"Peeta, Katniss, we were hoping that we…the four of us could talk," Brent says nervously. I glance at Katniss and see her jaw tighten.

"As Peeta just said, we don't have anything to say to you."

"Katniss, I understand your anger. Trust me, I do. But Delly…she feels really horrible about what happened. And she's been getting help." Delly nods but Katniss doesn't look appeased. In truth, I miss my best friend but I'm still furious with what she did. I didn't try to make excuses for her but I know pregnancy can make women crazy. If I were to forgive Delly, it's because of our history. After all, she was the one who helped me the most in 13, when Katniss abandoned me. Prim tried to help but Delly wasn't even close to Katniss and still she tried to convince me that Katniss was good. "I'm dealing with depression as well as certain levels of anxiety," Delly says softly. "I lost it that day and drank more than I ever have. I was wrong, Katniss, I never should have…I know that. And I know you will always be mad at me but Peeta never…I mean, he resisted the whole time…what I mean is…"

"I know what you meant," Katniss says coldly. Delly flinches at my wife's tone and Brent sighs heavily. Katniss looks up at Brent, her eyes narrowed.

"How could you have forgiven her so quickly?"

"Weeks of therapy helped," he admits. "But it's been tearing her up and as much as it hurt, I still love her. When she told me what she had done, I demanded that she get some help. And she did. And she's doing a lot better. We're hopeful that this will have no lasting effect on the baby. She's due December 2nd and we were hoping that you two would be godparents, as you are with Dex and Lila."

"Brent," Katniss says, her voice breaking a little. "You're from the Seam." Apparently this is only something that Katniss and Brent can understand, because Delly and I both look confused. Brent, however, nods and pats Katniss's shoulder.

"Things change, Katniss. Even we Seam folk change. Look at us. Married to Merchants." I try not to be offended by this statement.

"Life would be so different had you not gone into the Arena but you did and you both changed the world. And now we're free to love whoever we want to. That doesn't mean that we forget our heritage but we can forget about the negatives from the Seam. You learned to trust too, Katniss. You learned to forgive. And you learned to accept what was given to you rather than question it the whole time. Would you have ever allowed a Mellark to give you something without being able to pay for it?" He glances at me but then looks back at Katniss. I watch her and see her chewing on her lip, as she does when she's thinking.

"No. It was always a trade or nothing at all. You know how we are about charity." Brent nods.

"You didn't even eat the food that Peeta left in your locker. You just gave everything to Prim."

"I know, I wanted her to…wait, what?" She looks up at me with wide eyes.

"It was you? YOU snuck the bread…and those sweets… into my locker all those years," her voice fades and she stares at the ground in amazement. Wow. HOW many years have passed and she's just figuring this out?

"Really Katniss? You honestly didn't know?" She mouths uncertainly then turns back to Brent.

"How did YOU know," she spits at him; he just chuckles.

"Thom saw him doing it one day; I think it was right after the accident," he clears his throat and I immediately know which accident he is referring to. "We discussed telling Gale but we never did. Someone was keeping you alive; who cared if it was a Merchant boy? None of us could do it so we were just happy to see someone else could." He nods at me and I nod back. Katniss scowls and looks back up at me.

"You could have gotten into so much trouble."

"She found out," I confess with a heavy sigh. "She didn't know how long I'd been doing it but she discovered me wrapping up a few cookies and she probably knew what I was doing with them. That was when I came to school with welts on my neck and told everyone it was from the wrestling match."

"Peeta," she says, her eyes wide with horror. I shrug.

"She watched me like a hawk after that and I couldn't risk it. I felt terrible, but I also noticed you starting to look healthier and when you started to trade with my Dad, I knew you'd be ok." She reaches up and squeezes my hand. I freeze when I see tears in her eyes and rush forward to wipe them away with my thumb.

"It makes so much sense," she whispers and I kneel next to her chair. "My boy with the bread…you really did keep Prim and me alive."

She shakes her head and turns back to them.

"Delly, I can't forget what you did. You hurt me and you nearly destroyed our marriage. I was stupid enough to believe that he would hurt me like that." Delly nods miserably.

"But I won't stop you two from being friends. I just can't forgive you…not right now at least. I thank you for your apology but I need some time. I don't want this to ruin a childhood friendship though." She gently pushes my shoulders and I rise to my feet and stare at the ground.

"I don't know how to act around you anymore," I mumble to my shoes.

"Same here," she mumbles back. "I can't look you in the eyes because I'm so ashamed. I'll never be able to look Katniss in the eye again. I'm so sorry, Peeta. I'm sorry to you both." I nod and she backs up into Brent's arms.

"I guess we should get back to our kids." Katniss nods and wheels herself back inside, without another word. Sighing, I watch her leave and turn back to Delly and Brent.

"Let us know when the baby comes." Delly nods and I follow my wife inside.

When I enter the room, my eyes scan the room for my family and I sigh when I find them. I make my way over to them and see Katniss holding a sleeping Rye in the crook of her arm while Willow has climbed up into her chair and is resting her head under Katniss's chin. I reach out a trembling hand and gently shake Annie, who wordlessly hands me her camera. I snap a few pictures of my family and hand it back to her before I join them. I kneel to kiss Willow's head and she turns to me and throws her arms around my neck. Katniss turns and smiles at me and I reach up to stroke her cheek. I see another flash go off and I grin broadly.

That will probably be my favorite picture ever taken.

The party is still going when I ask Katniss if she's ready to go home. Miraculously, Rye is still sleeping and Princess Willow has fallen asleep in my arms. I catch Finn's eyes across the room and he nods, tugging his sleepy wife outside and helps her into the car.

Rye wakes up as we pull into Victor's Village and I carry Willow upstairs and put her in bed while Finn helps Katniss into the house. When I come back downstairs, she's tugged off her robe and Rye is latched to her breast.

"OK honey it's too cold to sit around topless," I say half teasing. She rolls her eyes at me and shrugs.

"He was hungry. Is Willow asleep?"

"Yeah, just tucked her in. Want me to get you anything while you're feeding him?"

"I'm ok."

"Katniss, you didn't eat anything at the party. Why don't I make you something to eat?"

"If you're going to eat too," she mutters as she looks down at our son. I quickly heat up some soup and pour it into two mugs. She looks up at me and bites her lip to hide her grin.

"What?"

"You're wearing epaulettes. It's more than Capitol, it's… pre-Dark Days," she laughs and I frown down at my costume.

"Fine, I'll go change," I grumble.

"No! Hey, I'm sorry," she frantically reaches out for my hand and her laughter fades. "I wasn't making fun of you. I like the costume. It's very sexy."

"Liar. You called it Capitol."

"It's not. You look good in whatever you wear, Peeta. I was just teasing you." I purse my lips and sip at my soup. She holds my hand while Rye eats and she sighs when he releases her nipple.

"Is he finished?"

"I think so. You want to put him down for me? I can start making my way up the stairs."

"Katniss," I sigh but she shakes her head.

"Come on Peeta, I'm going to lose all use of my legs if I don't start walking again!"

"Fine, walk around the room but not on the stairs! What if you fall again? You could hit your head…break more bones. Please don't risk it. I'll be right back to carry you up." She shakes her head as I gather our son in my arms and gently carry him upstairs. I hurry back down to the kitchen, afraid that Katniss will disobey me and try to make it up to the bedroom but I sigh when I see she is sitting patiently. I lift her up, mindful of her leg, and carry her to the bedroom.

I watch her in the mirror while I strip off my costume and drape it over the chair. She struggles around the bedroom, basically hopping and looking like I do when I take my prosthetic off. She huffs impatiently, clearly frustrated at her exertion. She closes the bathroom door behind her and I hear her let out several curses and 'ows' behind the closed door. Smiling to myself, I bend down and unclasp my prosthetic, setting it against the wall beside the bed. When Katniss is finished in the bathroom, I brace my palm against the wall and hop off the bed. Katniss frowns at me as she stands in the doorway, her hands clutching both sides.

"Peeta what are you doing?"

"Need to brush my teeth. Excuse me." She moves to the side as I hop through the door.

"Why did you take your prosthetic off?" I only smile as I close the door in her face.

When I finish, I open the door and see she is already in bed. She watches me as I hobble over to the bed and awkwardly climb under the covers.

"Peeta-"

"I know how you feel, Katniss. And you're not alone in this. This is something I know all too well and I know how frustrating it is. Just remember you're never alone." I hold her face firmly with both hands and kiss her forehead, her nose, and then her lips. She reaches up and tangles her fingers in my hair as she deepens our kiss. I moan a little as her tongue invades my mouth and challenges mine. Her hands move down to my bare chest and rakes over my shoulders before traveling lower. I move closer, pressing my erection against her belly. The way I am reacting you would think it's been years since I have been inside her. My eyes roll to the back of my head as she tears away from my lips and starts to kiss her way down my jaw and throat.

"Nngh. Katniss," I pant as her tongue circles around my nipple.

"I need you, Peeta," she says in a husky voice. "I need you inside me." She starts to lift her gown over her head but I move her hands aside; she knows how I love to undress her. I fling it aside and my hands reacquaint themselves with her breasts. I'm gentle, knowing she is sore and tender. My hands move down and into her panties until her breath hitches. I feel how wet she is and my dick leaps against its confines.

"How do you want to do this," I mumble into her neck as my fingertip finds that nub of pleasure. She only responds with a gasp. I withdraw my hand from her underwear so she can focus; she fixes me with a cold glare and I chuckle.

"Lie on your stomach for me." With a lot of fumbling around, she's lying in front of me while I am halfway kneeling between her legs.

It's actually a lot of fun figuring out different positions and what works; we're delighted when we discover several that enable me to slide even deeper inside her and she screams into the pillow when I straddle her ass so I am thrusting into her and I can still push my finger between her ass cheeks.

I have to tell her more than once to keep quiet but she winds up screaming my name loudly and we listen intently for the pitter-patter of little feet. Thankfully, we don't hear it and I pull her into my chest as we burrow under the blankets. I should probably get up to shut the window but it's too far a distance to hobble without anything to hold onto. I pull the blankets tighter around us and she sighs contentedly.

"I'm glad we can do that again." I chuckle into her hair.

"Me too. I'm glad it didn't hurt you…you know, like last time."

"No I was ok. You're always so gentle and wonderful with me though." I kiss her shoulder and move closer to her on the pillow.

"I would rather die than hurt you, Katniss." She turns toward me, wincing a little when her cast brushes against my leg.

"You could never, Peeta," she whispers as she reaches up to stroke my cheek. We hold each other's gazes for a moment and I can tell she is lost in thought.

"What?"

"Nothing," she says quickly, confirming my suspicions.

"Katniss, what is it?"

"Do you ever regret…not doing it before me?" My brows shoot up into my hair.

"What are you talking about?"

"We were each other's firsts…do you ever wish you had done it with anyone at the slag heap?" I suck in a breath; not the ideal conversation to have after just having sex, I have to say.

"No," I say immediately.

"Really?" My brow furrows.

"Why, do you?"

"No."

"OK then. Why are you asking this?" She shrugs but I shake my head.

"Something is bothering you. Talk to me."

"It's nothing, really. I was just curious if you ever think of other women. I was your first-"

"My first, only, and last," I say firmly. She sets a hand on my cheek and smiles. It's how Katniss communicates; not with words but gentle gestures and expressions. She didn't mean to upset me and she wants to calm me before it turns into anything it shouldn't be.

"You're my first, only, and last too," she says softly. "And I don't want it any other way. I was just curious if you sometimes think of other women. When I was pregnant and too ugly to look at-" My hand flies to her mouth, cutting her off immediately and I shake my head in warning before I remove my hand.

"I was also selfish because I didn't let you touch me. Did you get off to thoughts of anyone else?"

"No Katniss. Only you. It's only EVER been you." Her hand falls to the pillow and I study her expression.

"And you? Do you dream of other men sometimes?"

"Not in the way you would think," she says carefully. I frown. What does THAT mean?

"Explain."

"Peeta, really, it's nothing-"

"Well you're freaking me out with a whole lot of nothing," I say heatedly. "Just tell me."

"Did you know what Cray did with young girls?" I visibly wince.

"I guess you did know. But he would put enough money into their hands to keep them alive for at least a month. He liked virgins, though. He hardly took women who had already been to the slag heap before. Prim got really sick one day. She was coughing up blood and Mom wouldn't move from the table. I thought I was going to lose her, Peeta. I went over to Cray's house. I needed money for medicine and it was the dead of winter so I wasn't able to hunt anything. Cray leered at me as he told me to take my clothes off," I suck in a breath as my heart hammers against my chest.

"I only got as far as my underwear. I…I was scared. I chickened out. He threw me out and told me to never come crawling back to his house again. A few Merchant boys heard the commotion and I heard them talking about all the vile disgusting things they could do with me. They dragged me into an alleyway and started ripping off my clothes. I'd never been so scared in my life. I wasn't planning to lose my virginity to anyone but this certainly was at the top of my nightmares. They pressed me against the wall and held their hand over my mouth. A few other Merchant boys broke them apart and I was flung to the side. Ryean pulled me to my feet and gave me his shirt to cover up with." My eyes widen. Ryean? As in…

"My brother Ryean," I ask in a croaky voice. She nods slowly.

"They made the other boys leave but then they started doing the same thing. Taunting me, I mean, teasing Ryean about if he was going to take the little Seam slut to the slag heap. Merchants took Seam girls there all the time. It wasn't uncommon for a Merchant boy to ask a Seam girl out, making her believe that he would give her the world, and afterwards he would leave her naked and broken at the heap. Your brother took me there." At this, I sit straight up.

"You're…that can't be true." She presses her hands against my chest but I jerk away. She bites her lip and lowers her hands to her lap.

"I guess he wanted to protect his reputation. But he didn't do anything. We just sat and talked for a little while. He said he had several friends who needed to take a wife and that he could maybe find someone to take me in. I laughed at him because he was talking about a Merchant taking a Seam girl for his wife but Ryean assured me there were plenty of Merchant boys who were respectable and who would have no problem taking me in. I thought for a moment that he was talking about himself but now I realize that he was referring to you. But I told him I was never getting married and I would find a way to survive and keep my sister alive. He then told me I owed him and needed to give him my bra. For proof, he said. I argued at first but decided, yes I did owe him and I gave it to him before I went home. I don't think we ever spoke again after that."

I'm gaping at her; I know I look like a fool with my eyes popping out of my head. I remember that night. Ryean snuck in really late and threw a girl's bra at me, told me it was something to jerk off to. I don't know how many times I asked whose it was, and he never told me. I always assumed it was just another one of his "conquests" at the slag heap, as he called them. He probably knew how furious I would be if I learned it was Katniss's. I flush bright red as I remember that I did, in fact, jerk off to the thoughts of whatever breasts that bra might have once covered. And how many times I imagined olive skin with dusty nipples and the slender belly that was below that, and the sweet folds hidden by a thatch of curls. My eyes dart down to my lap and I clench my legs together as I grip the sheets tightly. She watches me carefully, chewing on her lip.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up but…I guess sometimes I just think about certain outcomes. You know, if Ryean hadn't saved me that night. What would have happened? Or those men that kidnapped me. They could have…well, you know."

"You dream about being raped?" My voice cracks, like it used to do when I was a pre-pubescent teenager clutching to that tattered bra.

"No! I mean, not really. It's not like a fantasy or anything, it's just something that has been featured in my nightmares lately. I don't know why and I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want you to panic. I keep having dreams of us in the Capitol, what they would have done to us. Made us watch each other as we-"

"Ok, Katniss, stop," I say firmly, clutching her hands. She falls silent and looks down at her lap. I cup her chin and shake my head.

"Try not to think about it, honey. Those images have haunted my nightmares too but I'm ok when I wake up and realize you're still beside me, perfectly safe. I don't ever want to think about my wife being touched by anyone other than me. Let's just get one thing clear; I would have died if we had been forced to become Capitol Escorts like Finnick. No, I would have," I talk over her protests. "Because I would have been executed for killing a client. I don't care who they were, if anyone ever put their hands on you, I would have killed them. Or be killed trying to destroy them. There is no way in hell that I would have ever stood for that. Even if they tried to pair you with Finnick. I would have killed him." She leans forward and presses her cheek to my chest.

"I'm sorry," she whispers. "I didn't mean to upset you. It's just my stupid brain won't turn off sometimes. I'm sorry." I sigh as I hold her head against my chest and kiss her hair.

"I don't think I can sleep now. What do you say to a hot bath?" She nods and I reach for my prosthetic so I can go fix the bath the way she likes it. When the bath salts are dissolved and the water is the right temperature, I go back and scoop her up, carrying her to the tub.

"Drape your foot over the edge here," I gently position her leg so she is keeping her cast from getting wet and I slide in behind her so she can lean against my chest.

"I've never really worried about you cheating on me," she breaks the silence and I inhale sharply. "I know that you love me. But I hear it happening so many times…and Mom had so many patients, young girls who were almost nine months pregnant and their husbands had run off with younger, prettier things. I guess sometimes I forget how wonderful you are and group you with other men."

"Stop that," I say into her hair. "I'm not. I never have been and I defied society for you. You think it was easy, coming back to 12 after I proclaimed I loved you? Mom screamed at me that I had sullied their good name. Even Bialy said something crude like I was supposed to take Seam girls to the heap, not to the toasting hearth. But I told them I loved you and I would marry you one day and they would just have to get used to you. You think after everything we have been through, I could possibly leave you for another woman?"

"No," she says, her voice sounding strange. I push her hair back and kiss her forehead. She sniffles and closes her eyes.

"You're stuck with me for life, Katniss. I don't want anyone else. I never will. You're enough for me. I can't speak for those other men you speak of but if they have something as amazing as I do, they're idiots to give it up. I'm no idiot." She leans her head back on my chest and reaches up to stroke my cheek. I smile and give her a soft kiss; I then break this tense/romantic moment and flick water at her. She gasps and splashes me and we wind up getting water all over the floor in our water fight.

We stay in there until we both start to shrivel up. I help her dry off and dress; just as we are about to pull up the covers, we hear a shrill crying and then little fists against our door. I'm up in seconds, flinging the door open and scooping my little girl against my chest. Seconds later, we hear the sharp cries of our son and I hear Katniss sigh behind me. I lay Willow in her arms and I hurry to Rye's nursery to calm him.

It's a sleepless night in the Mellark household, that's for sure.