Chapter 1: Starting Our Lives

Katniss POV

So after, when he whispers," You love me. Real or not real?" I tell him, "Real."

Every now and then I think about what Gale told Peeta when they thought I was asleep. "Katniss will pick whoever she thinks she can't survive without." And I guess he was right. I can't survive without Peeta. He takes care of me and I take care of him. Sometimes he needs to go off and shake away those bad thoughts that the Capitol brainwashed him with. I can still see the marks on his wrists where he used to press them against his handcuffs. When he stares at them I gently take them in my hands and kiss them lightly. Then he tells me how pretty he thinks I am and heads off to make something to munch on.

"Hey, Katty. Come here and taste this." Peeta shouts from the kitchen. He has his own bakery but when he doesn't have to be at work he stays with me so I'm not alone. As I stand up I gently pet the top of Buttercup's head and he gives a half snarl. We live in the Victors Village but now we live together. He stays and makes money at his shop and I go hunt then trade where ever I can. Twelve is slowly growing back. People are no longer trapped to their district so we get a lot of visitors. My mother rarely visits, because everything and everyone reminds her of Prim.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Wait. Sit down at the table and close your eyes." He demands nicely and kisses my forehead. He sets something that smells sweet but not too much; just perfect.

"Okay. Open them." He says and sounds happy. I open to find a smooth chocolate cake that is about six inches wide and long. And in white letters it said 'Katniss Everdeen will you become Katniss Mellark?' I turned to took at him but he was down on one knee and had to look down. He had the pearl that he gave me in the arena turned into a ring.

"Will you, Katty? Will you marry me? I need you like water and like breath. I don't know where I would be if I didn't have you. Maybe I would be dead or still being tortured. But without you there is no meaning in life. So will you please become Katniss Mellark? "He pleads. I'm speechless so I just nod my head, yes. He grabs me tightly in a hug.

"I promise you. I will not fail as a husband or a father or anything else I'm going to be." He says excitedly.

"Father?" I question.

"We are going to have kids, right?"

"Well, I don't know. You just asked me to marry you. We're not even married and you're already wondering about kids?"

"We don't have to talk about it right now. Let's go tell Haymitch." He grabs me by the hand and we nearly take flight out of here. We are laughing at each others silliness and then knock on Haymitch's front door. We were still laughing at each other when he answered the door.

"What is all the commotion about?" He asks in his usual drunken stupor.

"Look, Haymitch." I say and hold out my hand. It takes him a minute to focus on it but he finally gets it.

"Well. Looky there." He says.

"We are going to have dinner later. Want to come?" Peeta asks and wraps his arm gently place his arm around me.

"What time?"

"Seven-thirty. See ya then?"

"Whatever." Haymitch shrugs his shoulders then shuts the door in our face. I kind of don't want to sit in the house until dinner, so I suggest this.

"Peeta, let's go to the lake. You know the one where my father used to take me?" I ask.

"Sure. You show me the way." He smirks. He's been there 10 times but he plays dumb. I take his hand and we admire all the flowers and animals that will soon be our meals. We strip off to our underwear and swim around. We swam around until 6 then got out, dried off, and headed back to make dinner.

"How does spaghetti and garlic bread sound?" Peeta asks.

"Sounds great. Hey, I'm going to head over to Haymitch's and get him cleaned up and smell half way decent." I say and kiss him good bye. I open Haymitch's door without knocking and kick my way through. I find him at the table in a dirty white shirt and black pants. I don't feel like playing this game with him so I just fill a empty wine bottle full of cold water and pour it down his back then quickly jump out of the way in case he pulls out his knife. He didn't he just through out his fists.

"What are you doing?" He asks.

"Getting you cleaned up. Now go upstairs." I point and he mumbles. I beat him up there and cut the cold water and I leave so he can undress. I throw a 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner, soap, and a rag at him.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" He yells.

"Find out!" I yell from his room. I'm trying to find something for him to wear. I found a semi clean shirt and pants that I washed last week. It'll do. I set them neatly on his bed and left the room. I didn't stay I went back to my house. When to the kitchen and plopped down in a chair and watched Peeta for a while.

"You look like you just fought a bear." He says while he examines me.

"Might as well."

"Aw. Will cake for dessert make it better?" I smile in reply. Not long after that Haymitch knocks at the door and I roll my eyes then go to answer it. I open to find him with an unopened bottle of wine and his collar popped.

"Where's the party, Sweetheart?" He asks. I nod and smirk then point him to the kitchen.

"Peeta!" Haymitch greets him.

"Hey-Mitch." Peeta always has to make that joke. I go to help Peeta carry plates and drinks. We have a pleasant dinner better than expected. You never know what will happen with these two. After Haymitch leaves, we clean up the mess then I head for the shower. I brush my hair and let it hang loose. I'm overwhelmed with love right now, and I'm not the lovey-dovey kind. Me and Peeta are soon to be married, it don't take months and months to plan a wedding like they do in the Capitol, or did. We may even be married by tomorrow after noon. I would feel bad if I didn't have my old prep team come help me. This is what they've looked forward to this for so long, it would be a crime in their books. I guess I'll give them a call. I some find myself surrounded by Peeta's comforting arms, like when we were on the train. We lay in silence until Peeta asks me something.

"Are you happy?"

"I am." We share a kiss then he wraps his arms around me again and we drifted to sleep. What did you think?

Should there be more? Please review. Thanks for reading. ^_^ Kiss. Kiss.