Banner by the amazing akai-echo

Day 17: An Everlark/Christmas drabble

Christmas Cookies

Based on the gorgeous fanart by mrpink627 (click here for the post)

Rated M

Sophia and Rye could barely contain their excitement as they frosted the Christmas cookies. Sophia, at nine years old, had gotten very good at her technique - she had a steady hand like her father and a gift for drawing which translated well in the kitchen when it came to decorating the cakes and cookies from her family's bakery.

Rye, on the other hand, was a matter altogether different and somewhat more desperate. He was four and, though he understood the general principle of frosting and decorating, missed the more important subtleties of cookie decorating, the first of which was to actually make sure the frosting made it onto the cookies and not into his little mouth.

Katniss was more inclined to forgive the extra portions of sugar that her children got into when their father wasn't looking. But Peeta, being the sterner parent, was more vigilant, knowing all too well the consequences of overindulging in sweets from having grown up in a bakery.

"My tummy…" Rye complained when he'd snuck yet another spoonful of frosting.

"Awww! Up you go, honey," Katniss said as she scooped the little one into her arms and carried him toward the stairs. She paused to let Peeta give the baby of the house a good night kiss.

"Nick a little too much, did you buddy? Mom'll give you a little something for that and your tummy ache will go right away," he said, to which the little boy nodded solemnly, clearly hoping for the relief promised by his parents.

"Don't fall asleep. We have a few things to do yet," Peeta winked at Katniss as he said this, his eyes full of mischief.

She raised an eyebrow archly at her husband. "I wouldn't dream of it," she tossed casually over her shoulder as she took to the stairs.

Peeta nodded imperceptibly before turning his attention to his daugher, who would be a harder one to contain tonight. It was Christmas Eve and he knew she'd struggle to fall asleep, fighting to wait for Santa to arrive.

"Do you think he'll like these cookies, Daddy?" she asked as she arranged the green and red frosted cookies on the plate. Some were decorated as Christmas trees, some were wreaths. All were made by her hand.

"He won't be able to help himself. These cookies are beautiful," he said with real pride. She was already showing the same artistic gift as her father and her work was already miles ahead of the other children in her class.

"Can I just wait up and see? He won't know!" she asked, though she rubbed her eyes in exhaustion.

Peeta shook his head, handing her the plate. "No, pumpkin, Santa would know. He knows everything," he said, kissing the top of her head. "Let's set up the cookies so we can get you into bed. The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner morning will come and you'll have your gifts."

He helped Sophia lay out the green table cloth with white trim that her grandmother had given her for her first Christmas. She smoothed it out, her chubby hands still small enough that they reminded Peeta of when she was a baby, how thick her hands and feet had been, and the way he'd counted every finger and toe to confirm what he already knew - that his daughter was as close to perfection as a child could get.

"Daddy, please, can I stay up? Please?" she begged as he led her up the stairs.

"Sophia…" he said gently. When he was growing up, there were no celebrations of any kind. And yet, he could appreciate her impatience and could not find it in his heart to be impatient with her.

"Okay, okay," she said, yawning widely and giving no further resistance when Peeta helped her wash and dress for bed.

When Peeta returned to the living room, he found Katniss wrapping the last of the Christmas gifts. He helped her gather the scraps of paper that lay beneath the tree and toss them in the rubbish bin.

"She didn't want to go to bed, did she?" Katniss asked as she arranged the packages beneath the tree.

"She tried to stall but she was too exhausted," Peeta smiled, remember her small yawns and the way she collapsed the moment her head hit the pillow.

"She's persistent, that one," Katniss said, pulling a medium-sized, red box out from under the tree.

Peeta took it, glancing at the clock. It was a few minutes after midnight so he took out a much smaller box, cradling it in his hand. "She reminds me of another stubborn, brown-haired girl I know."

"Oh, come on, bread boy. You know you don't mind my stubbornness," she said handing him the box. "Merry Christmas," she said, kissing him when he took it in hand.

"You're right, I don't mind that at all. In fact, there's not much about you that I mind, except maybe your scowl," he teased, provoking the very look he had just commented on. Laughing, he handed her his smaller box. "Merry Christmas, Katniss, though I think that's more a gift for me than for you."

"If it's another elf outfit, I swear…" Katniss said as she pulled the bow off the box.

"No way. It's even better!" He continued to chuckle as he opened the box, pulling out an assortment of expensive acrylic paints and paintbrushes. He smiled widely, examining the fine bristles, already imagining all the wonderful paintings he'd be able to create with them.

He looked up, ecstasy written on his face to find Katniss holding his gift from the tip of her fingers before his nose.

"Really?' she said, the look on her face revealing that she was not as enchanted with her gift as he was with his.

"You don't like it?" he asked, watching the way she tried to untangle the silky, red material.

"The elf outfit was better…" she complained but the corners of her mouth pulled up. Peeta pulled it from her hands and unraveled it. It was a tiny pair of underwear with a reindeer design and a strategically placed reindeer nose.

"Wait, you're missing something…" he pulled out two soft, round, red pads with tiny, suggestive bulbs at the center.

"Peeta Mellark, you are out of your mind! I'm not putting nipple pasties on!" she threw them back in the box, crossing her arms as she shook her head at him. "You just get worse the older you get."

Peeta shifted over next to her, pulling her to him. She pretended to resist but he felt her melt the minute he pressed his lips against her neck. "That's because every day I spend with you is better than the day before."

Katniss groaned, rolling her eyes in disbelief. "You're something else. I can't believe you just said that. Is that my only gift?" she complained.

"The only one we can't open in front of the kids," he said, capturing her earlobe between his teeth. He dragged his hand along her leg, feeling her shapely leg beneath the thin material of her pajamas. "Come on, live a little. You don't have to do anything. I'll put it on you," he whispered in her ear.

Katniss shivered as his hand slid under her top, cupping her full breasts, running the pad of his thumb over her nipple.

"I don't even fit in it," she said, scowling down at her belly. Peeta knew she was thinking of the scars and stretch marks that having two children and being burnt during the war had done to her stomach.

"You are sexiest woman in the world to me," he said, slowly unbuttoning her shirt and flinging it away, leaving kisses from her ear to her collar bone, flicking his tongue at the base of her throat. Katniss moaned when his lips skirted the tops of her exposed breasts, the taste of her skin directly connected to the twitching in his pants. There was nothing in all the spices and sweets that he had tasted that could approach the effect Katniss's natural flavor had on him.

Pushing her onto the red skirt of the Christmas tree, Peeta tugged off her pajama pants and underwear, kissing the skin as it became exposed. Katniss writhed, her body strumming with heat and desire as he slipped the thin material up over her legs, and hips. He leaned back, admiring his handiwork.

"You're gorgeous," he hissed, ripping his t-shirt and boxers off, and practically pouncing on her, which made Katniss laugh so loud, he had to cover her mouth to keep her from waking the children.

"Shhhh...quiet!" he said as he moved his hand and covered her mouth with his. He ground down into Katniss, his stiff erection pressed against the nose of the reindeer. Glancing down, he saw that he had activated the blinker. Katniss, who had been sucking on the spot where his neck connected to his shoulder, glanced down also and caught the rhythmic blinking of Rudolph's nose and burst into laughter again.

"Stop!" she cried out. "I can't...I can't fuck if my crotch is lit up!"

"Be quiet, woman…" Peeta hissed, moving the thin piece of material aside and slipping inside of her with one thrust. She gasped in surprise, and then moaned as he began to move in and out of her. The mood quickly changed as Peeta wrapped hers leg around his waist, opening her to him so that he became lost in that rhythm they knew so well, a rhythm they had perfected after so many years of being together. Katniss quickly ignored the bright red, blinking nose and reached behind to grab Peeta's ass with both hands, pulling him as close as their bodies could get. They rocked together, his cock pummeling all the right spots and he watched as she climbed higher and higher until she reached behind her, her back bowed from an orgasm so powerful, Peeta had no choice but to let go and come also, muffling his cries in her shoulder.

As he shuddered from the last of his release, he heard a loud crash that caused him to whip his head up in surprise.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Katniss said as she showed Peeta the bunched green table skirt that she held, balled in a fist in her hand, the pearl of her wedding ring reflecting the periodic glinting of the Christmas lights on the tree. Peeta glanced behind her to see the table on its side, a shattered plate and a disarray of cookies on the floor.

"Ah, NOW you've done it!" whispered Peeta, listening carefully to the sounds of the house.

"Do you think they h-?"

At that moment a small voice, clear as a sleigh bell, rang through the living room.

"Santa…?"

"Oh, you're on the naughty list!" hissed Katniss from behind the tree, searching for anything to cover herself while Peeta scrambled to shove the bits of broken plates and cookies under the tree skirt.

"Why me…?" he said, shoving a cookie into his mouth as Katniss crawled around the tree, conveniently hidden behind the sofa. He didn't have that option - his prosthetic would just pound against the floor, making as much noise as the shattered cookie plate.

Katniss signaled him to stay put. On her hunter's feet, she crept from behind the sofa, pulling her discarded t-shirt over her head, and slipped into the hall.

"Sophia?" she called just as the little girl neared the tree. "Honey, is everything okay?"

"Mommy! Mommy! I think Santa ate the cookies! Santa..." The little girl bounced excitedly, then froze in place. The distraction had afforded Peeta those precious moments to dress and emerge from behind the tree. His relief at having been saved from being found in an embarrassing and possibly mentally scarring situation by his daughter was short lived. When he caught sight of what had made Sophia freeze in mid-sentence, there was nothing he could do except stare with mouth wide open as Katniss' face turned white in horror.

"Mommy, what's that on your panties?"