Author's note: There's just one more chapter and an epilogue after this! I'll post the last chapter probably Sunday. I have to do some things to the epilogue, so it may be a bit before you get there. But the story will still be complete without it.

Thanks so much to my beta JavisTG!

Thanks also to my bestie and forever prereader writingbutunpublished!

Happy reading!

Chapter Twenty-Five

Gale opened the door for Peeta and Callie. "Oh, hey! Did you find the place okay?"

"Got a little turned around down the road, but Katniss talked us going in the right direction." Peeta's eyes fell on the woman in question across the room talking to her sister. He refocused on Gale. "Where should I put the cake?"

"Through here." Gale led him toward the kitchen. "Callie, Becca and her cousins are all out back." He pointed to a set of large glass doors.

Callie looked up at Peeta. "Can I go, Daddy?"

"Of course." Peeta said with a smile. "Be careful."

"Okay!" Callie called as she skipped outside, calling happily for her friend.

Gale slid the door closed behind her. "It's fenced in." He pointed. "No way out except through the house. Dad locked the gate. My nephews are escape artists." He patted an empty spot on the counter. "The cake can go here."

Peeta sat the box down. "I hope Sam likes it. I put in as many of the things she liked as possible."

Katniss came into the room and wrapped an arm round Peeta's waist. "Hey."

"Oh, hey." Peeta pressed a kiss to her cheek. "I was just about to show Gale the cake." He lifted the lid.

The cake looked like an open book. There were different characters and scenes both painted on the surface and sculpted to pop out.

"Wow!" Gale gasped. "That's awesome! You made that?"

Peeta nodded.

"Have you never seen any of Peeta's cakes?" Katniss asked. "He's an amazing artist."

"You're just saying that because you have to." Peeta said, trying to brush off the compliments.

"No, it's great, Peeta." Gale said. "Thanks." He held out his hand.

Peeta shook it. "No problem."

"Hey, come talk to Prim." Katniss said, pulling on Peeta's arm. "She wanted to talk to you about the nursery."

Peeta followed Katniss into the other room. On the way to Prim, Katniss introduced him to members of Gale's family and the parents of Sam's friends.

"Peeta!" Prim wrapped her arms around him in a warm hug.

"Hey, Prim. It's good to see you." Peeta hugged her back. "How's that baby growing?"

Prim placed her hand on her stomach. "She's still pretty tiny. But I've felt her start moving around a bit."

"That's exciting!" Peeta pulled Katniss close.

Prim smiled. "So we decided that we just want to do a zoo theme for Baby's room."

"Oh, that'll be cute." Peeta said. "I can paint a few things for it. Let me do a few sketches and I'll come over to talk next week?"

Prim nodded. "Cool. You still have my number, right?"

"Yes, I think so."

Sam ran over and tugged on Peeta's arm. "That cake looks too good to eat!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms around his waist.

Peeta patted her back. "I promise that it's delicious. Chocolate with strawberry filling just like you asked."

Sam looked up with a wide grin. "Thank you!" She wandered off with her friends to the kitchen to admire the cake some more.

"You want to get some air?" Katniss asked.

"Sure." Peeta turned to Prim. "See you in a bit."

Katniss picked up her coat and led Peeta out to the back porch to watch the kids play. Callie waved enthusiastically. Katniss smiled and waved back, leaning against the railing. "I can't believe Sam hugged you."

"I was a little shocked myself." Peeta leaned on the railing beside her. "How's everything going with her and Madge?"

"They're getting along a lot better." A smile spread across her lips. "She actually laughed at a joke Madge told while we were getting everything cleaned up around here."

Peeta rubbed her hand. "That's great."

"It is." Katniss rested her head on his shoulder. She sighed. "I love you."

He smiled to himself and kissed her head. "I love you too."

Hazelle called out the door, "Lunch is ready!"

The kids all ran inside. Katniss slipped her hand into Peeta's and followed them.

"Dad and Cara want Sam to come by so they can give her a present later." Peeta said as he got in line with Callie to help her make a plate.

"That's really sweet. We'll swing by this afternoon." Katniss picked up a plate and handed it to Becca. "You hold that tight and I'll fill it, okay?"

Becca nodded.

Katniss finished getting the plate filled and then carried it to the space where the rest of the kids were sitting. She got into the line after that and made her own plate. She found a spot beside Posy, who was sharing her plate with Jensen.

"I can't believe how big he's getting." Katniss said, tickling his cheek.

"I can't either. Seven months old tomorrow." Posy chuckled and handed him a fry to gnaw on. "So I started seeing this guy."

"Yeah?" Katniss bumped her shoulder. "Tell me."

"He's in one of my classes. We were paired up for an assignment. I had to bring Jensen because Mom and Dad were out on a date." Posy kissed the top of Jensen's head. "He didn't mind. Like at all. And he played with Jensen and held him while we were working. And then when we were done with our work, he asked if he could take me and Jensen to dinner."

"I'm so happy for you, Posy." Katniss said.

"By the way, you never told me Peeta was so cute." Posy said with a smirk.

Katniss glanced across to where Peeta sat with Rory and Vick. "I guess it slipped my mind."

"I wonder why Prim never mentioned it." Posy called to Prim, "Why didn't you ever tell me how cute Peeta is?"

The room quieted a moment. Katniss looked down at her plate to hide her blush. She heard

Peeta clear his throat. "Thanks for the compliment, Posy."

The room burst into laughter and then went back to their conversations.

"Sorry. Had to embarrass you just once." Posy nudged Katniss with her elbow. "I'm happy for you."

Katniss leaned in and whispered, "I honestly forget how cute he is because of all the other things I like about him. He's a great father and fantastic baker and cake decorator. He's a talented artist. And he cares about my girls as much as he cares for Callie."

Posy giggled. "I like seeing you like this, Katniss."

With a start, Katniss turned to Posy. "Like what?"

"In love." Posy said. "I never saw you like this with Gale. Ever."

Katniss nodded. There were many reasons for that, but it wasn't really something she wanted to discuss with Posy. Especially in the middle of Sam's birthday party.

Gale looked over to Madge in the passenger seat sitting with crossed arms.

"What's wrong?" Gale asked softly.

She sighed. "Do you think I'm trying too hard?"

He reached across the console and took her hand. "Becca really likes you. And Sam is warming up. It's just taking a little more time for her."

"But that doesn't answer my question. Am I trying too hard to get Sam to like me?"

Gale parked his truck along the side of the road and turned on the dome light. He turned to look at Madge, reaching out to take both her hands in his. "I don't think you intentionally try too hard. Sometimes you do, but that's because you don't want to miss out on how great my daughters are. And you just really want Sam to like you. It's understandable. You're both really great people. She's still got a lot to settle into. It's not easy." He pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "Just try to relax and be the real you. Because that's the version of you that I love."

Madge unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned across the console to grab his face. "I love you, too." She kissed him hard. "I'm so lucky to have found you again."

"We'll always find each other." He whispered. "Now, get back in your seat so I can get us home." He turned off the dome light as she settled back in.

Katniss dropped Becca and Sam off with Gale the next Friday. Becca jumped up into Gale's arms and kissed him on the cheek.

"Hi, Daddy! Did you miss me?" Becca asked with a giggle.

"I missed you very much, Becs." Gale hugged her and kissed her temple. "So, so much." He sat her down and opened his arms to Sam.

After a moment's hesitation, Sam leaned into her father's hug.

"How's my ten-year-old?" Gale asked, rubbing her back. "I missed you this week."

"I missed you too." She wrapped her arms around him. "Is Madge coming?"

"Not today." Gale said. "We're having a couple days to us."

"She can come over." Sam said, looking up at him. "I don't mind."

"Are you sure?" Gale smoothed his hands over her hair. "I don't want you to have a bad time."

"She's your soulmate. And Mom said it's important for you to be together to recharge."

"It is important." Gale kissed her forehead. "But I won't invite her over tonight. I want it to be just us, okay?"

Sam nodded, a smile spreading across her face. "I can't wait!"

Gale gave Sam a little squeeze and then looked toward Katniss. "Can I talk to your mom alone for a minute?"

"Yep!" Becca picked up her backpack and skipped to her bedroom.

Sam nodded and wandered off to her room.

"Are you really planning on leaving?" Gale asked softly.

Katniss nodded. "I've been thinking about it for a while. It's uncomfortable now. And I feel like none of it was ever really supposed to be mine."

"You really did just go along with all of it. I'm sorry you felt like it was all expected. I never wanted that."

"I haven't hated it." She said softly. "Not a minute of our life together. Or anything about the job. It just wasn't mine."

He leaned against the wall. "So what are you going to do?"

She smiled. "I'm going to coach archery."

His eyes widened. "Really? That's awesome!"

"Yeah, I talked to the owner of the range and I have blocked off a couple afternoons a week where I have half the place for my coaching." She leaned against the wall beside him. "I could use a little help every once in a while after I get going. From someone almost as good as me."

He laughed. "I'd love to come show off my skills."

"Thanks." Katniss pushed off from the wall. "I'm really excited."

"I'm proud for you." Gale opened his arms.

She stepped into his hug. "I'm going to miss being in the shop every day. But I'm not going away for good yet." She stepped away. "I worked out with your folks a freelance contract. So I'll still be making special orders a few days a week. But I'm going to be doing it from home. Well, from Peeta's home. He has a shed he's going to let me convert into a shop at one end."

"And most of those tools are yours, so that's good." He grinned. "This is great. I'm so happy for you, Catnip."

"I've been agonizing over it for a while." Katniss headed for the hall. "I'm glad that I'm not completely cutting off that part of me yet." She called, "Girls, I'm leaving."

Sam ran out of her room and threw her arms around Katniss's waist. "I love you, Mom."

Katniss hugged Sam tight. "I love you, baby. So much." She kissed Sam's temple. "Call me before bed, okay? And have a great week at school."

"Okay." Sam gave her mother one more squeeze and then went back to her room, closing the door firmly behind her.

Becca jumped up into Katniss's arms.

"Oh, my sweet Rebecca." Katniss sighed. "I sure do love you."

"I love you, too, Mama." Becca kissed her cheek. "Make sure to give Callie another hug for me."

Katniss smiled. "Don't worry, I'll make sure Callie knows how much you love her."

"And Peeta." Becca said. "Tell Peeta I love him too."

"Okay, I promise." Katniss pressed a kiss to Becca's forehead and then sat her down.

"Daddy, can we go to McDonald's for supper?" Becca asked sweetly.

Gale chuckled. "Sure." He worked the muscle in his jaw. "Go tell Sam to get her shoes back on."

Katniss patted Becca's back. "I'll talk to you later, baby."

Becca skipped down the hall.

Katniss squeezed Gale's arm. "The other day, Becca said to me that she was very excited to have two moms and two dads that love her lots and lots."

"They do." Gale said thickly. "We do."

"Yeah, we do." Katniss grinned. "Becca loves Madge, too. She told me so." She glanced down the hall. "And Sam. She's just not ready to admit it."

"Thanks, Katniss." He smiled at the girls walking down the hall. "I guess we're ready to go for food."

"You guys have fun." Katniss gave her daughters one more hug and then headed out the door.