Chapter 5

Several conclusions

Luke and Rye looked at each other before reaching up and pulling on both of Katniss's hands.

"Mother?"

Katniss snapped out of it.

"A- A pleasure to meet you Mr. Mellark," she replied as calmly as she could with a hand held towards him.

Peeta could literally feel his blood boil within him. Realization after realization hit him like cold seawater crashing down on him wave after wave.

"What the hell is t-"

"My name is Katniss Everdeen. I believe this is the first time I've met with such a famous actor before," she added in an innocent tone, cutting him off.

Peeta's brow furrowed at hearing her say this, then he felt something tug on his pant leg.

"Don't be rude to mother," Rye whispered, pointing up at her held out hand.

Reluctantly and silently, Peeta took her hand and shook it, unable to say anything.

Katniss smiled at him before turning to Gale. "How about we grab something to eat? I believe the boys haven't had anything to eat yet due to their little detour," she said with a brow raised at the twin boys who were grinning.

"Of course! There's a restaurant no far from here, I think it'll be better to eat there than eat the unhealthy ones served here in the park," he said before turning to Peeta. "How about it Mr. Mellark? Would you care to join us? That is if you don't mind joining this average family," he added with a grin.

"Yes, you may join us if you want Mr. Mellark," Katniss said with a sweet smile.

Peeta, a frown still on his features, was still confused with the whole situation; he still couldn't say a word.

"He'll come!" Rye answered for him.

"Won't you?" Like added, looking at him.

XOXO

"What?" Glimmer said into her cell, a frown on her face. "Well, if you're sure… okay."

Frowning, she looked at the screen of her cell until Peeta's name disappeared as the call ended.

Ms. Byington?

"Yes?"

"Where do we put all these?" the man asked, pointing to a few boxes.

"Just put them in the truck please," she said with a smile before a frown appeared on her features again. 'Why is he so attached to those kids?' she thought. It was the first time Peeta had any emotional connection to anyone or anything for the past few years. Now it's happened again and in the same country no less.

"Don't worry… I'm just gonna grab a bite to eat with the twins and their family as thanks for helping me with the signing earlier. I'll meet you back at the hotel."

XOXO

"Excuse me, I have to use the ladies' room," Katniss said, getting up from her seat.

Watching her leave, Gale turned back to Peeta whom he had noticed had been frowning ever since they left the park.

"Are you alright?"

Peeta looked at him, a frown still on his face. "Yeah, I'm… just a bit tired from earlier," he lied, trying to put a smile on his face.

"Yeah, there were a lot of people…"

"… but it was really fun!"

That said, the twin boys started goofing off and doing all sort of poses on their seats.

"Now boys, don't make too much of a scene, we're trying to hide ourselves, remember?" Gale reminded, nodding at the people around the restaurant. They were seated on the large round table at the corner and positioning themselves so no one can properly see Peeta.

"Sorry!" they replied in unison but with grins on their faces before turning to their sister.

"Willow, you haven't met Mr. Mellark yet…"

"… he's very nice!"

The Katniss lookalike kept silent on her booster seat that was positioned in between Katniss and Gale.

"Sorry about Willow," Gale told him. "She's not really much of a talker compared to the boys."

Peeta looked at the child with a blank face, not sure what to make of her. Just looking at her made him as angry as when he first saw Katniss. She was just an innocent child but she looked too much like her mother, in fact she looked like her own mother's twin.

From the trip they made in Peeta's limo to the restaurant, and the time they spent waiting for a table and through the course of their meal, Peeta's come up with several conclusions about the entire family.

One, Luke and Rye were his sons.

Two, Katniss married Gale to give the kids a father.

Three, she gave birth to Willow, making her Gale's and her daughter.

Four, somehow, she's lost her memory about the past he and Katniss shared.

Or…

Five, she's developed some acting skills of her own through the years and is pretending she's forgotten all about him.

Peeta's fourth and fifth conclusions didn't really matter to him; neither did his second and third conclusions if only they didn't somehow involve his first conclusion.

But his first conclusion, he was damn sure it was true. He knew it within his heart and mind that Luke and Rye really were his and Katniss's flesh and blood. There was no question about it. The kids told him before that they were 5 years old, and his relationship with Katniss ended five years ago, but that didn't mean she couldn't have been pregnant whey they broke up. And the chances of Katniss getting pregnant at that time weren't an impossibility at all.

Knowing all that only made his hatred for Katniss double, and also made him hate Gale and their child Willow.

"Sorry I took so long."

"Are you alright?"

Everyone at the table, Peeta include, looked up at Katniss whose eyes were slightly red and puffy.

"I'm fine. I was washing my face, I just got soap in my eyes," she reasoned with a wave of her hand. "Anyway, shall we go? I mean, we can't keep Mr. Mellark with us all day."

"Can we ride with Peeta again?"

"We wanna ride in that fancy black car!"

Katniss looked at her boys with a stern look. "You can't have Mr. Mellark do everything you want for you boys."

"I don't mind," Peeta interrupted. "I can drop off Luke and Rye on my way back to the hotel."

An unsure looked crossed Katniss's feature at Peeta's statement, and the kind of look he was currently giving her made her look to Gale for help.

"That's fine," he agreed, making Katniss sigh. That wasn't the line she was expecting him to say. "But Willow should ride with us though," he added, looking at the little girl with a gentle smile, making her nod in silence.

"Perfect," Peeta said, trying no to sound so harsh.

XOXO

"Who would've thought, eh?" Gale started conversationally as they followed Peeta's limo out of the parking lot of the restaurant. "Your boys really are something Catnip, I mean, Mellark's obviously in close terms with them."

Katniss thought about that too, just how much do they know of each other?

"Is something wrong Katniss?" Sae asked from the back seat where she sat beside Willow.

"I- I'm fine, why?"

"You seem out of it today," she pointed out.

"No, it's nothing. I'm just worried that's all. We didn't get to finish Willow's check-up today," she said which is actually half true. They were supposed to be at the hospital for the entire day but had to cut it short to go to the park for the boys.

"It's okay," Gale said reassuringly. "We can always finish it tomorrow. Right Willow?" he asked, looking at the little girl through the rear-view mirror.

"Yeah. We can go back tomorrow mommy," Willow responded with a smile.

XOXO

"Boys," Peeta said, getting their attention from all their button- pushing.

Ever since they got back inside the limo, the twins have been touching things non- stop, pressing buttons that raised the mini- fridge from one of the seats, opening the roof, opening the small window that revealed the driver, and more.

It wasn't entirely annoying for Peeta; in fact, he was more entertained than annoyed. But he wanted to talk to them while he can.

"What is it?" they asked, only just noticing the serious look on the older man's face.

"About Willow-"

"Our sister, yes what about her?" they finished for him.

"Yes, your sister," he said through gritted teeth at the word.

"Are you okay?"

"You look a bit… mad," Rye said bluntly.

"It's nothing," he said unconvincingly, making the twins lift a brow each at him. "Anyways, yes, about her, are you close with her?"

"Yes, of course…"

"… she's our sister after all."

"What about the guy?"

"Gale?" they asked, making Peeta nod, willing himself not to punch the window nearest him at the sound of the man's name. No offense to him, he seemed like a nice guy, but the thought of him actually having a child with Katniss is enough for him to hate the man with every fiber of his being.

Not trusting himself to respond without the hint of anger in his voice, Peeta merely nodded.

"He's a nice guy…"

"… we trust him…"

"… we don't really trust other guys, like how we trust him…"

"… except for you of course, your different."

'Of course I am, I'm your father,' he thought in approval, although not the part when they said they trusted other man as much as they did with him. "So about your father…"

"Our dead father?" they cut off again, and yet again, Peeta willed himself not to go on a rampage inside the limo as they said this. He was really going to kill Katniss for all the shit she's been feeding into the boys' brains.

"Yes, about him. What do you know about him?"

The boys looked at each other with furrowed brows, looking like they were deep in each other's thoughts.

"We're only telling you this…"

"… because we like you…"

"… and because we trust you, so…"

"… don't say anything to our mom."

Brows raised at this statement, Peeta got curious. He nodded at them, indicating he swore not to tell her.

"Remember what we told you? She told us our father is dead…"

"… and that we don't believe her and that we think our father just left us."

Peeta nodded again, remembering when they had mentioned this to him in the convenience store just last week.

"Well, it's true we never believed our father was dead, we really did know it by our gut feeling…"

"… but we only found out that our father left us because of mother. You see, she talks in her sleep…"

"… we don't think she knows it though…"

"… but we hear sounds coming from her room sometimes…"

"… and we easily wake up from our sleep…"

"… so we always find her crying in her sleep…"

"… and saying things like 'I'm sorry'…"

"… and 'I can't believe you left'."

The twins fell silent after the confession, and looked over to Peeta who had a hard look on his face.

'She's sorry? Huh… yeah right,' he hissed in thought. 'And what the bloody hell is she thinking? She can't believe I left her? She's the one who left me first! Not the damned other way around!'

He was getting more furious at Katniss now even if she didn't intentionally say those words in her sleep, because she still did. And now his owns sons think he's the bad guy when it was their own mother who had run off without a word, not him.

"What're you gonna do if your real dad appears?" he asked before stopping himself.

This earned him concerned looks from the twins.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing," he muttered before the window revealing the driver slid down to an open by half.

"We're almost here Mr. Mellark!" he called out before sliding it close again.

Peeta looked out at the scenery outside. The address Katniss gave them led them to a suburban area. Where they really in Los Angeles?

"Where are we?"

Luke and Rye scooted over the window as well, looking out at the dark scene outside due to the overly tinted windows of the limo.

"This is the neighborhood we live in…"

"… we've lived here ever since we were born."

"Haven't you guys ever live in Kentucky?" he asked casually.

"No, why do you ask?"

'I guess she never went back,' Peeta thought, figuring Katniss must have never gone back to where both of them grew up. Now he can't help but wonder if Katniss ever hesitated from letting the boys go to the theme park in the first place. The day he found out about the event being held in Los Angeles, he was 100% against it and outright refused to go. But he's been in such a good mood lately from the great times he spend with the bows, and his thoughts were all on that outburst Glimmer made to the press for the last few days, he forgot all about his hesitations on going in the first place. "Nothing, just wondering."

"We're here!" the twins exclaimed before scrambling to their feet and heading towards the door.

"Take care you two," he said with a smile and a nod.

"Aren't you coming in?"

"No, I have things to take care of."

"Oh," they said with a small frown.

"How about we spend the day together tomorrow?" Peeta suggested with a grin.

"Where are we going?"

Thinking about some good places to go to for 5 year olds, Peeta deliberated. "How about the zoo? Or the park?"

Grinning at each other the twins then nodded in his direction.

"We've never gone to the zoo…"

"… or to the park."

"Never?" Peeta asked with a frown.

"No, mother's always busy…"

"… with work and with Willow."

Peeta knew that if he heard another word about Katniss's obvious favor for her other brat over the boys, he'd really lose it.

"To the park and to the zoo then!" he said, trying to plaster a big smile on his face.

"We have to ask mother though…"

"… it'll take some time to convince her."

"I'll talk to her," Peeta offered as he saw Gale's car pull up to a stop behind them.

"Great!" they said excitedly, before running out the door.

An irritated scowl spread across Peeta's features as he punched hard on the seat beside him, releasing all his pent up anger for the past few hours.

XOXO

"We're here," Gale announced in relief as he stopped in front of a neighbor's house since the limo stopped right in front of the house. "Do you want a piggy back ride Willow?" he asked with a grin.

Getting out of the car, Katniss was still deep within her own thoughts. She was at an utter loss of what to do now.

"Mom! Mom!"

She turned to her boys who were running towards her, and now hugging a leg each.

"Calm down boys," she said with a laugh at their overexcited faces.

"Peeta has something to tell you!" they said, pointing to the man who had just gotten out of the car in front of theirs.

Katniss watched as Peeta made his way towards them in a few, long strides.

"Tell her! Tell her!"

Peeta smiled down at the boys. "Don't worry, I will. You guys go in first. It looks like it's about to rain."

Everyone looked up at this and indeed the clouds overhead were growing thick and dark.

"Go on boys, I'll see you inside."

"See you later Peeta!" they boys said with a wink at him before following Sae and Gale who was giving a giggling Willow a piggy back ride into the house.

"What is it you wanted to tell me?" Katniss asked in a calm voice and a gentle smile, even though her inside were already doing front flips, back flips and all sort of flips from just looking at the handsome man in front of her.

"I want to take the boys out tomorrow," he said rather rudely, making it sound more like a statement of truth rather than a question of her approval.

"Excuse me?" she asked, perplexed at the tone he was using on her.

"You heard me," he barked, glaring down at her small form.

"I did Mr. Mellark, there's no need to say it in such a tone that's all," Katniss interrupted.

Peeta eyed her suspiciously, and Katniss knew all too well what that look entailed.

"Do you rememb-" he stopped as soon as she raised an open palm facing the sky.

"It's about to rain. I better get inside," she said abruptly. "If you wish to take the boys out tomorrow, please come by at 10 o'clock in the morning. Good day Mr. Mellark and thank you for your willingness to take my children back home."

Peeta frowned and watched her make her way into the small gate that held a small path beyond it, leading towards the front door of the average 2-story house. Holding his palm up, he tried to feel for any droplets and felt none.

'She's avoiding me,' he assumed before making his way back inside his limo.

Just as he shut the door to a close, heavy rain suddenly poured outside.

'Or not,' Peeta muttered, scratching the back of his head forcefully in annoyance.

Seconds ago he assumed his fifth conclusion, of Katniss only acting like she has no recollection of him, was true. But now, he was back to considering his fourth conclusion yet again.

'Could she really have forgotten everything that had happened to us five years ago?' he asked himself, getting angry and more annoyed. He hated the feeling of not knowing something that he's supposed to. 'What the hell happened five years ago?'

XOXO

So! Here's chapter five! I know some of you might actually have more questions after this chapter, but all I can tell you is keep reading jeje. For those who asked me what's the thing with Willow and Gale... you'll just have to wait, I'm sorry.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Comments and reviews are always welcome. You have no idea how happy they made me every time I read them.

DISCLAIMER.

As always, I don't own The Hunger Games nor the plot. They belong to Suzanne Collins and The Dreamer.. in that order.