Peeta tossed and turned all night long. He glanced at the clock and saw it read 3:22. Sighing, he pushed the blankets back and sat on the edge of the bed. Katniss smacked her lips and twisted onto her side and he glanced over his shoulder, watching her for a moment. He didn't want to disturb her sleep and he was clearly not going to get any more rest so he rose unsteadily to his feet and grabbed some clothes from the closet.

Yawning, he made his way down to the kitchen, running a hand through his messy curls. It was definitely time for a haircut but Katniss insisted she loved his hair long. Probably because she loved to tug on it when they were being intimate, he thought with a smirk.

Two batches of cookies, a batch of cheesebuns, two batches of muffins, and three loaves of bread later, Peeta was tired, aching, and sweaty but feeling accomplished. He had no idea what time his father would be here but he decided to take a quick shower so he would be ready.

As he towled his hair dry, he wandered the living room aimlessly. Why was his father so adamant on coming here? Would his mother come as well? Did he even want to see her? Did he even want to hear what they had to say?

"I'll never forgive her, Peet," he heard his brother's voice in his head. "I was right there with you and knowing your torture was because of her… I can't forgive her for that. You're my baby brother and my best friend in the world. You can hear her out if she tries to make peace. But I want nothing to do with her."

Peeta knew he couldn't change his brother's mind. He didn't know if he really wanted to. His father had pleaded for him to forgive her but all he had to do was remember the pain of his day to day life for the past two years and he had more than enough reason to say no.

A soft knock at the front door jolted him from his thoughts and he jogged to the front of the house. He flung the door open to see his father's smiling face.

"Hello Peeta."

"Hi Pops. You're looking well." Bran pulled his son into his arms and Peeta stiffened slightly, before returning the embrace.

"You look great. I hardly recognize the young man who led us to victory in the Capitol."

"Well, Katniss's love is healing me," he shrugged. "And life in 12 is pleasant. We're not starving and I don't have to be a Peacekeeper anymore. So yeah, I'm pretty happy."

"I'm glad. Oh my boy, how I've missed you."

"Missed you too, Pops. But I have to admit, I'm curious. What was so urgent that you couldn't say on the phone?" Bran inhaled sharply and looked around.

"Is Katniss home?"

"She's still asleep. It was a rough night for us, with our nightmares. We still have trouble sleeping sometimes. But you're avoiding the question."

"Sorry. Let's go for a walk." Peeta shrugged.

"Sure. We can go see Rye and Bing, if you want."

"Not… not just yet. I mean… let's talk first. If that's alright." Peeta's brows raised.

"...OK. Whatever you want." Bran followed his son out of the house and Peeta locked the door behind him.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Why don't you show me the meadow? You said the fence was torn down?"

"Yeah, people mostly stay away from the woods except for Katniss of course but the meadow is starting to bloom again. It's just a mass grave but the construction crews planted flowers and it's actually really pretty."

"Let's go there then." Peeta led the way and pointed out the sights as they walked through town. But Bran wasn't looking around or really listening. He kept his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the ground. Peeta glanced sideways at him, his brow furrowed. His father looked anxious and miserable. Not the way a father should look when he was seeing his sons for the first time in 6 months.

"Pops, what's going on?" Bran looked at his son, his mouth opening and closing.

'"Let's… let's wait to talk til we get to the meadow." Peeta watched his father trudge on, and followed him at a slow pace.


They walked in silence, Peeta no longer trying to make conversation. Whatever Bran wanted to talk about was clearly weighing heavily on his mind. When they finally came to the meadow, Bran gasped and froze.

Peeta had said it was a mass grave and it had been. But now it was covered in flowers. Petals blew in the wind as the trees moaned and swayed in the distance.

It was peaceful. Calm. Bran looked around and made his way further into the grass.

"I haven't been here in years," he spoke softly.

"A lot has changed," Peeta nodded. Bran looked so very far-away.

"I came here with Violet… many years ago."

"When you were engaged?" Bran shook his head, a sad smile on his face.

"After that."

"After… while you were with Mom?" Bran nodded.

"I never stopped loving Violet. I tried to love your mother, Peeta, I really did. But Violet was my world. She broke my heart and I still continued to love her. We met here in the meadow, one evening. She was crying about something that Ash had done. I don't remember.. I don't remember much except that I leaned in to kiss her. And I couldn't stop. And she didn't stop me. So we didn't stop. We just… we stayed together that night. The next morning, I returned home to your mother and your brothers and you. I tried to move on with life, with your mother. I didn't see Violet for a long time after that. When I did see her again, she was holding a little girl with blonde curls. Eyes just like yours. Your mother saw it too. And in that moment, I knew your mother would never forgive me. I had doomed her to a life of misery." Peeta gaped at his father.

"Prim," he finally spoke, his voice trembling. "Prim is my sister?" Bran sighed heavily and hung his head.

"But…" Peeta's mind raced. His wife's sister… the sister she had sacrificed so much for… was actually his half-sister.

"Oh my god." Bran kicked a pebble and turned back to face his son.

"How could you just watch her starve to death," his voice shook with rage. "She almost died! She would have died if not for Katniss! You coward, you just sat there and watched her suffer."

"I was a coward," Bran nodded. "I'm still a coward. I didn't know how to tell you. I've struggled for months on how I should tell you." Peeta's eyes widened.

"She knows, doesn't she? That's why you freaked out when I said she's coming to visit. You knew Prim would tell me so that's why you finally decided to tell me the truth!"

"Peeta–"

"You are fucking unbelievable! You have a kid with Violet, you DON'T help her at ALL, you let ALL of your children SUFFER and when you finally have a chance to be with the woman you truly love, you go BACK to the woman who made you miserable? What the FUCK, Dad?"

"It's not that simple," Bran shook his head, looking miserable.

"Yes it is. You returned to her out of guilt. You don't love Mom. You don't even like her. And you know she did terrible things. But you feel guilty because you, how did you put it, doomed her to a life of misery. So you figure, what the hell, let's both be miserable! That's really fucked up, Dad. For everyone involved!"

"So what am I supposed to do? Tell Violet I love her? Leave your mother to be unhappy while I happily move on with the woman I turned my back on?"

"You staying with Mom and just tolerating her is making her unhappy! Maybe she could move on and find someone else if you leave her! And Violet loves you! You led her on in the Capitol and now she's depressed as hell too. You are literally fucking with peoples' lives here, Dad. And what about Katniss, huh? When were you and Violet going to tell her all of this?"

"We agreed that I would tell you and she would tell Katniss. Obviously, it has taken both of us a long time. I imagine Primrose is just irritated with both of us."

"That's an understatement. You pissed Prim off! Both of you. You're being cowards by keeping it to yourselves. Katniss is going to flip her shit when she hears this and you know it! You and Violet should have been here, telling both of us together!"

"Yes, we should have. But she said she didn't want to see me again until I did the right thing." Peeta scoffed.

"Peeta, I wanted to help them. I tried. But it would have been more dangerous for everyone if I had claimed Prim as my daughter. Ash had been executed as a traitor. You and your brothers would have been in danger if I had tried to reach out to Violet. We were being watched. All of us."

"So you just let an eleven year old girl go into the woods to hunt by herself?!" Peeta's eyes grew even wider and he shook his head.

"Wait a second. You knew he was executed as a traitor?"

"Violet and I saw the Capitol reports."

"Yeah but you knew before that… didn't you?" Bran was silent.

"Fucking hell, Dad, this can't get much worse so just tell me, will you?"

"Your uncles saw me with Violet. They were the ones who reported Ash." Peeta's jaw dropped.

"Oh my god… that was because of you? They didn't care about the rebellion, they just wanted revenge?!"

"Yes. Margaret went to her brothers after she saw Prim and they concocted a plan. Margaret tried to back out of it and asked for them to drop it but they had already contacted the Capitol. Your mother sent messages to Ash to warn him and the Capitol found out. They threatened to punish her, unless–"

"She sold me to them," Peeta spat.

"She was trying to save you, my boy. They threatened to burn down the bakery and they wanted to take Bing but she pleaded for them to spare him. She never thought they would take you at such a young age so she agreed to let them have you, thinking she would have time to figure a way to save you."

"That worked out great, didn't it," Peeta snarled. "You are making excuses for a woman who SOLD her CHILD into SLAVERY. I know plenty of women who are mothers. And they would DIE for their children. But she watched me being tossed into a truck and the next time she saw me, she looked down at me like I was something on the bottom of her shoes. Fuck your excuses, Dad. Fuck her excuses. Rye's right… I can't ever forgive her for this. And if you are going to keep asking me to forgive and forget, I think you need to go back to 13 right now."

"Peeta," Bran pleaded, reaching out toward him. "Please. You're my son. My baby. I've never done right by you but I love you and just want to see you happy."

"I AM happy. I'm happy with Katniss. I'm happy with our life here in 12. But that doesn't mean I don't have nightmares! That I don't still feel the pain. The scars may be gone, Dad, but I can still remember the feel of a whip and the needle and the tracker-jackers. I was forced to do horrific things and I have to live with that everyday. I beat my own brother, I was ordered to kill the love of my life, I believed I was married to a woman whose husband had been MURDERED, I was flogged by my own commander and nearly died from it. Do I need to keep going, Dad? Do these sound like things that I can just forget about?"

"You think I forgot all about you? You think I didn't cry alone at night, wondering where you were and if you were alright. You think I wasn't furious with Margaret when she told me she was responsible for it?"

"Were you?"

"Of course I was! You're my SON. If I had known then… Peeta, if I had known then, I swear I would have offered myself in return. I wouldn't have let the Capitol take you." Peeta turned away and shook his head.

"You couldn't even stop Mom from hitting me. You saw the bruises and just told me the pain would fade eventually. You honestly expect me to believe that you would have stood up to the CAPITOL? To The PRESIDENT?"

"I don't care if you believe me. Margaret said when they first took you, it was after I was asleep. She knew I would fight for you."

"And did you fight for me when I was taken that night? When Rye was taken? You were awake then. What did you do?" Bran was silent and Peeta nodded.

"I know they threatened to burn down the bakery with you all inside. I know what they threatened you with. But don't stand here and lie to my face and tell me you would have protected me if you had known. You may not have known then what Mom did but you know now and you still go back to her. That's cowardly. Be a man, Dad. Fucking FACE what you've done and move on! With Violet if you still want, or just be alone! Just stop torturing yourself for what you did in the past. It's not doing anyone any good."

"Listen to yourself, Peeta," his father said gently. "Hear yourself. You're torturing yourself too. For things that were beyond your control. Don't you think it's time to face them and move on yourself?" Peeta sucked in a breath and glared at him.

"I have moved on. With the love of my life. I said I have to live with those things everyday but I don't let them control me. I don't let the pain dictate my life. With Katniss, it's easier. I can live with the pain and still learn how to be happy. If you stay with Mom, neither of you will ever be happy again. And I need you to think about that really carefully. If you stay with Mom… you'll likely never meet your grandchild." Bran stared and his eyes widened.

"Katniss is-"

"Not yet," Peeta shook his head. "But we're going to start trying. And I don't think I want Mom to be part of his or her life. That may be awful to say but I'm not sorry for it. And I know Katniss will support me in whatever I decide but I also know she doesn't secretly doesn't want it either. Talking to Rye… Mom probably won't see his child either. He and Madge hate her for what she's done. I'm sorry to tell you this Dad but if you stay with her, your family will be split apart. If you leave her, you still have a chance to be a part of your sons' lives."

"That's a terrible spot to put me in, Peeta."

"You put yourself in that spot, Dad," Peeta shrugged. "I'm just telling you how it is. My therapist in the Capitol keeps telling me to be more honest and open about what I want. He says I don't need to keep it inside anymore. I want you in my life, Dad, I do. But not her. Not anymore."

"Peeta–"

"Look, we can stand out here arguing about this or we can go see your other sons you haven't seen in a long time. I didn't tell them you were planning to visit so I hope they're still at home." Without waiting for an answer, Peeta turned in the direction of town and started walking, Bran not too far behind.

"What do you boys do during the day? Are you working?"

"We've been helping with the construction crews for what feels like forever. Bing likes to be at home with Kisra and April has actually started to talk about starting a dress shop. She really enjoys making clothes. Rye and Madge are of course getting ready for their little one so Rye makes sure to be home early to take care of Madge. Which infuriates her, of course, but he dotes on her all day. Me, I stay home and bake most days, and we have been asked if we are going to go into business, Katniss and me. She hunts and I bake. Life is pretty simple, really, but I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Did you and Katniss watch any of the trial?"

"Haymitch brought over his holo so we could watch some of it. I guess the only reason they decided to drop Katniss's charges was because of what Coin did to me."

"I think it was more about what she said. How she threatened to put you through that again and again while exploiting both of you. President Paylor defended

Katniss very strongly and the team from District 13 couldn't really argue with it."

"Yet Katniss is still exiled," Peeta said through gritted teeth. "Her travel ban is still in place so we can't go see Finnick and Annie, or to the Capitol to see Prim. It's bullshit."

"It's only been six months, Peeta. Give it time. President Paylor is making some great changes to the country and she will help Katniss when she can."

"I guess I can't really complain. She saved Katniss's life. She sent us here together. I know she did what she could. It would just be nice to move around the districts, now that we can actually do that. Johanna has been here twice to visit, although I don't think we were the main reason for visiting 12." At Bran's questioning look, Peeta grinned.

"She and Gale are officially dating. Gale was bringing Vick and Posy back home, and laid Rory to rest here too. Gale didn't want him to be buried in the Capitol, so we had a small service here. Johanna wouldn't let go of Gale's hand."

"Did Prim attend?" Peeta sighed.

"She said it was too hard. She wants to see his grave when she comes to visit but she couldn't bring herself to come to the service. I think they were more serious than anyone realized. Katniss said Prim called her crying because she thought she was pregnant. It was a false alarm but… well, his death hit her pretty hard." Bran was silent. Hearing that his teenage daughter had a pregnancy scare made his head spin. He wondered if Violet knew.

"You said you and Katniss are trying for a baby?"

"I mean, we just started talking about it but I think we're both ready. Like I said, the nightmares come and go but I think those will be with us forever. I have waited years to start a family with Katniss and now that I finally can, I mean, I can't wait to. I want a little girl that looks just like her." Bran's lips curved upwards.

"Does Katniss know that?"

"We haven't… I mean, we haven't really discussed it in detail. Just that we want to try. We haven't started, you know, thinking of names or anything."

"Flowers and bread. It will be interesting to see what you choose."

"I think Rye will break away from the bread tradition," Peeta turned down the pathway toward Victor's Village. "He and Madge have a few names picked out and they surprised all of us."

"Oh? What are they?"

"If it's a girl, they want Maude, Reese, or Etta. If it's a boy, they want to name him Jett."

"Jett is a strong name. How far along is she?"

"I'm not certain although I know she doesn't have far to go. She's getting pretty big." He pushed open the gate and held it open for his father.

"Looks like they haven't left the house yet. Bing! Rye! Look who's here!"

"Holy shit," Rye called back, as he shielded his eyes from the sun. "Dad?"

Bran pulled each of his boys in for a tight hug, clapping them on the back. After twenty minutes of standing in the yard, Madge came out to tell them to come inside and have something to drink. Bran watched as Rye tried to make his wife sit down but Madge was having none of it. She insisted on serving drinks and a tray of snacks to go with it. Bran chuckled as Madge finally sat, propping her legs up on the ottoman.

"Peeta told me the names you're thinking of. Good, strong names, all of them."

"Oh, we added one this morning," Madge said with a smug smile. "Juniper."

"Which is a plant," Rye said, shooting his brothers and father a look. "We should leave that name to Katniss and Peeta."

"We won't name our daughter Juniper. The name's all yours, Rye," Peeta smirked and Rye shot him a withering look.

"I like it! Katniss says it's a tree with lots of uses and it symbolizes protection."

"But Etta means power! We could have a powerful little queen."

"She's not even here yet and you're fighting over her name," Bing shook his head with a chuckle.

"Hey, remember, we have a very high chance of it being a boy," Rye held up his hand.

"True. The Mellarks have been all boys for… damn, how many generations?"

"Too many to count. Sorry Madge, you'll most likely have a Jett rather than a Juniper." Madge shrugged and leaned back into the cushion.

"We'll see," she said, closing her eyes.

"So Dad, what brings you to 12?"

"I wanted to see my sons," Bran shrugged and Peeta's lips tightened as he sipped from his glass. Bing and Rye glanced from Bran to Peeta back to Bran but only nodded.

"Mom didn't want to make the trip?"

"Your mother knew she wouldn't be… well received in 12."

"You mean she knew that Katniss would put an arrow through her eye," Rye chortled.

"Rye!"

"What? I told you, Bing, I'm not censoring myself anymore. I have no desire to see her or speak to her. What she did to Peeta is unforgivable."

"Hear hear," Madge spoke up, her eyes still closed. Peeta flushed pink and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Anyway, enough about Mom. Bing, why don't you tell Dad about April's sewing business?" While Bing chatted with his father. Rye shot Peeta a questioning look but Peeta merely shook his head. Later, his eyes said.

He was going to have to find a way to tell Katniss what he had learned. Waiting for Prim wasn't an option, since it was still several weeks away. Still, he didn't think he was the best person to tell her. Really, it should be her mother but he knew that wasn't likely. And Bran wasn't the right person to do it either.

Was he?

His mind raced as he tuned out his family's conversation. He knew Katniss would be furious but he couldn't keep it from her. They shared everything. They had decided a long time ago there should be no secrets between them.

So as much as he didn't want to, he would have to tell his wife that they shared a sister. He only hoped she wouldn't shoot the messenger. Maybe he would hide her bow, just to be safe.