AN: Thank you so much to everyone who has followed me on this journey. Tonight it concludes; thank you so much, and make sure to review.
Disclaimer: I do not own THG, and I am no professional. There are spelling and grammar mistakes.
How Life Can Change with a Single Decision- Part 3(2.7K)
Previously:
Katniss takes charge and says, "Oh, Alice, this is Peeta. Peeta, this is Alice, my niece." I freeze at the words that ring in my mind.
My niece.
Those words ring in my mind.
Niece.
I don't actually have a child.
I shift my eyes from Alice to Katniss, and she gives me a puzzled look.
Instead, I don't comment and stick my hand out to Alice to shake it, and she shakes back.
"Uh, Auntie Kat. Who is he?"
Sure, now you use the words auntie.
"Well, this isn't easy, but Peeta has been gone for a long time, and we are married. Like your parents."
"So, are you guys going to have a baby too?"
Katniss freezes, and her eyes start to drift to me, but she quickly gains control of herself again and looks back at Alice with a smile.
"Not right now, sweetheart," Katniss answers.
"Do you want to go to dinner?" I blurt out before I can stop myself.
Katniss locks eyes with me and answers, "I am supposed to be bringing food for dinner to my brother since it is his wife's birthday. He is busy with his 4-year-old, and his wife is 8months pregnant, so he asked me to take Alice away to escape the chaos."
Alice nods.
"Yeah, Julian is sooooo loud. No one in my house sleeps. He is either whining or throwing his truck at me."
I laugh, oh the joys of being young.
"You are welcome to come," Katniss adds, and I look into her grey eyes and see hope. Something I have grown unfamiliar with too.
"Uh, sure," Katniss smiles widely and pulls out a card and gives it to me.
Finnick Odair
Carpenter
8667 Church Rd.
"He lives in the apartment above the business; I'll come out and wait there for you, so you don't have to walk up alone."
"Sure thing, what time?"
"Oh, lots of children means early dinners. We eat at 5:30, so I suggest showing up at 5."
I nod and thank her. She reaches out, and I brace myself feeling panic rush through me, and I worry I won't be able to breathe. But the feeling doesn't come; she squeezes my arm and wishes me well, and walks away.
Leaving me to my thoughts. Again
I drink a beer before dinner and make my way through the town. Her brother's business is only a 10-minute walk, and my dad took my mom and Max to the movies, so they used the car.
The breeze reminds me of the night I met Katniss. Slightly chilly but not enough to be cold.
I reach the town, and I find myself in awe of the number of lights here. It is beautiful. But as I walk, I find something more beautiful. Or someone.
There standing outside the shop, is Katniss waiting. Her dark curls are being held back with a bright green headband, and she's dressed in the most scandalous clothing that I have ever seen; I even find myself drooling.
She wears really short denim shorts and a bright green shirt with no sleeves that matches the headband.
The shorts make her legs look incredibly long, especially for her height, and I can't help myself from thinking about what they will look like wrapped around my waist.
I mentally try and shake the image out of my head before I combust in my jeans.
She looks up from the ground and locks eyes with me. Instead of a smile this time, she wears a frown. She marches up to me and raises her hand to slap me.
Since being overseas, my reflexes have sharpened up, and I quickly grab her hand before it connects.
"Who do you think you are? You just casually shop up? Have you been here this whole time? You leave me and don't bother to write. What is the matter with you?" She screams as I continue to hold her hand, so she doesn't try and strike me yet.
We stay like this for a while, but I don't listen to her screaming. I watch her face for what feels like forever until I see tears forming in her eyes, and then they watch them slowly roll down her face.
I drop her hand and step towards her and pull her into my embrace. She surprisingly accepts and cries silently into my shirt, soaking it. Eventually, her breathing slows, and she pulls away.
I take her face in my hands and tilt her face up to look at me.
"I am sorry I didn't write to you because I was focused on staying alive and doing my job. Even if I did write, it would have been filled with false hopes, which I regret giving my parents," I defend.
"I didn't even know if you were alive." She whispers back.
"I am sorry for that."
"All I needed was a letter from you, and you didn't even have the decency to give me that comfort. What if I had been pregnant? Thinking my husband was dead was bad enough; if I had to worry about my child's father is dead as well, it is a terrifying thought. For 7 years, I thought you were dead; my only reassurance is there was no mention of your death in the papers. My only hope for 7 years is that the papers were reporting deaths currently and recording the right names."
"I am sorry I didn't write. But you also didn't write."
She gives me a head tilt.
"I did write, but the letter came back saying this person didn't exist."
"What name did you use?" I ask.
"Peeta Mellark," hearing this makes my stomach clutch.
"That's because my legal name isn't Peeta on my Vietnam documents. My cousin filled out the application and used my given name, Peter."
Katniss's face goes from confusion, so anger.
"You couldn't have mentioned that?"
"Sorry, I am sure you remember we weren't doing a lot of talking that night. I didn't even know what your maiden name was or if you took my name."
"Don't you dare try and spin this to it being my fault?"
"I never said it was your fault. I am saying we are both at fault," I say, and she narrows her eyes at me.
"How did I end up married to you? I was going places before I met you. But no. I wasted my life waiting for a ghost to come back." She says with venom in her voice.
I reach out and take her hands, and she doesn't pull away. "I am here, and I have every intention of trying to make it up to you. I want our life together to be long and prosperous."
She looks up to me with a softness in her eyes now. "So, you won't be returning?"
I shake my head and say, "No, I want you. I don't know what it is, but I want you. I know we don't know each other, but I want to work with us. I feel like a new person with you. I was immature when I met you, and I tried to do right by you, and I want to continue that pattern. I am different now, and I hope you can understand that. The things I've seen Katniss can't be unseen, and I have been extreme on edge since I got home. But the second I saw you, things felt better. I felt safe in your embrace. I haven't had a safe space since my night with you. If you are willing to work on things, I am all in. If not, we can get an annulment since we never consummated our marriage; I won't force you into anything. Not now, not ever."
I pause and look at Katniss for an answer, and she just smiles at me.
"Wow, I married a dumbie." And she punches my arm. "Of course, I want this; why would I consider having you over for dinner with my brother if I wasn't serious."
I shrug, unable to answer, and I find myself annoyed that after my long speech, that is all she says.
She pushes away from me and takes my hands in hers. Her skin is so smooth and soft. She smiles up at me, and her gray eyes sparkle up at me. The next thing I know, she leaps towards me and wraps her arms around my neck, wrapping her legs around my body while I hold her up.
Her lips find mine, and it is magical.
The kiss is sweet and loving. Wait, did I say loving?
We stay like this for a while, and Katniss is the one that comes up for air first. She rests her forehead against mine, and it feels incredibly intimate, and I feel myself smiling like a dork.
She leans towards me and whispers in my ear, "Don't worry about consummating our marriage; we will have plenty of time for that."
I laugh.
"Now, put me down before my brother comes down looking for me or my shorts rip. These aren't meant for me to do anything, but standing, they are soooo tight."
I laugh again and look down at the girl, that is my wife. Forever and always.
The dinner is too awkward, especially since apparently Finnick and his wife Annie had no clue Katniss was married. Their reactions were shocking, and suddenly I am pinned by Finnick in the Kitchen.
I try and suppress the darkness that fills my mind, thinking I will die, and I need to flee since this is an enemy I cannot fight.
I am pulled out of my state by someone drawing circles on my chest. I look down and discover I am no longer pinned, and Katniss is looking up at me, smiling, with concern in her eyes. I try to smile at her, and I plant a kiss on her forehead and whisper a thank you.
Finnick apologizes, saying he did not know that I had just got back from the war, and I am still recovering from shellshock. Then he defends himself, saying he didn't know my name until a few hours ago.
Afterwards, we have a good time, and we eat together as a family. Alice and her siblings dance around, and eventually, Katniss must separate them when they begin to fight.
Katniss and I leave and go to her apartment. When she mentions she has a flat, I am shocked.
She smiles and reminds me that she is different. I nod and remind her, that's why I fell for her.
During my time away, Katniss built a teaching career to support herself. She shows me around the small apartment, and I feel why she was drawn to it.
She excuses herself and wants to get ready for bed and encourages me to explore.
I walk around the living room, seeing all the photos of her family displayed. It turns out, her parents live an hour away and are her biggest fans, and she loves them. I find pictures of herself in a classroom dressed like the beauty she is—a strong career-driven woman.
I continue to look until I hear a cough,
I spin around and find my wife. Mmmm, my wife. I could get used to that. Staying behind me in nothing than a pair of panties letting her breasts hang free.
"I figured I'd like to keep you from destroying the rest of my clothes, so I helped yo-"She doesn't get to finish the sentence because I slam my lips into hers.
She moans and presses herself against me. Even though my clothes, I can feel her warmth.
My lips latch onto her neck, and I suck on her neck, leaving a mark, but she moans in response. I cup her breasts in my hand and message them.
"You like that baby?"
She moans again, and I smile. I slap her backside, and I adjust myself to pick her up. She automatically wraps her legs around me, and I walk her to a countertop while she works on my jacket's zipper.
I rest her on the countertop and lay her down as I hover over her. She tries to remove my pants, but I take her hands and raise them above her head, whispering that we have all night.
I pin her hands with one of mine, and my other hand makes quick work of finding her wet centre.
"Oh baby, is this for me?"
"Yes, oh my god. I need more."
I quicken my pace, and she pants and continues to beg me for more until I feel her explode, continuing to coat my fingers. I pull out of her and look into her eyes that look too dazed, and she gives me a drunken smile.
I smile back and bring my hand to my lips and suck her juices off my fingers slowly, and I moan.
Next thing I know, my shirt has followed my jacket somewhere, and her hands are on my body, playing with my belt as her lips crawl my jawline and nibble on my ear.
Once my belt is down, she removes my pants in one swift motion.
She pushes us away from the countertop and drags me to a couch, and pushes me down into a sitting pushing.
The next thing I know, she is crawling on top of me and quickly slamming herself down on me.
As soon as I enter her, I am filled with a sensation I have missed so much. She's so hot and tight, and I feel myself losing it when every time she bounces up and down. I cup her breasts as they bounce up and down.
She continues to move and sucks on my neck.
"We need to change, darling," I whisper, and she pulls away. I shift us quickly, throwing her onto her back, leaving one leg down while I wrap the other around myself, and slam into her again.
She throws her head back and screams my name as I continue to thrust into her.
She cums again and again while telling me to give her, we end up on the carpet, but neither of us cares. She lays on her elbows and knees with her round backside up in the air. I wrap myself around her and kiss her shoulder as I find her entrance and slam back into her.
She moans and tells me to go faster, and I do. The next thing I know is I am blasting a load inside her. We both collapse on the blue carpet, panting and sweating.
We look at each other and smile. This is what I came back for my new life.
The movements that follow I don't regret.
After not finding a job, I find an interest in bar keeping; At the same bar where I met my wife. After a few years, I eventually shift my career to writing. I write about my experiences in Vietnam to help me overcome the memories and nightmares.
The first year of our time together was rough since every night, Id wake and leave Katniss to sleep on the couch out of fear of waking up and hurting her.
She managed to pull the fear out of me and brought me back to bed.
We have two children together 5 years later, after not being in such a rush.
Being obedient to my cousin allowed me this life. As crazy as it sounds, I might not have this now if I hadn't gone to Vietnam because that was the only reason I went to the bar. Not saying war is a good thing, but it changed my life and allowed me the opportunity to share my experience and help others overcome their trauma since I had experienced my fair share. With all the trauma I went through, it is nice to know some of it was worth it even though the outcome of the war was not what I wanted.
Isn't it funny how life can change with a single decision?
The End
AN: So I hope you liked it, especially since I gave them a happy ending.
I left the ending rather open about their marriage's details since if I explained the whole marriage, we would be here all day. This story is tied up, so the big questions are answered, and there is a HEA. So sorry if you think it's rushed.
Questions: What was your favourite chapter? Favourite scene? Favourite character? Should I write more things like this?
Stay Safe!