What if?
What if there's something wrong with Peeta? What it's one of his doctors calling to say something is wrong? What if he's still in the Capitol? What if there is something wrong? What if I should just actually find out who it is on the other line?
What if? What if? What if...
----
"Hello?"
I say nervously into the phone. Soon enough I hear on the line
"Hi Katniss! It's Annie!"
I let out a quiet sigh of relief but the worry of Peeta's whereabouts are hidden deep within my voice
"Oh Hi Annie!"
She says to me
"Okay I need you to listen carefully and do the one thing I am about to tell you and DON'T ask questions"
What is she talking about? Despite my confusion and eagerness to ask many questions I say uneasy
"Okay..."
She tells me
"Okay, this is not my idea by the way.... In a moment go into Peeta's house and enter his art room. There you will find what you need. See you soon..."
See you soon? I say
"Annie wait!"
But she's already hung up. What's going on? I now for a fact I can't go over there now as Sophie isn't fed nor dressed. So I have to hold off going over for 20 minutes as I have to feed Sophie her breakfast and change her into her clothes. I then lift her up in my arms and make my way over to Peeta's. I grab his spare key which sits underneath a watering can at the side of his house and allow myself in. With Sophie on my hip I make my way down the hall and push open the ajar door that leads into his art room. When I enter one thing immediately catches my eye. A easel stands across the room, the light seeping in the window shining directly on it. It holds a canvas, painted on it a picture of the sea, the waves crashing against the sand and withdrawing it into the sea as the sun sets in the background. Up in the corner of the canvas is two small pieces of paper, pinned into place by a small bright red pin. Not far below it is another pin, a yellow pin holding an envelope. I put Sophie down for a second and unpin the envelope and the pieces of paper from it's place before picking up Sophie and bringing her toward an old dusty couch across the room, placing her on my knee as glance at the pieces of paper which turn out to be train tickets. To district 4, which in some ways confuses me even more. But I push that confusion away for a moment and open the letter. I immediately recognise the writing, confirming who the letter is from. I then read out the letter for Sophie to hear as well as myself
Dear Katniss and Sophie,
I know you probably were expecting me home yesterday. I know you were probably waiting for me so I apologise for that. But you see Katniss I have noticed how stressed we've both been over the last while so I decided after I went to the capitol that it would be nice if we went on vacation, all of us. On the canvas you will have seen by now two train tickets, for a train at 1 O'Clock. This train will bring you to District 4 where we will be staying with Annie and Finn for the next few days. Trust me with this, I promise this will be great. Love you both and will see you soon.
Peeta
I let out a faint laugh of disbelief. But I know it's real, its just the fact that even when he was going to his hell basically he was thinking about a vacation. His consideration for me and Sophie during all of this touches me. I tell Sophie with a grin
"Looks like we're going on holidays Soph"
----
"You knew about this?!"
I ask Gracie who is now grinning at me. She says
"Of course I did. We all did"
I raise my eyebrows and ask her
"Your kidding me?"
She shrugs her shoulders and says
"He told us to keep it a surprise"
I laugh a little and glance at the clock on the wall. 12:45. I tell her
"I better get going"
She nods and calls into the kitchen
"Rachel! They're going!"
Rachel emerges from the back a few minutes later with Sophie in her arms who went back into the kitchen to 'help'. As Rachel places her in my arms Sophie squeals and laughs. I ask Rachel with a grin
"How much sugar did she have?"
She laughs and says
"Jason had to put the piping bags on a high shelf, she is made for icing. She ate A LOT of sugar for her age"
I roll my eyes sarcastically and say
"Well that's great. A hyper 2 year old on a train for 2 hours!"
We all laugh uncontrollably after that until eventually we have to go if we want to be on time for the train. After a quick goodbye to everyone we leave for the station which was luckily not far away. When we boarded the train we were immediately shown our compartment. I kept my head down when walking to the compartment as I felt the stares on my neck and could here the soft whispers of shock, hearing my name every now and then. I hold Sophie close to me until we reach the compartment and I no longer have to protect her from the stares, which are something I've gotten used to but she shouldn't have to. The compartment is perfect, small and simple for a 2 hour trip. We are taking a quicker underground route which makes the trip much faster than having to pass through the capitol. I place the suitcase on the rack above our seats before sitting down. Sophie mumbles things happily whilst playing with her bear for a while as I twiddle my thumbs and watch the world pass by out the window. About an hour in there is a knock on the compartment door in which a tray of food is delivered. I make myself a cup of tea and a sandwich. I offer Sophie some of her yoghurt but she refuses, the only thing she ends up having is some water and a biscuit off the tray. I don't get angry, knowing she must have filled herself up at the bakery. When putting a sugar cube in my tea I immeidtaley think of Finnick Odair. I push the thought of him from my mind, knowing its not going to benefit me but instead bring sadness upon me. She is still a bit hyper, laughing to herself every now and then which causes me to smile at her innocence. Eventually we pull into the train station in 4. I lift Sophie into my arms to avoid her getting trampled by the large crowd pushing their way off the train. I pull out the handle bar out of the suitcase and drag it behind me. When we come off the train we are immediately greeted with the sweet smell of salt water air, that's home is only coastal areas. For a minute I stop on the pavement, not really knowing where to go. I don't know Annie's address to book a taxi. But all of a sudden I spot them in the crowd. Those bright blue crystals he possesses as his eyes that enchant me immediately at sight. Soon enough the crowd moves away, off to either catch a train or book a taxi and that's when I see him. Peeta. I walk as quick as I can to meet him, throwing my arms around him the second he is in reach. I tell him softly once I've pulled away
"You really didn't have to do this"
He smiles, taking the suitcase from my hand and saying with a grin
"I know that"
He greets Sophie now for a moment, taking her out of my arms ad giving her a tight hug. As we make our way out of the station he asks me with a slight laugh
"She's a bit hyper is she?"
I nod and laugh whilst telling him
"We called by the bakery before going and they spoilt her as usual"
He laughs as he sits the suitcase in the boot of a car we have stopped before. He tells me before I can even ask
"It's Annie's car"
I nod. I strap Sophie into Finn's car seat before sitting in the passenger seat beside Peeta. I say to him as we drive past the long beach that spreads along the coast of 4
"It's beautiful here isn't it?"
He nods in agreement and says
"Yeah it is"
I ask him
"When did you get here?"
He replies
"This morning, around 10"
I nod slowly. I then ask him
"How did it go? With Dr. Aurelius?"
It made me feel better knowing he was Peeta's doctor as I know him and I know I can trust him. Peeta takes a moment before saying
"Alright I guess. I have pills and stuff to take daily, just to prevent them from getting worse"
I tell him
"That's good"
He nods, glancing at me for a moment before focusing on the road again. We soon arrive at Annie's. After saying hello and briefly catching up we all head out onto the beach which is right outside Annie's back door, as is with all the victors village houses. We sit on the beach with a blanket and all eat sandwiches that Annie prepared and watch Sophie and Finn and they build a sandcastle. At one moment I glance back at Annie's house and I swear for just a second I see him standing there with his mischievous grin. Finnick Odair. I know he is always lingering around Annie, protecting her and his son as a spirit. His son who will never meet his father until his day of death. I will forever owe Finnick Odair, he died before I could ever possibly repay him, thank him. But I think he knows how much I am thanking him already, as do all the dead amongst him.
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Hey guys! Hope you liked that chapter! Sorry if all the talking in it was boring :-(..... But If you did like it please comment and vote and I'll see you soon with another chapter! By the way we are almost to 1k votes which is AWESOME! Hopefully we'll reach it in the next few chapters! Thanks for reading!
-Em is out
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