a/n: Came back to the real world from vacation and just hit 200 reviews! Woo hoo! I was able to write on the plane a bit (thank God for Word to Go on my Kindle Fire that's all I've got to say!) and finished up the rest of the chapter yesterday! I hope you all enjoy Zale as much as I am enjoying writing him.
I've tried to do the original story proud with this somewhat of an original character since we only ever knew him as a baby in a picture Katniss puts between the pages of the memory book. Being as Finnick was my favorite secondary character in the series, I felt it would only be right to let him and the family he left behind play a part in Katniss' decision to have a family with Peeta.
I wondered since I read the end of Mockingjay what it was that caused Katniss to change her mind after so many years saying no to having children and so this is my take on how that happened! Enjoy! Writing the end to this chapter was also really helpful in killing time while I waited for the new Catching Fire trailer which ROCKED! I sincerely cannot wait until November!
Chapter 32
When we were young, oh, oh, we did enough
When it got cold, ooh, ooh, we bundled up
I can't be told, ah, ah, it can't be done
"Stubborn Love" -The Lumineers
One of the first things that Peeta and I learned about having a child in the house was that the term 'day off' means virtually nothing to them.
At almost 6 o'clock on the dot, Zale came whirling into our room like a small, green-eyed tornado and leapt onto the end of our bed with a boisterous,
"Good Morning! When can we leave for the lake?!"
Peeta rolled over with a groan from where he was lying on his side of the bed face down in his pillow and I blinked my eyes rapidly after the initial startle I received from being woken up so suddenly.
Luckily Peeta and I had both worn pajamas to bed that night which was not typical in the summer months when Peeta preferred to keep the air conditioning off at night and leave our bedroom windows wide open as we slept. I quickly realized that pajamas would be necessary for the remainder of Zale's visit if he was going to be bursting into our bedroom every morning.
"Woah, hey…first of all," I grumbled and sat up with my legs tented under the sheets so that I could lean my elbows on my knees and talk to him.
"Knocking before you enter closed doors with married people behind them is appreciated here…" I said as Peeta sat up beside me and leaned back against the headboard nodding in agreement with me.
Zale's ears reddened indicating that he had at least some idea of the birds and the bees which I was thankful for.
"…and secondly," Peeta continued for me as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
"It's 6 a.m. on a Sunday. This is the only day all week that I really get to sleep in, so we're going to go to the lake a little later, okay?" he said raising his eyebrows at Zale who pouted slightly but nodded.
I could tell right away that Zale was uncomfortable with Peeta speaking to him, but instead of telling us that he was upset, Zale just leaned over and picked up Buttercup Two who had followed the sounds of commotion to our bedroom and had just hopped up onto the bed to receive his morning snuggles.
Peeta slid back down under the covers with a yawn and I chuckled softly and climbed out of bed, motioning for Zale to follow me.
"Come on," I whispered stroking a hand over the boy's messy bed head as he gingerly climbed off of the bed to avoid bothering Peeta any more than he already seemed to think he had.
"We'll go feed the kitten and I'll take out the waffle maker for breakfast, how about that?" I asked pulling a light robe on over my nightgown as Zale trailed a little behind me holding the kitten to his chest.
At the top of the steps I placed a hand on his shoulder when he looked back at the bedroom door sadly.
"Hey, he's not angry with you sweetie, he's just tired." I explained gently and Zale cast his eyes to the floor and he shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably.
"Peeta works very hard in the bakery all week to get to sleep in on Sundays. He's not mad at you, I promise okay?" I asked and Zale nodded but didn't lift his eyes to me until we were at the kitchen door downstairs.
"Sorry," he mumbled and placed the kitten on the floor as we entered the kitchen together. "I'm used to my mom doing all kinds of stuff with me early in the morning since…well…because she doesn't have to go to work or anything like that…" he trailed off and didn't say more as I handed him the pitcher of milk from the fridge so that he could pour it into the cat bowl on the floor.
Annie, like the rest of us Hunger Games victors who had survived the war, was offered the opportunity to have all of her needs and wants met for the remainder of her life. Most of us had been too proud to accept this gift but in Annie's case, I think we all felt it was the least they could do for her as she was already emotionally damaged with a child on the way who was the son of another former victor who was also a dead war hero.
"I know, Zale. Peeta does too, he just wanted to make it clear to you why we're going to wait a little to go to the lake. He wasn't angry with you." I said kissing his forehead as he handed me back the pitcher of milk. "We both know that you're just really excited to be here and to go to the lake." I assured him and Zale seemed to perk up at this.
"Oh, ok…cool." He said with a shrug and smiled slightly. "Can I help you make the waffles too?" he asked and I chuckled at the eager look on his face when I turned from grabbing a large mixing bowl from under the counter.
"Sure, you remember where Haymitch's chicken coop is?" I asked and he nodded excitedly. "Go grab me about twelve eggs if you can find that many. Oh, and stick your head in the house and say hi to Haymitch while you're there. If he's not in a bad mood, you can ask him to come over for breakfast."
Zale smiled and chuckled softly. "Haymitch is always in a bad mood…" he said looking toward the kitchen door that led to the porch.
"Well, I trust your judgement so you make the call. If he's grouchier than usual, throw an egg at him." I whispered playfully and Zale laughed.
"Okay!" He called over his shoulder as he grabbed a basket for the eggs and bolted out the door.
The kitten startled and almost put his face fully into the bowl of milk. I raised my eyebrows at him when he looked at me and meowed.
"Yeah, I know; kids." I shrugged and he pranced over to me so that I could pet him good morning.
Zale returned twenty minutes later with Haymitch grumping along behind him and placed the basket of eggs on the counter beside the stove for me while I was prepping the waffle maker.
"Thank you." I said with a wink and Zale cut his eyes at Haymitch with a grin as he stood beside me waiting for further instructions on how to help with breakfast.
I turned to the stove for a moment where bacon was sizzling in a pan as Haymitch dropped into his usual seat at our table. He grumbled something about being extra hungry since we didn't call him over for dinner the night before when Zale arrived. By the looks of him, I assumed he wouldn't have been conscious for the meal anyway.
"You know when we eat." I said casually as I showed Zale how to crack eggs gently against the bowl and add them to the ingredients already in the bowl.
"Besides, I told you at breakfast yesterday that we were going to be picking Zale up." I explained patiently as if to a child.
"You just don't listen to most of what I say to you so I can see where you might have missed that piece of information." I smirked and Haymitch scratched the back of his head and grumbled something about not remembering me saying that which only backed up my assertion that he didn't listen to me.
Zale giggled while he stirred the waffle mix abd Haymitch asked where Peeta was.
"It's Sunday, old man." I said glancing over my shoulder with a smile to temper the 'old man' rib.
"He's still in bed but he'll probably be down in the next half hour or so though so don't drink all the coffee." I warned as he tipped the carafe over his cup for the second time since he'd sat down.
"He can make more." Haymitch grunted and I rolled my eyes.
"So what are you doing with the little fella today? Lake's probably nice and cool." He suggested and Zale nodded excitedly.
"We are going to the lake! Could we eat there and stay over night, Katniss?! Are you gonna come too, Haymitch?" Zale asked and even Haymitch couldn't help smiling at his excitement.
"Nah, I uh…limit myself to about a one mile radius around the Victor's Village, kid. But you go and have fun." He said with a wink just as Peeta came around the corner into the kitchen in a pair of jean cut-offs that touched just below his knees and a pale green t-shirt.
He was still barefoot which told me he wasn't yet ready to leave but he looked more awake than when Zale had woken us up.
I was putting a large fluffy waffle and some bacon down in front of Haymitch when I saw Peeta and frowned.
"Peet, you could have slept longer." I said quietly as Zale scurried over to his seat and sat down quietly. I noticed that he wouldn't look at Peeta, instead he focused on putting butter and syrup on his waffle.
Peeta yawned as he poured himself a cup of coffee and went to the table.
"No, it's fine. I'm up." He said and exchanged grunted good mornings with Haymitch.
When he sat down, he noticed Zale's demeanor and shot me a questioning glance. I nodded toward Zale and mouthed for Peeta to say something to him and by the look he gave me, I could tell he knew why Zale was so unchcaracteristically quiet.
"Morning again, Mr. Odair." He said reaching over to muss Zale's hair who looked up at Peeta uncertainly.
Watching how Zale reacted to men brought into sharp focus just how little day to day contact he had with them. I could see in the way he shifted uncomfortably in his chair as Peeta spoke to him what Annie meant when she told us he needed to be around a man more. I had also suspected that Annie might have started seeing someone and wanted Zale to get used to the idea of another man in his mother's life, but since I hated people interfering in my personal life, I wasn't about to ask Annie about her own.
"Hey," Peeta whispered leaning over toward Zale. "You gonna challenge Katniss to a race at the lake today?" he winked and Zale smiled slightly and nodded.
"Good, cause you know I love to see her lose since she thinks she's the best swimmer around these parts." He teased and I pretended to not hear what they were saying as I made a waffle each for myself and Peeta.
I caught Peeta's eye again over Zale's head and we both smiled at each other, happy that the tension had been broken up a little bit.
"So are we gonna stay overnight at the cabin or come back here?" Zale asked around a mouthful of waffle which he washed down with a gulp of milk.
"We're coming back here tonight, probably after we have dinner at the cabin." I answered as I set Peeta's plate down and leaned over to kiss him good morning quickly. He placed a hand on my hip over my robe gently as he kissed me back and I set a plate down for myself so that I could join all of my 'boys' at the table to eat.
Zale loved to stay at the cabin when he and Annie visited because it was so close to the largest available water source in our part of District 12 so I decided we had to find a night that week to stay at the cabin with Zale.
"Peeta is going to take you to the bakery with him for the day tomorrow while I go back to the cabin and pick some vegetables and fruits for the rest of the week since we obviously need to keep ourselves well stocked with such a hungry young man in the house." I smiled and Zale giggled.
I couldn't help but notice the way Haymitch was watching Peeta, Zale and I interact. After knowing him for so long, I could tell exactly what he was thinking and hoped that he would keep it to himself at least until we were alone. He'd been after me about having kids with Peeta even more frequently than Peeta had over the years. It was obvious to everyone that Peeta deserved to be a father, I just hoped that I could have as much faith in my own ability to parent as I had in Peeta's so that I could have a family with him one day.
"I'm done eating, can I go put my bathing suit on now?" He asked jumping up from his seat and taking his dishes to the sink before turning to look at Peeta and I expectantly.
"Sure, go ahead." I said and Zale grinned and bounded out of the room. "We're leaving in half an hour so find something else to do until then!" I called after him and Zale answered with something I couldn't quite make out but included Buttercup Two so I assumed he would keep himself busy with the kitten until Peeta and I were ready to go.
I turned back to my breakfast with a smile and a shake of my head to find Haymitch grinning at me like an idiot. I begged him with me eyes not to say anything, but it's a rare occasion that Haymitch passes up the opportunity to embarrass me.
"Well, don't you three just make the perfect family picture." He said and leaned over to whisper loudly to Peeta.
"You better hurry her upstairs quick, boy while she's got babies on the brain. You know it won't last long so you need to…strike while the iron is hot as it were." He winked and Peeta frowned.
"Don't be crude, Haymitch." He said around a mouthful of waffle. "Don't you have something better to do with your time this morning besides sitting in my kitchen eating all my food and embarrassing my wife?" he asked and I smirked at Haymitch who rolled his eyes and having his fun for the morning effectively killed.
"Fine, see if I help you out anymore." He huffed and stood patting his full stomach as he headed for the door.
Peeta glanced at Haymitch's pile of dishes still on the table and made a face of exasperation as he cleared his throat to get Haymitch's attention.
"Hey, you know even the 11-year-old can clear his own plate from the table without being asked." He said and Haymitch didn't even turn around as he opened the door and went out.
"Good for him." He called over his shoulder and Peeta and I didn't even flinch as the door slammed shut.
I shook my head with a smile as Peeta stood to clear Haymitch's spot. He glanced out into the hallway, probably to make sure Zale wasn't there, before he placed Haymitch's stuff in the sink and rinsed it off.
"I didn't hurt his feelings too bad, did I?" he asked softly as he opened the dishwasher and placed the plates inside.
I looked up from my breakfast and watched Peeta carefully for a moment. He was doing well keeping his tone even but I could see that his back and neck were tense and his brow was knit in the way it got when he knew he was in trouble with me for something.
"Who? Haymitch?" I asked with a grin but quickly realized Peeta was genuinely concerned about hurting Zale when he raised his eyebrows at me.
"He was a little upset." I admitted, not wanting to lie to him because I knew he would be able to tell.
"Nothing I couldn't handle. You know it was just because he's not used to being scolded by a man, Peeta." I said softly and sipped my orange juice.
Peeta nodded slowly and leaned back against the counter folding his arms over his chest with a sigh. He obviously still felt bad about upsetting Zale but I didn't say anything more since I knew he'd likely spend the restof the week making it up to him.
"When you have him at the bakery tomorrow you should try and talk to him and see if you can get him to open up to you a little." I suggested trying to change the subject as I finished eating and took my plate to the sink to rinse.
"You know that Annie would really appreciate it. I think she's worried about Zale growing up without a dad." I said and walked over to stand beside Peeta after placing my dishes in the washer.
He reached out with one arm which he hooked around my waist and pulled me into his arms. He looked off out the kitchen window for a long moment and then smiled slightly and looked down into my face.
"Mmm…I think she has a boyfriend and hasn't brought him around Zale yet cause she's afraid of how he'll react…" Peeta murmured and leaned down to kiss me when I put my hands flat on his chest.
"Me too!" I exclaimed with an excited slap of both my hands onto his chest which caused Peeta to hiss in pain. "Ooo! Sorry! But I thought that too!" I whispered sharply and rubbed Peeta's chest as I continued.
"I thought so last night when he got all flustered seeing us cuddle and when I told him he couldn't just open our door this morning without knocking first." I said with a nod and then pointed between Peeta's eyes.
"Speaking of which, we should probably make sure we go to bed in pajamas this week while he's with us…" I whispered remembering my thought from earlier when Zale first entered our bedroom.
Peeta stiffened and frowned down at me. "But…but what if we want to…" he widened his eyes and looked me over suggestively.
"I don't think that's a very good idea, Peet. I mean he's in the bedroom right next to ours…" I mumbled and reached up to kiss him softly.
I could see his point being as we hadn't had sex in a little over 2 weeks, but I also didn't think it was exactly appropriate to do so with our friend's 11-year-old son a wall away.
Peeta sighed and kissed me back. I groaned when, like a typical guy, telling him no only made him want it more and Peeta deepened the kiss as he pulled me flush against him.
"You've done fine the last two weeks without it, I think you can manage one more." I argued even as we continued to kiss against the counter comfortably.
We pulled away reluctantly when we heard Zale thumping his way down the stairs and hallway. We both smiled at him when he appeared in the kitchen doorway grinning.
"I'm ready!" he announced and picked up the kitten who had followed him into the room. Zale was dressed in a green bathing suit and a tight green sleeveless shirt that had a shiny quality to it. I assumed that meant he was supposed to wear it while swimming. He had a pair of sandals on his feet which I immediately deemed inappropriate for our long trek through the woods.
"Nice footwear…" I teased and walked over to him. "Not so practical for walking to the lake though. Can you wear the shoes you had on last night?" I asked and Zale shrugged as if he couldn't see what the big deal was.
"Yeah, no problem." He said turning and racing back out the door and up the stairs.
I shook my head and laughed, looking over at Peeta who was looking at the ceiling smiling. His face reminded me once again just how much he longed for children and I heard that little voice in my head again asking me if it would be so bad to have a little child running around who looked like the two of us and hopefully had Peeta's personality.
For as long as I had been turning Peeta down when he asked about children, I had spent just as much time questioning myself as to whether I was being selfish by not giving him the one and only thing he had ever really asked me for.
Having Zale in the house for less than 24 hours had already stirred up some feelings inside me that I didn't quite want to put a name to.
"Come on," I said reaching out to grab Peeta's hand to pull him out of his reverie. "We better get ready too before he leaves without us." I grinned and tugged him along with me upstairs to change.
By the time we reached the lake, Zale was practically bursting out of his skin with excitement. He kicked his shoes off in the direction of the cabin porch and took off for the water. We didn't need to give any warnings about water safety as true to his District 4 upbringing, Zale had spent just as much of his life so far in the water as he did on dry land.
"Maybe we could bring him back to stay the night later on this week. I don't think he's stayed at the cabin overnight for quite a few years." I said and Peeta shrugged as he pulled his shirt over his head and removed his shoes.
He checked his sport prosthetic that he used for swimming and running when he worked out to make sure it didn't have any gaps or holes in it before heading off toward the water after Zale.
"Sure, how about Saturday night? I just need to be back for the baking class but maybe he'd like to do that with us Sunday before he leaves?" Peeta suggested as he watched me remove my clothes so that I was standing in my bathing suit. He looked me over appreciatively as he backed toward the edge of the lake slowly.
"Behave." I said sternly as he reached the water's edge but kept his eyes on me.
While a devilish smile was stretching across Peeta's face, Zale snuck quietly through the shallows to come up behind him. Peeta had just enough time to realize what was going on when he saw a corner of my mouth twitch up, but not enough time to avoid Zale's attack.
The boy lunged easily out of the water onto Peeta's back and wrestled him down into the shallows as they both laughed and carried on together.
"Go easy on him Zale! He's getting old!" I called as I walked into the water a little ways down from them and swam out into deeper water to swim laps.
I kept an eye on the boys as I swam and once again felt that tugging in my heart as I watched them together.
I knew that part of it was that I was happy to see Zale doing guy things but I was becoming even more certain that another part of it was seeing Peeta so happy and carefree as he rediscovered his childhood through Zale.
I stopped and watched them play after swimming for a while and laughed myself as Zale let loose a string of full belly laughs each time Peeta let him climb onto his shoulders and then stood, propelling him through the air and into a big splash.
The familiar laugh we'd been hearing from Zale since toddlerhood was part of the reason for my amusement but I was also thinking of how exhausted Peeta was going to be that night when we got home.
I quickly decided that we would stay at the cabin for dinner for sure so that Peeta had a chance to rest before we walked back to town.
We swam for most of the day and Peeta gave me some time to walk around the lake with Zale and show him different plant and animal life that we have in District 12 while Peeta went inside the cabin to rest.
Zale particularly enjoyed watching a pair of deer grazing and he wanted to take home a chipmunk that we followed for a good half mile.
I quizzed him on some plants I pointed out to him in the past and was pleasantly surprised by how much Zale remembered from previous lessons I'd given him during his visits with Annie.
Peeta had volunteered to make dinner after he rested from swimming while I took to the forest with Zale and we had just emerged from the woods as Peeta was stepping out onto the porch to call us in to eat.
"What are we having? Is it steak again? Or chicken? I like ribs a lot too!" Zale said and Peeta kicked him in the butt lightly as he ran up the front steps.
"Do you ever think of anything else besides food?" Peeta asked and Zale laughed softly and turned a little pink in the cheeks.
"No…well…yes…food and…and sometimes girls…" he mumbled and Peeta laughed back and placed a hand on Zale's shoulder, leaning in closer to him.
"Me too, buddy. Me too." He whispered loudly and then more quietly told him that he'd talk more about that with him later if he wanted. Zale glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and then nodded slightly to Peeta.
"Good. Go wash up for dinner." Peeta winked and Zale headed off for the bathroom at the back of the cabin.
I raised my eyebrows at Peeta and he waited until the door to the bathroom closed behind Zale before he responded to my look.
"Guess that's covered." He said with a short laugh and I smirked.
"Not quite covered until you've had the discussion Peet." I said moving to help him set the table for dinner.
I was never happier that Zale was a boy than at that moment but I didn't get the impression that Peeta was concerned or embarassed to talk to Zale at all. This of course, only went to further prove why Annie had asked Peeta to have a man to developing-man talk with him.
Truth be told, it made me kind of sad to think of Zale as anything other than the sweet little boy we'd played and snuggled with for all those years. It actually stressed me out a little to know that he was past the age where girls were gross.
"I had two older brothers, Katniss." Peeta reminded me as he went back to the stove and turned over the fried chicken he had simmering in a large skillet.
"As I'm sure you've noticed over the years, it takes a whole lot to embarrass me." He said lowering his voice as the bathroom door opened and Zale followed the mouthwatering scent of fried food into the kitchen.
"Fried chicken, corn on the cob, and collard greens tonight." I said as Zale glanced over at the fridge where I was sure he knew half a cake Peeta had left in there from earlier in the week was located.
I stopped beside the chair Zale had sat down in and grabbed his cheeks. I was saddened to find they were no longer soft and squishy like those of a child but harder and more defined like those of a man.
"Dinner first, dessert second. Got it?" I asked and Zale grinned up at me and nodded. "Good." I said and leaned over to kiss his forehead like I had earlier in the day.
When I let go of his face, I was just turning to sit in my own chair when I caught Zale wiping my kiss off of his head and gasped.
"What!?" I screeched and Peeta gasped playfully too as he leaned over the table to put down a huge plate of chicken and the bowl of greens with a big smile.
"Ooooooo! Look out kid, you're in for it now!" Peeta laughed and shook his head as he sat down and I moved quickly to wrap my arms around Zale from behind, pinning him to his seat as I did so and resting my chin on his shoulder.
"Wipe MY kisses off, will you…" I teased and pulled Zale and his chair back onto two legs and leaned over him to kiss all over his face as he laughed and squealed, struggling to get away from me.
"Stop! Stop! Stop!" He laughed and I made sure to give him one last big wet kiss on his cheek before I let the front legs of the chair hit the floor again and went to sit in my seat.
"Yuck!" Zale growled dramatically and picked up a napkin which he then used to wipe his face clean.
I grinned proudly at him before turning my eyes to Peeta who was giving me the same smile I saw on his face when he watched me running one of the baking groups during our Sunday kids class. It was the smile that said 'how could you ever think that you wouldn't make a good mother?'.
"Well, then don't wipe my kisses off. Jerk." I teased and Zale shook his head, laughing softly as he went back to filling his plate.
Just like the night before, Zale emptied his plate which consisted of 2 drumsticks a breast and a leg nevermind the sides he piled on. After he was finished he put away not 2 but 3 pieces of the cake in the fridge. I tried to stop him after the second piece, but Peeta assured me it was fine since he'd been running around and swimming all day.
"It's not his waistline I'm worried about, Peeta." I said as we cleaned up the kitchen while Zale laid on the couch looking through some of the books we kept at the cabin.
"Your cakes are rich, I'm more worried about him getting sick from eating too much." I whispered and Peeta smiled and shrugged.
"He's a growing boy, he'll be fine." He said trying to placate me but I still wasn't sure it was a good idea.
"Zale?" I called toward the couch where I could only see his feet hanging over he arm on the side closest to us. "How you doing in there?" I asked and wiped the counter down before hanging the rag back on the faucet as we finished up.
When Zale didn't respond right away, I said his name again and looked questioningly at Peeta who shrugged and tried his name a little louder.
"Hey man," Peeta said as he walked out of the kitchen area and rounded the end of the couch. "didn't you hear Katniss call your…" He stopped speaking abruptly when he saw why Zale hadn't answered me. I saw it as well when I reached the same spot on the end of the couch.
Zale was lying on his stomach with the memory book Peeta, Haymitch and I had worked on together and was eventually published for mass distribution to the country. I sighed sadly when I saw that he had the book open to his father's page.
Peeta and I exchanged a look and waited for Zale to make the first move.
"Seems like he was a really great guy." He finally said with the sort of reverence that comes with having heard for all of his life about the legendary Finnick Odair. A man who had died bravely but brutally, fighting against a Capitol he had essentially been enslaved by for most of his life.
The kind of reverence that could only have come from a child who never met that legend himself. A legend who it just so happened was also his father.
Peeta and I moved to either side of the couch and Zale sat up in the middle to make room for us.
Peeta took the book from Zale's hands and opened it wider so that we could see both the picture of Finnick as well as the description on the opposite page accompanying it.
"The best." I said wrapping one arm around Zale's shoulders that were slumped forward making him seem smaller and more vulnerable.
"What…what does this part mean?" he asked pointing to one line on the description page.
"Bought and sold by the Capitol. How can that be? How can you buy a person?" Zale said with an almost exasperated, uncomfortable laugh and looked desperately between my face and Peeta's.
We shared another look and just like always, Peeta eloquently explained the horrors of our dear friend's endentured servitude in a way that his child would understand without telling him too much.
"What that means…" Peeta started and ran his thumb that was closest to the picture of Finnick on the page over his face that was smiling up at the three of us.
"…is that your dad did whatever he had to do to keep your mom safe because he loved her more than anything in the world." He said simply and smiled softly down at Zale.
Zale seemed to know that it meant something he wasn't yet old enough to hear, but Peeta's answer seemed to satisfy him for the time being.
"Your mom doesn't have this book at home?" I asked and Zale shook his head.
"She says it upsets her too much to have things around the house that remind her of the Hunger Games." He said simply and sighed as he settled back into the couch between us.
"Actually, I don't know a whole lot about him except what I've seen on the television and what my mom will tell me when she's being happy about him." Zale admitted and then frowned at the picture of his father.
"When she's sad about him she won't tell me anything…" he whispered and I squeezed his shoulder gently.
"Well then, it's your lucky day because Peeta and I…we know a ton of things about your dad." I whispered conspiratorily and a slow but wide smile spread across Zale's face. It almost perfectly matched the smile looking up at us from the memory book.
Zale turned his head to look up at Peeta and he smiled at him as well and nodded.
For the next two hours we took turns sharing even the smallest morsels of information about Finnick with Zale and he lapped up every bit of it as enthusiastically as he had any of the meals we watched him devour since his arrival.
Eventually, we moved from the couch to the rockers outside and when it was time to leave and head home as the sun began to set, we continued sharing stories about Finnick all the way back through the forest on our way home.
Zale was so tired by the time we reached the meadow that Peeta had to carry him piggie back for the rest of the way to our house. When we reached the door, he was sound asleep on Peeta's shoulder.
"I'll take him up and get the shower turned on for him." Peeta whispered as I opened the door for him and nodded.
"I'll put out pajamas for him and get the bed ready so he can just go right to sleep after he's showered." I whispered back and followed Peeta upstairs to take care of our exhausted young guest.
Peeta put Zale down on his feet at the top of the steps and the poor kid startled awake, looking around wildly as he tried to figure out where he was. I felt a little bad for him, but truth be told, a small part of me was happy to see a normal kid response from him. Whenever I startled awake at his age it was usually because of hunger pangs and then not long after, because of nightmares about my father being blown up in the mines.
Peeta reminded Zale where he was and guided him into the bathroom where I heard him turn on the shower as I entered the guest room and flipped on the light to get the room ready for Zale to sleep. I opened the top drawer on the dresser he was using to find all of Zale's sleepwear and undershorts tossed in together in one big clump of clothing.
I shook my head and smiled as I took out a pair of his boxers and pants that looked like the ones he'd worn to sleep in the night before and grabbed a sleeveless undershirt which I carried over to palce on the end of the bed.
I had to admit I was surprised to find that Zale had made his bed that morning as I smiled and turned down the comforter. I leaned over to fluff the pillows up when something sticking out from between the mattress and box spring caught my eye.
It was an edge of blue fabric that appeared to be made of terrycloth. I frowned as my first assumption that it was a childhood blanket got shot down when I realized it wasn't frayed or old looking at all.
I was just reaching for the piece sticking out so that I could examine it closer when Peeta spoke up from the doorway.
"Wouldn't touch that if I were you, sweetheart." He said with an amused tone that told me he had a pretty good idea what the piece of cloth was.
"Why? What is it?" I asked genuinely perplexed and Peeta smiled as he walked over to pick up the pajamas I set on the bed so that he could take them back to the bathroom for Zale.
"Ummm…" Peeta said making a face like he wasn't sure exactly what to say to me. I was a little surprised by this because Peeta always had such a way with words.
I looked down at the piece of cloth still sticking out, then to Peeta's face and then the bedroom door where I could hear the shower running and quickly back to the cloth and covered my mouth. It suddenly dawned on me what Peeta was trying to say.
When I looked at Peeta's face again, he was nodding anad cringing.
I widened my eyes and dropped my hand and my voice as I said, "You mean that's…"
Images of Zale as a sweet, fat little baby, a curious and funny toddler, and a rambunctious little boy flitted through my mind as Peeta nodded.
"…his yank rag?" He said and I reached out with the hand that had been over my mouth to smack Peeta on the arm and he laughed before stepping out of my reach.
"What?! You asked!" He laughed and rubbed his arm with a chuckle.
"That's…that's disgusting!" I whispered sharply and Peeta shrugged.
"He's…he's just a little boy! That can't be what it is…can it?" I asked even sounding whiny to my own ears.
Peeta shot me a scolding look and cocked his head at me.
"Katniss…he's not a little boy, he's eleven…almost 12." He said and shrugged again. "That's about average for when most guys discover how…all that works." He said trying to refrain from using crude language again.
And right he should have after throwing around terms like 'yank rag'.
Gross.
"Are you serious?!" I asked appalled and pushed Peeta toward the door when I heard the shower turn off down the hall. "Is that how old you were when you started doing…that?" I asked quietly and Peeta shook his head with a smile.
I was about to ask him how Zale could have been considered average aged for it when he himself had been outside of the average but Peeta cut me off.
"-I was 10." He grinned and my eyes widened again and I covered my ears.
"Okay! Okay! Enough sharing for one night!" I groaned and headed for the door as Peeta walked to the bathroom and knocked.
"Hey, pajamas." He said when Zale asked what he wanted. The bathroom door opened a crack and Zale stuck his hand out, grasping at the air for the clothes and Peeta placed them in the vicinity of where he was grabbing.
"Thanks!" he called through the door when he slammed it shut a moment later.
I looked sadly between Peeta and the door a few times before I slouched my shoulders and shuffled off to my and Peeta's room to shower for bed myself to the sound of Peeta chuckling behind me.
He caught up with me as I was rinsing my hair and climbed in the shower behind me to wash off the grime of the lake.
"Damn…" He groaned as we switched places under the flow of water and I reached for his body wash on the shower shelf. "I think I need that cream I put on my leg on my whole body after playing with that kid today…" he chuckled and I stepped up to his back with a handful of body wash and started working it into his back.
I spread my hands out in a circular motion as I rubbed the creamy soap across his back. I could definitely feel some knots as I moved further out to his lower back, his shoulders and down the length of his spine.
"I don't think we have enough for your whole body but I feel a few spots that could use it for sure." I said digging my knuckles into a few of the bigger knots to try and work them out and Peeta moaned happily and rested his forehead against the shower wall.
"Thanks, baby." He sighed and I smiled as I felt him relax a little at a time as I continued. When I was finished, I turned him around to rinse off his back and filled my hand again to wash his front.
"You're welcome. Zale get to bed okay?" I asked quietly as I soaped his neck and chest, smiling when I slid my hands into his armpits and ran my fingernails over the sensitive skin just behind his armpits on his back. Peeta pulled his arms tight to his body to stop my hands from tickling him and smiled down at me before closing his eyes.
"Yeah, he's wrecked." He murmured with his eyes closed and then grinned. "Probably too wrecked to do anything with…" I flexed my fingers and pinched that sensitive skin behind his armpits and Peeta released my hands from where they were pinned at his armpits and grabbed them with his own hands.
"Alright! Alright…sorry!" he laughed and pulled me over into his arms and linked them by the wrists at my lower back so that he was looking straight down into my face.
"Seriously…I'm even more certain that you need to talk to him tomorrow at the bakery now that you've ruined my vision of him as a sweet, innocent little boy." I said softly and Peeta nodded.
"I've already told you that I'll talk to him, Katniss." Peeta said patiently and laid his hands flat on my back, stroking his thumbs gently over my wet skin as the hot water sluiced over us comfortably.
"He's already dropped a few hints but I don't think he's gone any further with it because he's embarassed to talk about stuff like that in front of you. Which he should be." He said and I nodded slowly.
"Alright, well…I don't want like…details or anything, but just let me know if that talk goes okay when it happens?" I asked and Peeta nodded.
"Absolutely. With as little detail as possible." He promised and I linked my hands together at the middle of his back.
"Good." I said with a nod and reached up to kiss him softly. "Come on, let's go to bed and I can put some of that cream on your ouchies…" I teased and Peeta groaned and brought his lips back down to mine and kissed me deeply.
"I have a better idea for how you can make the 'ouchies' go away…" he whispered and I shook my head even as I kissed him back.
I was serious about trying to avoid embarrassing Zale by having sex while he was in the house, but I also knew Peeta needed to be up really early for work and it would be extra tiring after such a long day at the lake and with a pre-teen to get up and moving at the same time.
"Uh-uh." I mumbled and pulled back from the kiss so as not to work him up any more than he already was.
"Work tomorrow…with the boy." I said as a way of explanation. "He's been up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 6, but we haven't seen Zale at 4:30 before…" I said and Peeta stood straighter and smiled evily.
"Wait…so are you telling me that tomorrow morning I get to wake him up?" He said and I raised my eyebrows and nodded slowly.
"Ooo…you're right, we can't have sex." He said looking thoughtfully at the shower wall with his plotting face on.
"I need to have my head clear so I can think about how exactly I'm going to wake that peppy little jackass up…" he whispered and looked back to me as if he just remembered I was still in the shower with him.
"Thanks for the reminder." He said leaning down to peck me on the lips quickly before he released me and reached for his shampoo.
I chuckled softly and reached up to stroke his cheek softly. "Alright, well don't traumatize him for life or anything." I said playfully as I reached for a towel and climbed out of the shower to let Peeta finish his.
When he slid into bed a little later I already had the cream ready for him and he let me apply it first to the sore places on his back and then the stump where his leg ended with no trace of embarrassment or discomfort as he once had.
I noticed the whole time he was smiling as he looked at the ceiling and I knew he was running through some scenarios that would appropriately pay back Zale's wake up call from that morning.
"That was nice tonight…" I whispered when the lights were off and we were lying on our sides facing each other in the dark. "…talking to him about Finnick, I mean." I explained and Peeta took a deep breath before he responded.
"It was." He said softly and reached out to hold one of my hands on the mattress between us and used his thumb to move mine back and forth gently as we talked. "I hadn't thought of some of that stuff in years." He whispered and didn't say anything for a moment.
I knew exactly what he meant. Sometimes in trying not to remember all of the bad parts of our past, we forgot about the good things too. Like my first meeting with Finnick, his dry wit, the tenderness in his eyes whenever he looked at or even spoke of Annie.
"Me either." I admitted and reached up with my free hand to stroke his stubbly cheek with the back of my hand. "We should do that more often, ya know? Talk about the good things." I suggested and I could just see Peeta's eyes blinking more and more slowly in the moonlight as he began to drift off to sleep.
"Uh huh…" he murmured and I smiled at how young he looked and sounded in that moment as he fought a losing battle with exhaustion. Unexpectedly, that vision of a little child who looked a little like me and a lot like Peeta popped into my head and I stroked his cheek once more.
"Night, Peet." I whispered and stroked the tips of two fingers over his full bottom lip lightly and leaned in to kiss him one more time.
Peeta grunted back, already too far gone to offer anymore of a good night than that. I fell asleep with a smile on my face and slept through the night without the interruption of a dream or nightmare for the first time in quite a while.
All for now! Next chapter will be split between Katniss and Peeta's POV's and will include some angst on both Katniss and Peeta's part as Zale asks some innocent (but tough) questions about their life together...