Fifteen years later...
I run upstairs to wake Zaccai, my seven year old son. He has school today and his teacher hates it when he's late. "Zaccai, come on" I whisper to him, "I hate Mondays as well."
"5 more minutes," he says rolling away from me.
"Alright. Breakfast will be ready downstairs." I walk out of his room before searching the house for Peeta. I check our bedroom, which is where I last saw him, but he's not there. "Peeta!" I call out. Peeta doesn't reply but I've definitely woken the twins, Alec and Amber. They start calling for me to come in and see them. I open their door and switch on their light. The floor is always a complete mess, Alec never puts his toys away after his is finished playing with them. I give them a hug before helping them down the stairs and into the living room. I put on a kids show before continuing my search for Peeta. I run back up to my room to check my phone. I have a message from him. I open it and read it. 'I've had to go down to the bakery. A big order has just been placed. See you soon X.' I put my phone down and run over to the kitchen to make breakfast. Toast will have to do for today. "Zaccai, Come here now!" I call up to him. He slowly emerges from his room, still in his pyjamas. "Zac! Get dressed, we should be leaving right now!" I scream at him. He goes back into his room and I run over and help the twin get their shoes and jackets on. I grab the toast and give a piece to Amber and Alec. I butter the other two pieces and put them on a plate. "Zaccai! You are already late!" I shout. He is really annoying me this morning. Zac comes out from his room again. "I can't find my tie" He tells me.
"Where did you put it?" I ask, urgently
"I don't know. If I knew I'd have found it!" He says going back into his room to search.
"Zaccai. Drop the attitude, go and eat breakfast, I'll look for your tie." I say rushing into his room. Zac goes downstairs and stares at his toast. A minute or so later I come running out of his room, "Zac, I can't find your tie, you'll just have to apologize to your teacher. What's up? Why aren't you eating?"
"Dad promised me a home made pancake for breakfast today."
"Just eat, You'll get a pancake another time." I tell him.
"It's burnt." Zac points at his toast and stares at me.
"Just hurry up, I'll be surprised if you make it to school by lunch at this rate." Zac gets up and and puts his shoes on. He runs back to his bedroom to get his school bag and I put Alec and Amber into the buggy and wait for Zac by the front door. When he comes out we start a brisk walk towards the school building.
The school has a separate building for each year group, so it's only the kids Zaccai's age is the building. I go in with Zac. I watch him tremble as he grams the door handle and I see him taking a deep breath as he opens the door. I'd never met his teacher before, so when I see him I am shock. "Zaccai. You are late." He says before noticing me. "Katniss?" It's Gale. The one who dropped the bombs that killed my sister, Prim. "Gale?" I say, still is shock.
"Class, I'll be a moment. Sit silently please." He says to Zaccai and his class before coming out to talk to me. "Katniss, how long has it been since I last saw you?" He asks.
"Fifteen years, Gale."
"Fifteen?" He sounds surprised
"Yeah, you killed my sister and I haven't forgiven you for that."
"You know I didn't drop that bomb, Katniss. I was being taken away by peacekeepers while the bombs were being dropped. I was with you that whole time."
"I know Gale, but you planned those bombs, even though you didn't drop them, you planned them and that's bad enough."
"I'm sorry, I really am. I need to get back to the students, please, can we talk some more after school."
"Alright, Gale. I'll be here to pick Zaccai up at the end of the day, you should come over to mine for dinner."
"I'd like that, see you later," he smiles at me before going back into his classroom and shouting at some of the kids.