Phew! I think this is the last one chopped from the big chapter, so enjoy, and things will get smoother from here!

oOo

We walked to town in silence, and a little over halfway there, Prim asked to hold Jace, so Annie gave him to her and she talked to him the rest of the way, cooing and laughing when he laughed. I felt a little more like Katniss Everdeen right now. Wearing normal clothes, hair back in a braid, walking to town with Primrose and Annie. Sure, the baby was new, but he just added to the happy feel.

When we finally got into town and more into the heart of District 12, I came to a sudden realization that I had no idea where to find Ivy and Caroline. Caroline didn't work today, and I seriously doubted she is in town every day she has off. When we paused near the town square, squinted my eyes around in search for the tiny red-headed girl with her mother. No sign.

"So, where are Ivy and…her mother?" Annie glanced around, but obviously unsure what she was looking for.

I sighed. "That's what I'm trying to think of."

"If all else fails," Prim piped up, handed Jace back to his mother, "we could ask Mr. Webb where she lives."

"Who's…?" I started, but then remembered. "The tailor. I suppose we could…"

"Why ask the tailor?" Annie wrinkled her nose as she spoke, still looking around the square.

"Caroline, Ivy's mother, works there." I explained. "And I think that would be our best bet."

They both agreed, and Annie followed Prim and I as we traced our steps back to the tailors' ostentatious shop. And, of course, it was open. Hesitantly, I walked in and held the door open for the others to follow.

Mr. Webb was sitting at his desk, bent over a piece of paper that he was scribbling on. When the bell dinged, his head snapped up and his black eyes widened with recognition.

"Miss Everdeen, I didn't expect you back until tomorrow." He smiled a bit and his eyes raked over Prim, then stopped at Annie. "And I take it this is the other lovely girl? With…a child." Mr. Webb said this flatly, and it was impossible to tell what his thoughts of the baby were.

"This is Annie Cresta," I turned back to Annie. "This is Mr. Webb, the tailor. And Mr. Webb, this is Jace, her k—"

"How sweet." His black eyes crinkled.

I had forgotten to mention to Annie how…interesting the tailor was.

I shook off his ill manners and straightened my back. "We were wondering if you know where Caroline lives. We n—"

"Yes, the plans have changed since Ms. Cresta is here early. I understand." He folded his hands on his desk, but didn't get up. "Ms. Sawyer lives on Stalinbrooke. Number four."

"Thank you."

Mr. Webb's smile was to his ears, but slightly dry. "My pleasure. Come back soon."

I plan on it. Giving him a timid smile, I waved Annie and Prim back out the door before we could be further intimidated.

Annie had nothing to say about his personality, thankfully, but instead she squinted at the nearest street sign. "Where is Stalinbrooke?"

"Next road down." I pointed. "Not too far away, actually. Hope she's home…"

Primrose fell in step beside me, and Annie on the other side, so we were walking in a line all the way to Stalinbrooke Drive. When we began down the road, I got a better look of the place I passed only a hundred times. Tiny dull houses were crammed together tightly, about two feet from each other. The roofs were low and windows small, but the majority of houses had flowers blooming everywhere; in pots on their porch, in earthy beds beside the porch, under the windows, hanging from the roof.

Number four was the second house on our left. It was one of those that had flowers everywhere. The smell washed over us as we approached, and I could see the lavender curtains pulled shut behind the windows. Prim and Annie were happy waiting out at the bottom of the porch, leaving me walking nervously up the steps. But as nervous as I was, I didn't hesitate knocking on the door.

Silence.

I knocked again, a few seconds later. And then there was a shuffled behind the door and it opened. A tiny, wizened old lady answered. She barely had any hair, but the ones she did have left were pearly white. Though she looked a million years old, I could see in the way she held herself and the brilliant hazel eyes that she was beautiful once. Her face was nearly hidden in wrinkles, but through all the folds of age, she was smiling.

"Katniss Everdeen." She said in a whisper, but I was sure it was only quiet because of her she was so old.

All of a sudden I wasn't so sure that this was the right house. After only briefly checking the house number again (it was still four), I gave a tentative smile. "Eh… Is, um…is Caroline here?"

The old lady tilted her head sideways, and then shook it. "Sorry not, honey. She went to the butchers real quick, she'll be right back."

"Did she take Ivy?"

She laughed, a sound that was as wrinkly and as beautiful as she was. "No, dear. Little bird is here with me. Would you like to come in?"

I glanced back at Prim and Annie, and then waved them to come up. When they did, I introduced them. "This is my little sister, Primrose." I put my hand briefly on Prim's shoulder. "And this is Annie, with Jace."

The old lady held up a bony, shaking hand. "Lucia. Lucia Bennet. Nice to meet you lovely young ladies." She shook each of our hands one by one, and I found myself liking this old lady a lot. "I am Caroline's grandmother, Ivy's great-grandmother. I live here with them." Lucia turned around and shuffled further into the house at the pace of a dying turtle. "Sorry, it's a bit of a mess." She let out a wheezy chuckle. "Four-year-olds are impossible to tame."

We all let out a nervous laugh.

"That's alright. We understand." I said, peering around the large doorway in which we were headed.

Lucia wobbled in—the room was obviously a living room. "Ivy, baby, we have visitors."

Ivy was lying on her stomach on one of the couches, munching on a chocolate cookie (that I recognized as part of her birthday present) and scribbling on a piece of paper with a colored stick of wax. When she heard her great-grandmother's voice, her head popped up, sending brilliant red hair flicking around her face. And when she saw us, her face split into a wide chocolate grin.

"Caniss!" She cried, leaping up and barreling towards me.

I caught her in a death-grip hug. "Hey, Ivy." She let go, bouncing around like her feet were made of rubber. I put my hand on her back and pointed at Annie. "This is Annie, and the little baby she has is Jace."

Ivy's mouth puckered into a perfect "O" shape when she caught sight of the baby. She snuck forward cautiously as Annie bent down to let her see Jace. Ivy reached her hand out and put it on top of Jace's head. "Baby…"

Annie grinned. "Baby Jace. My son."

All of a sudden, Ivy's head snapped up and she giggled, high-pitched at Annie. And then she held up the remained of her cookie. "Does baby want a bite of my cookie?"

"Oh, no honey." Annie explained, still on her knees. "Babies can't have cookies."

"Oh." Ivy paused, then looked up at Prim, remembering her name. "Prim. Want my cookie?"

"No thanks." Prim couldn't help but laugh. "You eat it."

Ivy obliged without a smidge of hesitation, cramming the rest of it into her surprisingly big mouth.

"Would you dear ladies like something to eat and drink?" Lucia grinned, a wide, not-so-menacing, toothless grin.

We all shuffled our feet and declined politely.

"We already ate, thanks." I gave her an uncomfortable smile.

"Nonsense." She had already turned around and began shuffling towards what might have been the kitchen. "You're as thin as twigs."

This made me rather curious, but mostly because I had gathered this family to not have much money for a ton of food. It was something that made me ponder, but it was kind of pointless to refuse again. While Lucia was rummaging around in the kitchen, Ivy took our hands and practically shoved us down on the couch. I felt a crayon snap under me.

"Momma's shopping, Caniss." She says in an adorably matter-of-fact voice. "But we can go without her."

I laughed a little, and so did Prim.

"I'm afraid we can't, Ivy." I said. "We'll wait for your momma to come back, okay?"

For a second, Ivy's attention was caught by Jace, who was waving his little arms at her. Then she looked back at me. "Where we going?"

"Back to where we were yesterday." I said. "The place with all the clothes."

She sprang up and down. "More pictures of pretty dresses!"

"No, Ivy." At my words, she frowned. "This time we're trying them on and buying them."

She squirmed and giggled with excitement. "Princess, princess!"

"Calm down, little bird." Lucia had come back from the kitchen carrying a huge platter of sandwiches and homemade french-fries and all sorts of snacks. For drinks clung to the side of the tray. Lucia set it down on the rickety-looking coffee table and sat in the fluffy armchair next to the couch. "There go go, dolls, eat up. Put some meat on those bones of yours."

She didn't really give us a choice. Feeling awkward and guilty, I took a snack and so did Annie and Prim. I had the decency not to say anything about it, but my little sisters' curiosity got the better of her.

"I-I don't mean to pry, ma-am—" she began.

"Lucia."

"Lucia," Prim corrected herself. "Well, Caroline kind of…made it apparent that you-you three struggle, but I—" She sighed, cheeks turning red. "I-I just can't accept any of this." And to my surprise, she set her sandwich back down and avoided anyone's eyes.

Lucia laughed out loud, covering her mouth with her thin fingers. "Oh, honey, she told you that? My granddaughter has become paranoid, see." She set down her own food. "Ever since the accident with her son happened, she's been working herself to death and fifty percent of all her earnings are going into savings. For what, I'm not sure, but she acts as though we're barely scraping by when in reality we have about seven thousand dollars saved up."

My mouth popped open and I felt my eyebrows involuntarily raise in surprise. Compared to what's locked in a single trunk in my basement, 7 thousand was nothing, but back before the Games is was two or three times more than the actual coin money we got per year.

There was a silence, and judging by Prim's shocked expression too, she understood what that meant as well. IT was only when a small timer went off in the kitchen the stillness was broken.

"Oh, that'd be the cobbler." Lucia got up stiffly out of her chair and began shuffling away, but then paused and turned back to us. "Eat, sweeties, you're as thin as twigs." She smiled and went to the kitchen to get her cobbler.

Ivy paid no attention to our surprise and just munched happily away on French-fries.

Jace began to fuss, but Annie reassured me it wasn't because his diaper needed changing. She rocked him and hummed a bit and—to my surprise—he fell asleep. Prim and I exchanged a glance that shared the same confusion about Caroline's intentions, but the both of us knew not to ask any more questions.

A few minutes later, Lucia came back with bowls of fruity-smelling cobbler and handed them out. "Here you are, honeys." She beamed. "Peach cobbler is my granddaughter's fa—"

"Grandmother?" A familiar voice called out from in the hallway. "Who are you t—" Caroline appeared in the living room doorway holding a piece of paper-wrapped meat, looked confused. But immediately it switched to astonishment.

"We have visitors, Caroline." Lucia stood up and offered her a plate. "Have some cobbler."

Caroline took the plate, but still looked puzzled.

Realizing she hadn't met one of the girls here yet, I stood up and waved Annie up too. "Caroline, this is my third bridesmaid, Annie. She got here early." I turned to Annie. "This is Ivy's mother, Caroline Sawyer."

Annie stretched out a hand to shake Caroline's, smiling politely.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Annie." Caroline smiled, too, and then glanced down at Jace. "And who's this?"

"This is my little Jace." Annie glowed, holding him a little higher proudly. "He's just a month old."

Caroline's face turned sad with longing. "He's beautiful."

A grin. "Thank you."

There was a pause, in which Ivy ran over and threw her arms around Caroline's knees. "Gran made us some snacks, momma!"

Hazel eyes rolled over to Lucia disapprovingly. "Grandmother… I can't count the number of times I've told you not to shove food in other people's faces when they come over."

"Calm yourself down, hon." Lucia thought nothing of this. "They're skin and bones."

With a sigh of defeat and an apologetic glance, the subject was dropped and moved onto another. "I'm sorry you had to see this place as a complete mess…" Caroline started rambling, sweeping magazines and pieces of paper off surfaces. "I didn't even think you knew where I lived."

"Mr. Webb told us." I gave her an unsure smile. "Sorry."

"Oh, don't apologize, no…" She continued to half-heartedly clean. "So, I ta—"

"Momma, we're gonna get dresses today!" Ivy interrupted, bouncing up and down. "Caniss is buying us dresses!"

Caroline paused, then glanced up at Prim, Annie and her daughter in turn. It clicked. "Oh. Well, then, if we're going back to the tailors, go get yourself cleaned up." She shooed Ivy with a kiss over to what must have been the bathroom.

Lucia, who had fetched a kettle of tea, was now pouring her granddaughter some. "Why are you going to the tailors, dear?" She handed Caroline the cup.

Caroline's eyes told me it was my job to explain since it was my wedding.

I cleared my throat. "I assume you've heard the rumors about the wedding?"

Lucia laughed her wheezy laugh. "Sadly, rumors don't reach old Lucia like they used to. But yes, I did hear something….I'm not sure when."

I glanced over at Caroline. She rubbed her eyes and gave me an exasperated I-just-told-her-yesterday look.

"Ohh, is it that nice Peeta boy?" Lucia piped up, taking a sip of her tea, eyes wrinkling up fondly. "What are his whereabouts these days?"

I sighed and took a drink of my tea. "He's stuck around, still in the victor's Village with me and my family. And yes, it is him. After countless lectures and discussions and breaks from reality I became sane enough for him to ask me to marry him." I tried to say that last part calmly, but having it in words in my own mouth, it just made my heart jump into my throat.

The old lady stood up and came over to me, eyes shining with tears of joy, clutching my hand in hers. "That's wonderful that you two are getting married. Absolutely wonderful." She gripped my hand for another second, and then held it a little closer to her face to examine it. "Now, let's see the ring…"

She studied my simple pearl band for a minute, and then gave me my hand back. "That's lovely, dear. You're incredibly fortunate,:

"Thanks." I knew that. More fortunate than I deserve. Sighing a bit, I straightened back up. We'd gotten off the original question. "But anyway, we aren't a whole lot into planning the wedding, but we've gotten far enough to know we're going to have three bridesmaids.

Lucia smiled curiously.

"Annie," I touched Annie's shoulder. "Prim," I did the same with my little sister, and then pointed to Ivy, who'd come back from the bathroom looking a smidge cleaner. "and of course, Ivy. We're off to the tailors to get their bridesmaids dresses."

She perked up, decrepit lips puckering in excitement. "Oh, how fun! Let me get my purse…" She stood up and began rummaging around in the piles of junk.

"Um, Grandmother?" Caroline made a face, shaking her head slightly. "I don't…"

"Quiet, child." Lucia dismissed her granddaughter off with a wave of her hand. "Help me find my purse…"

"Grandmother, I don't think you can come." Caroline looked a bit guilty for refusing her grandmother, but she held steadfast anyway. "It's just us."

The old lady pursed her lips and looked up at her with a stubborn look. "Well," She didn't seem upset, just put out. "Okay, then. I'll wait here, but I expect to see the dresses once you're done." Her smile reached her eyes and she bent down to put her thin blotchy arms around Ivy. "You be good, little bird. Mind your momma and the lovely girls."

Ivy giggled. "Mkay, Gran." She gave her great-grandmother a kiss on the cheek and then stretched her arms up to me.

I reached down and heaved her four-year-old body into my arms. "You ready?" I glanced back at Primrose and Annie, who had tucked Jace into the crook of her elbow. They both nodded. Then I gave me nicest smile to the old lady, Lucia. "It was lovely meeting you, Lucia."

"And you, too, child." Her watery eyes raked over the rest of us . "All of you. Have fun, girls."
And with a last farewell, Caroline, Annie, Primrose and I holding our little children, left Lucia and began our small trek back down Stalinbrooke Drive.

oOo

That was a pretty catchy end-sentence if I do say so myself. If I named chapters, this one would be called "Down Stalinbrooke Drive". It makes me happy, for some reason. But never mind that, if you like where this is going (or if you don't, either one) please review and let me know! Mkay? Thanks everybody, and have an excellent…beginning-of-July!