Como Nos Conocimos (How We Met), a hunger games fanfic

A/N: This story has a special meaning to me because it highlights my Puerto Rican heritage, the way Christmas is Celebrated. We do Parrandas around Christmas time, and we start at 10 pm and it ends when daylight ends. Special thanks to Norbertsmom for betaing. Feliz Navidad

I Do Not Own the Hunger Games

"Come on, Peet," Darius said.

"Do we have to?" Thresh questioned.

"I'm afraid Darius is right. If we're going to sound great for the kids at the hospital, we need to practice," Sejanus said.

"Let's do this," Tomas said. "I have a date with Johanna."

Thom whistled. "Johanna from the gardening center?"

"Si!" Tomas waggled his eyebrows.

Peeta sighed. He and a few of the new guys at the fire station wanted to do some caroling. They were volunteers, but some of them wanted to turn it into a profession. Their fire chief, Josue Everdeen, was a tough but fair man.

All seven guys were new to the area and they lived in the apartment building called the Seam. They also discovered they could sing well together while listening to the radio while cleaning the fire truck.

With no place to go for the holidays, they decided to go caroling and grab some grub at the local diner.

As they practiced, Peeta's part was coming up, but he saw the most beautiful girl walk into the fire department and he missed his cue. She was petite with olive skin and long dark hair. She had the most beautiful gray eyes he had ever seen.

"Hey," Tomas said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Forget about her. She's the chief's daughter."

Peeta looked back at her as she opened the door to her father's office.

"Tomas is right. Katniss is his eldest daughter. She just came back from college." Darius then said, "Chief is very overprotective about his girls. I wouldn't do anything, even if she were available."

Peeta sighed. There was a connection there he could feel it even though he hadn't even met the girl. After finishing college, he could have gone home and continued working at his father's bakery. Instead, he'd come here to take courses to become an EMT and study to become a fireman.

Peeta was lonely and he wanted to find someone to make a connection with. He didn't want to date for the sake of dating. He missed being in a family for the holidays which is why he agreed to go caroling with the guys.

Later, when the chief discovered them practicing and asked them to come home with him. All of the guys accepted his invitation, and Peeta gladly went. Even if he didn't get to speak to the girl, at least he wouldn't be alone.

xxx Katniss xxx

"Aye, Katniss!" Prim whined. She flopped on the bed wearing sweats.

"Que?" Katniss asked. Her 15-year-old sister was a full-on teenager complete with emotional breakdowns and complicated reasoning for everything. Katniss rolled her eyes and put the book she was reading down.

"Why do we have to do pa-ran-das? Why can't we just go caroling?" Prim used that high-pitched voice that caused Katniss to want to stuff cotton in her ears.

"Prim, Las Parrandas, and not pan-ran-das, are our tradition." Katniss reminded herself to remain calm. She wondered what happened to her sweet innocent sister, who was chill. Nope somewhere between 13 and 14 her sister's body was taken over by this whiny, temperamental, picky monster.

"But it's so antiquated. We leave the house and we sing at the Hawthornes' door at ten o'clock right before Christmas; we sing and dance with them for an hour. We leave the Hawthornes and go to their cousins, the Perezes. From there, we go to the Riveras, the Burgos, the Sanchez house, and finally to our cousins, the McDougals. All we do is eat, sing, and dance."

"Prim, you know we do more than just eat, sing, and dance." They played musical instruments, like el cuatro, güiro, panderetas, and tambores. Those gathered would reminisce about the year and Christmases past. Their father played el cuatro and the sound was as beautiful as his voice.

Prim huffed. "If we went caroling we could be home by ten."

"Prim, it's near Christmas and we're exchanging gifts, reconnecting with our heritage."

"You're just excited about the food," Prim grumbled.

Katniss involuntarily licked her lips at the thought of the food. At each house, they went to they had refreshments, everything from sorullos, made of cornmeal and fried to crispy perfection, to guava and queso. Some made empanadillas, Katniss's mouth watered at the flaky buttery pocket with savory meat inside. Prim preferred the ones filled with cheese. Alcapurrias were a delicious treat made from either yuca or platanos verdes, also fried and filled with savory meat. Then there were guineos en escabeche, bacalaitos, tostones, and mofongo. There were desserts like pudin de pan, arroz con leche, flan, maduros, tembleque, dulce de leche, ajonjolí, and dulce de coco.

At the last house, they had a meal, arroz con gandules, pasteles, and pernil. Katniss loved the yellow rice and the roasted pork. The pasteles were made of platanos verdes, calabaza, and papas. Depending on the family, the mixture of each varied. They were filled either with cubes of roast pork, ground beef, or chicken.

The drinks were either rum, piña colada, cola champagne, coco rico, and coquito. The blended drinks could be made kid-friendly. Katniss was twenty, not old enough yet to drink, but at college, she'd experimented as a freshman, she had taken a few cautious sips. Katniss discovered she didn't like alcohol; she didn't like the smell or the taste. She was also a lightweight; a few sips and she got drunk and felt awful the next morning. Drinking wasn't her thing, and she was glad tonight she'd have other things to drink other than a bottle of water.

"If you could look at a boy that way instead of a pastelito, you wouldn't be such a grump."

"I'm a grump?" Katniss knew she was known as la nena seria, the serious child. Katniss was practical, not given to be fanciful. When she turned into a teenager she was quiet and reserved, unlike her sister.

"Si," Prim stuck out her tongue at her.

"Real mature, Lil duck."

A pillow flew by her ear, but Katniss ducked.

"I'm fifteen, I've had my quinceañera."

"Boy do I remember. You had a fit that Papi would only allow Vick to be your dance partner."

"I wanted to dance with Angel," Prim pouted.

Katniss recalled the 18-year-old boy with a shaved head, tattoos, and tongue piercing. It was rumored he had piercings on other parts of his anatomy. Their father wasn't going to let Primrose close enough to find out if he was pierced in those areas. "I remember. He got drunk and ended up making out with cousin Maria."

"Esa bruja," Prim muttered under her breath.

"She's not a witch because he went after our cousin. That guy hit on me too."

"You!" Prim sat up.

"Yes, me."

Prim narrowed her eyes and said, "The only reason he tried to flirt with you was that he heard you sing."

Katniss stood from her chair and looked at herself in the mirror and sighed.

"Oh Katniss," Prim said standing up.

Prim was tall and willowy, built like her mother, with flowing platinum blond hair and pale blue eyes. She looked so beautiful compared to Katniss. Katniss was short, dark, and frumpy.

"Katniss, you're not ugly," Prim said, enveloping her from behind.

Katniss thought about college and her inability to make friends. At the beginning of her freshman year, she tried to be different. She went to parties and joined in activities. Parties weren't enjoyable, boys and girls liked to touch each other when they became drunk. A lot of the school activities were boring. Katniss found she often spent more and more time in the library just reading or going over class lessons.

People who were beautiful made quick friends and she wasn't pretty.

"Prim, let's not lie," Katniss sighed. "You're the one with the looks. I'm the one with the grumpy disposition."

"Don't say that, Katniss," Prim said.

"It's true."

"You can sing."

"Well," Katniss said.

"And tonight, like every other night, you're going to be the star of the show and everyone will fawn over you."

Often Katniss was called to sing because she had a voice like her father. There would be lots of singing. Many times they made up their own lyrics which could be sad and poignant and other times were funny. Sometimes they sang a Plenas, the traditional Puerto Rican style of song or salsa or a combination of both. Katniss didn't mind dancing by herself; she didn't like dancing with others. She didn't like being touched.

"Primrose you know I don't like parties, I'm more of a homebody."

"You're the original poster child for; this is your brain on boring." Prim did her best Vana White pose while speaking. Then proceeded to fake snore.

"Okay, okay," Katniss said, chuckling. "I get your point. I go because it's tradition. Partying is more your thing."

"Nothing," Prim harrumphed.

Whenever her sister said nothing, it was really something. "Okay, what is it? What has you in a tizzy?"

"Pappy isn't letting me go out wearing the dress I wanted to wear!"

Their parents weren't really strict. They had the normal rules, a reasonable curfew, and a nice allowance. The only time her father lost it was when Prim wanted to wear one of her daring skanky dresses.

"What dress are you thinking of wearing?"

Katniss wanted to take a look at it cuz sometimes there were things one could do. Jeggings or tights, to hide a too-short dress. A sweater to hide cutouts or too tight clothing.

"I'll be right back." Her sister ran out of the room and less than a minute later she was back.

Katniss had to shake her head twice because the outfit that Prim had in her hand gave her a headache. It was too tight, too short, and the majority of her body was exposed leaving little to the imagination.

The dress was basically a bralette with laces that ended up right before her sister's navel when another swatch of stretchy fabric began and would barely cover her sister's butt cheeks.

"Prim, where did you get that dress?"

Prim shrugged.

"If you wear that dress dad is going to have a heart attack!"

"But it's red and sparkly," Prim said.

"Aye mija," Kaniiss muttered. "There's no way I can save this one. Unless you wear another dress underneath."

"What?"

"You know, like a flowy one…" Katniss went to the closet and pulled out a white flowy strapless dress. "You can put this one underneath and that one on top. On me this dress is long, but on you, it will fit just right."

Prim looked at the dress critically and then she said. "I'll try it."

"Okay." Katniss sighed, glad to have averted the crisis.

Prim then hugged her. "Katniss, I believe there is someone out there for you."

"Really?" It was sad to feel lonely while surrounded by lots of people. Katniss just wanted to belong.

"Really."

"Katniss, Prim!" their father called.

They walked downstairs. They could hear their father playing the quatro and singing, "Traigo esta trulla para que se levanten…esta trulla esta caliente-"

"Dad we're not going out until tomorrow, why are you…" Prim's voice died as she walked into the living room. "Oh hello there." Her sister's voice practically purred. Her father stopped singing.

Katniss frowned. She couldn't see because her sister was tall.

"Prim," her father warned.

"Hello, I'm Primrose Everdeen," her sister gushed as she came further into the room.

Katniss stopped as she came face to face with about five men dressed in firemen's uniforms. She whispered furiously as she came closer to her father. "Papi que es esto?"

"These are the new guys at the fire station. They have no place to go for the holidays so they'll be coming here. They also sing. They wanted to go caroling but I told them about the Parranda's and they want to join us tomorrow."

Katniss looked at the men in their living room. At first, she counted five but then she realized they're really seven guys, all young. The firehouse had about twenty-four members including the EMTs. Most of them were likely volunteers.

"Guys, this is my youngest and underage daughter Primrose." Their father said, giving Prim a warning look before turning to Katniss. "And this is my eldest Katniss; she's attending Penn State."

"Peet," the man with the red hair said. "You just graduated from Penn state."

A fair blonde man with striking blue eyes stood up. Katniss had never seen someone with that shade of blue before. He was handsome, broad-shouldered, and cute.

"Nena," the father called out.

"Josue," their mom came out of the kitchen. She still wore her scrubs. "I am tired. I still need to adobar el pernil. I know you want to practice with the boys for tomorrow. But Noche Buena is the day after tomorrow. And your mother is coming over for Noche Buena!"

"Cariño," her father said standing up. He gently held their mom. "I can season the pernil tomorrow." Katniss watched her father place a soft kiss on her mom's forehead. "The girls can help me decorate the house and firemen are known to be great cooks. Peeta makes the best bread."

"Yes ma'am," The blonde with the beautiful eyes said. He smiled at her warmly.

Katniss felt her cheeks warming up, and she tore her eyes away from him. Someone like him would never like someone like her.

"Esta bien," her mother acquiesced.

"Bueno!" Her father exclaimed, rubbing his hands together. "Let's practice." her father picked up his cuatro and began playing the tune of Silent Night. "We can do one all of us know."

The guys began harmonizing. It sounded lovely, then Peeta began to sing and Katniss felt like she had no knees and she began to fall. Her mother who stood next to her said, "Easy, Katniss."

"Mama," Katniss whispered, unable to keep her eyes off of Peeta. His voice tore through her and made her hot and giddy. She knew she was a goner.

"Aye, I know. It was the same for your father. Why don't you sing along with him?"

She began singing in Spanish. Their voices melded and harmonized perfectly. Everything faded as Peeta turned his attention to her. Katniss stood still until he reached her side. He lifted his hand to her and it was as if they were one.

The music stopped but Katniss and Peeta stood in the middle of the living room staring at each other.

Her father made a move to interrupt them but her mother stopped him.

"No, Josue." Katniss's mother said. "Why don't we all go into the kitchen? I have some spaghetti con albondigas for dinner tonight."

"Pero Flor, that…"

"That is the nice young man that you have been saying great things about all week."

"But," her father said as he was pulled out of the room.

"Dad," Prim said. "You mess this up for Katniss and I will never speak to you!"

"You promise?"

"Really Josue," her mother said as she ushered the other firemen into the kitchen.

Katniss didn't hear any of their conversation, or anything else. Everyone had left the living room and it was just her and Peeta.

"Hi," Peeta said.

"Hello," Katniss said. Her voice sounded weird to her ears. It was breathy and high-pitched.

"You sing divinely."

"Me! You're amazing," Katniss said.

"I saw you earlier today at the firehouse. I thought you were the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

Katniss felt her face flush. Even though it was awkward, and she had no idea what to say or do. She didn't feel alone anymore. "Thank you."

"You know this is going to be an amazing meet-cute story for our grandkids."

And so it was.

THE END

Recipe for Coquito:

coquito-recipe/ found at this website or down below

Coquito -

Coquito (pronounced coh-kee-toe) is a traditional Puerto Rican holiday drink that is smooth, thick, and creamy. It's sweet and has a pronounced coconut flavor.

Course Cocktail, Drinks

Cuisine Puerto Rican

Keyword Coconut, coquito recipe, Rum

Prep Time15 minutes

Chill: 4 hours

Total Time 4 hours 15 minutes

Servings 8

Calories 547 Kcal

Author lyuba

Ingredients

14 oz sweetened condensed milk

12 oz evaporated milk

15 oz cream of coconut

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves

12 oz Puerto Rican or another white rum

Instructions

Combine all of the ingredients in the blender and pulse for a few seconds until completely comes together and is smooth.

Transfer the mixture into a glass jar with a lid, bottle, or pitcher. It will need to have a lid to keep air-tight and also to be able to shake it up before serving.

Refrigerate for up to 4 hours, until completely chilled throughout.

Shake it up before servings.

Pour into glasses and garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon, nutmeg, cinnamon stick, or even sweetened coconut flakes.

Storing:

Keep it in a glass jar or a bottle with a lid in the refrigerator. Properly refrigerated, it should keep for up to 5 days.

Want it virgin?

If you want to make a batch for kids or make it non-alcoholic for yourself, not to worry. Simply skip the rum and add either skim milk or coconut milk instead.

Nutrition