|AN|: Hi everyone!

Here's a little something I just came up with. I called it A little bit down the road, but I it is more of an epilogue of the epilogue or sth like that. It's just a little piece of the Mellark family life well... a little bit down the road. :) I hope you'll like it.

I'm sorry for it being so raw and unedited. It's just something I wrote in no more than 15 minutes and wanted to share with you. ;) Critics are as always welcome.

For all "Who laughs last" fans, the next chapter is almost done so stay tuned! :)

A little bit down the road...

I totally loose it for the first time in ages, when our twins, Delion and Berry, who are the weirdest combination of their parents, tell me that they want to compete in one of the singing TV shows that Plutarch Hevensbee made so popular all those years ago. I burst into tears and run to the bedroom hiding under the covers like a lost child.

The twins are just twelve, but they've found out about the games and the rebellion faster than their older siblings. I know though, that they understand why I reacted like I did and why I hate the fact that they want to go to television and throw away everything their father and I fought for when they were born. When our eldest, Willow came to this world, Peeta threatened, I begged and at the end we were both forced to make all kinds of not-so-pleasant deals to keep her and our future children away from the press and cameras. Now, my babies want what I dreaded all my life.

Our kids, all four of them, know best that the only person who would always change my mind is their father, so I'm not at all surprised when Peeta enters the room with a concerned frown. I roll my eyes, knowing very well that he will indeed change my mind as soon as he looks at me with those damn eyes and touches me with those damn hands and kisses me with those damn lips. I sigh inwardly when he sits at the edge of the bed and places his hand lightly on my back.

I don't go down without a fight. I yell at him for fifteen minutes, like the unstable teenager I used to be and he just sits there with the patience of a saint and try's to hide his amusement. He knows very well he's going to change my mind too, like he always did and always will, starting with the mare fact of convincing me to have children in the first place. I bring it at some point of the "conversation" and he laughs wholeheartedly and lays in the bed along my side. I huff when he takes me in his arms, but never try to wiggle away from his embrace. He kisses my ear.

"Don't tell me that you regret all this, because I wouldn't believe you for a second." He whispers into it and I groan, because of course he is right. I love our family and wouldn't change it if I could, even if the twins themselves were a crazy surprise that we weren't ready for at all. I melt completely when my husband brings me close to his chest and kisses my neck sweetly, so I turn around and connect my lips to his. I've lost the ability to deny myself of his closeness a very long time ago. He sighs into my mouth and smiles this Peeta grin, that still makes me love him more every time I see it on his face.

"I'm just scared Peeta. I don't want them to get hurt or be disappointed, if they don't accomplish what they want to." I say looking into his eyes and he kisses my nose, then my lips.

"You are their mother Katniss, didn't you learn already that you will always worry?" I sigh and nod, knowing perfectly well that he, as usual, is right.

I finally agree for my, still little to me, children to participate in the show, knowing in my heart that the whole country should know how talented they are, but my head still tells me differently, the panic rising in my throat every time they take the stage. I'm with them all the time, while Peeta stays at home with our older children, Willow and Rye. It's a hard time for me and it costs me a lot to stay in the Capitol even after all those years, but I do it for my kids and I never regret it.

I'm rewarded when they win, their angelic voices buying the hearts of the nation. Peeta laughs that getting people to love and follow us is, in our case, a family trait, but I scold him for comparing those two things. He just laughs again and kisses me senseless.

When we're back home again and the tv station is airing reruns of the show, it finds us in our living room eating one of Peeta's pies and laughing at one of Rye's crazy stories. The twins look at the tv with interest when they hear their own voices, never before seeing themselves on tv since the show was always airing live. Rye teases his younger brother and sister and Willow stops sketching only to slap him in the back of the head for it. I sit and watch and am proud of my kids more than I ever could have imagined. I grab my husband's hand, as he sits right next to me on the couch and he doesn't need any words to know what's that about.

So when I see the twins giving an interview, as my little Dandelion takes her brother's hand and smiles at the host, then says clearly as a day "…I think it all started 'deep in the meadow, under the willow' since that's the first song we've ever learned. That's the valley song that our Mum sang to us when we were little. It's all because of her…" I feel my heart burst into flames and I look at our kids. The twins look at me with their father's grins, Willow starts to hum the song as she fiddles with her dark braid, Rye throws Delion over his shoulder like a sack of flour, laughing like a maniac.

Peeta, my Peeta, squeezes my hand, then brings it to his lips and I'm crying like a baby. My husband laughs at my tears, not mockingly, just happily. He's proud of them too, proud of all of us. He leans in and kisses my cheek.

Willow snuggles to my side and whispers that she loves me, her baby blue eyes watery as mine. Rye is still laughing as he sets his sister down and brings both of the twins to his sides, giving them a three-way hug, his blonde mane mingles with Berry's and contrasts with Delion's. My husband takes my chin in his hand and twist my face towards his connecting his lips with mine and kissing me like there is no tomorrow. I hear two "eewww's" one snort and one gentle sight at my other side.

Peeta smiles and brushes my bare side with his gentle fingers.

I'm the girl on fire again.

|AN|: How was that?