Willows POV
Bree pulls Rye up from the pile of snow he's buried in and dusts him off, laughing. The snowball fight is called off since dad won it again. I guess no one can ever beat the reigning champion.
Everyones shivering and holding their arms, so we all agree to get inside the warm house. Dad throws in a couple more logs to the fire and I call everyone to the kitchen so we can start decorating the sugar cookies I made last night. Dad helps me pass them out and pass out the big bowls of colored frosting.
Rye dips his finger into it. "Rye!" I slap his hand, "Thats not all yours."
He rolls his eyes, "Alright mom."
Once everyone has their own bowls of frostings, and their frosting knives, its like a competition. Dad already gets the first coat of frosting on the cookie and starts to lightly spread the second one. "What are you making?" I ask him.
He stays in a deep concentration, "You'll see."
I shrug and spread on a blue paste, then another, and finally I add some white designs.
Bree giggles as Rye fails on making a snowflake. The girls cover their cookies with pink frosting and lick their fingers, the twins blend all the colors together, and mom is at the same situation as Rye is.
Oliver rests his arm on my shoulders, "How do you do that?" he smiles.
I grin at him and have him hold the bag of frosting and direct his hands to outline the cookie. "Just like that"
"Good thing you cook for me." he chuckles.
Dad sighs, "All done."
My jaw drops open, along with everyone else's. Rye throws his spoon down frustratedly, "What?!"
"Peeta stop showing off" Mom laughs.
After everyone finishes up on their cookies, dad collects them and saves them for dessert.
Once the fire gets going we all sit at the couch and the kids play with their new toys and the adults play a game of charades. Rye gets up after I get a turn. He raises one finger. "One word" we say. Then makes a motion with his hand. Everyone's perplexed, "What?" Mom furrows her eyebrow.
Rye slaps his hands against his thighs and repeats the same motion frustratedly. Oliver snaps his fingers together, "Uh! Train?"
Rye shakes his head and repeats the motion. "Plane?" Bree asks. Rye nods, trying not to blurt it out.
"So its close right?" Dad asks. Rye nods and gestures his hand for more answers.
"Oh--Jet!" Mom exclaims.
"Yes!" Rye says relievedly. Mom gets up and goes after Rye. She raises two fingers. "Two words."
Rye blurts out the answer before mom gets to even motion it. "How did you know?!" Mom questions.
Rye shrugs, "You say the same thing every time we play."
"No I do not" mom rolls her eyes. Rye nods, "Yea ya-"
"I'll go up" dad says, interrupting their soon-to-be argument.
We all end up getting a turn and even Rey joins after we explain the rules to him. Rye of course always has to blurt things out before anyone else knows--I guess he's the winner at charades.
Right as Bree is about to go up again, someone knocks on the door. "I'll get it" Oliver says as he walks towards the door. Everyone awaits to hear the voice of the anonymous person.
"Dad, hey!" Oliver says, "I thought you were with your family."
"You're my family too." Gale answers. Everyone goes to greet Gale with a 'Merry Christmas'. Dad says its getting late and dinner should be made, so he insists Gale stay for dinner. Gale doesn't hesitate, so while we wait for dinner, we also get updated on Gales life.
It's great talking with him, and he says he's found someone and he also invited Posy and Roy (his sister and brother) to his house for Christmas morning.
Within an hour or two dinner is served promptly. "You came for the best part." dad tells Gale as he serves the roast beef and turkey, along with all the dresses and mouthwatering sides.
Salads, turkey, juicy roast beef, dads christmas cider, cinnamon sugared pecans and crumbled croutons, and many, many more delectable toppings and sandwiches. Theres always to much to eat, so Oliver and I always take most of it home.
Once all of us are filled to the brim. Still theres room for sugar cookies and each of us have ours. Oliver shares his with Gale.
Then get ready to go outside without even waiting for the dinner to digest. Rye shovels another pathway, and dad carries the big bucket of lights to string the house with.
Ryes POV
"Ok" Dad scratches his head, "Rye lets go on the roof and string them there.. Oliver you get on the ladder and feed us the string."
I nod and use the ladder to get on top of the roof while Oliver holds it down to the ground. "Tell me if you need any help" Oliver says. "Be careful!" Bree warns. The roof is slipperily and covered in a hard, thick coat of ice. Its like iceskating while trying to balance on the uneven slants. "Okay Oliver" Dad signals.
I grab onto the chimney for balance while dad reels in the lights. We staple the lights into their position, while gripping onto the tiles incase we accidentally slip.
Mom and Gale don't even pay attention to the lights being strung and socialize, while the kids build snowmen in the dim light.
The roof takes a literal two hours, not including the actual house itself.
Then we start to string the rest. Oliver helps us with the rest and even the twins stop the snowmen building to come help us with the lights.
Will makes some hot cocoa for us while we work to precisely staple the lights at the right spot. Every inch of the house is covered with light bulbs.
The five of us guys step back and observe our work while we sip hot cocoa. "I think its good" I say.
We all agree and even the girls do to. "I have to admit, this is the best light job I've seen" mom says.
"Now for the grand finale." Dad gets the wires and plugs them together--the whole entire house lights up. Its the most amazing sight. Everyone stares at the house in awe. "Its so cool!" Hunter exclaims.
This is the best way to end a wonderful Christmas. Everyone puts their arms around each other. Bree rocking Brynn in one arm while her other is wrapped around Rey. Dads around mine, Moms around his.
The snow starts to fall silently and softly, leaving the ambience with a magical christmas feel to it.
Bree looks to me and kisses my lips as I lean closer into hers. "Merry Christmas baby."
Katniss POV
Theres something so sentimental and tranquil about this whole thing, about having a family with their own family. Having an old friend Gale here. To think that my life would come to this.. For all the hardships I had in my life journey, then to realize all the good that was to come from it.
I kiss Peeta's cheek, "Merry Christmas Peeta."
"Merry Christmas my love." He replies softly, "I love you"
"I love you too Peeta" I smile. He smiles into mine, those soft blue pools. I look into his eyes admiring him for everything he's done. He saved me in every way. With everything thats happened to him, he's still the Peeta I knew fifty years ago. I can see it in his eyes but only when he's with me. I love him for that.
I rest my head on his shoulders. I'm now reminded why I agreed to have a family in the first place. It all brings back nostalgia, and now that I look back at my life when I thought it was falling apart, I'm reminded the the best things in life will one day come and I already got mine: my family. Never would I have thought my life would end up like how lucky it really is, and it all starts with the bud of a dandelion to grow into fields of dandelions, the rebirth of something beautiful.
I won't always have days like this with my family, for all i know this could be my last christmas with them, but even if it is, ill dream happily of it.
In all I've had a great life, now I know why I was a part of the games, it all fell in place--from all the pain I've experienced, I've also experienced the same amount of happiness that no one can take away. No one.
The End
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The Everlark Family: Book 3
FanfictionRATED #5 IN JOSHIFER All is peaceful once Oliver and Willow get married. Except, what happens when Willow suspects she's pregnant? Especially after hearing Oliver talk of his detest to become a father. Rye, on the other hand, joins Panem's...
