Chapter nine

Realizations

'Get a hold of yourself Katniss'

Breathing another lung-full of air, Katniss shivered involuntarily yet again. She looked up at the tall 5-star hotel where Peeta said he was staying.

"Miss?"

Katniss's eyes snapped back down ahead of her as the elderly doorman stationed by the double glass doors in front of her held one door open.

"Th- Thank you," she said in barely a whisper, a nervous smile permanently engraved on her face.

XOXO

"Hi, I tried to make a call from an extension line from my suite earlier this afternoon but there seems to be a problem."

The young man behind the counter shook his head and a wide smile adjourned his features at the beautiful woman in front of him.

Glimmer looked at him with amusement.

"Name… name please?"

"Glimmer Byington, my room is in the 30th floor, the Empire Suite."

The young man flashed another smile at her before looking down at the monitor situated in front of him.

"I shall get to that immediately Ms. Byington, expect someone to be up in your suite within 30 minutes, I'm sorry for the inconvenience. You could've made a call for the front desk from the main line of the suite."

'I would have if Peeta hadn't locked his room where the main line was solely connected to. Ever since those kids got his attention, I've been experiencing nothing but inconveniences,' she though to herself half- annoyed. "Thank you," she replied simply with a small smile.

"Anytime! If you ever need anything else, please don't hesitate to ask me directly."

Glimmer gave one last dazzling smile at him before turning on her heel. And bumping into a woman.

XOXO

"C'mon boys! Aren't you ready yet?" Peeta called out as he adjusted a plain black baseball cap on his head. He had intended to spend some quality time with the boys the whole day and send them back to Katniss that night but Katniss's proposal was even better.

Flashback

"Peeta here," he said with a tone of laughter into the receiver, which he was currently balancing between his ear and his shoulder.

"Peeta? It's Katniss."

The smile immediately faded from his features at the mention of the caller's name.

"Hold on," he replied curtly before setting the phone on the table. "Boys!" he called out, immediately hearing the twins making their way towards him in a run. Why these kids never run out of energy, he didn't know, neither did he mind.

"What is it?" they asked. Luke was already holding a glass with three spoons in it and Rye was holding onto two stacked glasses tightly in both little hands.

"Luke, take this," Peeta said, holding out a large tub of ice cream he had been holding towards Luke who had a free arm in which he balanced the tub. "You two got ahead and fill up the glasses, I have to speak to someone on the phone for a while."

The boys grinned at him, not only because they were glad Peeta trusted them to do the task themselves and didn't treat them like babies- which they weren't- but because again he proved that he really cam tell who was who with such ease.

As they ran back towards the living room where the large TV was situated, Peeta set the plastic bag he was holding, which held the DVDs they had just bought to watch for the night, on the sofa nearby.

"Hello?" he answered yet again into the receiver.

"Peeta," Katniss started in, Peeta noticed, a nervous tone.

"Katniss," he said in acknowledgement.

After what seemed to Peeta as a very long silence, Katniss finally spoke again. "About tomorrow," she said unsurely. "I was thinking… would you mind if we all had dinner together? I- I could head over there tomorrow for you and the boys, and we could all spend a… a little time together."

Peeta's brow shot up to his forehead as she said this.

"Peeta? Did you hear what I just said?"

"Come over tomorrow at five in the afternoon, I'll text you the details of the hotel."

End of flashback

If the rest of the day will go as he planned, he'll get his answers from her before the night is out. And if he's lucky, they can immediately settle on a solution to their current predicament, which is: Who exactly will get custody over the twins?

Peeta looked at the wall mirror by the door and took a deep breath. 'Remember Peeta, she left you. Don't give in to her, and don't fall for her acts. If she stars to want you now, don't give in. She didn't want you five years ago, and if she wants you now, it'll only be because of your fame and fortune… especially your fortune. Remember that! And remember how much of a heartless bitch she was for everything she did! Keep that in mind!'

A few minutes- and a few more reminders to himself that got him as angry as he was at Katniss five years ago- later, there was a lot of arguing from somewhere in the suite followed by Luke and Rye's pounding footsteps on the floor as the came running towards him in a race.

"Ha! I win!" they both exclaimed in unison.

"You did not!" they argued simultaneously, facing each other.

"I did too!" they said, yet again, in chorus.

Peeta laughed and rumpled their hair, his anger immediately replaced by hilarity at the sight of the boys.

"You two really are something. Nobody's mood will ever be dampened with you two around," he said, grinning down at them from ear to ear as he handed them two black baseball caps identical to his but in a much smaller size.

The boys fitted them on top of their curly blonde hair and faced each other. After adjusting the other's cap in place, they nodded and looked back up at Peeta, winked at him and wiggled their brows at the same time with identical mischievous grins on their faces.

Yet again, Peeta was sent into another round of laughter.

XOXO

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," Glimmer said to the woman with an apologetic smile.

The woman who looked to be about middle- aged dressed in a white ruffled top, black slacks and matching sapphire jewelry set, gave a curt nod at Glimmer, not at all falling for her kind words and smile for she didn't seem to care enough to make a move to help in picking up her fallen, and expensive- looking, purse and her newspaper.

"Not a problem," she replied with a bite in her tone. "You-"

But she stopped, as she felt something, or rather someone, tugging on her pant leg from beside her. Sliding her sunglasses up her head, resting it on her short, black hair, she looked down at the child who had picked up her belonging without her even noticing.

The little girl had said nothing, instead, help up her things up towards her.

"Why thank you little one," she said with a smile and patted the little girl head. "That was a very nice gesture," she added, looking pointedly at Glimmer and yet with another bite in her tone as she did.

Glimmer's brows furrowed and a frown was on her face at how the woman, whom she didn't even know, could speak to her in such a way. She would've helped if she thought she needed it, but she seemed capable enough of picking up her own things. She watched as the woman thanked the child again before giving her one last disapproving look and taking her turn at the front desk.

"E- Excuse me please."

Her attention was taken by the little voice below her. Glimmer looked down to see the child standing in front of her and looking up at her from just around the length of her knees. It was obvious the child was trying to tell her to step aside so she can resume standing in line behind the rude middle- aged woman earlier but Glimmer made no sigh of moving aside.

"Honestly, where has your manner gone to young lady?"

Glimmer jumped slightly at the voice that barked behind her. She turned around to see the middle- aged woman looking at her with an even more critical look on her face.

"Well? Do you plan to just stand there? Or will you make way for the little girl?"

"Yes, goodbye," she muttered before taking her leave.

"Honestly!" Glimmer heard the middle- aged woman shout after her and into another chain of disapproving remarks, which she couldn't clearly make out anymore. The only words she heard were "rude", and "not apologizing."

"Sorry," she muttered without looking up as she bumped into yet another person. She hadn't looked or spoken to anyone until she came into one of the elevators in the lobby and gained solitude inside as it made its way up the many floors.

Holding her hand up to her heart, Glimmer took in a deep breath. What was the deal with that woman? She had never met anyone so rude to her and so openly too! There were a lot of people in that lobby and she had openly humiliated her.

But what got to Glimmer more was how she reacted through the whole ordeal. She was usually calm and composed, and people tended to adore her. It was obviously not applicable to what happened earlier mainly because seeing that child threw her off completely.

That little girl had dark hair and the most familiar pair of gray eyes.

XOXO

Katniss looked back at the young woman who had bumped her, wondering if she was alright. She didn't have to see her face to know she wasn't feeling alright, the stoop of her stature itself showed her she was somewhat troubled.

"I hope she's okay," Katniss whispered mostly to herself as she watched the elevator doors close.

Freshening up in the ladies room did Katniss a lot of good indeed, at least now she didn't look as nervous as she felt.

"Good afternoon," Katniss greeted the middle- aged woman who was speaking to Willow.

She looked up and peered at Katniss through her glasses which had a long chain of pearls that ran around her neck.

"Ah, you must be this child's mother?" she asked in a far more pleasant tone that what she had used when she spoke to the previous lady.

Katniss smiled at her before reaching to hold one of Willow's hands. "Yes I am. Did anything happen? I had to use the ladies room you see."

"You really shouldn't leave a child so young by herself, Miss-?"

"Everdeen, my name is Katniss Everdeen," Katniss supplied with an apologetic look on her face. "I'm so sorry, I had left her on the sofa over there so the doorman could watch her but apparently she wandered over here," she explained, pointing to the nearby waiting area.

At this time, Willow tugged onto Katniss's white dress at the hem by her knees.

She bent down to her level and looked at her in question. "Yes Willow?"

"I'm sorry mommy. I thought I can ask directions for you," she said with a guilty smile.

Katniss smiled sweetly at her and gave her a hug and carrying her in her arms. "That's okay hon. C'mon, why don't we ask the nice man behind the counter for directions together?"

Willow smiled brightly at Katniss and nodded before turning to the middle- aged woman who had been watching their exchange.

"Nice to meet you," she told the woman in a tiny voice before throwing her arms around Katniss's neck to cover her face.

"Willow's very shy," Katniss explained with a little laugh.

"She's a very sweet girl, and so are you. My name is Effie Trinket by the way, and I apologize for my sternness earlier. A young woman just about your age really got me going before you arrived," the middle- aged woman confessed in apology.

"I'm Katniss Everdeen. It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Trinket, I-" Katniss stopped and smiled awkwardly as the woman started giggling and slapping Katniss playfully in the arm. Never had Katniss seen a woman who looked as strict as this one giggle like a giddy teenager.

"On dear, please call me Effie," she said with a girlish giggle to her tone and holding her hand towards Katniss.

Using her free arm, Katniss held her hand forward and shook Effie's hand while balancing Willow with her other arm.

"A pleasure to meet you Effie," Katniss amended with a smile.

"So, what brings you here to this hotel?" she asked conversationally.

"Well, the rest of my kids are with their fa- friend in one of the suites upstairs. We're heading there to pick them up but we don't know where it is exactly," Katniss explained, tipping her head to the area where half a dozen of elevators were situated, each with a designated wing labeled beside them.

"Oh, you have more that just little Willow?" she asked fondly, stroking the little girl's hair.

"Yes, I have two boys."

"Oh, how lovely!"

XOXO

"We'll get it!" Luke and Rye exclaimed in unison as they immediately dashed for the door.

"I'll go get your bags from the bedroom," Peeta announced, checking his watch before walking off. 'Katniss's right on time.'

Spotting the twin's bags beside the door in the bedroom, Peeta took them in both hands and swiftly left the room and back to the living room. "Boys, are all your things in- What are you doing here?"

Glimmer's brows rose as she looked at Peeta up and down before doing the same to the twins who were openly glaring at her. Obviously they weren't pleased at her arrival.

"You guys going somewhere?" she asked, returning her gaze back at Peeta. "Cute outfits by the way," she added with a smile, nodding towards Peeta and the twin's matching get- up of black caps, white polo shirts beneath black jackets along with black jeans and white sneakers.

Peeta smiled at this, although it was a hesitant smile. He noticed a hint of sarcasm in Glimmer's tone but he couldn't understand why so he decided he must've been imagining it. The woman was smiling after all.

"We're heading out, is there any reason why you wanted to see me for?"

"The interview," she replied simply.

"What interview?" he asked with furrowed brows.

"That interview I had to reschedule because you were so out of it the last time," she said, slightly impatient at his lack of concern and sending an accusing glance towards the twins who were the main reason he got so distracted the last time.

Luke and Rye didn't need an explanation to what they were talking about, they knew Glimmer was somewhat blaming them for something, so they glared even harder back at her.

"I can't," Peeta said curtly, breaking the tension between the three and the twins expressions immediately softened then widened into smug grins.

Glimmer on the other hand…

"What do you mean you can't? We've already reschedule the fist interview," she explained, now showing Peeta how disapproving she was with the look on her face.

"I can't," he repeated. "I already made plans, and I can't cancel it in the last minute. Sorry," he said with an indifferent shrug at her.

"But you-"

Glimmer stopped as the doorbell rang again.

"That must be her," Peeta said, checking his watch. "About time she got here," he muttered.

"We'll get it!" the twins shouted and dashed towards the door yet again.

"Careful!" Peeta shouted towards their retreating backs. "Seriously, one day those two are gonna end up hurt if they keep moving like that," he added to Glimmer in an amused tone.

"One can only wish," she muttered resentfully.

Peeta frowned at her.

"Oh Peeta, you know I was only joking," she added with a smile.

"Mom!"

XOXO

"How are you feeling?" Katniss asked Willow who was running a finger along the swirling design on the white wooden door.

Willow looked up at Katniss and grinned stepping back. "Here they come mommy!" she exclaimed with a giggle.

"Yes indeed," she nodded and giggled lightly as well.

Indeed, they could hear pairs of little feet hitting the floor getting louder as they neared the door.

Within the next few seconds, the door flew open and two identical faces beamed up at her.

"Mom!" Luke and Rye exclaimed, grinning madly. They both took a hold of Katniss's hands and pulled her down for them to plant a kiss each on both cheeks and letting her do the same to them.

"Look who's here too," Katniss said, tipping her head to the side.

"Willow!" they exclaimed before hugging their sister as well.

"Are you okay now?"

"No more check- ups?"

"You missed out a lot!"

"But now we can all play together!"

Willow grinned at her brothers and nodded vigorously at their statement, turning from one to the other.

"Calm down boys," Katniss said, now laughing at how energetic they are. They were even more energetic now that how they usually were before, if that's even possible. "Now, go in and call Peeta, Willow and I will just wait here."

Nodding, they both left in a run.

XOXO

Glimmer froze, looking at the woman at the front door who was talking with the twins. The woman couldn't see her of Peeta from the front door but they had a good enough view from where they stood.

"What's the matter?"

Her head snapped towards Peeta. "I- Is that woman the twin's mother?" she asked, trying to hide the tightness of her voice.

Peeta tensed, and with a frown, he nodded. "Unfortunately, yes."

Glimmer looked at him with furrowed brows. "What do you mean 'unfortunately'?"

"It's a long story. You only met her once years ago so I won't be surprised if you've forgotten. It's been a long time since. Now she's just… an old friend," Peeta spat the last part out and his tone was full of unconcealed resentment.

"But then those kids are-" Peeta gave Glimmer a very hard glare, cutting her off immediately.

"I don't want to talk about it," he hissed just as the twins ran towards them.

"Mom says she and Willow will wait outside Peeta!"

"Come on, let's go!"

Luke and Rye took a hold of their bags, which Peeta was still holding in both hands and started pulling him towards the front door, completely ignoring Glimmer.

"Reschedule that interview. I'll give you a call later," he called back towards her, trying not to laugh at the twins' poor attempts to pull him towards the door.

The frown on Glimmer's face deepened as she watched the three walk towards the front door. It's amazing how Peeta's attitude can completely change for those two kids, and this wouldn't have disturbed her as much as it did now, now that she saw Katniss.

"Katniss Everdeen…" she muttered under her breath as the front door shut to a close behind Peeta.

"Boggs?"

XOXO

"Okay, go hurry Luke," Katniss said before looking up at the floor numbers above the elevator doors. "The elevator's gonna be here in a minute."

Luke nodded without saying a word before dashing back down the wide corridor and towards the door to their suite. Slipping the card key just as Peeta instructed them before, he pulled down the knob and stood stock still just a little into the doorway.

Someone was yelling inside, and the voice was too familiar to not recognize.

XOXO

Glimmer glared hard at her cell phone as if the person on the other line would crumble beneath the look she was giving it before going off yet again in another tirade.

"Look here, you might work directly for Peeta and he might be the one paying you but I'm the one who hired you! You work for both of us!"

"Calm down Glimmer! Listen, he already called me okay? He told me he wont' be needing me around today and he told me I could get the day off. I figure he'll be spending time with those kids again. He can handle not having a bodyguard around okay? Stop worrying!"

"Don't tell me what to do Boggs! Now you listen to me. You either do this or I'll make sure you get fired the first thing tomorrow. Take you pick!"

"Fine! I'll tail him for a few minutes! After I see where he's staying with those kids or whoever he's with, I'll call you back and tell you where he is and that's it! You happy?"

"Thank you!" she shouted sarcastically.

"Why the hell do you want to know anyway? What's it to you where he goes and who he's with?"

"Don't use that tone on me! I'm only concerned for Peeta's wellbeing! He just left the hotel with a wretched woman and it might turn out that those twins brat are his own flesh and blood! How do you think this will affect his reputation? After you tail them I want you to look up the name 'Katniss Everdeen' in every hospital in Los Angeles."

"Are you mad? Do you even know how large Los Angeles is?"

"Then you better get a move on then!" Glimmer shouted yet again, getting more impatient. "And make sure you don't tell anyone else about this plan! Is that clear? Don't give any sort of hint or idea to anyone at all that I'm suspecting that Peeta ever got Everdeen pregnant!"

What about Peeta then?"

There was a loud click. Glimmer stood up and whipped her head around to where the sound came from.

"Hello?"

She walked towards the front door and checked the small kitchen and the guest bathroom along the way, but there was no one there.

"Hello? Glimmer!"

"What?" she shouted.

"What about Peeta? Does he know you're doing all this?"

"No he doesn't. So not a word, especially not to Peeta!"

That said, Glimmer flipped her phone to a close, not waiting to hear another word from Boggs. Glaring hard at the floor, Glimmer started pacing.

"So it wasn't an unusual coincidence at all," she muttered to herself once again, her thoughts reeling. "That little girl downstairs must have been hers too. How can she not be? She looked exactly like her!"

Stopping abruptly, Glimmer tried to calm herself.

She started breathing in and out slowly, trying to acquire total inner peace. That was until images of Peeta and Katniss having a romantic candle- lit dinner with three smug looking kids sitting with them popped into her mind.

"I can't believe this!" she exclaimed almost hysterically before she started pacing yet again.

XOXO

"You sure took your time," Peeta pointed out, smiling.

Luke smiled back at him weakly before stepping into the elevator, which he held open for him with an outstretched arm.

"Where is it?"

"Huh?" Like looked at his brother blankly.

"Where's the last piece of chocolate you went in to get? You said we could all share it with Willow," Rye said with a bemused expression on his face at his brother's unusual lack of attention.

"Oh, I… I ate it."

"Luke, that isn't very nice. Is that what took you so long? You ate it all before coming back out?"

"Sorry mom," he apologized looking somewhat distraught. More distraught that one should be just from getting caught not sharing a piece of chocolate.

"Don't worry, we'll just go out and but more," Peeta cut in with a frown aimed at Katniss who immediately kept silent and looked down.

Luke looked at Peeta then at Katniss with a look that was a mixture of disbelief, understanding, and even anger.

"What's the matter?" a voice whispered into his ear, making him turn around to look at his brother's curious expression.

"A lot. I have loads to tell you," he replied in an even lower whisper before glancing up at the adults. "Later, where mom and Peeta won't hear us…"