Chapter 5
Disclaimer: The Hunger Games belongs to Suzanne Collins
The next couple of weeks the only thing I see are wedding dresses. Prim and my mother excitedly rush downstairs every time Cinna comes by with his sketchpad and fabrics. Madge is there too, occasionally offering some insight, but mostly sitting quietly in the background.
I help Cinna design my dress a little. Even though I'm no good with any of this designing stuff-even though it was supposedly my "talent" after my first Games-Cinna asks for my opinion for each little detail, so I pick whichever way I like best.
When the dress finally comes to life, there are cameras all over my living room, only I'm not wearing the dress I designed with Cinna. Instead, I'm wearing another dress that he made for me. We decided that the groom shouldn't get to see the dress until the day of, and this was the best way to keep the dress a secret.
Peeta takes hold of my hand as we board the hovercraft. We're going to the Capitol, only this time it's not to make an impromptu speech about the success of our rebellion, or to prepare ourselves to fight to the death. It's not a stop on a Victory Tour, where we will eat and party until our stomachs can't handle it. It's to make wedding arrangements.
Some things, like the dress, can be handled back at home. But others, like catering and floral arrangements, require our presence. I don't really care much for all these little details - all I really care about is the dress - but Peeta insisted I come. Since he had had to wait so long for me to finally return his affections, this wedding means more to him than it does to me. To me, it means I will never be alone again. It means I will finally be with the boy with the bread. To him, it means he will finally seal the deal with the girl he had been trying to rope in since he was five. Knowing all this, I can understand why he's excited and giddy about all the wedding preparations - things the bride should traditionally show more interest in. Peeta wants to make this wedding perfect for me, so I humor him. He does so much for me already.
Some of the wedding preparations aren't so bad - especially when it comes to picking a caterer. Peeta and I have so much money we will spare no expense, so we try out all the lavish catering businesses in the Capitol. We taste-test foods from each caterer, which makes me a little less sour on having been guilted onto going on this trip. Peeta laughs at me, explaining to one of the caterers that "my fiance has a fetish for free food."
Of course, despite the pricey catering, Peeta's bakery is going to supply their best pastries, and Peeta demands he be allowed to make the cake himself. His face lit up when he told me he wanted to make the cake, and I knew I couldn't deny him. He kissed me swiftly on the nose, then ran off promising, "This will be the best cake to ever grace your lips." And remembering the frosted cookies and the cake he made for me after our engagement, I know he's not bluffing.
Cinna and I still meet put the finishing touches on the dress, even though Peeta is all smug about it. He thinks he knows what it looks like, even though I forbade him to watch the television special where I showed Panem the decoy wedding dress. I know he tuned in. He knows that I'm not buying into all this wedding-hype, even if I do have that pre-wedding glow. He knows I'm excited not about making this event flawless, but about being able to claim Peeta for myself officially. He thinks that I haven't bought into the tradition of the groom not seeing the dress before the wedding, so I'm hoping it'll be a pleasant surprise when he sees me walk down the aisle in a dress so much more beautiful than the one Panem saw on TV.
"Katniss, what about these?" Peeta asks me, squeezing my hand. I had been holding his hand throughout the whole day, but his presence is like muted comfort. I'm zoning out, not really paying any attention to where I am. Peeta, as usual, does all the talking, and I am just there, only talking when I deem necessary. I don't really care about the different patterns to be made with flowers. I only care about one thing - that they are not like Snow's roses.
I almost scream at Peeta when I see the bouquet of flowers he's pointing at, until I realize they're primroses, not the roses that President Snow reeked of. Suddenly, I'm inching closer to him, missing my sister and my mother back at home. I know that after the wedding Peeta and I will move into our own house in Victor's Village - one we are planning on renovating - but I can't help missing my family. Now I'm thinking about how different life will be without them, even they'll only be a few houses down. How different it'll be with just Peeta and me. I'm used to Peeta caring for me, protecting me. But I'm used to my mother doing the things a mother should do - she had changed after the Games. I still hunt for us, since we are so used to fresh meat, but it's not the same as it was when she was barely alive, and I had to fend for our family. Now Peeta will have to do all those things for me - make me soup when I'm sick, remember where I left my bow, start my bath with oil. Thankfully, he seems up for the task.
"Katniss?" he asks again, smiling nervously at the florist.
I nod. "They're just right," I tell him.
He kisses the top of my head. "Good," he says. "I want everything to be just the way you want it."
Reviews? Meeting the rest of the Mellarks will be in the next chapter or the one after that :) And there's still the matter of who Gale's date will be to the wedding... ;)