Hi, this must be one of the soonest I have updated. It's still longer than I would have hoped but it is so much better than 6 months. I would just like to say thank you to the people who reviewed but if you left a name than I could thank you personally but anyway thank you to the two guests who reviewed.

Chapter 10

Katniss POV

The 18th of May.

The date swam in my head I couldn't stop thinking about it; it locked me inside my thoughts. I was aware of the cold gel on my stomach and the hospital bed beneath me and I was aware of Peeta talking to Dr Finlay but I wasn't paying any attention. The 18th of May was a week before her birthday. She would have been 18-an adult. It would have been her last year for the Reaping, if they still existed. I can only imagine how excited she would be at the idea of being an aunty. Suddenly, I was hit with a wave of sadness and my heart ached more for my younger sister who had been ripped from my life for no good reason whatsoever.

Prim.

Peeta must have noticed that something was wrong because I felt him squeeze my hand reassuringly. At his touch I broke away from my thoughts and turned to look at him and from the look in his eyes I knew he knew what was wrong and I could tell he was thinking about her too. He understood. Peeta always understood. He'd understood in those first few months after the rebellion when I had not left my house, he use to bring me bread every day. When I was upset and depressed because everything good that I had ever loved or even remotely liked had been taken away from me: Prim, my Mother, Gale, my Father and anyone that had died because of me or that I couldn't protect and save: Rue, Finnick, Cinna, Mags, Madge. The list went on and they'd all died because I had pulled out the berries in the arena, threatened suicide and angered President Snow. I had caused all the deaths, the bombings, the attacks and rebellion but even then when I was trapped inside my head with nothing but my thoughts, memories, nightmares and accusations Peeta had been there. He's always been there. I didn't deserve Peeta, he had been there for me even when he had problems of his own with his hijacking and flashbacks and I hadn't been there for him, he had comforted me when I was upset, held me when I had a nightmare and reassured me that it wasn't my fault, that it would have happened eventually and the I had made Panem a better place. I didn't deserve him, but I needed him like I'd never needed anyone before and I loved him more than I thought I would ever love anyone.

We left the hospital after making our next appointment, they were becoming more often as we were getting closer to my due date. Dr Finlay had told us that everything was fine, which was reassuring and now we were heading home. The walk was quiet, there was a cool breeze that fluttered through my hair and skipped across my cheek and it was comforting. "So when Effie leaves, how about we use those train tickets to District 4?" Peeta asked as we walked.

"Ok, Effie leaves on Wednesday, which is in three days' time so we could go on Friday morning and spend the weekend there or maybe the weekend and a few more days." I answered as I looked at him with a smile growing on my lips.

"Sounds like we have a plan." He answered.

"Sounds like we do." I replied and we continued the walk in silence.

*5 days later*

Peeta and I were stood at the train station waiting for our train. Effie had left on Wednesday and Haymitch had hugged her, which was extremely unusual, and it had lasted slightly longer than it usually would almost as if they didn't want to let go. Haymitch was with us now to wave us goodbye and he was excited about us leaving. He was going to have the whole of the Victor's Village to himself for a few days and he was looking forward to it. However, he was also going to have to make his own dinner for the next few days so he was disappointed about that. The train rolled to a stop at the station a couple of minutes earlier than expected and the doors opened. With one last goodbye to Haymitch we climbed aboard.

After a couple of hours we pulled into the station in District 4 and we walked to the Justice Building which was around the corner. When we got there we were given directions to the house were had rented for the next few days, it wasn't far away and it was right on the beach.

We reached the house and the Sun had started to dip below the horizon, setting the sky alight with reds, pinks and oranges. There was a cool sea breeze blowing around us and we stood in silence, our eyes trained on the horizon.

"Race you to the water." I say and I take off running, kicking my shoes off behind me.

"That's not fair! You got a head start!" Peeta exclaims and I hear his heavy footfalls behind me; he never did learn how to sneak around or move quietly.

"Yeah but you're not pregnant!" I shouted behind me. We ran in silence, the dull thuds of our footsteps hitting the sand were the only sound. We reached the water's edge at precisely the same time and we waded in, the water splashing around us. Suddenly, the air is alive with the sounds of water splashing. I scooped up the water into my hands and threw it at Peeta catching him squarely in the face.

"Oh, that's how you want to play then." Peeta said as he returned the water to me. For the next couple of minutes we splashed each other with water until we completely soaked from top to bottom. Our laughter and happiness filled the air. This is what it should have been like; this is what our childhood should have been like: no worry or fear about whether we would be reaped; no beatings from a parent; not having to hunt and provide for your family so you can survive another day; not having to spend your life looking over your shoulders in case there is a peacekeeper coming after you; not having to lose a parent when you were 11; not having to be the parent in the family because your mother couldn't cope and not having to live in constant fear about everything. Our childhood could have been like this if we didn't live in District 12 where hardly anyone had enough food, if the Capitol wasn't as brutal and cruel as it was and if there wasn't a Hunger Games every year that always loomed over your shoulder no matter what time of year it was. The Capitol had created it so it was always present in your mind. There wasn't a single day of the year when the Hunger Games wasn't on your mind and there was always and event happening or coming up in a couple of weeks that was related to the Hunger Games. First you had the Reaping and in the weeks leading up to it there was TV coverage and setting up the District for when the cameras arrived. Then you had the training and every bit of it was covered by TV, heaven forbid should they have missed anything. After this came the actual games which everybody had to watch and then just when you thought you had a break from the Hunger Games along comes the victory tour. If none of this had happened or we had been born in a different time then our lives could have been like this: splashing around in the water without a care in the world, being relaxed and making up for the childhood that neither of us had had.

Peeta and I were both now well and truly soaked and our laughter was still echoing in the air. I waded my way over to him and threw myself at him, winding me arms around his neck and locking my legs around his waist. Peeta stumbled backwards before he fell back into the water showering us with a wave. We lay there floating it the water for a couple of minutes as our laughter died down but our smiles stayed glued to our faces - a mirror of the others. I leant down and brought my lips to Peeta's and I could taste the salt from the sea on his lips. Our kiss lingered and I climbed off Peeta and offered him a hand up when we finally broke away. He accepted it and he pulled me into his arms, securing me in his embrace. I could feel his chin resting on resting on my shoulder and I leant against his chest.

"I love you Katniss." Peeta whispered into my ear, his breath on my neck sending chills through my body.

"I love you too Peeta." I replied. By this point the Sun had almost completely and we were surrounded by darkness and a tiny bit of fiery light that was rapidly receding into the distance. The air was quiet and still and it was just me and Peeta, alone, in the middle of the sea.

So you've read another chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and I just want to thank anyone who is reading this or is still reading this, you have stayed with it even though it takes me ages and ages to update but I am trying to improve that and I think I have made a tiny improvement but it is still nowhere near as soon as I want to update so I am hoping that the next chapter will be up in about a week or two but I know that I have said this before so I can't make any promises. I'm not sure whether I am completely happy with this chapter so review and tell me what you think, it would be greatly appreciated. Also, if there is anything you want to see happen let me know and I will try and find somewhere for it to happen. I'm on holidays for Easter so I should have loads of time to update. Thank you once again for reading and I hope you are still enjoying this story.