The Girl With The Silver Eyes

Chapter 21

Peeta

I pace back and forth in my room at my uncle's house while talking on the phone with Marvel.

"Calm down, Peet," he says but I'm no where near calm.

"What do you mean calm down?!" I ask. "You knew about my kid and you never told me! "

"It was Katniss's secret to tell," He says. "I didn't even know until she was two and overheard a phone call between Glimmer and Kat. And since Glimmer and I were about to get married, I didn't fight about it. If Katniss didn't tell you about her, she had to have had some kind of reason. I couldn't do anything without pissing off the woman who was becoming my wife in a few months." I look out the window and sigh land run my hand through my hair. I feel a tear run down my cheek.

"What do I do Marv?" I ask. "She's mine, I know that, but I, I don't want to screw up her life with a custody battle or anything. But she lied to me. I don't know her anymore."

"You still love her right?" He says and I sit on the edge of my bed.

"Yeah," I say. "I tried, you know that. But I didn't get over her. Not even five years later."

"And she still cares about you," he says. "She cared enough to leave Dani on her birthday so she could talk to you. So in my opinion, you need to call up your baby momma and see if you guys can work something out. "

"Don't call her that!" I say. "You know it isn't like that."

"Peeta, you need to watch the anger, Man," he says. "I was just joking. You can't get all up tight like that. Especially if you want to be trying to make nice with Katniss. You can't get mad at her. She was a scared, stupid kid. You can't keep beating her with that." I hear Glimmer's voice yelling at him in the background and he sighs. "I gotta go."

"What'd you do now?" I ask.

"I knocked Glimmer up four months ago and now she demands I go get her chocolate ice cream at 10:00pm at the www," he says and I laugh. "Call her."

"What?" I ask.

"Call Katniss," he says again.

"Marvel, it's late and her kid's birthday-" I start trying to deter him but he cuts me off.

"First of all, Dani's your kid too," he says. "And second, you know she'll answer because she misses you and wouldn't miss your call for anything." I look down.

"What should I say?" I ask.

"Just be yourself," he says. "She likes you, so just, be the you she fell for in high school." He pauses again. "Look, I really got to go. Glimmer will literally murder me for a Klondike bar right now."

"Okay, talk to you later," I say and he hangs up. I get up and get the note Katniss gave me before dialing her number. It rings twice before she answers.

"Hello?" She asks softly and I wait a moment. "Is anyone there?"

"Sorry," I say. "It's just, It's weird hearing your voice over the telephone."

"Peeta?" She asks, sounding relieved.

"Yeah," I say. "I decided we should talk."

"Of course, I just," she laughs gently. "I'm sorry, I'm just trying to be quiet."

"Why?" I ask.

"Dani's curled up against my chest," she says. "And since she just fell back asleep and you don't want her to know I found you, I wouldn't want to wake her up with your name. It would only raise questions."

"She's there?" I ask.

"Yeah," she says. "She had a nightmare and since it's just me and her, you know, I wanted to hold her. She's all I have Peeta." I hear her moving and a door shutting. "We really need to talk."

"I know," I say. "And, I'm ready to talk about everything, but I want to do it face to face."

"She wants to meet you, Peeta," she says softly like she's crying.

"You told her?!" I ask and I can hear the panic in her voice as she responds.

"No," she says. "I swear, it was purely coincidental."

"Then why would she say anything about me the day you come see me?" I ask and she sighs.

"Because I told her she could have anything she wanted for her birthday because I left her on her birthday," she says. "And she found a picture of us at Glimmer's party on the last day of school. Like I said earlier, she knows who you are and she started asking me about you again and then she, she asked for you."

"What?" I ask.

"She wants you for her birthday," she says. "Not a toy or anything. Just her Daddy, Peeta."

"I don't want to screw up her life Katniss," I say.

"You don't have to," she says. "But it would mean a lot to her if you met her. She's our daughter and there's nothing I wouldn't do for her."

"I," I stop for a moment and think about what I should say.

"If not for me, please, do it for Dani," she says. "I know you're still mad at me, but please Peeta, don't take it out on her."

"I want to see you," I say finally.

"What?" She asks.

"I want to get to know you again," I say. "I'm sorry for how I acted today."

"I know," she says.

"You do?" I ask.

"I broke your heart," she says. "You have a right to act the way you did and the bombshell I dropped on you, you're only human, Peeta." I hear her softly laugh before finishing. "And that smile when I walked away. I knew you were sorry."

"How?" I ask.

"We spent nearly all our time together for two years," she replies. "I picked up on all your little quirks."

"Well, anyway," I say. "I was wondering where the good food is around this little town and if you'd like to go out and get some sometime."

"You're asking me on a date?" She asks.

"Well, I guess you could call it that," I say nervously.

"What if we did what we did for our first date?" She says. "Dani's going to her friend Sarah's Friday night and me and my pizza and crappy movies wouldn't mind some company."

"If you'd like that, it's fine with me I guess," I say.

"I'd like that," she says. "We need to catch up and I'd rather we were relaxed about it."

"So I'll see you Friday?" I ask.

"Friday," she says. "But there's something else I need to say right now."

"What?" I ask.

"Dani told me that if I could talk to you, to tell you she loves you," she says softly. I feel a tear run down my cheek and I nod even though she can't see it.

"Thank you," I say. "I really, I needed to hear someone say that to me right now."

"I know," she says. "We've got a lot to talk about." She pauses and I hear Dani moving beside Katniss. "I've gotta go. I don't want to wake Dani up."

"Okay," I say. "Bye."

"Bye," she says and hangs the phone. I look down at the screen for a moment and as it suddenly lights up with a message from Katniss.

"I thought you might want this. I'll try to get you a physical copy Friday." I open the attachment to see the picture Katniss showed me earlier in the park. I smile and text her back.

"Thank you"