Chapter 2: Come Together for the Children
I should never have so impulsively had sex with him and gotten engaged to him, I decide as I hurry through the evening storm back towards the bakery. And I definitely shouldn't have borne his children. If you love someone, you will lose that person eventually.
Peeta and I had been married for not even a year when he was Reaped for the 76th Annual Hunger Games. I recall running into the Justice Building carrying our wailing infant children, and kissing him, begging him to come home.
Only he didn't. I blame Haymitch for that failure.
Now, I am a widow and a mother at only 18 years old. And having married into a Merchant family, there is no one else to run the Bakery. So I have taken up the task, to honor my late husband, in addition to hunting to feed our two small children.
I whip my hair out of my face as the rain pelts me, hurrying the last few feet into the warm bakery and safety. I set to work preparing the bread for tomorrow. Money is much tighter than it ever was when Peeta was still alive, and I wonder if I can keep the business going by myself. Bannock and Poppy will be old enough to help eventually, but that is still a few years off.
Just then, there is a clap of thunder, followed by the tinkle of the bell over the front door, as a customer comes rushing in. I am about to say that we are closed, when I look up and see who it is.
Darius Pontipee is noticeable in his Peacekeeper uniform and with his flaming red hair that comes down to his shoulders. He is probably the friendliest Capitol official in this entire district, always letting my illegal hunting deals slide. I smile in relief.
"Darius! Come on in from the storm."
He nods. He can't talk anymore. He used to, until a Peacekeeper confrontation with my husband - just a misunderstanding, a disagreement in which he came to Peeta's defense - caused his tongue to be cut out and he was turned into an Avox. He signs with his hands, asking me how I am doing.
"Fine. The children are asleep." At least he can still hear me.
Another sign. With how frequently Darius has frequented the bakery, I have learned sign language well. He has been a comfort ever since Peeta's death more than a year ago.
"You want me to sing?" I ask. He nods.
So I sign the Hanging Tree for him. A song my father taught me when I was young. When I finish, I suddenly hear guttural sounds coming from Darius. I put a hand to my mouth in shock. Is he trying to talk?
"I... love you, Katniss. Marry me." He comes forward and takes my hand in his.
I am stunned, but as I stare at him, I soon turn skeptical. I contemplatively run my hands through the tendrils of his red hair, and shock myself into actually thinking his proposal over. Darius is a good man, for someone who originally hailed from the Capitol. And being married to a Peacekeeper would help me financially, even give me protection from the District 12 government. And then there is the children to think about...
I gaze into Darius's warm blue eyes - not the same blue as Peeta's, but close. Even if I am unsure of my feelings now, maybe I can love this man in time.
"Isn't there some religion where you only have to say 'I marry you'... three times and... you're man and wife?"
"I marry you, I marry you, I marry you," Darius gets out with a struggle.
I smile. "Yes. I will marry you, marry you, marry you..."
Darius brushes a hand across my face as I touch his. He pulls me close. We hold the tableau for a moment, before I permit him to gently kiss me.
The kiss soon turns passionate, as his hands go about my waist and my arms drape his neck and splay across his back. As I, the Baker's wife, kiss this man, I only hope that my babies will stay asleep and not see what their Mommy is doing...
Darius and I Toast the bread with no guests this time. Well, except for Bannock and Poppy. That night, as my second husband (I can't believed I've married twice!) takes me to bed, he tells me a story through writing. About how his father was a Peacekeeper who married Cassiope Fletch, the first Victor from District 12, Victor of the 16th Hunger Games. And though I am not a Victor, at least Darius has found a bride like his father before him.