When Haymitch's rehabilitation program ends, two months after he went to the Capitol and two months before Lana is to be discharged from her own treatment, our mentor calls us to say he's not coming home yet. He doesn't give us any explanation, and we fear he's drinking again.

India and Bligh spend most of their time with us, although I believe she would rather be alone with him all day. She proves not to be as childish as we thought: she's smart, well-informed and has lots of opinions, like her sister. However, while Lana is firm and demanding, India is more submissive. It's her innocence and sweetness that fool people and make her seem younger.

There's only one person she won't submit to, and that person is Bligh. She orders him around and always gets him to do what she wants. He seems to live well with that, though, especially because he's permanently rewarded with her adoring gaze.

India becomes fond of taking walks in the woods. If only I could go with her, it would be a good chance for me to hunt, but Peeta always finds an excuse to make me stay at home.

One day, I decide it's okay to tell them about our lake. India gets excited and begs us to take her there.

"I can show you where it is," I tell her, "This is a family secret, so you guys can't tell anyone."

"I know where it is," Bligh promptly says, which shocks me.

"How?" I ask him.

"Uh… I found it while walking, by chance."

That would be unlikely. Bligh is a city boy and that place is hard to find even for hunters. I start thinking that Peeta may have told him about it before, which annoys me. So, once India and Bligh leave, having decided that they will be visiting the lake in the afternoon, I turn to Peeta and say:

"I want to go the lake too," I say.

"I don't think they want you to go with them," Peeta chuckles.

"Well, let's go tomorrow," I suggest.

"Tomorrow is not a good day."

"Why?" I ask.

"I have to decorate the Carpenters' wedding cake," Peeta replies.

"And the day after?"

"There are lots of weddings happening right now."

"That's so boring," I say, "Will you be sad if I go alone?"

"Yeah, don't go there alone," Peeta says quickly.

I lock eyes with him and start getting the suspicion that something is up.

After the day I first took Peeta to the lake he decided to go there almost every day, even though it visibly worsened his limp. But he wanted to paint and let me be free in my favorite place, so we went. These trips became impossible once the winter came, but we were so cozy spending our days and nights in front of the fireplace that we didn't mind waiting until the spring came. Now the spring has come and Peeta is finding excuses to stop me from going there.

I decide to put some faith in him. He must be preparing something for me.

"What if I go anyway?" I tease him.

He chuckles and hugs me tightly.

"Well, don't go," he says.

"Are you aware I don't need your permission to go anywhere?" I say.

"No! The lake is my territory too, so I have a say."

"Fine," I reply, kissing him, "Whatever you and Bligh are preparing, you're lucky India is an Avox and won't be able to tell me."

On that night, shortly before Johanna calls, I ask Peeta:

"Do you think I should tell Jo about them?"

"I think so," Peeta says.

We wait nervously for the call, but it doesn't come and we start getting antsy. I decide to dial Annie's number and get it done quickly.

"This tadpole is going to be born any day now," Johanna says once she picks up the call. "Fuck, I hate this."

"Hello, Jo."

"Hi, Mellarks. How are things?"

"Nothing new. Haymitch is still at the Capitol, Lana is in recovery at the hospital and India is adjusting very well to her new life."

"What about him?"

She means Bligh. Although we have already decided that we are going to tell her about him and India, it doesn't make it any easier.

"There's something we must tell you," I say hesitantly, and Peeta squeezes my hand.

"Shoot," she says in a thin whisper. She's afraid, I can tell.

"I think Bligh is in love with India."

There, I said it. I regret the words as soon as they come out of my mouth; Peeta would be able to tone it down while expressing the same idea, but I'm not like him.

Johanna doesn't answer, so I proceed to tell her about the bracelet that Bligh told me he would give it to the girl he decided to marry: I tell her that India has it in her wrist now, that the duo is like flesh and bone, that she treats him like a god and he looks at her like she's a treasure, that they are living alone in the same house.

"I see," it's all she says. She's being stoic, but not sarcastic. Her voice conveys a mixture of disappointment and defeat.

"I'm really sorry, Jo," Peeta offers, for once unable to find anything to say.

"I'll be fine, Lover Boy. There's nothing I can do now, is there?" she asks, "Let's wait until this baby is born, and then I'll talk to him."

"Maybe it will be too late then," I say.

"I don't know. He was very invested in me... What we had… I think I can get it back if I talk to him."

"If you believe you still have a chance, do it now," Peeta urges her.

"You haven't seen me in my current state, Mellark. I can't even get out of bed alone," she says with frankness, sounding a little bit panicky.

"I'm sorry, Jo," Peeta says, "You're right. Wait until the baby is born and then you think about it."

"We'll see, Lover Boy. This tadpole may not even be his."

"It makes no difference," I say.

"Yeah, you always say that." Johanna replies, "I should go now. I have to sleep while I can, that's what Annie says," she chuckles.

We don't feel any better after the call; actually, we feel worse. We are very sorry for Jo and the baby, but we're starting to like India too. She is a good person and no one can deny that she takes good care of Bligh.

No matter what we do, we feel like traitors. If we root for Bligh and India's blossoming relationship, we feel that we are betraying Johanna and the baby. If we root for Johanna, we feel that we are betraying India and Bligh.

We only know one thing: Bligh is too principled for his own good. If the baby is his, probably Johanna will have the best chance with him.

The days pass and, one night, it's not Johanna who calls us: it's Annie. Upon hearing her voice we know what she is going to say, and we are ecstatic at the news.

"I want to tell you guys that Axel was born this morning," she announces.

"How is he?" we ask excitedly.

"Too cute and always hungry. It was the easiest birth I've ever witnessed. Johanna didn't even need to be stitched."

"What does he look like?"

We hear Annie laugh on the other side of the phone.

"Like his father."

She doesn't tell us who the father is or what Axel looks like, but we receive the baby's photograph some days later. We open it expectantly, and after the first look we don't know if we should feel happy or sad about it.

Axel is, indeed, a cute redhead that looks exactly like is father.

Haymitch arrives a week before Lana is discharged from the hospital. He looks surly and grumpy, and grunts when we approach him to tell him about India.

"I appreciate it, guys, but I want to be alone," he says before we can talk.

We don't witness how he finds her or what his reaction is upon meeting his sister-in-law, but we're not really concerned because we know Bligh is there to explain everything.

Upon the arrival of his employer, Bligh moves back to the inn and only comes to Victor's Village during the day to work as an interpreter for India. For the whole week, Haymitch rarely leaves the house. He doesn't even visit Lana. We ask India if he has been drinking, but she's positive he's not. She seems to be very fond of him and, in the rare occasions we see Haymitch, the feeling seems to be mutual. He only lights up to India, maybe because he doesn't want to scare her like he scared Bligh when the interpreter first came to Twelve, or maybe because she's his wife lookalike.

Haymitch doesn't leave the house on the day Lana is supposed to be discharged from the hospital. We urge him to join us, to no avail. While India wants to go, we think it will be better if the sisters only see each other at home, in a more controlled environment, since the doctors don't want Lana to get too excited for now.

It leaves Peeta, Bligh and I to get her home from the hospital.

We find Lana with her small suitcase, the same chiffony white dress she wore on the day she arrived and the exact same anxious expression she had when I first met her. By the way she frowns, she doesn't look pleased by Haymitch's absence, but she doesn't say anything about it. We want to be able to finally hear how her voice sounds when she speaks, but her lips are pursed.

"Oh," says Peeta, "You're saving your voice so that Haymitch is the first to hear it."

She nods and grins.

We stop the car in front of her house and Haymitch opens the door of their house while Lana gets herself out of the car. She gives her husband a shy smile, but his expression is empty and lost as he walks in her direction.

"Woman," he says, "Before you come home, there's something I need to tell you."

Lana frowns.

"After my treatment I stayed at the Capitol for almost two months. I only arrived less than a week ago."

She frowns a little bit more and looks at him quizzically.

"I was there as your husband and as your lawyer, to recover the possessions of the Phipps family," he says. "It took time to prove that you were indeed alive and had been enslaved all this time. The money from your family is gone, but the properties are yours again."

He gives his wife time to absorb the idea before he continues. "Now you won't have to stay with me just because you have nowhere else to go. You don't need me anymore. You have your own house, your name, you can speak again and I can give you the money to leave Twelve. Pack up your things and go away, you're still young enough to start a new life. You can even find a proper man if you want to, not a savage like me. I'll be all right."

His demeanor conveys firmness, but his hands are shaking uncontrollably.

Lana crosses her arms and glares at him.

"Are you done?" she asks with a blank face.

The sound of her slurred voice startles us all: it's melodic and limpid. Very smooth. Haymitch looks shocked. He wipes his tears and nods.

"Good, because I was expecting a special reception from my husband after all I've been through. Can we move forward to that part now?" she says.

Haymitch doesn't make a move, so she puts her hand on his face and stares directly into his eyes.

"Haymitch?" she asks.

"Yes."

"I will never leave you," she says. "Do you understand that?"

"I do," the voice of Haymitch catches. "And I wouldn't be all right."

Lana puts her hands on the nape of her husband's neck and kisses him.

"I just had to make sure you knew you had other options," he says, accusing the tension that had been bottled inside him all this time. Then he sees the rest of us and scowls. "There's nothing to see here."

"Let's go home," Lana says slowly. "We have so much to talk about."

That's when she sees India, waiting for her shyly at the door. Lana looks doubtful, probably because she's trying to understand what a younger version of herself is doing in her house. She starts growling like an Avox all over again; her new tongue still doesn't move fast enough to express what she's trying to ask or say. But India knows exactly who she is and runs to her sister's arms.

They scream unintelligible things and weep for some time. They talk with gestures, in quick motions, and Bligh doesn't feel the need to translate them. India seems to tell Lana her whole life in a couple of minutes. Then it seems that they are talking about us. Lana kisses us all in the end.

"Thank you so much. This is the best day of my life," she says in her smooth voice.

The Abernathys visit us very early in the next morning, while India is still asleep. I'm still in the shower when they knock, but Peeta is already in the kitchen cooking our breakfast.

Once we are together, the four of us eat in silence until Haymitch finally speaks.

"We have news to share with you," he says with a bashful smile and a hint of pride.

"What happened?"

"I'm expecting a baby," Lana announces with a grin.

Oh, Delly will rejoice with this. Peeta and I are both taken by surprise but, while he rushes to congratulate our friends, I stand still out of shock. It's strange to think this is happening to the same man that was my mentor in the Games. His life has been completely turned around since then and it makes no sense at all. Haymitch wasn't fatherly, lived in solitude and I used to worry he was going to die from overdrinking soon.

"You were the last person I ever expected to be a father, Haymitch," I say.

Haymitch blushes a tone darker. "What now?" he asks, grumpily. "Didn't you want me to repopulate the place? I'm repopulating."

"Yes, but we thought we were your babies, Haymitch," Peeta comes to my rescue with a chuckle, hugging me to show he understands. He knows that everyone having babies makes me feel pressured into making a decision, although I know I'm still young and there's no rush.

"You are our babies," Lana confirms with a laugh, "You and now our baby girl."

"It's a girl?" Peeta asks.

Haymitch shakes his head, "To think I've been absent all this time. She's already four months pregnant."

"How did they perform a surgery on you if you were pregnant?" I ask.

"I had a lot of exams a week before I went to the hospital, but I wasn't pregnant at the time," she says slowly, "It happened during that week. But we were very well taken care of. Every doctor and patient loved the baby."

"I'm happy for you, Lana," Peeta says. "You have everything you always wanted."

I squeeze her hand and give Haymitch a smile. No words are ever needed between us: he knows I'm happy for him and he nods and smiles back.

"Yes, I couldn't be happier. I always wanted to have a house full of children," Lana replies to Peeta.

"Are you going to fill the house?" I ask.

"Yes," Lana says.

"No!" Haymitch rebates. "I don't want more, I'm old."

"I don't care if you're old, I'm going to have at least three," Lana scowls at him.

"All right, my love," Haymitch says to appease her. "There's something else we want to discuss with the two of you."

Lana's mood shifts all of a sudden and she takes an envelope out of her bag. Opening it with a frown, she puts a letter on the table.

"India received this," Lana says.

"What's this?" Peeta asks.

"The letter for the initiative. She's expected to go to the Justice Building and get married next month," Haymitch replies.

"But Bligh has been here for months and no one has ever summoned him," Peeta says. "Why has India been called almost as soon as she arrived?"

"That's because of the address," Haymitch explains. "People who live at the inn are not considered residents, so nobody summons them for the initiative."

It makes sense. I finally understand why Bligh lives at the inn and not with the Abernathys, when he has to walk a long way everyday just to get from the inn to work.

"Can she refuse?" I ask.

"No, she must at least try to make it work. What she can do is get an annulment after one month. But she's not prepared to be alone with a man. Lana has been asking her, she has no idea what happens between a married couple. And we don't think she has the knowledge to refuse a man's advances. She can be very obedient."

"It would destroy her," Lana says.

With this piece of information I realize what a true gentleman Icarus Bligh really is, not having taken advantage of India during all the weeks they were together and alone in the Abernathy's house.

"I think I have the solution," I say.

A flash of hope comes across Lana's eyes, but she remains cautious.

"Tell us," she says.

"Show the letter to Bligh. He will know what to do," I say.

I look at Peeta doubtfully. I'm definitely putting an end to Jo's chances, although I'm sure she has none at this point. Peeta's demeanor is pacific, though, and he kisses my forehead in his secret code of approval.

"Let's wait for him. Bring him here when he arrives so that India doesn't listen," Peeta offers.

The Abernathys accept it gladly. Lana has no clue, but Haymitch seems to know what I'm thinking.

Bligh didn't lose his job after all, because the family still needs an interpreter for India. He doesn't take long to arrive and, when he's told about the initiative, he says exactly what I thought he would.

"Lana, there's no problem. I'll go with her," I hear Bligh say, "I'll marry India."

"Would you do that for us?" Lana asks.

"Absolutely," he says.

"Thank you. You can get an annulment in a month -"

"No," Bligh says patiently, "I'm going to marry India and stay married to her."

Later, in our bedroom, I cry in Peeta's arms.

"What about the baby?" I ask.

"Jo will have to tell him," he replies. "They will find a solution to raise Axel the best way they can."

I'm a terrible friend. Johanna and Bligh have a son together and she wants to get back with him, but I just threw him to India's arms definitively. Axel will grow up without a father because of me.

"You're not a bad friend," Peeta says, reading my mind. "We know that he loves India and she loves him back. Johanna never had a chance."

"No," I disagree, "She had her chance and she lost it."

He smiles sadly.

"That's where we disagree. Seeing him now, I'm sure he never loved Jo. I always had the suspicion he was just infatuated."

"I think he did, but got tired of her ways. It scares me, because this could have happened to us," I say.

He knows that in moments like this I get sad and need him to dispel my fears.

"No, never," Peeta says. "The peace that emanates from them when they're together, we've never seen it with Jo and Bligh. She constantly made him feel upset and insecure. He could never bring her the calm she needs after all the damage she went through. They were plain wrong for each other."

I hug him tighter, still feeling bad about the whole thing and looking for the reassurance that only Peeta can give me in bad times.

"We're different," he continues, "We heal each other. You have gladly offered your life to save mine, multiple times. That's a miracle that we survived two Hunger Games when the odds were against us, and that's because we are good together. That for itself is the only proof I need that this is meant to be. And I was so madly in love with you that I never considered anyone else, not even when you ignored me."

Bligh proposes to India on that day and she enthusiastically accepts it.

The wedding takes place less than four weeks later. We offer the cake, a dazzling creation with carousels, cotton candy and trains, as requested by the bride and groom.

India wears a white embroidered dress with a lace wedding veil that covers her long, wavy auburn hair. She doesn't look at anyone except Bligh. It's like he has hung the moon. He wears black trousers and a white shirt that he borrowed from Peeta. The groom can't stop smiling like this is the best day of his life.

Many people are invited to come: every permanent resident at the inn, Beetee included, the bakery's employees, Thom, Delly, their babies, the Hawthornes, and many others. Bligh's mother has come from Two to see her only son get married. She spends the whole day wiping tears of joy in her handkerchief. Peeta finally apologizes to Beetee for having attacked him months ago. Lana sobs because doesn't want to let her new-found sister leave her house so soon.

Lana and India have decided to sell their properties at the Capitol: Lana's part will serve to create the Lana and Haymitch Abernathy Foundation, which will help Avoxes recover their old possessions and meet their families again; India, on the other hand, wants to create a plantation like the one she grew up in, Strawberry Gardens, but in Twelve. She's aware it will create dozens of jobs and more food for the whole region.

Until their new home is built, the newlyweds will be staying at the house over the bakery. There was no need for them to be assigned a house at the Justice Building while so many other couples are in need of them.

The photographer comes a while before the sunset. The day is eternalized forever in the photos we all take outside Haymitch's house: he, Lana and her bulging belly, Peeta and I, every guest with the newlyweds, the four victors that came to the wedding, the sweet caresses between bride and groom.

Then, the cake is brought and served, and it is such a success that many people come to order cakes for their own upcoming weddings.

There's music. Peeta accepts to dance with me even though his moves may seem awkward to others.

In the end, people start going away, some of them whispering naughty things to the newlyweds about their wedding night. Bligh blushes every time and India doesn't understand much of it, even though Lana and I previously did our best to explain her everything. However, she bites her lower lip and smiles like it's very exciting.

Peeta offers the bread for the toasting. They have chosen to do it in private, when they are alone at home, just like we did.

The last photos of Icarus and India Bligh's wedding are taken and, while Lana fixes and adjusts her sister's dress for the next shoot, the photographer comments and congratulates Haymitch's wife on her pregnancy.

"Now it's your turn to add a new member to this family," he says to Bligh.

India grins with joy. She wants to be a mother. Bligh looks at her rather shyly and says:

"I'd love to be a father by next year."