Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.
A/N: this is really long omg
And what do you plan to do next, General Hawthorne?
The question echoes through the speakers and Gale gazes out across the crowd before leaning into the microphone. "Personally?" There are a few nods. "I'm not sure," he admits. "For a while now it feels like something in my life has been missing, as though I'm incomplete. I think I need to figure out what that is."
"Any ideas?" the next question is. "What it is that could be missing?"
"No," Gale answers honestly. "But I'm sure I'll hit me."
"Your boss says that you've been in the office day in and day out," another person says, extending the microphone in Gale's direction. "Are you planning to take any personal days?"
"We'll see."
"Yeah, Ma," Gale says into his cellphone. He got the thing a few months after the war ended and finds it to be the easiest device in the entire world, though his mother disagrees and has trouble working any phone at all. "The press conference is over. Why would I be calling you in the middle of it?"
Hazelle laughs on the other end. "I don't know, Gale. What was the conference for, anyway?"
Gale unbuckles his seatbelt (cars, another great thing he has access to now that the war is over) and slides out of his seat. "We just passed that bill about prostitution in Panem," he says. "Don't you even watch the news?"
"Rory broke our television after kicking a soccer ball into it," his mother tells him. "It's like you don't even listen to me when I talk." Gale frowns, of course he listens to her, it's just that he's juggling a thousand different things at once.
The war between the Capitol and the Districts has officially been over for three years now and Gale has found himself permanently residing in District 2. Being on the Star Squad when he fought alongside Katniss in the rebellion earned him quite a name, and he's risen up through the ranks rather quickly. Gale's currently the youngest General in the army of the Republic of Panem and has been doing great things, dedicating himself to his career and making positive changes for the country. It's a dream come true.
Except for the nightmares. And the lonely apartment that he has to go back to every night. And the fact that he hasn't seen his family for three years. Oh, and the press. They never leave him alone.
"Rory's into soccer now?" Gale asks.
"He's always liked playing kickball," Hazelle says. "I think now that the schools are better organized he's really taken to it. Vick prefers reading, though. He absolutely adores those comics that you sent him. What was it that they're called?"
"The Amazing Spider-Man," he answers without missing a beat. Gale makes his way into the grocery store and adjusts the phone under his ear. "And Posy? How's she?"
"Missing you like always," Hazelle says wistfully. "We all are." Gale grumbles to himself as he enters the building and is hit with a blast of air conditioning. "She likes to paint," Hazelle finally answers. "Finger painting, usually, even though Peeta has sent her an entire pack of brushes."
"Wonderboy at it again," Gale mutters.
"Don't be mean. Peeta's a lovely boy."
"I know," he says honestly.
There's no more hatred there, though Gale isn't sure he ever really hated Peeta. It was jealousy most of the time, the way Katniss looked at Peeta a way Gale had always wanted her to look at him, but after he found her the jealousy was gone. Then he lost her and the jealousy was back, but it was different, it was that Gale didn't have her anymore. Now it's mostly just relief that Peeta has put Katniss back together after the war ended and Prim nearly died.
My bomb, Gale reminds himself, not my design. I did not almost kill Prim. His (mandatory) therapist has helped him realize that, that it was Coin who attempted to set off the bombs to kill Prim, but thoughts of the tiny Everdeen girl still upsets him. Primrose Everdeen is healthy and all grown up now, but after seeing her in an emergency medical unit with tubes down her throat Gale never forgave himself. She still has burns over 40% of her body.
Hazelle is talking again, something about how Posy wants to start her own garden outback, and Gale is humming his usual mmhm, mmhm, that's nice Ma, into the phone, but his thoughts are straying. First it's because of Primrose Everdeen and then he's thinking about another blonde, a blonde he actually lost to the fire. It was her that he had fallen in love with, she was the girl that caused Gale's heart to break, she was the reason he couldn't return to District 12. He'd have to see her house in ruins and he just couldn't do it.
"…she's been missing you a lot lately," his mother's voice is hazy in his thoughts. When he tunes back in Gale's standing in the refrigerated section of the grocery store staring at the strawberry section. "I think she's starting to think that you hate us."
"You know I don't hate you, Ma. Or them. It's just… difficult."
"It's been three years, Gale." He leans forward and grabs a carton of strawberries to place in his cart. "I think you should at least come visit. Maybe take a weekend trip back or something. We miss you. Katniss does, too."
Gale swallows his words. "She wrote me," he says. "I'm working on a response." But thinking of Katniss has him thinking of her and thinking of what he sort of did to Prim and he just can't… he can't do that. "It's hard, Ma."
"I know."
They make easy small talk as Gale quickly gathers the rest of the needed items for his lonely apartment and he keeps thinking of her and it just hurts, it hurts his chest and his stomach and it isn't fair. Gale reaches the register and the woman scans his items and Gale is hardly listening to his mother at this point, thinking of the girl that he used to take to the meadow and twirl his fingers through her golden hair and listen to her play that blasted piano which was always so beautiful and is why he still, to this day, hates the sound of anything beautiful, and then he's staring out the entrance to the grocery store, squinting, at a girl who looks exactly like her.
"I'm going insane," Gale murmurs into the phone. His mother laughs. "No, Ma, I think I… I've gotta go."
"Oh, Gale—"
"I'll call you back," he says. "Love you. Tell the kids I love them too." He hangs up and shifts on his feet. It can't be her, she's dead. He's just thinking about her. Still, Gale tilts his head and watches the blonde in the parking lot loading her groceries into her own car. "Can you hurry this up?" he asks the woman behind the counter. She frowns but goes faster, ringing him up. Gale takes a few steps toward the girl in the parking lot and shakes his head again. "Did you just ring that girl up?" he asks without removing his eyes. He grabs all of his bags with one hand.
"Yes," the woman nods.
"You get her name?"
"No?"
Gale frowns, throwing his money at the cashier and muttering his thanks and rushing out of the building. But the blonde girl is gone by the time he's out there.
Yes, Gale Hawthorne is definitely going insane. It was more than just the blonde hair that he saw, the perfectly curled golden strands of sunshine that framed her face. He saw the curve of her nose, the pink of her cheeks, the outline of her features that he's tried so hard to forget.
"She's dead," Gale reminds himself as he unloads his grocery. He had to elbow his way through a boatload of photographers to get inside his apartment. "She died in the bombing."
Saying these things aloud doesn't hurt as much as it used to but it does help to remind him how ridiculous all of this is.
Madge Undersee is dead. There is no other outcome to this story. She died in a pile of ash and flames. She has been reduced to nothing but smoke. She is not alive in District 2.
"She died in the bombing of 12," Gale says again, but the words get caught in his throat.
He dreams about her that night.
It's more of a memory and less of a dream, actually. It was the night she invited him home and into her room. The night they lost themselves in each other. She was so sweet and so daring, overall he was more hesitant than she was. He remembers the feel of her bare skin under his hands and the way she panted his name and how her breath danced across his chest. His body aches, craving the warmth from that night, craving something more than that.
The next day he only goes into work to search her name in the database. He got the phone call from Thom all those years ago after Gale had him check the house, but that doesn't mean that Madge is really dead, right? Maybe, somehow, she got out. Maybe. Somehow. And she's in District 2? It'd be too good to be true.
Madge Undersee, he searches. No results. Of course there are no results, that's not her name. Margret Undersee. No results. Margaret Undersee. One result. Yes, spelling is important.
Quickly he clicks the name and a list of residences pop up. District 12. District 6? District 2. She's here. She can't be here.
Gale scribbles down the address and quickly closes down the program before his boss yells at him for not taking his personal days.
Gale sits outside the apartment building for hours. He stares at the tall brick structure and waits, wondering if this is a mistake or if he's dreaming or insane. Probably insane. It's been so long, his thoughts of her have never really left. It's around noon now and he decides sitting out here all day is a waste of time. He'll knock, there are only so many things that can happen.
1. No one will answer the door. 2. Someone that is not Madge Undersee will answer the door. 3. Madge Undersee will answer the door.
Each of these outcomes causes Gale's stomach to twist.
She (or someone else) is on the third floor. He takes the stares two at a time and stares at the blue door for a long time, hesitating. And then he knocks. One, two, three. Suddenly Gale's praying that no one will answer, because if someone does answer, what will he say? And if she's really here, what happens next?
And then door swings open and his thoughts stop entirely. "Madge," he breathes. Because she is here. She's here, standing, tall and blinking at him, her blue eyes just as bright as he remembered them to be, though a little sharper. She looks a little bit older now that she's twenty one and her hair is shorter than the last time he saw her, but she's here.
"Gale?" she lets out a light laugh and her face transforms, lighting up. "Gale!"
"Madge," he repeats, stumbling forward and pulling her into his arms. "Oh, God, you are here!" Her hands latch behind his neck as he lifts her into the air, spinning and crushing her against him. She's a little thinner, too, easily being lifted off the ground. "God, oh God. I thought you were dead, I thought you were dead." He feels her hot tears against his skin before he knows she's crying and instantly he lowers her to the floor, caught between smiling and laughing and kissing her immediately. Her hands are latched onto his shirt and he can't stop staring. "You're here."
"You found me," she laughs, wiping her eyes with one of her hands. "Come in, come in," she ushers him into her tiny apartment and he shuts the door behind him. "How did you know I was here?"
"How come you didn't try to contact me?" they're both speaking at the same time. She pauses, turning around to face him before they're even away from the door. "I thought you were dead," he repeats. "And you're here, you're, you didn't—" Gale is shaking his head, lost in confusion and thoughts of her. Madge wipes her eyes again. "Why didn't you try and find me?"
"I did," she answers simply. "It's not my fault you're swarmed by press all the time, or have some fancy governmental job. I couldn't even get your phone number." He lets out a short breath of air and nods slightly. "Gale," Madge paces toward him, reaching forward to grab his hands. The feel of her smooth skin against his has him falling apart again, his eyes drifting shut. "I wasn't even sure you wanted to see me."
"I thought about you every day," he murmurs. She steps closer to him. "I tried to go back for you," Gale croaks. Madge shakes her head but he nods. "I tried to save you but I saw your house and I thought, and then Thom said they found bodies in your house, and you never, I never heard about you or from you and I just thought—"
"Gale," she says again. "I'm here."
His hands pull away from hers and he reaches up to cup her cheeks. Gale's eyes flicker open and he traces every inch of her with his gaze. The dusting of freckles over her cheeks, the slight curve of her nose, the golden ringlets that frame her face. She blinks a few times, her oceanic gaze swimming to meet his, and he lets out a shaky laugh.
"You're here," he repeats weakly. She nods. "I want to know how you got out."
She pulls him to the couch, an old tattered thing, and sits close to him, resting her hand gently atop his knee. Madge relays the story of how she escaped the District with a few other people from town, how they made their way to District 6 (the closest District) and integrated themselves into society there. It was in District 6 where she survived, where she waited out the war, and from there she moved to District 2 and has been trying to get into contact with Gale ever since.
"Momma," a tiny voice is suddenly heard. Gale squints at Madge in confusion as she whips around to face the hallway behind them. "Momma, who's that?"
A little boy is standing by the kitchen. He's got on a red t-shirt that's a little too large for him and is missing a sock. His skin is dark, darker than Madge's, and his hair is too. It curls, though, and the little boy has the same eye color as the girl next to him.
"You have a kid?" Gale whispers, his voice strained. His first thought is that she's married and his eyes dart to her hand, but he finds no ring.
"Sweetheart, this is Gale," Madge says. The little boy narrows his eyes before rubbing at them. He's very small, can't be too old. His hair is an absolute mess as he paces forward with grace, a grace that Madge has herself in how she walks. "How was your nap, Sweetie?"
"You woke me up. I heard voices."
"You have a kid," Gale echoes, something in his heart twisting. He's a spitting image of her despite the skin and hair. His nose is just as small, his eyes just as wide.
"Come here, Leo," she ushers him forward. "Come say hi." The boy picks up his pace before rushing all the way, leaping toward his mother. Madge smiles, brushing his unruly hair from his face as Leo settles on her lap. "We've got to get you a haircut soon!"
"But I like my hair," he says. Gale continues to stare at this boy and finds something bubbling in the back of his brain, because this little boy looks more familiar than just Madge. "This is the man from the TV."
"This is the man from the TV," Madge nods. She glances at Gale and finds him staring, and then something in her gaze falters. "You can call him Gale."
"Not Mister Gale?"
"Not Mister," Madge laughs slightly. Gale forces his gaze away from the child and suddenly signs of him are everywhere. Toys scattered around the stained carpet, child sippy cups on the coffee table, children's books with bright animated pictures. "Gale," Madge whispers. He turns back to face her but can't meet her eyes. "Are you okay?"
"I should go," he blurts. This is wrong. He can't be here if Madge has a child, that wasn't one of the options. She's been with someone else, she's moved on, her life is now on a path entirely separate from Gale's. "I shouldn't be here."
"Wait," she reaches for Gale but he stands anyway.
"Wow," Leo watches, his eyes widening in wonder. "He's so tall, Momma."
She carefully sets Leo down on the couch and quickly chases after Gale before he can make it to the door. "Wait, Gale," she tries again. "Don't go, let me explain, okay?" He pauses, still unable to meet her gaze, and drags a hand through his hair. "I came to District 2 for a reason," she says, her voice frantic. "I came for you, I had to find you." Gale shakes his head again. "He's yours," she breathes. Gale's eyes snap up to hers immediately. "Leo. He's yours." Gale's eyes dart over Madge's shoulders to the little boy who's sitting patiently on the couch. He's opened a book now and is looking through the pictures. The air leaves Gale's lungs. They only made love once. It was perfect and wonderful but it was just once. "Just stay for a little bit," she pleads. "Stay for a little bit. Please. Please, I've been trying to get to you—"
"Okay," Gale chokes. His eyes are still on the child. "Just for a bit." Madge lets out a sigh of relief and nods happily, turning back around to her son. "Does he know who I am?" Gale whispers.
"No," she admits. Of course Leo looked familiar, he looks like Gale. His hair, his skin, his mouth. "I didn't want to get his hopes up that you would come around."
"Shit, Madge," he shakes his head, unable to look away from the boy. So tiny, so innocent. His? Gale has a child, a son, and he's in this room just feet away from him.. "He can't, I never—" Her hand finds his again and Gale lets out a deep breath. "If I had known…"
"But you didn't," she whispers, "so it's okay."
"Are you sure? That he's mine? There's no chance that he—"
"He's yours," Madge nods again. "You're the only person I've ever been with like that." Gale looks toward Madge again before finding Leo, his child, and feels the hole in his heart being filled.
Gale falls in love with Leo immediately.
"Are you sure I don't got to call you Mister?" His voice is a medley of the woods on a sweet summer day and piano music, a sound which Gale has once again deemed beautiful. "You got a beard and Momma told me men with beards are Misters."
Gale laughs and glances at the picture being drawn, one with flowers and oddly shaped dogs. Mostly scribbles. "You can call me whatever you want, kid."
"Well don't call me kid," Leo says, crossing his arms. "I am a child." Gale looks up and finds Madge laughing into her hand from her spot on the couch, her smile beautifully bright as she watches the two of them together.
By the end of the night Leo has Gale helping him color pictures or with his chores (which is really just cleaning his toys up and putting his cups in the sink). Gale follows Leo around like a puppy and Leo absolutely loves it. The boy has resorted to not calling Gale by his name, or Mister Gale for that matter, but just Mister.
"Can Mister stay for dinner?" Leo asks, hugging his mother's legs. "Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, Momma!"
Madge reaches down and ruffles his hair a bit. "Why don't you ask him, hm?"
Leo bounds back to Gale who's sitting on the couch looking through their drawings from the day and grabs his leg. "Mister," Leo says. Gale cocks an eyebrow and tries not to smile. "Will you pretty please, please, please, eat dinner with me and Momma?"
"That depends," Gale says. Leo stands up straight and brushes his hair out of his eyes with both of his tiny hands. "What are we having?"
And like that, Gale stays over for dinner. Leo talks all through the meal and Madge has to constantly remind him not to speak with his mouth open, but Leo continues to do so anyway. Halfway through eating Gale realizes that Madge must've cooked this sometime during the day when he was with Leo, and is surprised at not only how good it tastes but at how she didn't even make it clear that she was cooking.
He removes his eyes from the little boy who's speaking so animatedly that his gaze is on the ceiling and looks toward Madge, who Gale finds is looking in his direction. They share a gentle smile and she reaches across the table, resting her hand on his.
Gale watches as she puts Leo to bed, helping him brush his teeth and pull on his mismatched pajamas (that he picked out all on his own) and climbing up to his blankets. Madge kisses his forehead and turns on his nightlight and Gale stands in the hallway, waiting for her to come back.
"Is Mister coming back tomorrow?" Leo asks with a yawn.
"I don't know, Leo," Madge answers him honestly. "Maybe."
"Do you love him?" Madge laughs a bit, walking over and crouching next to her son's bed. "You said you only love two people, me, and my daddy! You can't love Mister!"
"Leo," she whispers.
"Unless Mister is my daddy then that's okay."
Madge smiles again. "You're crazy and I love you. Go to sleep, baby," she whispers, reaching forward and pressing another kiss to his forehead. "I'll see you in the morning." Leo falls asleep quickly, wrapped in his blankets, and Madge returns to Gale who's waiting with a satisfied smirk. She can't tell if he's heard what was said, but the way he looks at her leaves her feeling like it doesn't matter. "Are you staying?" she asks, pulling Leo's door shut. "For a bit?"
"Just for a bit," he murmurs, "if that's okay." She nods and smiles again, the sweetest smile he's ever seen before leading him into the kitchen. Madge stands on her tiptoes to pull out a bottle of wine from one of the top cabinets and Gale laughs, standing behind her and placing his hand on the small of her back before helping her reach. "Wine?" he chuckles. She hands him the bottle and crosses the kitchen to get some wineglasses. "Trying to get me to stay the night?"
Madge rolls her eyes as she snatches the bottle from him with a smirk, and carefully pours a hefty glass for the both of them.
"I've been saving this for something special," she says. Gale accepts his glass thoughtfully. "Come on, let's sit." She leads them to the living room again which is mostly clean after Gale helped Leo with his chores and they take to different ends of the couch. Madge takes a large sip of her wine and Gale does too, watching as she licks her lips after lowering her glass. "So…" she starts.
"So," Gale echoes quietly. "He's perfect, Madge." Madge smiles into her glass and laughs a little. "I mean that. He's… Leo, he's so…"
"Like you," Madge says. "He's just like you. Stubborn and loud and determined." Madge takes another drink. "He really likes you, you know. Wants you to come back tomorrow." Gale chuckles again and scoots closer to Madge. "I figured I would ask you before doing anything, but I want him to know who you are to him."
"Yes," Gale croaks, nodding quickly. "Yes, I want him to know, too."
"Gale…" she draws out his name and chews down on her bottom lip. "If I tell Leo that you're his father you can't just walk away."
"I wouldn't," he tells her. "Madge," Gale sets his cup down on the coffee table and scoots closer again. She takes a big swig. "I would never do that to you, to him, I know what it's like to not have a father. He probably thinks I didn't want him, but I did, I mean I do now that I know, and I just—" her freehand finds his. "I'm not going anywhere. Not that I know what I have now."
"Okay," she whispers.
"And you," Gale shakes his head, "I want you, too." Madge bites her bottom lip to keep from smiling before taking another swig of wine. "If I had known you were alive, Madge, nothing would've stopped me from finding you. I didn't even bother checking because they told me you were gone and I just believed it. If I had just bothered to look—"
"Gale," she cuts him off again. "It's okay." He twists his hand to lace with hers. "I knew I would see you again one day," Madge says.
"I wish it had been sooner."
"But it wasn't," she murmurs. "So let's forget the past and move on from here. Can we do that?"
"I'd like that," Gale exhales. "I'd really like that." Madge stretches forward and places her wineglass on the table as well before scooting over. Gale pulls her onto his lap, uncaring if it's too fast, and Madge sinks against him without restriction. "I missed you," he murmurs. Her hands reach behind his neck and he lowers his forehead to hers. "Christ, Madge, I missed you so damn much." His nose traces hers. "I never stopped thinking about you, never stopped wondering—"
When she cuts him off this time it's with her mouth. Madge's lips cover his incredibly gently and instantly Gale is brought back to the nights they would spend together, whispering and holding one another. She tastes the same, feels the same, but is not the same and it is so intoxicating. He groans into her mouth as she tightens her legs around his hips. He kisses her desperately as though he never thought he'd get the chance again, which is true, and she matches him in fervor. Madge tangles her hands into his hair and Gale slides his hands around her waist, pushing up the hem of her shirt so he can feel her smooth skin again.
"I'm sorry," he pants as they part. She shakes her head, kissing him again. "I'm sorry, I'm so—"
"Don't," she pleads. Madge pulls him down to her. "Stop that, stop saying sorry." They melt together. "I never once blamed you; I never once held anything against you, Gale." He pulls from her mouth and kisses down her throat. They shift on the couch so she's below him, her hands pulling his shirt toward her in fistfuls. His mouth skirts across her throat and her collarbone. "I missed you, too," she breathes.
Her hands snakes up under his shirt and just as he thinks she's going to yank it over his head they're startling apart from each other.
"Momma?"
Madge sits up so quickly her forehead hits Gale's jaw. She straightens her shirt and her hair and they both look up just in time to watch Leo walking into the living room. He (thankfully) hasn't seen a thing.
"What's wrong, baby?"
His eyes are red and he hiccups. "I had a b-bad dream," he says. Madge is off the couch in seconds, scooping Leo into her arms. The little boy rests his head against her shoulder and squeezes close to her. "It was the-the fire a-again."
"I know, honey, I know."
Gale wipes his mouth and rubs at his jaw as he watches the two of them disappear down the hall. His lips still tingle from her kisses. Gale quickly takes another sip of wine, but then realizes he should just finish the glass off. By the time Madge is back it's at least a few minutes later.
"Everything okay?" Gale asks. She nods, though is void of a smile, and sinks down next to him.
"He has nightmares a lot," she says. Gale slides his hand around her waist and pulls her closer. "District 6 wasn't the safest place right after the war; it was like no one got the memo to stop fighting. It was practically impossible to leave, even harder for two people that weren't even supposed to be there. We only just got out about six months ago."
Suddenly it hits Gale that Madge had been raising Leo in a time of war and fighting. She had given birth in a time in which everything seemed hopeless, she had to walk around pregnant when there were gunfights on the street. And then he remembers that she's only twenty one years old and has been doing this all on her own.
"The place we had been living in," Madge finally continues, "we thought it was safe. It was just a bunch of young moms like me and some of their older brothers that were just trying to keep us safe. One night we woke up to the fire alarm going off. It started in the backroom, Leo nearly died, something about a stray bomb on the street…"
"Madge." She drops her head into her hands and rubs at her face. "Hey," he tugs her into she has her head on his chest. "That's not your fault."
"I just wanted to keep him safe," she whispers.
"He's safe now," Gale says. Madge finally looks up, her eyebrows creased and a worried frown. "He's safe here."
She hesitates. "Do you really believe that?"
Gale nods, "Yes."
Madge blinks a few times before the tension visibly leaves her face. The corner of her mouth quirks up and Gale feels a rush of warmth. "Will you stay?" she asks quietly. "Tonight?" Gale tips his head forward. "You don't have to; oh I'm being so forward." He chuckles slightly, licking his lips as his smile widens. "I just… with you here, it feels… better."
"Better," he echoes.
"Safer. Right."
"I'll stay," Gale says, nodding again. He wants to wake up next to her, he wants to see Leo in the morning. He wants this. Every day.
They don't have sex, but Gale had thought falling asleep with Madge Undersee in his arms was nothing but a dream, and having the chance to do it again is all he's ever wanted.
When he wakes up and sees her curled against him, her golden hair sprawled across the pillows, he nearly pinches himself to make sure he's awake. He watches the gentle rise and fall of her chest until her eyes flutter open. When her blue gaze meets his he smiles, and then she smiles too.
"Shouldn't you be going to work or something?" she murmurs.
Gale chuckles, pulling her closer. "I make my own hours."
"Fancy," she yawns. "Perks of being a general, eh?"
"Perks of being the general," he says. Madge laughs and nestles into his chest. "Do you work?"
"Full time," she mutters. "I've got a kid." Gale chuckles again and Madge's eyes open to meet his. "I've been looking for a job but it's hard, you know? No one wants to hire a single mom who's only 21 and didn't even finish high school." Gale nods, reaching up to brush her bangs from her forehead. "I'm working on it. For now I'm just living off of those "sorry-your-District-got-bombed-and-your-parents-died" checks."
"Madge," he sighs.
She shrugs. "Until I get a steady income it's the best I can do. It's not like I enjoy using money from the government or living in this crappy apartment."
"Come live with me, then," he whispers.
"You're ridiculous," Madge laughs. She buries her face into his chest. "That's way too fast, Gale," she says, her voice muffled against his skin.
"Because this," he pulls her up and kisses her nose, "isn't," another kiss, one on the corner of her mouth, "too fast," he says, his lips gliding across hers. Madge smiles and reaches up, tangling her hands into his hair. "I want you and Leo," he breathes, "to come live with me." She arches up to meet his mouth. "I want to take care of you." Still, more kisses. "I want all of this."
"So fast," she echoes.
"Making up for lost time," he whispers. Just as he leans into kiss her again they hear tiny footsteps padding down the hall. "He's awake?"
"He's awake," Madge nods. She gives him a light peck before pushing herself up on her palms.
"Momma!" Leo's voice is high and bright and Gale can't stop himself from smiling. "Why are you still in bed! It's so late!"
"It's not even eight, Leo," Madge calls back. The little boy runs into the room and propels himself onto her bed.
When he spots Gale his eyebrows lift incredibly high and Gale swallows his grin. "Mister is still here," Leo says. Madge nods. "You do love him!" Leo crawls up the bed toward the two of them. "Mister my Momma loves you I know she does." Leo crawls into his mother's outstretched arms and rests against her chest, wiggling under a pink and purple tattered quilt. "She only said she loves me and my daddy but I guess it's okay if she loves you too. My daddy never comes anyway."
"Leo, baby," Madge strokes his hair. Now is the time, it's got to be now. Below the blankets Gale rests his hand on Madge's knee and reassuringly stroking with his thumb. "I have to tell you something, okay?"
"Okay," he nods.
Madge looks toward Gale but then back toward her son who is staring at her with wide eyes. "Remember how I told you we came to District 2 for your daddy?" she asks, and Leo nods again. "Well Gale," she says quietly, gesturing toward the soldier who is snuggled next to them, "is your daddy."
Leo's eyes widen more if at all possible before he tilts his head toward Gale. "You are?" he asks.
"I am," Gale affirms.
Leo's eyebrows furrow much like Madge's do when she's conflicted. "But you never came before! Why did you come now? Didn't you want me?"
"Leo," Gale exhales deeply as the little boy nestles closer to his mother. Madge lifts one of her hands to stroke her son's back. "Do you remember how there was a big war?" Gale asks. "How there was all that fighting?"
"And the fire," Leo nods. Madge squeezes him closer.
"Exactly. When all of that happened it took your mom away from me." Leo's eyebrows are still furrowed. "I didn't know where she was, or that she had you, but if I had known I would've been here the whole time. Do you understand?"
Leo wrinkles his nose. "I think so."
"And if it's okay with you," Gale says, "I'd like to stay. I want to be in your life." Leo turns toward Madge, his eyes wide again. He whispers something to her and she smiles, nodding her head forward. And then he lunges toward Gale. Leo wraps his tiny little arms behind Gale's neck and squeezes and Gale holds him back, sighing into him. "Leo," he murmurs, "I'm not going to leave you."
"Can I call you Daddy?" he asks. "Instead of Mister."
"I'd like that," Gale nods.
They spend the morning in bed, Gale tickling Leo's stomach and Madge watching with the sweetest smile. Leo takes to calling Gale Daddy very quickly, and he doesn't mind at all. Every time Leo laughs Gale can't stop himself from smiling. This is how it feels, Gale realizes, to really be a parent. He spent a majority of his life trying to raise his own siblings but this feeling is so much different.
Eventually Gale scoops Leo into his arms and carries him out of bed, Leo giggling the entire walk to the kitchen.
"What should we have for breakfast?" Gale asks. He sets Leo down on the counter who grins mischievously at his mother's frown. Gale shrugs apologetically toward Madge and he knows she's trying to fight off a smile. "Eggs? Pancakes? Cereal?"
Leo giggles, "I want toast! With the sticky stuff!"
"French toast," Madge offers, sinking into a chair. "We don't have the ingredients, Sweetheart," Madge tells her son, and Leo frowns.
"Guess we're going out for breakfast then," Gale says. He picks Leo up and carefully sets him on the ground. "Go change, alright? And we can go get some French toast." Leo's out of the kitchen in seconds, sprinting off to his bedroom to pick out something to wear. Gale spins to face Madge who has one of her eyebrow high on her forehead. "If that's okay with Momma," Gale says, sauntering toward her.
"You're picking up the check," she tells him. Gale chuckles as she stands and bends down to meet her in a kiss. "You should change," she whispers. Gale lowers himself even more, capturing her lips again. "We can meet you there, if you want. You can swing by your apartment really quick and—" he cuts her off with his mouth and she grins against him, pressing herself onto her tiptoes to deepen the kiss. "Well I at least have to change," she pants.
Gale chuckles, reaching down and lifting her to sit on the edge of the table. "You look beautiful," he murmurs.
"Gale," she laughs. Madge isn't much taller now that she's sitting on the table but it's much easier to kiss her and that's all that matters. She gasps into his mouth as his tongue slides along her bottom lip, clutching his shirt and tugging him down.
There's a faint knock on the door but Gale is too lost in Madge to realize it, and apparently the same goes for her because she groans instead of going to answer it.
"I've got it!" Leo yells, and his footsteps race down the hall to the door. Gale wants her. He wants her in every sense of the word and he refuses to carry on life without her in it. His hands slide around her hips and she arches again, the two of them momentarily forgetting their responsibilities and losing themselves in each other like they never really got the chance to as teenagers. "Momma!" Leo shouts. Madge and Gale part so quickly their lips smack. "Someone is here!"
Madge rushes to the living room, Gale directly behind her, and freezes at the sight of the door open.
Cameramen.
Instantly photos are being snapped and Leo is running back toward Madge and questions are being shouted and Gale leaps in the way and quickly closes the door in their faces. The murmur of their voices is still heard through the door and the click of their cameras and he turns to face Madge, his lips parted and his eyebrows furrowed.
"What was that?" she whispers.
His eyes trace over the state that they're in, Leo still in his mismatched pajamas, Madge in nothing but a long t-shirt that hardly goes halfway down her thighs, and Gale, shirtless. Shit.
The first person he calls is his mother. He tells Madge to get Leo ready for the day and to do the same and spends his time pacing the living room. Hazelle answers on the first ring.
"There are things I need to tell you and I need you to listen," Gale says. Hazelle makes some sort of annoyed noise and Gale sighs. "Ma, just, it's going to sound insane but you need to hear it from me before anyone else."
"Is something wrong, Gale?"
"Not yet," he answers. "Stick with me, okay? You remember Madge Undersee?"
"Of course I do," Hazelle says. He can practically feel her nodding. "She brought you the morphling after your whipping, was the sweetest girl."
"Okay. Good. You know how everyone thought she died? Well she didn't." Again, Hazelle makes some sort of noise. "Okay. Ma, Madge and I were together."
There's a pause and Gale continues to pace in his mother's silence. "Together how?"
"You know how," he mutters. Again with the noises, this one a bit more concerned than the last two. "It was after I found out about the morphling and it just, she was so right… we were together and it was just one time, but it happened, and then I thought she died, and dammit—" Gale drags his hands through his hair. "I sound insane but I'm not, Ma, you gotta believe me."
"I do," she whispers. "Now go on."
"So I thought I saw her the other day when I was in the grocery store, that's why I had to go. And then I couldn't stop thinking about her so I searched her in the database and it said that she was alive and here in 2." Her silence leads him to believe that he can continue, so he does. "And I found her, and she has a kid, and Ma, he's mine, and he is the most incredible—"
"Gale," she cuts him off. There's a deep intake of breath. "Say that again. Slower."
"I found her," he repeats. Gale looks up and finds Madge in the hallway, her hand covering her mouth and concern written all over her face. "And she has a kid. His name is Leo, he's turning four in a few months. And he's mine, Ma."
And then there's a deep exhale. "Leo," Hazelle echoes. "Oh, Gale! This is so wonderful!" Gale lets out a sigh of relief and looks back toward Madge who doesn't look as concerned anymore. "Wow! I am so, wow, can I talk to her? To him? You have to come visit now, Gale, you have to bring them! I have a grandson oh, goodness!"
"Ma," Gale murmurs. She falls silent immediately. "The press got pictures." Hazelle sighs. "They must've followed my car or something, dammit, I don't know." Gale returns to dragging his hand through his hair. "I just, I wanted to tell you before whatever rumors leak are out there and I wanted you to know."
"But there will be pictures?" Hazelle asks. Gale makes a noise of confirmation and his mother laughs. "I'll get to see him! I'll get to see what he looks like!"
"He's so perfect, Ma," Gale whispers. Madge's smile down the hall brightens. "Perfect," he echoes.
Almost as if on cue Leo waddles out of the backroom all dressed and latches onto Madge's leg. "Can we get sticky toast now?" he asks.
Gale elbows his way through the cameras outside Madge's door and Leo clings to him. Madge thought it would be best if Gale held him because she would panic and "do something stupid like drop him." The crowd of vultures follow the three of them down the stairs and out to the car.
Who is Margaret Undersee and what is your relation? What is the name of this child? Is this your child? Why have we never seen either of them before?
Leo waves at the camera men, dimples forming on his cheeks as he grins. They get into Madge's car because it has Leo's safety seat and she quickly takes to the driver's seat. Once the doors are shut the cameramen continues to take pictures, but Madge just starts the car.
"If they don't move don't be afraid to hit them," Gale mutters from the passenger side. He reaches back and ruffles Leo's hair who giggles, and just like that Gale feels the stress melting from him. "I'm so sorry, Madge," Gale murmurs, turning back to the woman in the driver's seat.
"Don't be sorry," she says, shifting the car into drive. "I knew they never left you alone, I just didn't know it was this bad."
Leo continues to wave out of the window as Madge drives away. "Am I going to be on TV?" Leo asks.
Madge stops at the store so Gale can run in and get some groceries because they decide to forgo eating out. He's in and out in minutes before returning to the car. She speeds away before a cameraman can pop up again.
Gale's apartment is a bit out of the way (he had tried to stay out of the public eye but they found him anyway) and Leo presses his face to the window as they drive through the neighborhood. Gale guides Madge to the appropriate place and grabs her hand as they park.
"Geez," she murmurs, looking up at the fancy apartment building that he lives in. "I don't even want to know what you thought when you first saw where I live."
"I didn't think a thing," Gale says honestly, squeezing her fingers. "I grew up in the Seam, remember?"
They hop out of the car and Gale quickly leads them to the elevator. A man on the first floor raises his eyebrows at Gale as he passes with Leo in his arms. "Saw you on the news today," the man says. Madge chews down on her bottom lip. "I hear you've got a kid."
"He's my daddy!" Leo calls out before the elevator door shuts. As it shoots them into the air Gale finds Madge staring at the ground in concentration. He's super accepting of how things have turned out but it's clear that the public might not be. Teenage pregnancy during a wartime? Madge and Leo just appearing out of nowhere? What will people think? Dammit, it doesn't matter what they think. "Can I use the key?" Leo asks.
"Sure," Gale digs through his pocket and pulls out his keys. Leo rifles through them before finding the correct one, Gale said it had the number 7 on it, and shoves it into the keyhole. The door swings open and Leo runs in giggling, jingling the keys as he goes. "Leo!" Gale laughs loudly, rushing after him.
Madge slowly strolls into the apartment, eyeing the entire place as she goes. It's large, the entire front room seems to be bigger than her whole apartment. Gale catches up to Leo and begins to tickle him, she's brought back to focus at the sound of her son's laughter. She finds them in the kitchen and is immediately amazed. There's an endless supply of cabinets and the stove is huge.
"Pretty empty," Madge murmurs, digging through a cabinet and finding nothing but paper plates.
"I don't spend much time here," Gale admits, lowering Leo to the ground. He instantly starts to dig through a cabinet, pulling out a pan. She's impressed he has one. "Never had a reason to before." She thinks back to his offer of her moving in with him and her heart stutters a bit. He winks at her before turning back to Leo. "Want to help me cook?" Gale asks.
"No thanks," the little boy waves his hands and moves out of the room. "The fire is in here."
"Make sure you stay out of the rooms with closed doors," Gale calls as Leo leaves the room.
He sighs when his son walks away and turns to Madge who lifts her shoulders slightly. "I can do breakfast if you want," Madge says. "Leo never comes into the kitchen when I'm cooking. Don't take offense to it. It's just… the flames," Madge gestures to the stove. "You go on."
Gale slides his arms around Madge's waist and nuzzles into her neck. "Thanks," he whispers. He feels her heat up and presses a kiss to her throat. "Next one's on me. I swear it. Alright?"
"Sure," she laughs. He kisses her throat again, and then her collarbone. "I know, you just want to learn everything about him. I get that. You already know me."
"Mm, you've been through a lot," Gale says. "I want to learn everything about you all over again." And he means that. He wants to know if she still plays the piano, if she still eats strawberries religiously, if she still takes sugar in her tea. Not only that but he wants to know what she thinks, how she views the world as it is now and where she wants it to go. "His thoughts are much less intricate than yours, I'm sure."
"He is only three," Madge laughs. Gale chuckles against her skin. Madge turns her head to face him and they both smile. Just as he leans in to press his lips to hers there's a loud crashing from a room down the hall. "What was that?"
Gale releases his hold on Madge and quickly runs down the hall toward his office where the door is cracked. Leo is on the floor, a broken picture frame in front of him. "I didn't mean to," Leo says, looking at the shattered glass. "I just wanted to see!"
"Get out," Gale croaks. He runs forward and places Leo on his feet. "Get out!"
The boy's eyes widen and fill with tears. He sprints out of the room and Gale backs up to the door, slamming it shut. He looks down at the broken glass and scoops the pieces into his hand, though his eyes frantically dart to the news article that he had framed. The Nut Falls, it reads, and underneath is a detailed explanation of what the rebels did in District 2 with the bombing Gale helped devise and a list of the dead. He shoves it away quickly and throws the glass into a trashcan before striding out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
Gale moves into the kitchen where Madge is dutifully working on the French toast. "He's locked himself in the bathroom," Madge says, not even looking at him.
With a groan Gale leaves the kitchen and goes to the bathroom. He hears Leo's tiny cries from the other side of the door and Gale fiddles with the handle. "Leo? Let me in."
"No!" he cries. "I hate you I hate you! You're the worst daddy ever!"
Gale lowers his forehead to the door and fiddles with the handle again. "Please let me in?"
"No!" Leo yells again. "I hate you!"
There's more crying for a bit and Gale eases away from the door, dropping his head down into his hands. After a few minutes of listening to his son crying in the bathroom he forces himself to his feet, returning to Madge in the kitchen.
She cocks an eyebrow at him. "How'd that go?"
"I'm the worst ever," Gale repeats Leo's words. "He hates me."
Madge smirks. "No he doesn't. He's upset with you because you yelled at him." Gale sinks into a chair at the kitchen table and drops his head into his hands again, rubbing at his temples. "Why'd you yell at him? What did he do?"
"He was in my office," Gale murmurs. "I told him to stay out." Gale tugs on the tips of his hair. "That's where I keep things I don't want other people seeing." Madge is quiet for a while before she walks over and takes the seat next to him. She grabs one of his hands and he tilts his head to look at her. "I'm such shit."
"Gale," she laces their hands together. "No you aren't. Leo should've known not to snoop. You told him not to go in and he did."
"That's no excuse," he growls. "Besides, it's not just that. It's what I've done." He doesn't have to go into the details of war but Madge strokes her thumb over his. "I don't know how I thought that I could do this."
"You raised your three younger siblings," Madge tells him. "And you're great with Leo. Parenting is hard, Gale, and Leo can be a brat. Maybe you shouldn't have yelled at him but that doesn't automatically nullify everything you've done thus far, he broke the rules." She grabs his hand tightly. "You played with him all day yesterday and helped him do his chores. You drew pictures with him. This morning when we woke up you tickled him and laughed with him. You went straight for what he wanted when it came to breakfast food, which will be ready eventually," she says looking toward the stove. "I know by the way that you look at him that you love him, and honestly, you already spoil him."
Gale sighs loudly and closes his eyes as tight as he can. "He hates me."
"No he doesn't," Madge says again. "He just doesn't like to be yelled at. That doesn't mean he didn't deserve it." She reaches over with her other hand and pulls his chin up. "You finish breakfast and I'll get him out of the bathroom, alright?" With another sigh Gale nods. Madge kisses his hand before leaving the kitchen and walking toward the bathroom. He gets up to finish the French toast and doesn't mean to listen as Madge coaxes Leo out. "Leo, baby? Can you come on out?"
"No!" he yells. "I hate you too!"
"That's very rude," Madge responds. "You know that hate is a very strong word." Leo is quiet for a minute. "Come out."
"I don't wanna."
"I'm very disappointed in you," Madge says. "You've always known not to touch things that don't belong to you or go into a place without asking for permission. Here at Gale's is the same rules, even if he is your father. He told you to stay out and you went into the room anyway." Leo is still quiet. "Come on out," she says again. Gale hears the door creak open and tiny footsteps, followed by sniffling. "Gale didn't mean to yell at you," Madge tells her son. "He's been through a lot of things just like we have."
"Like the fire?" Leo whispers.
"Yes, only his were just as scary. Maybe even worse. And he keeps those memories in that room and didn't want you to see them." Gale can't help but love that Madge doesn't know the details of his life and still understands. "He's very sorry for yelling, just like I'm sure you are for breaking whatever it is you broke after sneaking into a room you shouldn't have been in."
"I didn't mean to," Leo murmurs.
"Maybe you can apologize," Madge says. "I'm sure he'll apologize too."
Leo sniffles again. "Does he hate me?"
"No, baby," Madge whispers back. "I don't think he could ever hate you." It takes a bit more quiet soothings that Gale can't hear before the two of them walk into the kitchen, and by then he's finished breakfast and has turned the stove off. "Leo has something he'd like to say to you," Madge says to Gale.
Gale dips down onto his knees so he's eyelevel with his son. "I'm sorry," Leo murmurs. "I didn't mean to go into that room and break your picture. I won't do it again."
Madge looks toward Gale and his eyes dart up to meet hers. "It's okay," Gale whispers. "I forgive you. And I'm sorry for yelling at you. I haven't been around kids for a while. I forget that you're not soldiers."
"I'm tough," Leo says pumping his chest. "I can be a soldier."
Gale pats Leo's shoulder. "Maybe one day. But for now I'm sorry I yelled." Leo doesn't say that it's okay, but Gale doesn't need him to. "I finished making sticky toast," he says. "Do you want some?" The way his son's eyes light up is all the approval he needs.
Leo stays away from Gale for most of the day but at night he falls asleep against him on the couch. Gale twirls his fingers through Leo's hair like he used to with Madge and finds her staring at them with stars in her eyes.
"I told you," she hums. "Leo, he's a good kid, but he can also be a little monster. He throws temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way." Madge lifts her hand and strokes her son's back. "And he cries because he knows it makes people feel guilty. You can't always be the good guy with him, Gale."
"I don't want to upset him," Gale says back. "I wasn't here for practically the first four years of his life. I don't want him to hate me already."
"Already?" Madge smirks. "He's not going to hate you at all. Gale he wants to be exactly like you. He might not've known who you were when he saw you on the TV but I always had you on when you were having some sort of conference. He wants to grow up and be tall and change the world and be a soldier." Gale can't help but smile now, looking down at the boy who's curled against his chest. "Just be a parent to him," she says. "Love him like you would if you had been here those first four years. Set up rules and follow them. Tickle him when he's sad. Just love him and he'll love you." She stretches her hands out. "Hand him over. I'll put him in the guest room."
After Madge gets Leo settled in a giant bed all to himself curled under the covers, she returns to Gale. He pulls her onto his lap and rests his arms around her waist, nuzzling into her neck like he had earlier today.
"You were right," he whispers. "I've been through some bad shit." He kisses her throat. "Sometimes I'm still scared that I don't deserve to be alive."
"Don't talk like that," she scolds him. "And you don't have to tell me what you've been through until you're ready." Gale nods, kissing the nape of her neck. "You deserve peace, Gale," Madge tells him. "I've spent so long looking for it. Peace, when you have a three year old kid, is practically impossible to find. But with you…" she trails off, tilting her head to look at him. "I've always loved you," Madge whispers. "Not just because I have your child but because you've always made the hard decisions. You do everything with your whole heart, Gale."
He dips down, kissing her fiercely. "I never stopped loving you," he tells her. "Even when I thought you were gone I still dreamt that you were okay."
"And I am," she nods, cupping his cheeks. Their noses brushes and his lips stretch for hers again.
"There're still people out there," Gale whispers. "If you want to meet someone else who—"
"Have you even been listening to me?" she asks, laughing slightly. "Gale, I just told you that I love you." He smiles against her mouth and they kiss again. "And I do. I love you."
"I loved you the night the bombs went off and haven't stopped," he says. They kiss for a bit, Gale melting into her warmth and Madge arching to meet his body. They press closer to each other desperately and he breaks away, resting his forehead against hers. "So? Will you move in with me?"
She laughs airily and nods her head so their noses brush. "Yes. I will. But I'll have to talk to Leo first." He smiles and tugs her hips toward him. "Can we go to bed?" Madge asks.
"Go to bed?"
"Mm," she nods before smiling a wicked smile. "You know what I mean."
Things happen quickly.
Madge and Leo move in with Gale, who has once again decided that he adores his daddy. They enroll Leo into a daycare center so Madge can get a job, and she begins giving piano lessons. Gale makes sure to buy a piano one day so they have on in their apartment. Leo gets a boatload of new toys (Hazelle sends them in the mail) and decorates his room with posters of far off places. Leo makes an abundance of new friends at the daycare center and wants to have playdates with them all the time.
The press begins to leave them alone as well, apparently realizing it's a lot different to bother a bachelor than it is to harass a family. Every once in a while Leo will find a picture of himself in the newspaper and hang that on his wall as well, talking about how he's going to be on the TV like his dad.
It isn't for a few months that Gale works up the courage to propose. He and Madge have been apart for years but they easily fall into the same rhythm they had before. She's not only the mother of his child but she embodies hope, something that Gale has had such a hard time seeing since the war. She's kind and patient and has a smile that melts his heart. She accepts the proposal without hesitation, knowing that there's no one she'd rather spend her life with.
And now, with Leo's fourth birthday come and gone and his fifth on the horizon, Gale finally decides that it's time to make the trek back home with his family in tow.
"I can't believe I've got a Nana," Leo says, staring out the windows of the train with wide eyes. "You think she'll love me? She's the one that sends me all the toys, right?"
"That's her," Madge laughs. The engagement ring twinkles on her finger and Gale grabs her hand tightly. "She already loves you, silly boy."
"Oh good," he nods. "I think I love her too. Just like I love you, Daddy." Gale can't help but smile. "And she's your mom, my Nana is. I don't see why I won't love her."
And of course, when the train stops and they exit into District 12, Hazelle is the first one they see. "Over here!" she screams over the crowd, waving her arms frantically. "Over here you all! Let me see my grandbaby!" Gale hoists Leo up on his shoulders and watches his mother melt at the first sight of him. He grabs Madge's hand and they weave through the station together. "Oh," Hazelle sighs thoughtfully at Leo, not even trying to mask her amazement at the small boy.
"Mm," Gale turns to Madge before he reaches his mother. "How the hell did I get so lucky?"
Leo taps his head. "You're not supposed to use those words around me!"
Madge giggles, lifting Gale's hand and kissing it quickly.
This might not've been what Gale had been expecting to fill the void in his life, but looking at Madge's smiling face and feeling Leo on his shoulders, Gale couldn't have even dreamt of anything better.