Peeta popped his head into the living room where Katniss reclined on the couch. “I’m going to start filming for my channel. You need anything?”
She shook her head and ran her hand over her stomach. The baby was due in just a few weeks and he knew she was ready for it all to be done. “I’m fine. Gale and Prim are coming over later, so don’t make a huge mess.”
He gave her a smile. “I clean up the kitchen better than you, sweetheart.” He winked and went into the kitchen.
The camera was set up and ready to go. Peeta leaned close after he turned it on and spoke softly. “As you all know by now, my wife is just days away from giving birth to our first baby. And since Mother’s Day is today, I’m going to surprise her with a special treat: pear upside-down cake. With chocolate cake.”
He walked around the island and indicated the ingredients he’d laid out. “I’m using a chocolate cake box mix. Whenever you can take a shortcut, definitely go for it. There is no shame in making a box cake and following the directions. Some people prefer that and it’s totally okay!” He smiled, “But I am going to tell you some secrets to change it up just a bit if you want it to be a little fancy.”
Peeta opened the box and poured the dry ingredients into a bowl. He picked up the box and said, “When making a chocolate cake, I sometimes replace the water with prepared coffee. For white cakes, any cake at all, you can replace the water with milk. It does wonders! So even if you don’t change anything else, the milk will be great.” He picked up a cup. “This has some coffee in it.” He poured it into the dry ingredients.
“Where it calls for oil? Melted butter.” Peeta measured out the amount of butter and put it in a bowl that went into the microwave. “Don’t just let it go because the butter will caramelize. And that may not be a bad thing completely, but it just doesn’t taste good to me personally. So, take it out every few seconds and stir.” He did that until it was liquid and moved back to the bowl.
“I forgot to turn on the oven!” He laughed to himself as he leaned down and turned the oven on. “Three-fifty.”
He finished the cake, following the directions on the box, making comments as he went about looking at the consistency. “I prepared this pan over here with some butter and flour. I’ll link another video where I talked about that.”
Katniss waddled in and perched on the stool behind the counter. “Hey, can I help?”
Peeta smiled. “Sure! Peel and cut this last pear for me?” He held out the fruit and a knife.
“No problem.”
While she went to work, Peeta explained, “I peeled and cut these ones.” He held up a slice. “And now I’m going to line the pan with the pears.
“This looks so good.” Katniss said as she cut the slices. “When can I eat it? Baby and I are starving.”
Peeta laughed. “In about an hour.”
“An hour!” Katniss gasped. “You going to make me something else?”
He laughed again. “And why would I make you anything?”
“Because it’s Mother’s Day.” She grinned. “I heard you in here whispering to the camera. So where’s the rest of my Mother’s Day?”
“I have the dough rising for cheese buns.” He started picking up the slices she’d cut. “And I’m going to make you some chicken parmesan for supper.”
“But what about right now?” She teased.
“I’ll make you and Baby an omelet once the cake is in the oven, how about that?” Peeta poured the batter into the pan over the pears. “This will need to bake for about forty to forty-five minutes. We’ll come back in a bit with the end result.” Peeta put the cake in the oven and then walked around to turn off the camera.
“What do you want in your omelet? Cheese and ham? Just cheese?”
Katniss wrapped her arms around Peeta’s neck, her stomach preventing her from getting too close. “Ham and cheese would be great.” She pressed herself up on her toes and kissed him softly. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He said, resting his hands on her stomach as the baby started kicking. “Happy Mother’s Day.” He leaned in and kissed her deeply.
3. What is your favorite line of narration?4. What is your favorite line of dialogue?
I’m going to combine these because the last chapter of this story is one of my favorites ever! So I’ll give you a chunk of dialogue and narration that I like the most. (Please note, it’s the run-up to the sexy times, so slightly NSFW):
He moved to the middle of the bed and pulled off his shirt. “Hey, wanna see the scar I got when my brother dropped a hot pan on my neck?”
“A hot pan on your neck?” Katniss removed her shirt and climbed into the bed, straddling Peeta’s hips.
He took a moment to look her over, running his hands up her bare sides. “I’d bent down to tie my shoe and Toby didn’t see me there. He tripped, dropped the pan, and got me.” He turned his head and touched the long, thick scar where his neck met his shoulder.
Katniss leaned over him and placed a kiss against the spot. She sat back and held out her arm to show off a long, thin line. “I got into a thorn bush once and this one cut was so deep it left a scar. There are a few others.” She turned her arm over and pointed them out.
He noticed a larger patch along her left wrist. It was more of a callous. “What’s that from?”
“The bow. Before I got a wrist guard.” He watched her bring her lip between her teeth as he brought her wrist up to his lips. “God.” She breathed.
He looked up, a twinkle in his eye. “Maybe. I guess you’ll see soon enough.
She laughed and pulled him in for a kiss, her breasts brushed against his chest.
He whispered against her lips, "Can I kiss you all over?”
“I’d like that.” She sat back a little and pointed to her neck. “There.”
He leaned forward and pressed his lips where she pointed.
“Here.” She brought her finger down to her collarbone.
He kissed her there.
“And…” she trailed her finger down to the space between her breasts, “here.”
Peeta smiled a moment before he leaned down to kiss the valley, sticking his tongue out to taste her skin. It was salty and sweet all at once, just like her mouth.
Cheese Buns and Bad Puns final chapter is written!! Have a preview!
I need to take a break and cool off before I edit. But here’s a lovely little snippet with a very slight nod to Indiana Jones.
He noticed a larger patch along her left wrist. It was more of a callous. "What's that from?"
"The bow. Before I got a wrist guard." He watched her bring her lip between her teeth as he brought her wrist up to his lips. "God." She breathed.
He looked up, a twinkle in his eye. "Maybe. I guess you'll see soon enough.
She laughed and pulled him in for a kiss, her breasts brushed against his chest.
He whispered, "Can I kiss you all over?"
"I'd like that." She pointed to her neck. "There."
He leaned forward and pressed his lips where she pointed.
"Here." She brought her finger down to her collarbone.
He kissed her there.
"And here." She trailed her finger down to the space between her breasts.
Peeta smiled a moment before he leaned down to kiss the valley, sticking his tongue out to taste her skin. Katniss tangled her fingers in his hair and let him lick his way to her breast. Reaching up to palm the other, he took her nipple in his mouth and sucked gently.
Her fingers tightened in his hair and a soft whine accompanied her exhale. "Oh, Peeta." She sighed.
He got the ingredients for a cake out and started working as quietly as possible. He mixed everything by hand and stuck the pans in the oven just as Annie walked in, rubbing her eyes.
"What's going on?" He asked when he saw her.
"Finnick's snoring in my ear." She yawned. "I was about to crash on the couch, but I heard you in here."
"I couldn't sleep." He got a stick of butter out of the fridge and sat it on the table.
"Any particular reason?" Annie asked ass he took a seat.
"I think I..." He shook his head. "Nevermind." He dropped onto the nearest chair.
"No, what is it?" Annie moved closer to him. "You know I'll always listen."
"I've only known Katniss a little while, but I..." Peeta took a deep breath and let it out.
I swear I was going to focus on Worry Is Calling, but things happen...
Peeta watched past Katniss's head as Annie and Finnick made their way down the hall to their room. Once they shut the door, he leaned closer to her slightly. "I'm glad you came." She turned and smiled. "I'm glad too." He trailed a finger down her arm and was satisfied when she didn't pull away. "I want to tell you about Johanna." "Why?" "Because I think you should know." He swallowed a lump in his throat. "It wasn't right from the start. Not for me, anyway." He pulled his hand away. "She and I had fun when we were in a bedroom. Or in a car." He gave a self-deprecating smile. "One time she even convinced me to sneak into a public bathroom." "Oh, wow." Katniss said softly. Peeta nodded. "Yeah. She's adventurous. I'm not very." He cleared his throat. "But there was no substance and I wanted more."
After all the extra food was put away, Peeta got to work setting up the camera. "You ready for your BreakingBread debut?" He asked as he ran all the cords to the right places.
She smiled. "I guess. I just hope I don't mess up."
"You already do well in front of the camera. This is just cooking instead of archery. But you're good." He gently squeezed her upper arm like she'd done to him earlier. "And I'm here." He trailed his hand down her arm.
There was only a breath of space between them. She could just roll up on her toes and press her lips to his. It would be so easy. The look in his eyes told her that maybe he was thinking along the same lines.
Peeta settled into his chair and held up the paper he'd printed off with all the questions. He had his answers ready. This was his second ever Q&A and he was still nervous. Would he answer the way they appreciated? Had he picked the right questions?
As he reached out to turn on the camera, his phone went off with Katniss's text tone.
He smiled as he opened it. I'm going to be there around ten, I think. Is that okay?
His heart started beating quickly. She'd be there tomorrow to cook with him and hang out. Totally okay. And you're staying the night?
Her response took a while. Maybe she'd changed her mind after their last conversation. They always kept it light, but sometimes it dipped into more serious subjects. One or the other of them always pulled it back before it went too far. They weren't quite ready for that.
His phone went off with her message. If it's still okay.
It is. And my bedroom door has a lock so you can feel secure all night. Promise.
You can read the whole chapter on FFN or AO3.
And thank you to @icrashlandedonthetardis @honeylime08 @dianee93, @burkygirl, @javistg, @alys07, and the anons for sending in questions. Hope you like the answers.
