The Heiress {Finnick Odair}

Bonus: Thirty Years Later

"Absolutely not," Finnick said as he paced up and down in front of the kitchen table.

Amara decided then and there it was a good thing she brought it up to her husband before the poor boy had approached him. She was also glad everyone was out of the house.

He didn't appreciate the amused look in her eye at all.

"Don't look at me like that," he snapped.

"Like what?" she asked with a laugh, leaning back in her chair to watch him.

"Like I'm behaving like a child," he said. She snorted.

"You are behaving like a child," she pointed out. He shook his head and continued to pace.

"You know who is a child?" Finnick asked, shooting her a pointed look. "Maggie. Maggie is a child."

"She's twenty-five," Amara pointed out, and Finnick shook her off.

"No, absolutely not," Finnick decided. "Mags is my little girl, and my little girl is absolutely not ready for some boy to swoop in and take her away."

"They've been dating for two years," Amara said. "Besides, do I need to remind you that you really like Jack?"

"He used to pick his nose," Finnick said. "Do we really want that genetic in the family?"

"He was four," Amara deadpanned.

"Plus, how well do they really know each other?"

"I can't believe we're having this conversation right now," Amara rubbed her temple.

Someone threw the door open.

"Did he say no?" Ezra asked, waltzing right in. "I put money on him saying no."

"Absolutely not," Finnick said. Peeta groaned and slapped a few bills into Ezra's hand. Johanna rolled her eyes and looked between both of them, and Annie crossed her arms and studied Finnick.

"And what is wrong with my son?" she asked, tapping her foot on the ground. Everyone grinned up at Finnick, who was still looking determined. When he met her gaze, however, he looked slightly afraid.

Johanna held out her bag of popcorn and Ezra took a handful. So did Peeta and Katniss. Then Amara did too.

"T-there's nothing wrong with Jack," Finnick stuttered.

"So why isn't he good enough for Maggie?" she asked, her foot still tapping dangerously on the ground.

"He..." Finnick tried to come up with an answer. "He..."

Finnick slumped into his chair.

"I'm not ready for my little girl to grow up," he pouted. There was a moment of silence.

"I don't care," Amara announced. "I want grandchildren."

There was a a chorus of cheering, and Finnick flinched.

"Just last week you told me that you couldn't wait to become family," Annie said. Finnick shrugged.

"Hypothetically," he said.

"You have loved Jack from the moment you held him for the first time," Annie pointed out. "You loved him from the moment you found out I was expecting. I need you to take a deep breath, and remember there's a chance that your grandkids will look like Adrien."

There was a moment of silence.

Finnick turned toward Amara.

"He can totally marry Maggie."

Amara threw her arms up in the air in exasperation.

"I only hope he only has to ask once," Ezra muttered, and Finnick kicked him.

Ezra sent him an apologetic glance.

"What?" Amara asked, confused. It had become an unspoken rule to not mention Finnick's failed first proposal. Ezra and the others weren't really sure why Finnick never wanted it mentioned, but they respected that he did.

Mostly.

"Nothing," Finnick said quickly. Too quickly. Amara looked around at her friends and narrowed her eyes.

"You guys are keeping something from me," she said. "What is it?"

Annie and Ezra exchanged a look.

Finnick sighed.

"Do you remember when I proposed to you?" He asked. Amara chuckled and nodded.

"Vividly," she said. Finnick's neck and face turned bright red as he studied her.

"Do you remember the date when I took you to the flower shop? The one where you bought the flower from me for the first time?"

"Yes..." Amara trailed off apprehensively.

"That was what your proposal was supposed to be," he said. Her jaw dropped. "The ring was in the flower. The shop keeper stayed up an extra few hours so we could do it. And your burst of inspiration caused you to miss your own proposal."

Amara's jaw was practically touching the floor.

"You're kidding," she said. "I didn't even notice."

"Yeah, we figured it would've come up in the last 29 years of marriage," Ezra butted in. Amara whirled around to look at them.

"You all knew?" she asked, and they had the gall to look mortified as they nodded their heads.

This time it was Amara that flushed bright red. She buried her head in her hands.

She only opened her eyes when the door flew open and Maggie and Jack walked in hand-in-hand. There was a flurry of excitement when she held up her left hand and they all saw a sparkling ring on her fourth finger.

Only Finnick pouted in the corner. Finnick, who wasn't even sure fifteen minutes prior whether he was going to give his blessing.

"I'm sorry," Jack said, having the decency to blush. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked over at his fiance. "I was going to ask you tonight, but we were sitting there and I just blurted it out."

Finnick opened his mouth to protest, but Amara laughed.

"You aren't one to judge messed up proposals, buddy, since apparently I didn't even know when your first one was happening." She turned toward Jack. "Welcome to the family."

The rest of the evening was filled with laughter and celebration.