A/N: I'm sorry for the long wait,
guys! Since my last update school's started back up for me again,
and I've been adjusting to my new classes and stuff. It's going
pretty well.
I had fun getting into Mrs.
Everdeen's head for this. She wasn't a character I gave much thought
to while reading the books, but she turned out to be pretty
interesting to write. Also, don't ask how I came up with Dani's new
hobby. I don't know a thing about needlepoint, but it seemed like a
somewhat quirky hobby to have. I guess I liked the idea of Dani
having a hobby that was somewhat unusual.
Mrs. Everdeen had never particularly
enjoyed her rare visits to District 12. It was an entirely different
place than the one she had left, yet it held a certain quality about
it that took her back to a different time. A time she had no
interest in being reminded of on a daily basis during her trip.
Still, she forced herself to travel to the small district at least
once a year. For years it had only been to see her daughter and the
man who eventually became her son-in-law. Then one year she found
herself beginning to visit grandchildren. She knew visiting the only
family she had left in the world should feel her with joy, and it did
at times, but even more of her time spent in the district was taken
up by her struggle to forget the past.
She knew Katniss would have taken any
excuse she gave her as a reason not to come, but she'd never been
able to bring herself to that. Sometimes Mrs. Everdeen wondered if
it was because she had to prove to Katniss, and herself, that she was
still a mother. Yet most of her visits were spent largely out of
Katniss' company. Her grandchildren seemed happy to see her at
least, but she wasn't much fun to play with. She wasn't often away
from her own sorrow enough to play childish games, and her old age
made it even more difficult these days. Unfortunately, this left her
with a lot of free time during her visits, which was omething she
didn't want in a place where it was so easy to sink back into
horrible memories. She was forced to wander around the house she had
lived in for almost a year. A house that held some of the memories
she was most anxious to get rid of. Yet she still came.
On this particular visit she had spent
more time alone than she had on any visit since Dani and Nickel were
born. In addition to all of her usual sorrow, she was forced to face
the fact that they were growing up. It seemed like Dani was
constantly off with one of her friends, and Nickel was either with
his own friends or out in the woods with Katniss, something that
worried her ever since she had heard about his leg injury. She tried
to visit during school holidays, but that never seemed to matter.
Katniss and Peeta had always been busy when she was there. Mrs.
Everdeen was positive that Katniss went out of her way to be out of
the house as much as possible. Peeta made an effort to keep her
company, but she never knew what to say to the man and he had a
bakery to run for most of the day.
On this particular day, Mrs. Everdeen
had busied herself by looking through the old plant book when Nickel
suddenly came through the front door, startling her a bit.
"Grandma," the boy seemed
extremely excited. "Guess what happened at school today."
He looked at her expectantly, waiting for a reply.
Mrs. Everdeen honestly had no clue what
could have caused Nickel so much excitement, and she'd never been one
for guessing games. There was an awkward moment of silence while she
struggled with a response before Katniss came in the door Nickel had
left wide open carrying two bows and some arrows. They either hadn't
made any kills or had stopped to sell the meat in town.
Nickel finally seemed to realize that
his grandmother wasn't answering anytime soon, so he leaned in to
tell her quietly. "Mommy used the money we got from selling
meat in town to buy Dani's birthday present, and I know what it is!"
"And you promised you wouldn't
tell," Katniss scolded him gently from the hallway where she was
placing her load in the closet.
"I'm not telling Dani!"
Nickel protested. "And Grandma won't tell her either. Will you
Grandma?"
"Of course not," Mrs.
Everdeen smiled down at her grandson. She was thrilled at the chance
of being in on something. Nickel's trust in her secretly made her
gleeful that she was being included in a family secret.
"It's canvas and yarn for her to
needlepoint more. We even got a book to help her!" Nickel's
excitement seemed to be at the same level Dani's would be when she
opened her present.
Katniss came and sat on the couch next
to Nickel. "She did some needlepoint at school and loved it.
She got Peeta's creativity, but she doesn't feel like painting is her
thing. She's good, but she seems to think she could be even better
at needlepoint. I suppose she likes that it's something of her own.
Painting gives her time with Peeta, but she likes being able to make
something that she won't mentally compare to her father's work."
Mrs. Everdeen was surprised that
Katniss had been able to come to these conclusions when she was
usually so clueless about other people. Katniss must have been able
to read her mother's expression. "Or at least that's what Peeta
told me the other day," she smirked slightly. As Mrs. Everdeen
smiled back she realized this was a bit of a new experience. She
couldn't remember the last time Katniss had truely smiled at her. It
was a small thing, but it made her continual sorrow just a tiny bit
more bearable. After all, District 12 may hold a lot of painful
memories, but it also held her family.
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