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It’s coming on Christmas…
Katniss turned the radio off as quickly she turned it on. On any other year that song was sad enough, but this year it was just too much. Ever since the accident that claimed the lives of her parents earlier in the fall, she’s found it hard to muster up happiness on a regular day. Now that it’s Christmas, and everyone is putting on a face of joy, she’s at the end of her tether.
“Enough. Let’s just get through this without too much sentimentality.” She told her sister, sitting in the passenger seat.
“Oh Katniss,” Prim told her. “It is hard. But you know that Mom and Dad wouldn’t want us to be wallowing like you are. Dad loved Christmas. I want to remember him for the good things, not for how it all ended. Remember how he would sing from December 1 all the way to the 25th?”
“I do,” Katniss says with the smallest hint of a smile. “He was a good man, wasn’t he Little Duck?”
“The best. And mom too”
“Yes. And mom too,” Katniss agreed. “So, what do we do about Christmas then? I refuse to listen to sad songs, and I refuse to wallow…”
With that, Prim went through her Spotify playlist. “I think I’ve found something that just might do…”
Because we need a little Christmas, right this very minute…
XXXXXXXXXX
“It’s coming on Christmas…” Peeta sang along as he drove down the back roads. He loved to hear Katniss sing this one- her voice fit it perfectly. He used to love to go to the coffeehouse every weekend to listen to her. Just Katniss and her guitar, singing and playing. She was something of a local sensation, happy to sing on a weekend, but keep her day job, too. Last Christmas she did a whole set, and that Joni Mitchell song was the highlight. It was her mother’s favorite artist,and her father’s favorite song. He knew better than to ask her to sing it this year, and he wondered if he’d ever hear her sing it again. He loved her so much, but every time he was ready to announce his affection for her, something got in the way. He was beginning to think the Universe truly didn’t want them together. As he contemplated this, he saw something sitting on the side of the road, barely visible. Peeta slammed on the breaks just in time! As he got out of his car he noticed a small fur ball of a thing cowering in a box just out of the way of his front tires.
“Hey guy…” he crooned. “It’s ok. I won’t hurt you.”
The ball of fur spat at him.
‘Well, that’s no way to treat the person who is your next best hope.” he said, not unkindly. “Let’s get you warm and in my car.”
XXXXXXXXXXX
They’re cutting down trees…
Christmas came in quietly. Katniss and Prim decorated, but that was about it. There were small gifts exchanged, but both of them were just happy to sit and be with each other. They went into the woods and found a small, “Charlie Brown tree” as Prim said. She always did have a soft spot for the small and overlooked.
I wish I had a river…
But, there was no river. Just these mountains that offered their arms to her. She felt both comforted and trapped at the same time.
Katniss walked out onto the front porch. She always loved how it looked towards her woods and mountains. When she was little, and Gale was still living next door, they used to play in those woods. As they got older, they would hunt together. They used to meet at an overlook. Sometimes they would just sit and talk. They wondered if they could do it- run away and live off the land. They never had the guts to actually try though, and once they got older, it was apparent that they could never run away together. They were too much alike. High school came and they both went their separate ways. Last Katniss heard, Gale and Madge were living a few towns over and had started a little family of their own.
Katniss thought about all of this as she sat on the old rocker. If it weren't for Prim, she'd run off straight into those hills, never to be heard from again. Well, Prim and Peeta. Lately he's been popping into her thoughts more and more. When did that happen, she wondered? They've been friends for so long, it's hard to remember a time without him.
Right around the time she and Gale began drifting apart, Peeta showed up. It was funny, they were nothing alike, but they somehow fit together. “Like two peas in a pod” her mother used to say. The memory brought a smile to her face. She decided she didn’t care why Peeta began to spring into her thoughts more often, she was just glad he was there.
No sooner did she think this, than she saw the familiar lights of Peeta’s Jeep making its way up the winding driveway. She sat where she was, waiting for him to stop and get out.
“Hey Katniss, I need you to go inside a minute,” Peeta told her.
“Why?”
“Why do you always have to question me? Just listen to me for once, would you?” He teased, but also, he meant it. So, inside she went.
“Is that Peeta?” Prim asked. “I wonder what he’s doing here. I’m surprised his mother let him out of her sight on Christmas.”
“That old witch,” Katniss shook her head. “I don’t know how he puts up with her nonsense.”
“I think it’s because she knows he’s the reason the bakery stays in business. If it weren’t for his cakes, they’d have closed their doors a long time ago.”
“You always did like looking at the cakes in the window, didn’t you, Little Duck?”
“And you always did like looking at the cake maker,” Prim teased.
“Shut up.” And both girls laughed. “Peeta told me to wait inside, because he had something. I wonder what’s taking him so long?”
XXXXXXX
Peeta reached into the back of his Jeep. The cat he found on the road was spitting mad. Come to think of it, Peeta couldn’t think of a time within the last week that the cat hadn’t been mad. He had a time keeping it away from his mother. He assured her that he wasn’t keeping it, that it was for someone else, and he promised it would be gone by Christmas. This was one promise he was happy to make sure he kept.
“Katniss!” Peeta shouted from the front porch, “You can open the door!”
As Katniss approached the door, she saw he had an animal carrier in his hands. “What is that Peeta?” She asked cautiously.
“It’s Prim’s Christmas present!” He said excitedly as stepped over the threshold, shut the door, and put down the carrier. “Merry Christmas, Prim!”
“Oh Peeta!” Prim exclaimed as she looked into the carrier door. “A kitten! You got me a kitten!” She remembered how she told him a few months ago that she would love a pet, but Katniss would never go for it.
“More like the kitten found me,” he said. “And I knew exactly who he needed,” proud of himself. All this time, though, he avoided Katniss’s gaze.
Prim pened the crate, and out walked the little ball of orange fur, right into her arms. His purrs could be heard a mile away.
“Huh. I thought that cat hated everyone.”
“What do you mean? He’s a beautiful boy, aren’t you Buttercup!” Prim said as she nuzzled the cat.
“Seriously, that cat spit and scratched everyone, ever since I found him. And he’s walking into your arms like you’re the queen of the world.”
“Peeta…” Katniss warned. “What made you think we wanted a cat?”
“Umm…. I just thought… I mean…”
“I told him, Katniss. I want a pet. There, I said it. You might not like it, but I do. And look at him! He’s staying.”
Against Katniss’s better judgement, she gave in. Prim rarely asked for anything, and since their parent’s death, there was little joy. This was the first time Katniss saw that fire in Prim, and she decided she liked it. She didn’t like the cat, but she did like Prim’s fire.
“OK. Fine. He stays. But you’re taking care of him, not me!”
“Oh, don’t worry big sister! The last person I want touching Buttercup is you!” Prim said saucily. “And, yes. Buttercup. That’s his name. He just told me.” And that was settled.
XXXXXXXX
Later that night, after Prim had gone to bed, Katniss and Peeta sat by the fire.
“You know, I hate to say thank you for this, but, thank you for finding that cat for Prim. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that stubborn side of her. As much as I don’t want another mouth to feed, I’m glad to see her come to life like that.”
“I really did find that cat. It was in a box on the side of the road, I almost ran over it. Once I brought it home, I took it to the vet to make sure everything was ok. Mom threw a canniption fit, but I didn’t care. I wanted to do something nice for Prim.”
“You did well. Now, what about me? Where’s my present?” Katniss wanted to hit herself for saying it like that. She felt like Delly and all of those silly girls from high school, practically throwing herself at Peeta. Where was this coming from?
“Well, since you asked, it’s right… here…” he said, leaning closer to her. Close enough to smell her hair, to hear her sharp intake of breath… to kiss her…
“Peeta?” Katniss questioned, “Are you sure?”
“Oh God, Katniss, I haven’t been more sure of anything else.” And with that, he pulled her out of her chair, and she led him to her room.
They had been friends for so long, it was easy to slip into lovers. And, slip they did. Willingly.