite some time that I want to do work on building something, and I guess they could educate my to be an engineer in the Capitol, if I had a chance to get there. Being here, working for the mayor with what I am currently doing is the next best thing. Peeta is a born baker, and I doubt that he would want to do something else, ever."

Peeta confirmed: "Quite so. I just love baking and decorating, and if I have a chance, I want to continue doing that."

When the girls became tired and we were going upstairs, Prim told Lizzy what we had arranged for sleeping, and I wanted to make sure that this was fine for Lizzy, too:

"Lizzy, would that be all right for you? My room is certainly big enough, but if you feel uncomfortable sharing a room with me as well, please let me know."

Lizzy giggled and informed us: "No, that's all right. Actually, it's going to be fun to hear the two of you talking silly things as well."

"What kind of silly things, Lizzy?" I asked, although I had an idea about what that might be.

"You know, how you like Prim՚s eyes, and Prim saying how much she enjoys your strong arms around her and stuff like that."

Wheat was close enough to understand the last sentence, and when he had heard the statement, he burst out laughing, of course.

When we finally got to bed after doing our chores in the bathroom, with Prim and Lizzy sharing a large mattress in my room while I had my bed for myself, I read another chapter from the book "The NeverEnding Story", which Lizzy also liked a lot. She and Prim listened when I read about the young hero Atreyu searching for a cure for the 'Childlike Empress', riding on the luckdragon Falkor and exploring the fantasy world. When I had ended today's chapter, Lizzy sighed a little bit:

"My parents rarely have time to read a book to me. Dad is always tired from working in the mines, and Mom does some cleaning for other people. Only on Sunday we have some time for ourselves, really."

The full moon was shining into my room this evening, and a few minutes later I decided to pick on what Lizzy had recently mentioned on how Prim and I were sometimes talking:

"Oh, Princess Primrose, I so love to see the moon's golden light shining on your blond hair."

Prim was startled at first but quickly recovered and replied:

"And I, my dear Prince Ryan, love to feel your strong arms around me."

I heard Lizzy giggling and thought about how to continue that:

"And your voice, Princess Primrose, is like a bird's lovely song in my ears."

More giggling from both girls this time. I moved on right away:

"Your skin looks tender and smooth like honey and milk chocolate and provides a great temptation to nibble, lovely Princess Elizabeth."

Both girls were now laughing out loud, and I got more:

"My dear Princess Primrose, your hair is beautiful upon your cheeks and falls along your neck like jewels."

More laughter, and then Prim retorting:

"How handsome you are, my prince; how you delight me!"

Lizzy had now totally lost it and was literally rolling on the floor laughing. I went on nonetheless:

"How beautiful you are, Princess Primrose; how your eyes shine with love!"

Neither Prim nor Lizzy were able to respond as they were both laughing loud, and I joined in, feeling quite happy about having fun with them. Wheat opened the door to find out what the noise was all about:

"Hey, what's going on in here? Have I missed something funny?"

Lizzy recovered for a moment and blurted out:

"Your eyes are as beautiful as doves by a flowing brook..."

"What?" Wheat was obviously not sure if he heard correctly.

"Don't worry, little brother," I tried to explain, "we are just having some fun saying childish things to each other."

"Who is really the little brother here, I sometimes wonder" Wheat replied and left again, shaking his head and chuckling.

In the first weeks of the new year both of Prim՚s arms were both fully healed, and on the last evening we had together I read the last chapter of the book 'The NeverEnding Story' to my girlfriend. We heard about the collapse of the fairy world and could visualize the shy boy from the real world drawn into the story. All he had to do was to give the 'Childlike Empress' a new name and to let his fantasy roam wild to recreate the fairy world.

"Wow" Prim said when I was done reading. "Just imagine that you can let your fantasy run wild to create a new world!"

"Yes, that must be nice, indeed".

"But even without the option to create a world, having a vivid fantasy is nice, isn't it?"

"So, tell me, what do you imagine in your fantasy?"

"Many things! For instance, that I can walk on and on without a fence stopping me. What's in your fantasy? A lot of me, I hope?"

"No, actually not much of you at all."

"Why not? This is disappointing!"

"Now, you see, a Prim in my fantasy could never be better or even come close to the real Prim I have here."

My girlfriend needed a few seconds to grasp the implications and then grabbed me in a very tight hug.

On the next day Prim could finally move home again and also attend school, and Lizzy had already returned home a couple of days earlier, with her father mostly recovered. More than once Prim told me, though, that spending time at my place had been so much more fun than being at home, and I agreed.

"But," I used to tell her, "once we are married, we will have all the time of the world to have even more fun together, and I am quite looking forward to that."

Later on, when spring had started to drive winter back, the blond girl asked while looking at me eagerly:

"Rye, what kind of fun can we have this year for my birthday?"

"Well, we could go to the meadow and I could tickle you until you surrender – that would be a lot of fun!"

She laughed, and I thought about something else:

"I could plant a tree in your garden and build a small playhouse on top of it. Once the three growth, you'd have a tree house to play in."

"You say the funniest things!" Prim laughed again.

"What about that;" I suggested, "if the weather is nice, I could collect a few cookies and hide them around the meadow, and you could spend some time searching for them."

Prim looked up at me: "Hm, that really sounds like fun. Can we do that? And can I bring Lizzy with me, so that I don't have to search alone?"

"Sure, why not," I nodded, "I'd like to have Lizzy around, too. Let's plan this for the first nice weekend after your birthday."

Meanwhile, school was claiming most of Prim՚s time again, and more than once she complained about the amount of homework to do.

"Why is it," she kept asking, "that we need to learn that much, but most of us are going to mine coal anyway? It's not that coal mining requires higher mathematics skills or something. I just don't get it."

"How do you know?" I asked back. "If they find a new coal bed underground, they may want to measure the angle it branches off so that they dig in the proper direction, for instance."

"You think so?" she raised her eyebrows and then nodded. "Yes, maybe so. But I am going to be a healer!"

"Of course you are, my love!" I told her. "But, as I have learned as a phrase in an old book: 'Non scholae sed vitae discimus'."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means: We do not learn for school, but for live. You never know what kind of challenges life may provide for you, and we should be prepared by getting a proper all-round education."

"When you say something like that, you behave like an adult!"

"Well, technically I am an adult, you know. But I get your point; I should not do this too frequently. Behaving like a kid is so much more fun!"

This got my pretty girlfriend smiling again, and I was looking forward to her upcoming birthday.

[Author's Notes: For the teasing with compliments, I took a few quotes from the 'Song of Songs' in the Bible, I have to admit. I wish I could select three categories for my story, and the third would be 'Humor'. I do hope that at least some of my readers enjoy that – please let me know!

Outlook: I am already writing chapters 32/33, and the total number of chapters in this story is likely to be between 40 and 60 – bear with me.]