Katniss felt a finger run down her arm, leaving gooseflesh in its place that had nothing to do with the cold, bitter winter winds that rocked the trees back and forth outside her window. She caught Peeta's finger before it could trail down her arm again, and kissed it, scooting her body back until she was right beside him, feeling the steady beating of his heart against her back. His arm automatically wrapped around her, like holding her close was the most natural thing in the world, and Katniss idly wondered about the time and whether or not her sister was in the room.

When she asked, Peeta rubbed her arm and sniffed at her hair unabashedly before answering her. "It's past one in the afternoon," he said, chuckling, as always, at her ability to sleep well into the afternoon. Peeta never could – he was an early bird. "And I drove Prim over to Rory's when I got here."

Katniss nodded, content. She had been off from school for the past week for winter break, but had spent each day of the week rising to get to work before the sun had even managed to creep up over the horizon. She had the next four days off and she intended to sleep through all, if not most of her mornings.

She waited a few minutes, until the initial grogginess that inevitably found its way to her every morning had passed before turning to Peeta, making a pillow out of his arm before tangling her legs with his, mooching off of his warmth. Somehow, while her toes and fingers stayed perpetually cold, his body always radiated a warmth that she loved.

His eyes were closed, his face still and angelic, but she knew he was awake by the way his hand continuously drew abstract patterns on her back, leaving an odd trail of shivers and warmth in their wake.

Pulling the end of her braid from under her head, she feathered the wisps of hair against his nose, holding back a snort of laughter when his face contorted in an expression halfway between annoyance and laughter. He pulled her braid free from her fingers as she leaned down to kiss him, and tugged at the hair-tie, weaving his fingers through the twist until her dark hair fell in a messy halo around him. Peeta always had this thing about seeing her hairs sans her signature braid, but she rarely let him – it had been a while since she'd last seen him, at least three weeks, and she didn't quite feel like stopping him this time.

She leaned into him further as his fingers worked softly across her scalp, massaging her.

"How was orientation?" she asked a few minutes later, her eyes drooping with sleep again, his warm touch making her lazy.

Just as Katniss had known he would, Peeta had received his acceptance letter from The Bern Institute of Art late in October, and was set to start attending in just a few short weeks.

Peeta's small smile broadened. "It went really well! It's amazing there – the classes and the professors are all amazing. But, I still think my favorite part is getting to be just twenty minutes from you."

Katniss smiled. She used to feel guilty when Peeta said sweet, endearing things like that to her – not because she didn't feel the same way because she did. Rather, it was because she simply didn't know how to reciprocate. Try as she might, she still couldn't do much more than holding Peeta's hand in public without feeling uncomfortable. Not to mention, words had always been a weak point for her.

But then, she realized, she didn't have to reciprocate. She knew how she felt. Peeta knew how she felt. In the end, that was all that mattered anyway.

She allowed herself another few minutes wrapped in Peeta, embraced, cocooned in the warmth of her boyfriend and her blankets before forcing herself to pull her legs to the side of the bed, hauling her body up.

Peeta made a whining noise of disapproval, but when she reminded him of the time, he followed her lead, running a hand through his unruly curls as he rose. She walked around her small bed that they had managed to cuddle in, and rose on her tip-toes once more to kiss Peeta, tugging at the strands of his hair that skimmed the nape of his neck in the process.

"You need a haircut," she told him, kissing the tip of his ear before trekking to the other side of her room, collecting her clothes before heading into the shower.

When she walked out twenty minutes later, clad in a red flannel shirt that she knew both her sister and Johanna would approve of and her usual jeans and converse, she found her bed already made up, a delicious smell wafting through her small house.

She padded down the hallway, the wood under her feet creaking with each step. She passed her mother's room – the door was open, her bed was made. She was already at work. Katniss had realized, after coming back from Cedar Point, that although some things could change – people could grow, they could change, they could become better, like she did – some people simply couldn't. Some couldn't change, couldn't overcome the grief that swallowed their life. Her mother was one of those people, and Katniss was beginning to understand that maybe her mother couldn't even help herself anymore. She simply didn't have it in her. Katniss was starting to not begrudge her for that – but it was a long road, and Katniss had just started the journey.

She walked into the kitchen, the smell of something sweet leaving her stomach rumbling with hunger. If Peeta noticed the violent, audible churns of her stomach, he didn't show it. He was used to it, Katniss thought. She was pretty much always hungry and he'd seen her devour a plate of cheese-buns the last time he visited, almost all by herself.

She crept up behind him, loving the way his tall frame looked in her tiny kitchen. He had to bend down to keep himself from hitting the rusting range hood that hovered over the stove.

Her hand rested between his shoulder blades as she peeked over his shoulder, trying to get a glimpse at her breakfast, but he shifted his shoulders, effectively blocking her view.

"You know the rule," he said, a chuckle in her voice and she grumbled as she walked back to her seat, grabbing juice from the fridge as she went.

It still amazed her, every time she opened her fridge, how you could find trust and stability and love in the most unexpected people. Her fridge now often was stocked completely, holding more food than Katniss had seen in it since her father died, and she had Haymitch to thank for it.

It had surprised her, when her uncle had offered to drive the girls home at the end of their summer together. It had surprised her even more, though, was the look of outrage as he marched through the house, inspecting every little bit – including their kitchen. A short few days later, a check came in the mail from Haymitch, covering the cost of enough groceries for at least three months.

When Katniss called him, telling him that she couldn't, she really couldn't accept his money, he told her she had no choice in this. It wasn't for her sweetheart, it was for Prim. And Katniss knew she couldn't deny her sister that.

As the last of apple juice made its way down her throat, Peeta placed a plate in front of her, scrambled eggs, strawberry pancakes and hashed potatoes. Her mouth salivated at just the sight. A second later, he placed a cupcake in front of her, a small candle lit in the middle.

She forked a bite of pancakes into her mouth before looking up at him, her eyebrow quirked.

Peeta looked sheepish as he nervously rubbed his neck, sitting down in the chair next to her.

"Happy four months."

She rolled her eyes at him, though she couldn't hide the smile stretching wide across her lips even if she tried. Abandoning her pancakes and eggs, she picked up the cupcake and swiped her finger along the icing before bringing it to Peeta's cheek, leaving a sticky white trail on his skin.

"You're such a cheeseball." She laughed, kissing him before blowing out the candle and pulling it out, her tongue diving into the vanilla frosting. She hummed a second later, the cream frosting all but melting on her tongue. "This is good!"

Peeta laughed, kissing the corner of her mouth, his tongue swirling around what she assumed was frosting that had smeared on her face. "And I should eat myself since you called me a cheeseball."

Her eyebrows shot up as she put a hand in front of the cupcake, pretending to steal it from his prying fingers, telling him that he wouldn't.

He relented; no, he wouldn't, and stood from his chair, his keys jingling loudly in his pocket. "Where are your and Prim's bags? I'm gonna load 'em into the car."

"In our room," she told him, but before he could start down the hall, her fingers caught his, a sheepish smile on her face as she asked for a kiss.

He laughed, leaning down as he obliged, his lips still a wonderful kind of sticky from the icing.

The ride to Gale's is a short one, not even a full ten minutes, but it takes almost twice as long to get Gale and Prim into the car, and somehow, it's Peeta who's to blame.

As soon as they got there and he had shifted the gear into park, Peeta was out the door, already heading towards little Posy who sat in the middle of the front yard playing with a bouncy ball almost twice her size. The curly haired toddler let out an excited squeal as Peeta approached her, thrusting her little, chubby arms in the air for him to hold.

Rory and Prim sat close by to her, their fingers tangled comfortably with each other's, though Katniss chose to ignore it. She knew her baby sister was growing up, could see as much – but she couldn't handle that. She wasn't quite sure she ever would be ready for that.

Her eyes trained just on Rory's face, Katniss asked the older boy where his brother was, and Rory jut his thumb towards the house. As she walked into the house, she could hear Peeta blowing raspberries on Posy's tummy, her loud, happy giggle following.

She walked into the house, stopping to hug hello to Gale's mother, Hazelle, before walking up the short flight of stairs to Gale's room. She entered without knocking and found Gale throwing clothes messily into a duffel bag, his cellphone wedged in the crook of the shoulder and face, a stupidly happy grin on his face.

Katniss jumped to the middle of his bed, comfortably crossing her legs before glaring at Gale. "Are you on the phone with Johanna?"

He whipped around from his closet, noticing Katniss for the first time. He ignored her questioning, and continued to chatter into the phone, but his unabashed smile told her all she needed to know.

It hadn't come to her as a complete shock when Johanna and Gale hit it off the first time they met when Gale joined her during one of her many weekends down in Cedar Point – they were similar in so many ways, it made sense. But it did shock her when he asked her to be his girlfriend only a month after meeting her. And it shocked her even more when Johanna, as picky and plain bitchy as she was at times, had agreed.

"You're gonna see her in like, two hours. You can be gross and romantic then. Finish packing so we can go!"

Gale ignored Katniss' scolding tone, rolling his eyes at her playfully before ending the call a minute later, his voice silly and dreamlike as he told Johanna: "See you later, babe."

When she made her way back outside, Gale trailing behind her, she walked to Peeta, sprawled on the grass with Posy on his lap, helping her blow bubbles.

"You ready to go?"

He looked up at her, his expression pleading as he clutched Posy a little closer to him. "Five more minutes?"

She rolled her eyes before flopping down next to him. Damn those blue eyes.

Five minutes later, Peeta requested for five more, and before he could do it again, Katniss stood and shook his head, telling him that they were going to be late. Annie and Johanna were waiting on them for dinner.

He nodded, albeit reluctantly, and passed Posy to Rory, whose lips were suddenly plump.

As she headed towards the car, she noticed Gale giving Rory a congratulatory clasp on the back and waited until he was close behind her again to punch him in the arm.

"Ow, what was that for?"

"Don't encourage them about this …stuff."

Gale's mock grimace broke out into a real grin, "What, you mean kissing? Katniss, I think they're old enough …"

Katniss shook her head angrily. They weren't old enough. Her baby sister - her little duck - would never be old enough.

She shot a glance in Prim's direction as the younger girl slid into the back seat of the car next to Gale, noticing that her cheeks were tinted pinks, her eyes cast downward. For some reason, she found comfort in the fact that at least, her sister was embarrassed.

The drive, although it's long, feels shorter each time Katniss takes it. She hadn't expected it – loving Cedar Point so much, loving the people there so much. But only a week after she got home, she got a call from Annie and Peeta, begging her to come down for the weekend. It didn't take much convincing and Peeta and Annie were waiting for her, their car already loaded with her and Prim's stuff by the time she got back from school.

It wasn't unusual, after that, to go down to Cedar Point for the weekends at random. Sometimes Peeta would come here to pick her up, other times Gale would join her for the weekend and drive the three of them there.

And it wasn't long before she fell completely in love with Cedar Point, either. It was sometime between when the leaves completely changed colors, painting the town in shades of reds and oranges, greens and browns and when the snowflakes, large and heavy, cast a blanket over the houses and the lakes, leaving the entire town coated in white dust. The summer, in Cedar Point, would always remind her of her own growth, of love and most importantly, of the fun she'd had. But the autumn and winter in Cedar Point reminded her of all those things and then a few more. It reminded her of warmth, and of stability, and of all the good that she wanted to believe in all along.

As Katniss stepped into the diner, the pungent scent of fried foods hit her, and she breathed it in, relishing in the smell she so often missed. As much as she hated working at the diner sometimes and having to deal with all the impatient, hungry people, she also missed it like crazy. She'd never had better co-workers than the ones she met here.

She slid into a booth, not bothering to wait to be seated. There were two new kids working here, both of them looking no older than sixteen and Katniss could just imagine the pure joy Johanna probably got from torturing the poor teens.

A second later, Prim and Peeta sidled up into the booth on either side of her, Gale's eyes lingering around the diner before he too fell into the booth.

Katniss turned to Peeta, wondering where their two friends were, but before she could ask him, she heard a loud, giggly squeal that could belong to only person.

"Katniss!" Annie's face was flushed, the material of her striped shirt stretching over her expanding belly as she waddled towards them, an empty tray in her hand. Prim was the first to run over to Annie, enveloping her in a hug before Katniss could even slide out of the booth.

Johanna face appeared from the behind the wooden counter in the kitchen just as they all slid back into the booth, trying to check out what the commotion was about. Her usual scowl turned into a grin as she spotted them, her eyes lingering on Gale's before she pulled the apron over her head, and busted through the kitchen door towards them.

"I'm on break!" she yelled out to no one in particular before sidling into Gale's lap. She didn't even bother to glance at the rest of the table before her lips attached to Gale's, her fingers combing his hair.

Katniss looked away, almost disgusted and Peeta chuckled beside her, squeezing her fingers with his under the table, looping his ankle around hers. That was the kind of affection Katniss was comfortable with – the kind that no one could see. Not swallowing each other's faces whole like Johanna and Gale.

"Is anyone gonna come get our orders …?" Katniss wondered aloud, her stomach rumbling in accordance.

That caught Johanna's attention, and she snapped her head back from Gale's, her eyes suddenly scouring the diner. Her eyes landed on one of the new girl that worked her, and beckoned at her with her fingers. "Two! Come here."

Beside her, Katniss could feel Peeta shaking his head and Annie biting back a laugh as the girl, short and scrawny with a pale face and dark hair approached them shyly. Johanna didn't bother to ask the rest of the table, and just ordered five six burgers with fries. The girl barely nodded in acknowledgement before Johanna snapped again, telling her not to "just stand there, get on with it." Johanna waited another second before huffing, and calling for "One!" A tall, lanky boy appeared and Johanna barked at him to bring them drinks before attaching her lips to Gale's again.

Katniss couldn't hold it back, the incredulity evident in her voice. "Do you just call them 'one' and 'two'?"

Johanna pulled back from Gale's face slightly, and Gale threw Katniss a look of irritation that she ignored. She shrugged, "Yup. I haven't decided if I'm keeping 'em yet. If I do, I'll probably learn their names."

"Their names are actually Mason and Ava," Annie chimed, rolling her eyes at Johanna. "They're really sweet, actually." Peeta nodded in agreement, and only a few minutes later, One – Mason – brought around their drinks followed by Two – Ava – who quietly set their plates of food on the table before slinking away.

Johanna slid into an actual seat as she dug into her burger, and Gale looked to Annie, his manners surfacing again as he made an attempt at conversation, asking Annie how she was feeling.

Annie smiled, "Pretty good. I saw my family over Christmas and since they've had some time to … digest things, they were pretty great about it all." She rubbed her belly, some of her smile falling as she added, "But um, I'm still thinking of giving the baby up. I'm meeting some potential families tomorrow, actually."

Katniss saw Peeta rest his hand over Annie's under the table, and Annie slightly leaned into him before swiping a french fry from his plate. "I just want what's best for him – I want him to grow up in a family like I did, not a broken one with no father."

"Him?" Katniss asked.

Annie nodded, "Yeah, it's not confirmed yet – my doctor will probably be able to make sure of it by the next appointment, but yeah … him."

Peeta pet Annie's hair, "We're proud of you, you know?" And Annie smiled at him, swiping another one of his fries.

Peeta was right though, Katniss was proud of her too. Beyond, actually. It wasn't easy to give up a baby – it couldn't be. Katniss could already tell, by the way her hand was always positioned at the top of her belly, at the way she rubbed it so lovingly, so affectionately that she already loved her baby more than anything. But she was doing what was best for him, her baby, not for her, and that proved her to be a better mother than most mothers Katniss knew. And Katniss couldn't be prouder.

As they all settled into a silence, their concentration lingering on Annie and her baby, Johanna smacked her lips loudly. "So, Haymitch said he had some news when I saw him earlier. Do you know what it's about?"

Katniss and Prim looked to each other before shaking their heads – they didn't know, but their uncle had mentioned something similar over the phone the night before. It almost sounded like something bad, his voice had dropped low as he spoke almost ominously. But lately, as he gave up alcohol, he had taken up smoking and Katniss couldn't be sure if the gruffness in his voice had just been exacerbated by that.

Six months ago, any sort of news or communication from her uncle would have been unheard of. Five months ago, she would have dreaded it, knowing only to expect the worst from her uncle. But now? She knew to trust him. She knew whatever it was – however bad or good – they would be okay. They would all be okay – together.

Haymitch looked happy – actually happy – smiling, his hair combed back slickly, his slacks and off-white button down pristine, without a single stain as he welcomed the small group into his house. As the rest the group piled into the living room and kitchen, Katniss crept towards the hallway, finding her and Prim's room – which, at this point, had officially become their room – and set her and her sister's bags on the bed. She walked to the bathroom, splashing water onto her face before stalking back into the kitchen.

She almost stopped in her tracks as she spotted a woman – tall and curvy, with flaming orange hair and skin so pale, so white like porcelain. She wore a red dress, the shade nearly matching her hair, and was leaning into Haymitch, their arms wound around each other.

When the woman's eyes, beautiful turquoise blue and set wide-apart on her face, settled on Katniss, her shimmering glossy lips broke into large smile as if she had just spotted an old friend, not the niece of her boyfriend – if that was what Haymitch was to her.

"You must be Katniss!" She neared her, and Katniss could see Haymitch's lips set in a wicked grin behind her. "I've heard so much about you! I'm Effie."

Katniss stuck her hand out to shake hers, but Effie ignored it, leaning in for a tight squeeze. "It's is so nice to meet you!" Katniss exchanged pleasantries with the woman, but her eyes kept flicking back to her uncle who seemed to be deep in conversation with Peeta. She couldn't wrap her head around this –around her uncle and Effie. She hadn't visited in only three weeks, how had this even happened? Had Peeta known about this? She'd have to prod him about this later.

As soon as Katniss was beginning to think she might have to pretend to faint to get out of conversation with the banal woman, Peeta's arm locked around her waist, and he excused them from Effie.

They weren't even out of Effie's ear-shot before Katniss whispered, probably too loudly, in Peeta's ear, "Did you know about this?"

Peeta looked genuinely confused as he asked, "About what?"

"Effie." Katniss hissed, and a smile registered in Peeta's eyes as he nodded.

"I know what you're thinking," he added a second later, "but she's really not that bad. She's actually pretty amazing. She's been good for Haymitch."

Katniss' lips pursed as she thought that over, and when she didn't say more, Peeta added, "She's his new editor, just moved here from New York."

Well, maybe that could explain her appearance and her accent. But … how she fit with her uncle, Katniss still couldn't fathom.

A moment later, Haymitch pulled out three bottles of sparkling apple juice from the fridge, filling eight champagne glasses to the rim before gesturing at them all to take one. Peeta brought Katniss a glass of the bubbling juice, his arm wrapping around her middle as he stood behind her.

Effie clinked a spoon against her glass, waiting until she had her small audience's attention before she cleared her throat to speak, "Okay, everyone. Haymitch has some big, big news for us!"

Katniss rolled her eyes, and could feel Peeta chuckling behind her, his body shaking slightly against hers. She shook her head and looked back towards Effie, and could tell it was taking the woman great restraint to keep from spilling the beans about the "big, big news" right then and there, but she gestured towards Haymitch who awkwardly nodded his head, clearing his own throat. "I've finished my next novel."

Before he could say anything, both Annie and Prim erupted into a giggly fit of 'congratulations', and Peeta let out a happy whoop.

Her uncle just looked embarrassed as he wiped his hand over his face, "I just … I wanted to thank you guys. You know … for uh, everything." Her uncle was looking at Peeta as he said the words, and Peeta smiled widely, happily.

Her uncle raised his champagne glass slightly, "To…" Haymitch paused, trying to think of what to toast and Katniss found it ironic that her uncle, a writer, so often was befuddled when it came to speaking the words out loud.

"To family," Peeta said from behind her, the vibration of his voice resonating in her chest. Haymitch gave him thankful look as he nodded, gruffly repeating, "To family."

"And to getting happy, and staying happy," Annie added a second later before they all took a sip of their sparkling juice.

Peeta's nose grazed Katniss' cheek, and she turned her head to allow a kiss, short and sweet, before whispering in his ear, "Happy four months to you too, by the way."

fin.

a/n: ahh, I can't believe it's over already! thank you guys SO much for making this such an amazing experience! I don't think i've ever loved writing anything as much as I did this, and it's because of your guys' continuous support and encouragement so thank you, thank you. I really, truly hope you are all satisfied with the ending!

also, a massive thank you to Leigh for editing this and being an amazing beta. seriously, thank you so, so much! you're amazing.

I'm hoping to start up a new AU story soon, so be on the look out for that!

Until next time :)