10 Years Later

Chloe Vindisi

"Mommy! Mommy! Daddy!" his fragile voice squeaks. Cato sits up in bed, yawning, rubbing his eyes. I don't even bother; I cover my head with the pillow.

"What's up, Lucas?" he responds tiredly. It's eight in the morning, I don't blame him.

"Today is Reaping Day!" Bouncing up and down, he pulls the blankets off of me and my husband. "We have to be in the Town Square in an hour!"

"We don't have to be anywhere," Cato corrects. "We don't have to go until your twelve, and your name's in the Reaping bowl. That's five years away."

"I still want to go," Lucas Marvel Vindisi says sadly, his voice small and delicate. I remove the pillow from my face and sit up, leaning my head on Cato's shoulder. "Make me breakfast, Daddy! We have to support our District!"

"Well, son, I'm a Victor, and Victors don't make breakfast," Cato states. "That's why your mother's here," he jokes, chuckling.

"Alright, if we're going to the Reaping, we might as well be timely," I ruffle Lucas's dirty blonde hair, like his father's, grab his hand, and lead him downstairs to the kitchen.

I divide the scrambled eggs, bacon, and French toast onto three plates and set them on the table, where they all sit down and begin shoveling it into their mouth.

"Zorrelia wouldn't be proud, Cato," I scold, giggling.

"Who's Zorrelia?" Lucas asks, his mouth full of bacon.

"An old friend," I beam, winking at Cato. "Now eat up, I laid your clothes out on your bed when your finished!"

Lucas nods, finishes his breakfast, and races towards the stairs to his room.

"One day, he'll be a Victor, just like his father," Cato smirks, putting the plates in the sink.

"I love you," I say, ambling towards him and planting a kiss on his lips.

"I love you, too, Chlo," he replies, pulling me into a strong embrace, making the kiss last longer than intended.

"Ewww," Lucas groans from the doorframe. "You guys are icky!"

"Lucas! Go get your clothes -"

"I already have them on, Ma," he says proudly. He's wearing a suit that used to be Cato's when he was his age, and it's about three sizes too big. "Now go get changed! The Reaping is starting soon!"

"Okay, Luke." I threw on a simple black knee-length dress with some heels, my blonde hair curled and down. The Reapings in Career Districts were always formal.

When Cato thought no one was looking, he snatched a rose from the vase on the table. "I got this for you, Chlo."

"Nice try," I scowl, shaking my head, laughing. "Come on."

Cato holds the door open for me and scoops up Luke in his hands, who fidgets around. "I'm a big boy, Daddy. I can walk."

"If your sure…" Cato shrugs, grabbing his hand, amused. When we get to the center of town, which isn't far from Victor's Village, we stand all the way in the back. I remember all of this. Ten years ago, this was me and Cato, anxious to volunteer.

"Greetings, District 2!" The familiar, heavy-accented voice of Zorrelia Moonhaze calls out. She's fluffing her purple hair, dyed even brighter. "At this time, we're going to select one courageous man and woman to represent District 2 in the 84th Annual Hunger Games!" The crowd screams and applauds.

"Ladies first," she says, just as she did ten years ago. "Matilda Corrae -"

"I volunteer! I volunteer as Tribute!" a voice from the eighteen year-old section shouts. She has curly brown hair, pale skin, and looks about 5'8.

"Perfect!" Zorrelia pats her on the back. "And your name is?"

"Lydia Mayhew." This girl looks nothing like me, but our personalities are similar. Cool, calm, intimidating. Happy to take part in the Hunger Games.

Zorrelia then selects a boy from the Reaping bowl, but of course, we have another volunteer. Cato wraps his arm around me, smiling. This brought back so many memories.

"Daddy?" We look down at Lucas, who's been biting his nails in suspense this whole time. "One day, that's going to be me. I'm going to volunteer and win the Hunger Games."

"Now that's what I like to hear," Cato picks him and we have a 'family hug.' "You'll make a great Victor, Lucas. But you have to train hard," he warns.

"I can do it, Dad!" Lucas says excitedly. "I'll do whatever it takes!"

I rub Cato's back and sigh in relief, resting my head on his shoulder again. Life was good in District 2, everything normal, happy, and bright.

"I love you so much," Cato whispers in my ear. He's wearing that signature smirk that I loved ever since the day we met at the Reaping.

Like an angel that follows you, anytime, anywhere. Know my love lives inside of you, it will always be there.

Epilogue! (: that's the end of this story. I really hope you liked it, and I'm really proud of myself for completing I'm Already There. Keep an eye out for my next story, I'm thinking it'll be a Marvel story…?

I also want to thank every single person who reviewed. (: without you, I would've abandoned this story a loooong time ago. Your feedback makes my day.

So, how do you think I did for my first story?

Thank you so much for reading this!

~Alana