Hey everyone! This is a filler and it skips a big chunk of time, but there's some serious Gale and Amelia vs. Katniss drama! I don't go into much detail because that huge stuff goes on later in the story :) You just wait ;p

Enjoy and review!

When I wake up the next morning, Peeta's not in bed. I get up quickly and go to the kitchen. I see he left a note.

Good morning! Went into town to get supplies for breakfast. Be back soon.

Love,

Peeta

I smile and go get dressed. I re-braid my hair, brush my teeth, apply deodorant, and I put on lotion that Prim got for me years ago. She'd traded an entire month's worth of Lady's milk for it and I've used it maybe twice. But now, since I have a boyfriend, I can use it more frequently.

When I return to the kitchen, Peeta's back with eggs, bread, and bacon. "Hey," he says, setting his supplies down on the counter and kissing me quickly. "I didn't know you were up."

"You must wake up really early," I point out. It's barely seven in the morning and he's been out and back already.

"I'm up at four every morning for the bakery," Peeta says. "I slept in till five forty five this morning."

"Yeah, that's what I call sleeping in," I laugh.

"Perks of being the town baker," he says, turning on the stove. He scrambles some eggs and makes the bread into toast. The bacon sizzles on a griddle he must've brought from the bakery. It takes him fifteen minutes to make the entire meal. He divides the eggs onto two plates, puts two pieces of bacon on each plate, and then puts two pieces of toast, cut in half, on each plate. "Bon appetite," he says when he sets one plate in front of me.

The food is amazing. "You should make me breakfast every morning," I tease.

"I'd be happy to," he says. "I'm sure Laurel likes eggs, right?"

"She loves them," I reply.

"Do you still want me out of here by two?" he asks.

I nod. "But just so Gale doesn't see you. Laurel would love to see you."

He smiles. "She's really special, Katniss," he says. "You and Gale are so lucky to have something like her."

I look at my plate uncomfortably. How is it that Peeta, who's spent all of five hours with Laurel in her entire life, knows how special she is, but Gale can't see it? Gale spends every weekend with her. I know that Peeta is a better man than Gale; I've known that my entire life. But I know Peeta would be a good father to Laurel, if we ever made it to . . . marriage.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

I shake my head. "You didn't," I insist. "It's just . . . it's nothing."

"It's not nothing," he says. "What's wrong?"

I sigh. "It's just that you seem to like Laurel more than Gale does," I admit. "And you like Laurel a hell of a lot more than Amelia does."

"What do you mean?" Peeta asks.

"Gale doesn't love Laurel as much as I do," I say. "Or, honestly, as much as you do."

Peeta looks at me, surprised. "He's her father," he says at last. "He should love her. She's a beautiful, amazing girl."

"I know he should, but he doesn't," I say. "I mean, I don't know that. But he doesn't act like it."

"Why don't you fight for full custody?" he asks.

"Because she's his daughter, too," I say. "I can't take his daughter away from him."

"Technically, you can," Peeta says.

"But it wouldn't be right," I reply.

"It's not right that he doesn't love his daughter," Peeta says. "It's not right that he married a woman that doesn't even like his child."

"I know all that, Peeta," I say. "But it wouldn't be fair to Laurel if she didn't have a father. I know what that's like. I don't want her to go through that."

He looks down at the table, defeated. "She's such an amazing little girl," he says. "How does Gale not see it?"

"I don't know," I shrug. "But it pisses me off."

"Pisses me off, too," Peeta says. "I'd never be like that, you know. Doesn't matter who the mother is, I'd love my child more than anything."

I smile. I can only imagine how good of a father Peeta would be. Based on the way he is with Laurel, a child he barely knows. But I already knew that he'd be a good father – if I had any inkling of a doubt in my mind that the person I was dating wouldn't be a good stepfather to my baby, I wouldn't date him. That's another difference between Gale and I – I would never marry someone like Amelia.

"I know you wouldn't," I say.

Time passes quickly. Before I know it, it's November and I've been dating Peeta for over four months now. Amelia had given birth to Laurel's half-brother, Gale Junior, just two months ago. Laurel likes him well enough, but she rarely sees him nowadays. For the first couple of weeks after Gale Jr. was born, Laurel just stayed with me. It was supposed to be the first couple weeks, anyway. After two weeks, she spent a Saturday with Gale, Amelia, and the baby before Gale brought her home, saying the 'crying was irritating her.' Laurel told me that it really didn't bug her.

The next week, I'd gone over and tried to drop her off, but Amelia said, and I quote, to 'never bring that little son of a bitch back to her home again' and then slammed the door in my face. Gale came running out, trying to get me to let Laurel stay, but obviously I didn't let her. She hasn't stayed with Gale since. I've put my application for full custody in at the courthouse. Peeta has been very supportive of the entire situation. In fact, I had a hard time keeping him from beating the living crap out of Gale when I told him the story.

We spend almost every meal with Peeta. Laurel adores him – once, recently, she called him 'daddy' on accident. He didn't mind; it actually made him smile. And the thought of Laurel calling Peeta 'daddy' didn't frighten me as much as I thought it would've. It's now late November, almost a week from Thanksgiving. Peeta plans on celebrating the day with Laurel, Prim, my mother, and I. He says that his family doesn't do holidays together anymore, now that Dave and Mikal, his older brothers, have wives and his parents have moved to District 4. I caught a wild turkey the day before and Peeta was keeping it in the freezer of the bakery so we could eat it. It was going to be the first Thanksgiving that my family and I would actually have a feast.

"Hey, ladies!" Peeta calls when he walks in one night. He always comes over after he closes the bakery. Laurel runs to greet him at the door.

"Peeta!" she shouts. "Hi!"

"Hey, Laurel!" he says. "How are you?"

"I'm good," she says. "You?"

"I'm great," he says. He's holding her when they walk into the living room. "Hey, Katniss," he says. He sits down on the couch beside me and kisses me. "What're we watching?"

"The news," I say.

"Anything exciting happen today?"

"Does anything exciting ever happen?" I ask.

He laughs. "Touche."

"Mommy, can we eat?" Laurel asks. "I'm hungry."

"You could've eaten without me," Peeta says.

"That would've been rude," I say. "And anyway. You're cooking."

He laughs. "Is that how it is, then? I cook your meals? What do I get out of this?"

I raise my eyebrows at him and he laughs. Lately, we'd been getting much more . . . physical with each other. I'd seen him naked twice – once, on accident, and the second time, I'd actually helped him take the clothes off. The first time, I'd stayed over at his place while Laurel stayed with my mother and Prim. We'd shared the bed and I accidentally walked in on him in the bathroom. It was an honest mistake, but embarrassing nonetheless.

The second time, however, had been on our four month anniversary, just three weeks ago. Laurel had stayed at my mother and Prim's, and I'd stayed over at Peeta's. We both got caught in the moment and we ended up completing what they call 'oral sex.' And oddly, when I woke up the next morning, I didn't regret it. In fact, I was happy about it. It was my first sexual relation since I was seventeen. That was almost four years ago.

While Peeta's making dinner, Laurel draws Peeta and picture and I watch. My artistic skills are nothing to be desired, and Gale's aren't either. But Laurel's already better than me, at almost three years old. Peeta's worked with her a bit on her drawing – he's ridiculously talented. When she shows him, he gets very excited and promises to put it on his fridge. And I know he will – every time I'm over at his place, each picture Laurel's ever given him is on there.

Peeta and I do the dishes. I look out the window as I do them and I'm surprised to see that snow is falling at a ridiculous rate. Peeta notices, too. "Looks like I might be snowed in tonight," he says. "Mind if I stay?"

"If you have to," I tease and he rolls his eyes.

"I'll keep you warm," he says.

"Oh, shit," I say. "Thanks for reminding me."

"Um, you're welcome," he says. "Reminding you of what?"

"We have one space heater and it always goes in Laurel's room, but it takes forever to heat up," I tell him. "If I want it to be heated by the time she goes to bed, I'm going to have to start it now."

"Go," he says. "I'll finish these."

I set up the space heater and Peeta finishes the dishes. Laurel goes to bed not long after and Peeta and I are left alone. "She's so cool," Peeta mumbles as we're sitting on the couch. One of his arms is around my neck and the other is slung around my waist. My legs are intertwined with his and my head is resting on his chest.

"Yes, but if she walks in on us right now, she'll be scarred for life," I say. He laughs and pulls me closer.

"It's cold in here," he points out.

"It's slightly better in the bedroom," I say. "I'm sorry you're stuck here."

"You're sorry?" he asks incredulously. "I'm happy it snowed. I love it here."

I smile. "You're very sweet."

"Hey, Katniss?" he says. I turn my head to look at him. He looks me in the eyes for a moment before saying, "I love you."

I blush and smile. He hasn't said 'I love you' since he admitted his feelings for me when we first got together. "You don't have to say it back," he says. "I just need you to know that."

"Hey, Peeta?" I say. He raises his eyebrows. "I love you, too."