You guys were so sweet in your reviews! I was very, very happy. But of course, that doesn't matter. You people were very, very happy. That was good, definitely. So, thank you thank you thank you, and I promise it's worth it all! I promise! But anyways, virtual cookies to all of my wonderful people out there, and enjoy this chapter!

oOo

Peeta was wonderful throughout all of it. He didn't complain or even talk a whole lot as he helped me move my clothes back over to Mother's house. It was somewhat degrading moving back in with your mom, but no one said anything negative. Mother and Prim didn't ask any questions as we took all my stuff back into my old room. Though Prim looked suspicious and a little sympathetic, she kept her lips sealed.

Into my old room went all of my clothes (including my hunting clothes, which Peeta offered to carry). I didn't own any possessions really, so that was all I had to take. Peeta asked about the framed photo of Annie, Finnick and Jace, but I declined that. It could wait there, keep him company. He smiled at that, but made me take a picture he painted. Of us. It was on original Peeta move, and I took it gratefully and hung it right above my dresser.

It felt odd, though. Like it was missing something. It was way too tidy. The other room had two-week-old laundry draped over chairs, and the bed was never made, wardrobe doors never quite all the way closed. I had some serious messing up to do.

When we were all the way done with the moving, Mother made us all some lemonade (a rare treat) and we sat down on the couches. I could see it in their eyes, the questions they wanted me to answer without them bringing it up first. I knew automatically that Prim, being Prim, would wait until Mother and Peeta were somewhere else, and then ask me. I was still unsure of what happened, and until I knew for sure what, I wasn't going to go into any in-depth explanations for my actions. All I know is that it actually happened, and it wasn't a couple rash words that were ignored a minute later.

Peeta knew their looks as well, except he must not have understood that I didn't want to talk. His smile was for all of us, and he stood up. "I'll take the glasses back into the kitchen."

Primrose and Mother thanked him, handed him their glasses, and I did the same. He gave me a small, encouraging smile as well, and then left for the kitchen.

The very second the door swung closed behind him, two pairs of eyes turned to me and Primrose actually got up to sit next to me. She bit her lip and looked up at me sympathetically. "Have you two been…arguing more?"

I resisted the urge to sigh. Turning my gaze unto Mother, she reached over and patted my knee kindheartedly. Now that they were both focused on me, and Peeta can only take so long standing around in the kitchen, I knew I had to answer.

"I—" I furrowed my brows. "No, we haven't. Thing have been…alright, actually. I just decided that it's necessary for me to start over if I'm ever going to be sane again. To put it short."

There was a silence. Primrose broke it with an optimistic smile.

"Well, it's great that you're going to stay with us again! We missed you." She grinned, but got distracted by her cat coming into the room, fuzzy tail held high, waddling on his fat little legs.

Mother laughed at Buttercup, which had just hopped up onto the sofa next to Prim, then turned back to me. "Are you two still…?" She searched for the appropriate word, face turning a slow shade of red as she came up blank.

"That, we haven't worked out." I grimaced slightly. "I have no idea. Literally. I don't know what I'm doing." Exhaling loudly, I pulled my knees up to my chest and put my hands on my forehead.

My family stayed silent. Primrose had her thin arm around me, and Mother was staring at me with her usual concerned parental gaze. I was actually really relieved when Peeta came out of the kitchen. I was beginning to think he was taking an extraordinarily long time putting away the dishes, but in his hands was a giant plate of fresh cookies. The kind he could whip up in fifteen minutes and still taste like heaven.

He set the plate down on the coffee table and took his seat next to me. "I thought this would hearten the mood a bit."

It sure fixed Primrose right away. She grinned, thanked Peeta, and reached out for a cookie. Mother did the same, but she just held it. I guess I had no choice but to take one, too. It was peanut butter. There was a silence in which Primrose and Peeta acted perfectly fine, sitting back munching on the treats. But Mother, who seemed to still have some unanswered questions, cleared her throat a minute later.

"So," She laced her hands on her lap, the cookie being squeezed in between. "Do you plan on opening up the bakery to regular hours now that…your schedule's cleaned up a bit?"

"I do." Peeta nodded in thought, and then cocked his head slightly to the left. "Though they got a new bakery up on the east side of town. Since mine was closed all the time." He smiled slightly. "I've got competition."

"Or you both can just do your own thing separately and not try to compete at all." I suggested, not keen on having Peeta vie with anyone or anything.

I earned myself looks from all three of them. My mouth shut and I didn't open it again for a while.

It was eleven o'clock, and somehow we got into the topic of a garden. A large vegetable garden was in talks, most likely being placed behind Mother's and Peeta's house. The crops would be equally shared if they were equally tended, a whole bunch of stuff about this 'equal' thing. I had to admit I doubted that it was actually going to happen, mostly because Mother was so busy. She worked every day except Sunday, but she occasionally got a day off, depending on the amount of doctors and nurses available. So it was iffy, and doubtable that she would have enough time. That and since Peeta's starting up the bakery full-time now… I shook my head. Merely dreams.

I guessed the cookies and lemonade was breakfast, because pretty much all we did was sitting in the living room chatting lightly to one another. Well, I didn't talk much but that was okay with everyone, or they would have forced me into the conversation more. We (they) talked about gardens, the bakery, the hospital, mainly about working and stuff like that. At the hospital, Mother had gotten appointed to head of the apothecary branch of the hospital. She was deal with the herbal and natural kind of relief and healing, whereas Prim was being an apprentice in the normal doctor department. She apprenticed twice a week, and was learning more and more. Though she knew more than the average 14-year-old in the terms of medicine and doctoring, there was no actual paying job involved until she turned sixteen.

Mother beamed at Prim the entire time she told of exactly what she did with the nurses and doctors. She told us of one of the patients she was assigned to. His name was Benj Erik, and he had his foot crushed by a cow when he was tending to his. There was barely anybody with cows around District 12, so I narrowed it down in my head to the farm some three miles away. The owner—Benj, it was apparent—had moved here when it was open back in October and started a farm. He sold some of the best milk anyone had ever tasted, but other than that, no one really sees him around.

Prim told us of the stories he had told her. About back in District one. There wasn't proper terrain to raise any kind of livestock, so he was forced into the low-paying common job of eleven: precious metals. He worked as a diamond cutter until the revolution started (he was rooting for me the whole time, Prim assured us) when he escaped to Thirteen like most everyone. I was under the impression that this guy had told Prim his life story. She seemed to enjoy his company by the way she talked about him.

Lunch was light and fast, and at twelve, we were still talking. But suddenly, Mother looked up at the clock on the wall. Upon seeing it was a little past noon, she tutted her tongue in a flustered way and stood up. "Oh, dear, I was going to call Aurelis an hour ago…"

My head, which was beginning to droop with boredom, lifted back up curiously. "Who's that?"

Mother, who flinched, made a face that looked as though she just now remember she wasn't supposed to say anything at all. She bit her lip and turned around, composure regained. "He's a doctor that got in contact with us when we were back in District 13. He was there when you were under critical watch."

I nodded, the gears working in my head. She said it carefully, as if hiding something. I looked back up and pressed on. "Is he just a normal doctor or…?"

She closed her eyes, defeated, but only allowed a second to look that way. "He's a mental stability doctor. A therapist." Then she went into defense when I didn't say anything. "When you were still unconscious in the hospital, he was the one that had been keeping in touch with us, warning us of everything that could go wrong. He said you'd be insecure and horribly unstable for a while. He made me promise to keep an eye on you, restrict you to the house for the first few months, and call him every week for an update."

For some reason, I felt violated. She never bothered to tell me that I had a professional therapist keeping track of my every move. I clenched my teeth slightly, and unclenched them, doing my best not to get any more upset than I already was. "Anything else kept from me?"

I felt Peeta put his hand on my arm warningly. I shrugged it away, staring at my mother.

There was silence for a few seconds, and then Mother shrugged in and attempt of nonchalance. "You have an appointment with him on Thursday."

My jaw dropped and I put my hands on my hips. "And when were you planning on telling me this?"

She lifted her eyebrows at the wall in false musing. She looked at me again. "Thursday." And then walked out with a defiant motherly step to her walk.

I threw up my hands and made a noise of exasperation, beginning to stand up. But Peeta's hand on my arm again stopped me. He patted me comfortingly. "She's your mother, Katniss. Dr. Aurelis has been there to help you."

"You knew about it?" I shouted in disbelief. Though I'd abandoned trying to get up and stop out, I made another noise of frustration and glared at him. "How come everyone knows everything about me that I don't? How come no one told me?"

"Because you'd act this way." His voice remained calm.

I was forced to sit back and breathe, no longer allowed to freak because of Peeta's good reasoning. Through clenched teeth, I sighed and said, "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"You're fine." He reassured me, and let go of my arm.

There was silence between the three of us—Prim, Peeta and I—for a while. The muted hush of voices came from the kitchen, a few laughs occasionally. Ten minutes later, Mother came back from the kitchen. She glanced at me (who is pouting, of course) and sat back down in her chair.

"I was actually going to tell you tomorrow, but I'm sorry you acted that way." She said, and then abruptly changed the subject before I could say anything. "You should probably call Annie and Jace to give them the news and if you want them to have a heads up."

I sighed. "Yeah." Looking back at Peeta, I managed a miniscule smile. "You coming?" It was the news of out engagement, after all. He smiled back and came.

The yellow-ish phone was hanging on the wall opposite the sink, and I picked it up, dialing the number I'd dialed many times by now. Thankfully, the lines were no longer tapped so the conversations were just as private as they would have been originally. It rang a couple times, and then someone picked up. I put it on speakerphone, but the other end was full of noise.

I frowned to Peeta, and he frowned back.

A baby was screaming, and two people were talking over the baby. Two seconds later, Finnick's voice came from the receiver. "Sorry about that. Who is this?"

I couldn't help but smile a tiny bit, because he sounded exasperated over his baby son. "Hey, Finnick. It's me." I glanced at Peeta next to me. "…And Peeta."

"Oh, hey!" Finnick had given me some slack ever since I delivered his son, Jace, all by myself. He wasn't near as arrogant now he had a family. "So, you're calling, and both of you are here this time. I take it there's some news? A baby on the way?"

I faltered, only because he caught me off guard. "N-No, Finnick. No. But there is news." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Peeta shaking his head amusedly.

From the other end, we heard a small clatter and a muffled exchange of words. Annie's soft voice came from the other end instead of Finnick's this time. "Katniss? Peeta?"

We both said hi. I felt my palm grow itchy and my hand felt like it weighed a ton, just because of the ring. It shouldn't be such a big deal, but still.

Jace started crying in the background. Annie calmed him. "Shh, shh…" Her voice grew a smidge louder as she directed the talking to us again. "News?"

"Um…" I exchanged a glance with Peeta, thinking of how to phrase this without sounding cliché. "We're, uh…"

Peeta took over smoothly. "Though you're not the first to know, Katniss and I are getting married. We don't know quite when, yet, but we needed to let you know."

Exclamations from both Finnick and Annie clogged the other line, as well as whining from their son.

"Congratulations! I'm so happy." Annie said, sounding genuine, and then put the phone away from her mouth to hush Jace.

There was a rustle as Finnick took the phone. "It's about time. Are we invited?"

"That's why we're calling." I rolled my eyes, though I knew he couldn't see it.

Annie, who had successfully shushed her son, came back. "How is that going to work?"

We exchanged glances.

"We're not really sure, but—" Peeta began, but I interrupted.

"If you could come early to help decide that, it'd be great." I made a split-second decision, and looked at Peeta for his approval. He was giving me a look, half-exasperated, half-laughing. "If you can make it."

Again, we heard quiet talking on the other end, but muffled as if they put the receiver to their shirt. A few seconds later, the phone crackled and they came back.

"Annie has an appointment on Tuesday, but we can come any time after that. Wednesday?"

Peeta and I looked at each other, but it was him that agreed. "Yeah, that's fine."

"It shouldn't be too hard to hitch a hovercr—God, Jace, stop squirming!" Finnick made a noise of frustration, and then his wife scolded him. Jace kept crying. "We'll talk to you Wednesday, okay?"

Both Peeta and I said 'okay', and ending on one last goodbye-scream from Jace, the other end clicked off. Beeping filled our ears.

Peeta hung the phone up and sighed. There was a moment of silence between us, and I could tell her really, really wanted to do something else other than just stand there. His eyes reached out to me. I had to turn away, forcing myself to keep my promise to myself.

Wordlessly, we walked back into the living room together, only to find Mother and Prim huddled together with concerned looks on their faces, voices low. When they saw us come in, they leaned back out conspicuously.

"They're coming Wednesday." I said, plopping myself down onto the couch, eyeing them wordlessly for answers.

None came. Mother just straightened her back and put on a slightly false smile, telling me that there was not a snowballs chance in hell she'd tall me. Mothers. "That's excellent! So soon…"

Prim acted exactly like her mother. "So that takes care of them, but what about Ivy and Ca—?"

"Ivy and Caroline!" I said suddenly, remembering something that smacked me in the forehead. "They're coming for dinner tonight!" I turned to Peeta, my eyes open in sudden stress. "We haven't even…even…"

He put his hand on my arm reassuringly and rolled his eyes. "We still have three hours. No need to stress, Katniss."

I made a guttural noise of annoyance and stood up. Before I made it all the way to the door, though, I turned back around and eyed Mother and Prim a second time. "Don't think I didn't catch that, either."

Mother waved her hand as a dismissal. "Have fun, you two."

Feeling like the world was against me, I let Peeta take me gently by the elbow and steer me out of the door, scowling at the floor. Therapy, Finnick and Annie coming, everything is happening in one week! Sheesh. The world was against me. Sighing, I glanced up at Peeta. He smiled back down. Well, maybe not him. I hoped.

oOo

I have news, everybody! I'm getting a new story out, but this time it isn't just by me alone. I have been collaborating with another author, mancpotter, and we came up with the first chapter of a HG fanfiction, and I'm posting it as my story. It's drama/angst, right after the Games, Katniss chooses Gale, Peeta is really upset and distraught, but Gale's doing everything he can against Peeta. That's a pretty bad summary, but you get the basics. Please read it and, of course, review!