It's much later in the year. It's actually the day before Thanksgiving and we're all at my Mama's house. Peeta kept us in Kentucky for a week and then brought us to California.
"I'm so fucking excited." I exclaim, walking back into my Mama's house with the mail.
"Why?" Peeta asks.
"For black Friday!" I exclaim. He groans.
"You are not going Black Friday shopping." He says.
"Uh, yeah I am." I reply, handing everything but the ads to my Dad as I get a sharpie from the first drawer and walk around the living room, fingering through the deals.
"Katniss, black Friday is just a good way to get killed." Peeta says.
"What do you want the most right now?" I ask. He stares at me. Johanna, Finn, Annie and Blight start going through ads that my mother gets. She knows to save them because I'm a fanatic about it. Johanna, Blight, Annie and I go every year together.
"Nothing…" he says. I stop pacing and stare at him with narrowed eyes. our family is estatic that we're getting engaged and they were honestly shocked, but now they're used to us. We haven't opening the restaurant yet. We're opening it in January because we need to tie a few loose strings. Although I did go to the city hall and get unemployment, because that jackass that fired me lied and said I wasn't eligible for it, and I was.
"Are you lying to me, Peeta Ryan?" I ask.
"No." he says.
"You just don't want to tell me." I say.
"Fine…I want a bigger TV. The one we have is shit, Katniss, it's thirty inches, how the hell are Finnick and I supposed to watch the super bowl in February? We don't even have HD because our screen is so damn small." He complains. He's overreacting, but he is obsessed with Football.
"A bigger TV?" I ask, grabbing the Best Buy ads off the table. I begin to walk around, circling movies I want that went down to like five dollars. I circle a tablet, because I want that too. I get to the TV's. "You know that eighty inch TV you stare at like it's the only thing in the world every time we go into Best Buy?" I ask. His eyes light up.
"Yes…" he says hesitantly.
"It went from three thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine dollars to two thousand, eight hundred and ninety nine." I say.
"What? No it didn't, your lying!" he gets up and takes the magazine from my hand. "Surely it'll be on sale on another day." He says reluctantly.
"No it won't. it's only from Midnight tomorrow night to Midnight Friday night." I say. "Only on Black Friday."
He doesn't want me to go, and I damn well know it, but I'm going anyways. "I don't need it." He sits back down.
"Let's see…how about that computer we've been talking about since June?" I ask. "There's a twenty one inch monitor for eighty nine ninety nine, and then the computer itself…two hundred and eighty nine dollars." He's starting to crack. "And we can get Christmas shopping done! Please, Peeta?" I beg. I'm going whether he wants me to or not.
"Fine!" he sighs loudly from irritation. "We don't even have the money for this." He grumbles.
"We have almost ten thousand dollars for this." I admit. He looks up at me, shocked.
"What?" he repeats.
"Peeta, I've been saving for black Friday when I got my first job at Publix when I was sixteen. I blow through it every year and then it adds right back up. We have plenty of money." He shakes his head.
"You have plenty of money." He corrects me.
"We; We live in the same house, what's mine is yours. You've said that a million times, Peeta." I say.
"This is different." He disagrees.
"It's no different!" I exclaim. "Dammit Peeta, why are you so argumentative today?" I ask.
"I'm not argumentative, you're the argumentative one." He says.
"Yes, because it's always my fault, is that it?" I grumble.
"I didn't say it's always your fault." He says. He's flipping through some ads without even bothering to look up at me. Effie always joins us on holidays, so she's here too. Everyone in the room looks uncomfortable with us arguing because we're always so sweet to one another.
"Well it was implied." I reply.
"Of course it was, because I'm always the one doing something wrong." He shakes his head.
It strikes me that this is actually the first argument we've ever gotten in, about anything at all. We haven't even gotten in small ones where we disagree on something. "I actually didn't say that. I'd really appreciate it if you would stop putting words in my mouth." I say.
"I'm not putting words in your mouth. It was clear you were trying to say that I was the one at fault." He mutters angrily.
"I wasn't saying that! I was just saying that I didn't say you're always the one doing something wrong and your saying I said it. Therefore, your putting words in my mouth." I say. his eyes are black when he looks up at me and I don't understand why he's so pissed off at me because I said that the money was ours.
"You know what Katniss? Just forget it! It's not important anyways!" he tosses the magazine on the table and storms off upstairs. Everyone is staring at me.
"What'd I say? I just practically offered him almost ten thousand dollars!" I exclaim. Everyone puts their hands up in mock defense. "Well I'm not apologizing." I fling the magazine in my hand on the table and walk out front. It's snowing and I'm only in white jeans, a thin yellow long sleeve shirt and my Uggs. I sit down the steps and cover my hands with my shirt sleeves. I rest my right elbow on my knee and hold my head up with my right hand. I watch the snow fall in even waves.
I don't understand what I did, or why he's so upset, but I think something's wrong with him. I know Peeta though, and he'll tell me if something's up.
I sit in silence for an hour, watching the snow fall and my breath appear in front of me every time I exhale.
The front door opens behind me, and I don't turn around. It click gently shut and then a black fleece blanket is draped over my shoulders. Peeta sits down next to me and hands me a mug of steaming hot chocolate. I lean into him, resting my head on his shoulder. He's silent for a long time.
"I'm sorry." He whispers. "I was being an asshole and I'm sorry. I love you so much, never forget that." He whispers. I take a sip of the hot chocolate and sigh.
"It's okay," I whisper. "I love you too, never forget that." We always say that now.
We stay silent. I see goose bumps rising on his arms. Peeta normally doesn't get cold. I share the blanket with him, offering him some hot chocolate. He shakes his head. I drain the cup and sit it down next to me.
"I think my parents are getting divorced." He whispers.
I turn my head to look at him and he looks down at me. I don't say anything. He sighs and continues. I lift my head off his shoulder and turn around to face him, giving him my full attention.
"I've had trouble sleeping since we got here because they won't let us share a bed, so I've been up most of the night. I know you're taking Nyquil, so you can sleep. Every night since we got here a week ago, they've been screaming at one another nonstop, and i can hear them. They go outside though. I hear them shouting terrible things at one another…last night my Dad shouted 'Why don't get just get a divorce then, if you hate me so much!' and then my Mom came back inside and I pretended I was asleep. They won't even look at each other." He explains quietly.
"Oh Peeta…that's horrible." I hug him and he buries his face in my shoulder, in the crook of my neck.
"I know," he mumbles. He pulls away to look me in the eye. "Should I tell Rye and Graham?" he asks. "Like…if you were me and you thought that, would you tell Prim?"
"I would…I would confront my parents in private and then tell Prim." I say seriously.
"Should I confront them?" he asks.
"Peeta, I can't tell you what to do baby, but I would." I say.
"Okay…and one more thing." He whispers.
"Hmm?" I ask softly.
"Promise you will never leave me, no matter how rude and bitter and mean and annoying and disrespectful I am to you, promise you won't leave my side. Without you, I've...I'm empty. I'm nothing. You are my life Katniss. I'll die from a broken heart without you." He whispers.
"Oh Peeta, I'm not going anywhere, I promise." I whisper, gently pulling his lips to mine to give him a slow, gentle, long, sweet kiss.
"I love you." He whispers when we part.
"I love you too." I mumble.
"Alright," He pats me knee, squeezing it momentarily before standing up. "Let's go inside before you get pneumonia." He says as he holds his hand out for me to take. I do, and he pulls me to my feet. After I grab the cup, he links our fingers and pulls me in the house. I drop his hand and go to the kitchen, where I put the cup that contained my hot chocolate into the dishwasher. When I walk into the living room, everyone looks anxious and worried.
"You guys didn't break up, did you?" Prim asks with her hands resting on her protruding belly. I laugh and grab the ads again.
"No, Peeta and I did not break up." I reply, with a smirk in his direction, to which he returns.
"Oh god, they guys had sex on the porch, didn't you?" Johanna asks.
"No," I roll my eyes and grab the sharpie again. "Although…we probably will be doing that later but just not on the porch." I admit.
"Katniss!" Peeta scolds.
"What?" I ask innocently. "You and I now that I'm right, Peeta Ryan." I say. I call him Peeta Ryan a lot now and he used to mind, but he stopped.
"You said you were on your period." He says as he grabs a ad magazine off the table.
"I am on my period." I say. "But since when has that ever stopped us before?" Effie loudly clears her throat.
"Katniss, stop. You two can talk about how and when you want to be intimate when there isn't anyone else around. There are two girls that are two years old in here, and they repeat stuff." She scolds me. My mother and she are friends, and she's counted as a very close friend of the family, so she freely scolds me, almost as if I was living under her roof again. She only had the four of us, Prim, Johanna, Annie and I, and she counts us as her daughters.
As the words close family friends cross my mind, I get thinking about someone, and it actually makes me set down the ads and the sharpie.
Cinna; I haven't seen him since I was ten years old. I was friends with his daughter, Opal. I had sleepovers at his house all the time.
"What ever happened to Cinna?" I ask quietly.
"Well…we don't really know, to be honest with you, Katniss. After we lost you three, we moved out because we couldn't stand New York City anymore. Cinna only knows we lost you, but that's it. We didn't even tell him we were leaving. He could be anywhere in the world by now." Mama admits.
I was always the closest with him and Opal. They came over for everyone single holiday and everything. His family and our family and Peeta's family were inseparable.
"What about you guys?" I ask.
"Katniss, we moved to California right after I got out of the hospital." Peeta says.
"Hospital?" I repeat.
"Yeah, remember that burn I got that knocked me out?" he asks.
"Oh, yeah, I remember." I nod. So Cinna could be anywhere. We meaning my family; lives in Rolling Hills, Kentucky.
Then I decide what I'm going to do. I grab my cell phone off the table and go to Google, pacing around the living room as I type in the name "Cinna Williams" and press enter. Facebook immediately pops up and I see a picture of Cinna and a girl that looks like Opal my age with her mother, Cinna's wife, Portia.
I click on it and see he, thankfully, has his location turned on, and I am thrilled with what I see. I copy his address and open a new page and type in 9512 Aylesbury Dr, Rolling Hills, KY and then paste 1704 Landmark Pl Louisville, KY
I press paste and then press search.
It's fifteen fucking minutes away!
I jog upstairs and get my coat, pulling it on. I grab my car keys and my cell phone charger and my puse backpack and go downstairs.
"I'll be back," I say, walking out the front door without another word.
I go on the GPS on my phone and head towards Louisville. I don't know where I'm going because I don't live here and I'm not familiar with the area, so I am literally relying on my phone. I plug it in to charge because the battery is low.
The neighborhoods I'm passing through are for the rich. Like for Bill Gates rich.
That's exaggerating, of course, but they're at least worth almost a million dollars. The quality goes down slightly, to many thousands. My phone says here when I park in front of a white house. The roof is triangle and the grass is perfect and everything is rich and amazing. I don't see Cinna living here, and I'm scared that this isn't his house. But I don't care. It doesn't hurt to try…
I get out; unplugging my phone and putting it in the pocket of my jacket on vibrate. I keep my keys in my hand as I lock the car. This house is huge and two stories. I walk up the driveway, keeping my head down. There's three cars, none of which I recognize. When I'm in front of the large front door, I freeze.
Should I do it?
This doesn't seem familiar to me.
Oh just do it! It's been thirteen years, for goodness sakes!
I almost don't, but then I hear the doorbell and I see my hand falling back to my side.
I guess I'm doing it then. I hear voices inside and then the door pulls open.
And it is Cinna. He looks me up and down. "Katniss?" he asks.
"Cinna?" I ask. He grins and hugs me.
"You look beautiful! How old are you now?" he asks.
"Twenty Three," I smile.
"My god! Come in, come in out of the cold!" he exclaims. I step into the house, which does seem exactly like Cinna. He leads me down a hallway to a room filled with everyone I recognize. I see Opal and her grandparents and her cousin Scarlett, and then there's a new children, one of them in Opals arms. I see a boy I recognize as Tyler, who has hung out with Peeta, Johanna, Opal and I once at the park, when I fell off the monkey bars and twisted my ankle. Him and Peeta carried my home.
"Shit! Katniss!" Opal hands the baby to Tyler and hugs me.. "Oh my goodness, your stunning!" she exclaims. Everyone stats to get excited because I haven't seen any of these people since I was ten and I know every one of them. "And what is this?" she taps my ring, causing my cheeks to heat up as I smile. "Your married?" Portia asks happily.
"No, engaged." I say as I hug her.
"Really?" Cinna asks. I smile wider at the thought of Peeta.
"Yes." I say.
"To who? What's his name?" Opal asks.
"Well…it's…Peeta." I admit. A lot of people gasp and Cinna hugs me again, kissing my cheek.
"We all knew it was going to happen, but still, congratulations!" he exclaims. "So…sit down, get comfortable! Tell us everything." He exclaims. I do as he says. "So…9/11." Cinna sighs.
"Yeah…" I say.
"Well tell us what happened from then to now and what brought you here!" he exclaims.
"Well…you know how Johanna, Prim and I got separated from out parents." I say. "We got separated from Peeta and his family too. Johanna, Prim and I were stuck in a foster home with someone I count at my second mother named Effie Trinket with one other girl, who is Johanna and I's best friend, named Annie Cresta. She had the exact same 9/11 situation at us, which is bizarre. And she got separated from her guy best friend, Finnick Odair. We got out at eighteen and moved into an apartment together…I became a teacher, Johanna owns a bar and Annie works at an insurance agency. We found our parents in Rolling Hills and reconnected with them. One Johanna and I's twenty third birthday, Peeta and Finnick Odair, who was actually Peeta's best friend, walked into Johanna's bar. We reconnected with them, too. After a while, Peeta and I started dating and so did Annie and Finnick. Johanna had gotten a boyfriend from high school she's still with to this day…I got fired from work because Johanna told the kids I had a boyfriend and the school board didn't like it, so they fired me. Peeta worked nonstop for a week and then showed up at my apartment and proposed. I said yes and he said he'd been opening a restaurant and it's ours, but it's not open yet. We moved in together and kind of worked on the restaurant for a while and now we're down here for thanksgiving and I remember family friends and thought of you guys, so I Googled Cinna and found your address and drove over here…oh, and Prim's pregnant and she's due next week." I say.
"Do your parents live close to here?" Cinna asks.
"Yeah, only fifteen minutes away." I admit.
"Prim? Your litte sister?" Opal asks. "She's pregnant?" she demands.
"Yeah…she's nineteen now." I say.
"Geez…last I saw her, she was six." Cinna admits.
"I know…it's crazy." I say. "So what about you guys?"
"We pretty much stayed the same until Opal was fifteen, then we moved here, she and Tyler got married after college and had my granddaughter." Cinna says. "That's basically it." We all chat for a few hours, and it starts to get dark outside. My phone vibrates in my pocket and I pull it out to see a text from Peeta.
Baby: so are you going to tell me where you ran off to? You mom thinks you drove off a cliff…I'm serious…
I changed his name from 'Mr. Underwear Model' to 'baby'
Me: I'll tell you when I got home
Baby: okay…when are you coming home?
Me: idk, why?
Baby: because I'm bored and I miss you
Me: so go sneak up into my room and go watch some football with Finnick
Baby: ok…
We all continue to talk until nine hits
"Let's go see your family and the Mellarks!" Opal exclaims, sitting up. Everyone starts to agree.
"Can we Katniss? Do you think they'll care?" Cinna asks.
"Yeah we can…I was going to get going anyways. I doubt they'll care…they miss you guys.
"Let's go then! Katniss, you lead the way!" Cinna exclaims. Everyone follows me outside and we all head back to my parents' house, me on the GPS again.
I pull into my Mama's driveway and get out. Everyone hesitantly follows me. I walk in the house to see that Finnick and Peeta and Johanna and Blight and Annie are nowhere to be seen and I know they went to my room.
"There you are! We thought you got hurt!" Mama exclaims.
"I brought some people with me Mama, is that okay?" I ask.
"Of course…" she looks hesitant. Cinna family begins to file in behind me and they're immediately sucked in by the Mellarks and my parents. I notice that Mrs. Mellark will occasionally glare at Mr. Mellark.
"I'll be right back," I smile.
"Yeah Katniss, we don't know where Peeta, Johanna, Finnick and Annie ran off to." Mama admits.
"I'll find them." I say. I know where they are already. I head upstairs to my room and the door is shut all the way. I walk inside and see they're all squished onto my bed, watching football.
"There you are!" Peeta exclaims.
"Yeah, here I am." I say, shedding my coat and shoes. I flick off the TV.
"Hey! What the hell Kitty! The Ravens were about to get a touchdown!" Finn shouts at me.
"I don't care." I say.
"Katniss baby, can you please turn the game back on?" Peeta asks calmly.
"No. Everyone downstairs, now." I say. They all groan and start to file out.
"You're coming, right?" Peeta asks.
I nod and follow him downstairs. I go into the kitchen as everyone starts to obsess over the fact that Peeta and I are getting married and I get some chocolate from the cabinet.
I head back out, and Peeta takes the chocolate in my hand and eats the whole bar.
"You asshole! You're gonna pay for that!" I exclaim, grabbing Rye's water bottle from his hand and lunging at him. He darts out of my way and I chase him around the living room, up the stairs, back down the stairs, both of us laughing hysterically. We circle around the two couches and I know I won't catch him. I duck down behind on the the couches and he whizzes right past me. I trip him, sending him flying to the ground. He rolls onto his back and starts to get up when I sit down right on top of him.
"You know, I was thirsty." Rye says.
"I swear it's like they're eight years old again back on Peeta's birthday when he stole her cookie." Mrs. Mellark says.
"Don't you dare." He starts to wiggle around under me, but I scoot forwards and pin him down with me knees. He uses his hands to tries to push me off, but I grab him hands and pin them above his head. "Katniss, don't you dare!" he tries thrashing around, but it's no use.
"Say you're sorry." I say.
"Hell no!" he exclaims. I screw the top off with my teeth, everyone now crowding around to see if I'm actually going to do it. I pour a drip on his cheek.
"Say you're sorry, Peeta." I say.
"No, I'm not sorry!" he exclaims. I pour a stream of water right out of the refrigerator on his head, but only enough to get him cold.
"Say you're sorry." I repeat.
"No! I'm not sorry!" he exclaims. "You won't do it!" he exclaims. I can clearly see my mother with a video camera.
"I'm giving you one last chance to apologize to me for stealing my chocolate when I'm on my period." I threaten. Realize flickers in his eyes as he remembers that I am indeed on my period
"I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not sorry Katniss," he says.
"Have it your way then." I dump half of bottle of water on his head, completely drenching him. Then I climb off him and pour the rest all over his shirt.
"You are in so much trouble." He says when he stands up.
"You owe me some fucking chocolate." I say.
"I didn't know you were on your period." He defends himself.
"Yes you did." I reply.
…s…..
It's midnight and we're all awake except for Prim and the kids. Cinna and his family are spending the night, we've decided.
Peeta and I don't need words to communicate with one another. He occasionally plants a kiss on my back or shoulder of neck or cheek as everyone chats.
"Katniss," he whispers in my ear, barely audible. "My Mom is hiding her left hand." He whispers. My eyes flick to Mrs. Mellark, who has her left hand tucked under her leg, almost as if she were cold, but she isn't cold because the fireplace is on, and the heat is on, and she's in all long sleeves. She's can't be cold. "Do you think they already got divorced?" he whispers. I frown.
"Want me to find out?" I whisper in his ear. He nods slowly. I eat another chocolate before I ask. "When you get married, do you keep the engagement ring on and the wedding band, or just the wedding band without the engagement ring?" Everyone looks at me.
"Oh, I put it on my right hand during the ceremony and switch it back over after." Mrs. Mellark says.
"Really?" I ask. "Can I see?" She freezes, and Mr. Mellark's eyes grow angry. Peeta stiffens under me.
"Yeah Renee, can Katniss see?" Mr. Mellark asks. She looks at me and then at Mr. Mellark.
"I'm not wearing my rings, darling." She says.
"Why the hell not?" Peeta asks loudly, pissed. He doesn't need to be told, he already knows. His hand, which is on my stomach clenches into a fist.
"Because…" she isn't going to say it.
"Because you guys got divorced! Don't think I can't hear you two every fucking night, screaming at one another! I'm not deaf, you know!" he gently pushes me off his lap and storms upstairs. I can hear my bedroom door slam. Everyone is dead silent.
"Mom?" Graham asks.
"Dad?" Rye whispers. They don't say anything, confirming everything Peeta just said. Both boys disappear upstairs, and at the same time, Faith and I rise, going upstairs after our boys. I still have my chocolate with me. I know Peeta went into my room. I try the door to find it locked.
"Peeta? Can you open the door baby?" I ask softly. I hear a loud, pissed, painful, upset sigh and then the door opens just enough for me to squeeze through, Godiva bolting in at the last second. Peeta shuts the locks the door and just lays down on my bed. I lay down next to him. He pulls me as close as possible and just buries his head in the crook of my shoulder.
"I don't understand. Why?" he mumbles.
"I don't know baby, I don't know." I run my fingers through his curls, sitting up and pulling him with me. "But I'm with you Peeta. I promise you that it'll all work out. I'm never going to leave your side and-" he kisses me, silencing me and pushing me down onto the bed so hovering above me.
"Go lock the door." he orders me.
"Peeta, I'm on my period. We can get blood all over my parents sheets." I say. His face gets frustrated.
"Let's go take a shower then." He says.
….s…..
I wake up alone. Godiva isn't even in here. We took a shower, just like he wanted. He kept me silent. I hate waking up alone. My Mother needs to stop making him sleep downstairs. It's honestly pissed me off. I get up and brush my teeth and then go downstairs, where everyone is awake. I'm not going to complain about the fact that I can't share a bed with Peeta. It's my parents' house and I have to follow their rules in their house.
"Morning," I say, walking over to Peeta, who is standing, not sitting down because the only spot open is next to his mother.
"Morning," he says curtly. I can tell he's pissed off now, not upset anymore. I hug him and he wraps his arms around me. I love hugging him so much because his hugs are tight and sincere and full of love. Everyone says his hugs are loose and weak, but I think its BS.
"I don't understand why you like hugging him so much. His hugs are like a dead fucking fish or something." Rye says.
"No they're not. They're like hugging a teddy bear." I say. Peeta laughs.
"A teddy bear? Really?" I look up at him.
"Yes," I say. Mama claps her hands.
"Okay! Now that everyone is awake, who's going to help me with breakfast? And someone turn on the Macy's parade." Mama says.
That's right, it's Thanksgiving!
We have tons of traditions.
First, we make breakfast, and whoever doesn't help cook has to clean up after, and as we eat, we watch the parade. After everything is cleaned up, we go outside and have a massive snowball fight with the entire family, everyone in teams, and then we have oeuvres and then we get out all the ads and find everything we want and cut them out and tape them to papers to bring with us. We fill out what we're thankful for anonymously and put it in a basket. Then we, being the adults, send the kids outside and go through the Christmas lists and decide what we're getting for the kids, then we start dinner, which is the same, whoever doesn't help cook has to clean up after. We have dinner at the dining room table after getting the kids table from the garage. We all pray and dig in, and after everyone is done reading, we pass the basket with what we're thankful for around and then one person has to read one, and then we all have to guess who it is.
Johanna and I are the only ones that never take the thankful for thing seriously and we always put some joke. Last year, Johanna put condoms and I put tampons. Then we all take naps, and at eight, I start waking people up because I want to start my fucking shopping, so we have pie and then we all get the papers that have the ads on them and hightail it to Louisville and get shopping.
I rise to help Mama, and a lot of other people do to. We've all had thanksgiving together, it's just been thirteen years, we all remember how it works though. Prim gets out of helping, to which she's ecstatic. She made the sex be a surprise, but I'm so excited for my niece or nephew to be born. Mama chooses half of us, refusing to let Johanna and I work together because it always turns into a game. She doesn't let Peeta, Finnick or Annie help either, because it's the same.
I move to the kitchen and help Mama with a lot of other people. Opal and I start to turn it into a game and that's when mama kicks Opal out. We're both laughing. "Go! You two are like toddlers!" Mama shrieks. Opal is hysterical as she walks away. I make the toast, because it's the one thing I can't burn. I butter it up and make a ton of it and put them all on a plate in a cute arrangement.
'The parade is starting!" Daddy calls just as we finish.
"Come get your food!" mama calls. We all get our food and move to the living room to watch the parade. Peeta is happy to get a seat next to Finnick at the end of the couch so he's not next to anyone unwanted. I lean back against his legs as we eat and watch the parade. We all put out comments here and there.
A singer that everyone doesn't know comes on, but I recognize her.
"Who the hell is that?" Johanna asks.
"Ingrid Michaelson," I reply. Everyone looks at me in confusion.
"Who's that?" Peeta asks.
"She's a singer, you all know her, you just don't recognize her." I say.
"What's she sing?" Cinna asks curiously.
"The way I am," I say. I get a ton of blank stares in return. I sigh.
If you were falling, then I would catch you
You need a light, I'd find a match
'Cause I love the way you say good morning
And you take me the way I am
If you are chilly, here take my sweater
Your head is aching, I'll make it better
'Cause I love the way you call me, baby
And you take me the way I am
I'd buy you Rogaine when you start losing all your hair
Sew on patches to all you tear
'Cause I love you more than I could ever promise
And you take me the way I am
You take me the way I am, you take me the way I am
"Oh! I know that song! She sings that?" Jo asks.
"I know that song, too." Peeta says.
"Same here," Finn says. Everyone nods in agreement.
"I didn't know she sang that." Mama says.
"Yup, she does." I set my plate on the coffee table and sit back.
The floats go on.
"And now Christina Perri will be performing!" The announcer guy on the TV says. (I watch the Macys parade every year, and I watched it this year, too, but I'm putting other performers)
"Oh hey, you love her, right?" Peeta asks, tapping my head.
"Yes," I smile.
"Come up here," he says. I take his plate and put it on the coffee table and then sit down on his lap. She starts to play the song, even though she's lip sinking. I immediately recognize the song as The Lonely.
"What's this song, if you love her so much?" Johanna challenges.
"The Lonely." I reply.
"I bet you fifty dollars that this song isn't the lonely." Johanna says smartly.
"Deal," I say plainly. We shake on it, and Peeta, along with everyone else exhales from irritation. We shake on it and I sit back, knowing I'm about to get fifty dollars from Johanna.
When her float passes, the guy says. "And that was Christina Perri, with The Lonely!" he exclaims. Johanna glares at me.
"Fuck you, Brainless." She tosses a fifty at me, and I just laugh.
'I don't want your fucking money, save it for tonight." I hand it back to her.
"Good," she stuffs it in her bra and sits back. When the parade ends, everyone that didn't help with breakfast has to go clean the kitchen. I get Peeta's seat and then eventually I go upstairs and get ready for a brutal snowball fight. I pull on tights and then pull on my jeans over top of them, and then pull on a tank top, a short sleeve shirt, a long sleeve shirt and my heavy jacket that's all white and it's a wool trench coat with black buttons. I braid my hair out of the way and pull on my white snow boots. My jeans are white too. I do this every year. I wear complete white and pull up my white hood and hid and then attack. My team always wins because of it and everyone always tries to get on my team.
"Let's go Brainless!" Johanna shouts. I walk calmly downstairs and everyone groans loudly.
"Alright!" Mama says. We're all used to my actions by now. "Last time we did this, we were in the city and we didn't have much room. there's a park down the street from here with a soccer field, so we're going there. Let's get the teams. I'm picking captains." Mama says.
"Hell no you're not, I'm picking captains." Haymitch says. "Sweetheart, you're a captain, Peeta, you're a captain."
Peeta groans. "Well looks like I'm not winning this year." He grumbles.
"Prim, are you coming to the park? You can sit on the bench and watch." Mama says. Prim nods. The only thing that can possibly give me away is the black buttons and my olive skin. My hair gets tucked back.
"Okay, Sweetheart, pick two girls."
"Annie and Jo," I say.
"Fuck yeah Brainless!" Johanna high fives my left hand and Annie high fives my right.
"Peeta, two girls."
"Um…Opal and…Aunt Linda." Both of them get behind Peeta.
"Sweetheart, two guys."
"What!" Peeta protests.
"Finn and you." I say to Haymitch. Finn joins and Haymitch stays where he is.
"Peeta, who boys."
"Rye and Graham." Peeta says.
"Sweetheart, one girl."
"Faith," I say.
The lists keep building and before I know it, we're walking down the street to the park.
When we get to the park, I survey the area and see that I can hide in many places because the snow is uneven and I can duck behind piles of it.
"This is going to suck." Peeta moans. I just smirk and pull my hood up, hiding my braid and pulling my white gloves out of my pocket and my white ski mask.
"Oh god! This is not fair!" Peeta complains. I pull on the gloves and the ski mask.
"Brainless, your so fucking smart when it comes to this." Johanna says.
"Alright, everyone get on separate sides of the field." Haymitch orders. We all separate. We all wait for the captains instructions.
"Alright…the snows uneven, so hide behind anything you can to get some snowballs ready and then hit some people and duck again." I order.
"I'm in black." Annie says.
"I don't care, stick to those bushes because you'll blend in a little bit." I point at the bushes at the end of the field.
"What about me?" Finn asks. He's in green.
"I don't know…just keep getting people. I know you played baseball, so you've got a pretty decent throw."
Everyone hates not being on my team, and I'm always the target.
The goal is to hit everyone until they fall, and once everyone has fallen, their team is put.
"Ready?" I shout.
"Just a second, little miss impatient!" Peeta shouts back to me. I crack my knuckles.
"Katniss, I swear to god, a ski mask, seriously?" My dad, who is on my team, shakes his head. I just smirk.
"Alright," Peeta shouts. The captains have to go and shake hands. Normally the captains are the last two left. Prim has to have the video camera this year and she's watching the kids. She sets up the tripod and press play, giving me and Peeta a thumb up. I lift my ski mask to expose my face and walk towards him. He walks towards me and stares at me till we're standing in front of one another.
"You're going down." He says.
"Sure I am," I say.
"Okay, shake hands and let's get this show on the road!" Prim shouts. We shake hands and he kisses me on the lips.
"Don't hate me when you lose." He whispers.
"I won't, I love you." I say. He grins.
"I love you too."
We walk back to our teams and everyone makes a snowball.
"Ready?" Prim shouts.
"Yes!" we chant. A lot of people from the neighborhood have made it a tradition in their family to watch, and we're all familiar with one another and they've met the Mellarks on the fourth of July. A ton of people are here, waiting at the park behind Prim.
"Set…" she says. My team is poised to run. I pull my ski make down. "GO!" she screams. Everyone bolts forwards but I turn around the sprint to the end of the field, where theres a huge mound of snow. I duck behind it and make a ton and ton of snowballs. The people watching are cheering and my family is shouting at one another. Nobody will find me. I hear footsteps pounding towards me and I dive into the mound and hold my breath. Eventually, the footsteps, which I can tell are Peeta's, disappear. I'm almost out of oxygen, but I know he's gone, so I climb out. I peek over the mound to see most of my team is gone and most of his team are gone. All that's left is Rye and Peeta on the opposing team and me and Johanna on my team.
Rye gets out Johanna and I know it's two against one. I duck down further.
"Is Katniss out?" Peeta shouts.
"No! Where the fuck is she?" Graham shouts back. Everyone is looking around, but they can't find me. Rye starts to walk around. When he gets pretty close to me, I pick up my largest snowball, which is a chunk of ice now. Peeta look behind him, I stand up and peg the ball of ice at the back of Rye's head. He shouts a string of swears and I duck down again.
"What the fuck! Where the hell did that come from?" Rye shouts.
"You can't look for her, you fucking cheater, you're out!" Johanna screams. Rye groans and I peek over the mound to see him heading back towards the family and neighbors. Everyone is looking around. Peeta is wandering, poised to throw. I grab a ton of my snowballs and bolt for the trees.
"She's right there bro!" Rye screams. I dive into a bush covered in snow right before Peeta turns around.
"YOU CAN'T TELL HIM WHERE SHE IS!" Johanna shouts. Rye goes silent.
This is a small forest. Peeta starts heading towards where I just was, and I scale a tree and get up in the snow covered branches. He played football in high school and I played softball.
"Katniss!" he shouts, looking around. I covered my mouth with my hand and make sure I'm completely white. He walks past me and I climb down from the tree. He moves to the center of the field and I start to creep through the bushes. "Where the hell did she go?" he demands.
"I don't know, but she's one smart fucker." Johanna snickers and shakes her head. Peeta starts looking around, shouting my name or something to make me laugh. He does succeed and I burst out laughing and then shove my fist in my mouth, silencing myself. He starts to sprint towards me and I sprint forwards and out into the field. I dive into a mound of snow and everyone is shouting but they can't tell him where I am because that's cheating.
I make up mounds and mounds of snowballs and he comes out of the trees.
Now I get to expose myself, which is the best part.
He's in the middle of the field and I stand up, facing him. Everyone stops screaming and he whips around as I pull off the ski mask and stuff it in my pocket, giving him a sweet smile and an innocent wave. He waves back, but the suspense is in the air.
I won't make the first move because I'm stubborn, but he won't either because he's just as stubborn as I am.
"Hi baby," I say, standing now five feet from him.
"Hi…" he says. He keeps his eyes locked on me, poised to start the fight.
I can make him make the first move because I can act like I'm not paying attention. He never looks away from me.
The only time in will ever make the first move is when he looks away, but I know he won't.
Normally when someone else is captain, they get uncomfortable with staring directly into my eyes, but he won't, and I won't either.
We stare directly into each other's eyes for nearly ten minutes. If I make the first move, I'll get out because he'll see it coming.
So I start to think up a plan without looking away from his eyes.
If I so something to make him panic, as if I saw something, he'll look and see what it is.
So I'm going to do something to make him panic. I just don't know what yet.
Let's see…what makes Peeta panic?
Me cooking, that scares him because I'm not very skilled. He doesn't like me cooking without someone else.
He hates when I cry. That terrifies him.
That's what I'll do then. Johanna knows what I'm doing the second I do it. I let out a horrified scream and make myself burst into tears. His eyes fill with sheer panic and his hand is on my arm.
"What?" he asks.
"Nothing," I stop crying and nail him in the face. He tumbles backwards, slips and falls on his ass. It takes him a second to understand what happened.
"You…You tricked me!" he exclaims, grabbing my hand and pulling me down in the snow. "You tricked me!" he exclaims.
"I did," I say with a satisfied smile. Everyone is laugh, even people on his team. He's mad. "Don't forget that you can't live without me." I smile gently and he sighs.
"I want to hate you but it's impossible." He sighs and stands up. He pulls me to my feet as we all head back to the house. Mama and Effie put out the oeuvres and then we all flip through magazines of ads as we snack. Peeta will hardly look at me.
"Your such a fucking cheater without cheating." Johanna says.
"I know she is." Peeta grumbles.
"You know I was right up in that tree, right?" I ask comically. "And when you walked past that mound at the end of the field, yeah, I was in there."
"Are you serious?" he demands.
"Dead," I reply, gluing an ad of the Sims 3 to my paper. Mama begs to pass out pieces of notebook paper that all say
I am thankful for…
I chew on my pen for a long time, thinking.
Then I write down: Family and friends…with benefits
And that I'm not a turkey
And then I flip it over and write: one a more serious note…Peeta and chocolate…
Then I fold it up quickly and make it so no matter what, you'll open it to the funny side first.
We do everything with the lists as the kids play outside.
Peeta and I get to help Mama with dinner this time, and he pushes me away from the oven and makes me set the table. He gets multiple glares from me.
"I'm not a baby, Peeta. I'm twenty three." I grumble.
"I know, but still." He begs. I sigh and start getting plates. I know if I break one, Mama will cry because these are from Great Grandma and she's not around anymore.
It takes a few hours, but around five we have dinner on the table and we're all saying grace.
I'm ecstatic that I don't have to sit at the kid table anymore.
Everyone is so engrossed in the food that we don't even speak.
When we're all done, I get up and get the basket.
"Am I starting it this year?" I ask.
"Go ahead." Mom says.
"Okay…" I grab the first one and unfold it. I immediately recognize the handwriting as Johanna's. "I am thankful for firting at red lights."
"Johanna," everyone says at once. I give her a high five and pass it on to my right, to Effie. Blight doesn't get angry because he knows she's playing.
"I'm thankful for family." She says.
We all look around, trying to guess who did that.
"I'm gonna go with Peeta." Mr. Mellark says. I shake my head.
"That wasn't Peeta…That was my mother." I say. She shakes her head.
"Aunt Lisa." Peeta says.
"Yes, that was me." she admits.
"Okay, moving on." Effie hands the basket to my Mama.
"I'm thankful for beer."
"Haymitch." I say.
"Yes." He says.
"Okay…I'm thankful for my two beautiful daughters." Daddy reads.
"Mom," Prim and I say together. Mama nods.
"It's like you watch everyone read them." Peeta says.
"It's easy to figure it out. Watch the faces."
The basket keeps getting passed. Alex gets it before Prim.
"I'm thankful for Alex and the lil' shit inside of me." Alex reads.
"Prim," everyone says together. She just smirks and nods.
"Okay, I have no clue who's left," Peeta says. "But theirs seven left." He grabs one and neatly unfolds it and lays it flat in front of him. "I'm thankful for…" he rolls his eyes. "Family and friends…with benefits. And that I'm not a turkey." He knows its mine, but doesn't say it is.
"That was Brainless," Johanna says over everyone's laugher.
"There's more." I flip the page over.
Everyone goes silent, waiting for Peeta to read the rest. "On a more serious note, Peeta and Chocolate." People start laughing again, because of course I put chocolate. Effie gets it again because we have to finish off the seven. The kids don't read it, that's just how it works.
"I'm thankful for sex." Johanna says. Everyone begins to laugh.
"Graham," Peeta and I say together.
Effie gets it.
"Food." She says. "hey erased that they're thankful for."
"Rye," I say. He just smirks.
We continue to pass it around.
"Okay, this is the last one." Finn announces. "I'm thankful for Katniss."
"Oh, I wonder who that could be!" Johanna says sarcastically. Everyone is staring at Peeta, and he's acting like he didn't put it.
"It was Peeta," I smile. He just shrugs.
Since Peeta and I helped with dinner, we don't have to help clean up.
"You have until eight to nap! If you aren't awake by then, we're having pie without you!" I shout. I'm normally the one in charge of everything with black Friday. I pull Peeta upstairs, stopping at the bathroom and thankful to find my period is gone.
I join him in my room.
"I'm going to shower really quick and then I'll come in here, okay?" I ask. He nods and yawns. "Sleep, okay?" I ask. He nods again.
I walk off to the bathroom. I shower quickly and just wrap myself in a towel, blow dry my hair and go back to my room. He's not asleep, instead he's watching TV. I lock the door so I can change into some type of clothing. "I thought I told you to sleep?" I ask, getting down on my knees on the floor to find some clothes.
"Are you off your period?" he asks.
"Yes, why?" I ask.
"Well…" he begins.
'We're not having sex, Peeta. We need to sleep so we can stay up late." I say. he groans.
"Fine!" he rolls over.
I sigh and pull on my bra and underwear, my ratty old t-shirt I've had since college and my pajama pants. I set the alarm for seven fifty. It's only six now, so we have a hour and fifty minutes to sleep. He just glares at the wall and refuses to look at me. I have to ask him, because it's been bothering me. Ever since our small argument yesterday, he's been snapping at me on and off.
"As you falling out of love with me?" I whisper. He slowly rolls back over to face me. My arms are crossed and I have tears welling in my eyes. He shuts off the TV.
"What?" he whispers.
"I said are 'you falling out of love with me?'." I repeat. He sits up.
"What?" he asks.
"Don't make me say it again." I say.
"Katniss, no, of course I'm not falling out of love with you. I love you so much, Katniss, don't think like that." He stands up and walks over me. "Don't ever think like that." He hugs me. I can't help but break down in his arms.
…..s…..
When I wake, it's because Peeta is standing in front of me, my phone in his hand. He waits for my alarm to wake me, and then he shuts it off. I don't know why I was so upset earlier…I know he loves me, but I guess everyone has their moments of doubt.
"I changed your alarm time…if that's okay." He whispers.
"What time is it?" I mumble, running my hands over my face.
"It's only seven thirty…" he admits.
I notice his hands are behind his back. I sigh and run my hands over my face again.
"What's behind your back?" I mumble.
"Well…" he pulls out a huge bouquet of roses, with some pink ones in the middle that form a heart. Then there's red ones everywhere else.
"I got these for you." he admits. They're in a vase. He sets them on my bedside table. I stand up.
"I love you. You're so sweet." I mumble.
PEETA'S POV
I realize that since we got into that argument yesterday, I've kind of been a bitch to her. I love her more than anything or anyone and she's my entire world, but I was a bitch to her, and I made her think I was falling out of love, and she couldn't stop crying for almost an hour.
And now I feel like a complete and utter ass and I'm going to do anything in my power to make her feel amazing.
She stands up when I give her the roses. She says she loves me and tells me I'm sweet.
"I love you too, Katniss." I whisper. I'm not going to tell her I spent three hundred dollars on those roses, because she'll feel bad, but she's worth more than three hundred dollars.
She's worth more than all the money Bill Gates has, than all the money in the world. She's worth more than the president of the United States. She's worth more than anything. I give her a soft, loving, slow, long gentle kiss. I pull away from her. "I love you," I whisper, hugging her.
"I love you too," she mumbles.
…..s….
KATNISS'S POV
Okay, now I feel like an ass for overreacting. I mean, we did have sex last night, and I know he does love me.
He keeps saying it, too, as we eat dessert, as we drive to Lousiville.
Johanna and I shove people out of the way to get what we want.
"Katniss, do you have this?" Peeta asks, holding up a Christina Perri album.
"No, but-" he tosses it in the cart.
"Want this?" he holds up a phone case for my phone. It's really cute, too."
"It's cute, but-" I start. He tosses it into the cart. "Peeta, don't waste any more money on me." I say.
"I'm not wasting anything," he replies. I sigh. "Am I upsetting you?" he whispers.
"No, it's just-" some cunt walks up and takes my iPad right out of the cart. Peeta looks shocked. I storm over to them and rip it right out of their hands. "No bitch, this is mine." I snap, going back to the cart and putting it back. We walk down the aisle, having lost Johanna and Blight somewhere in the music department and Finn and Annie in the clothes. There's so many people. We're at Walmart right now.
Once you've separated, there isn't any finding each other again.
"This is cute," I say. I'm looking at some boots. I grab them and find my size, tossing them in the cart.
"This is pretty damn fun," he admits.
"Hell yeah it is," I grin. He gets a pair of Nikes and tosses them in the cart, and a new t-shirt.
We do meet up with Finn and Annie again, and in the checkout, Johanna and Blight too. I decide not to get the iPad here and set it down in a rack of clothing.
Together, Peeta and I only spend about two hundred dollars.
We're taking my truck so we can put big stuff in the bed. We toss our stuff in and head to Bust Buy.
"Alright, this place is the worst…we have to get our stuff and get the hell out." I say. "Keep your phone on full blast."
We head inside and I almost immediately get pushed over. Peeta steadies me, glaring at the person that shoved me. I grab his hand and elbow my way through the crowd, pulling him behind me with a tight grip on his hand.
We stop in front of the eighty inch TV. It's the last one and someone is one their way over here to get it, glaring at us.
"Shit Peeta, get it!" I exclaim. We work together to lift it up into the cart.
"Uh that was mine." A girl hisses. I know that voice. I didn't tell Peeta. That's the only thing I never told him. I turn around. Glimmer, the bitch that bullied me in high school.
"Glimmer," I snarl.
"Skank," she replies. Peeta's eyes grow confused and pissed. "That's mine." She says, pointing at the TV.
"no it's not, actually, but thanks." I smile and pull Peeta away.
"Who was that?" he demands as I get the best, most expensive headphones you can possibly buy. I toss them in the cart, and add three more. One is for Peeta's cousin Brandon, Aunt Lisa's son, and the other two are for Peeta and I. I said that Peeta and I would get the earbuds for him. They're normally sixty dollars but they're twenty.
"Just a person." I lie.
"Katniss, you knew her, who was that?" he asks.
"It was nobody Peeta," I insist. I grab the iPad air and add that to the cart, and the Sims 3, and a ton of movies I've wanted to see, or have seen.
"Oh, don't forget this." He hands me Silver Linings Playbook, with Jennifer Lawrence. I add it to the cart and shove more people to get to the stereo system to make the TV like a movie theater. Glimmer is heading for it again, but once again, we get it first and move to the checkout before she can kill us.
"Wait, the computer and the moniter!" he exclaims when we're two people from the register.
"Go! Hurry up and get it!" I exclaim. When I get to the checkout, he comes back with both the computer and the monitor.
We spend six thousand at Best Buy and have four thousand left for Christmas.
Peeta and I load up the bed of the truck and wait for Jo, Blight, Ann and Finn.
Prim has absolutely nothing for the baby, Alex is with her because she's supposed to be on bed rest and he can't get to the store. I get out of the car and Peeta gives me a confused look and follows me to Babies R Us, because this is a small outlet mall.
"Prim and Alex?" he questions.
"Yes," I reply. It's very busy here, too. "She doesn't have a thing, not even a sock. Let's stock her up, stick to in between, okay? I think we'll be okay to separate. Either these people are pregnant or old or confused husbands." I say. Peeta laughs.
"Okay," he kisses my cheek, grabs a cart and disappears. I go to the cribs and find one with yellow on it, which is perfect. It's really nice quality, too, but I can't lift it, I'll probably break my neck. I see a guy with a list walking down the aisle.
"Excuse me?" I ask. He turns around. "Can you help me out?" I ask.
"Depends," he worries his bottom lip. "Can you help me out?"
"Sure," I say. He lifts the crib I want in the bottom of the cart.
"Okay, are you even pregnant?" he asks.
"No…my sister is though, and she's on bed rest, due next week. She doesn't have a thing so my fiancé and I are going to surprise her." I say.
"Oh…well my fiancé is six and a half months with twin girls and I don't have a fucking clue what I'm doing. What do babies need? What the hell is Desitin?" he asks.
"Desitin? That's the butt cream." I laugh, heading towards the creams. He follows me. I pause and grab a huge thing of diapers, and then toss in three more.
"Do I need those?" he nods at the diapers, and I start laughing.
"Those are diapers. You need those desperately." I say as I get a four pack of Desitin and toss it in my own cart. "Here, Desitin," I smile and hand it to him and toss it in my own cart.
I start grabbing random things and tossing them over my shoulder into the cart. He gets everything I'm getting. I get bottles and pacifiers and that snot thing and creams and formula and a stroller. Every single thing I get, he gets to.
"So what's your name?" he asks. He isn't flirting, he's just being friendly. He's engaged, for crying out loud.
"Katniss, whats yours?" I ask.
"I'm Gale, nice to meet you Catnip." He sticks his hand out. I laugh.
"It's Katniss," I shake his hand. "Katniss Everdeen soon-to-be Mellark." I say.
"Just Gale Hawthorne," he laughs and I smile and start grabbing random toys.
Peeta meets up with us when we're in a heavy conversation about high school, and I'm laughing because he said that he fell down the stairs and broke his ankle, and his fiancé, Madge Undersee, found him. That's how they met.
"So do you live here in Kentucky?" I ask as I dig through Peeta's cart.
"No, in New York City, but my family and her family lives here, so we're here for the holiday." He admits.
"Really? We live in New York City, too." I say.
"We're forgetting something-oh! Changing Table and the rocking chair!" I exclaim.
"And high chair," Peeta says.
"That too," Gale follows us to the changing tables and the high chairs and the rocking chairs.
"Hey, I'm Peeta Mellark," Peeta smiles. Gale shakes his hand.
"Gale Hawthorne," he says kindly. I can tell Peeta approves.
I find the changing table, and both Peeta and Gale get it down, refusing to let me help them. They get down another for Gale and then do the same for the high chair.
"Do we have everything?" Peeta asks. We pass the clothes on the way to the checkout and I stop, picking up a onesie that says "This kid" with thumbs pointed at the baby that'll wear it, "love their aunt" I toss that in. Then another that says "I get my awesomeness from my aunt" and I toss that in. Then I get "my aunt is the shiznet" and add that, then I get "I'd rather be with my aunt" and then I get "What happens at Auntie's stays at Auntie's" and then "My Aunt is my BFF"
"Okay, now we have everything." I smile and toss them all in, "But one for Prim," I get one for Prim that says "Daddy and I agree: MOMMY is the BOSS"
But then I see a blanket that says "I'm banana's about my Aunt" and I just have to get it.
"Okay, let's get the hell out of here before I see another-oh my god, this too!" I toss in a white one that says "I love my Mommy & Daddy but my Auntie is the greatest"
"And this, because this is clear," Gale holds up a shirt that says "My fingers may be small, but I've already got Auntie" There's a space for you to sew the Aunt's name in "wrapped around them"
"Shit yes! Peeta, let's wrap all of this when we get to my parents and I'll sew Katniss in there!" I exclaim.
He just snickers and takes the shirt from Gale, tossing it in.
"Get something for Alex, at least." He says. "Oh wait, no, I did already." He shake his head.
….a….
We bought a ton of wrapping paper and bows and went home, because Jo, Blight, Annie and Finn were done anyways.
The six of us stayed up until ten with the bedroom door locked. Everyone is downstairs, all of them awake. They've came upstairs a million times but we refuse to open the door, especially not for Alex and Prim.
Peeta and I finish the crib. "Alright…want to block the door with the dresser, get some sleep and then take this downstairs and have them open them?" I ask. Everyone nods and we all pass out on the bed.
…s…
I'm the last to wake, and everyone is watching TV.
"Let's get these downstairs." I yawn. It's eight at night.
We open the door and start to carry the gifts downstairs one by one. Peeta and I bought boxes for everything so even the clothes are in boxes. Everyone goes dead silent as we come up and down the stairs, putting all the gifts on the floor after Johanna and I move the coffee table.
'What the fuck is going on?" Graham demands.
Peeta and Finnick come down with the huge crib, Blight behind them with Johanna with the changing table and then Annie and I with the rocking chair.
"Would someone please explain?" Mama asks.
"Is that all of them?" I ask.
"Um…" Peeta frowns. "Hang on," he jogs upstairs and comes down with the one I know is the high chair.
"Someone explain!" Rye shouts in irritation. Johanna, Finnick, Annie and Blight sit down. They all refused to take credit for a thing, even though they helped wrap all of it.
"Okay…so…Prim, Alex," I begin.
"This is an early Christmas present from Katniss and I." Peeta finishes.
"All of it?" Prim asks, rising to her feet with the help of Alex.
"Every single bit of it." I say, sitting down on the arm of the couch. It was a little over four thousand, which cut out of the black Friday account a bit, but neither one of us minded.
"Katniss, Peeta, this stuff has to be expensive." Prim says.
"Oh just shut up and open them." I say.
"Which one?" Prim asks.
"It doesn't matter." Peeta says. He sits down next to me on the couch. I get the dining room chair for Prim and Alex just sits on the floor. They go to open the one filled with all the Auntie stuff.
"Wait, don't open that yet," I take the box from Prim's hand.
"I thought you said I could open whatever the hell I wanted to, Katniss. That's so rude of you." Prim hisses. Her mood is through the roof because she's pregnant, and it's honestly hilarious.
"Oh just shut up and open another," I say.
"Let's open that one first." Alex points to the one that contains the crib.
"Kay," Prim says. Together, they shed the paper off the crib, and both of their jaws drop, along with everyone else. "Jesus Christ," Prim mutters. "You guys are life savers." Peeta and I smile. They open up the changing table next.
They start to rip all the stuff open, and when they're done, Prim's hysterical.
"Wait, now this one. This is my personal favorite," I smile and hand her the one that has all the Aunt stuff in it.
Prim rips it open and takes the top off. She starts laughing through her tears as she reads each one of them out loud. She cries harder and hugs both of us. "I swear to god, i can't repay you." Prim says.
"Make the baby wear the auntie clothes and your debt is paid." I say.
"How did you find this one? I mean…no offense Katniss, but your name isn't really common." Prim says. It's the one that now says "My fingers may be small, but I've already got Auntie Katniss wrapped around them."
"I sewed my name onto it." I say. She stands up again, but her face contorts in pain and she starts to fall. Alex isn't paying attention, and it seems that I am the only one that is. I spring up and grab both her hands. Alex hurries us and helps her back onto her feet. Her eyes are wide with sheer panic. That's when I notice the puddle of water that I'm standing in.
"Your water just broke." I say. She starts to nod like crazy.