It was raining and I was soaked to the point where it felt like I would never be dry again but that wasn't what I was thinking about; I was starving. I was skin and bone and I was so weak from hunger that I could barely move.

That's when Peeta tossed me the bread and, as I reached out for it, the entire scene changed and I was back in the first arena with my arrow pointed at the boy who murdered Rue. His face warped into some kind of Capitol mutt and, the next thing I knew, I was surrounded by all of them. Every single person who'd ever stepped foot in an arena including every single one of my friends and family. All of them staring at me as though they hated me, my name being released from their mouths in a hiss…like those lizard mutts in the capitol…and there was no way out.

"Katniss!"

I woke up drenched in sweat, tangled in the sheets and with Peeta staring down at me; it took me a while to realise that it had only been a dream. "It's ok" he told me gently as he wrapped his arms around me "you're safe, you're safe now. It was a nightmare, Katniss, that's all it was."

I knew that it was just a nightmare…now…but I was far too wired to sleep. My hands were still shaking and the nightmare was lingering far longer than most of them did. So I left Peeta, who'd gone back to sleep as soon as I'd convinced him that I was asleep, in bed and went to check on my boys.

Reed, now four, was sprawled across his bed; his blankets on the floor and his pillows at the foot of his bed. I set everything right but left the blankets on the floor due to the heat, before going to see to Mo. My youngest, now two, was curled up in a tiny ball, his shoulder length blond hair covering his face as he slept soundly; I was glad, jealous but glad, that my boys didn't have the fears or the nightmares I have.

Creeping out of Mo's room, I head down to the kitchen where I sit at the table in the darkness, trying to gather my thoughts.

Since the end of the rebellion there's not really been any excitement around here. It's just been mundane, every day, life which, of course, I'm not complaining about but growing up with the games meant that life was never boring; there was always fear, panic, grief, loss and, more importantly, hope. I'm wired in a way that most others aren't, what with my hunting skills; I'm not the kind of person to sit around and be a housewife. I need to do something, I need to be on the go all the time; even with two young boys, that's not changed.

There still hasn't been a vote for the new leader of Panem; the last I heard, Plutarch had taken the job with a few other people beside him. Since Snow, nobody wants one person to have all of the control.

"Katniss?" I turn to see Peeta standing in the doorway wearing nothing but his prosthetic leg.

I marvel in his beauty, as I do every time I see him. I take in his chiselled face and body and, again, wonder how I ever got so lucky. "Could give a girl a heart attack, standing there like that" I say.

A small smile stretched across his lips. "Could say the same" he replies, nodding at my naked form. It had been so hot that I hadn't even realised that I'd forgotten to dress. Nakedness isn't an unusual thing in twelve but I'd become more accustomed toward it since after the games; sometimes, on a very hot evening, we draw the curtains and shed our clothes…usually when the boys are in bed. Though the boys like to strip off when they can, I'm sure that they'd become full time nudists if we'd let them.

"It's hot" I shrug.

Peeta walks over to me and sits down at the table. "Katniss, I know that something's bothering you, what is it?"

I shake my head "it's stupid."

"Is it the fact that Gale and Jo just had another baby?" I shake my head "your mom and Cinna?"

"No, Peeta; it's…life, I guess."

"What do you mean?" Life, over the past few years, in twelve, had changed quite a bit. Haymitch and Effie had another child, a boy they named Lennox, only nine months after Aria was born. Finnick and Annie welcomed a little girl they called Coral, a year ago; Gale and Johanna have just celebrated the arrival of another little girl, Saffy; Prim and Rory are now officially together and my mother and Cinna announced their engagement last night.

"It's so…boring" I admit with a sigh. "Don't get me wrong, Peeta, I love you and the boys to death and I have no interest in a repeat of the years before the rebellion but-"

"It's ok" he nods, cutting me off "I understand completely but I didn't want to mention anything just in case you didn't feel the same way or you didn't understand." He takes my hands in his and presses his face into them "I underestimated you, Katniss; I really do have to learn not to do that." We sit in silence for a while, still clutching at the other's hands before Peeta sighs "when was the last time you went hunting?"

I shake my head "months. I'm busy with the boys and Gale is always busy with Jade and Saffy…we just don't have time anymore."

"There's always time, Katniss" Peeta tells me "how about you take me out there and teach me?"

"What?" I frown, staring at him "but, Peeta, you-"

"I have much better control over my leg now" he tells me, cutting me off "and, with the kids, I've learned how to move much more quietly."

"I know that" I laugh "but, you work at the bakery now."

He shrugs "I've been teaching Finnick a lot; I'm pretty sure that he can handle things without me for a day."

Teaching Peeta how to hunt has never really come to mind before; we'd never really needed it. "Do you really want to?" I ask quietly, wanting nothing more than to share this with him.

"Katniss, I've always admired your skill with a bow; I've always been jealous of it. I'd love to be able to do it too. I've been thinking of something else too and all I ask is that you hear me out before you say anything." I nod in agreement. "They've rebuilt the hob" he says "it's not being used for anything right now and, I was thinking, that maybe in your spare time, you could train people…who are willing to learn…how to hunt, how to defend themselves, how to survive the way that we were taught in the games. Most people still don't have a lot but I'm sure that if they know how to fend for themselves without money then they will be better off…like you did all those years ago." He pauses for a moment to catch his breath before adding "and I can help sometimes as well as Finnick, Annie, Haymitch and Johanna if they want."

I considered his words for moment and found myself warming to the idea. If I did this then I'd have more to do during the day and I could teach Mo and Reed as well. Of course, I was already starting on Reed but he doesn't hold much interest in hunting; he is only four but I taught him how to use a bow…only he's much like Prim was when I'd tried it with her. He's more interested in painting, like his dad. He's pretty good at it as well. Cinna's also teaching him how to play the piano, a skill I didn't know that my stylist had until he'd surprised us one day. I went to tell Peeta what I thought but he cut me off, obviously thinking that I was going to say no.

"Just take some time to think about it" he suggests with pleading eyes "you can let me know when you're ready."

Smiling, I nod. "Sure, Peeta."

"So you're going to teach me how to hunt then?" He asks "tomorrow?"

"If we can get someone to watch the boys" I reply "then I would love nothing more than to go out into the woods with you."

Peeta grins before standing and pulling me up with him. "Let's get back to bed then; I've been trying to keep myself from ravishing you for the past ten minutes."

"Will you even make it to the bed?" I ask, giggling.

The grin widens as he says "let's find out."

The weather the next morning, though still horribly hot, was tragic. It was raining buckets outside which meant that we had to put off our hunting trip. I didn't mind the rain, not really; with this heat, the crops really needed it but, also because of the heat, it meant that there was a storm coming and neither one of my boys likes thunder all that much.

"Mo" I sigh, holding up his underpants "you need to wear pants, sweetie." It had been a rough few months, teaching him to use the toilet, but he finally managed it; he still has an accident now and again but, for now, the diapers have been put away.

"Too hot!" he scowls, crossing his arms and pouting at me.

"Reed's wearing his pants" I tell him "and-" at that exact moment, I see Reed streaking down the hallway, passing the open door, in absolutely nothing with Peeta stumbling after him holding his eldest son's pants in one hand.

I sigh giving up. Having been trying to coax Mo into his pants for the last ten minutes, without much success, and then him seeing Reed without them…this wasn't a battle I was going to win. "Fine, you can walk over to Gale's naked; I don't care."

"I'm sorry" Peeta sighs as we gather at the front door "Reed just wouldn't put them on."

"Well, at least we managed to put shoes on them" I say "and their rain coats." Peeta had packed the boys clothes in a separate bag. We hoped that, in the company of our friends, they might change their minds but boy were we wrong. Both boys paraded around, completely naked, without even batting an eyelid.

At home, Peeta and I don't care whether they dress or not but we'd prefer them to be clothed around other people.

"So…is this a new kind of fashion statement or something?" Haymitch asks, cradling baby Saffy as he watches Aria trying to remove her dress but, with Effie on hand, she wasn't getting very far.

I roll my eyes "don't even ask, Haymitch" I sigh before holding my arms out for the baby. I hadn't held her yet. "Stop hogging the infant, Abernathy."

He chuckles, passing her over to me "does it make you want another one?" He asks.

"Sure" I shrug "but, Reed and Mo are a bit of a handful at the moment. Well" I laugh "not so much Reed but Mo acts like he's been raised by wolves; I swear I don't know where he gets his energy from."

"He's a lot like you, Catnip" Gale states, coming over and kissing his baby on her forehead "my mother says that you were a little tearaway when you were a child."

I smirk but shake my head "I wasn't that bad and, anyway, he's rubbing off on Reed."

"I think they're both just fighting for you attention" Annie says, drifting over to us. I pass Saffy over to her "it's not uncommon for siblings to fight over the attention of their parents. Dylan acts up a lot more now that we have Coral but, of course, he can't understand that she needs a lot more care than he does. They just see it as one child is getting more attention than the other."

"Try ignoring the both of them" Haymitch suggests "when they're acting up, just ignore them and then, when they do something you want them to do then go over the top with praise."

I frown "so if Reed puts his pants on-"

"You go overboard with the praise" Haymitch nods.

"Ok; I guess it can't hurt." I excuse myself to find Johanna who was sitting in the kitchen on her own. "Too busy out there for you?" I ask, joining her at the table.

She smiles warily, nodding "yes; sorry, I do appreciate you guys coming over but I'm just so tired."

"You're not really missing much" I tell her "we're all taking turns holding Saffy, other than that we're all entertaining ourselves with chatting and whatnot."

"Good" she sighs "Katniss, did I see Mo running around naked?"

"Oh, yeah. Both of them refused to dress this morning so we marched them over here naked, hoping that they'd see you all and decide to dress."

"Let me guess" Johanna grins "didn't work?"

"Not at all."

"How did you cope with two, Katniss? Mo was a terror as a new born, wasn't he?"

I nod "he still is a little terror."

"How did you cope with it?"

"We got them into a routine. Why?"

"Saffy's fine, she sleeps well and eats when she's meant to but Jade is like a ticking time bomb; anything could set her off" she tells me "I put the cheese upside down in her sandwich and she has a tantrum, I flick the light on too loud and she has a tantrum…I'm losing it, Katniss. She's really trying my patience."

"She's jealous" I say "just try and give her as much attention as you can."

Johanna nods, grimacing a little "I guess we have been neglecting her a little since Saffy came along."

"It'll pass, Jo" I assure her, patting her hand "I'll tell Gale you're in here and then suggest we go over to mine. Let you get some sleep."

"Thanks" she smiles "don't stay away too long, ok?"

With the weather being so bad, everyone decided to just go home rather than fight the rain more than what was necessary. Peeta decided to keep the bakery closed for the day, thinking that most people probably won't bother going into town today, and got out his old paints for the boys to play with in an attempt to keep them occupied until nap time.

"Have you thought anymore about my suggestion?" He asks once the boys were asleep.

"Using the hob?"

"Yes"

"No" I reply "because, Peeta, I thought that the idea was good one when you first suggested it. I'm up for it."

The look on his face was one of pure delight. "Great!" He grins "I was hoping you'd say yes! I already started making the targets and stuff and I was talking to Finnick and Gale earlier; both of them said that they'd be happy to help."

I laugh, shaking my head "Peeta Mellark, what am I going to do with you?"

"I can think of a few things." He replies with a mischievous glint in his eye.

We end up heading out into the down pour. Making the most of the cool rain on our hot bodies; that's one of the few good things about days like today. The weather may be unbearably warm but the rain is very welcoming on your skin.

The both of us were drenched within seconds but we didn't care. I let Peeta grab me and dance manically with me just feet from our house before we fell into a giggling heap on the sodden track. It reminded me of when Peeta had slipped on that patch of ice, just before our first and only victory tour. "I do love you Katniss Mellark" he sighs, kissing me.

"And I you, Peeta Mellark" I reply, kissing him back feeling glad that, though I may be bored with my uneventful life, my feelings for Peeta grew stronger every day and I knew that I would never be bored of his kisses or his caresses; that I would never be bored of him and that I would never be bored of being his wife.