"Say good morning to mommy," Peeta coaxes Josh as they walk into our bedroom. Eve is already in the bed with me.

"How is my baby boy this morning?" I ask with a smile.

"I'm good," Peeta jokes. I playfully scowl. "Oh! You meant Josh. He's good too." We laugh.

Peeta sits down on the bed and shifts back, lying next to me and Eve. I lean over and give Josh a kiss, then notice he's grasping something in his hand. I gently get him to open it, and a gold necklace falls out.

"Peeta, what's this?" I ask quietly.

Peeta grabs it and shows it to me. It's a gold necklace with a heart shaped pendant.

"It's for you," he smiles.

"Why?" is all I can ask.

"Today is one year from the first time I ever talked to you," he shrugs. "It's kind of like an anniversary for us. It is Reaping day, but it's also the day that I talked to the love of my life for the first time."

"Oh, Peeta," I sigh happily.

He reaches over and gently clasps it around my neck. I pick up the pendant and look at it, realizing it's actually a locket.

"Open it," he urges.

I click it open and gasp. On the left side is a picture of Peeta, me, and the twins. Prim or my mom must have taken it, because I don't remember it. We're on the couch, and Peeta and I have contented, blissful smiles on our faces. We look like a happy family. On the right side is a picture of my mom and Prim smiling.

"Honey, it's perfect," I smile and give him a peck on the lips. "Thank you."

"You're welcome Kat. I didn't want today to be a completely depressing day."

"Me either," I grin, and reach over to my nightstand. I open the top drawer and reach to the back, grabbing the long blue box I've been hiding for a few weeks. I hand it to Peeta.

"What's this?" He asks, mirroring my reaction. I chuckle.

"I guess we really do think the same thoughts. Open it," I urge.

He smiles and opens it, and gasps just like I did. He takes it out and admires it. It's a gold necklace, just like his. Instead of a locket, there are four little figures. A mom and a dad, and a little boy and a little girl. Our family.

"Oh, Katniss," he says in awe. "It's amazing. Thank you so much."

"You really like it?" I ask shyly.

"Are you kidding? I get to take my family everywhere. It's perfect."

I smile and he gives me a sweet kiss. I reach over and put it around his neck. He looks at it with a huge smile.

"Today's already better than last year's Reaping day," I whisper.

"Of course it is. I have my wonderful, gorgeous wife and beautiful children. But I'll always remember last year's. It was when we were thrown together, and even if it was for the Games, I'll never regret it. I wouldn't change a thing."

"Me either," I tell him. I look down at our children, lying between us, and smile. Whenever I feel overwhelmed, or nervous, or frustrated, all I have to do is look at these three people, the three people I love the most in this world.

"So we need to finish packing," Peeta reminds. "What do we have left?"

"Not that much," I inform him. "Pretty much just our safe that Beetee made us, and the cribs. Everything else is already on the train."

"Good. I want this morning to be relaxed, because come this afternoon," he doesn't need to continue. I nod sadly.

"Peeta, no matter what happens in the future, I love you with all my heart. Forever."

"I love you too, Katniss. Always. You and our children will always be my first priority. My only priority."

We put the twins back in their cribs so we can take our shower, then we head downstairs as a family for breakfast. Peeta makes eggs and pancakes. We wash it down with OJ. We avoid talking about the Reaping. Instead we joke around with the babies, laughter filling the halls of our home.

The morning is spent with just the four of us. Neither of us can ever tire of spending time with our children. We read to them, play games with them, and just snuggle with them. They're perfect. They're perfect when they're quiet, when they're crying, even when they poop their diapers. I'm sure I've never loved anyone as much as I love my family.

Lunch is more somber than breakfast, because we know that afterwards, we have to go to the Reaping. Peeta and I talk minimally, both of us thinking. The twins must sense the mood, and even they stay relatively quiet.

Prim and my mom show up, and we give them the twins. They'll be taking them to the train while we go to the Reaping. We don't want the kids anywhere near the square. They should never have to experience that, even if they'll never remember it.

We broke down their cribs and packed the safe, which are both now safely on the train. In the safe, we've put a copy of our marriage license and my name change form, all four of our birth certificates, my mockingjay pin, Peeta's special brush his dad gave him, the chains we kept our wedding rings on, a small painting Peeta did of the four of us, the deed to our house, and our commissions as officers in the rebel army.

Sooner than either of us would like, it's time to change and head to the square. We go into our bedroom to put on nice clothes.

"Effie wants us to wear what we wore last year," I tell Peeta.

"I hope you told her no," he says quickly.

"Of course I did," I nod. "What should we wear, though?"

"I think we should wear black," Peeta suggests. "It's a somber affair, after all."

"Okay," I agree. "We'll be the opposite of Effie, I guess."

He chuckles and nods. I go into my closet and find a nice, simple black dress. Peeta wears black slacks and a black button down, complete with nice black dress shoes. We look like we're going to a funeral. Peeta re-braids my hair and we're ready.

We slowly walk to town hand in hand, silent. I don't know how either of us are going to deal with this emotionally. Having to mentor Tributes is hard enough, now they're even younger, and we have our own children now. We understand the bond parents have to their children. We understand what it's like to want to protect them at all costs.

We make it to the Justice Building and meet up with Effie and Haymitch inside. Effie comments on our choice of colors, and we brush her off. We're not in the mood for one of her lectures today. We can see the square filling up outside, and it's almost surreal to see the seven to eleven-year-olds standing in the Reaping formation. It's unbelievable how sadistic the Capitol is. With any luck, though, this will be the last Reaping ever.

Finally it's time. Effie struts out first, and even though she looks like she always does on Reaping day, I can tell she really doesn't want to be here. This past year I've gotten to know her well, and she hates the Capitol as much as I do, if not more. She claims that Peeta and me helped change her mind about the Games. She tells us that she saw us as human, as children, not just as Tributes. Now, she's an integral part of the rebellion.

Soon I hear Effie introducing us, the Victors. Haymitch walks out first, and since he's sober, doesn't fall of the stage or vomit. He just stands there, a blank look on his face. Then Effie introduces Peeta and me.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the victors of the 74th Annual Hunger Games, Peeta and Katniss Mellkark!"

There is soft applause as Peeta and I walk out holding hands. We take our place next to Haymitch. I'm gripping Peeta's hand as tight as I did when I gave birth. I look out across the square and can't help but get emotional. Two of these innocent, young children are about to have their names called, get on a train to the Capitol, and learn how to kill each other brutally. Why?

Peeta easily senses my turmoil. He waits until the video with President Snow is playing to lean over and whisper in my ear.

"I know it's hard, Kat. I hate it as much as you do. But that's why we're doing this. This is going to be the last one, I promise you. I love you baby." He gives me a kiss on the cheek, and I turn to him and mouth 'I love you too'. He gives me a small smile.

The video ends, and it's time for the Reaping. Effie walks to the balls.

"Now, to choose one brave girl and one brave boy to represent District 12 in this year's Quarter Quell," she announces, lacking her usual enthusiasm. She's trying, but it's just not the same. "As always, ladies first."

She stands in front of the girl's Reaping ball and sticks her hand in. She just grabs the first paper her fingers touch, obviously wanting to get it over with as soon as possible. She opens it and reads it out loud for everyone to hear.

"Annabel Anderson," she announces. I gasp. I know Annabel. She comes into the bakery a lot with her family. She's the oldest of four children, so I know nobody will be volunteering for her. She's only ten. I glance at Peeta and see the tears in the corner of his eyes. He always sneaks her cupcakes and cookies, and before we had our kids, she was one of the kids who convinced me Peeta would make an excellent father. Now we have to mentor her in the Games. She slowly makes her way up to the stage. The square is in silence. I search out the crowd and find her parents. Her mother has her head buried in her father's chest, obviously crying. Her father is trying his hardest to look stoic, but I see tears streaming down his face. I silently vow to do everything in my power to save her.

Once Annabel makes it to the stage and Effie introduces her, she moves to the boy's ball.

She reaches in, and again just grabs the first piece of paper she comes into contact with. She unfolds it quickly and reads it out loud.

"Grayson Mitchell," she announces. I know him too. Not as well as Annabel, but I know who he is. He's the middle of three brothers, but the only one in this year's Reaping age. I look out and see his older brother standing next to his parents. His father is holding him back from running out into the square.

Grayson looks like Peeta did last year – in shock. He slowly makes his way to the stage and shakes Annabel's hand limply. Grayson tells Effie he's eleven when she asks. Effie presents them as this year's Tributes, and instead of applause, everyone gives them the three-fingered goodbye salute. Peeta, Haymitch and I join.

It's over as quickly as it began. Grayson and Annabel are ushered into the Justice Building for their goodbyes. Peeta knows I don't want to bring back those memories, so he takes me by the hand and starts leading me to the train. When we left for the Reaping, we made sure we had everything from the house that we needed, and locked it up. Rye and Nan will check on it for us before they leave for 13.

Peeta and I make it to the train before the crowd. I breathe a sigh of relief when we step onto it. We quickly find my mom and Prim, and take the twins into our arms, relishing the feeling of their weight against our chests, the steady beating of their hearts.

"Thanks for watching them," I tell them.

"No problem," Prim smiles. "They're angels."

"We didn't want them to ever have to experience that," Peeta says. "And we knew it would be televised. We're avoiding having them in the spotlight at all costs."

Prim and my mom nod knowingly, understanding our reasoning. We sit down and tell them about the Reaping, and both of them sob when we tell them who was Reaped and how old they are. After a few minutes, the crowd starts gathering outside the train waiting for the Tributes' departure.

I see the car with Effie and the Tributes in it pull up. Haymitch boards first and sits next to Prim. Grayson and Annabel get out of the car, and I can easily see they've been crying. They take the customary pictures before they board, and soon are sitting across from us. Prim and my mom excuse themselves to give us time with them. The door closes, and the train starts its journey to the Capitol. Hopefully this won't be their last train ride, I think.

Peeta and I are unsure how to start. Last year, we had to literally force Haymitch to give us advice. Now, though, he's sober and we have three mentors instead of one drunk one.

"Well, I'd say congratulations, but that probably isn't very polite in this situation," Haymitch says, trying to lighten the mood. "And you'll hear that enough in the Capitol."

"What happens now?" Grayson asks quietly, his voice wavering. It breaks my heart.

"We'll arrive in the Capitol tomorrow," Effie explains. "Then you'll meet your prep teams and ride in the Tribute Parade. Then training will commence."

"Grayson, Annabel," I say quietly. They look at me. "I know how hard this is, trust me. When I volunteered, and Peeta got reaped, I thought, well, you know. But trust us, the four of us are going to do everything in our power to keep you alive. That's our only goal."

"But Mrs. Mellark," Annabel responds, "there can only be one Victor. Especially after last year," she says, referring to Peeta's and my threatening suicide.

The four of us look at each other, wondering whether or not to tell them about the rebellion. We all shake our heads slightly. It's too soon, and we don't know if we can trust them with valuable intel like that, especially when we're going to the Capitol.

"Just trust us," Peeta says softly. "Please. Haymitch, Katniss and I have all won before, and Effie has been doing this for years. We have experience that can help you. Listen to us, listen to your stylists, and you'll have a good chance. Okay?"

"Okay, Mr. Mellark," Grayson says sadly. "Thank you."

"Now that we got that out of the way, let's eat," Haymitch suggest, rubbing his belly comically.

We move to the table, and just like Peeta and me last year, Grayson and Annabel are stunned at the spread.

"Guys, go easy at first. I got sick last year from eating too much," I warn with a smile. They nod and start trying different things.

We sit and eat, answering the occasional question. I have Josh on my shoulder, and Peeta has Eve. They've both been great so far, except for one diaper changing. This is their first trip outside the District, and we hope we can get them home someday.

When we move on to dessert, Josh starts crying into my shoulder.

"Oh, baby, what's wrong?" I coo softly. I kiss him and stroke his head. I try rocking him, and smell his bottom, but none of that works. "Peeta, let's go to the bedroom. I think they're hungry."

"Mrs. Mellark?" Annabel asks as Peeta and I stand up.

"What is it, Annabel?"

"Can I hold the twins later?" She shyly asks. "They're so cute."

"Of course," I tell her with a smile. "Let me just feed them first, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Mellark." She gives me a smile, the first one I've seen on her since the Reaping. Maybe having the twins around will help.

Peeta and I head to our bedroom, and are delighted to find the twins' cribs already set up in the connected bedroom. We'll have to thank Prim and my mom, I assume. I feed the twins while Peeta sits with me, and we talk about our Tributes. They're both sweet, innocent kids. It's just so unfair.

"You know, there's a good chance we get both of them out alive," Peeta says.

"I know," I nod. "We need to talk to Haymitch and the other Victors and figure this out. Maybe we can have one huge alliance, and have them all stick together."

"Maybe. I don't know how we'd do that without having to tell them something. But we'll figure it out."

The twins fed, we head back to the dining car. Haymitch and Effie are telling Grayson and Annabel about sponsors, and about how Peeta and I went about getting them last year.

"Wait, so you were acting when you kissed him?" Annabel asks me.

"At first," I admit, looking down at my feet. Peeta leans over and kisses my cheek. I look back up at him, and he gives me an encouraging nod. "Then, when we were in the cave, I realized that I really do love him. It was real after that."

Annabel nods and thinks, then asks another question.

"Why'd you throw down your bow and take out the Nightlock?"

I sigh.

"People think I did it to make a point, to show the Capitol up, to defy them. That's just not true, even if it looks that way. I don't mind if people use it like that, but it's not why I did it. I did it because I knew there was no way one of us was leaving the Arena without the other. If Peeta died in that field, then I died in that field. End of story. Luckily, the Gamemakers realized that two Victors was better than none, so here we are."

"Wow," Grayson says in awe. It's silent for a few minutes after this.

"Will I have to kill anybody?" Grayson asks. Annabel nods, showing us she was wondering the same.

"I hope not," Peeta says quietly. "I did my best to not kill anybody in the Games. My only 'kill' was inadvertent, when Foxface ate the Nightlock I'd collected."

"What about you, Mrs. Mellark?" Annabel asks.

"I did kill, as I'm sure you remember. I hated it each and every time, and I can still see their faces. My first 'kill' was when I dropped the nest, even if I didn't mean to kill anyone. My first direct kill was Marvel, after he killed Rue. It was more reaction and reflexes than anything. When Peeta and I were on top of the Cornucopia, and Cato was being mauled by the Mutts, I knew I had to help him. Even if he had tried to kill us, he was still a human being. Nobody deserves that."

"I hope I don't have to kill anybody," Annabel says sadly.

"Me either," I tell her honestly. "But you both need to understand, there might come a time where it's either you or them. In that moment, you need to be brave. You need to think about the people who love you, and what they would want you to do. Then you'll know what you have to do. The last thing I want is to have to watch you two kill anybody, but I'd rather watch that then you dying. Okay?"

"Okay," Grayson nods reluctantly. "Thank you."

"Stop thanking us, kid," Haymitch butts in. "We're just doing our jobs. We're here for you. We're not doing this because we have to, we're doing this because we want to help you."

They both nod.

"Okay, tomorrow's a big day," Effie says after a minute. "Why don't we all head to bed, and get some rest? We arrive in the Capitol tomorrow morning."

We all get up, say goodnights, and head to our respective rooms. Before Peeta and I head back, we let Annabel and Grayson hold the twins for a few minutes. Both of them have huge smiles on their faces as they do, and the twins are perfect for them. It reminds me that they both have younger siblings, and I feel my heart wrenching again. Peeta squeezes my hand.

Peeta and I stop by Prim and my mom's room before we head to bed.

"Thanks for putting the cribs together," Peeta says sincerely.

"No problem," my mom smiles. "We figured you'd had a long enough day."

"Well it really helps us out," I tell them. "So thank you very much. We just wanted to say goodnight and let you say goodnight to the twins. And thanks again for coming with us."

"Of course," Prim smiles. "We're happy to watch them whenever you need."

We all say goodnight, kisses and hugs all around. Finally, Peeta and I head back to our rooms, putting the twins to bed in their cribs. We tuck them in and just stand there, watching over them, our arms around each other.

"They will never ever go to a Reaping," Peeta whispers, steel in his voice. "If it's the last thing I do, my children will never know that pain. I promise you, Katniss."

I nod, unable to speak, as the tears fall down my face. I can't even bear to think of my kids going through what Grayson and Annabel did today. It's unfathomable. It would destroy my world. My free hand goes to my locket and I finger it, giving me comfort.

We change for bed. I just put on one of Peeta's tees and a pair of panties. He's just wearing boxers as usual. He sits at the edge of the bed while I wash and massage his stump, ending with a sweet kiss to the remainder of his leg. We crawl into bed, Peeta on his back and my head on his chest, our legs tangled. My arm is wrapped around his torso tightly, and he has one arm around me and the other tangled in my hair.

"That was really hard for you, wasn't it?" He asks quietly, referring to the Reaping.

I nod, looking up at him.

"It's so much harder now that I have my own children," I explain. "I can actually empathize with the parents now. It's – it's – well, it's sick, Peeta. It's just sick. To rip kids from their homes and make them fight to the death? Especially kids this young?"

"I know," he soothes, softly running his fingers through my hair, which he's taken out of its braid. "This is the last Games, I promise. We're going to end it."

"Shouldn't we not talk about that here?" I whisper nervously.

He chuckles softly.

"Don't worry, I talked to Beetee. We're safe on the train," he tells me.

"Oh, okay. Good," I say, relieved.

"So, I was thinking about how we need to talk to Plutarch," Peeta begins. I nod for him to continue. "I think tomorrow night, after the Parade, we should have all the rebel Victors over to our room. We should explain what we're doing and why, and hopefully get them on our side, so when we do talk to Plutarch, it's not just you and me. What do you think?"

"I think it's a great idea. We've already talked to Annie, Finnick and Jo about it, and they're one hundred percent with us. With all of us, I'm sure Plutarch will have to agree. Not to mention he gets a pretty good deal with it too. He gets you and me as the public faces of the rebellion."

"Exactly," Peeta agrees. "But we have to make sure that we get him to agree to everything we want. Our family has to stay together, we can't ever be forced to go to the front lines or even leave 13 unless we agree, and whatever else we decide."

"Of course. I'm with you, Peeta."

"Good. Thanks, Kat. You know I couldn't do this without you."

"Obviously," I joke. "Who would wash your hair every morning? Or do your dirty laundry?"

"Ha ha, very funny Mrs. Mellark," he teases back. "Are you forgetting who usually cooks meals for our family? Or who washes your hair?"

"Fair enough, so we need each other," I concede. "I think we figured that out long ago."

"Speaking of need, I think I need my wife right now," Peeta says seductively.

"Oh is that so?" I tease. I quickly shift and straddle him. "You mean, like this?" I lean down and kiss him.

"Mmhmm," he moans happily. "Exactly like this."

I chuckle and cross my arms, lifting my shirt up over my head, leaving me just wearing panties.

"Oh my god," Peeta mumbles. "Perfect…."

I smile and lean down to kiss him again, and I feel his hands on my hips.

"Peeta, we just have to be a little quiet. There's a lot of people right down the hall," I tell him softly.

"I'm not the one we need to worry about," he teases. In response, I lightly bite his earlobe.

"Shut up and make love to me," I tell him seriously. He flips me onto my back and my panties are off in a flash.

"As you wish."

"I love you, Mr. Mellark."

"I love you too, Mrs. Mellark."

A/N: I want to apologize for not posting yesterday. I've been sick since Friday. I haven't even gone to work. I couldn't even sit upright at the computer, never mind actually writing. But I wanted to get a chapter out today, so there's the Reaping. We have our two young Tributes, and we're finally on our way to the Capitol.

There's a lot for Peeta and Katniss to do in the Capitol. They have to talk to the Victors and Plutarch, and make their demands. They have to figure out a way to try and keep their Tributes alive until they can be rescued. They need to keep their real plans under wraps. How will it all turn out? Stay tuned and find out!

Keep reviewing and reading. Happy Sunday.