ғᴏᴜʀ ʏᴇᴀʀs ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ

      "HEY P, CAN YOU TAKE THESE outside for me, please?" Aella called from the open plan kitchen through to the living room as she spied Piper walking down the stairs. The young girl wore a bright smile on her face as she looked at Aella and found her in the kitchen. 

The eleven year old turned to Aella and she walked into the kitchen while nodding, "Yeah, of course, mom."

In the four years Piper had been comfortable calling her 'mom' and Finnick 'dad' Aella still hadn't gotten used to it. The first day Piper had said it, it had slipped out.

Aella and Finnick had been teaching her how to swim in the sea. It hadn't been that long after they'd gotten married, only a few months, and Piper had managed to swim the ten metres from Finnick to Aella on her own without putting her legs down. They had been so proud of her and Aella had been standing there waiting with her arms open for a hug. Piper had practically jumped into Aella's arms and said 'I did it momma, did you see?'

At first Piper hadn't seemed to realise what she'd done but Aella had frozen to the spot hearing it. Finnick had, too. Neither of them knew what to do or say. They thought it might've just been a slip of the tongue until Piper had looked at Aella's shocked face and said, 'what's wrong, momma?'

And Aella had broken down into sobs right in front of her.

It had stuck ever since then. Over time Piper had grown up and Aella thought she would grow out of it, especially when Aella and Finnick sat her down to talk to her about her biological parents a year ago. Piper remembered having them but she had forgotten what had happened to them. So they sat her down once she turned ten to tell her and it hadn't changed. She still called Aella and Finnick her mom and dad.

A small smile stretched across Aella's lips as Piper walked over and grabbed the basket of bread rolls. Her daughter wore a white beach dress with frilly sleeves. Her blonde curls were tied back into a ponytail with a purple ribbon wrapped in a bow. Even after five years she still loved the colour purple and her skills in painting and drawing had only gotten better.

"Your dad is already out there," Aella said to Piper as she began walking toward the open french double doors that led out to their back yard and then led out to the beach, "I'll be right out."

"Yeah, I see him." Piper replied, walking down the steps and outside.

Aella finished up transferring the cookies from the baking tray on to the basket in front of her, enjoying the silence when she heard the letterbox clatter. She frowned and wiped her hands on the kitchen towel before she walked to the front door. A single envelope laid face down on the ground and with a heavy sigh she bent down to pick it up before she stood up again.

She felt a tiny kick and her hand went absentmindedly to her swollen belly and she rubbed it soothingly while saying, "Oh, you're awake now are you?" She said aloud, "After you kept momma awake all night you decided to sleep all day, huh?"

She walked back to the kitchen, looking at the handwritten letter that was addressed to she and Finnick. She recognised the handwriting immediately but even if she hadn't, the District Twelve stamp gave it away. With a smile she finished transferring the cookies over into the last basket and grabbed the letter before taking both outside.

The warm breeze coming in from the ocean blew against her bare legs and her arms. The skirt of her pastel blue dress blew, as did her long waves. She walked out across the sand until she reached the picnic blanket already set up. She set the basket of cookies down next to the bread rolls Piper had just brought out and said, "One freshly made batch of white chocolate chip cookies."

Finnick looked away from Piper for a brief moment as she played in the sand and to his wife as she stood there. She looked stunning as she stood under the sun's glow and bathed in the light. She was ethereal standing there in her pastel blue dress with her hair tied back, half up half down, with a matching colour ribbon. She had that pregnancy glow, a serene aura emitting from her.

He held his hand out to help her down to the blanket and only when she was comfortable did he ask, "How are you feeling?"

She looked down to her growing belly and ran her hands over it slowly, feeling the soft thump of a hand or foot pressing against her hand as she reached a certain point, "Cheeky monkey is awake after keeping their momma up all night last night, aren't you?" She replied to him though she looked down to her bump.

Finnick leaned over, resting on his elbow, and he placed his hand against her stomach before saying, "Hey, little one." Their baby responded with a particularly hard kick against Finnick's hand and his eyes widened as he looked at Aella and chuckled, "Hey, take it easy on your momma, okay?" He said, "She's tired."

Aella hummed and leaned back on her hands, looking down to Finnick as he ran a soothing hand over her bump and said, "She's exhausted."

"You gotta let your momma sleep tonight, little guy." He spoke to her bump.

"Oh, no," Aella chuckled, "Little guy? No, no." She started to chuckle, "Three boys versus two girls now is bad enough. Piper and I wouldn't stand a chance against four of you."

Finnick's mouth opened as his face twisted incredulously but before he could argue his point a young voice shouted out across the beach, "Momma!"

Right on cue two curly haired blonde twin boys came running across the sand toward Aella, shouting her over and over again. They showed no signs of slowing down as they neared the picnic blanket and they both dived for Aella.

"Woah, boys!" Finnick said with wide eyes, catching both boys before they landed on Aella. He put them on their feet on the blanket and looked at them with a serious expression, "You can't dive on momma while she's got a baby in her tummy, remember?"

Their happy faces turned sad as they nodded with sullen faces. Calmly both boys sat down either side of Aella and they curled into her apologetically. She looked down into two sets of eyes identical to hers and knew she only had herself and Finnick to blame for their energy and love. Any child of theirs was destined to have a big personality and a lot of love in their heart.

The day Aella gave birth to the twins was admittedly one of the hardest days of her life. None of them expected her to be having twins. She had been small throughout the pregnancy anyway but when she delivered a five pound baby after fourteen hours of labour she knew something wasn't right. She barely had a minute to hold her child before the contractions started again and the second child was coming.

Aella had screamed throughout the contractions in a mixture of pain, fear and total shock. Finnick had almost passed out when they found out it was twins. What Aella had hoped to be an easy birth at home at turned into something quite traumatic, especially when the placenta didn't fully deliver and she began to haemorrhage. It was one of the scariest experiences of their lives. Aella had very nearly died that day. The doctors in District Four had warned Finnick and the family to prepare themselves for the worst but somehow, against all the odds, she had pulled through.

Though during her brush with death someone very close to Aella's heart had paid her a visit and told her she had much more to see of the world. Her brother asked her to give his nephews a kiss from him and to tell them when they were older how much he loved them.

Her brother had been looking down on her that day and she had survived with two happy and surprisingly healthy twin boys.

They looked exactly like their father. They bore the same blonde hair and the same olive skin. They had Finnick's facial structure, his lips... everything was Finnick except their eyes. The boys were born with Barnes eyes and somehow it made them even more mischievous. They definitely got that from Aella though she argued it was from her brother.

She could never be mad at her children though. Not as sparkling cobalt blue irises with a ring of shimmering gold around them looked at her with so much love and innocence.

Both boys pouted and said in unison, "Sorry momma."

Aella looped her arms around her sons and placed affectionate kisses to their heads before she said, "It's okay. Momma's not mad. Just be more careful next time."

They nodded in unison until Piper looked up from the sandcastles she was building and over to her family on the blanket. When she saw the twins she shouted, "Josh, James, you can't leave me to build these on my own!"

The two young boys jumped up and ran over to their sister before they jumped on her instead. The three year old boys tackled their eleven year old sister to the sand and all three of them erupted into hearty laughter while their parents watched them with humorous smiles on their faces.

They had named Josh after Aella's brother. He had been the first born. James was named after Finnick's father and was their tiny warrior. He had only been just over four pounds and was so small at birth but despite his size and weight he had gripped to his fathers finger only minutes old and had clung on with an iron clad grip.

Aella turned to Finnick with a smile on her face and said, "See? I can't cope with four boys."

Finnick chuckled lightly as he smiled at her lovingly, "It would be nice for there to be three boys and three girls in the house."

"At least then us girls have a shot at winning a vote." She replied.

They both laughed and Finnick sat up, repositioning himself on the blanket before he opened his arm wide for her. Aella moved closer toward him and sat between his open legs, leaning back against his chest and closing her eyes in content. Finnick put his hands on the underneath of her belly and lifted gently, taking the strain off her body for a second.

Aella released a deep, blissful, sigh, feeling the pressure release and groaned, "God, I love you."

Finnick chuckled and said, "Hopefully not just because I give your back a break and massage your feet."

"No that just makes me love you more." She replied.

"Bonus points for me then." He said.

She opened her eyes to look at him and nodded, "Absolutely."

Finnick met her eyes with a smile and leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. They continued to hold each other's gaze until Aella's eyes widened in remembrance and she said, "Oh, almost forgot!" She sat up as best as she could and reached for the envelope she had tucked into the cookie basket, "This came through the postbox just before I came outside."

Finnick glanced at the letter in her hand before he met her gaze as she laid back down against his chest, "Who's it from?"

"District Twelve." Aella responded as she tore into the envelope and pulled the paper out. She opened up the letter and flipped the page to start from the beginning but both she and Finnick recognised the handwriting immediately.

She began to read,

'Aella and Finnick,

Sorry it's been longer than the usual couple of weeks. We're all doing great, no need to worry.

We do have some news however. Katniss gave birth to the baby last month. He's beautiful. Blonde, curly, hair with Katniss's eyes, nose and face. I'm so proud to be his father. He's happy and healthy and eats like a horse. He is so loved and Haymitch is shaping up to be a pretty good godfather. It's took him a month to master changing but he's finally figured it out. Effie came to visit for a few days after the birth, and Katniss's mother was here to see her grandson born. It was all we could've asked for.

I have a sneaking suspicion he'll probably get on great with Piper and the twins if he is anything like me or Katniss though part of me suspects he'll have Katniss's stubborn personality. He already knows what he likes and what he doesn't like.

Once this letter reaches you both you'll be preparing to welcome your baby within the next few months. Don't rush to respond. Take all the time you need with him or her (though I'm routing for a girl for your sake, El) we understand it. Thank you for all the tips and tricks you've shared with us. It's made this whole experience a lot less frightening and a lot more easier. No one said being a father would be so terrifying, but I think I'm finally getting the hang of it.

In other news Gale proposed to his girlfriend. I'm not sure on if they've set a date for the wedding but Katniss's mother says they're very happy together and are still living in District Two.

Give our love to the rest of the family and our congratulations to Sam and Annie on the wedding, we're sorry we couldn't make it but Katniss was in labour. The photographs you sent were lovely. It looked like you all had fun. Katniss and I can't believe how big all the kids are getting. It feels like just yesterday Elizabeth and Connie were born never mind Josh and James.

There's a photograph in the envelope of Katniss, Caleb and I, (that's the baby's name) though Haymitch took it and he isn't very good with cameras.

All our love, Peeta, Katniss and Caleb.'

Aella set down the letter and reached into the envelope for the photograph. She held it out for both she and Finnick to look at and placed her hand over her heart at the sight. Tears rose to her eyes but she managed to keep them back while she said, "Beautiful... I'm so happy for them."

Finnick's arms tightened around Aella as he nodded and said, "They deserve it."

Aella tipped her head back and looked at Finnick before she said, "We all do."

He nodded in agreement, looking at his wife as the sun shone on her. Their children laughed in the distance, happy and free, living in that new world he and Aella had dreamed of and fought for. They were the luckiest people in the world and they counted their blessings every single day, without fail, knowing it.

Aella's lips stretched into a loving smile as she looked at her husband and said, "I love you, Finnick Odair."

He nodded and said, "And I love you, Aella Barnes."

"Forever and always?" She asked him.

He nodded, leaning down to press a chaste kiss to her lips before he pulled back and said, "Forever and always."

"Sorry we're late!" A voice called out across the beach then.

Aella and Finnick glanced over to see Clio and Daniel walking down the beach hand in hand. Elizabeth, their five year old daughter, ran down the sand and charged past Aella and Finnick without even acknowledging them before she skidded to her knees in the sand before Piper, Josh and James.

Then, at the same time, Sam, Annie, Natalia and Clio followed them. Connie was in her father's arms as Sam carried her across the sand, his hand intwined with his new wife as they looked at each other lovingly.

Daniel gave Aella and Finnick a lopsided grin that screamed mischief as he yelled over, "Clio wouldn't let me get out of bed!"

She gaped incredulously and slapped his chest lightly while everyone else burst out into laughter.

"What's your excuse, Beaumont?" Finnick called over to the approaching family.

Sam looked between his new wife and shrugged before he pointed in Clio and Daniel's direction and said, "The same as theirs."

More laughter followed and Aella and Finnick met each other's gaze again sharing the same thought of how lucky they were. They had each other, and the family they had always dreamed of having and it was enough.

It would always be enough.

•     •     •

A/N; and here we come to the end of Ethereal.. 🥺

I'd like to thank you all for supporting this book! It's literally been three years in the making before I eventually decided to publish it. Writing this has helped me fall back in love with the third person again and it's given me the courage to start planning and writing my very own book.

I absolutely love Aella and Finnick with my whole heart. I've loved writing them, I've loved exploring them & I hope you've enjoyed reading about them. I know this chapter could've been longer but I always knew I wanted two epilogues, one of which would be long and the second short.

Think of this chapter as the post credit scene almost... it ties it all together just perfectly and gives us that one final glimpse into Aella and Finnick's life together in their new world.

I know there were a lot of new names mentioned so here's a small family tree (or trees) for you.

Aella Barnes & Finnick Odiar
|
Piper Odair    Josh. Jr & James. Jr Odair

Clio Acton & Daniel Amor
|
Elizabeth Amor

Annie Cresta & Sam Beaumont
|
Constance (Connie) Beaumont

Katniss Everdeen & Peeta Mellark
|
Caleb Mellark

Hopefully that makes more sense! But again, thank you all for reading and supporting Ethereal❤️