Chapter Thirteen
Finnick and I haven't told anyone I am pregnant yet. We want to keep it to ourselves a little awhile longer. Especially if something goes wrong. I don't want anything to happen but I'm trying to be realistic. What happened to Olivia could happen again.
"Hey." Finnick says and kisses me briefly.
"Hi." I say and lean my head on his shoulder.
"How do you feel today?" He asks and kisses the top of my head.
"Okay." I say. I've been having terrible morning sickness. It's not as bad as it was with Olivia but it's still not fun.
"Are you still going to paint this weekend?" I ask.
Finnick and I have finished most of the moving in process but Finnick still wants to paint some of the rooms.
"No. The paint fumes might not be good for you." He says.
I roll my eyes.
"Finnick it will be fine. We picked out colors for most of the rooms anyways." I say. "You don't need to worry."
"I know I don't need to." He smiles. "But that doesn't mean I won't."
"Are we going to be extremely worried the whole time?" I ask.
"No. We'll be the normal amount of worried."
"I don't think that will be true for me." I whisper. I know I will be worried about every throw up, every pain, and every movement.
"Ann, you can't control everything. Don't worry the whole time it's supposed to be a happy time." He says.
"I would be but something bad happened." I say.
"Ann, stop thinking the world is going to end. You're not that cynical." He kisses my forehead.
I nod.
"I'll try." I whisper.
"That's good enough for me." He say.
"So thanksgiving is this weekend." I say.
"I know." He says.
"Are we going to go anywhere?" I ask.
"Do you want to see your Mom?" Finnick asks. We usually go to his Mom's house but his Mom won't be in town this year.
"I think so." I say.
"Call her up then. She won't say no to you." Finnick says.
"I know." I say.
I hear my computer go off.
I walk over towards it and see Carter is calling me. I answer the call but don't see Carter.
"Aunt Annie!" I hear and see my four year old niece smiling.
After Tony and Carter got married they were lucky enough to adopt a little girl. They named her Madeline. She's four and very adorable.
"Hi cutie." I say and she smiles.
"Aunt Annie are you coming for thanksgiving?" She asks.
"That's why we called her." Carter says and kisses her cheek. "Go play." He says.
"Okay Papa." She says and runs off.
"Hi Carter." I say.
"Annie." He smiles. "So are you going to be here for thanksgiving?" He asks.
"Finnick and I were just discussing that actually." Finnick looks towards me and smiles.
"And?" He asks.
"We'll be there, I was going to call Mom later today." I say.
"Thought so. So how's the new house?" He asks.
"It's nice. Finnick and I finally agreed on the right paint colors." I say with a smile.
"That's good, how long did that take?" He asks with a smirk.
"Not that long. Finnick always caves." I say with a smile. I can hear Finnick snort in the family room.
"I'm sure he does." Carter says sarcastically.
In the background I can see Madeline playing with their cat, mittens.
"Ella coming?" I ask.
"For the most part. She will spend some of the day with Dad."
I sigh.
"Why?" I ask.
"Because she wants to." He says.
"Are you going to see him as well?" He asks.
"Probably not." I say.
I don't remember the last time I saw my Father, it's been years. He sent Finnick and I a card for Olivia. I didn't call him back or anything.
I never thought I would have a stereotypical Father daughter feud but, here we are.
"He asks about you Annie." Carter says.
"Well tell him I'm fine." I say angrily.
"Don't get all hostile." He says.
"I wasn't." I defend.
He smiles.
"I know. I'll see you in a few days Annie." He says.
"Bye Aunt Annie!" I hear Madeline say in the background and see her wave.
I wave back at her.
"Bye." I say.
"Bye Annie." He says and logs off.
I nod.
"Everything okay?" Finnick asks.
I nod.
"Yeah."
"Good. So we leaving tomorrow then?" He asks with a smile.
"Probably." I say.
Finnick and I decided to fly to my Mom's instead of drive almost ten hours.
"Ann." Finnick says and shakes my shoulder gently.
"What?" I ask and lift my face from his shoulder.
"Buckle up, it's almost time to land." He says and kisses my forehead.
"Okay." I say.
The flight isn't very long but, I still managed to find time to sleep. I'm not the biggest fan of flying but driving this long whilst being pregnant wouldn't be that great.
Once we get into the airport I pull out my phone to call Ella. Ella said she would pick us up.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
"You here?" Ella asks.
"Yes." I say.
"Alright. See you and Finnick soon sweet cheeks." She says.
I smile and shake my head as I hang up.
"Everything alright?" He asks.
"Yeah." I say.
We get into her car and she heads off to our Mom's house. It's a two hour drive and forty minutes in I feel like I'm going to vomit.
"You alright there Annie?" Ella asks when I lean my head on the window. The coolness of the glass makes my head feel better.
"Just nauseous." I say.
"You should sit up front… I can move-"
"It's fine Ella." I say. I don't need her to pull over and move her stuff around.
She nods.
When we do make it to our Mom's I go to the bathroom and vomit.
I splash water on my face before I go back out to see my Mom.
"Annie." She says and hugs me.
"Hi Mom." I say.
She kisses the top of my head.
"Everyone's in there." She says and motions towards the living area.
"Hi Finnick." She smiles before leaving.
"You okay?" Finnick asks.
I nod.
"Just got a little sick." I say but he raises his eyebrows. "It's nothing." I say.
"Okay." He says and kisses my cheek.
When we make it to the small living room I see Carter, Tony, Madeline, and Ella.
"Aunt Annie." Madeline says running towards me. Her long dark curls are bouncing back and forth. "Uncle Finnick!" She says. Finnick picks her up and kisses her on the cheek.
"Hi Madeline." We both say. Finnick takes her back to the living room and places her next to her doll.
"Who's this?" Finnick asks her.
"That's Bells Uncle Finnick." She says and picks up her doll. "She's my best friend. She also makes the best tea for my tea parties."
"Oh really?" Finnick asks and Madeline nods. "Maybe I could go to one of your tea parties to see." Finnick says.
Madeline smiles.
"Sorry Uncle Finnick but no boys allowed." She says and giggles.
"Oh I see." He says.
"Okay you stayed up for Uncle Finnick and Aunt Annie now you need to go to bed sweetie." Carter says.
"Papa they just got here." She whines.
"They'll be here for the next few days." Tony says.
"But Daddy-"
"We'll be here in the morning princess." I tell her.
"Okay." She says softly. "But I want Papa to read me a story." She says.
"Okay." Carter says.
Tony and Carter get Madeline ready to leave for the hotel. Finnick and I got told we could stay here.
"I should probably go too." Ella says soon after they left.
"Where are you staying?" I ask. There is another spare room.
"With Dad. Mimi and Pop Pop are there as well." She says.
I nod.
"How is Pop Pop?" I ask. Him I actually like and I known he's sick.
"He's fine Annie. Don't worry." She says and stands up. "See you guys tomorrow." Ella hugs our Mom and then leaves.
Finnick and I stay up awhile to do pre-thanksgiving preparations.
Everything is good with her. She shares some stories about the students in her class.
"Goodnight." She says after the kitchen is clean.
"Night Mom." I say and hug her.
"Night Jenna." Finnick says.
We turn in soon after her.
"You feel okay?" Finnick asks as I lie down.
"I'm fine. I only vomited once. It could have been from the car ride." I say.
Finnick nods.
"Remember we said we weren't going to worry about every little thing." I say.
He nods.
"I know." He kisses me and lays down. "Do you want to see your Pop Pop?" Finnick asks.
"Yes but, I can't. Mimi and Dad."
"Annie-"
"Leave it alone Finnick." I whisper.
"Okay." He says and kisses me. Finnick knows better than to argue when it comes to stuff like this.
He knows I won't back down,
"Okay." I whisper back.
When I wake up the house smells like thanksgiving. I roll over and see Finnick is gone. He must have started to help my Mom.
I see Carter and Tony are here. Madeline is at the table coloring.
"Aunt Annie." She says and waves me over.
"Hi sweetie." I say and sit next to her.
"Color with me." She says and hands me some crayons.
"Okay." I say and start coloring. I notice it is a Frozen coloring book. "Do you like Elsa or Ana better?" I ask.
"I like Elsa because she can make snow." She smiles.
"I like Sven." I say.
"He likes carrots." She giggles and goes back to coloring. "Daddy likes Olaf the best." She smiles.
"Love is worth melting for." I say and she nods. "What about Papa?" I ask.
Carter and Tony decided that Carter would be Papa and Tony would be Daddy. They didn't want her to use their first names for some reason. You can still tell them a part.
"Papa likes Kristoff." She smiles
Finnick comes in and hands me a muffin and some milk.
"Thanks." I say.
He nods.
When dinner is almost ready I notice Ella isn't here.
"Where's Ella?" I ask to the room.
"With Dad. She's going to have two thanksgiving dinners." Carter says while braiding Madeline's hair.
"She'll be here for dinner." Mom says.
"Oh." I say.
Before she comes we do a tradition where you pick names out of a hat and the person has to say what they're thankful for.
"Here, I got it Mom." Carter says and takes the bottle of champagne from her.
"Thanks." She says. We always have champagne with thanksgiving dinner, although this year I won't.
Carter starts to fill up the glasses.
"None for me Carter." I say.
"What do you want then?" Ella asks looking at me strangely.
"Water is fine." I say.
She eyes me strangely but doesn't say anything.
Madeline falls asleep shortly after dinner.
"I'll be right back." I say and head upstairs. There's only one bathroom downstairs and it is currently occupied.
I notice Ella is following me.
"What's up Annie?" Ella asks as she chases me upstairs.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"Nauseous, tired, and no champagne for dinner." Ella says like a question.
"What about it?" I say unamused.
"Last time you were all these things-"
"I'm just tired and didn't want anything to drink. I'm not the biggest drinker anyways." I say but avoid her gaze. She will be able to tell I'm lying.
"Right." Ella says skeptically. "I wouldn't think anything of it if you weren't trying-"
"Ella just drop it, okay?" I say. I don't want her to ask if I'm pregnant. She knows I'm not a good liar and I don't want to tell anyone.
"Somebody's pregnant." She sings like a taunting child.
"You sound like Madeline." I say and she rolls her eyes.
"Not exactly helping your case." She says.
"Ella!" I hear Carter shout from downstairs. We head downstairs.
"You ready?" He asks and she nods.
"Ready for what?" I ask.
"We're going to see Dad." Ella says softly.
"Again?" I say.
"He hasn't seen Madeline. You can come." Carter says gently.
"No, Finnick and I can help Mom clean up." I say.
Ella smiles half heartedly.
"Bye." They say and leave.
"You can stay there sweetie. You look tired. Finnick is help enough." My Mom says as I start to get up from the couch.
"Okay." I say confused.
After they're finished she goes to bed while Finnick and I stay up a little later to catch some of the Pumkin' Chunkin'.
"Such rednecks good at complicated science." I say and Finnick smiles.
I feel a light shaking.
"Ann, I think you should go to sleep." Finnick says.
I notice it has been an hour. I must have dozed off.
I nod.
Finnick goes with me.
"That was a nice thanksgiving." Finnick says.
"Yeah." I say.
"No drama like the past few at mine." Finnick says.
I smirk. There hasn't really been any drama at his house, well not anything serious.
"Maybe we should think about changing thanksgiving here and Christmas-"
"Do you think my Mom knows?" I ask Finnick and he furrows his brow.
"Who? About what?" He asks confused.
"My Mom; that I'm pregnant." I say.
"Why would your Mom know?" He asks.
"She gave me this look after dinner and…she didn't want me to clean up." I say.
"You did look tired and comfortable." Finnick says.
"She didn't want me to do anything when I told her I was pregnant with Olivia." I say.
"I think you're just a little paranoid."
I sigh.
"Maybe it's just a Mom thing to know." Finnick says.
"Ella asked me about it too." I say.
"Do you want to tell them then?" He asks. "I mean if you think they know already-"
"No." I say softly and move my hand to my stomach. "No not yet. It becomes real to everyone then."
"Whatever you want Annie." He says and places his hand on top of mine. "But correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem afraid to tell." He says and kisses the top of my head.
"That's not it." I say.
"Okay." He says gently.
"Just me and you, until the next doctors appointment and they tell us everything is okay." I say softly.
"Okay. Okay." He says and kisses me.
"Okay." I say and rest my head on his chest. "I love you."
"I love you too." He says and kisses my forehead. "And you." He whispers and rubs my stomach gingerly.