Well,There's This Girl...

It's getting late,but Peeta Mellark and his 7 year old son,Orion,are still hard at work at the family bakery. Peeta asks about how school is going,but Orion tells him a little something different,and Peeta winds up telling a story.

Rated:

Peeta's POV

I glance up at the clock briefly and notice it's going on 6:30. Adara and Katniss are probably just getting home from making rounds around the district,trading some of whatever they managed hunting today. I glance over at Orion,who's still kneading intently at the mound of dough in front of him.

"You know what? I think that's done,there." I tell him,letting my fist fall into the center of it. Orion nods,turning around to get the pans off the other counter. HI put the filled pans in the oven and turn the oven timer on for 20 minutes,figuring that should be plenty of time. I grab an old rag off the counter and wipe it over my brow,then attempt to do the same with Orion.

"Dad..." he grumbles,snatching the rag from my hand,running it quickly under his shaggy blonde hair. "I can do it myself."

I put my hands up in surrender.. "Sorry,buddy." I say,backing toward the counter,until my lower back hits hard against the counter top. "Ow..." I mumble under my breath,rubbing my hand over the sore spot. Orion laughs and jumps up onto the counter,danging the rag between his legs. I get up next to him,the counter being just big enough for me to lean back on my forearms.

"So,uh...whats going on with school?" I ask,staring intently at the oven.

"Ah,pretty good." He replies and turns to me. "Hey,dad? Do you think...can you give me some advise?" He asks,stumbling over his words,sounding unsure about what he's asking. We don't exactly get a whole lot of alone time,and honestly,his question makes me a little nervous too. He usually never asks for help,and when he does,he tends to go to Katniss. Or Haymitch.

"Well,there's this girl...you see? And I...uh..." He trails off.

"That you like?" I ask.

"Yeah. Exactly." He nods and bites his lip. Just like his mother.

"What about her?"

"Just...forget it." He says,suddenly. "It's kind of embarrassing." He goes back to staring at the oven. I sit up and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Orion. Son,you know you can talk to me about anything." I say,gently.

"No,it's ok. Really. I'll ask Grandpa Haymitch." He says,shrugging my hand off his shoulder.

"I bet I can give you better advise than Haymitch." I laugh. Orion just rolls his eyes. He reminds me so much of Katniss.

"His advise was good enough to keep you and mom alive." He says matter-of-factly,looking my in the eye with that cute little smile of his.

I sigh and shake my head. "You're afraid to talk to her. Aren't you?" Orion immediately blushes and becomes intent on the floor tiles. "Did I ever tell you about when I first fell in love with your mother?" I ask,wrapping my arm around his shoulder. I looked up and knit his eyebrows together. "No...I don't think so." He replied simply.

"Well,we were 5 years old.. First day of school. My brothers ditched my dad and I out front to go see their friends. So we just stood there,and after a little while,your Grandma walked over holding you mother's hand with one hand,and holding Prim,who was still just a baby,in her other arm. Believe it or not..." I stopped and laughed softly. "Believe it or not,I remember exactly what your mom was wearing." Orion giggled. "Really?" He asked. "Yep. Little red dress,with her hair tied back in 2 braids. She just caught my eye,you know,I thought she was pretty." Orion nodded,urging me to continue.

"Well,my dad must have noticed who I was looking at and bent down next to me and pointed in her direction. He looked at me and said 'You see that girl? I used to know her mother,when we were kids. But she ran off with a coal miner.' Since I was 5,and my dad was still the greatest man in the world in my eyes..." I stopped and eyed Orion for a second. 'You're still cool,dad." He laughed. "Keep going,come on!" "Alright. Anyway,he told me that you mother's dad could sing and all the birds outside would stop and listen,and the mockingjays would always repeat him."

As if on cue,a mockingjay outside whistled a simple 4-note melody. One that we both knew all too well. Orion smiled at the bird through the open window and whistled it back. He knew that it meant that everything was ok. He knew it well from being out in the woods with Katniss,who would stop occasionally and whistle it. The birds in District 12 hear it so often,that they sometimes sing it back at random. It's always comforting.

"Well,at the assembly,they asked if anyone knew the Valley Song. You mom raised her hand and she stood on a stool and sang it. All the birds went silent. That's when I knew I was in love." I stopped and stared at the floor tiles. Orion inched his way over and put his arm around me. "Well,did you talk to her?" He asked.

"No,it actually took 11 years for me to talk to her." He turned to face me,shocked.

"11 years? Why didn't you talk to her sooner?" He asked,sounding and looking so innocent.

"Same problem you're having. Too nervous. When we were in school,she really kept to herself. Still don't like people all that much,but then,she only really paid any mind to Gale and Madge. She only really acknowledged me after-"

"You gave her that bread right? That you burned?" He int interrupted,remembering the story.

"Exactly. But after that,it was only after she volunteered for Prim and I got reaped that we talked. If it Prim and I had never gotten reaped..." I trailed off and looked at the oven again.

"You never would have talked to her,and you never would have gotten married...and me and 'Dara wouldn't be here." he whispered,nervously.

"Exactly. In fact,the Hunger Games might still be going on." There was silence when I finished my sentence. Orion seemed to be considering this new information.

"So...something bad that happened...made a lot of good things happen?" He finally asked,unsure of his conclusion.

"A lot of good things,yes. But a lot of bad things too. A lot of people died,a lot of people that your mother and I really love."

"Like Prim and Finnick?" He asked,thinking to he and his sister's middle names.

"Like Prim and Finnick." I confirmed.

"So...you're saying I should wait until something bad happens to talk to her?" Orion looked at me,slightly confused because of how deep into the story I had gotten. I couldn't help but laugh. He could act so mature sometimes,but when you get down to it,Orion was still only 7,still innocent and naive.

"No. You should try and talk to her. My point was,to tell you that I felt the same way."

"11 years..." He mumbled,still unable to believe how long it took for me to talk to Katniss. "And how do I go about talking to her?"

"Just be yourself. You're smart,and you luckily inherited my people skills and my charm,because according to Haymitch,your mom has about as much as a dead slug." I laughed lightly,recalling our interview strategies. Orion knit his eyebrows together. "Well that's not very nice of him!" He protested.

"You're right. One of the many times I've wanted to punch him over the years. But,he was still drinking a lot,back then." I pointed out.

"Well,that's no excuse. You should have hit him." He nodded,agreeing with himself as he often does.

Before I could tell him that you shouldn't hit,the oven timer went off. I jumped off the counter and took out the 2 loves of bread. I set them aside to cool,while I picked Orion off the counter so we could start cleaning up to go home. Once the bakery was spotless and the loves were cool,I wrapped both up and handed one to Orion to carry home. As we walked back toward the old Victor's Village,and Haymitch's house to drop off his loaf,Orion asked me another question.

"Dad,since you didn't hit Haymitch for calling mom a dead slug,can I?"

I laughed. "Ok,this one time." I said as we climbed the stairs and I knocked on the door.

Haymitch came to the door,and I handed him the bread I had cradled in my arm. Orion punched him lightly in the stomach. It didn't seem to really bother Haymitch,but he played along and acted like it hurt.

"What was that for?" He said,laughing.

"For calling my mom a dead slug!"

A/N: Wow,this is long! I never imagined this to go so far. But cute,right? Remember,this is a series of one-shots,so the next chapter is going to be about something else. Whatever I feel like writing about Peeta and Orion. Hope you liked it,and please review!

xx ~Abby