How It Could Have Been ~ The-Mockingjay-xx

Chapter 8

I'm so surprised I nearly drop the baby which is still in my arms. When I look around I notice Annie, Haymitch and Gale all look just about as gobsmacked as me. However they come skipping towards us with their hands swinging between them and faces lit up like the sun, Delly laughing and giggling at Peeta's jokes. As they approach Gale makes a point out of wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me closer. I get the message straight away and we both admire and make a fuss of the baby which I continue to rock in my arms.
     "Hello Katniss," Peeta says as he reaches the point at which we stand, he continues to greet everyone. "Hello Haymitch, hi Annie! Oh look at Fin you're a big boy," he tickles Fin's belly with the ends of his fingers and the little baby smiles giving us a hint of white baby teeth. "Hello Gale." I can't help but notice the drop in his voice as he says Gale's name. But when Peeta holds out his hand Gale politely shakes it, and I notice the way Peeta's hand turns yellow at the knuckles as he squeezes it, in a friendly way, as he did mine at the first reaping.

     Tension looms in the air as everyone struggles to think of what to say next, until Delly breaks the silence by greeting us too. She then goes on to say how excited she is so Gale and I both take this as a message to get going to the lake. I hand Fin back over to Annie and she places him on her hip. The journey through the woods is filled with polite discussion and small talk, mostly about Peeta's new bakery and District 12's completion. My bow and arrows lie still in the hollow of a tree, and I decide it's best just to leave them there. I wouldn't want to make anyone uncomfortable and we have plenty of food anyway. Besides, with all of the noise Peeta is making as he hobbles over lumps and bumps in the sort of dirt track which we follow through the trees, any possible prey will have run a mile. I swear he is making an effort to step on every twig we come across, determined to make as much noise as possible. My head turns and I shoot him an 'I know you are doing this on purpose' look, identical to the one I gave him in our first Games. And he just smiles, exactly the same smile he did in the arena. I roll my eyes at him and then turn my head back, but I am smiling secretly. Peeta must have noticed because his toe collides with the back of my calf a few seconds later, but not in an accidental way. In a sort of 'I know that made you smile way' and of course that makes me smile more.

Watching Delly laugh and giggle like a schoolgirl over Peeta's jokes, which aren't even that funny, is painful. Not in a way that I wish it was me who was literally sitting in his lap and laughing at his jokes, in a way that it is generally painful to see her almost smothering him. I raise one eyebrow and roll my eyes at them but thankfully the only person that notices is Gale because his elbow jabs me is the side to tell me to stop but I can see the smirk that is spread all over his face. However I don't put on an act with Gale to show Peeta how happy we are together and that he isn't the only one who can play that card, simply because I think it is rude in front of Annie who has recently given birth to her dead husband's baby. So Gale and I sit side by side on the rocky bank by the lake, close enough but not on top of each other, just as we did in the meadow the morning of the reaping before my first Games.

Lunch is delicious, and I'm glad I refused myself more than a snack at breakfast because if I eat anything else I have a feeling that some of it might make a reappearance. Luckily we packed extra than we thought we would need, because unexpectedly there is Delly to feed in addition to the five of us and Fin, who happily munches on a banana which is just soft enough for his tiny teeth. The water which now laps gently against the pebbly beach is warm and after dinner has gone down Annie and I hoist up our trousers and take Fin for a paddle in the shallows. My feet sliding against the cold pebbles and the contrastingly warm water lapping against my lower legs is refreshing and surprisingly calming.

Despite him being only about 6 months old, Fin is an incredible swimmer. Obviously he isn't quite doing lengths up and down the lake against extreme currents yet since he hasn't even passed the one year old mark, but as he thrashes around in the shallows with Annie's hands supporting his belly, it is clear that he has inherited Finnick's talent for swimming. After a few minutes of Annie and I laughing and talking and playing with Fin, I notice the water rippling from the direction of the bank and turn my head to see Delly approaching. Her white floaty dress is hoisted up to midway up her thighs and her sandals lie on the shore where she has taken them off. Annie shoots me a look before Delly is in range and I know she feels exactly how I do about the whole situation. I don't mind Delly and Peeta having a relationship, in fact I'm happy for them, but it's the fact that she smothers him. The fact that she knows no restraints when it comes to personal space. But despite our differences I try my hardest to get along with her and be polite when she comes over and joins us.