‹ Prequel: The Huntress
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Eyes Open
Chapter Four
The past month has been hectic. My back had finally healed and all that was left was some scars that could easily be hidden by clothes. While my back was healing, Gale and I have been planning our wedding and who was going to be in our wedding party. For me it was a no brainer. Katniss was my maid of honor and Prim was my only other bridesmaid. Sure I had friends in the Seam and around town but I only wanted two total bridesmaids. Gale chose Peeta and his younger brother Rory to be his groomsmen. Rory was his best man and Peeta was his other groomsman. We had made sure that Mr. Henderson would marry us and we had to make sure the old pavilion was still up in the Seam since Thread had taken down a lot of recreational things like the Hob and the small flower garden that the district seemed to keep up. Gale and I even went to go ask Head Peacekeeper Thread to see if it was okay to get married outside in the Seam instead of in the Justice Building. We also decided who was going to move. We decided that Gale would move because of the fact that I made a makeshift shooting range and Gale wanted that. I had also helped my mother made my sisters’ bridesmaid dresses and made my boutique of flowers.
Today I woke up to see that Hazelle, Posy, Prim, Katniss, and my mother all waiting for me down in the kitchen. When I walked downstairs, everyone was eating some cookies that Peeta must have stopped by early this morning for him to drop off my favorite cookies. They were the flower shaped cookies that had really crazy designs that Peeta put on them. I grabbed one and everyone was smiling at me.
“Are you excited?” Hazelle asked and I smiled and nodded my head.
“And nervous,” I said as I took a bite of my cookie.
“You’ll be fine,” Katniss said, “It’s going to be perfect today.”
As soon as I finished eating my cookie, Prim and Katniss pushed me up to the bathroom so I could take a bath. It was already drawn and had a bunch of perfumed things in the water. Katniss and Prim basically shoved me into the water and made sure I scrubbed every inch of my body and hair. By the time I was done bathing, my skin was raw and clean.
“Are you done yet?” Katniss asked.
“Oh I don’t know,” I said, “Maybe I am now since my skin is now raw.”
“Ha, ha, very funny,” she said as she and Prim then dragged me towards the living room.
I was then put in a chair while my mother, Hazelle, Prim, and Katniss did my makeup, hair, and nails. Katniss and Prim painted my fingernails and toenails a red color, while Hazelle put on some light makeup. Once that was done, my mother started on my hair. She lightly curled it and then pinned it up in a bun on my side and then put in a fresh rose in my hair. Once my hair done and everything else, I helped my mother get Prim and Katniss ready. My mother did Katniss’ hair while I put Prim’s into a braid and helped her into her dress. Once they were dressed, Katniss, Prim, and I helped Hazelle and my mother get ready. I curled my mother’s hair and put it in a fancy bun that she taught me how to do when I was younger while Katniss and Prim did her fingernails and toenails and she did her makeup. We then went over to where Hazelle was and helped her get Posy ready and herself. Once everyone was dressed it was time to get me to dress. I looked out the window and saw the for the first time it was sunny and it looked warm.
“It looks warm,” I said looking at my window.
“It is warm,” Hazelle said, “I had to go check on the boys and its warm for some odd reason.”
“That’s good though,” I smiled, “We won’t freeze to death then.”
“That is good,” she smiled as she helped me in the dress.
Once the dress was on, we all looked at the full length mirror in what would be mine and Gale’s room.
“You look beautiful,” my mother said as I smiled at my appearance.
The only other time I felt this pretty was when Cinna dressed me up for the Capitol Ball after the Hunger Games. I turned to look at everyone and hugged them.
“Thank you,” I said, “For everything.”
“It’s not really a big deal sis,” Katniss said, “We’re family we always have your back.”
I then smiled at Katniss and hugged her again.
“Ready to head down to the Seam?” my mother asked me, “Hazelle just went to answer the door.”
I didn’t even notice Hazelle leave but I nodded my head yes and we headed down the stairs. When we got closer to the bottom, I started hearing voices and I had to smile.
“I bet you guys made her look beautiful,” I heard Cinna’s voice.
“President Snow let you come down here,” I said smiling widely as we walked into the living room to show that Effie, Cinna, Portia, Flavius, Octavia, and Venia had all come down from the Capitol.
“Of course sweetheart,” Effie said smiling as she rushed over to hug me, “We start the Victory Tour in a couple of days and when your mother said you were getting married we asked if we could come earlier.”
“But I thought the Victory Tour is six months after the games,” I said, “We have one more month.”
“President Snow wants us to do the Victory Tour earlier,” she said.
“Oh okay,” I said trying not to sound shocked.
There was a knock at the door and I went to go answer it. When I opened the door, there was Gale in his suit. I was speechless as we looked at each other. We both broke into smiles when our eyes met.
“You look beautiful,” he said.
“I don’t know the male equivalent to that statement but if I knew I would use it too,” I said and Gale just laughed lightly.
“Are you ready to head down to the Seam?” he asked.
“Yeah just let me go get everyone,” I said as we both headed into the living room.
“Is everyone ready?” Gale asked as he had his arm around my waist and I was leaning into him.
“You two make such a cute couple,” Effie squealed as we made our way out of the house.
I blushed and Gale just laughed and kissed my cheek. As we made our way down to the Seam, I noticed that everything was closed in the square and I looked up at Gale confused as he just smiled down at me.
“Care to explain?” I asked.
“You’ll see,” he said, “I told when we started planning this that I would take care of it and you had to focus on getting all healed up and we both stuck to our end of our deal.”
“You’re so lucky I love you,” I said glaring playfully at him as he just laughed.
When we got to the Seam, my mouth dropped. Everyone in the district was at this wedding. Even the miners were here. I turned to look at Gale who was smiling down at me.
“Surprise,” he said and I just hugged him tightly.
“Thank you,” I said, “For everything.”
“I’d do anything for you,” he whispered in my ear, “Now shall we get married.”
I nodded my head and Katniss and Prim took me to where we needed to be standing. When we got to the back of everyone, we met Haymitch. I asked Haymitch to walk me down the aisle because after the games he became like a father figure to me. He watched out for me and made sure I was doing what I needed to.
“You look beautiful sweetheart,” he said and I smiled.
“Is that a compliment coming out of your mouth Abernathy,” I said pretending to be shocked and he smiled.
“Of course sweetheart,” he said as he offered his arm as the music started, "but don't get used to it."
As the music started, Haymitch walked me over to the aisle and my eyes fell on all of what Gale had done for us. He had the entire pavilion covered in red roses and white primrose. All of the rows of chairs had red and white fabric across them and had either a red or white rose in the middle of them. Katniss and Prim went first down the aisle. Once they got half way down the aisle it was Haymitch’s and my turn to walk down that aisle. The nerves in my stomach began to tighten and I felt like I could breathe but once my eyes landed on Gale my smile grew even wider and the knots loosened. If I told him he looked handsome, that wasn’t the word to describe it. He looked perfect. He didn’t own a tuxedo, whatever that was, but his suit looked great on him. Gale locked eyes with me and we held each other’s eyes until Haymitch and I made it to where Mr. Henderson and Gale were standing. Haymitch handed me off to Gale and he took my hand and we stood facing each other. We smiled at each other as Mr. Henderson started the ceremony.
“Today we gather here in a day of celebration to bring together two wonderful young people together in the form of marriage,” Mr. Henderson started.
As Mr. Henderson continued talking, all I could do was stare at Gale and smile at him. This was something I wanted between the two of us since I was sixteen. I knew we were perfect together and no one would understand us like each other did. Gale and I had our own little world where we got each other’s emotions, opinions, thoughts that it was scary. I knew when something was wrong with him and he knew when I was upset or nervous. We balanced each other out. He was the rash decision maker while I was the more logical one who thought out my plan but was pretty good on my feet when I needed to be. Before I knew it we were saying our vowels.
“Now repeat after me Adyrn,” Mr. Henderson said, “I Adyrn Everdeen.”
“I Adyrn Everdeen,” I repeated.
“Take you Gale Henderson,” he said.
“Take you Gale Henderson.”
“To be my lawfully wedded husband,” he added.
“To be my lawfully wedded husband.”
“My constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward,” he continued.
“My constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward.”
“In the presence of the peacekeepers of District 12, our family and friends,” he added.
“In the presence of the peacekeepers of District 12, our family and friends.”
“I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow,” he said.
“I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow.”
“I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live,” he finished.
“I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live,” I finished smiling widely up at him as I slid his ring on his fourth finger of his left hand.
“Now repeat after me Gale,” Mr. Henderson said, “I Gale Hawthorne.”
“I Gale Hawthorne,” he repeated.
“Take you Adyrn Everdeen,” he said.
“Take you Adyrn Everdeen.”
“To be my lawfully wedded wife,” he added.
“To be my lawfully wedded wife.”
“My constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward,” he continued.
“My constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward.”
“In the presence of the peacekeepers of District 12, our family and friends,” he added.
“In the presence of the peacekeepers of District 12, our family and friends.”
“I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow,” he said.
“I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow.”
“I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live,” he finished.
“I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live,” Gale finished as he slid my ring on my fourth finger of my left hand.
“I now deem you Husband and Wife. You may now kiss your bride Gale,” he said as Gale placed both hands on my face and kissed me as we heard the crowd cheer.
Once we were done kissing we faced everyone and Mr. Hawthorne announced us a Mr. and Mrs. Gale Hawthorne.
“I would now like to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne,” Mr. Henderson said and everyone was smiling and throwing the traditional bird seed that we normally toss instead of rice.
Gale took my hand and we ran through the aisle and laughed when we got to the top of it. Gale told me earlier that he already invited everyone back to our house to celebrate with us in the backyard and around Victor Village. I wanted to change out of my dress but my mother and Hazelle told me that I wasn’t allowed to change because of the reason that we had people from the Capitol down here. I agreed reluctantly and before I knew it Gale and I were hosting our first party as a married couple. We were having our first dance and I couldn’t get my smile off of my face.
“Do you feel like the happiest girl in the world Mrs. Hawthorne?” Gale asked me smiling.
“I am the happiest girl in the world Mr. Hawthorne,” I replied laughing and twirling with him.
He just laughed and rolled his eyes at me and we continued to celebrate with the entire district. I was standing by the giant dessert table that Peeta and his family had made for us when Peeta came over to me.
“Peeta!” I exclaimed and hugged him, “Thank you for making these. You should’ve told me you needed help!”
“It’s my family’s gift to you,” Peeta chuckled hugging me, “How does it feel to be married?”
“Great,” I said and spent the rest of the night celebrating with everyone and having Gale and I toast our first loaf of bread in our fire place.
Today I woke up to see that Hazelle, Posy, Prim, Katniss, and my mother all waiting for me down in the kitchen. When I walked downstairs, everyone was eating some cookies that Peeta must have stopped by early this morning for him to drop off my favorite cookies. They were the flower shaped cookies that had really crazy designs that Peeta put on them. I grabbed one and everyone was smiling at me.
“Are you excited?” Hazelle asked and I smiled and nodded my head.
“And nervous,” I said as I took a bite of my cookie.
“You’ll be fine,” Katniss said, “It’s going to be perfect today.”
As soon as I finished eating my cookie, Prim and Katniss pushed me up to the bathroom so I could take a bath. It was already drawn and had a bunch of perfumed things in the water. Katniss and Prim basically shoved me into the water and made sure I scrubbed every inch of my body and hair. By the time I was done bathing, my skin was raw and clean.
“Are you done yet?” Katniss asked.
“Oh I don’t know,” I said, “Maybe I am now since my skin is now raw.”
“Ha, ha, very funny,” she said as she and Prim then dragged me towards the living room.
I was then put in a chair while my mother, Hazelle, Prim, and Katniss did my makeup, hair, and nails. Katniss and Prim painted my fingernails and toenails a red color, while Hazelle put on some light makeup. Once that was done, my mother started on my hair. She lightly curled it and then pinned it up in a bun on my side and then put in a fresh rose in my hair. Once my hair done and everything else, I helped my mother get Prim and Katniss ready. My mother did Katniss’ hair while I put Prim’s into a braid and helped her into her dress. Once they were dressed, Katniss, Prim, and I helped Hazelle and my mother get ready. I curled my mother’s hair and put it in a fancy bun that she taught me how to do when I was younger while Katniss and Prim did her fingernails and toenails and she did her makeup. We then went over to where Hazelle was and helped her get Posy ready and herself. Once everyone was dressed it was time to get me to dress. I looked out the window and saw the for the first time it was sunny and it looked warm.
“It looks warm,” I said looking at my window.
“It is warm,” Hazelle said, “I had to go check on the boys and its warm for some odd reason.”
“That’s good though,” I smiled, “We won’t freeze to death then.”
“That is good,” she smiled as she helped me in the dress.
Once the dress was on, we all looked at the full length mirror in what would be mine and Gale’s room.
“You look beautiful,” my mother said as I smiled at my appearance.
The only other time I felt this pretty was when Cinna dressed me up for the Capitol Ball after the Hunger Games. I turned to look at everyone and hugged them.
“Thank you,” I said, “For everything.”
“It’s not really a big deal sis,” Katniss said, “We’re family we always have your back.”
I then smiled at Katniss and hugged her again.
“Ready to head down to the Seam?” my mother asked me, “Hazelle just went to answer the door.”
I didn’t even notice Hazelle leave but I nodded my head yes and we headed down the stairs. When we got closer to the bottom, I started hearing voices and I had to smile.
“I bet you guys made her look beautiful,” I heard Cinna’s voice.
“President Snow let you come down here,” I said smiling widely as we walked into the living room to show that Effie, Cinna, Portia, Flavius, Octavia, and Venia had all come down from the Capitol.
“Of course sweetheart,” Effie said smiling as she rushed over to hug me, “We start the Victory Tour in a couple of days and when your mother said you were getting married we asked if we could come earlier.”
“But I thought the Victory Tour is six months after the games,” I said, “We have one more month.”
“President Snow wants us to do the Victory Tour earlier,” she said.
“Oh okay,” I said trying not to sound shocked.
There was a knock at the door and I went to go answer it. When I opened the door, there was Gale in his suit. I was speechless as we looked at each other. We both broke into smiles when our eyes met.
“You look beautiful,” he said.
“I don’t know the male equivalent to that statement but if I knew I would use it too,” I said and Gale just laughed lightly.
“Are you ready to head down to the Seam?” he asked.
“Yeah just let me go get everyone,” I said as we both headed into the living room.
“Is everyone ready?” Gale asked as he had his arm around my waist and I was leaning into him.
“You two make such a cute couple,” Effie squealed as we made our way out of the house.
I blushed and Gale just laughed and kissed my cheek. As we made our way down to the Seam, I noticed that everything was closed in the square and I looked up at Gale confused as he just smiled down at me.
“Care to explain?” I asked.
“You’ll see,” he said, “I told when we started planning this that I would take care of it and you had to focus on getting all healed up and we both stuck to our end of our deal.”
“You’re so lucky I love you,” I said glaring playfully at him as he just laughed.
When we got to the Seam, my mouth dropped. Everyone in the district was at this wedding. Even the miners were here. I turned to look at Gale who was smiling down at me.
“Surprise,” he said and I just hugged him tightly.
“Thank you,” I said, “For everything.”
“I’d do anything for you,” he whispered in my ear, “Now shall we get married.”
I nodded my head and Katniss and Prim took me to where we needed to be standing. When we got to the back of everyone, we met Haymitch. I asked Haymitch to walk me down the aisle because after the games he became like a father figure to me. He watched out for me and made sure I was doing what I needed to.
“You look beautiful sweetheart,” he said and I smiled.
“Is that a compliment coming out of your mouth Abernathy,” I said pretending to be shocked and he smiled.
“Of course sweetheart,” he said as he offered his arm as the music started, "but don't get used to it."
As the music started, Haymitch walked me over to the aisle and my eyes fell on all of what Gale had done for us. He had the entire pavilion covered in red roses and white primrose. All of the rows of chairs had red and white fabric across them and had either a red or white rose in the middle of them. Katniss and Prim went first down the aisle. Once they got half way down the aisle it was Haymitch’s and my turn to walk down that aisle. The nerves in my stomach began to tighten and I felt like I could breathe but once my eyes landed on Gale my smile grew even wider and the knots loosened. If I told him he looked handsome, that wasn’t the word to describe it. He looked perfect. He didn’t own a tuxedo, whatever that was, but his suit looked great on him. Gale locked eyes with me and we held each other’s eyes until Haymitch and I made it to where Mr. Henderson and Gale were standing. Haymitch handed me off to Gale and he took my hand and we stood facing each other. We smiled at each other as Mr. Henderson started the ceremony.
“Today we gather here in a day of celebration to bring together two wonderful young people together in the form of marriage,” Mr. Henderson started.
As Mr. Henderson continued talking, all I could do was stare at Gale and smile at him. This was something I wanted between the two of us since I was sixteen. I knew we were perfect together and no one would understand us like each other did. Gale and I had our own little world where we got each other’s emotions, opinions, thoughts that it was scary. I knew when something was wrong with him and he knew when I was upset or nervous. We balanced each other out. He was the rash decision maker while I was the more logical one who thought out my plan but was pretty good on my feet when I needed to be. Before I knew it we were saying our vowels.
“Now repeat after me Adyrn,” Mr. Henderson said, “I Adyrn Everdeen.”
“I Adyrn Everdeen,” I repeated.
“Take you Gale Henderson,” he said.
“Take you Gale Henderson.”
“To be my lawfully wedded husband,” he added.
“To be my lawfully wedded husband.”
“My constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward,” he continued.
“My constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward.”
“In the presence of the peacekeepers of District 12, our family and friends,” he added.
“In the presence of the peacekeepers of District 12, our family and friends.”
“I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow,” he said.
“I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow.”
“I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live,” he finished.
“I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live,” I finished smiling widely up at him as I slid his ring on his fourth finger of his left hand.
“Now repeat after me Gale,” Mr. Henderson said, “I Gale Hawthorne.”
“I Gale Hawthorne,” he repeated.
“Take you Adyrn Everdeen,” he said.
“Take you Adyrn Everdeen.”
“To be my lawfully wedded wife,” he added.
“To be my lawfully wedded wife.”
“My constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward,” he continued.
“My constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward.”
“In the presence of the peacekeepers of District 12, our family and friends,” he added.
“In the presence of the peacekeepers of District 12, our family and friends.”
“I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow,” he said.
“I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow.”
“I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live,” he finished.
“I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live,” Gale finished as he slid my ring on my fourth finger of my left hand.
“I now deem you Husband and Wife. You may now kiss your bride Gale,” he said as Gale placed both hands on my face and kissed me as we heard the crowd cheer.
Once we were done kissing we faced everyone and Mr. Hawthorne announced us a Mr. and Mrs. Gale Hawthorne.
“I would now like to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne,” Mr. Henderson said and everyone was smiling and throwing the traditional bird seed that we normally toss instead of rice.
Gale took my hand and we ran through the aisle and laughed when we got to the top of it. Gale told me earlier that he already invited everyone back to our house to celebrate with us in the backyard and around Victor Village. I wanted to change out of my dress but my mother and Hazelle told me that I wasn’t allowed to change because of the reason that we had people from the Capitol down here. I agreed reluctantly and before I knew it Gale and I were hosting our first party as a married couple. We were having our first dance and I couldn’t get my smile off of my face.
“Do you feel like the happiest girl in the world Mrs. Hawthorne?” Gale asked me smiling.
“I am the happiest girl in the world Mr. Hawthorne,” I replied laughing and twirling with him.
He just laughed and rolled his eyes at me and we continued to celebrate with the entire district. I was standing by the giant dessert table that Peeta and his family had made for us when Peeta came over to me.
“Peeta!” I exclaimed and hugged him, “Thank you for making these. You should’ve told me you needed help!”
“It’s my family’s gift to you,” Peeta chuckled hugging me, “How does it feel to be married?”
“Great,” I said and spent the rest of the night celebrating with everyone and having Gale and I toast our first loaf of bread in our fire place.