Sinterguth in Panem Chapter 16 - The first date, a hunger games fanfic

Chapter 16: The first date

[Important note: Due to the extremely low number of views and reviews for this story, I believe that it does not match what fanfiction readers like to see. For the time being, further updates will be slow to nil, unless readers send reviews to convince me otherwise. No complaints here – I am quite new to fanfiction writing, and I need to learn. Hopefully my other Hunger Games story finds better acceptance.]

Rue's question at the park had caught me by surprise. In hindsight, it should not really have surprised me, as I had well noticed how Rue and I liked each other and how much she enjoyed my company and being close to me. In addition, I also recalled my long talk with Dr. Aurelius. But I could not just accept a thirteen year old girl as girlfriend – this was somehow not right, or was it? Thus, I decided that I needed to talk to her parents.

A couple of days later Rue was spending the evening with Prim, and Mr. and Mrs. Madison accepted my invitation to join me in my home for dinner. Once we had eaten and were sitting in the big living room looking outside, I brought up the issue of Rue's question, adding that I did not know what to do. On one hand I really liked Rue, and if she was a few years older, I probably would not hesitate to agree. On the other hand, I was almost twice her age, "and I could not really have a thirteen year old girlfriend, or could I?" I told them.

Mrs. Madison nodded and said after listening: "I am not really surprised to hear that, and we understand your concerns. Seeing the way Rue behaves with you, how she trusts you, enjoys to sit in your lap and all that, this was to be expected, specifically after the sleep lab tests and the doctor's statement. My husband and I were already considering stopping Rue spending that much time with you, but we cannot avoid to see how good you are for her. She has not been that happy for years, and there is just no way we would deny her that happiness. We were also concerned, of course, about your feelings and that you might have more important things to do than spending time with her, but we have realized that you are apparently as smitten with her as she is with you."

While I smiled and nodded, Mr. Madison continued: "We have also talked to Dr. Aurelius a lot, and he mentioned his 'soul mate' theory. There is no way to ignore that a special bond exists between our daughter and you, and Dr. Aurelius pointed out that such a bond, as rare as it is, is likely to last for lifetime. The good doctor warned us that things might well go into this direction, and sooner or later Rue would be pushing to get closer to you. My wife and I have spent many hours talking and thinking about it, but it always comes down that we want to do what is best for our daughter."

Mrs. Madison concluded: "Thus, we have reached the decision that, if she really wants you as boyfriend, we are going to allow that. We know by now that you are good for her, and she is obviously good for you, and we also know that you are treating her gently and will not abuse her. We trust you with our daughter."

Mr. Madison added with a smirk: "As father I am probably supposed to add something like 'hurt her and I will break your legs', but all I'm really saying is 'keep your hands above the waist'."

I carefully replied: "Thank you very much for your vote of confidence, Mr. Madison and Mrs. Madison. Please rest assured that I will continue to be gentle to her, and I will not push her into anything."

At this time, I noticed that Rue's father had tears in his eyes, and he finally said: "Come here, let me hug you!".

When we carefully hugged, he added: "Thank you, Mr. Sinterguth, for stepping into our lives!"

Wow, this was not exactly like I had expected the evening to turn out. When we had talked more and the Madisons were home again, I was awake in my bed for a long time, and I almost could not believe that I had just received their blessing to be Rue's boyfriend.

Before I talked to Rue again, I need to talk to my grandfather, too. I called to find out when he was available and took a flight right to my family's main residence on the next day. Grandfather was still the nominal head of the family, and he was considered wise and an authority by all of us. When I arrived in the family headquarters, I found him in his study and hugged him. After a few words of greeting I blurted out what bothered me, about spending so much time with Rue, becoming her boyfriend, maybe neglecting business and all.

Grandfather was relaxed and let me finish, with only a few questions in between, while enjoying his cup of Earl Grey tea. Once I was done, he leaned back in his easy chair and thought for a few minutes, before he replied: "Tim, you have already received good advice from Dr. Aurelius. I fully understand your concerns, but eventually this comes back to relations between people. You are good for Rue, and she is good for you, that is obvious. You have got her parents' permission to be close to her, and as long as you observe the legal limitations, this seems to be all right. Regarding the business side, do not worry about that part. Our family has always operated under our own guidelines, and we have always considered human issues more than business ones. Above and beyond that, do you really feel like you have neglected your work much?"

I pondered this and said: "No, probably not, but if I spend more time with her..."

My grandfather continued: "… it will be time spent well. What do you think will be more important when you are going to be judged by our Lord Jesus Christ at the end of all days – doing well in business or making other humans happy?"

I could not avoid smiling and nodding, but answered: "Sure, but our business also helps other people!"

"This is true", grandfather agreed, "and I appreciate that you are concerned about that. However, you need not do this all alone. Rue is going to be at school a lot and busy with her homework. Spending some evenings and weekends with her and the occasional afternoon will not hurt at all. Haymitch is quite able to cover for you where required, and as I heard, Wiress is eager to take over more work as soon as she graduates."

He thoughtfully added with a smirk: "Summarizing this, you have my blessing as well. I know that you will be careful, but it will work. And, by the way, I expect to receive a few photos with both of you soon; I want to see how cute the two of you look when you are kissing!"

Hearing this I blushed – I had not thought about that part yet, and I admitted to my grandfather that we had not started kissing yet.

My grandfather laughed: "My boy, don't you think that she will want to kiss you sooner or later? Don't tell me that you are not looking forward to that!"

I sheepishly admitted: "I had not thought about that yet, but I guess that you are right."

"Of course I am right!", grandfather laughed, "and, by the way, I insist that you bring her along for our next family party!"

I also talked to my parents, who were busy as usual, and they basically agreed to what grandfather had said. They told me that they were looking forward to visiting me soon and getting to know Rue.

Being back at my own home, I needede to find time to spend with Rue and inform her about my decision. There was no doubt that she'd be quite happy, and I arranged for her to spend time with me for Friday evening. I had received her parents' permission to keep her with me until Saturday afternoon and told her so on Wednesday, when she came around as usual. I had thought about how to tell her properly, and while I knew that she was not a typical girl and in for 'girly' things, I decided nonetheless to prepare something on the romantic side. On Friday afternoon I started to prepare dinner just for her and me on my own, and I added some decoration to the dining corner, including candles. We were in late spring and the temperatures were too high for starting a fire in the fireplace, but I suddenly recalled that I also had a nice porch, so that I decided in a whim to prepare for dinner outside. The sky was clear and no rain expected, so that I laid the table for two, placed a few candles and flower pots around the table and look for anything else I could do. I kind of decided that this was also going to be our first real 'date'. On her side of the table I used a higher chair so that Rue would not sit too low; after all, she was not very tall yet, and I wanted her face at close to my level. Finally, next to the table I placed a small waterspout fountain with soft illumination. Mrs. Miller, my housekeeper, came over to check, added and changed a few details her and there and finally declared the setup ready for a 'fine young lady', as she called it. Mrs. Miller also had volunteered to keep the food warm while we were eating.

About one hour later, at the designated time, Rue walked over, and I opened the door for her. I had dressed more formally than normal, and Rue, who came dressed in just shorts and a T-shirt, raised her eyebrows when she noticed that, asking: "Are we having any specific plans tonight? Am I underdressed or something?"

"Not at all", I responded, "I decided to show off a little tonight in order to create the proper environment to answer a very specific question I have been asked lately. Will the young lady please follow me out to the porch?". With that I offered her my arm.

Rue was quite perplexed now. She was not used to me talking like that, and her first instinct made her look around to find the 'lady' I had mentioned, before she noticed that I must have been addressing her. She probably blushed, but due to both the dim lighting and her dark skin that was not quite visible. Finally she took my arm and allowed me to guide her outside. Rue noticed the table, the candles, the fountain, and the decoration, and eventually asked: "Is it somebody's birthday today or some other celebration I may have missed?"

I smiled, guided her to her seat and explained: "No, none of that. As I have said, I wanted to prepare a proper environment to answer the special question I have been asked."

Rue was kind of confused and did not recall that particular question at the moment and thus asked back: "Which question are you talking about?"

Her temporary lapse in memory fit quite nicely into my plans, and I just suggested: "Why don't you enjoy the evening and we will see about that. I hope that you are a little bit hungry?"

That was the keyword, and Rue admitted that she was indeed hungry now. Dusk had arrived, the candles were lighted, and I brought out tomato soup from the kitchen, prepared according to a recipe from my grandmother.

It was quite enjoyable to watch her eating, and to observe that she really liked it. After the soup, I served a variation of fish with potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower – dishes I knew Rue liked to eat – and Rue's eyes were getting even bigger than before. I saw that she was about to ask questions again, but she decided to eat first and ask later. After the main dish the temperature dropped, and I noticed that Rue, who had apparently expected to be mostly inside, was sporting some goose bumps on her arms. I excused myself and grabbed a sweater that she had left in my home a few weeks ago, and I brought it out for her. She looked at me and thanked me, and desert was now served – ice cream with hot raspberry sauce. Before starting to dig in, she pleaded again: "Tim, tell me please, what is going on today?"

At this time I could not resist her pleas any longer, and I told her: "Well, I wanted to make sure that our first date is as nice as possible, and I hope that you like it as well. By the way, I also got you a small present!" and I handed a small wrapped box over to her.

Rue was still confused: "What do you mean 'first date'? Why … Oh no, I did ask you if you could be my boyfriend and..." with that she stopped, opening her eyes and mouth quite wide. After a minute or two looking deep into my eyes she continued: "Does that mean that you actually want to be my boyfriend?"

I nodded decidedly and said: "Yes, it does, and thus the idea with the first date – I hope that you like it!"

Almost faster than I could actually see her move she was out of her chair and in my lap, wrapping her tiny arms around me and hugging me as tightly as she could. Soon I could hear her sobbing into my chest, and I was getting concerned about what might be wrong. However, she managed to utter a few words in between telling me that she was shedding tears of joy and she was so totally happy. It took Rue about ten minutes before she could properly talk again. She refused to leave her position in my lap and said: "I really cannot believe it. You actually prepared all of this just for me?"

I smiled and replied: "What do you say 'just for me'? I carefully prepared this knowing that I was granted the opportunity to have a date with the most wonderful and amazing girl I know, and I am very happy to learn that she actually likes and enjoys it!"

Rue was doubtful: "Do you really believe that I am amazing and wonderful?"

I answered: "What other reason might I have to spend so much time with you? Believe me, I am not after your money!"

Now she laughed: "The pityful allowance I have? No, I do not really think so. But I still find it hard to believe that you actually want to be my boyfriend. You probably have a girl on each finger who wants to date you, and when I asked you last week I was ashamed about myself later on even remotely considering that you might want to have me as girlfriend. By the way, why did you need more than a week to decide? I was kind of afraid that you wouldn't want to be my boyfriend."

"Wow, quite a few questions here", I laughed. "First, it is true that there have been a few girls who would not have minded at all getting close to me in the years before I moved here. However, I do no date a girl just for fun, but only if I have serious feelings for her, and this had not happened before. Second, I needed some time to make up my mind because I needed to talk to some people, mainly your parents for permission, due to your age. It was never a question of me wanting your boyfriend or not, but only if I was allowed to!"

Rue had paid specific attention to some words in particular: "What do you mean by having serious feelings?"

"This caught your attention, right?", I smiled. "Well, indeed I do have feelings for you, and I care very much for you. Having you sitting in my lap with your arms around me is very enjoyable, and I would not mind doing that more frequently at all. But more important I just feel right and complete when I am with you, like this is the way it is supposed to be, and when you are not here I feel that something is missing. I feel very privileged and happy for having you as my girlfriend, my dear Rue!"

Rue was purring now, and by the was she looked into my eyes I knew that she felt the same. I was still a little troubled for having such a young girlfriend, but I loved her, though I did not dare to mention that one yet, I could not avoid seeing that she really liked me, I had her parents' blessing and even some kind of medical approval – what else could I want?

My new girlfriend finished her desert while sitting in my lap, and she finally also unpacked my gift, which was a small silver cross on a chain, to be worn as necklace. We were sitting on the porch for quite some time, and as the sky was cloudless and the air crisp, the stars were shining brightly; contrary to the limited view one had in cities, my home was distant enough from the big city that even the milkyway was visible in such a night. After a couple of hours of watching and not talking much at all, she fell asleep; I carried her over to the couch, changed into comfortable shirt and sweatpants, and placed myself beside her.

When Rue woke up at my side on the next morning, she beamed and whispered into my ear: "Thank you, Timotheus, for the last evening. This was one of the nicest things somebody has ever done for me. I almost cannot believe that I am now your girlfriend, but the idea makes me so happy!"

[Author's Note: I do not think that I would allow one of my daughters to date a 22 year old man while being 13 years old herself; certainly not. However, this is fanfiction, with the emphasis on FICTION. Let me also confirm that I intend to keep this story T rated, not M.]