A/N: Finally I stopped procrastinating and made a christmas based Odesta fic for fun and even better posted it on the day- So this is not canon compliant as Finnick is alive as he should be and well Annie and their Son decide to make a surprise for him, heads up theirs also a reference to book which I’ve added into two other oneshots I’ve written called ‘Showing I care’ and ‘Showing I care Annie’s POV’ so you may want to read them first... Just type those titles into the bottom of my blog to find them or PM me for the link! Merry Christmas Guys!
A Christmas Surprise
“Okay kiddo, we have a couple of hours to decorate the house and surprise Daddy! Are you ready?” I said excitedly to the seven year old who was beaming up at me exposing the dimples he shared with his father.
Our usual tradition was that me, Finnick and Joshua would decorate the whole house together in time for Christmas with the stockings on top of the fireplace and the tree in a corner of the room its bristles poking in every which way, and most of the seashells being put on the bottom part of the tree as that was really the only place the little one could reach without the help of me or Finnick, next to the big window that gave you a view of the Victors village.
You could see two grey houses opposite and the beginning of a third (which used to be Mags’s) and towards the end of December when it got bitterly cold and the fireplace was used twenty four seven snow would fall and the grey would somehow feel a bit more cheerful than what it usually is.
However this years tradition has been changed a little due to a visit to our local baker a few weeks back…
Me, Finnick and Josh were spending the day together and went into the market where I used to run the stall for my mum and dad and back when my necklace and bracelets were sold…Before the rebellion and before Christmas was more cheerfully celebrated and affordable for everyone.
Anyway a few weeks before Christmas we always went as a family to the local bakery to get some cookies; which Josh was addicted too and made both me and his dad swear to never tell the baker that his uncle Peeta would bake them better, and to see if they had anything else that caught our eye as they usually had a little window display showcasing little gingerbread men; and the typical hot cross buns with their white icing perfectly creating a small cross shape on the bread which was tinted green due to the seaweed in the mixture (it was the same for the bread however the buns were more sweet than the bread)
When we were in there we weren't disappointed the display looked amazing, the gingerbread men were placed outside a gingerbread house with icing outlining the windows which were made from some sort of blue sugar syrup, doors made from chocolate, as well as the tiling of the roof which was made from the same gingerbread mixture as the house.
The men were also looked delicious with one being iced with a red glossy dress with circular candy cane mints at the bottom, matched with equally glossy yellow hair which was curled at the bottom, whilst the second one had a cardigan for little gumdrops acting as the buttons and the eyes as well as blue trousers. The thing that made it even more spectacular this year was that the green hot cross buns acted as little bushes near the house with little flowers being in the middle of the iced cross section.
The store itself was busy and was decorated with all sorts of Christmassy things such as mistletoe dotted around the store and the smell of cinnamon and sugar ambled its way into the air and the shelves were stacked with all sorts of biscuits from shortbreads to snickerdoodles and mince pies (which I detest because of how sour they are but my little brother used to love them) as well as the chocolate cookies with a decorative star on them which josh had asked for so whilst I got in the queue Josh and Finn went to go look at display which wasn’t unusual as they both had a sweet tooth and were always amazed as to what the baker could create plus it did look pretty effortless this year…
When we were home and sitting comfortably in the living room with the fire crackling away. i gave Josh his cookie as he started to jump up and down after waiting rather impatiently for his sweet treat and his father who was sitting next to me on the plus sofa with his arm over my shoulder, a piece of cake which smelt strongly of lemon and felt soft enough that it would crumble in your hand even though the top was covered in a sticky layer of sauce or syrup or maybe icing (to which I would never be able to tell the difference)
To which he was a bit surprised as he wasn’t expecting anything but it made him chuckle making his sea green eyes shine and go a darker shade of green like the dark green of grass after its rained,
“I thought you weren't getting me anything from the bakery as in your words I had enough cake to eat for a lifetime!” He said beginning to eat his way through the slice the golden crumbs going all over his jumper!
“Well it is Christmas plus I thought I’d surprise you” I said cheerfully placing my head in the crook of his neck all I could smell was the salt of ocean and the lemon from his slice of cake…
It was when I was tucking our little one in to bed that night when the moon was just beginning to cast a slither of light into his room making his soft curls seem more white than blonde however it was making the brown roots stand out a tiny bit and making him seem a little less tan from all the time he played tag with his friends on the beach or in the playground.
“Mum I got a question.” He said looking at me wide eyed the sea green that both me and Finnick shared twinkling in the moonlight making me smile
“Yes lovely what is it?” I said starting to pull the soft covers of his duvets up to his shoulders,
“Well I was wondering if this year we could have another tradition…One where we surprise Dad.” He said his voice picking up speed like wind in a storm which was going to tear a hole through a sail,
“Well what would you like to do?”
I said hoping that it would be something doable unlike that time he wanted to keep a crab as a pet.
“Well Daddy really loved the display at the bakery today and I thought we maybe you and I could bake a gingerbread together because I'm 99 percent sure because we both made it he’d like it more than the baker’s gingerbread house and he really likes sweets he’ll eat it plus then I have to traditions one where I surprise you and one where i surprise Dad!” And then he leaned in closer to my face and whispered “But it's gotta be super secret like you cannot tell Dad we gotta surprise him like me and him do for you on Christmas to” he then proceeded to make a shushing noise with a finger to his lips looking me dead in the eyes that I was fighting back the urge to laugh in his face.
“I love that idea however I might not be able to find a recipe for that so you might have to live with cake but let's do it!” I said joining in the whispered tone whilst being excited at the same time as usually at Christmas these two surprise me with an extra present or a handmade item it felt nice to have the tables turn for once.
So I kissed him softly on the forehead and said goodnight and then went to bed next to my husband; and smoothly lied that Josh wanted an extra story before bed when he asked what took so long.
It took me a few days of planning as: A) I had to phone Peeta to give me a basic Gingerbread recipe which I didn't think he would give to me incase it was a secret but he didn’t have a qualm about me adding it to my collection
B) I had to figure out the best time as Finnick’s work hours had changed due to the holiday so I had to figure out when he was out of the house.
So we decided to do it a couple of days before Christmas whilst he was at work before he left I did start to cook the batter so all me and josh had to do was decorate so everything was finished in time. The smell of the gingerbread which was baking in the oven filled the house with the smell of cinnamon and the obvious smell of ginger spice, I was just in the kitchen keeping an eye making sure that in the final moments of baking it would remain golden brown and not be burned to a crisp; whilst Josh was sitting in the living room finishing a book I had got for my seventeenth birthday (the one with the purple haired Mermaid on the cover)
Finnick finished getting ready to go to work (which was basically fishing) when he came into the kitchen to see what I was cooking- he was wearing a plain shirt with a slightly loose pair of trousers.
“That smells lovely Anne what are you making?” He asked planting a delicate kiss to my cheek
“A surprise.” I said cheerfully double checking the gingerbread was done and hopefully hiding it from view.
He chuckled (which is a sound I’d never get tired of hearing from) “Alright then I’m off to work now I should be back by four at the latest.” he hugged me from behind for a moment his skin felt soft.
I was watching him from the corner of my eye to make sure he wouldn’t try to look at anything in the kitchen again, he went to our son and tassled his hair and gave him a hug before going to the door and closing it softly behind him shouting an “See you later… Love you!” to us before it shut…
Once that was done I quickly went over to Josh to ask if he was ready and got the bread out of the oven and got the decorations prepared around the table so we could get on with it…
We just had the final piece of icing to one of the sugar cubes which was being used as a window and we were done me and josh looked at our creation proudly the house had white as a daisy icing outlining the windows and the door as well as a couple of bricks to make the house look a bit more like a cottage in a fairytale (which was Josh’s idea and it paid off) the windows were split into four with some haphazardly shaped lines and the sugarcubes acting as the four separate pieces of glass - Josh assured me he would make sure I would get a piece without a sugar cube as I didn’t like them as much as his Dad because they make my mouth salivate to the point where I struggle to talk.
On the roof we also added lots of sweets from broken up biscuits to jellybeans of assorted colours, we also used icing around the doors and windows to attach candy cane pieces to the borders we had created making the house seem even more colourful, especially in addition to the odd splotches of icing on the house which was caused by an icing fight caused by Josh in which icing ended up in my hair and on his nose but it made us laugh in the end.
We also had three gingerbread men (and one woman Josh had corrected me on that) standing outside one looked like his dad with blonde hair and green eyes with a plaid shirt made out of licorice and a pair of blue trousers and my one had the brown hair but unlike the one in the bakery where it stopped and curled at the shoulders, mine went over them ever so slightly- Josh had iced a jumper with a christmas type of pattern with what looked like a snowflake in middle but I couldn’t tell as I made the icing a little too runny at that point matched with a blue skirt (I would have preferred jeans but this wasn’t my design this was Josh’s).
I decided to decorate Josh’s gingerbread replica with blonde hair and green dots of icing for eyes with a green filled shirt and a pair of blue trousers and a big wide smile made with the last bit of red icing left.
We had half an hour till Finn returned home so we quickly cleaned up and put the gingerbread house on the windowsill to make it similar to the display at the bakery and silently smiled at our creation till he returned…
As soon as the door opened Josh ran to Finn with a big smile on his face and shouted “Daddy!” at the top of his lungs and Finnick picked him up and hugged him I soon went over to join them both, in which me and Josh were both kissed on the forehead.
“What did you guys do today?” He asked as the door closed softly
“Not much… But something did come for you today!” I said winking at josh who had jumped down and started to drag his father to the windowsill with me following suit
“Ta-dah! Look what we and Mummy made for you.” he said waving his arms in direction towards the baked good.
He went over to it to look at it closely and once he realised what it was he smiled and said “No way… This is way better than the one at the bakery like the windows are amazing and I like the way you done our eyes!” he said starting to jump up and down.
“I’m glad you like it Dad however it seems a bit odd with three people instead of four.” Josh said looking to both me and Finnick in which we gave each over a nod of understanding in which Finnick said “We’ll see but can we eat that gingerbread house!” He said starting to pick up his gingerbread replica and handing me a piece of his leg.
And Well the gingerbread was hard but had a soft kick to it… it really was delicious.
im being so serious my all time favorite song is hallelujah specifically the rufus wainwright version my second fave is probs your ex lover is dead by stars or samson by regina spektor
hallelujah is a really nice song but it’s not something that i’d listen to a lot idk and i’ve never listened to those other songs/artists as far as i know so i’m gonna do that right now, thanks!
Favorite Record: The song’s on your life’s soundtrack:
Bully - Shinedown Brick By Boring Brick - Paramore The Chain - Fleetwood MacUbreakable– FireflightMonument – A Day to RememberThe Minstrel’s Prayer – CartelFourth of July – Fall Out BoyBurn This City – CartelEvery Teardrop Is a Waterfall - ColdplayEternal Sunshine - Jhene Aiko
