Hi, all. It's 10.30pm in the UK right now, so I'm pretty late with this one. Still, I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games, its characters, or its world. All rights go to Suzanne Collins, and I am not Suzanne. I just like to play around with her characters.
Katniss's 23rd Birthday
May 7, 8.30PM, District Twelve's Victor's Village
"Willow, bedtime," Peeta calls over the screams of the delighted eighteen month old child that's just learned to use her feet, and consequently started to zoom around the living room
"Why did we ever let this child walk?" Katniss whines.
"Because we want her to be able to do things for herself," Peeta sighs. "Willow!"
"Dada, took!" Willow squeals, waddling at surprising speed to the television, where she points at her reflection. "It a me!"
Peeta laughs and picks his daughter up, in spite of her squirming. "I got you!" He kisses her head gently and puts her over his shoulder, much to her amusement. "Bathtime, my giggly little Willow tree. You want to smell nice for seeing Auntie and Uncle tomorrow, don't you?"
"Why?" she asks curiously, wiggling.
"Because they like it when you smell clean," Peeta says kindly.
"Why see?" she asks.
"Mommy's birthday is tomorrow, and Auntie and Uncle have promised that they will take you out for the day so that Mommy and I get some time alone," Peeta explains.
"With me?" she asks hopefully.
"No," Katniss huffs. "You stay with Auntie and Uncle tomorrow, and they get to be alone with you."
Willow pouts as she gets carried upstairs. Peeta smiles as he unbraids his little girl's hair and asks "Are you ready for your bath?"
"No, Dada!" To illustrate her point, Willow pulls at the purple shirt with the duck on it, stretching the duck out to show to her father. "See?!"
"I do see," he confirms, running his fingers through her dark waves. "You need to get undressed, or you'll have a bath in all your clothes, like Uncle does when Auntie gets upset with him."
Willow giggles, and pulls off her clothes eagerly. Peeta smiles and places his tiny daughter into her bath water. With no prompting, Willow starts to splash herself with water. Peeta does his best to wash her hair while she plays, laughing every time she splashes him. Katniss makes her way upstairs and asks "Are you going to sit still for Daddy while he washes your hair?"
Willow gives her cheekiest smile and shakes her head, then splashes Peeta again. Peeta grins at his daughter, turns to his wife, and says "She never sits still."
He somehow manages to wash Willow's hair, most of her bath water ending up on the bathroom floor, and plays with her rubber ducks until the tiny child's fingertips are wrinkled, then says "Time to put your night clothes on, Princess."
Willow whines and splashes him again, a pout on her face. "No!" she declares.
"I know, you like the water," he says. "But you're not a fishy yet, Princess, it's time for night clothes and bedtime. Come on, Mommy has a fluffy towel for you."
Willow folds her arms and pouts, looking remarkably like her mother, and shakes her head at her father. Katniss, tired and grumpy, picks her daughter up and in one swift motion, wraps her in her towel. "Will you drain what's left in the bath?" Katniss asks, putting Willow in a dry spot and rubbing her dry with the towl. "You're a messy little fish."
Willow giggles and squirms under her towel, goosebumps erupting all over her body. "Are you cold, Willow?" Peeta asks, pulling the plug from the drain.
Willow nods, and Katniss gently rubs her hair dry, helps her into her pull ups, then her nightgown, and asks "Do you want me to braid your hair again?"
Another nod, and as Katniss stands, Willow raises her arms up to be lifted. Katniss lifts her, anything to make getting her energetic little girl into bed easier, and carries her to her bedroom. She sits the tiny girl on the bed, takes out the little pink brush that Effie had gifted her goddaughter with for her first birthday, and starts to brush out Willow's damp hair before she braids it as neatly as she can. Things move relatively quickly after that. Peeta reads a bedtime story to Willow and takes her to clean her teeth while Katniss gets her a glass of warm milk to help her sleep. Willow drops to sleep like a light being switched off, and her parents creep out of the room and head to bed.
May 8, 10AM, District Twelve, Victor's Village
"Mama!" Willow screams. "Mama!"
Katniss blinks, the sunlight pouring in, and yawns, only to be stopped halfway through by a thundering knock, and Haymitch's loud bellow of "Girl, if you don't get out of bed now, we're walking in for your spawn!"
Katniss groans and gets out of bed, walks downstairs, and finds Peeta packing up Willow's day bag. She opens the front door to find her former mentor glaring daggers at his wife, who looks just as annoyed as he does, and lets out a soft sigh, ready for the bickering. It doesn't come instantly, as Effie turns from her husband to beam at Katniss. "Happy birthday, darling!" she squeals.
"Thanks, Effie," Katniss says quietly. "Come on in. We've not had chance to get Willow dressed yet."
"That's all right," Effie says, a small smile on her face. "Toddlers are hard work."
Katniss chances a glance at the sleeping toddler in her former escort's arms and asks "How is he?"
"He's all right," Effie says fondly. "They haven't found him an adoptive family yet."
"It's been nearly two years, Effie, I think they're just going to let you two adopt him," Katniss says. "He's comfortable with you, and you two have more than the means to raise him. If you asked for the adoption stuff, I'm pretty sure you'd get them. He's not dead, and he's happy."
The little boy yawns and stretches out, then curls up closer to his foster mother, sticking his thumb into his mouth. "You think?" Haymitch asks. "I reckon they'd give him back within the hour if they tried to take him now. He's a real mama's boy."
"That's because I actually feed the boy regularly," Effie says. "You fell asleep the one time I left you in charge of it."
"Hey, I fed him, I was just ten minutes late," Haymitch protests.
"It doesn't matter now, he's okay," Effie says, repositioning the little boy a bit. "Anyway, we've brought your birthday present!"
Haymitch rummages through Effie's handbag to find the little gift box, wrapped neatly in purple paper. "Here, girl," he says.
"I have a name," Katniss protests, smirking. She opens the gift to reveal a golden ring with an emerald, a garnet, and a topaz stone in what looks like a small nest, with three leaves coming out of it. The emerald's leaf reads Katniss, the topaz's leaf reads Peeta, and the garnet's leaf reads Willow. "Oh, wow... This is beautiful."
Effie smiles and says "I'm so glad you like it. Of course, if you have more children, we can always get their birthstones put in and new leaves added."
"Thanks," Katniss says, slipping it onto her right ring finger. "Peeta, have a look at this!"
Peeta walks over with Willow's day bag, and smiles as soon as he sees the ring. "That's so beautiful," he says, smiling. "Our birthstones."
"I guess so," Katniss replies quietly. "Thanks."
"Are one of you going to get the spawn?" Haymitch asks.
"Oh, don't be so mean," Effie gasps. "Willow is not spawn, she is an angel, and you know it."
Katniss and Haymitch share an amused look, well aware of Effie's soft spot for anything small and in need of protection, and Peeta heads upstairs to get his toddler dressed. Katniss looks at the little boy, whose eyes are now wide open and staring adoringly up at Effie. "You really should ask for adoption papers," Katniss says. "He's comfortable and happy, and you've proved that you're not too messed up to raise him. The government might just let you look after him."
"We're going to ask later," Haymitch says. "We talked last night, we're going to try again, and if they let us, we start the adoption process."
Effie nods and says "I think he'll be happier with a steady family, and while we're not perfect, we do have the means to be steady for him."
Peeta brings Willow down in her pretty pink dress and white tights, with pink button-over shoes, her hair down and wavy. "Here she is," he announces, placing Willow on the floor and allowing her to run to Haymitch. "Are you going to be okay with her?"
"Are you all right with us taking her to the Justice Hall?" Effie asks. "We're just appealing for adoption papers, we won't take long."
"As long as she's safe, you take her where ever you think is right," Katniss replies. "Take her there, and just make sure she's fed, watered, and allowed to go to the toilet."
"We know how to take care of your kid," Haymitch sighs.
"Then you can take her to the Justice Building," Peeta says. "We have stuff to do today."
"Please don't make more kids," Haymitch pleads. "The world still isn't ready for this one."
Willow giggles and hugs him tightly. "Are you joking?" Katniss asks. "We're having a nap."
Effie smiles and says "That's a good plan."
"We'd better leave you two to that then." Haymitch picks up Willow's day bag, adjusts his grip on Willow, and asks "Are you going to say *see you later* to Mom and Dad?"
Willow grins and waves at her parents, then asks "Ice cream?"
"After dinner, baby girl," Effie promises. "Now, what time do you want her back, darlings?"
"Around seven thirty, bedtime is eight thirty," Peeta says.
"Very well, darlings. You two enjoy your day," Effie chirps, then nudges Haymitch. "Come on, sweet, we have big things to do."
She and Haymitch leave, and as soon as the front door shuts, the two young adults sigh in relief. "So, birthday girl, what do you want to do first?" Peeta asks.
"Breakfast," Katniss replies. "Do you think they'll feed Willow?"
"You know what Haymitch is like. She suggests so much as a waffle, and he'll make sure she gets a whole stack of them with all the toppings," Peeta chuckles. He leads her to the kitchen and asks "What do you want for breakfast?"
"Whatever you're making," Katniss sighs. "I wasn't ready to wake up today."
Peeta makes chocolate chip pancakes and caramel coffee, the only coffee Katniss will drink, claiming it's the only one that doesn't taste bitter or thin, and asks "Do you want cream and sauce on your pancakes?" At the sudden are you joking look, he smiles. "I take that as a yes."
He adds whipped cream, chocolate, caramel, and strawberry sauces to the pancakes, adds sugar to the coffee, pours cream into it, and stirs it, serving both to Katniss while he prepares his own breakfast. "Haymitch was right, I don't deserve you," Katniss breathes as she takes in the sight before her.
"You shouldn't listen to him, you know that's not true," Peeta tells her. "If you didn't deserve me, we wouldn't be where we are today. Eat your pancakes and think about what we're doing today."
She eagerly dives into her pancakes, and Peeta brings his own plate of pancakes and mug of coffee to the table. They eat in mostly silent companionship, only speaking when their plates and mugs are empty. "Do you think Willow's okay?" Katniss asks quietly.
"Yeah," Peeta says reassuringly. "Haymitch and Effie are a lot of things, but they're not careless. They love Willow almost as much as we do, they'll never let anything happen to her."
Katniss nods, chewing her lip. "I feel like I should call them," she murmurs. "I don't want anything bad to happen to Willow."
"Call them," Peeta says, well aware of Katniss's many fears over Willow. He knows how it feels, they both grew up believing that any child of theirs would be taken and killed if they let them out of their sight, and having Willow hasn't eased that. "She'll be all right."
Katniss, ever doubtful, picks up her phone and dials Effie's number. The phone is picked up on the first ring, and Effie answers with a cheerful "Hello!"
"Effie?" Katniss asks.
"Hello, darling," Effie says, still sounding cheerful. "Willow's all right, she's having dinner with Haymitch and Zachariah. Are you worried? Do you want me to put her on?"
"If you don't mind," Katniss breathes, truly grateful for Effie's intuition.
"Willow, baby, Mommy's on the phone," Effie says, and there's a delighted squeak, then the sound of the phone being snatched.
"Mama!" Willow shrieks happily. "Mama!"
"Hey, little sprout," Katniss sighs, relieved to hear her daughter's voice. "Are you having fun?"
"Uh huh! Eats!" Willow squeals.
"You're having food?" Katniss asks. "Are Uncle and Auntie being nice?"
"Yeah!" Willow shrieks. "Ice cream!"
"You have ice cream? I guess Auntie and Uncle are too soft on you," Katniss chuckles, slumping slightly in her chair.
Some small babble, then Effie says "Here, sweetheart, let me talk to Mommy for a moment."
The phone is passed over, and Haymitch's voice comes through faintly saying "Your ice cream is going to melt, kid. Come on."
Effie quietly asks "Katniss, are you all right?"
"I am now," she admits. "It's not that I don't trust you, it's... You know... I don't like not having her in my sight."
"I know," Effie whispers. "Haymitch is the same. It's all right. The feeling of threat never truly leaves, after all. I promise you, if anything happens, we will protect your daughter with all we have. She's safe, Katniss. We won't let anything bad happen to her. The worst that will come to her is she gets nauseous from playing after eating ice cream."
Katniss relaxes a little more and says "Thanks, Effie." She waits a second before adding "Do you think you could text me updates on her every couple of hours?"
"I'll do that," Effie agrees gently. "I'll even send you pictures of her. You enjoy your day, darling, and you'll get update texts on your baby soon."
"Thank you," Katniss murmurs, and Effie hangs up. "She's an angel."
"It only took you seven years," Peeta teases. "How's our little girl?"
"Eating ice cream and being spoiled rotten," she says. "What do you want to do now?"
"It's up to you," Peeta tells her. "Your birthday, your choices."
"Then I think we could go sit outside with our books," she says, shrugging. "It's a nice enough day for it."
"Fine by me," Peeta says. "I'll do the dishes. Would you be an angel yourself and take my sketchbook and graphite outside for me?"
"As long as you never refer to me as an angel again," she jokes, but gets up and walks to the living room, where she gathers up her book, Peeta's sketchbook, and all his graphite sticks, then walks out to the back yard, sits down on the porch swing Peeta had put up while she was in her second trimester with Willow and wanted to enjoy the red and yellow foliage before it vanished into the gloominess of winter, and starts to read, his possessions beside her. She gets so into her book that, by the time Peeta actually comes outside, she barely notices anything.
The day passes quickly like that, Peeta occasionally getting up to get them mugs of tea and the cheese buns Katniss loves so much, both of them engrossed in their activities. They barely notice the time flying by until Katniss heads inside for the bathroom and catches sight of the clock. Five thirty, and they have around two hours left before Haymitch and Effie return with Willow. She goes back outside and Peeta asks "Hey, do you have the time?"
"About half past five," Katniss replies. "I'll start dinner, shall I?"
"No, it's my night to cook," Peeta says.
"You did breakfast," she points out.
"Yeah, I know I did," he chuckles. "I'm okay to make dinner too. What do you want?"
"I was hoping for pasta or something," Katniss says. "Something simple."
"Pasta it is," he says, then kisses her cheek. "Sit down somewhere comfortable."
She debates for a second, but decides that she'll let him have that. "Okay, but only because you're being nice."
"I'm always nice," he chuckles. She goes to the living room, sits down, and closes her eyes for a minute. A minute turns out to be forty minutes, because when she opens her eyes, Peeta has placed a bowl of pasta and sauce in front of her and a glass of iced tea. "Enjoy."
She picks up the bowl and starts to eat. It strikes her that this is the first meal she's had since she gave birth to Willow without her little girl within arm's reach, and suddenly, the peaceful feeling she had is ruined, and she's itching for an update. She picks up the phone and sees text messages and pictures from Effie, all of Willow enjoying her day, on swings at the park with Zachariah, being pushed by Haymitch, getting ice cream, playing on the trampoline they bought so that the children had somewhere relatively safe to bounce their energy out, playing with toy trucks in the living room over the road, having her dinner of spaghetti loops and hot dogs, being read to by Effie, climbing on Haymitch, rolling in mud, which was accompanied by an apology text and assurance that the clothes are being washed, and one adorable picture of Willow and Zachariah taking a nap together. She taps Peeta's arm and says "Here, look at the pictures Effie's sent us."
Peeta looks through the pictures and smiles at how happy their daughter looks. "So cute," he murmurs. "Looks like she's had fun."
"Looks like they ruined her," Katniss chuckles. "She's never going to want to come home."
The next two hours are spent on washing dishes, tidying up what little mess is still around from the night before, and them just watching television. The long-awaited knock at the door comes, and Katniss opens it to reveal her daughter in Haymitch's hold, almost fast asleep, and Haymitch says "She's had her dinner, and Effie bathed her after the mud bath."
"Was she good for you?" Katniss asks, taking Willow from Haymitch's arms.
"Yeah, she's been great," Haymitch tells her, smiling. "You kids enjoy yourselves?"
"Once we got regular updates from Effie and you, yeah," she says, kissing Willow's head. She notices the pretty pink nightgown and asks "Where did she get this?"
"Effie," Haymitch chuckles. "She decided that she wanted to send Willow home ready for bed, and while we were on our way home from the Justice Building, she stopped off to buy it. She's determined to spoil everyone."
"How did it go at the Justice Building?" Katniss asks.
Haymitch grins and says "Well, Effie kicked up all forms of hell and she made absolutely certain we could go through with the adoption process. We're getting his social worker to spend a week with us and see how things are done, make sure he's in a good environment, all that. With some luck, we'll be allowed to adopt him."
"That's great," Katniss says enthusiastically. "If you need anyone to give you two boosts with it, we're always here."
"Thanks, kid," Haymitch chuckles. "I'd better get a move on, she's getting the little guy in bed, and he's nowhere near as tired as Willow is."
"All right," she says. "Thanks for having her for us today, and tell Effie I said thanks for the new nightie."
"Sure," he replies, then pats her shoulder. "Night, kiddo."
"Night," she says, and watches him leave. Once she knows he's safely home, she closes and locks the front door, looks at Willow, and murmurs "Come on, sleepy girl. Bedtime."
All in all, she muses, tucking her sleepy daughter into bed, this has been one of her favourite birthdays.
I hope you liked this one. If you did, let me know. If you have any requests for one-shots, feel free to contact me. Due to the quarantine, I have a lot of free time, and I'm more than willing to fill it with writing.
Much love and happiness to you all. Cat xxx