Chapter Five
Sunday was their lazy day. If Katniss was lucky, Caleb slept until around eight. And even on the days when he woke up early, he climbed into bed with her and cuddled for a while before he asked about breakfast.
Today was a cuddle day. Those days were getting fewer and farther between, so she cherished the cuddle days. She sleepily kissed his temple as she gathered him close. She dozed back off. After a while, he shook her shoulder gently.
"Mama, I'm hungry." He whispered.
She rolled over and stretched. "Flip the switch on the coffee pot and I'll be right in there."
"Okay." He rolled out of bed and bounced out of the room.
Katniss shook her head and moved at much more sluggish pace. She shuffled into the kitchen and ruffled Caleb's hair. She stuck a tea bag into two cups and then gathered the pan and ingredients for omelets. He watched her with interest as she expertly cooked some sausage in another pan and made two perfect omelets.
They sat together in front of the TV, each with their food and a cup of tea. They watched cartoons for a while after they ate, lounging on the couch. Caleb got up and took out his coloring book and crayons and got to work on a masterpiece. He was really good at staying inside the lines, Katniss proudly said to anyone who would listen. There were many coloring books completed and put away in drawers to take out and show off his progress to all their family and friends.
She dozed a little and woke with a start when her phone started ringing. She looked at the screen and saw Finnick's number.
"Hey, Finnick."
"Hi, Katniss. How are you?" He croaked.
"I feel better than you sound." She rubbed her eyes and yawned.
"I don't know what has happened, but the Odairs are all sick. I'm just giving you a heads-up. Gale says he and Prim are fine and same with Peeta and Callie. Might just be us. And it might just be a 24-hour thing, so I may be better for tomorrow. But if not, could you run by and get Callie on your way in?"
"Sure. Just keep me posted. Jason's your back-up at the pool, right?"
"Yeah. He knows what to do if I can't make it. I'll let you guys know."
"Just rest up. Especially Annie." She hung up and asked Caleb, "Do you feel okay?"
He thought a moment and then nodded.
Katniss nodded. "I am too. Finnick and his family are all sick. So if you start to feel bad, let me know."
"If I get sick tomorrow, can I stay with Aunt Prim?"
She chuckled. "I think she would like that. She likes taking care of you. But if you're not sick, you're going to camp and you'll work on your skills some more. You're starting to get the arrows to stay."
"Because I can pull it back easier now." He said proudly.
"And it's only been a week. Imagine how much better you'll be next week. And the next and the next until you're as old as I am."
"Mama, can I try for the Olympics?" He asked with wide eyes.
She chuckled and smoothed his hair away from his forehead. "If that's what you want to do, we'll work on it." She tapped his nose. "Whatever you do, you'll be great, kid. I know it."
"How do you know it?"
"Because you're just like me."
He smiled and curled onto her lap. "I like being like you, Mama."
"And I like you being like me, Caleb." She kissed his forehead. "How about some lunch? I'll make up a picnic and we can go out back and hang out with Lady for a while."
"Okay! Can I go out with Lady now?"
"Go for it!" She sat him on the floor.
She watched him pull on his shoes, which she knew he would promptly kick off once outside, and run out to the back yard. He stepped up to the goat tied up in the corner and made quick work loosening the knot. The goat ran free and found a new bit of grass to nibble. Caleb chased after her. They bounded and played together like both were young, despite Lady being in an advanced age for a goat at fifteen. Katniss was sure the poor thing could go at any time. She had already stopped giving milk a few years before.
She brought out sandwiches and chips and a can of soda for the two of them to share and some carrots for Lady. She enjoyed munching them while her humans consumed their sandwiches. Then Caleb and the goat played some more while Katniss watched happily in the hot summer afternoon.
Peeta didn't open the bakery until noon on Sundays and closed at four instead of six. And he usually was the only worker that was constant. All his other staff rotated the weekends. Madge was the manager. She and Delly, as assistant manager, ran a tight ship. They helped keep all the other tasks in check while Peeta spent a majority of his time decorating cakes. It was those two he left in charge of everything when he needed to be gone. He so rarely did leave that it wasn't something they had to do much. He always made sure to make it to all Callie's school functions. And he often donated cookies and cakes he took his own time to make. He felt it made up for not being able to volunteer as much as some other parents, though he was there more than some.
Delly, who had always had a crush on him and was very transparent about it, was helping today. He made sure to keep her at arm's-length and made it clear that he wasn't interested in anything more than friendship. She came into the back where he was bent over the massive cake he'd been talking about with Annie and Katniss the day before. She smiled and gave a long whistle. "That's impressive."
He looked up and blinked a few times before he was able to smile back. He had been in "The Zone" as he called it and wasn't expecting interruptions. "Thanks."
Callie came in the back door and rubbed her eyes. "Do you need my help today, Dad? Hi, Delly."
"Hey, Callie." Delly said back.
Peeta smiled affectionately at his daughter. "Want to learn some new decorating techniques? I could pull out a few trial cakes if you want."
"Sure!" She took her apron off the hook in the corner and put it on.
"I'm sorry, Delly, did you need something?" Peeta asked as he took a cake out of the cooler and sat it on a revolving pedestal.
"Just letting you know it's kind of dead." She said. "Which is kind of odd for this time of day."
"I'm sure it will pick up. Church could be running late." He handed Callie an empty piping bag and some frosting to fill it. He let her do that while he talked with Delly. "How's the new kid doing? Posey, right?"
"Yes. She'll be all right, I think."
"Good." He thought a moment. "Hm."
"What?" Delly asked.
"Her last name, what is it again? Hawthorne?"
Delly nodded. "She said her older brother runs that camp Callie goes to. And she has two other brothers. Dad died before she was born. Mom perpetually single. She talked my ear off."
"You mean you let her get a word in?" Peeta asked in mock horror.
She giggled. "Well, I can be nice sometimes."
The young woman in question stepped into the back. "Hi, there are customers asking questions and I don't have all the answers."
"I'll see if I have any." Delly waved to the Mellarks and followed Posey out the door.
Peeta turned to Callie who was going over the cake in a series of lines. Most of them were straight. He smiled. "Good job, kid. A real chip off the old block."
"Or a slice from the same cake." She grinned. "I'm getting better, right?"
He nodded. "Much better. I remember when you could barely even hold the piping bag right. Now look at you handling it like a pro." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple. "We're going to practice swagging."
She watched as he demonstrated the technique. She tried, but the line kept breaking before she could rejoin the tip of the bag to the cake. She made a face and kept trying until finally she got one. It was a very low swoop, but it was a start. She did it again, this time it was really short and wider than the previous one.
Peeta nodded. "Keep trying, Cal. I got work to do." He squeezed her shoulder and went back to the wedding cake.
They both worked in silence for a long time. Delly drifted in and out to get more pastries from the cooler and on the reserve shelves, a couple other bakers came in to ask questions and drop off new product, and the pair of decorators continued to work.
Callie eventually let out a triumphant whoop and dropped her piping bag on the table. She did a happy dance and then pointed. "Look, Dad, I made five in a row the same size."
Peeta sat down his own bag and stretched before he walked over to look at her cake. He turned the pedestal around and around. He nodded. "Good. This deserves a break." He flexed his hand and inclined his head toward the front of the store. "Cookies?"
"I think so." She laughed and walked with him into the main room that now buzzed with customers.
Delly waved to him. "Oh, I was just about to come get you. Someone is here to ask about a cake."
Peeta took the clipboard off the hook where they kept it. He gave his daughter a stern look. "Get yourself a cookie and then go home and be a kid for a few hours, okay?" He tapped Callie's nose. "Love you, Cal."
"Love you, too, Dad."
He smiled affectionately as she picked a treat from the counter and greeted Posey. He stepped toward the woman Delly was talking to and introduced himself and got to work. Callie slid into the seat beside him. He nudged her shoulder and introduced her to the woman. They continued the consultation and she left.
Peeta turned to his daughter, "I told you to go be a kid."
She shrugged. "I want to learn from you."
He smiled and pressed his forehead to hers. "You should want to play and be lazy not learn how to decorate cakes and talk to customers."
"But doing this is fun for me. I don't want to be lazy."
He sat back and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "More like me than I thought."
"Is that a bad thing?" She asked with a teasing grin.
"Not at all." He leaned in and said softly, "Makes me hurt a little less."
"Because you miss Mom?"
He nodded and tapped her nose. "Let's blow this popsicle stand and go see a movie."
She hopped up and pulled on his shirt. "Yes, please! Can we go see Spy?"
"Can we go see something not rated R? You can go to that one with the Finnicks. I'm your father and we will see something a little more family friendly."
She heaved a dramatic sigh. "Fine."
"You'll love it."
They headed out the door to the house out back to change out of their frosting-covered clothes.
He picked up is phone as it rang. "Finnick? I was just talking about you."
"Hey, man." His friend said on the other end. "I'm still feeling rotten. I don't know if I'll be better tomorrow, but if not Katniss said she can come get Callie."
"No problem, dude. Just rest up." He went into his bedroom and picked a new shirt. He changed as his friend talked.
"I'm really sick. Throwing my guts up. And my stomach is doing some crazy stuff."
"Whoa, TMI!" Peeta chuckled. "I get it. Sick happens."
"I'll let you know in the morning how I am." Finnick promised. "Make sure you're presentable."
He stepped into the living room. "For you? Sorry, man, you're cute and all, but you're also married and I'm not about breaking up a perfectly good marriage."
"Cute?" Finnick asked indignantly. "I may be on my deathbed, but I am way more than cute. I am devastatingly handsome, even on my worst days."
Peeta chuckled. "Okay, Finnick, calm down. Get some rest, you handsome devil."
"That's much better. Bye."
Peeta shook his head and hung up his phone. He noticed Callie watching him curiously. "What?"
"Are you gay?" She asked.
He smiled and shook his head. "No. But I don't think I would say no right away if a guy asked me out."
"So what does that make you?"
"A decent person." He clapped her on the shoulder. "I like girls. I've always liked girls. But they don't matter. Do you know what I like more than that?"
She shook her head.
"Being your dad."
She smiled. "And I like being your daughter." She wrapped her arms around his middle and squeezed him as hard as she could.
He lifted her off the floor and squeezed her just as hard. He kissed her forehead and sat her back down. "Let's go see a movie."