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"Mama! Mama!" Willow comes flying into the kitchen where I'm preparing lunch, Rye toddling closely behind her on his little toddler legs.
"Yes Willow" I smile softly over to her.
"When can we go see dada?" She asks somewhat pleadingly.
I frown, "still a little while to go hun"
Willow pouts sadly, insisting again "When?"
"Well..." I trail off, trying to come up with an answer that Willow will understand in her little mind. My eyes land on the clock on the wall.
Walking over to it I point to the little hand, "the little one has to be on the three" I point to the three as well to further explain my point. "And the big hand has to be on the twelve" I do the same for the big hand, pointing to it and the twelve in explanation.
"We can go then, okay?" I nod encouragingly.
Willow nods, smiling brightly as she replies "okay mama" before turning and exiting the kitchen again.
When she's gone I turn back to the lunch I'm preparing, but quickly look up again when I notice Rye is still standing there, looking somewhat conflicted as to where he should go.
"You gonna go play with sister again?" I ask him softly.
He looks up at me, "mama" he states plainly.
"Yes Bub" I smile, filling in the blanks a moment later when it's clear he isn't going to, "you want to help me huh?"
He nods quickly, toddling over towards me slowly.
I help him the rest of the way, setting him on the edge of the counter, where he usually sits when he's helping Peeta with his baking.
"You're dada's mini me huh?" I ruffle his wild blonde curls. "Come on let's get this yummy lunch ready so we can be closer to seeing dada"
***
"Is it time to go yet?" Willow whines again once we've finished our lunch.
'After lunch' was the first thing I told Willow when she asked me when were going to go see Peeta today, which looking back was not the best response knowing Willow's lack of time understanding.
"Not quite yet, still a couple hours to go" I frown, "remember the clock" I point over to the thing on the wall, "little hand has to be on the three, and big hand has to be on the twelve"
"Okay mama" Willow pouts sadly.
"It'll go faster than you realise" I frown sympathetically back, "why don't you and brother go play for a little while"
"Okay" Willow nods, sliding out of her seat as I unstrap Rye from his, brushing off the few crumbs and mess he managed to spill down himself as I do.
Rye quickly toddles over to his big sister once he's on his two feet again, Willow ever so gentle and caring, waits for him to catch up before they walk off together.
"What should we play Rye?" I hear Willow ask.
"Cars!" Is Rye's excited reply, to no ones surprise.
"Okay Rye Rye, as long as I'm the pink one" is Willow's compromise.
Once they're both gone I get started on clearing off the table, then once I'm done that, I clean the kitchen and the living room, and then before I know it I'm sorting through laundry. All my day ever really seems to be these days.
And it hasn't felt like that long at all when Willow and Rye come barreling into the room I'm in again.
"Mama it's time" Willow exclaims excitedly.
"What?" I ask unbelievably, glancing over to the closest clock to check, but no that still only says it's two.
"You said the little hand had to be on the three" Willow reminds me.
"Yeah I remember" I nod, still unsure how this means it's time to go now if it's not yet three.
"Come look" Willow smiles, beside her Rye giggles but Willow is quick to give him a gentle push, as if to remind him to keep his cool.
What have they done?
"Okay" I smile nonetheless, letting them both guide me downstairs.
And low and behold Willow is right, the clock that I pointed to earlier, is displaying the time I told her to wait for, the time we could go see Peeta at the bakery, after the rush is sure to be over.
And then I notice the chair, pulled over from the dining room table to the kitchen counter. Willow must have climbed up on the counter and figured out how to move the hands to change the time.
"Huh" I begin in a soft hum, my brain quickly weighing the options here. "Is that the time?" I state dumbly, "that went by quick"
Though she tries to act nonchalant I spot the mischievous grin Willow shares with Rye.
"Alright you two, go get your shoes, let's go see dada"
"Yay!" They both cheer. Quickly going to complete the task I've given them, knowing this time it means they're one step closer to seeing their dad.
The kids have lots of energy on our walk over, excitedly talking and bouncing as we go.
Then they light up even more as we enter and spot Peeta running the counter, thankfully appearing as if he's just finished the rush.
But I don't think anyone lights up as much as Peeta does, exclaiming excitedly, "hello! I didn't think I'd see you till later"
"Time flies" I smile simply, "and well the little hand was on the three and the big hand was on the twelve" I explain.
Peeta looks confused, even glancing up at the clock to check the time, though I'm sure he already knew the answer more or less.
"I'll explain later" I grin, nodding to the kids in a kind of short explanation.
He nods, grinning widely as he goes to lift Rye up on the counter, preparing both of the kids for their promised bakery time with daddy.
***
"Alright kiddos, time to go" Peeta announces after cleaning the last section of dirty counter.
"Aww" they both slump disappointedly.
"You've had plenty of time for baking with daddy, time to go now" I reiterate his words. I don't mention the fact that they've had even more time than usual with their little stunt earlier.
Peeta nods, steering us all towards the door. "Yes, and now it's time to reap the rewards" he holds up the takeaway container of cookies the kids just helped bake.
"After dinner" I quickly add, in case this gives them the wrong idea.
"Yes" Peeta agrees, "of course, after dinner"
I suspect Peeta must have winked at the kids when he said that, because both Willow and Rye giggle mischievously a moment later.
"If I find out you gave them more sugar before dinner, you'll be the one putting them to bed" I warn in a stern half whisper.
"Yes Love" Peeta smiles sincerely, pulling me into his side and pressing a quick kiss to the side of my forehead.
When we make it back home, Willow and Rye go racing off to their rooms to play and Peeta and I find ourselves in the kitchen, preparing dinner; or well Peeta is, I'm mostly just sitting at the counter as I listen to Peeta recount his day and vice versa.
It's there I tell Peeta a more in depth story of what the kids did before we left earlier, resulting in us being early to the bakery.
Peeta laughs loudly in response, glancing up at the clock on the wall which still displays the wrong time, roughly an hour ahead of what it actually is.
"Oh would you look at that" he comments, then smirks as he adds "better get a move on with dinner, there's only an hour or so before bedtime"
We share a look and I'm suddenly excited to play, in a way, a little bit of revenge on the kids, reaping my own reward from this whole ordeal.
"But you know, as they say; time flies when you're having fun"
"Indeed it does"
***
"I'm all finished" Willow announces as she pushes her plate away from her, "I go play now?"
I glance up at the clock and pretended to act shocked by the time it displays, "oh is that the time" I exclaim.
"We must have stayed longer than usual at the bakery" I murmur in thought, before adding quickly "no Willow it's much too close to bedtime and you still need to bathe"
Willow looks confused for a moment, but then must remember what she did earlier as she cries "No mama, that's not—" but she quickly trails off, probably realising if she revealed it's not the right time it would give away her changing it earlier.
"That's not the time?" I ask mock confused, "but the little hand is on the seven and the big hand is almost on the 6, making it about seven-thirty"
Willow looks like she wants to argue the point, but eventually nods glumly; that is what the clock says after all.
So after clearing the table, we begin our bedtime preparations.
Peeta and I making quick work of it as we each more or less take a kid, getting through the routine of bathing, clothing and tucking in just a little bit quicker.
Then it's just us two, Peeta pulls me into his arms and we begin to kiss right there in the hallway.
"I think we came out on top of this one" I mutter, in between his mouth being on mine.
"Oh definitely" Peeta agrees, slowly guiding me towards our room, our lips still connected of course.
"We should probably change the clock back before we head to bed though"
But instead we fall onto the bed, our clothes quickly becoming unimportant objects, and the prospect of changing the clock back becomes a fantasy.