Katniss's POV

I woke to the warmth of sun rays on my face, Buttercup at my feet, and Peeta's soft, toned arm around my waist. Glancing over at the clock; I see 9:00AM glaring at me in bright red letters. I turned over in our king-sized bed as delicately as possible, trying my hardest not to wake Peeta; to no avail. He's the world's lightest sleeper, and I can't shake the feeling that that's probably partially due to my ever-present nightmares, and his need to comfort me in my awakening from them; no matter what time it is. His dazzling blue eyes flutter open softly, a sweet, boyish smile stretching across his lips as he looks at me.

"Good morning, Beautiful," he murmured in his soft, husky morning voice that I loved so much.

"Hey, sleepy-head," I said softly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, I know you need to rest up; it's been a long week for you at the bakery." In the months after Peeta's return to District 12, he managed to completely rebuild the family bakery from what little ash and rubble remained. Things have been picking up here, especially lately. At first, not really to anyone's amazement, nothing was getting done. It was just too painful. The bodies, the ashes, the memories, it was too much for anyone to really want to deal with. But eventually, we found the strength. The bodies, or more accurately, skeletons, that were recovered from were buried in the huge field near what used to be the outskirts of the District. But we're free to go where we please now, the woods, the lake, and everything else that we used to be fenced off from us are now free range for eveyone. Beautiful yellow wildflowers grow in the field, where they never used to grow before. It's like even the plants know that we're finally free.

"Ehh, it's alright. I needed to get up and go to the bakery this morning anyways," he said, getting off the bed and heading towards the dresser that held his clothes. He insisted that I got to use the closet.

"Really? You have to go in on a Saturday?" I said, getting out of bed, and wrapping my arms around him while he searched the drawers for something to wear.

"Yeah, but only for an hour or so. It shouldn't be long at all. I told Hazelle that I'd make Rory a birthday cake, free of charge, and I need to finish up some of the icing details on it before she comes to pick it up today."

"Awh, well that was nice of you. I actually had forgotten that it was Rory's birthday today. I should probably pick him up a gift; I need to go see Hazelle anyway. We can walk to the Town Square together since we're both headed that way," I said, leaning my head around and kissing him lightly on the cheek. "I'll go start breakfast, you can jump in the shower."

He chuckled at the thought of me making breakfast. "Alright, I'll be quick. Try not to catch the house on fire, love." He winked at me and headed towards the bathroom.

I couldn't help but laugh a little. "I know I'm not the world's best cook, but I don't think it's that bad." I thought to myself, still smiling internally. As I walked into the kitchen, I could feel Buttercup's raggedy fur brushing up against my legs, meowing to let me know that I wasn't the only one who wanted breakfast this morning. Although he had always hated me before; after Prim's... passing... he seemed to change his mind about me. Tolerating me at first, but I can tell he's grown to me, and I have to say, I've grown on him too. He reminds me of Prim. Of the good days, when she was young and innocent... alive. Before time and tragedy turned my little baby sister into a big-girl. A life saver. A martyr.

I brushed the thoughts away, as I opened the cabinets and pulled out the tea kettle and some packets of green tea. It wasn't that I wanted to pretend like she didn't exist, it's just that I'm finally starting to learn to be happy again. I spent months locked up in a room never changing, bathing, or even moving; just thinking about her. About everything I'd been through. Everything Peeta had been through. I loved her more than ever, but I know that she would want me to be happy, and the only way that that was going to be even remotely possible was if I tried to put the past behind me.

The tea was just about done, and there were biscuits- that's dough Peeta had premade- in the oven and sausage and eggs done and set on a pretty glass plates on the table; when Peeta came downstairs. He had on a new pair of jeans, and a cute gray sweater I had got him for Christmas. His wet hair was tousled and messy; he was desperately in need of a haircut, but he knew I loved his hair longer, so he was trying to hold off for as long as he could stand it before getting in cut. He looked adorable as always, and when he came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist, I couldn't help but turn around and crash my lips to his in a passionate kiss. After a few minutes, the timer for the biscuits went off, and we both pulled back, breathless.

"What was that for?" He asked, trying to catch his breath, a lustful twinkle in his eye.

"Oh nothing special. I just love you, that's all. And you look especially adorable when you get out of the shower with you're hair all crazy, and I just couldn't resist!" I rambled, smiling, and looking up at him through my lashes; before turning around to shut up that blasted timer, and pull the hot, flaky biscuits out of the oven.

"Mmm, well I love you too," he whispered in my ear before kissing me on the cheek, and grabbing cups for the tea. "Everything looks really good by the way, Kat! You actually did a really good job."

"Gosh, don't act so surprised!" I joked, both of us laughing and heading towards our ridiculously large and fancy dining room table. Since the Capital had built all of the houses in the Victor's Village, they had furnished them all too. Everything was lush, and expensive, even the down to the feather-filled pillows on our bed and the soft, fluffy cushions on our couch in the living room. It was nice, for sure; and most definitely a ginormous step up from the small, rickety houses Peeta and I had grown up in, but it was too much for our taste, and the fact that anything reminiscent of the Capital, especially something this personal to our lives was still in existence was off-putting to say the least.

Breakfast was delicious, and I must say, even I was surprised. The rest of the day went by smoothly, Peeta and I walked to the new Town's Square together, and he went off the finish Rory's cake, while I went in search for the perfect gift. I finally decided on getting him an expensive brand-new, handcrafted bow with sharp new arrows to match; it's not like Peeta and I were going to miss the money anyway; we certainly had enough to go around. I had been teaching Rory how to hunt for the past few weeks on Sundays, when Gale and I used to meet up secretly in the woods. Rory enjoyed it a lot, and I knew he'd love the gift; which he did, very much. Hazelle came back later with the cake, and Peeta came too, knowing I'd be here. The cake was a great surprise for Rory, he'd never gotten to have one before, with how tight money was for their family, for all of us; and Hazelle was very appreciative for everything.. she always was. Peeta came by often to drop off free bread and pastries for them, and I stopped by occasionally to give Hazelle some must-needed coins. She was a single mother of multiple children, and she was such a sweet and giving person. She of all people didn't deserve to have to struggle.

Peeta and I headed back to the Victor's Village after we'd stayed for a few hours, gave our hugs, and said our goodbyes. It was a chilly evening even for late October, and I clung to Peeta the whole way home. The sun was just starting to set when walked through the door, a beautiful symphony of pinks, oranges, and purples casting across the sky. It reminded me of something magnificent Peeta would paint.

We ate a simple stew for dinner; nothing too special because we were still pretty full from all the cake and other foods we had had over at Hazelle's. Peeta let me go take a shower while he cleaned up the kitchen, and I barely had time to change into a new pair of panties and one of his big t-shirts, get a glass of water from downstairs, and make it back in time before he was out of the shower.

He always slept in just his boxer's, and when we crawled into bed together, I laid my head on his chest, and he wrapped his strong arms around my tiny frame, leaning his head down to softly kiss my lips. I sat up, wrapping my arms around his neck, while his hands found my hips, deepening the kiss. I felt his tongue brush lightly against my bottom lip, wordlessly asking me to open my mouth; and I complied gladly. As things became more heated, I moved, straddling him, just like yesterday except this time, I could feel that he was just as turned on as I was, and I knew that tonight was going to be different.

His fingers toyed with the bottom of my shirt, and he pulled away from the kiss, looking me in the eyes, silently asking me for permission.

**I know! I suckkkk for ending this chapter here, but I'm hoping that maybe ending it in the middle of something hot, with the promise that it'll be continued will push you guys to actually review so I can get some motivation to get the next chapter out more quickly. ;D

Sneaky, I know, but there was only one last time! I do deeply appreciate all of the views, follows, and favorites though, and a special shout-out to 'Safeandsound14' for doing all of the above! Thanks you guys, I love you all! Please remember to review, favorite, and follow, and I'll get this show back on the road as soon as possible! (:

-Also, tell me what you want me to do in the next chapter as far as ^^this goes. I'm debating between keeping this rated T and skipping ahead to the next morning or at least keeping everything pretty non-explict and changing the rating to M and making the next chapter pretty lemony, so please let me know what you think! Like I said before, all reviews are taken into consideration!