11 years later...

"Kat, they'll be here soon, you should get ready," Peeta says sleepily while shaking me. I've been dreading today for the past eleven years. Annie, Johanna, Peeta, Johanna's husband, Leo, and I decided we'd tell the kids this year. Willow is already seventeen, Rowan is fifteen, Henry is fifteen, and Finnick is eighteen. We decided that they were all at an appropriate age, but I never thought it'd come so soon. We aren't going to actually tell them today, we're just planning out how to tell them. We're all going over to Peeta's house, the kids never go there because there's hardly any furniture. As I start to worry I go into the shower and quickly washed my body and my hair. I leave my hair down, I find that I look childish with my braid, and in the past ten years or so I've stopped putting it in my hair.

I walk into Rowan's room, of course, he's still snoring. I plug my nose, trying to block out the odor of his room. I wish he'd clean up in here, "Wake up, Rowan. Henry and Finn will be here soon," he groans and puts a pillow over his head. I run down the steps to where Peeta is flipping the last pancakes onto plates. I smile at him, "Rowan doesn't want to get up," I tell him.

"I'll get him up, that kid needs to learn how to sleep at night and be awake in the day," he says, filling a bucket with cold water and carrying it up the stairs to Rowan's room. I follow him up, wanting to see the look on his face when Peeta dumps it on him. Sure enough he leaps from the bed, raising his hands in surrender and walking into his bathroom.

"Mom, Dad, I'm home!" Willow shouts from downstairs.

"Hey, how'd it go?" I ask. She's been up practicing her archery all morning. When I introduced it to her when she was nine she was already a perfect shot. When she turned ten Beetee made her high-tech bow and arrows. Which, if course, were hot pink. Then, when she turned eleven she began working with a personal trainer, and they've been improving her skills for six years.

"Awesome! We tried something new where she throws balls in the air and I have to shoot them!" she says excitedly, digging into the pancakes Peeta made. He shoots me a look, knowing that I used to practice like that before our second games.

"Well, did you hit them?" I ask, pushing hair out of my eyes, choking on my tears.

"Yeah," she notices me trying to hold back tears, "What's wrong, Mom?"

"It's just...um...you've grown up so much. I remember when I first gave you a bow," I improvise. I'm glad we're letting the kids have a fun first day before we take their innocence away by telling them everything. I just wish we could put it off, but I know now is the time, the kids need to know. I don't want them to find out from someone else. The doorbell rings and Willow leaps up to go get it. She loves when they all come to our house for the summer. She doesn't mind hanging out with the boys, they were her first friends when she was little.

"Henry! Aunt Jo! Uncle Leo!" she exclaims, hugging them all. She's a lot like Peeta in that way, very much a people person.

"Hey, Johanna, Leo, nice to see you!" Peeta beams at them, hugging Johanna, and shaking Henry and Leo's hands. I walk upstairs without greeting them, I can't start crying or Willow will think I'm pregnant or something. When I'm in the bathroom I lock it and start crying. What am I gonna do? What if when we sit them down I burst into tears? I've got to control myself. Peeta's already gotten out his medication, and the restraints that can be used in an emergency to tie him down to the bed. Annie told us she's bringing along her medication, she hasn't had a breakdown in years. Finn doesn't even really know about them. All he knows is that sometimes his mom needs to be alone every once in awhile. Of course, Willow and Rowan would never think there father would do anything to harm anyone. I made sure Peeta had fully recovered before we tried to have a baby. I continue to sob for a few minutes before I hear a soft knock on the door.

"Katniss? Can I come in?" Peeta's gentle voice asks.

"Okay," I say, wiping my eyes. He immediately hugs me, and I bury my face in his chest.

"Do you still want to tell them?" he asks.

"Yeah, they need to know," I tell him, "Come on," I splash some water onto my face,"we have guests."

"Alright," he takes my hand with a smile on his face. Getting up has proven to be getting more difficult as he gets older. They developed technology to give him a new leg, but it isn't the same as the one you're born with, but he can sleep with it on, and it looks real. They say he'll have to use a walking cane when he gets older, or possibly a wheelchair. The kids don't know this, of course, he had the surgery when I was pregnant with Willow. But, tomorrow, they'll know about the everything.

"Hey, Brainless," Johanna greets me with the nickname that stuck from our second games.

"Hi, Leo," he hugs me, and I hug back.

"The kids decided to go swimming, they're getting their suits on, we told them we'd be over at my old house," Peeta tells me.

"We told them to call if they need something, not come over. And to tell Annie when she gets here that we're at Peeta's house," Johanna fills me in. She holds a box full of stuff.

"Is that all your stuff?" I ask, pointing to the box.

"Yeah, you got yours?" she asks.

"It's in our room, I'll go get it, you guys go ahead," I tell them, turning around and running up the stairs. I return down with the box and walk over to Peeta's old house. They're all gathered around the table with cans of soda sitting around them. I take a soda and sit down next to Peeta, throwing the box on the floor.

"So, what're we gonna do?" I ask no one in particular.

"I think we should show them each of our tapes," Johanna says quietly, "Do you guys have the tapes still?"

"Yeah, they're in the box," Peeta leans over and grabs Johanna's tape from the box. He slides it across the table to her. She picks it up, staring at it for awhile until Annie walks through the door.

"Hi, guys, I brought some of Finnick's and my stuff," she says, walking into the room and sitting at the table. I reach over and grab her's and Finnick's tapes, handing them to her.

"We decided to show them the tapes first," I tell her, looking down.

"Okay. Maybe we should just show our kids our tapes. They don't need to watch them all," she suggests. I agree, they shouldn't have to sit through five tapes of teenagers killing each other. We all nod, before we decide a few more things to talk to them about. Like the rebellion, and why the games started in the first place, and how we lost so many people, and all the specifics about the games and the rules.

"Now, how about we all relax and go out by the kids for a swim?" Leo suggests, standing up with a smile.

"That should make the mood lighten up," Peeta says to everyone. They all go to their rooms and change into their swimsuits while I sit at the table with Peeta.

"I'm scared."

"I know, we all are. But I think we should enjoy the day and feel stressed tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright. I think I might look through this stuff, so I'm not surprised tomorrow," I tell him.

"Me, too," he says, putting the box in the center of the table and reaching in. He comes back out with the wrist band I was issued in District 13. He looks at me, "'Mentally Disoriented'?" he asks.

"Um, it was before you were rescued. I thought you were dead, and I was sort of wishing I was, too. I used to tie knots with Finnick, something to keep me busy. I didn't go to the exercises or eat the right proportions, or even go to the soldier training until the last minute. I was a mess," I tell him, slipping the band on my wrist. I never really talked about District 13, just like he never talked about how he was tortured in the Capitol. I stare at it, I don't know if we'll be able to get through all this stuff twice. I stick my hand in and pull out a magazine. The headline reads: 'Victors Engaged!'

"I remember when I proposed to you when we were sixteen. I didn't want to, I was just so sad," he says, looking down at his engagement ring.

"Why not?" I ask him. I thought he had always wanted to marry me, ever since we were five years old.

"Because you didn't want to marry me, you didn't love me, and I loved you," he says to me, tears in his eyes.

"I love you, Peeta. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that," I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him in for a long kiss. Then I look into his eyes again, "In a way, I'm glad your name was picked all those years ago. If it wasn't I would surely be dead, the games would still be going on, and we never would've had Willow and Rowan," I tell him, resting my head on his chest.

"I love you, too," he says, "and I'm sorry I forgot that."

"Come on, let's go by the pool," I grab his hand and lead him to our house so we can change.

When we walk out I see Johanna stretched out on a lounge chair in a one-piece swimsuit, to cover the scars she has. You can see a few on her arms, but not enough to question. Annie, on the other hand, wears a bikini, she was never severely hurt in her games, and was too distraught to take any part in the war, so she has no scars left on her body. Peeta wears a long-sleeve wet suit, with orange swim trunks. I wear a long cover-up that stops at my ankles. I don't usually swim with other people anymore. Usually only with Peeta, because he knows how each and every one of my scars came to be. Once, when he was little, Rowan asked me what happened to my arm. It was where Johanna cut me to get my tracker out, and I couldn't tell Rowan that. I simply told him I fell on something, then I locked myself in my room while Peeta watched the kids for the rest of the day. I watch as Peeta wades in the pool, and as Willow jumps in. They all look so happy, just relaxing and having fun together. I look over at Johanna, who is taking in the scene as well, thinking about how she feels about telling Henry. I've always thought she was stronger than me, because she showed no emotion, and refused to let anything bring her down, especially the Capital. Today, though, I think we're both being strong by not allowing ourselves to back out, and keep our past from our children a little longer. Annie looks over at us both, "How're you holding up?" she asks.

"Alright," Johanna says, closing her eyes, "I'm just a hoping they won't be angry."

"Why would they be angry?" I ask, looking away from the pool.

"That we didn't tell them we've killed people," she says, as if it's obvious, opening her eyes. I guess I never thought about it that way, I was always afraid they'd be scared of us after what they saw. Seeing your parents kill children isn't exactly the best television to watch. I know I would never be able to see my mother or father killing anyone. I guess if my father was forced into it he'd do alright, with a bow he'd probably win. But, my mother and prim would both be helpless.

"I guess," I say, turning back to see Peeta and the kids having a chicken fight. Rowan is on his shoulders, and Willow is on Henry. Finnick continues to race Leo across the pool, winning everytime. His father would be so proud of him, he turned out to be a handsome young man, just like his father. If only he were still alive.

"Katniss, you wanna come in?" Peeta asks me as Rowan throws Willow off of Henry. I take a shaky breath. Swimming reminds me too much of the arena. I just can't be in there when so many people are around. I can only go with Peeta, because when I first go in I sort of start to cry a little bit, but them before I relax and enjoy it a little. Johanna still isn't too fond of it, either. So, she says she doesn't swim anymore, but Leo loves to. He's racing Finn across the pool .

"No," I call to him. He nods his head reassuringly, because he knows why I don't want to go.

"Come on, Mom!" Rowan hops out and walks over, dripping with water. Willow gets out, too, and they both pull on my arms to try and get me in the water. Then I notice something on my wrist as they get me to stand up. My wrist band! I struggle to break away from my son and daughter, but Willow notices. Rowan is clueless, still tugging at my arm.

"What's this?" she asks when it slips off. Peeta's eyes widen, and he leaps from the pool, snatching it out of Willow's hands. She looks up with confusion, and I know she won't let this go.

Okay, I'm super sorry for not updating on Friday, but I was gone until today! I hope you guys like it, and be back for more on Friday. Shoot for 10 reviews? I love you all!