Sorry for the extended wait on this chapter! I hope to have chapter 12 up by the first week of January, if not sooner. I will also be posting this story on AO3 as well if you want to find it there. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and have a very happy new year! I appreciate you more than you know!
Peeta
The neutral walls and cloying smell of antiseptic always turned his stomach. He had spent too much time feeling panicked and ashamed while sitting in one of these rooms. Too much time scrambling in his mind to try to come up with some plausible excuse to cover the real reason for why he was there to begin with. He could always tell when the doctor or nurse didn't believe him but had to take his word for it. They would ask him if he was sure, if he was missing any detail or if there was anything he wanted to add. His eyes would dart to his mother who would discreetly shake her head from the corner she was standing in, so he would also shake his head. This went on for years until he was bigger and stronger than she was. That's when she started hitting him with words instead. It's something else he won't ever be able to forgive her for. Taking away the simple act of sitting in a doctor's office and replacing it with emotions that had him fighting the urge to vomit.
He mentally shook off the feeling as Katniss reached out from the bed she was laying on and ran her thumb over his knuckles. She gave him a half smile and a gentle squeeze of his fingers. The ultrasound technician smirked at the exchange and Katniss rolled her eyes, turning her head to look back at the screen displaying the black and white image of their child. They were there for the baby's anatomy scan. The doctor told them that this is something that occurs at the half way point of nearly every pregnancy and that it was done to make sure that all the baby's organs and body parts were growing the way that they should be. Peeta couldn't believe how different the baby looked from the first time he had seen it.
The technician pointed out the organs and showed them the heart beating. She measured the bones in the baby's arms and legs and the circumference of its head. Then she looked at Katniss and Peeta and asked if they wanted to know the sex. Katniss looked at him, a flustered string of stutters coming out of her mouth. They hadn't discussed this. They honestly hadn't discussed much and he knew he needed to change that. They had both been so busy and probably slightly overwhelmed with the prospect of being parents that they had avoided serious conversations about their child up to that point.
"I'm ok with knowing if you are," he said with a shrug, tightening the grip on her hand.
"Okay?" She questioned and he thought it might have been more to herself than to him, but he nodded just the same. "Okay," she directed toward the technician.
They both watched expectantly as the image on the screen changed and he saw what was clearly the underside of a pair of legs.
"This is perfect," the technician mumbled to herself while nodding her head. Then, she pointed to the screen and the space between the legs, "You see this area right here? And, those three lines? That is a vagina. You are having a baby girl!"
Katniss gasped, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. Peeta blinked at the screen, his mind swirling with images of a tiny dark-haired girl in his arms. When he looked back at Katniss he felt the tears falling down his cheeks. He didn't even realize he was crying and he embarrassingly wiped under his eyes. The technician quietly printed some more pictures and left the room letting them know that Dr. Cinna would go over everything with them at Katniss's next appointment.
"A girl," Katniss said with almost an air of relief as she released a long breath. She sat up holding the photos in her hands. She snagged her bottom lip with her teeth and looked down at the photos, a worried expression creasing her brow.
Peeta bent down to catch her gaze with his own. "What's wrong?"
"It's just –," she started then sighed and shook her head. "It's nothing. I'm just overwhelmed, I think."
She chuckled and cracked a small smile, but Peeta could see through the front she was trying to put up. She had never been a very good liar. Something was wrong. He had felt it growing between them like a persistent weed for the past couple of weeks. They should be ecstatic that they are having a baby girl, but Katniss was holding something back and he wasn't sure what it was. He took her hand as they left the doctor's office. They rode silently together in the car on the way home. Katniss's eyes focused on the world outside the window as her thumb brushed over the ultrasound photos. At a stoplight, he turned to look at her and could see tears threatening to spill over. As the light turned green, he pulled into the nearest parking lot; a fast food restaurant. The smell of burgers and fries filled the car. Katniss turned to him in confusion and hastily wiped at her eyes.
"Peeta, why did you stop here?" She asked, although the hitch in her voice betrayed her. She knew why he had stopped.
He could feel a headache creeping up behind his eyes. He pinched the bridge of his nose in a vain attempt to relieve it before sighing and leaning his head against the headrest of his seat. He closed his eyes and wiped his palm across his face. "I'm in love with you, Katniss. I've been a goner since the day I walked through the doors of District Twelve for my interview and saw you sitting there. That feeling has only grown in the months since then and now I – we're having a little girl and I am so excited about that. I feel like I could explode from pure joy, but I look at you and there is something going on that you're not telling me. I wish I knew what was happening inside your head. Talk to me, Katniss. Please. What is making you so sad?"
Katniss's thumb stilled. Her eyes focused on the photographs. "I'm going to be a terrible mother," she whispered.
Peeta sat up straighter in his seat. "I don't believe that for a second. Look at how you practically raised Prim and you are still taking care of her now. You take care of Haymitch, of Jo, of me. You deeply love and care about Gale and Madge. You would take care of everyone if they'd let you. It's just who you are." He reached for her hand. "You are going to be a fantastic mother. A mother who will love their child with everything they have. A mother that is firm when she needs to be, but gentle and playful the rest of the time. You are going to be the kind of mother I always wished I had."
"I'm a horrible, selfish person."
He shook his head unable to wrap his mind around that statement. It was said without an ounce of pity. She truly meant it and he didn't understand. If anyone was the horrible person, it was definitely him. Wasn't that what he had been told his whole life? Wasn't it his selfishness that led to the death of his brother?
"We're all selfish sometimes," he said gently, taking her hand. "That doesn't make us horrible."
She let out a long breath sagging her shoulder and slumping against the seat. Her eyes flickered to their joined hands then to his face. "There were others before you."
He nodded and waited for her to continue. This wasn't shocking news to him. He knew she wasn't a virgin before they had slept together. He wasn't either. She drew in a deep breath and continued.
"The day before you came in for your interview was bad. I had gotten into a fight with Gale about something that I don't even remember now, Haymitch was in a horrible mood because of the remodeling going on, I had an argument with Prim over a tuition payment and I was feeling really alone. Then, Jo called and asked me if I wanted to go out. The restaurant had been closed for a couple of days and we didn't have to go to work the next day, so I agreed. We got drunk. Really drunk. I honestly don't remember parts of the night, but I met a guy. I took him back to my apartment. We had sex. I accidentally fell asleep and he ended up spending the night. I kicked him out in the morning and thought I would never see him again, but – ."
"You saw him," Peeta finished for her.
"Yeah." Her eyes darted back up to his face again before landing back on her hands. "You did too."
Confused, he sat up straighter pulling their hands into his lap causing Katniss to turn and face him. His brain was starting to piece things together and he didn't like where this was going. "Who?" He asked, his voice cracking at the end.
"Marvel. He was at Thanksgiving. Do you remember him?"
Peeta nodded. He remembered him. He also remembered the way Katniss had ran to the bathroom at the first mention of his name and how she had been alone with him in the house while Peeta was out on the lake. She had come out of the house only several minutes after Marvel with her eyes rimmed red. Peeta had questioned her about it and she had told him that everything was fine. Everything was definitely not fine. He dropped her hand and ran his fingers through his hair. His heart hammered in his chest and he felt a tightness in his throat signaling the onset of tears. He knew what she was going to say and it was breaking his heart.
"Just say it. Tell me," he pleaded.
Katniss watched him. Tears streamed down her face. Her eyes skimmed over him gauging his body language. She paused and he could tell she was weighing her words. "I talked to him at Thanksgiving and he told me that we had unprotected sex when we were together. I don't remember that! I only ever remember doing that with you. But, it's close enough to when you and I were together that the baby could be his."
There it was. The bomb he was waiting for her to drop. It detonated inside of him twisting his insides like he had been physically punched. He reeled back. His head hit the glass of the car door window. He wanted to scream. He wanted to open the door and run. He wanted to break something. He folded his arms over the steering wheel and rested his head on them keeping his eyes focused on the floor mat at his feet. Katniss cried quietly at his side but said nothing else. He was at a loss for words. That didn't happen often. He knew he needed time to compose his thoughts before he said something he didn't mean or something he would later regret. Without another word, he turned the key in the ignition and drove home.
Katniss
The door closed soon after they arrived home. She had walked down the hall several times with her hand poised ready to knock, but ultimately, she had turned away. She fixed dinner, cleaned the kitchen, grabbed a book and mindlessly thumbed through the pages, wiped away more tears and pressed her hand against her growing stomach to feel the small fluttering kicks from the tiny girl growing inside her. Through it all the door remained closed.
She laid on the couch as the sun faded from the sky and the inky black of night replaced its light. She let the darkness envelope the room not bothering to turn on the lamp. It felt appropriate to the mood that had settled over the house. Moonbeams tickled the bare branches of an old oak tree outside the living room window. She held her hand up and skated her fingers through the beams casting lop-sided shadow puppets on the wall.
Her hand stilled at the sound of the studio door opening. She sat up curling her feet under her and gripping the back of the couch. His uneven gait traveled down the hall until he appeared in the doorway. He moved to the wall opposite the couch and slid down to the floor. In the darkness of the room she could barely see his face, but she could feel the anguish like an electric current between them. His head lolled backward against the wall and he sat silent. Her breath caught in her throat. She desperately wanted to crawl across the floor and hold him close. She wanted to take his hand and lead him to bed where she could snuggle in his warmth and fall asleep to the sound of his heartbeat. She stayed frozen on the couch waiting for a sign from him that he still wanted her touch; that he still wanted her.
When at last he spoke, his voice was quiet and his words were not at all what she was expecting. "Is Prim still planning to come home for winter break next week?"
"Y-Yes," she replied with hesitant confusion. She wasn't sure where he was going with this.
He nodded. "Good. I've been looking forward to meeting her. She knows she is welcome to stay here, right?" He lifted his head from the wall and look at her. His blue eyes seeming to pierce through the dark.
She nodded dumbly unsure of what to say. Her lips felt glued together in anticipation of the fight she was sure they were going to have. It was a fight she would've had with any other person she had ever been with given the same situation. The silence stretched between them again.
Peeta shook his head and scrubbed his hands across his face. "What did Marvel say?" He asked in a cautious whisper.
There it was. She had been waiting all day to talk to him about this and now that it was happening she wavered. She had played and replayed this scenario in her head a hundred times while he had himself locked away in his studio, but this wasn't going at all like she had imagined. She thought he would be angry. She though he would yell. She never expected him to bring up Prim.
"He – He's afraid I'm going to come after him for money. He doesn't want any part of it. Her or me."
Peeta let out a frustrated growl and cursed under his breath letting his head fall into his hands. "Do you still want to do this with me?" He asked, his voice muffled as it traveled through his fingers.
"What do you mean?"
She couldn't help the tiny bit of panic that crept into her voice. Did he mean the baby? Their relationship? Her living situation? She couldn't imagine what it would do to her if she lost any of that. If she lost him.
"The baby. Us. All of it. I meant what I said in the car. I'm so in love with you that I don't know what to do with myself. And, I know that it's probably too early in a relationship to say that and it's intense and scary." He sighed and raised his head. "It feels like you're tearing me apart and putting me back together at the same time. It's frustrating and frightening and amazing. I can't imagine my life without you in it. I don't want to think about coming home and you not being here. I want to love and raise our little girl with you, even if she isn't biologically mine."
Katniss sat in stunned silence. Peeta still wanted her. Still loved her. Most surprisingly, he even wanted the baby without being positive she was actually his. He wasn't angry. She wasn't sure why she expected anger from him when she had never really experienced that emotion with him. She wondered if his childhood played a part in that. It must have. Experiencing the wrath and violence from someone who was supposed to love and protect you must fundamentally change a person. Luckily, it seems to have shaped Peeta into someone with a seemingly infinite amount of patience and the ability to forgive and love fiercely.
She slid to the ground and crawled towards him until she had his face in her hands. "I don't want to do this with anyone but you."
He slid his arms around her waist pulling her to his lap. She laid her head against his chest and breathed in his scent. As his fingers combed through the hair that hung loosely across her back she wondered if there would ever be a time when things would come easily for them. Would there be a time when it didn't feel like all the outside forces were trying to keep them apart?
Peeta
The best part of culinary school was how much confidence it gave him. Confidence and patience. When he first stepped into the classroom he felt like he had patience to spare, but he sorely lacked in the confidence department. He also knew how to cook, or he thought he did, after years of growing up and working in a bakery. He soon found out that baking wasn't cooking and while they often go hand in hand to create a great meal, he realized that he actually knew very little about the art of cooking.
He would study the recipes and watch the chefs. In his eagerness to please and standout in a group of talented students, he was often impatient with his food, rushing ingredients and temperatures in order to finish first. He had stupidly thought that finishing first would mean that he was the fastest learner, the most gifted, the best among the group. His impulse for greatness was not self-centered in nature. He was eager to be recognized for doing a job well done, something he had very little experience with. In the bakery, he was almost always only told when he did something wrong and punished accordingly.
There was one chef in particular, Chef Beetee, who taught him that there was beauty in restraint and that a lot of the culinary arts were a test of patience. He taught Peeta to respect the food he was using, to respect the people who grew and harvested the fruits, vegetables, legumes and spices and to respect the animals that gave their lives for the proteins they were using. The root of this respect was patience. He learned that sometimes you just need to let the food cook with minimal intervention. As his skills grew so did his confidence. He began to view food as just as much of an art form as the paintings that filled his studio and lined his walls.
As he watched Katniss hustle from the kitchen with a tray of dishes, a slight waddle to her step now, he was forever grateful to the soft-spoken Chef Beetee for instilling the respect and patience that granted him the confidence he now had. He used all three in every aspect of his life.
The kitchen was full of life. Bodies moved around him in every direction as he put the finishing touches on dishes ready to leave the window and expedited orders to the cook staff behind and beside him. Shouts of "hot behind" and "heard, chef" echoed off the stainless-steel tabletops and tiled floor. They were two days out from Christmas and, like it had for Thanksgiving, the restaurant would be closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. In an unusual stroke of generosity, because the holiday fell on a Friday, Haymitch decided to keep the restaurant closed on the Saturday after Christmas as well. This gave Peeta four entire days off since the restaurant was always closed on Sundays. The timing couldn't be better. Prim was due to arrive the next day and as much as he was looking forward to the time off, he knew that Katniss was ecstatic about the extra free time to spend with her sister.
He was glad she would be distracted too. He needed to visit Finnick and he needed to find Marvel. Peeta wasn't someone who was prone to extreme anger or violence, but the thought of Marvel completely abandoning Katniss and the child growing inside her infuriated him. Of course, he still held out hope that the child was his and he had to swallow back heartbreak every time he thought of the fact that she may belong to some other man that didn't want her.
He was more than willing to step into the role of father even if she wasn't biologically his. He was already completely in love with her and she hadn't even arrived yet. He hoped that he could talk some sense into Marvel and that man would be able to see what a colossal mistake he would be making. Peeta knew Katniss would be furious with him if she realized what he intended to do and although he felt slightly guilty about it, Prim's arrival gave him the perfect cover.
It was her throaty laughter that woke him up. He reached for Katniss so he could burrow under the covers relaxing into her warmth. It had turned unseasonably cold – even for December – and one of his favorite things was lazy mornings tangled in bed with Katniss. However, his fingers skimmed nothing but cold sheets on her side of the bed. A second bout of laughter, tinkling and higher pitched, floated into the bedroom. He smiled, rolled onto his back and stretched. Prim was home.
Prim had booked a very early morning flight out of the west coast. She had told Katniss that she would be fine and that this flight was the cheapest available given the holiday. It also took both Prim and Peeta to convince Katniss that she didn't need to be making a drive to the airport at 5am when she didn't get home from work until midnight and she was almost 6 months pregnant. Peeta paid for a driver to pick up Prim and drop her off at the house. It had been Prim's idea to arrive so early and to take an Uber from the airport, but Peeta wouldn't allow her to pay for the ride. He was more than happy to do that for both Katniss and her sister.
It had taken two cups of tea and three orgasms – one of which he was still particularly proud of – to get Katniss to relax enough to go to sleep the night before. She had been a bundle of nerves and excitement and she practically floated through the house as soon as they got home. He could see the exhaustion on her face even though he knew she would be too wound up to sleep. So, he had calmed her with tea and coaxed her to bed where he made her arch her back and cry out his name.
He shook his head in disbelief and scrubbed the sleep from his eyes. He still couldn't believe she allowed him to be with her or that he had the privilege to wake up with her every morning. He got out of bed and threw on some sweatpants before poking his head out of the bedroom door. The laughter had died down, but he could hear the low murmur of voices coming from the kitchen. He wiped his hands on his pants and mentally shook off the nerves he could feel creeping in his stomach as he walked towards the kitchen. The women were hunched over the island with their heads close together conversing in low whispered tones. Prim's hand was rubbing Katniss's arm gently. Katniss had her back to the kitchen's entrance, but Prim's blue eyes shot up in surprise as he stood in the doorway. She quickly wiped the shocked look from her face and replaced it with a beaming smile.
"Peeta!" Prim squealed with excitement as she jumped from her stool. She ran into Peeta's chest and hugged him tightly around the middle. He stood there dumbfounded for a moment before returning the hug.
"Sorry," she said releasing her grip and pulling back to look him in the face. "I'm a hugger and I'm crazy excited to finally meet you! Katniss has been talking about you for months and I feel like I already know you."
"For months, huh?" He asked, his eyes flickering to Katniss as she ducked her head to hide the pink tinge to her cheeks.
"You have no idea," Prim replied with a groan. Then, her voice took on a slightly deeper tone as she imitated Katniss. "Peeta is such an amazing chef. Peeta is so kind and generous. Peeta is so talented. You should see his paintings, Prim. He's so handsome. His eyes are so blue and he has an amazing ass."
"PRIMROSE!" Katniss shrieked, flying from her stool and clamping her hand over her sister's mouth. "I swear I am never telling you anything again. I should put you right back on a plane and send you back to school."
"You wouldn't do that," Prim said, wriggling free of Katniss's grasp and batting her eyelashes at her sister sweetly. "You love me too much."
Peeta crossed the kitchen to start the kettle for a cup of tea and stopped as Prim giggled under her breath and Katniss backhanded her arm. Her threw a questioning look over his shoulder. Prim shrugged then looked at Katniss before saying, "You do have a pretty awesome ass." Then, the younger sister bolted out of the kitchen and up the stairs with Katniss hot on her heels blushing so furiously that the tips of her ears were pink.
Peeta started the kettle and chuckled to himself. He could feel his face growing warm though and his hands grabbed the waist of his gray sweats that he realized were resting precariously low on his hips. He hiked them up a bit and secured the drawstring. Katniss crossed back into the kitchen and wove her hands around his waist resting her head between his shoulder blades.
"I'm sorry," she said with a small laugh.
"I blame the pants," he replied, his hands fidgeting with the waistband again. "I'll put on something else."
"Don't you dare," she said. Her arms tightened around him muffling her voice into his back. "They are my favorite pair on you and Prim is right. They do fantastic things for your ass. I'm pregnant and horny and I like my eye candy."
He spun around and captured her face in his hands bringing his lips down to meet hers. She moaned as he opened his mouth sliding his tongue against hers. His hands traveled to the small of her back pulling her closer and they both smiled against each other's lips when the baby bump got in the way. He pulled away from the kiss first and leaned his forehead against hers. For a moment he forgot he was standing in his kitchen. He forgot they had a guest in the house. He forgot every damn terrible and annoying thing in his life. In that moment there was nothing but her and the love that overflowed out of him. She enveloped every sense and if he could spend the rest of his life in her arms, he would.
"Oh my god, you guys are too cute," Prim sighed from the kitchen doorway.
Katniss groaned and let her head drop to his chest. He laughed and planted a kiss to the top of her head before letting her go. He grabbed his tea and leaned against the counter while the sisters teased and talked with each other. He could have never imagined a Christmas Eve like this. Typically, the holiday was filled with awkward family silences and harsh words directed at himself or Rye from their mother. It was rarely joyous and most often was the worst kind of forced family bonding. It was never for lack of trying, especially from his father, but no matter how much each of the Mellark men had wanted a wonderful holiday, it was never happened. The year prior he had spent the holiday with Finnick and his family. It was then that he got to witness that classic movie, postcard type of Christmas. He was elated that he would finally get to have that in his own home.
After breakfast, Katniss and Prim curled up on opposite ends of the couch and began what they called the "Everdeen Christmas Movie Marathon." Katniss had explained that this had been a tradition that their parents had started when they were both very young. They would spend Christmas Eve snuggled under blankets watching movies and eating delicious holiday junk food. Christmas Day was spent playing with new gifts, reading and celebrating with a large holiday meal. With the sounds of How the Grinch Stole Christmas playing in the background, Peeta changed into jeans and a sweater, kissed Katniss goodbye and headed to meet Finnick.
Peeta pulled up to the gate of the studio lot where Finnick filmed the hit show Two if by Sea, a historical drama based during the Revolutionary War. Finnick's character was a patriot sailor which Peeta thought suited him perfectly. His wind-blown rugged good looks, bronze hair and sea green eyes had all the maidens both past and present swooning. Peeta also knew that Finnick was a huge history nerd. He loved to collect obscure facts and secrets about historical figures although he would never admit that to anyone outside of close friends and family. He said he had a heartthrob status to maintain.
Finnick had told Peeta to swing by the lot because he would be there doing short scene reshoots before the cast and crew went home until principle filming began again in February. Peeta couldn't believe that they still had to do shoots right before Christmas, but Finnick said it would be a fairly quick day so Peeta could stop by and not worry about waiting around or being in the way. Finnick also said that Marvel would be working as well and that Finnick could arrange a time for Peeta to speak with Marvel. The guard let Peeta through the gated entrance and directed him to the parking lot behind building C where Finnick was shooting for the day. Once Peeta parked the car, he sent a quick text to Finnick to let him know that he was there. Moments later Finnick, dressed in his historical sailor costume, appeared around the side of the building and motioned for Peeta to follow him.
Stepping inside the building was like entering another world. There was a large replica of a ship sitting on some kind of mechanical platform that allowed it to move as though it was in the water. The ship was surrounded by green screens. Several other actors moved around the space dressed similarly to Finnick. There were crew members placing period accurate props on the deck of the ship, large cameras hovering overhead from what looked like cranes and even more cameras positioned on tracks around the ship.
Finnick turned to him and motioned towards the people moving around them. "Once they finish setting up the scene, I just have to do a couple of takes and I should be done." He pointed to some chairs gathered around a table full of food and added, "You can hang out over there while you wait. Help yourself to the food. I'm hoping we'll be done in 45 minutes tops."
Finnick clapped him on the back as Peeta headed over to the chairs. He grabbed an apple from table, mostly to have something to do while he waited, and sat to watch his friend work. It had been years since he had actually witnessed Finnick working and as the set roared to life, he was happy for the distraction. He rolled the apple between his hands and tried to focus on the scene being filmed instead of searching the room for Marvel. Finnick hadn't said whether Marvel would be working in this building today, but Peeta was too nervous to not at least try to see if he could spot the man. He still hadn't completely formulated what he was going to say to Marvel once he was given the chance other than to hopefully talk some sense into the man to at least try to have a relationship with his daughter – if she was indeed his daughter. Peeta also wanted to let him know that he planned to take care of Katniss and the baby so that Marvel didn't try to hide just because he didn't want to own up to his part financially. Peeta wanted to be the bigger person while also leaving room for Marvel if he wanted to take it.
Peeta was so distracted by his thoughts that he never even noticed that filming had ended until Finnick was standing by his chair. Finnick grabbed the still uneaten apple and took a bite, apologizing around his mouthful of the fruit. Then, he led Peeta out through a different door than the one they took to enter the building and onto a parking lot filled with trailers. He climbed the steps of one and waited as Finnick unlocked the door and entered the room. Finnick flopped unceremoniously onto the couch and Peeta sat in one of the nearest chairs.
"I'm wiped out, man," Finnick said as his arm draped across his eyes. "I got here at 4am, which is fine, but Jacob has been so excited about Santa coming that he hasn't gone to sleep until close to midnight for the past couple days. Annie and I are exhausted and not above drugging the kid at this point." Peeta laughed and Finnick lifted his arm and gave him a small smile before his expression turned serious. "So, what's up with Marvel? Why the sudden urgency to talk to him?"
Peeta fidgeted in his seat. He wasn't sure how much to say or what Katniss would think about him speaking with Finnick about this, but he was also desperate for someone to talk to about everything. Katniss couldn't fault him for that. She had Johanna and Prim to talk to, he needed that too. So, he relayed the story to Finnick and the more he talked the more awake Finnick seemed to get until he was sitting upright on the couch murderously clutching the apple in his fist.
"Peeta, you're absolutely sure he said all those things?" Finnick asked through gritted teeth.
Peeta nodded. "It's what Katniss told me and I believe her."
Finnick looked away for a moment before throwing the apple across the room and slamming himself into the back of the couch. "That motherfucker! I opened my home to him, fed him, let him spend time with my friends and family and he had the audacity to say those things to her? In my home? In my son's playroom no less? He stood from the couch and started pacing. Peeta watched as his neck and face turned red in anger.
"Finn, calm down, man," Peeta said gently. "I'm trying to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. You can never be sure what was going on with him that day and I know that Katniss's pregnancy must have taken him by surprise. Maybe he lashed out because he was scared. Maybe if we give him the chance to apologize, he will. I just want to talk with him and let him know that if the baby is his, then he has a place in her life and that I would like for her to know him."
Finnick gave him an incredulous look before stretching his fingertips towards the ceiling and letting out a long breath. "Peet, you are too good for this world. I sure hope everything you just said is true and if you can keep your composure and talk to him calmly then I can too. But, I still want to slam that asshole through a wall for the things he said."
Peeta laughed. "So, do I, Finn. So, do I." Then, he released a breath of his own and tried to shake the tension from his shoulders. "Go get changed and let's get this over with."
Finnick directed Peeta towards building A where Marvel was working with the set design department constructing a set to be used when filming resumed. They walked through the buildings doors and onto what appeared to be a battlefield. There were realistic looking cannons and a courthouse constructed on a much smaller scale and put in the background to make it appear like it was in the distance.
"Battle of Monmouth?" Peeta whispered mostly to himself.
"Yeah. It looks fucking amazing, right?" Finnick replied in a hushed voice filled with reverence.
The set seemed nearly completed and also deserted. Peeta assumed that everyone had already finished for the day and headed home. He turned towards Finnick to say as much when something caught his eye behind a manmade grassy hill. He and Finnick moved towards the object and found Marvel crouched down behind the hill adding more dirt and synthetic grass to the set. He startled as the two men came into view and then a friendly smile washed over his face as he recognized them both.
"Hey, man!" Marvel exclaimed reaching his hand out to shake Finnick's. "It's Peeta, right?" He asked as he also reached out to Peeta.
Peeta nodded and pushed the sudden nervousness he felt down.
"What do you think of this set?" Marvel asked. "It's pretty awesome, huh? We've been busting our asses to get this done by Christmas. I've only got a little bit more to do and then I'm out of here until February. You're not a part of this set though are you, Finn?"
Finnick cleared his throat a little awkwardly and shook his head. He threw a quick glance at Peeta. Marvel's eyes narrowed as they skipped between Peeta and Finnick. He stood up straight and brushed the dirt from his hands onto the front of his pants. "What can I do for you then?" His tone came across as borderline defensive and Peeta wondered if he already knew why they were there.
"I need to talk to you about Katniss," Peeta began.
Marvel rolled his eyes and held up his hands. "Look, dude, like I told her on Thanksgiving, we were a one-night thing. It was just a hook up. I'm not looking to be tied down to anyone right now. I'm sorry if that hurt her feelings, but I'm just not a one girl kind of guy. You know what I mean?"
"No. No, I don't know what that means," Peeta replied, a venomous tone sneaking its way into his voice. "And, she's not looking for a relationship with you, so her feelings aren't hurt. However, I know you know she's pregnant and I know you know it could be yours."
Marvel's fists balled at his sides and his face started to flush with anger. "No, fuck that. I already told her I didn't want anything to do with any pregnancy or any fucking baby. If you guys are here on some kind of mission to try to get my money than you can fuck right off."
"We don't want your money. I'm more than capable of taking care of both of them by myself," Peeta seethed. "I wanted to come and let you know that she's having a little girl. That you could possibly be the father of a little girl. If you want to be a part of her life, then we can go and get a DNA test done and if you are the father than Katniss and I would be happy to make sure you have a relationship with your daughter."
Marvel began laughing. It started as a snicker and morphed into a full belly roar that had him doubling over.
"What the fuck is so funny?" Finnick asked.
"This asshole," Marvel coughed out between laughs as he hooked his thumb towards Peeta. "You fucked her too, didn't you? She's got you trapped now, buddy." His laughter died down and the look in his eyes became serious. "Since you seem like a special kind of stupid, I'll repeat it for you real slow to help you understand. I. Don't. Want. Anything. To. Do. With. That. Whore. Or. Her. Bitch. Daughter."
Before Peeta could even think about what he was doing, his fist had come in contact with Marvel's face while his other hand grabbed the man by the throat and shoved him back with more force than he knew he had. The scene dissolved into swinging limbs and flying dirt. Peeta could hear Finnick yelling and he tasted the iron bitterness of blood. He saw a flash of copper hair and felt strong hands on his chest before a blinding pain radiated up the back of his skull and everything went dark.
Katniss
"Prim, did you eat the last raspberry danish?" Katniss asked as she stood with a plate laden with treats looking down at the tray of baked goods Peeta had left for them on the kitchen island.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Prim said with a mischievous smile as she licked icing from her fingertips.
"The baby wanted that one," Katniss said with a mock whine to her voice. "Are you really going to deny your niece?"
Prim laughed and Katniss smiled and winked at her sister. "Seeing as the 'baby' has already eaten three of the raspberry danishes, I think she would want her Aunt Prim to be able to taste the last one."
Katniss shrugged and lowered herself back to the couch. "I'm going to tell her about this incident once she's here. That way she knows it wasn't my fault."
Prim giggled and rolled her eyes. She grabbed the remote and started scrolling through the available movie options. They had already made it through two of their favorites, something funny and something serious, and now Prim was on the hunt for something romantic. The melodic ringtone of a Katniss's phone sounded from the kitchen where she has accidentally left it. She handed her plate to Prim with a half-stern warning for her to not touch the contents and quickly made her way to the kitchen to grab the phone before it went to voicemail. She looked at the screen but the number, although local, was unfamiliar. She hesitated a moment too long and the call rolled over to her voicemail. She heard Prim squeal gleefully at the movie she had found and shoved the phone in her pocket turning to make her way back to the living room. As soon as her hand left the device, the phone started ringing again. The screen displayed the same unfamiliar number. This time she answered without hesitation.
"Hello?"
"Katniss? It's Finnick."
"Oh, hey, Finnick. What's going on?"
She briefly wondered how in the world Finnick had gotten her number or what he could possibly be calling for.
"Um, there's um, there's been an incident. I'm at Victors Memorial Hospital. Peeta's hurt. He's back getting a CT scan right now, but I don't know. There was a lot of blood. He threw up everywhere. Oh, shit. I need to call Annie. I just – Katniss, I think you need to come down here. Now."