Peeta stood just inside the doorway watching her. Her long dark hair spilled out behind the back of the washtub. Her knees were bent and slightly parted to allow for her growing belly. She had been able to help him all through the planting season but the summers days were beginning to take their toll. He had suggested a cool bath for her comfort. He hadn't anticipated the impact her glowing body and beaded nipples would have on him when he returned to the cabin. He knew he should make his presence known but she was so gorgeous that he couldn't deny himself a few more minutes of watching her.

Katniss grinned as she ran the washcloth over her shoulders and breasts again. He had been driving her crazy all day working in nothing but his breeches. Let him eat his heart out. She glanced in the mirror. His expression turned painful and he reached forward to readjust himself. She giggled, she couldn't help it.

"I know you're there Peeta" she called to him.

His cheeks flamed with embarrassment. He came in and hung his hat up on the peg and avoided her gaze. She cocked her head in question.

"I am your wife you know" she reminded him. "You don't have to peek at me."

She grabbed his hand as he walked past her and pulled him down to sit beside the tub.

"Come" Katniss directed. "Peeta I know you want to look at me. Go ahead, look all you want."

He ran his hand through his hair.

"I shouldn't" he told her. "You're so beautiful right now, but we agreed to wait until the baby is born and seeing you like this is really testing my will power."

Katniss shook her head, a sense of accomplishment setting in at having aroused her husband to such a state.

"It's understandable" she said lightly, standing and taking her time drying off and donning her nightgown. "I've gained so much weight."

She twisted and turned, observing her body in the mirror. Her breasts and hips were more pronounced and her face appeared a bit fuller. Her middle was expanding and there was no longer any doubt that a little one was growing there. She was happy. Such a figure was pleasing to her husband and a sign that their babe was developing well.

When they settled into bed, Peeta lifted her gown and ran a hand over her belly. His other stroked the scars that marred her back. His lips left small kisses on her shoulder.

This pregnancy was so different from the last one. Sure, she felt exhausted by the end of the day, but there actually was an end of the work day. She could rest when she needed and she ate until she was full. There was no dread of what fate might await the child when it was born into poverty. This child would want for nothing. Safe and secure in its parents love it would blossom and grow on their little farm.

Katniss moved her hand to cover her husbands'. He was taking such amazing care of both her and their babe. Even when he was shouldering the brunt of the labor he was kind and patient in the evenings. They had continued lovemaking until she started showing. Once the baby was large enough to cause a bump they had decided that it was too risky. They could harm it or cause her to go into premature labor. Katniss had no idea if these fears had merit but it was better to be safe than sorry. Keeping her little one healthy was her number one priority. She desperately missed her intimacy with Peeta though. His hands, even in their current innocent venture caused her to ache.

"What did he look like?" Peeta asked, breaking her train of thought.

"What?" she asked. She had barely been listening. Too focused on how each callous felt as it brushed against her.

"Our baby. What did he look like?" Peeta repeated.

She closed her eyes and thought of him. She had been doing this more, recalling the past and sharing it with her husband. Sharing the child she had loved and lost. Letting Peeta love him too. It hurt and sometimes she cried but it also felt right. Like restoring something valuable to its rightful place of honor.

"Small" Katniss answered. "Cute though. A perfect head of dark hair and brown eyes. Not grey like mine. He must have gotten those from…the man who hurt me."

Peeta's arms tightened around her and he kissed her face.

"His hands and fingers were so tiny" she recalled. "He didn't cry much, he mostly just slept but he opened his eyes and looked at me a few times. He had my father's nose."

"What did you name him?" Peeta asked.

Katniss frowned. "I didn't. I mean, I wanted to but he didn't live long enough for anyone to ask me and then I felt sick every time I thought of him. Every time I remembered how much I failed him. I guess I didn't feel like a deserved to give him a name, but that isn't fair to him is it?"

Peeta shook his head.

"I wish I would have gotten a chance to hold him" he told her.

"Me too" Katniss agreed. "I wish…I wish you could have been there. That we both could have been there for each other from the beginning. That you could have held me when my father died and I could have nursed you after that carriage accident and beaten your mother senseless."

Her last words were spoken in a tone of humor despite the serious topic and Peeta chuckled. Katniss moved her hips and rubbed her bottom and against his groin. He moaned and she answered with a mischievous laugh. He loved seeing her this way. So feisty and full of life. Such a change from the hopeless and defeated girl he had first seen on the prairie. Remembering her baby was helping her. Unshackled from the burden of guilt and shame, she was emerging as this whole new person. The version of Katniss she was capable of being when she wasn't spending so much time and energy forcing herself to forget.

He turned his attentions to her belly once again.

"How is my princess tonight?" he asked.

Katniss snorted. "How can you be so sure that it is a she?"

Peeta shrugged. "I just know. There is a little Kitty Kat growing in there, I feel like I am getting to know her already."

Katniss glanced at her belly and bit her lower lip. "Will that matter to you?" she asked. "I mean, a boy might be more helpful. To carry on your name and work the farm."

"I just want it to be healthy" he assured. "The baby will be working around the farm as soon as he or she can walk regardless. Besides, you're probably better at farming than me. My parents had three sons. There will be no danger of the family name dying off."

He looked thoughtful. "I can't wait to hold her. I want this chance to build something new with you. A family that loves each other and where everyone belongs. I want to be the father that mine never had the strength to be. I'm going to do that. Be a faithful husband and protect my children from any harm."

Katniss considered this. Marriage to Peeta and the birth of their baby would be a restoration of a happy family for her. But for him it was a whole new experience. She smiled as she settled into his embrace. She thought when she came here that he had a position of power over her and that she would never stop owing him but that wasn't the case. She had something that he needed, that he had always wanted and had set out in search of. She had the ability to give him a home.

His hands, which had been ghosting over her tummy slipped lower. A small moan escaped her and she could hear the corresponding hitch of his breath. His erection was hard and pressing into her bottom, it was a common occurrence when they were cuddling like this. What was unusual was the thundering of his heart against her back. She thought that it was going to beat out of his chest.

He slipped out from behind her and shifted her onto her back. His eyes were hungry and full of need as he pushed her nightgown up to the waist. His mouth descended on hers and his tongue teased and rubbed until she was gasping for breath. His lips found her pulse point and his palms cupped her breasts. He was muttering nonsense about how perfect she was and how much he loved her and Katniss's hips began to move of their own accord. Lifting her pubic bone into the air, seeking friction where she needed it most.

She expected him to touch her then. To bring his finger tips to her clitoris and stimulate the bundle of nerves until she called his name. Instead, his mouth continued its southern descent. He kissed her stomach, now full and rounded with child. She appreciated the affection but she was wound tight and wished that just this once he would concentrate on her more carnal needs and ignore the baby bump she was sporting. He didn't stop there though and when his kisses reached her inner thighs she felt a surge of alarm.

"Peeta" she sputtered, pushing herself into a sitting positon. "What…what are you doing?"

He looked uncertain as he sat back. He didn't meet her gaze. "I was just trying to love you. You know, make you feel good."

She bit her lip so hard that he thought it might bleed. Her hands fell to the skirt of her gown and she moved it to cover herself.

"Yes" she said after a few moments "but what were you doing?"

He turned scarlet. It had taken him months to work up the courage to try it. Ever since Haymitch put the idea into his mind, it just wouldn't go. He had spent countless nights outside the cabin touching himself and imagining what she would taste and smell like. He told himself that it wasn't a lie. He said that he was relieving himself and he was. He knew it wasn't proper, but she was so soft and willing in his arms. He could see the frustrated desire just beneath the surface of her calm exterior. He couldn't make love to her as he normally would so he thought to please her in other ways. It was difficult enough for him to make a move and try to realize his fantasy, he never imagined he would actually have to put the act into words.

"I was…I was going to put my mouth on you…you know…down there" he finally managed.

Her expression told him everything. He should never have listened to Haymitch. She was horrified, completely disgusted with him.

"Peeta, why would you want to do such a thing?" she asked, even while desire began to pool in her belly. She stiffened up and resisted it.

"To pleasure you. I can give you the same excitement that I do from lovemaking that way and it won't hurt the baby. Like I do when I use my fingers on you but better."

Katniss could hardly believe her ears. Peeta wanted to put his mouth on her private parts. Her breasts began to tingle as her imagination took flight, conjuring notions of what it might feel like. What his head would look like nestled between her legs. She shook her head to clear it.

"No" she blurted out before gaining control of her voice. "Peeta" she started again, this time much more calmly. "I…don't think we should. There is no way that it is an…appropriate thing for people to do. It sounds like something that would go on in a brothel." Suddenly, her face appeared frightened and she glanced at him with pleading eyes.

"No Kat" he reassured. "Of course not. I've never done that with anyone. I've never even been to a brothel. It was just something that I was told about before. That I could do to it to please a woman if I had one. I'm…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…I'm just…sorry."

"It's alright" she said, reaching for him and bringing herself back into his arms. "It scared me when you tried to do it is all. It feels wrong, like a path we shouldn't go down. We shouldn't do things that are dirty."

Peeta nodded and brought her nose to his neck. He had spooked her, his normally brave and adventurous wife. Still, she was very pure and she had a good moral compass. She was right that he ought not to treat her that way. She wasn't a common hooker. She was a lady. It took him a long time to fall asleep. For one thing, he was very uncomfortable from their earlier activity. For another, he was busy praying that God would remove such ideas from his consciousness. If they offended Katniss he had best put them out of his mind.

Katniss had been battling nightmares for years and emotional events and changes usually triggered them. Peeta had held her and dried her tears for weeks after they discovered her pregnancy. But that night her sleep was dreamless. So quiet and deep that at first she didn't hear her husband calling for her.

"Katniss" he cried again and again, twisting in the bed linens as he searched for her. When she was conscious enough to comprehend his distress she shook him awake. His eyes were full of terror and she did her best to hold him close. It wasn't easy with her expanded belly. He turned her over and spooned her again. It was really the only comfortable position left to them given their new addition. His face fell to her neck and he breathed her scent. She turned her head to kiss his face.

"Peeta honey, it's ok. I'm here. I'm alright. I'm not going anywhere."

As his heart rate slowed she berated herself internally once again. Why did she say that she would consider Gale's offer when she never had any intention of doing such a thing? Selfish, foolish girl. Hadn't her mother always taught her that words were the water that could never be returned to the well? She kissed him again and brought his hand to her midriff. She felt safer with it there, it anchored them both.

She laid on her back so that she could look him in the eye. "I…am…never…leaving" she said the words slowly, emphasizing each one. "I'm never going to leave you alone. I'm your partner. We are in this together no matter what and I am so sorry that I have ever done anything to make you doubt that."

He nodded and she lifted his face to hers again. "Do you understand me?" she asked.

"Yes" he whispered.

"Do you believe me?" she asked.

He paused. "Yes" he whispered. "What about earlier?" he asked.

She kissed him again. "It was just a misunderstanding" she assured. "We talked about it. Peeta, we are totally fine. We aren't even having a quarrel."

The weeks that followed were difficult ones. The pregnancy continued to advance and the days were long and humid. Delly came out and helped with some of the chores and to check on her friends. She was pleased as she could be with the pregnancy and fawned over Katniss as if she were kin. It was a bright spot in her world since Thom had left. The two women sat on the porch one evening and watched the sunset.

"I could never have imagined this life when I was a little girl" Katniss mused.

Delly smiled and patted her hand.

"I guess if I could have I would have been rather disappointed. I thought that I would become the mistress of our plantation or of my husband's. But now that I am here I wouldn't have it any differently."

"Do you miss it?" Delly asked. "Your old life I mean."

"Yes…no" Katniss said with a sad smile. She put her feet up on a stool. They were bare, swollen and painful.

"I miss my family" she clarified. "Maybe if the war hadn't come I would have been happy in that world, but Peeta is right. Now that I've gone through the sufferings that I have and seen the things that I have seen…now that I have lived with others and loved them and lost them. I'm different now. It would never feel right again."

"What?" Delly asked.

"Owning slaves" she answered. "I didn't think about it when I was younger. It was just the way things were. But this way of living is better. It's harder on our bodies but much more generous to our spirit. Peeta and I get to spend so much time together this way too. We don't have separate spheres. We need each other. This is our life and we don't have to take anything from anyone else to plant it and watch it grow."

Her friend nodded. "And what about your father?" she asked.

"Papa would be proud of my independent spirit" Katniss told her.

Delly was proud of her friend too. She had come a long way since coming to be Peeta's wife. She was just turning to tell her that when she saw tears in the younger woman's eyes.

"I'm scared" she admitted, her voice trembling. "My baby will be coming soon and I am so afraid to lose it." She could tell that Delly was going to say something but she lifted her hand to silence her. She didn't want empty declarations that everything would be alright. She had heard enough of those from Peeta.

"Can you promise me something?" she pleaded. Delly nodded and held her hand tight.

"Will you come when it's time? Will you sit with me? If something happens I don't want Peeta to be alone. I know you two don't have romantic feelings for each other and likely never could but if I don't live through the birth will you take care of him? Be his friend? Make sure that he goes to Sunday services until he can smile again?"

A tear ran down Delly's face as she agreed. Not because she was convinced that her friend would die but because it was a possibility. Childbirth was dangerous and Katniss was due in a matter of weeks. She couldn't be dismissive of her fears. Katniss knew better. The only thing she could do was promise to care for her husband and child if the Lord called her home.

Katniss felt better when Delly left the next morning. She was loyal and wise. She would offer companionship and council to her family if Katniss were not there herself. There was no one she trusted more.

Delly had gone on to church but Peeta and Katniss decided to stay home. It had been a busy week and Katniss needed to rest. Peeta read from the Bible and Katniss played her piano and sang. When their worship time was over Peeta went out to take care of the chores and Katniss was left alone with her thoughts for the first time in several days. It made her uncomfortable.

It was easier to distract herself when Delly was there. She quickly found herself pacing and had to force her body to lie down. The baby needed her to relax. She managed to accomplish it with her body but her mind was still working on overdrive. Her thoughts kept flitting back and forth from Peeta dodging the draft to all of their conversations on the subject that followed, to her years as a sharecropper, her relationship with Cecelia, her abuse, her upbringing, her impending labor, her parents expectations…it was exhausting.

To make matters worse, her mind kept diverting both her dreams and her day time fantasies to that night that Peeta tried to touch her with his mouth. Try as she might she could not forget it. It wasn't that she wanted him to perform such an unholy task, that wasn't it. She was just curious. The touch of his lips on her inner thighs had caused a surge of danger to shoot up her spine but they had also stimulated an intense feeling of excitement and intrigue. What would it be like to have his mouth fastened over her most feminine region?

She found herself thinking about it at the most awkward times and her underclothes were constantly moist as a result. Surely her mother would not approve. At least that is what she told herself. Over and over again. But as the sun rose high in the sky and she listened to the sounds of the prairie, she was forced to acknowledge that she had no idea what her thoughts on the matter might have been. She had died when Katniss was still young and was sick for a time before that. They had never spoken about what happens between a husband and a wife. She couldn't imagine her parents doing such things but she couldn't picture them enjoying any of the pleasures she and Peeta had shared in their bed. What person would want to? Gross.

Peeta had been hurt by her reaction. He was clearly interested in taking their lovemaking in that direction and she was supposed to submit her body to him. If he desired those kinds of relations then perhaps she should allow it. He was a good husband. He deserved to gratify his desires. It wasn't as if he had the option to realize his fantasies with anyone else. She found that she was biting her lip again. It was a real problem to decide what to do.

She should have spoken to Delly. She was sure that she would have an opinion on the subject. There were just two problems. The first of which was that since Thom had left, Katniss had avoided speaking with her in regards to romance. There was no reason to add salt to an open wound. The second and more insurmountable issue was that there was no way on God's green earth that Katniss was ever going to be able to actually speak those words to another living soul. She was far too embarrassed.

She remembered her husband's own bumbling attempt to explain it to her. She smiled. Peeta wasn't very worldly either. She thought of her husband who was chopping wood at that very moment. She could hear the crack of the ax as it made its mark again and again. She closed her eyes and pictured him. All bare chested with sweat dripping down his back. The way his muscles bunched and flexed with effort. His handsome smile and calloused, meaty hands.

She reached under her dress to pull off her undershorts. It was hot and she needed some air she reasoned. She imagined those same hands pulling her lower lips apart so that he could look at her. She swallowed as she pictured the look of longing on his face. He sat on his haunches beside their bed and pulled her over to the edge. Her knees were bent and she cursed her large belly for blocking her vision as he leaned forward and kissed her. The sensation of his lips on her center was incredible. The fantasy was a good one and her fingers found her clit of their own accord. She rubbed several circles there and let out a moan of relief. She needed this. She needed to experience the height of excitement while she pictured him doing this nasty thing to her.

She continued to stroke herself as she let the admission go. She wanted this. She wanted him to do it. She needed him to or she would surely go mad. It was alright. He was hers, her Peeta and nothing they did in love was wrong. She was going to have his baby soon. No one knew how it would go. She wasn't going to let the constraints of the old world keep her from this joy they were both so obviously craving from the other.

She would likely have found the pleasure she was chasing expect that as her ears strained to hear the evidence of him outside of her window they heard nothing. He was no longer chopping. Her eyes flew open and removed her hands from her body just in time for him to walk through the door.

"Hey" he said casually. "Glad to see you are resting."

His face and chest glistened from a recent splash of water and it took all of her will power not to resume her earlier efforts and finish herself.

If he noticed her aroused state he didn't let on.

"I was thinking about eating outside today" he said. "Get you out and about and have a picnic this afternoon?"

She could only nod. She didn't trust herself to open her mouth for fear she might moan in desire for him.

Helping to pack the picnic basket calmed her mind but her body continued to hum. They took a little bit of a stroll before finding the perfect spot by the creek and spreading the blanket out. They spoke as they ate about Delly and Thom, about the coming harvest and winter preparations. He smiled and reached out to touch her hair. She laughed and loosened the tie so that it hung free at her shoulders. He found little reasons to touch her and she gave him her most alluring glances. It was light and fun but beneath the surface of the conversation and flirtations ran a strong vein of need.

When his mouth finally found hers he was surprised by how soon her tongue swept forth to rub against his. She grasped his face and pulled him forward, her head turning to the side to mate with him more deeply. Her hand fell to his trousers and grasped him through the cumbersome material. They broke apart, panting for breath and she reached up and began unbuttoning her dress.

Peeta's eyes were locked on those hands. Roughened but still so slender and feminine. With each movement she revealed more olive skin for him to feast his eyes upon. When she reached her waist she slipped her arms out and removed her chemise. The most beautiful creature he had ever seen was sitting on the blanket next to him. Her breasts were larger than normal and hung completely bare before him in the summer sun. He couldn't imagine a more arousing sight until he saw the heat of her gaze. She wanted him.

He nearly growled as he lay her back and sucked one of them into his mouth. He kept the suction light so that we could pull her nipple in and out of the grasp of his lips repeatedly. She mewled in delight and her nails dug into his scalp as she held him there. His hand reached beneath her skirt only to discover that she wasn't wearing any underclothes. Holy hell he was excited beyond reason. She was going to have to use her hands on him today. He would beg her if he had to.

He kissed her neck and sucked the spot below her ear until he left a mark. A little voice in the back of his mind reminded him not to be too rough with her. He remembered what had happened last time when he got too carried away. He tried to back off several times but she kept returning his body to hers. She pulled his shirt out of his breeches and event ripped off one of the buttons in her haste to remove it. He could feel the heat within her as he slipped a finger inside. She was positively dripping.

When he released her breast he tried to move up her body to kiss along her neck again but she pushed it down. Confused, he made a move to give her chest even more attention but she pushed on him again.

"Kat" he murmured against her heated flesh. "Kat, what's wrong?"

She was silent.

"Tell me what you need love" he told her.

In a clear state of mind she could never have said it. But through a haze of longing and arousal she managed to.

"Your mouth Peeta. Put your mouth on me."

He looked confused. Isn't that what he had been doing?

"Between my legs" she pleaded. "Do what you were going to do before."

He froze. Had he heard her right? This was the same woman who had acted like he tried to paint her in blood when he had attempted it not just a few weeks ago.

His cock was unimaginably hard. She wasn't just going to let him, she was pleading for it.

"Are you sure?" he asked, he needed to be certain. He never wanted to hurt her.

Katniss looked at him. She wanted to take this risk with him. Not force him to be all out front and vulnerable.

"Yes" she said with conviction. He moved between her knees and pulled her legs up on either side of his head. "Yes Peeta" she called again. "I…I want to know" she confessed. "I keep thinking about it and it has gotten to the point where I just want it so bad."

Peeta was in danger of finishing in his pants. He pulled them off along with his shorts. He had to. He couldn't stand the restriction anymore. He moved the last of her skirt aside and saw her perfect body before him. It was young and tight and glistening with the desire that thoughts of him had given her.

He knew what to do but he wasn't exactly sure about the technique. It turned out not to matter because the second he grazed his lips on her femininity she gasped. He paused. Hearing no further objection he brought his tongue out and licked through her folds. The taste of her arousal was intoxicating and he found himself exploring her completely.

Katniss was in the grip of pure pleasure. She wasn't sure what to expect but she hadn't imagined it would be this good. He wasn't just kissing and teasing her. He was actually licking the folds of her privates. It sounded disgusting to her before but he was clearly enjoying it and the fact that it was so taboo made it all the more arousing.

He experimented and found the places that made her moan and grasp his hair. Not surprisingly, she enjoyed it when he laved her clit the most. When he took it in his mouth and began to suck she let out a loud squeal. He stopped, unsure if he had hurt her or if he should continue.

"Don't stop" she cried. "Peeta…God yes…do it…keep licking me. Make it good, make me finish. Do this to me forever."

Her words aroused her even further and soon her walls where fluttering around his finger. Her back arched as she griped him again and again. He made sure to make her orgasm last as long as possible but when she collapsed in satisfaction he sprung up to his knees, his cock in his hand. Forget being a gentleman. He was overcome with need and she was absolutely incredible. Her eyes perked up with interest immediately and she watched with thinly veiled desire as he pumped his erection in his hand. His eyes roamed her bare form. Naked Katniss was enough to have him at attention any day but the state of her pregnancy combined with the vulnerability of their outdoor location made all of his impulses stronger.

It was something magical for him as he came with a long groan under her watchful gaze. Streams of semen poured forth and covered her breasts. He had a moment of doubt about his actions once his adrenaline began to ebb but her smile reassured him. He hadn't asked permission to do that nor had he ever masturbated in front of her. But as he took the blanket and gently wiped it away he could tell by the kisses she gave him that she had enjoyed it too. They had taken more than a step in their physical intimacy today. It was more like a giant leap of trust.