I rush from my couch ignoring the pain in my leg. "Katniss! Katniss!" I scream through the district. I catch a glimpse of her dark brown braid. I chase after her and she runs into the hob, the door closes and by the time I get inside she's gone. I stand panting running to the first person I see. "Ripper, have you see Katniss?" I ask frantically.

"Oh hello Peeta, how are you." She smiles trying to make small talk.

"I'm fine Ripper, but I'm serious. Have you seen her?" She hesitates for a moment her eyes lingering down under the counter. I mouth a 'thanks' to her and she winks.

"I'll be right back, need some more dog meat." She shows a sly smile on her face.

I make my way around the counter and crouch down. "Go away." She groans.

I scoot under the counter, sitting next to her huddled up across from her. "Why'd you leave?" I ask quietly.

"You should leave Peeta." She whispers. "Go please." She begs.

"At least come home." I say. "I'll let you be, I just want to know where you are."

She looks at me with sad eyes as I stand and hold out my hand. She takes it and stands quickly wrapping her arms around my neck and kisses my hard. Her lips pressed to mine make me forget that just yesterday she tried to kill me.

She breaks and starts off for the village. I jog to catch back up to her, I walk next to her silently. "Do you want to talk about yesterday?" I whisper wrapping an arm around her shoulders. The house is within sight as we stop in the yard.

"No." She says bluntly breaking my grasp and running into the house. I walk inside and find she's locked herself in our room. I leave a note on the kitchen table.

Went for a walk ~Peeta.

My feet carry me to my old room. Under the bakery, still there. I pull open the large door and wait for the dust and ash to settle. When I'm in, I dig through the boxes my father had stored down here. My baby clothes, and keepsakes. Each thing a painful reminded of the terrible childhood and past I've lived. My children will not have to live like that. I owe it to Katniss to give them my best and nothing less.

I sit on the small, thin mattress. I remember the time I laid here with Delly, how young and naive I once was. I had told her I loved her, how could I do such a thing? Why had I done that with her? My hands tremble as I lift the paper box I found, I open it and take out the small blurry pictures. I lay them all out year by year as I look at her beauty. Even at ten years old she was astonishing, her features almost identical with her father. I remember the day she lost him, I had baked her cookies. Brought them into school, she thanked me and the next day a little tiny toddler prim hugged me at the bakery. I was thirteen then, I already knew I loved her. I could tell she was special, I knew I loved her even before I truly knew what loved was.

My favorite picture was from the year before her father died. She looked so happy, and healthy. So everyday after her father died, it pained me just to look at her. Her face sunk in, her eyes dark, her hair in knots. I tried to give her food every single day, tried to give her money.

I begin to gather the pictures up and place them back in the box. I slip the box in my jacket pocket and shut the door tight before making my way back to the village.

The rain beats down hard now, snapping rocks up into the air. I open and close the gate to the village and find Katniss outside sitting on the porch step in the rain.  "Oh Peeta!" She gasps when she sees me. I see she's crying as she runs to me in the pouring rain. Her arms wrap around me and she presses her lips to mine, she stands on her tiptoes to reach my lips. "Oh Peeta." She sighs. "I thought you left."

"No baby doll, I'm right here." I whisper hugging her. Gradually we begin to turn in a circle, it turns into a slow steady dance.

The victor's silhouettes appear in the window. Mrs. Everdeen goes as far as to take pictures of our small, strange, and loving dance. But we continue to twirl in the pouring rain.

I hold her tight, trying to etch this moment into my mind. Something that's so out of the ordinary, seems to feel so natural and regular. So raw.

Our feet stop moving and she looks up to me with so much love in her eyes. "I love you Peeta."

"I love you too." She snakes her arm around my neck and into my hair.  She pulls me towards her pressing her lips to her. My hands on her hips, her's on my cheeks. She's the love of my life.

She lets go, and suddenly I take her hand and twirl her around. I earn a round of giggles from her, she smiles as I lift her twirling her in the air. She laughs even harder, her laugh is amazing. And her eyes, my god her eyes. I could stare into them all day. She let's go of my hand and runs a few steps away, I watch her with the beautiful orange sunset behind her.

I'm so entranced by my beautiful fiancee, that I don't see her scooping up handfuls of mud and walking my way. Before I can react she places her hands on my cheeks smashing in the mud and kissing me. "Your gonna get it." I grumble rushing to the mud puddle and fling the mud at her. It splatters all up and down her body.

"Come on!" I watch as Gale's door opens and he pulls her outside. He pulls her along and begins throwing mud at us and her. It turns into an all out mud war. Haymitch comes pulling a smiling Effie. Then comes Johanna and Blade. I smile as we begin throwing mud again at each other. 

We're a family.

I grab her hand and pul her close. And throughout the chaos around us, I kiss her lips again. Mud is flung around, at, and on us. We laugh still kissing, someone cups mud piling it over our heads and dumping over into our lips.

She pulls back and runs after a soaked Gale, he's faster. He tackles her playfully smearing mud all over her face, she does the same. The rest of us erupt in fits of laugher as we watch the pair.

She rushes back to me hiding behind me, I wrap a protective arm around her. I look down at her and find her lips are shaking and turning a blue tint. "Showers then cocoa at our place?" I ask.

"Good idea." Everyone splits still laughing I hold her hand as we walk onto the porch.

"Wait, no. I don't want you tracking mud through the house." She says.

"Fine." I shrug starting to undress on the porch.

"Peeta!" She shrieks.

"No ones watching." I assure her chuckling.

She shakes her head and I walk into the house in nothing but my underwear, shortly she comes inside in nothing but the same.

"Damn." I mutter under my breath turning and rushing to the shower. I turn it on and let the cold water roll down my body, she finally comes in after ten minuets.

"Why is it so cold?" She shrieks jumping back out of the shower.

"Sorry." I laugh turning on the hot water. She jumps into the shower and we turn the clear water brown with mud.

I wrap her in a big fluffy towel, she smiles and kisses me in return. I pull on a pair of shorts and walk downstairs. I make a large batch of hot chocolate on the stove, setting marshmallows next to it because I know how much she loves them.

She comes downstairs with her damp hair falling around and down her back. She lays one of my old white bakery shirts on the table. "For when people get here." She tells me. I nod and stir the drink.

The door opens and I turn rushing to put on my shirt. Gale and Cressida appear with Elizabeth in his arms. We lay her in the crib with Rye. Soon everyone else appears and we put their kids to sleep before we make our way downstairs.

Effie had a boy. They named him Michael.

Johanna had a girl, named Jazz.

Their so precious, but our baby boy is the cutest of them all.