I Just Wanna, I Just Wanna Know

It seemed like just another day spent wandering the fields, and Derald was finally feeling better, so when he'd asked her to meet there today she'd thought nothing much of it. She had something important to tell him, though, and she was too distracted by that to really question her boyfriend's purpose for picking this spot. Annie hadn't brought the dogs today out of mutual exhaustion from them both. She was feeling okay now, though, as she climbed towards the hill when she'd first been run over by Sephy. Annie smiled at the memory and looked around for Derald. She wasn't sure if she'd gotten here first or it he was just hiding somewhere behind some grass or something. Annie was about to call out his name when she saw his face in the distance. "Hey, stranger!" she shouted, beckoning him over with her hand. "Funny seeing you here."

Annie smiled at Derald when he approached.  "Hm, I don't know. Total losers, maybe?" She let her head fall onto his shoulder and stared up at the horse. Annie had always loved horses, and most of the time they liked her as well. She was pretty sure Sephy did not agree. Annie wouldn't have even given the ride a second thought up until about three weeks ago. She pursed her lips slightly and thought about it for a minute before nodding twice. "I would love to. Slowly."  She detached herself from Derald and walked over to Sephy, gently patting the horse's neck. "Talk about flashbacks, huh?" Annie muttered, lifting one foot so she could mount the horse. She used Derald as physical support and swung the other leg over, wincing a bit. Once Annie had gotten settled, she took a deep breath. "Ready, but I'm not kidding about the slow thing. The first time was warning enough." Annie laughed, pleased by the memory that popped into her head despite her mild injury at the time. Definitely worth it.

Annie shifted on Sephy's back, adjusting her legs. She thought about her relationship with the horse for a second. "Yeah, we did, I guess." Annie stroked the horse's mane as lightly as she could. "And, well, yeah, I would say so," she said with a laugh, her hand instinctively moving towards her stomach. She caught herself just in time and used the hand to adjust the sleeve of her shirt instead. Annie gripped the reins tightly, knowing how bad things could be if she fell off. She took a deep breath as they started moving, letting herself be lulled by the slow rhythm of Sephy's gait. Despite her worries, Annie couldn't keep herself from smiling. She loved horse-riding. Annie glanced down at Derald. "Close my eyes? I don't think you want me falling off the horse again..." She squeezed his hand. "You I trust. Certain other equine creatures, though I know they mean well, no." Annie sighed. Normally she wouldn't question it. "But yea, I'll do it." She shook out her shoulders to calm herself and let her eyes fall shut. "What's this all about, anyway?" Annie asked, feeling Sephy's muscles move under her skin as her fingertips rested on the horse's back. "I kind of, um, have something to tell you later."

Annie tilted her head to the side so she could hear Derald better. She tried to turn her face toward the general direction of where his voice seemed to be coming from. "I never was good at those trust fall games. Nobody actually ever explained to me what I was supposed to do with my arms. But yeah, I know what you mean." Annie laughed and let her breathing fall into rhythm with Sephy's clomping footsteps. "I definitely wouldn't say it's about breaking up with you. At least, it's not supposed to be." Annie smirked. "You say your thing first. Mine can wait. You'll figure it out soon enough anyway." She wondered for a second why he sounded sort of unsteady, and then she heard guitar. "Have you had that the whole time? I swear I didn't see it..." she muttered. Obviously he had. Annie had other things on her mind lately. Derald mentioned her dad and Annie winced. Oh gawd, I bet my dad said something totally embarrassing.  Her eyebrows rose as his voice started to turn more melodic, and then her the corners of her mouth started to turn up into a smile. "You sneaky little devil, you," she laughed. "Smart. Pretty hard to run away when you're blind on a horse." Annie shut her mouth after that, trying to decide how to react. She felt happiness bubbling up inside of her, but she didn't really know how to express it. She didn't want to make assumptions, but she couldn't think of anything else Derald could be proposing. Proposing. He's proposing. She couldn't help but think, Well, that's convenient. Annie mentally slapped herself and returned her attention to her boyfriend and possible soon fiance and husband. "If you want to finish your thought there, sweetheart, I've got a great follow-up," she said with a grin.

Once again, Annie felt herself wondering how one was supposed to react in this type of situation. She knew she wanted to say yes, obviously, she just didn't know how to say it. You're overthinking it again, she mused. Annie leaned back slightly, noting Sephy's soft side behind her. Her face felt warm, and she knew she was probably blushing. Annie realized Derald was still sitting there and nodded, a huge smile breaking across her face. "Oh, right, sorry, yes! Yes, yes, yes, of course yes," she giggled, blinking back happy tears. She felt like a big old cliche, but didn't really mind. Annie pressed her lips together as Derald slid the ring onto her finger. She stared at it for a second before pulling him to his feet and wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug, then shifted backwards a bit and kissed his lightly on the lips for a few seconds. "And um, by the way, regarding that other thing I was planning to tell you..." Annie had taken a small step away so she could actually speak to him. She studied his face carefully, trying to gauge his reaction to what she was about to say. "I'm, uh, pregnant."

Annie wrinkled her nose, mouthing the word before saying it slowly. "Huuusssbaaannd. Husband. Weird. Feels old. I'll just call you 'lad' or 'chap' or something." She shook her head. "I know. I know! And you were doing so well! You better get used to it." She pushed her hair back from her face, unable to keep from smiling. Her jaw was starting to ache from the repeated motion, but she didn't care. "No, I'm really not kidding. I didn't want to tell you until I was sure, but, uh, I'm sure. I told my mom but I made her promise not to tell anyone else. Uh, it's been a few weeks." She rested her hand on the side of her stomach, next to Derald's. The excitement refused to bubble down, and she felt more giddy than ever. "We're gonna be parents!" She gasped suddenly and covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh my lord, we're gonna be parents. How are we gonna be parents?" Then the jolt of happiness returned. "We're gonna be parents!" Annie didn't know if she was hormonal or just emotional. Probably both. "Um, yeah. Yeah, I'm good. I'm feeling okay. Some mood swings, but other than that, I think I'm good. What about you How are you feeling, uh, about... this?"

Annie laughed at the name suggestion. "'Der and Ann' sounds like an elderly couple. What about Derrie and Annald?" she joked. "Or just Derry. Yeah, getting old sucks. Let's never get old." She squeezed his hand. "I guess there are some perks though. Not being eligible for the reapings, being able to get away with pretty much anything, not having to do anything but sit by a fire all day... not so bad if you've got someone to sit with." She shook her head. Maybe it was the second creature feeding off of her, or maybe she was just sleep deprived, but the whole thing hardly felt real. She could have sworn it was just yesterday that she'd been roaming around the District on one of her first days after the move. And yet, at the same time, growing up with only her family felt lightyears away. "I'll hold you to that."

She smiled. "I know.  So far, I don't think anything's going wrong. I mean, the only experience I can boast is with farm animals and from maternal instinct, but cows, humans, not much different, right?" Annie fell silent as Derald spoke, and slowly let her eyes close. As much as she didn't like hearing about a time in Derald's life when he'd been unhappy, if there was anything she felt she knew how to do, it was listen. Annie sighed and opened her eyes. "Derald, I can say from a place of complete and utter faith that if you ever have to kill anyone ever again, and I doubt you will..." Annie lowered her voice. "It won't just be another only-way-out situation. I won't let that happen again. If you ever do have to hurt someone, it'll be for Tess, for me, or for Alex. But you won't. I promise. I realize that I'm hardly an authority on this, but just call it mother's intuition or something. Okay?" She nodded slowly, looking up into his eyes to make sure he understood. He brought up talking to her family and Annie couldn't help but break the mood that was intense just a second ago by smirking. "Uh, yeah, we are never telling Aunt Jemima. If she ever comes over, we'll just hide the baby in the barn, and if she ever finds out, as far as she's concerned, it just appeared on our doorstep out of nowhere. As for my mom, uh, you can if you want. She might have actually told my dad without my permission... she was never very good at secrets and he's been looking at me funny lately. I dunno, maybe that was just after you asked him if you could propose."

Annie swung their hands around and laughed at his apparent compliment, lifting her other hand up to between her neck and chest with a mock gasp. "Why, thank you! I've never been more flattered in all my life. You're too kind." She smiled and lowered her hand again. She felt a bit woozy due to the double emotional rollercoaster she was experiencing: pregnancy hormones as well as switching between celebration and solemn remembrance of Derald's time in the games. She took a deep breath to steady herself, then looked back up at her fiance. Gotta remember that for the birth, she noted. Breathing is important. "No need to thank me. Hmm, I think I have some idea," she replied, pecking him on the lips like a mofoing chicken bawk bawk bitch jk i meant as in a kiss thing idk. Annie shrugged. "I dunno, once upon a dream... or sleeping-pill, fever-induced delirium. Take your pick." She smiled at the silly memory of Derald's cold, and at his suggestion that they blame the baby-birds when it came to her conservative aunt. "Mm, cranes, right. Sounds good to me. She can't argue with the crane gods. Pretty sure there was a story about a baby coming out of nowhere like that... we can talk with them if you want. It'll be awkward, but the good might outweigh the harm." Annie scrunched up her nose. "We can talk about that later, though. Right now we are going to go get some food. Like, lots of food. We're raising a little guzzler." Annie patted her stomach affectionately. "Ever tried a cookie dough omlette?"