So the last time Gale had spotted little red riding hood in the district and he decided to save her...but did he really save her? Let's fast forward one year and see what happened...
Special thanks to norbertsmom for her absolute stellar betaing job. I do not own the Hunger Games.
Spring One Year Later
"DELLY IS PREGNANT!" The witch's shrill could be heard from the inside of his house. "YOUR SON IMPREGNATED HER!"
His mother stood rigid, calmly watching Mrs. Mellark yell at the top of her lungs.
"So it says here," his mother said, holding the paperwork. "It says she's nine weeks." By the tone in her voice, she was not amused by what she was reading.
Gale's heartbeat quickly. He'd heard gossip of the baby, but it was being attributed to Peeta, the man Delly claimed she felt nothing for. He was angry and upset and walked away from her. He had turned his attention back to Katniss.
He scanned the crowd, but he didn't see Delly's face. He knew her not just in the carnal sense, but he thought they were friends. At least they were friends until they began having sex. It was supposed to be a one-time thing but it became more. He swallowed and thought she was having his baby.
"Your son is a lawbreaker…." Mrs. Mellark pointed at him, "...a no good poacher."
Gale knew the reason why the witch was up in arms. In town, all the merchants needed to have a clear successor to carry on the family business. Each descendant had to be married by the age of 19. Peeta was about to turn 19, but since he was engaged to Delly everything was fine. That was until Christmas time and Delly announced she thought she was pregnant. Because of Daniel, a DNA test had to be made to make sure the baby was genetically fine, the results had the whole of the district gathered in front of his door. And the baby was his. Gale relished the news secretly. At least his child would never have to fear going into the Hunger Games.
Although he hated the quota in the mines, he did not mind the work. He shuddered to think about what Districts 1, 2, 5, and 13 went through on a yearly basis. The Hunger Games were brutal, and all for the entertainment of the Capitol. They did have standards to abide by, like the ones the Merchants had to live up to, but at least they were free and the Peacekeepers did exactly what their name suggested, they kept the peace.
Gale breathed out a rough breath as the enormity of the paper that his mother held hit him. He finally had a valid reason for seeing his Red. His little Red riding hood. His blood pumped south, as his body reacted to the idea of seeing Delly once more. Then he glanced at Mrs. Mellark who accused him of being a criminal.
"Now wait one minute, Myrtle. My son is a good provider. Don't go splitting hairs just because you're not getting what you want, like the spoiled brat that you are." Hazelle spoke with authority. "This also says here the father has Merchant blood."
"HOW CAN THAT BE!" Mrs. Mellark yelled, stomping her feet!
"Yes, I forgot." His mother grinned, taking pleasure in Mrs. Mellark's obvious displeasure. "Gale's grandfather on my husband's side was a Merchant. A big lumbering man named Gaylord."
The Cartwright's stepped forward from Mrs. Mellark's shadow. "Wwww...we...we just want to know," Mr. Cartwright stumbled through his words as he held on tightly to his wife's hand. "What is your son going to do about our daughter?"
Gale blinked; he'd never met his grandfather, but the man was a legend in the Seam. He was loud, boisterous, and quite the ladies' man. His mother always said Gale's perchance for women came from his grandpa on his dad's side.
"Of course, Gale will do right by your daughter." Hazelle looked over her shoulder directly at him. "Isn't that right Gale Gaylord Yancy Hawthorne?"
He closed his eyes as his mother called him by his full name. Gale came outside, head cast down. "Yes ma'am."
"I can't hear you," his mother practically growled.
"Mr. Cartwright." Gale glanced at his mother quickly, before continuing, "Please allow me the honor of marrying your daughter."
This appeased the older balding man. "We accept."
Mrs. Mellark began yelling. Gale frowned, once more wondering where Delly was. He walked outside looking for her, needing to see his Red. The hunter in him looked for her in the crowd. Like a wolf, he moved about amongst the people seeking her familiar scent. Nine weeks, that was two and a half months. He knew exactly when she got pregnant. That night was etched into his brain.
It was chilly outside that night. Gale recalled the way his breath came out in thick puffs. While everyone was sleeping he couldn't sleep and sought out one of Ripper's specialty white liquor. Ripper had guessed correctly that what ailed him tonight was a female. Not just any female, his woman, his Red.
Momentarily his intellect went out the window and Gale was transformed into a drunk pea-brained idiot, and all because of an innocent girl in a red cloak. Red made him feel, made him want, desire, made him dream. And their situation was irrevocably complicated and messed up.
He stood outside half-drunk, jealous of Peeta Mellark, throwing stones at her window. There was no mistaking that he was jealous of Mellark because he had both of the women he wanted. Katniss, who'd never admit it, but Gale saw the way she watched Peeta when she thought nobody noticed. Katniss was beautiful, and she was a good hunting partner. But on the other hand, Delly, who Peeta was engaged to, had her own sort of grace and beauty. She was sweet and innocent and she made him laugh. Delly, whom his wolfish heart wanted to devour and possess in the way a wolf claimed his mate.
There was no reason for him to go after Delly. She didn't have the Seam pretty looks, but there was something about her that made his heart pound in his chest whenever he was around her. They'd been fooling around for weeks now, yet his jealousy had caused them to argue.
He saw the light in the shoe shop turn on and saw her face peering at him from her window. When she opened the door with the light spilling behind her she looked like an angel.
Gale stumbled forward. He growled, "You want me?"
Gently she took his hand. In a reassuring voice, she answered truthfully, "Yes."
"You do?"
"Yes, I do." She touched his face with soft fingers and his heart raced. "Do you want to come inside?"
He nodded. She was an angel he had no right to touch, but couldn't help himself. Delly was such a unique girl, he was drawn to her. Once inside they talked and promised to end the relationship. They drank on it, but before he left, he kissed her. Things had gotten out of control as they ended upstairs, wildly going at it on the bed. Gale tried to show her that he was good enough for her. That night he gave her everything. He didn't even realize he'd managed to compromise her and he stupidly believed the baby she carried wasn't his. But science didn't lie. Science told the truth.
The DNA report his mother read was shocking, but at the same time, something within him roared at the thought of her having his baby.
His mate carried his progeny. Gale inhaled sharply. When the rumors started to spread that Red was pregnant Gale felt it deeply. His pain and jealousy caused him to act stupidly to believe Mellark had gotten his hands on her and compromised her. That thought drove him mad, to know another touched his mate, his Red, and Gale couldn't do anything about it until now.
"Gaylord, huh?"
Katniss snapped him out of his thoughts. He didn't even realize Katniss was standing in front of him. "Shut up, Everdeen."
"Sure, Yancy." Katniss snickered.
Gale pointed at her, his eyes narrowed. Delly knew his name and she never made fun of him. "You call me either one of those names ever again and I swear I'll make a trap big enough to get you."
"Isn't Gale short for-" Gale didn't let her finish her question.
He sighed. "I'm named after my paw, and my two grandfathers."
Katniss laughed at him and it got on his nerves. He was thinking of Delly, of their baby, of the nine weeks of separation. The wolf in him was awake and wanted to desperately find his mate.
"Gale, come along, the Cartwrights and our family are going to break bread," his mother called.
"See you," Gale said to Katniss before he walked up to the house. The Cartwrights were still with his family. They were quiet folks, they were silently waiting for him.
"Where is your daughter?" he asked Mr. Cartwright.
"Watching Daniel."
"I think if our families are going to join in marriage and break bread afterward, we should get Delly and do it together with Daniel."
Gale watched his mother nod.
"I have no objections. Daniel is part of the family." His mother said, "Boys go wash up, your brother's getting hitched."
Internally Gale knew he was going to see his Red for the first time in weeks. He just hoped she didn't throw a shoe at him. He certainly deserved it.