Authors note. here chapter 7. please review and read.

Chapter 7

Katniss and Peeta walk towards the fence still laughing at the kids when they took off when Katniss told them they were going to the meadow with their parents. "Well they certainly are excited" Katniss says grinning at Peeta, as they rounded the corner they see Idina and Daniel patiently waiting for their parents to catch up. Once they were at the fence Katniss slide her bow and quiver under first before crawling under the fence and brushing herself off and retrieving her weapon, "OK,come on Idina" she says kindly holding her hand out to her daughter, Idina is hesitant "It's OK I'm right here"she adds with a reassuring smile. Idina crawls through cautiously and stands by her mom. "Come on Daniel, its all aright" she calls to her brother. This is all Daniel needs to hear to be brave taking a deep breath as he crawls through leaving Peeta alone. Katniss sees this and smiles "come on' she says as he drops to the ground and crawls through pausing only a minute to adjust his fake leg which has snagged on a tree root. Once he's through Peeta brushes himself off before extending his hand to his family. "Lets go watch mommy shoot" he says as he takes Katniss's small hand in his.

They walk to a clearing. "this looks like a good place to show off" Peeta says winking at Katniss before turning to his children. "Idina, Daniel come over here and sit next to me while we watch mommy shoot"he adds as he sits on a log motioning to his kids over to him."all set honey" he calls out to his wife. "Absolutely" is all Katniss says back. Katniss is going into huntress is absolute silence as katniss steps forward with her bow in one hand and her quiver over her shoulder. She pulls a arrow from her quiver and fits it into the bow and holds it up and looks for her first target. She looks over at her family watching her "see that tree thirty feet away?" she asks. They nod. "Keep your eyes on it" she adds as she hold out the bow pulls the arrow back to her cheeck and releases it. The arrow goes all the way through with such force it splinters. Katniss looks over at her family and begins to laugh because the look on their faces is absolutely priceless."Wow momma, where did you learn to do that?" Idina asks looking in awe at her mom."Well Dee your grandpa taught me before he died" she says. Daniel speaks up for the first time since seeing his mom shoot "Momma can Dee and I go get the arrow?" he asks and katniss nods. "That was great Katniss" Peeta says as katniss puts another arrow in the bow getting ready to show her family again, when she done Peeta puts his arm around her shoulder "I feel free here Peeta" Katniss says putting her head on his arm. "I bet you do Katniss, the woods are apart of you." Peeta says pulling her into a hug. They stay embraced for a while only to break apart by a blood curdling scream. "MOMMY!" Katniss takes off running towards her kids who are obviously in pain. "IDINA, DANIEL,where are you?" Katniss screams as she looks frantically looks for her children. "katniss look"peeta says quietly pointing, katniss looks where he's pointing and see's her kids playing together. As she watches her kids play a oddly familiar voice deep yet soothing voice makes its way into her ears. Katniss begins to walk towards the sound on hunters tread

"Are you are you

coming to the tree

where they strung up a man they say murdered three

strange things did happen here

no stranger would it be

if we met up at midnight in the hanging tree"

Then out of the corner of her eye Katniss sees a man with black hair and olive skin. He's wearing a long black sleeved shirt under a brown hunting jacket, black cargo pants and hunting boots. His hair is tinged with gray. The man begins to sing again/this time its a song katniss knows

"Deep in the meadow, under the willow

A bed of grass a soft green pillow

Lay down your head and close your sleepy eyes

And when again they open the sun will rise

Here its safe, here its warm

Here the daisy's guard you from every harm

here you dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true

here is the place where I love you." The man continues to sing as Katniss continues to cautiously make her way towards him "Katniss, what" Peeta says trailling off as his wife makes her way towards the unknown man. Katniss is about ten feet away from him before she voices the question.

"Dad?"she asks barely audible. The man with the gray eyes turns towards her and looks at her with disbelief etched all over his face. "Katniss?" he says looking at her "Is that you?" They just stare at each other for what feel like an eternity to them before Katniss flings herself into her dads arms tears streaming down her face. "dad how is this possible, we all thought you died in the mine explosion" she says looking up at her dad who also has tears in his eyes. He whips katniss's tears away as he begins to tell her about how he survived the supposed mine blast. "I was knocked unconscious and woke up in district seven he starts I had to spend a few months in the hospital because I had a mind concussion after I was better I was able to get a job as a wood cutter."he continues as Peeta comes up beside Katniss. "hey Katniss, everything ok here?" he asks "yep Peeta everything is great" Katniss says looking at her husband and then back at her dad. "Peeta I'd like you to meet my dad, David Everdeen, dad this is my husband Peeta Mellark" Katniss says introducing the two men. "Mr Everdeen it's a pleasure to see and meet you again Katniss has told me so much about you."please Peeta your my son in law please call me dad or david. He says holding out his hand for Peeta to shake, Katniss smilies as they shake hands before leaning into her dad. "Dad would you like to meet your grandchildren?" she asks him. "Katniss I would love to meet your children" he says getting up to his feet and following his daughter and her husband to where his grandchildren play as the adults approach the kids Idina quickly gets up and goes behind her mom shaking slightly as she holds on to her mom's pants. "momma whose that man?" she asks looking at her unknown grandfather. Katniss feels another tug around her middle and looks down to see Daniel-James hanging on her tightly looking at the unknown nervously as well.

Katniss gently detaches her self from her kids and bends down to eye level bringing them on either side of her and puts an arm around her two beautiful children before she begins to speak in a soft voice. "Idina Daniel you see that man standing by your daddy?"she asks pointing they look to where she's pointing they nod, well Idina Daniel he is your grandfather, would you like to meet him?" katniss asks kindly looking from her daughter to her son and back again. The kids both nod nervously as Katniss stands up holding out a hand to her kids which they nervously take. Idina doesn't say much as she walks keeping her head down as they go. Daniel is griping katniss's hand like no tomorrow he's still shaking as well as they walk back to where their dad and unknown grandfather are waiting. The kids aren't saying much Katniss smiles at Peeta before speaking "dad I would like for you to meet my two beautiful children Idina-Prim and Daniel-James. Idina,Daniel this is your grandfather"Katniss says smiling as the kids and her dad meet for the first time. Grandpa David kneels down to the kid's level "hey kids its nice to meet you" he says smiling holding out his hand to them. The kids dont leave their mom's side "kids dont you want to say hi to grandpa?" she asks gently but the kids stare not moving Grandpa David pulls his hand back as he says "hey that's alright" he says leaning into his daughter and whispers "they are probably still frightened of me because of earlier. "Why what happened earlier?" Katniss asks. "Well I kind of scared them so I ran off to where you found me"Grandpa David says sheepishly. "Oh well that explains the screams we heard earlier" she says "dad would you like to come to dinner tonight?" she asks looking at her dad. "sure that sounds great Kat" he says smiling and caressing her newly tear stained cheek. Alright should we say 5:30ish" "sounds perfect Kat"he says. Peeta comes over to katniss and takes her hand the kids are still clinging to their mom and they begin walking home then she stops suddenly turning around "oh dad our house is the one with the-"she starts then her dad comes over and says "Don't worry I'll find it"he says as his daughter nods. "see you later dad" she says over her shoulder. They make it back to the clearing where katniss picks up her bow and quiver of arrows. Peeta looks over at his beautiful seeing the look on her face mixed with tears. "kids why don't you go ahead and meet us at the fence"he says to them they let go of katniss and leave the clearing once they are out of earshot Peeta pulls katniss close to him holding her close to him.

"Kat, honey whats wrong" he asks looking at his amazing wife. "It's nothing Peeta" Katniss says looking at her boy with bread "I've just missed him so much" she says completely breaking down. "I know I know Katniss"Peeta says stroking her hair. They stand there as Peeta holds Katniss as she continues to cry. "Come on girl on fire I'll take you home"Peeta says scooping Katniss up in his arms Katniss wraps her around Peeta's neck closing her eyes. Peeta just smiles and kisses his outstanding girl Peeta makes it back to the fence with Katniss still in his arms when he sees his kids who run up to him.

"dad whats wrong with mommy?" they ask together "nothing kids its just been a long day for your mom" Peeta says "alright now everyone under the fence" he adds. The kids immediately obey. Peeta gently begins to unwrap katniss's arms from his neck before lowering her to the ground he crawls under the fence first then pulls her limp body through the fence when she's through he picks her up and begins the short walk home. They make it back to the house, Peeta sends the kids upstairs to do their homework they do as they are told.

Peeta takes an unconscious Katniss into their bedroom and lays her on the bed goes over to the door and shuts it pausing after to take off his jacket. Peeta crosses back over to the bed and takes off Katniss's hunting boots being careful not to wake her. When the boots are off he sets them over by the nightstand. Katniss stirs and rolls over in her sleep. Peeta takes off her dad's old hunting jacket and puts a blanket over her as she as she rolls again as he takes his boots off and sliding next to his beautiful amazingly stunning wife. He pulls her into him, katniss snuggles into him. Theres a knock on the door "Come in" Peeta says as Prim sticks her head around the door. "Hey Peeta we went to the meadow and you guys weren't there. Is everything alright?" she asks. "Yeah Prim everything is good Katniss just had a long day in the woods, she'll be fine. I'm going to let her sleep for a bit before dinner" Peeta says as prim nods turning to leave. "Hey Prim would you mind waking me up in an hour?" he asks "sure of course" prim says closing the door behind her. Right on cue Prim comes in to wake Peeta up "Thanks Prim" Peeta says sitting up not wanting to wake a sleeping Katniss, he puts the blanket around her and crosses over to the door and exits the room. Peeta goes downstairs and begins to prepare dinner. He decides to make Katniss's favorite meal lamb stew on a bed of wild rice. Peeta also decides to make a platter of chill fruit complete with raspberries and blackberries "Perfect" he says to himself letting a soft smile play around his face as he places the berry's on the counter ready for dinner. Then he hears the scream.

"PEETA HELP ME"

Peeta hurries through the door over to his screaming and thrashing wife and pulls her into him. "Shh its OK Kat, I'm here wake up, you're here with me, whatever your dreaming it isn't real. Come on sweetheart wake up"Peeta says softly Katniss however continues to thrash Peeta tightens his embrace on Katniss's body which when she feels the embrace tighten the panic she was showing is quickly replaced with tears and crying. "Kat wake up, I'm here, You're safe" Peeta says stroking her hair. "What was it of this time?" he asks her gently. Katniss doesn't say anything she just burrows into Peeta's shirt which is now stained with her tears. "do you want to talk about it?" still no answer "It might make you feel better" he adds. After a minute katniss gives a answer thats barely audible "ok" before sitting up and leaning into Peeta whose massaging her shoulders. "what was it about Katniss?" Peeta asks again gently. "Dad's death" she says then looking at Peeta with tears streaming down her face before speaking again. "My dad is alive we met him in the woods today, real or not real" she asks. Peeta pulls Katniss onto his lap before continuing "real he coming to dinner tonight remember?" he says. "ok" katniss says softly "peeta i'm going to go get into the shower."she adds getting up from peeta's lap. "ok im going to go check on dinner."Peeta says "What did you make?"she asks. "Lamb stew and rice with a chilled fruit plate of blackberries and raspberries and oranges"Peeta says smiling. "you know what I like Peeta. She says going into the bathroom "ill be down to help set the table when I'm done"katniss adds. "alright love" Peeta says. After katniss is done showering she crosses over to her closet and pulls out black pants, a long sleeved green shirt and socks. She pulls on her flat boots goes into the bathroom to do her braid and her teeth as well. When shes done she heads down to the kitchen where she finds Peeta putting the finishing touches on dinner. Prim is sitting on the couch reading a book about medical stuff as Katniss enters. "Hey Katniss are you feeling better after your nap?" she asks looking up from her book at her sister with a smile. "Yep im feeling loads better, little duck" Katniss says smiling "will you come over and help me set the table, Prim?" she adds as prim nods as she gets up to help. "Idina, Daniel come down here please"Katniss calls as she begins to pour the drinks for the meal. The kids walk in "hey kids will you come do the silverware"Katniss asks and the kids obey. Prim gets the plates and begins to set them down at each place. Katniss brings the drinks over just the clock strikes 5:30.

There is the sound of playful barking coming from outside. "whats that?" Peeta asks, "I don't know ill go check it out" Katniss says going to the front door. She looks outside the window then smiles as she opens the door. She steps outside looking around and sees her dad and a husky playing in her yard. "Good boy arrow" says a voice she knows all to well. "hey dad you're right on time" Katniss says "hey Katniss" David Everdeen says moving in to hug his daughter" "whose this?" Katniss says smiling pointing to the dog and shutting the door. "this is arrow the husky" he reply's smiling at his daughter "oh by the way I found these on my way here" he adds holding out her bow and quiver to her. "Thanks dad I must have dropped them when Peeta carried me home earlier" she says taking them from him. "anytime kid" he says "is dinner ready?" he asks. "Just about, come on it"she says. "no arrow you go around back" David says and the husky immediately obeys. "come on dad" katniss says putting her hand in his like she did long ago. "right behind you Katniss" David says following his daughter into her house. "Peeta, company's here" she calls shutting the door behind her dad. Peeta and the kids come around the corner as Peeta whips his hand on his apron. "dad its good to see you" Peeta says holding out his hand out. "good to see you Peeta" he says shaking his hand. "hey kids" he adds as he kneels before them smiling as once again the kids don't do or say anything but stare. Then prim comes around the corner "Katniss whats going on, dinners getting-" she trails off looking at the figure then at her sister. "Katniss, is that?" she asks as she begins to shake tears threatening to fall down her face. Katniss just nods tears welling up in her eyes as well. "Dad?" Prim says in between sobs. David Everdeen gets to his feet and moves past his eldest daughter to stand in front of his youngest."Hello little duck" he says smiling down at her. Prim flings her arms around her dad "dad how is this possible?we all thought you were dead"prim says still crying. "well" grandpa David starts but Katniss cuts him off "dad why don't you tell everyone while we eat" she says smiling as he nods as they make their way to the dining room. Katniss sitting down when the doorbell rings. "Katniss"a voice says through the door "hey Cinna and Haymitch we are just sitting down to dinner, you care to join us?" she asks the two men standing in front of her. "sure thanks, Katniss" Cinna says smiling as they all sit down to the feast that's prepared for them. "Dad this is Cinna,he's an old friend of the family"Katniss says introducing her former stylist to her dad. "Hello Mr. Everdeen, its nice to meet you" Cinna says nodding. "and you remember Haymitch"Katniss says smiling. "Aren't you dead yet you old drunk" David says giving haymitch a punch in the shoulder. "Hey Everdeen I may be a drunk but at least I haven't been-" haymitch says stopping as he looks at Katniss who has a sad look on her face pleading with her mentor to be nice. "Shall we start the feast?" Peeta says as an attempt to change the subject as they all take their seats. Peeta is at the head of the table Katniss sits next to him prim next to her. Grandpa David sits on Peeta's left with Haymitch and Cinna next to him. Idina and Daniel sit up at the bar on stools. "So dad what are your plans now that your back?" Peeta asks his father in law. "Well Peeta I was think of starting my own archery shop in town." He says smiling. "Dad that is an excellent idea"Katniss says smiling at her dad. "Thanks Katniss, I was going to look at buildings tomorrow and I would love it if you came along "he says looking at his eldest daughter. "I would love to join you Dad, in fact would you care to join me when I go hunting tomorrow morning?" Katniss says smiling. "Love to" Grandpa David says. "Momma can shoot a bow and arrow" Idina says speaking up for the first time since they say down to dinner. David just smiles at Katniss who blushes. "Dad how are you here with us?" We all thought you died in the mines."Prim asks breaking the silence. ""I was knocked unconscious and woke up in district seven he starts I had to spend a few months in the hospital because I had a mind concussion after I was better I was able to get a job as a wood cutter." Grandpa David says taking a bite of lamb stew before continuing. Everyone at the table is silent as he tells the story. Katniss and Prim both have tears in their eyes as their dad concludes the story. Once he's done both of the Everdeen girls get up and give their dad a hug. Katniss goes in first "Dad never leave us again"she says as Peeta watches his amazingly strong wife but after a while he sees tears in her eyes and goes over to hold her moving her away whispering soothing words only Katniss can hear. "Shh it's ok Katniss" he says rubbing her back gently. Prim also has tears in her eyes she buries herself in her dad shirt as he holds his youngest daughter while she cries not minding it at all. "Shh it's alright little one, I'm here don't cry" he says tears coming to his eyes as well. Katniss comes back to her chair Peeta follows and puts his arm around her. Prim comes back to her seat too tears still on her face, seeing this Katniss motions to her baby sister to come over and holds her tightly in a comforting embrace. After a while they break apart drying each others tears. Peeta suggests they go into the living room where they all will be more comfortable.