Hi everyone! Welcome to my story! So this is a rewrite of my first story May, now you know, that I wrote over three years ago. And after rediscovering my love for this series and rereading my story and realizing how much better I could tell the story now, I decided to use my extra time to rewrite it and try again. I hope you guys like it, please review and follow!
~Jillian
xoxo
(Katniss's POV)
My eyes flutter open and I am in his arms as usual. Soft sunlight flows through our delicate curtains, illuminating the scarred skin on Peeta's arms and shoulders as he holds me, still perfectly asleep. I chuckled softly, Peeta claimed he would be up earlier to prepare for the kids first day of school but I guess that staying up till 3 am working on a huge order put a bit of a dent in his plan. Looks like it's up to me to start the day, and I can't help but groan internally. What I would give to just stay here in bed and bask in the afterglow of my peaceful sleep.
No nightmares. Odd considering the fact that yesterday Lily joked that she was worried the high school was going to feel like a torture chamber. Feeling an episode, Peeta had to lock himself in our bedroom for about three hours under the ruse that he needed to do some paperwork for the bakery. Once I finally convinced the kids to go to bed in order to get a good night's rest for school, I was able to check on Peeta, and the episode was luckily a relatively weak one. Still, it's always hard to see Peeta with so much fear in his eyes, but at least he didn't hurt himself.
I quickly shake myself out of my head, if I want the kids to get to school on time, I really need to get up. Forcing myself out of my horribly comfortable bed and wonderfully warm Peeta, I slip my feet into my old black slippers, throw on my robe, and walk down the hall to Lily's room. Quietly opening the door, I let myself take a minute to watch my baby for a minute. Well, I guess she technically isn't a baby anymore, but still, it's my privilege as a mother to enjoy the innocent sight of my daughter. The beautiful blue eyes that she and Peeta share are covered with her heavy eyelids and a ratted mass of dark hair surrounds her head. Thoroughly reminded that my daughter is now a young woman, my breath becomes short as I remember what exactly today means.
When Panem started to rebuild, it was decided that any victors that were still alive would be given as much privacy as possible, but when the next generation of children reached high school, they would start history courses on the dark history of Panem, obviously including all aspects of the Hunger Games and the revolution. Before Lily was born, Peeta and I agreed that we would try to keep our children from the more disturbing parts of our past until they came to us with any questions. Still, I was seriously freaked at the reality that my beautifully innocent daughter will soon learn all about what we've done, Peeta and I both.
As if summoned by my tense energy, I feel Peeta softly come up behind me. Wrapping his arms around me, he speaks quietly, only to me,
"Are you going to be okay? Do you want to go back to bed, at least for a little bit? I can get the kids up and ready like I promised," he whispers against my hair. I sigh and gently shake my head no. I had to do this. We've both known this day was going to come for as long as Lily was alive, now we just had to get through it.
"No, I'm okay. I'll wake them up in just a minute. Do you want to make breakfast?" Peeta chuckles at my choice of jobs for the two of us. Obviously if one of us was going to make breakfast it would be him, the baker.
"Sure, pancakes okay?"
"Oo yes! I love your pancakes," I smile, of course, Peeta's able to get me to relax, at least for a little bit. Giving me a wink, Peeta turns to walk down the stairs and I allow myself to admire his back for a second. Smiling to myself, I turn back to my still sleeping daughter. My smile grew into a wide grin, I let myself enjoy being the annoying mom every once in a while.
I race across her room and loudly open the curtains on every window, letting the bright light fill the room with an obnoxious laugh, "Wakey, wakey, Lily! It's time for your doom! First day of High school baby girl!"
"Ugh, Mom!" Lily grumbled, throwing a pillow over her head and curling into herself.
"Nah ah ah my lovely daughter. It's time to drag yourself out of bed! Daddy's making pancakes, and I know you wanna make yourself up all pretty...you know, for the boys," I tease with a smirk.
Blushing furiously, Lily sits up in order to throw her pillow at me, "Ugh Mom, you're so weird! I'm getting up, GOD!" she shouts. Quickly, I ran out of the room, cackling on my way out. I make myself laugh sometimes.
Making my way to Kaden's room, I'm shocked he isn't even slightly awake, after the commotion I caused with Lily. Rolling my eyes with a chuckle, I tiptoe over to my 12-year-old son. His blond hair was tousled from sleep, and looking all too comfortable.
In a flash I pull back his warm covers, exposing him to the chilly air. He shoots up, gray eyes wide in shock. "Time to wake up Kadey!" I giggle, reveling in the look of surprise on my little boy's face. "First day of school, the best place on earth!" Kaden groans, rubbing tired eyes.
"Yea yea, I got it mom, but there better be breakfast!" He playfully demands.
"As if your father would allow otherwise," I scoff, "now get up! And make sure you fix that nest you call hair!" I call out as I exit the messy room.
After quickly getting dressed in a simple blue t-shirt and a pair of jeans, and brushing out my loose hair, I let the intoxicating smell of blueberry pancakes lead me downstairs. Turning into the kitchen, I am faced with the always welcome view of my husband's muscular back, covered in a thin nightshirt. Smiling to myself, I sneak up on him, ruffling his blond curls.
"Gah!" Peeta nearly jumps out of his skin, dropping the pancake that was mid-flip. Unable to contain my laughter, I nearly fall over in hysterics. As I attempt to look through my tear-filled eyes, I see Peeta is doing his best "serious mad face" and failing pretty miserably, only making me laugh harder. "Well, I hope you're happy Katniss, you've killed a perfectly good pancake." He mock lectures, turning away from me with a snooty huff.
Still giggling to myself, I throw my arm around his shoulder, "Oh I'm sorry Peeta. Whatever can I do to make it up to you?" Glancing at me through the corner of his eye, I can practically see the borderline inappropriate thoughts going through his head. "Ugh, you're such a boy!" I laugh, giving him a light slap on his arm. He turns to me, grinning,
"Hey, I'm a grown man! And I can't help it, not when you say something like that in my ear, and dressed like that!" He gestures to my outfit.
"What, in this ravishing get up? I knew a t-shirt in jeans would do the job in seducing you! Ha ha ha!" I laugh as if victorious. He smirks and grabs my hips, bringing me closer to him. My smile fades as he brings his mouth up to my ear,
"I mean, if the kids are going to be out of the house all day, I could always reward your efforts…" He whispers, sending shivers down my spine. Placing my hands on the slightly stubbly skin of his face, I bring Peeta in for a soft kiss. I love our little moments, of soft whispers and playful laughter. Even though I was admittedly not that old, being with Peeta made me feel young again, and I let myself get lost in the kiss. Smiling against Peeta's lips, I bring my arms up behind his neck, deepening our kiss.
Unfortunately, our moment is interrupted by the sound of two pairs of feet speeding down the steps.
"Hey what did I say about stomping on the stairs, you two sound like elephants!" I shout, slightly bristled at the interruption. Hey, what can I say, my husband is a very good kisser. At least the kids show some form of remorse on their faces as they make their way to the kitchen.
"Sorry, mom." They chorus. I roll my eyes with a smile and gesture for them to set the table for breakfast.
"Good morning." Peeta greets both Kaden and Lily, as he stacks pancakes onto a plate.
"Good morning Daddy," Lily takes her plate with a smile, and Peeta places a kiss on her forehead, she's always been a daddy's girl. Lily was dressed in a summer dress of her signature color, yellow, with her dark hair pulled back in a yellow ribbon and styled into soft curls. Lily has learned to highlight her natural beauty with soft touches of makeup, similar to how I was made to look after my first Hunger Games, innocently pretty.
"Yea, morning Dad," Kaden and Peeta exchange a playful smile as Peeta hands Kaden his plate. They share the same sense of playfulness that I love so much. Surprisingly, it seems Kaden has actually put some effort into his appearance today. He managed to tame his blond curls with some kind of mousse or pomade Peeta had given him a while ago, and dressed himself in a simple green polo shirt and khaki shorts. It's nothing spectacular, but it's definitely an upgrade from wrinkled t-shirts and grass-stained jeans.
I make my way to him and trade giving Peeta a quick kiss in exchange for my breakfast, and I smile at the reminder of events occurring just a few minutes ago.
"Bleugh, you guys are gross, I'm trying to eat here!" I laugh at the look on Kaden's face, the poor boy actually looks nauseous.
"Hey, I married your mother, she's allowed to kiss me as much as she wants! And don't knock it until you try it young man, I guarantee in a few years you'll understand why kissing is so wonderful!" Peeta teases.
"I doubt it," Kaden blanches, "girls are gross!"
"Hey!" Lily flicked Kaden's ear, getting his attention, "could we maybe not talk about mom and dad kissing? I'm actually nervous about school."
I take a deep breath, "Baby, there's nothing to worry about, everything will be just fine…," but it feels like I'm trying to convince myself more than her. I see Peeta glancing at me out of the corner of my eye, but I push on. "And you'll have your friends, Adrian and Celia, you have a good amount of classes with them right?" She tentatively nods her head, "And you know if there is ever any real trouble you can always call me or dad."
She frowns and takes a while to respond, "I know, I guess I'm just nervous I'm gonna learn something I'd rather not know." Lily finishes her sentence with a chuckle. Peeta and flash each other nervous glances that our children luckily don't notice. But before one of us can ask what she means, Lily continues.
"You know like the inner workings of the male anatomy," she smirks and I blush at the thought of what is going on in her young mind. Kaden clears his throat and I know he wants Peeta or me to start a conversation with him.
"What about you Kaden?" Peeta starts.
"What about me?"
"Please Kadey, we know you want to talk about either missing summer or that you're excited to see your friends, so out with it." I joked. Kaden grinned, caught.
"Fine you got me there," he admitted, "I'm excited to see Joey again! I haven't seen him since him and Celia went on that dumb vacation to district eight for 3 weeks."
I nod, "That's right, I almost forgot they went away. Lily," I turn to her, "how is Celia anyway, have you spoken to her since she went to eight?"
Lily opens her mouth but is cut off by the sound of Peeta's watch beeping, signaling it's time for the kids to head to school. The whole table groans. As the kids scramble to grab their book bags, Peeta and I share a look, thinking the same thing.
"Lily, can you come over here for a second?" I ask hesitantly. I feel Peeta come up next to me and grab my hand as Lily walks over to us, looking confused.
"Listen Flower, we know that you are aware that you will be starting those less than pleasant history classes." Peeta starts in a gentle tone.
"Yea, so? I'm a big girl, I can handle it." Lily jokes, and Peeta and I force small smiles.
"We just wanted to tell you that when-" a buzzing sound interrupts me and Lily whips out her phone.
"Oh it's a text from Adrian, he said he's just outside of the village and we need to get going if we don't want to be late." This causes Lily to spring back into action, heading for the door where her brother is waiting. Peeta and I look frantic but I try to nod my head.
"Oh-okay, just, well...are you sure you guys are okay walking alone? I can still come with you if you need me?" I try to keep the pleading tone out of my voice.
"Ugh, no mom, we'll be fine!" She opens the door and Kaden hops out with a quick wave, "Bye, love you!", shutting the heavy door behind her.
"Bye..."
(Lily's POV)
I let Kaden run ahead of me as I try to forget the look on my mom's face when I shut the door and basically ran out. Quickly, Kaden and I make our way out of the nearly empty "Victor's Village", which I've always thought was a weird name. I'm guessing it was built as a sort of small community for those involved in politics since my parents and Grandpa Haymitch were the only ones that lived here, besides the once in a while government visitor, and I remember more than one occasion of them getting called away to the Capital for something or other.
I'm quickly shaken from my thoughts when I see him. Adrian Lawrence. Adrian is one of my best friends, we are a group of three, me, him, and my best girlfriend, Celia. And trust me, it's really, really hard having to live in a situation where you and your crush since the 3rd grade, are best friends. I try to slow my racing heart as I walk up to him. After saying a quick hello to my brother he turns and smiles at me. God, he's beautiful. With tan skin, sand-colored hair, and striking green eyes, it confuses me that even in our younger age, he doesn't have a girlfriend.
"Hey, Lily!" He exclaims. My pace quickens and we come together for a friendly hug. Ugh, friendly. He looks at me with those stunning eyes of his and speaks. "Wow Lily, you look pretty," he compliments easily. I blush and look away with a smile before playing off my embarrassment by punching him in the shoulder.
"Shut up!" I laugh, causing him to chuckle. Him rubbing his shoulder and me focusing on making my face cool down, we begin walking in the direction of the school.
"So how are you? Nervous? Scared? Terrified?!" Adrian teases.
"Oh don't act all tough, I know inside of that pretty-boy exterior, that you're a little wimp, just as nervous as I am." As much teasing as I can take, I can dish it out just as easily.
"Yeah whatever," he says, shaking his head playfully. "Anyway, has Celia called you since she's been home from eight?"
"Ugh, no, I still can't believe she got home so late, literally the day before school started. Hopefully, Celia isn't too tired, or on the other end, she didn't decide that today was the day she was gonna start drinking coffee." I joke, before remembering something. "Why, did she call you?"
Adrian's eyes widen for a millisecond before he starts coughing, I'm betting he got some dirt stuck in his throat, the streets can get pretty dusty. "Yea, but it was just to let me know she was home. It was really late though, so maybe she called your house and you were already asleep?" he offers as an explanation.
I shrug, "Maybe." At this point, we are just about at the school, close enough that the chatter of other kids makes us need to talk slightly louder. We continue our easy conversation when I spot a flash of light blond hair, and then I'm suddenly being tackled.
"Lily!"
"Celia!" I'd recognize that specific brand of enthusiasm anywhere. Celia Cartwright. Celia and I have been best friends since we were in diapers. I think our parents were friends as kids or something like that. I've always kind of envied Celia if I'm being honest with myself. She was the stereotypical blonde beauty, light blue eyes, and all. But against the stereotype, she was genuinely the sweetest and most wonderful person anyone could be lucky enough to meet.
"Ahh! Adrian!" She breaks our hug for a second to grab Adrian's arm to pull him in with us, and he happily obliges, wrapping an arm around each of us. After a minute of basking in the happiness of being reunited with my best friend, I decide to be the first one to pull away.
"So Celia, how are you feeling, I can't believe you got home so late last night!" I ask.
"Ugh I know, I'm absolutely exhausted, but my dad has family in district eight as you know, and we don't get to see them that much so it's always nice." Adrian and I nod our heads in agreement as we begin walking into the actual school building and towards the freshmen lockers.
After discussing lockers and schedules, I was lucky enough to share a homeroom with Celia, the three of us parted ways after a goodbye and a promise to sit near each other in the classes we shared. As I walked away from my friends, I let myself wonder about how the year would go. Was I going to make any new friends? I asked myself this question every year but I never really branched out. I mean, I was friendly and all, but I just never felt the need or desire to go out of my way and talk to people I didn't know because as long as I had Celia and Adrian, I was good, right? I don't know.
I've always felt kind of isolated as a kid so I just got kind of used to not having many friends. I literally grew up in a neighborhood with no other kids, no one but a baby brother to play with. Well, I thought to myself, maybe this is my year? New school, new me, right?
I hear the warning bell ring and know that it means I have just about 3 minutes to get to my homeroom, and I definitely didn't want to be late on my first day, that would not be the best first impression. So I quickly gather the books I'll need for the next few periods, and turn in the direction of my homeroom when I feel a light tap on my shoulder.
Turning around, I am met with a pack of girls I recognize from a few years ago, sophomores now. "Hi? Can I help you?" I joke lightly, confused by the situation.
"Hey, yeah, sorry to bother you but you wouldn't happen to be the daughter of Katniss Everd-" she clears her throat, "I mean, Katniss Mellark and Peeta Mellark, would you?" The group of girls look nervous, and the three standing behind my interrogator look at me warily.
"Yeah actually, I am. How'd you know that? And why do you ask?" I question them, completely bewildered on why she would ask me about my parents. The girls exchange looks, neither one speaking up, before I decide I've had enough of this.
"Whatever, I need to get to homeroom so...bye." I scamper away from the awkward tension that had surrounded us, through no fault of my own might I add. Those girls were totally weird, asking about my parents, do I go around asking everyone about their parents, no, in fact, I don't do that, because it's strange as hell.
I never thought I would call a classroom a safe haven but as I walk through the doorway I feel myself relax. Let's just get this day over with.
xoxo
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