Chapter 2: A Hurried Wedding and Toasting

I stare into the grimy panes of the mirror as Mother finishes adjusting the veil to the family wedding dress, our one heirloom. It is a beautiful piece of clothing, the nicest that we own, as should it be – this is Primrose's and my inheritance. It is apparently tradition for Merchant mothers to pass down their wedding dress to their daughters, but Mother stole this, our grandmother's bridal gown, when she ran off to the Seam to elope with my daddy. Someday, Prim will wear the article when she gets married.

Mother now steps back to admire her handiwork. "Now you look beautiful too," she murmurs softly.

"I wish I looked like you," Prim mutters from the loveseat.

I turn and flit back to her, kissing her face. "Oh, no…. I wish I looked like you, Little Duck!"

"Are you really getting married?" Prim's eyes are shining, and she even lets out a romantic sigh. "To Peeta Mellark?"

I smile, flushing. "Well…. yes. I suppose I am. If he'll have me."

Prim giggles. "He'll have you! I've seen the way you look at each other. I know you've been in love forever!"

My head swims. Was I such a fool that my sister could see what I couldn't? That I loved and lusted for this man who is soon to be my husband, going against my own principles? I can only smile, standing up so my bridal skirts no longer fan out.

"Well…. then, let's go get me hitched, why don't we?" Looping my arm through hers, I allow Primrose and Mother to escort me across the Seam and into Town to the Justice Building. My eyes and my heart pine as we pass by the Bakery, but I soon wince when I can clearly hear shouting:

"I FORBID IT!" That's the Baker's Witch of a wife, Peeta's mother. Has he told her? Has he told her of his intent to marry me? To take me as his bride, his wife? In our stolen moments and kisses alone together at the back loading dock lo these many weeks, Peeta has promised he will tell his mother of our intent to wed.

"Don't worry, Katty, I won't ask for her blessing. Only her acceptance. I will stand there with you in the District Clerk's office."

Mother and Prim sequester me in the cloister just off the District Clerk's office. When couples go to marry in District 12, they must sign a marriage license in the presence of the clerk and the district Justice of the Peace so that they may be declared married as husband and wife in the eyes of the law. It is several minutes before the District Clerk comes to fetch us.

"We are ready for you now, Miss Everdeen."

With Mother and Prim escorting me, I enter the tiny office. I promptly lose my breath when I see Peeta, handsome in a pressed dress shirt and slacks. He is gazing at me as though I am radiant as the sun. Standing before him, we join hands as the Justice of the Peace blesses us:

"Katniss Magenta Everdeen, do you take this man, Peeta Joseph Mellark, to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," I murmur, stunned that I could proclaim so openly and without reserve.

"Peeta Joseph Mellark, do you take this woman, Katniss Magenta Everdeen, to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," Peeta is beaming.

"Will both of you sign here, please?" We approach the desk where the District Clerk is now directing us to sign the marriage license. I take a deep breath as I affix my signature to the document. I stare down at the new name I have taken, my married name: Katniss Everdeen Mellark.

"Then I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss," the Justice of the Peace says. I smile shyly as Peeta takes me in his arms, and when he kisses me, I melt into it instantly.

"I love you!" I whisper along the seam of his lips, my voice strangely hoarse, and I realize it is because I am crying from happiness. "I love my husband…"

There is one more thing that must be done. The District Clerk now hands us deed papers. "Here is the assignment to your new house in the Seam: 331 Oberlin Road. Blessings on you both."

I laugh as Prim runs up and hugs me around the middle, my baby sister chittering to me with excitement, and I kneel before her, my bridal skirts fanning out, to kiss her cheek. Then, arm in arm with my…. with my husband, we leave the Justice Building together, striding back to our new home in the Seam. My delirious happiness only dims when, as we pass by the Bakery, I see a pile of things stacked together on the front porch.

I feel my husband tense next to me, his face now an unreadable mask, and I squeeze his arm gently, curling into him for support. Merchants marrying Seam is just as rare as it was in my parents' day, and the few cases I know of have been met with disownment. My mother was disowned by her family when she and Daddy Toasted the bread. But I didn't think even the likes of Peeta's mother would… My heart aches for the man I love, the man I married.

I am shocked when Peeta and I arrive at our new home to find Greasy Sae, half the Hob, and even Gale waiting at our front door. Cheers erupt when they see us, the happy couple, and I bashfully hide my aflame face in Peeta's shirt. I am the picture of a blushing bride, luminescent, radiant, and Peeta's gaze of adoration only further warms me.

I let out a surprised squeal as Peeta suddenly sweeps me off my feet and carries me, bridal-style, across the threshold of our new home. Behind us, Mother and Prim lead our neighbors in the traditional District 12 wedding song:

"May your house be a palace, and your hearts and hearth never grow dark…"

The moment Peeta sets me down, he and I are separated. Mother and Prim hustle me upstairs to change me out of my wedding dress and into my blue Reaping dress. The next part of the marriage ceremony is, after all, the most important.

Descending the stair minutes later, I come floating into the firelight where Peeta is just stoking the flames in our new hearth. Taking the poker, he sticks two pieces of bread on the tip and roasts both carefully over the open flames. He does it expertly, the way only a Baker's son could. Drawing the poker back, my husband removes the pieces of bread and we share it, feeding each other a piece. No one in Twelve feels truly married without the customary Toasting.

I feel Peeta's arms encircle my waist and pull me close. I hold back for only a moment, feeling shy and a little scared of the unknown, yet willing to risk my heart and go back on my chastity vows to take these new ones of marriage. My grey eyes solemn and smoldering in the firelight, tilting my head, I permit my husband to kiss me. The moment our lips touch, I deepen the embrace, my lashes drooping as my eyes flutter closed. My lips part, fall open like the petals of a flower bursting into full bloom, to greet his tongue eagerly. "Mmmmmhmmmmm….."

I feel my feet leave the ground as Peeta holds me close, prolonging our wedding kiss as Prim, Mother and all my loved ones burst into applause. I am floating, and don't know if I ever want to come down again…