Fair Warning: This Chapter contains a prolonged, graphic sex scene. You've been notified.
Early The Next Morning. Three Days Until The Quell Reaping.
"Kat?"
I turn my head to look at Peeta, but don't say anything. It's probably around three thirty in the morning. I'm sitting up in bed.
"Honey, why are you just sitting there awake?" He asks with concern.
"I fed the twins but then I couldn't fall asleep," I whisper. He nods.
"Well let's go back to sleep, okay?" He suggests.
I feel myself nod, but before I can move, I suddenly burst into tears. My body racks with emotion, and I feel the wetness on my cheeks. Suddenly I feel myself moving. Peeta has wrapped his arms around me and pulled my sideways into his lap. I rest the side of my head on his chest. He lets me cry for a few minutes, and waits until I'm occasionally whimpering and sniffling.
"What has my baby so upset?" He asks in a gentle voice.
I sniffle and wipe my cheeks with the back of my hand. How can I phrase this correctly? No matter what way I put it, it's going to cause some kind of reaction. I sigh. He's my husband, and he's always here for me. I have to tell him the truth, no matter what that truth may be.
"I'm scared," I admit quietly.
"Why?" He asks.
"I don't want to become my mother."
"Katniss, why would you say something like that?" He asks gently.
"Because Peeta! Can't you see? I'm in love with you! She was in love with my dad, and when he died, it destroyed her! She's never been the same. I always said I'd never let myself fall in love for that exact reason," I blurt out quickly.
Peeta's silent. After a few moments of neither of us speaking, I tilt my head up to look at him. Instead of looking down at me like he always does, he's staring off somewhere to his left. I see the tears in his eyes. I see the hurt in them too. It's just like the look he had on the train tracks all those months ago, but this is infinitely worse. Finally, he whispers painfully.
"Are you – are you regretting marrying me?"
Oh my god. What have I done. I see the tears escape his ducts and slide down his cheeks at a ridiculous rate. His usually strong grip softens, and his body tenses. He still won't look at me. I don't know what to do. I knew if I told him what I was feeling he'd take it the wrong way, and that's my fault. I should've explained myself better.
"Peeta?" I whisper. He doesn't react at all, just keeps quietly sobbing, staring off towards the bathroom door.
"Peeta, honey, please look at me," I beg. Nothing.
I sigh. I'm completely lost without him. He's my rock, my guiding light, and I just did so much damage to not only his confidence, but his psyche as well.
I reach up with my right hand and gently put it on his cheek, slowly turning his head back towards me. He's now facing me, but still won't look me in the eye.
"Peeta, look at me," I demand quietly. He doesn't respond. "Peeta, I am your wife, you will look at me," I say more forcefully.
Finally, he shifts his gaze and meets mine. My heart shatters into a million pieces. I've never seen him hurting this much, physically or emotionally. He truly believes I'm regretting marrying him, maybe even contemplating leaving him.
"Do you really think that?" I ask.
He just nods slightly, with a confused look.
"Peeta," I sigh sadly. "I should have explained myself better. Please, give me a chance to tell you what I meant."
"Okay," he whispers his first words in a long time. I can easily hear the pain in his voice.
"Peeta that is absolutely not what I meant. Look, I know that no matter what I tell you or say to you, you will always think you don't deserve me for some inane reason that's beyond me. You and I both know we feel that way about each other. But Peeta, I am your wife, and I will always be your wife."
He doesn't look convinced. He still looks wary.
"Please, honey," I plead. "That is not what I was trying to say. I could never regret marrying you. How could I regret the best thing in my life? The thing that brought me my beautiful children? If I regret anything, it's that we didn't get married sooner."
I see his eyes start to brighten, and his lips quirk upwards just barely. I know I'm getting through to him. Now I have to tell him what I meant.
"What I was trying to say, Peeta, is that I'm scared of becoming her because I never want to leave you or our children. That is my biggest fear. It's what keeps me up. I always said I'd never fall in love, and now that I have, there's nowhere else I want to be than right here with you. If anything happened to any of us, it would destroy me. Absolutely destroy me piece by piece. I'm just scared, Peeta, that's all. Scared about everything that's coming. Scared of the unknown."
"I'm sorry, Katniss," he whispers sadly.
"Oh, Peeta, don't apologize," I whisper back, putting my hand gently on his cheek. "It was my fault. I should've explained myself better. I never want you to doubt my love for you, my commitment to this marriage. I'm in this just as much as you are, honey. Do you believe me?" I ask, unsure.
"Of course I do," he nods. "I'm sorry that I'm so insecure. I should know better."
I sigh again.
"No, Peeta. I mean, yes, you are insecure, but so am I. We love each other so much that sometimes it seems surreal, doesn't it?" He nods his agreement. "It's almost like it's a dream, being here with you and having a family. Sometimes I'm terrified that I'm going to wake up, alone. But every morning, I open my eyes and you're the first thing I see. That repairs my heart like nothing else. So, please, let's both work on our insecurities."
"You're right, Kat. It's just – I waited so long to be with you, you know?" I do know. "It's like I told you during the twins' delivery, every day is like every single one of my dreams has come true. Being here with you, having a family, this is what I always wanted. I'm terrified that someone or something is going to take you away from me. I can't let that happen, Katniss. I won't let that happen," he says with determination. It's quite the turn on, actually.
I sit up and swing my leg over, straddling him and bringing myself as close to him as possible. I lean up and give him a peck on the lips, then whisper against them.
"Nothing will ever tear us apart," I tell him. "Our story is just beginning, Peeta. The book of our lives is in its opening chapters. We write our story, no one else."
"Together," he whispers. I'm instantly brought back to the Arena, to us agreeing to commit suicide – together.
"Together," I repeat.
With that, our lips meet, and it's a tender, sweet kiss that reminds us of our fiery love. We deepen it, not out of instinct but out of mutual want, and soon he's tugging at my shirt. I grin against his lips and let him slide it off me.
All I have left on are my panties. He removes his right hand from my breast and slips it under the soft material, entering me with three fingers.
"Oh my god," I moan. "Don't stop, baby."
He smirks and continues, as always, using his thumb to increase my pleasure. Before I even realize it, I'm coming, writhing on top of him and groaning his name and how much I love him. Even after my orgasm is finished, he keeps his fingers in me, still working me.
I take my right hand off his chest, which I was using for balance, and reach down under his boxers. I grasp him, an he's already hard. I smile at him and he's looking up at me with that look of awe he only gives me.
"Peeta?" I ask quietly.
"What is it, Kat?"
"I need you," I bite my lips shyly, "I need you – inside me. I need to feel you inside me. Please?"
He nods, giving me a look that says I didn't even need to ask. He grips my panties and I grip his boxers and we quickly remove them. I go back to straddle him, hovering above him, and guide him into me.
I ride him, him sliding in and out, and I come twice more. After the second time, he reaches up and pulls me down to him, locking our lips together. He wraps his arms around me, keeping me close. I don't mind in the slightest. I can feel him inside me, burying in me up to the brim. I moan into his mouth and he smiles wide.
"Way to lose control, Mellark," he teases with a kiss.
"So that's how you want to play it?" I tease back with a saucy smirk. He nods with a grin. "Okay, Mellark."
I sit back up and quickly come up with my plan of action. After months of sleeping together and having constant sex, we know each other's likes and dislikes. We know how to drive each other up the wall.
I grin down at him and begin my plan. I quickly slide off him, kneel down, and take his entire length in my mouth. I hear him groan loudly. I repeat a few times quickly, then take his sac in my mouth, which always drives him crazy. I can hear him moaning my name. I wet his length one more time before I quickly climb back on, riding him harder and faster than I ever have.
The look on his face is priceless. It's love – of course – but it's also sheer joy. He's enjoying this as much as I am. Good, that was the point.
"Oh my god, Katniss," he moans. "You are so beautiful."
I smile down at him, blushing from his compliment. Only Peeta Mellark can get me to blush in the middle of sex. Damn him.
"You tell me when you feel it coming," I whisper. He nods. I'm going to try something new, I've decided.
After a couple more minutes, he speaks up.
"Kat, I'm almost there. A little bit longer."
"Do you want to come inside me?" I ask shyly.
He nods, biting his bottom lip sheepishly.
"Baby, a minute more," he tells me.
As quickly as I can, I climb off him, take him in my mouth, and massage his sac with my hand.
"I'm almost there," he warns.
I take his entire length in my mouth one more time, then quickly climb back atop him.
"Oh, Kat, I'm going to come."
I bury him as deep as possible inside me, needing to feel him. When he comes, I can feel the warmth of his release, the mixture of our fluids cementing our love. He's looking up at me in awe again, sheer bliss on his face. I'm sure I have the exact same look.
I keep him inside me as we catch our breaths. Both of our hands are linked and intertwined. I lean down and we kiss, our tongues meeting each other.
"I love you," I whisper.
"I love you too," he whispers back.
I sit back up, and just for fun, lift myself up and thrust down a few more times.
"Oh my god," he moans. I smirk.
A couple minutes later, while I'm still on top of him, he speaks up again.
"Katniss, how many times did you come?" He asks. I ponder for a moment before I answer.
"Three," I answer happily with a beaming smile.
Peeta narrows his eyes slightly, confusing the hell out of me.
"That's just not acceptable," he declares.
Before I can even comprehend what's happening, he's grabbed my hips, lifted me of him, and flipped me onto my back. He kisses my lips, then starts kissing his way down my body. He spends a few moments kissing my breasts and licking my nipples. I tangle my hands in his hair.
He's soon worked his way down to just above my other set of lips. He's only done this a handful of times, but each time I've come just about as hard as I ever have. There's something about Peeta's tongue being inside me that drives me absolutely positively crazy.
He first runs the tip of his tongue around the outside, just barely brushing my lips. I groan in pleasure, my hands still threading through his hair. I also keep them there to make sure his head doesn't move from what he's currently doing.
Before he enters me with his tongue, he slips three fingers in to get me even more wet than I already am.
"Please, Peeta," I beg. He knows what I want.
I feel his tongue enter me, and I moan loudly. He works me into a frenzy, and has to hold my legs down as I writhe in pleasure. I feel myself inching towards my orgasm, and he apparently does too, as he speeds up slightly.
"Oh my god baby," I moan. "I'm comingggg."
He keeps his tongue inside me the entire time, prolonging my orgasm. When I finally stop shivering and shuddering, instead of raising his head up to kiss me, like I expect, he keeps his tongue inside me and starts all over.
"Peeta, you don't have to – oh baby don't stop," I groan.
I can feel his smile against my lips as I moan his name and how much I love him. This time my orgasm comes quicker, and as I come, I grip his hair hard. I can hear him chuckle softly.
He stays in his place for another minute, making sure he's given me as much pleasure as possible. I can easily say that those were two of the most explosive, awe inspiring, world shattering orgasms I've ever experienced. And trust me, Peeta has given me some wild releases.
Finally he picks his head up and smiles wide. I return it.
"Do you have any idea how much I love you?" I whisper, unable to talk any louder.
"How much?" He teases.
"So much it hurts, Peeta. So much that if you decided that we were going to live on the streets and be beggars, I'd go start looking for cardboard boxes."
He laughs, shaking his head. He leans up and kisses me, and I can taste the distinct mix of both our fluids, a taste I always revel in.
"I love you so much," he whispers against my lips. "So much that my heart feels like it's going to burst whenever I look at you."
I grin and we kiss again, falling onto our sides facing each other. Soon, we drift off to sleep, knowing we'll be woken up sooner or later by the babies.
"That was some shower," Peeta smirks at me over breakfast.
He's right. He stirred something in me this morning and I was insatiable when we woke up. I made him have sex before I would let him out of bed, then we had three, yes three, more rounds in the shower. The twins, magically, didn't disturb us.
I blush deeply, averting my eyes. He chuckles.
"You're funny, Kat. After this morning, you're still shy and a little embarrassed."
I look down at my feet and smile. He's right, it is somewhat of a paradox.
"Do you think we're so insatiable because we're so close to the Quell?" I ask quietly.
"Maybe," he dips his head from side to side adorably. "I'd like to think it has more to do with the fact that we love each other, and when we have sex, we're connected in the most intimate way."
"That's what I thought," I nod. "We're two people, but when we make love, we become one soul, one beating heart."
"Wow that was beautiful," he says softly.
I shrug.
"It's the truth. Having you inside me is the greatest feeling in the world, Peeta. If I could I'd have you inside me all day, every day, but that's a little impractical."
He laughs and I join him.
"That would go over well at the bakery," he jokes.
"Yeah. Or during our interviews with Caesar," I add.
We double over in laughter and the twins look at us like their parents have lost their minds. Maybe we have, but right now, I don't care. This is the perfect morning. Our bubble of happiness is lifting my spirits and my confidence in our ability to make it through, together.
After breakfast, we relax in the living room with the twins for a while, all of us laughing and kissing each other constantly.
"What do you want to do today?" Peeta asks.
"This. Spend the day with the three people I love the most," I tell him.
"My thoughts exactly," he grins, and gives me a peck on the lips.
We spend another hour playing with the twins, and they're soon tired and drooping their eyes. We bring them up to the nursery and tuck them in for a nap.
When we close the door gently, we look at each other. No words are spoken, none are needed. In an instant I'm against the opposite wall, and I can feel his erection pressing against my jeans. I smirk.
We don't make it to the bed until the second round, and we get a third in before the twins wake up.
We both go to the nursery, change their diapers, and I feed them. Peeta always grins stupidly whenever I feed them. He really does love my boobs.
After we're finished, we decide to take a stroll around the District. We don't know when the next time we'll see it will be, so we both want to show the twins their home and remember as much as we all can.
We put the twins in their stroller and walk hand in hand. They're looking around curiously like always.
We stop by Prim and my mom's and they are overjoyed to see the twins. We stay there for a few minutes then say goodbye to continue our walk.
We walk through the square slowly, greeting people we know and answering questions about the twins. Everyone tells us we have a beautiful family, and I find myself blushing almost every time.
"Let's stop by the bakery so they can see their Uncles," I suggest.
"Good idea honey," Peeta nods.
We make it to the bakery and it's fairly crowded. We go around behind the counter and Peeta takes over so Rye and Nan can play with the twins. They're great Uncles, and Josh and Eve adore them both.
I lean on the side of the counter and watch Peeta work. He's so polite and friendly with everyone, and I can easily tell he loves being here. I visited him so often during the pregnancy that I have grown to love being here too. Peeta even began teaching me how to bake, and I can work the register as good as any of them. He gave me a break this morning though, especially after our – rigorous – start to the day.
Because I'm staring at Peeta, I don't see him until his arms are around me. I stiffen and tense, not recognizing who this is. He's a couple inches taller than me and I can't see his face yet.
I shove him off of me forcefully.
"What the hell?" I hiss.
"Katniss Everdeen!" He says excitedly.
"That's not my name," I mutter out of habit. He either doesn't hear it, or ignores it. That pisses me off, of course.
I still have no idea who he is, and I'm sure my face shows that.
"It's me! Francis!" He smiles.
Francis Burton. My next-door neighbor in the Seam. We were close, growing up together and doing almost everything together. Then one day, in sixth grade, his family was gone. Vanished. No goodbyes, no notes, no nothing. I'd honestly just about forgotten about him.
"Oh. Hi, Francis," I say evenly. His face falls a little at my emotionless greeting, but he's undeterred.
"It's so great to see you, Katniss! Look at you, you're gorgeous!" If Peeta had said that to me, I'd be blushing furiously. But hearing it out of another man's mouth just makes me irritated and angry.
Before I can respond, he's leaning towards me. I easily recognize he's trying to kiss me.
I shove him backwards before he gets close.
"What the hell Francis?" I snap.
"I always wanted to tell you that I love you," he says quietly. "I came back for you, Katniss."
"You can't be serious," I mutter. I glance over at Peeta, who is still working the register but peeking over at me, concern written all over his face. I give him a reassuring nod, but there's a slight wariness in my eyes that lets him know I might need him. He understands.
"Of course I'm serious!" He almost yells. I'm glad the bakery is so packed, because it's fairly loud in here, so we're not making too much of a scene.
"You vanished, Francis. You didn't even say goodbye. Now you show up almost seven years later, and expect what? For me to fall in your arms and ride off into the sunset? That's ridiculous!" I tell him. He looks crestfallen, but quickly replaces it with a smile.
"I know I have a lot of making up to do," he nods seriously. "But I know that I can give you everything you want in life, Katniss. Give me a chance."
I know I should tell him I'm married and a mother, but I'm interested in seeing where this goes right now.
"No, Francis," I shake my head.
"Why not?" He says, slightly frustrated. His smile is starting to disappear. Hmmm.
"I told you why not. You abandoned me. I've moved on from your friendship. Before right now, I'd forgotten about you," I explain.
"You don't mean that!" He says angrily. I see his eyes darken.
"I'm being serious, Francis. I'm sorry," I tell him sincerely.
"I spent every last coin I had to come back for you Katniss, and this is the way you welcome me?" He asks incredulously, his hands balled up into fists at his sides.
"You shouldn't have," I shrug. "It's never going to happen."
"And why's that?" He asks louder.
I sigh. I guess I really have no other option.
I raise my left hand and point to my wedding ring. His eyes widen in complete surprise.
"You're – you're married?" He stutters. Does he not watch the news or something?
"Yes," I answer. "I have two infant twins too."
"You had kids with some guy!" He snarls.
"What Francis?" I ask confused. "We were friend, Francis. We were kids. Then you left, and I moved on with my life. Then you show up out of the blue, try to kiss me in front of my family, and expect me to run off with you?"
He seethes, and I can see the rage in his eyes. What happened to the sweet boy I grew up with?
Suddenly I feel a blinding pain in my cheek. I stumble a little but keep my balance. I realize he slapped me. Big mistake buddy.
Before I can even move an inch, Peeta comes flying past me, tackling Francis to the ground. Peeta straddles him and punches him once across the jaw. I thought he'd continue beating him, but not my Peeta. He grabs a bunched up part of Francis' shirt and yanks his face close to his own.
"How dare you touch my wife?" He growls.
"She wasn't listening," Francis sneers. "Sometimes you have to teach women a lesson."
"What kind of man are you?" Peeta asks, genuinely outraged.
"The real kind," Francis answers without hesitation.
"That's a joke," Peeta chuckles softly. Francis tries spitting in Peeta's face, but Peeta jerks his head out of the way in time.
"Fuck you," Francis snaps.
"That's nice," Peeta smirks.
"Let me go," he demands.
"Not until you apologize to my wife," Peeta points at him with anger.
"Why should I?" Francis questions. "She started it by refusing to come with me. She got what she deserved."
Peeta blanches at this, confusion flitting across his features. I've moved closer to the side of where they lie on the floor.
"I don't care what you think," Peeta says after a moment. "You will apologize to my wife or else."
"Or else what?" Francis teases.
Peeta rolls his eyes and punches him square in the eye, hard. Francis reacts by trying to punch Peeta with his right hand, as Peeta gripped his left after he punched him. Peeta reacts quickly, after all of our training in the past few months. He quickly shifts, snaps his foot out, and stomps it down on Francis' right wrist, effectively pinning him.
"What were you saying again?" Peeta asks with a teasing lilt to his voice.
"Let me go," Francis snarls.
"Nope," Peeta shakes his head. "Apologize."
"Never!" He screams defiantly.
Peeta sighs, and punches him in the other eye.
"How about now?"
Francis just shakes his head vehemently.
"You'll see, motherfucker," he snaps at Peeta. "Katniss will be mine."
Peeta rolls his eyes and releases his shirt, dropping him back on the ground with a satisfying thud. He quickly reaches over to wear his foot has Francis' wrist pinned. He grabs his index finger and bends it backwards, stopping just before he breaks it.
"Apologize right now or I'll break every single one of your fingers," Peeta asks calmly. I have no idea how he's staying so calm. I'm seething with anger, using all my faculties to control myself from hitting him repeatedly in the face.
Francis sneers.
"You wouldn't dare," he goads.
Peeta sighs again, and promptly breaks his finger. Francis screams in pain. Peeta moves on to his middle finger, and bends it back. He looks to Francis, who still has a defiant look on his face. Peeta breaks that one too. I love the sound of the bones cracking, each time making me want my husband more and more. Is it weird that him teaching this guy a lesson is turning me on so much? No, I decide. When I beat up Sarah, he almost instantly took me against the wall. Hmm. It's a mutual turn-on.
Francis screams in pain again, and Peeta looks at him questioningly. Francis tries spitting in his face one more time, and Peeta again easily dodges it.
"Look, Francis is it? I really don't want to break all your fingers, especially in front of my wife, children, and all these nice people. But if you still refuse to be a man and do the right thing by apologizing to Katniss for trying to take advantage of her, I will make you suffer in pain."
Francis squirms, flailing his legs around trying in vain to do something, somehow hurt Peeta or get out of his grasp. It doesn't work.
"You can try all you want, but neither of us are moving until I hear the words I want to," Peeta says barely above a whisper.
Francis looks like he's starting to realize the hopelessness of his situation. He sighs deeply, looking up at me with pleading eyes, like somehow I'd convince Peeta to just let him go.
"Why are you looking to me?" I yell. "You're lucky Peeta got to you first. If it was me, you'd already be half-dead."
He looks terrified of me, and I smirk in triumph. He looks back to Peeta and tries to be defiant, but it falters after a second and his pain shows through. He most likely has a fractured jaw, two black eyes, and two broken fingers.
"I'm sorry," he mutters, not even having the decency to look at me.
"What was that?" Peeta coaxes gently.
"I'm sorry," he says a little louder. "Now let me go asshole!"
"Not good enough," Peeta shakes his head. "You're not even looking at her, and that was the most insincere apology I've heard since the last time I talked to the President."
I hear chuckles from the impromptu crowd at this, and I notice everyone is watching us, murmuring. I listen closely with my enhanced ear, and I can hear them praising Peeta. God, I love my husband.
Francis is silent for a few moments, and Peeta waits patiently, keeping him pinned. When Francis still doesn't speak after almost a minute, Peeta twists his foot, almost breaking his wrist.
"OW!" Francis yells.
"Last chance," Peeta tells him.
Francis looks to me and then speaks slowly.
"Katniss, I'm sorry that I tried to kiss you and that I hit you. I really am. Please forgive me."
Now that actually sounded sincere, and I guess Peeta thought so too, because he gets up off of him. Francis doesn't move though, just clutches his hand close to his chest and whimpers. Ha.
I hug Peeta and give him a long kiss on the lips, whispering my thanks against them.
"Anytime, honey," he replies with a grin.
Peeta steps back, and now there's nothing in between me and Francis. I'm still indescribably angry, but I can see that Peeta has hurt him. That doesn't make me pity him though, not at all.
I walk up to Francis and look down at him with rage.
I speak quietly, but with steel in my voice.
"I never want to see your face again," I tell him. "You were a great kid, Francis. What happened to you? I guess I'll never know. But, after today, I'm okay with that. Like I told you, I moved on. I have the best husband in the world, and he's given me two precious, beautiful children, and I plan on giving him many more. So when you leave her today, you will never return. If you do, I guarantee it will be me who gets to you first."
He stays silent but listens to me, fear obvious in his eyes. Before I leave him, I have one more thing to do.
I rear back and with all the force I can muster, kick him square in the balls.
"That's for trying to kiss me in front of my husband," I hiss angrily. His hands fly to his crotch, and he apparently forgot he has two broken fingers, because as soon as they touch his body he shrieks in pain. It makes me chuckle.
"Rye?" I call out. I knew he was somewhere behind me, ready to step in if necessary.
"Yeah, sis?" He answers, appearing at my side.
"Will you do me a favor and escort Francis here back to the train station?" I ask sweetly.
"Of course, sis," he smiles. I give him a kiss on the cheek and whisper my thanks. He leans down to Francis. "Come on big boy, let's get you home before my sister decides you haven't suffered enough. Trust me, you don't want that."
The crowd laughs again, and as Rye helps Francis stumble out the door, they disperse, a lot of them giving Peeta pats on the back. He brushes them off.
"I was just protecting my wife," he mutters repeatedly.
I go to his side and grab his hand tightly.
"Nan has the twins honey. They're in the kitchen, so they didn't see any of that," he quietly tells me.
"Thank you," I say with relief.
He leans down and we kiss, and I can feel the hunger grow inside me, but we stop before we get too passionate. Who knows what it could lead to today.
We wait until Rye gets back to let him say goodbye to the twins, and all four of us leave the bakery laughing.
"Thank you so much, honey," I tell him, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"You know you don't need to thank me, Kat. You're my wife. He actually deserved worse than I gave him."
"But that's what I love about you. Even though he deserved worse, you still went a little easy on him, because that's the kind of man my husband is. The best kind," I say proudly. He blushes furiously and I giggle.
We walk around the District for another hour, showing the twins everything and telling them stories about their mommy and daddy. They're starting to get tired so we decide to head for home.
Eve starts crying when we're still only about halfway home, so I stop the stroller. I unbuckle her and cradle her against my shoulder, kissing her on top of her head and whispering words of love softly in her ear.
Peeta smiles at me broadly, and we begin walking, my husband pushing the stroller containing Josh.
"I love you baby girl," I whisper. "I love you so much it hurts me. I want to give you the world. I'll always protect you, Eve, because I'm your mommy and that's my job. Your daddy will always protect you too, because he loves us more than anything. We're so lucky, baby. We're so lucky to have daddy. He's the greatest husband and daddy in the whole world. Go to sleep, my sweet Eve. Shhh, go to sleep for mama," I whisper.
I know Peeta heard me, because he's beaming, looking straight ahead. Eve finally falls asleep and we walk home the rest of the way in comfortable silence.
We tuck the twins in for a nap and plop down on the living room couch.
"I told you so," Peeta says out of the blue.
"Huh?" I ask confused.
"I told you that you'd be the best mother in the world," he says simply.
"Peeta," I start, but he cuts me off.
"Don't even try, Kat. You are, and that's final."
"Thank you," is my only real option for a response. He nods happily.
"You know, Peeta," I whisper. "Remember yesterday when I fought with Sarah, and it turned you on so much?" He nods with a smirk. "Well, I'm pretty sure that it's a mutual turn on, because right now, I want you so bad."
"Well, Mrs. Mellark, the last thing I would ever want to do is deny my beautiful wife whatever hear heart desires," he says sincerely.
"I believe it's time for you to prove that, Mr. Mellark," I grin.
Today is an awesome day.
A/N: Okay. So that was a pretty, well, sensual chapter, but whatever. It was insanely fun to write. I had been thinking of bringing someone from Katniss' past back for a while, because I realized that most of their issues are with girls about Peeta (besides Gale obviously, but that's different). I tried to go a different way with the confrontation, because it was pointed out to me that I was getting repetitive. So I hope you enjoyed it!
Three days until the Reaping! Woohoo!
Keep reviewing and reading. Tomorrow is hump day! Lol.
