Here I Go Again

Chapter 7: The Place That We Belong

Katniss' POV

Peeta left for work a little less than an hour ago leaving me and Willow by ourselves. Making me extremely bored. Don't get me wrong, I love Willow with all my heart, but when all she does is eat, sleep, and mess her diaper, I get extremely bored sitting here with her. So I decide to do something about it.

"Luca, How'd you like to go to the Hob today?" I ask the big black dog at my feet. At almost nine months old, he's nearly full grown and one of the biggest dogs I've ever seen. His gentleness with Willow always surprises me considering he sometimes trips over his own feet when he runs. He looks at me and wags his tail happily.

"Well come on, let's go get Willow and go out there. Maybe we can even go see if we can have lunch with Peeta," I say and at Peeta's name, Luca gets up and runs to the door. When I was in the last months of pregnancy with Willow, I couldn't go out with Luca too much because I would get to tired. So instead Peeta took him out. Which made Luca get extremely attached to Peeta, an attachment that he'd only really shown towards me before that.

"We have to get Willow first silly," I say laughing as I walk up the stairs towards where she had been napping. When I get to her room, I find that's she's sleeping comfortably. I pick her up gently so I don't wake her and place her in a basket lined with soft rabbit skins I had been saving and tanning since I had found out I was pregnant. She snuggles into the warm brown fur and settles back into a sound sleep.

I smile at her and carefully carry her basket down the stairs where Luca still waits by the door. I open the door up and Luca runs out, leaping in the sunshine. Summer's approaching fast and I almost feel bad for Luca with his thick black coat. But right now he doesn't even seem to notice the already hot sun that's burning down and searing away the morning dew.

We walk fairly quietly towards the Hob. Even though its been more than a year since the bombing, ashes still float around in the Seam. My old home has still somehow risen from the ashes into tiny little freshly built cottages.I walk down the path to the Hob and find that it's bustling with life. It's no longer a black market but a popular place for everyone to trade and spend time together.

I walk in and feel all the eyes on me. I feel like a eleven year old kid again, lost. But several of them step forward and hug me. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed until I see a squat old woman pushing her way through the crowd.

"Calm down people, Give her some room. Let her sit a spell before you all jump on her," Greasy Sae says and she gently leads me through the crowd and onto one of the stools at her stand. I sit down and gently set Willow on the counter. She lets out a tiny cry and I gently lift her out of her basket and kiss her cheek. Greasy Sae chuckles as she watches me with her.

"You know, I still can't believe you've got a little one. You swore since you were little you'd never be caught dead with a husband, much less a little baby in your arms. Yet here you are with that little girl of yours and you look happier then ever," she says and I smile.

"That was before there was no danger towards her. And before I met someone like Peeta. Now I don't think I could ever be happier then with Willow and him," I say kissing Willow's cheek. For the rest of the morning, people from all over the Hob come over to see me and my daughter. To say how nice it is to see me, how lovely my baby is, and how she's defiantly going to be a hunter like me. But I can't help but notice how many familiar faces are missing. How many of the people I had traded with for years that I'll never see again, at least not in this lifetime.

"It's been lovely everyone," I say as the sun rises higher in the sky,"But I think we're gonna go have lunch with Peeta. I hope to be here trading with you all again really soon." I place Willow back in her basket and gently carry her out of the Hob. The people stand aside and I walk through earning waves and smiles from all of them.

I continue on and when I reach the bakery, I see that Peeta has it closed, probably so he can eat. I walk around back and walk through the back door to see Peeta eating a sandwich.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asks.

"I got bored," I say.

"I know. It's really hard for you to stay in that house right now isn't it?" he says.

"I'm fine. Just a walk like this every once in a while gets the restlessness out," I say sitting down next to him and setting Willow gently on the floor.

"You eat yet?" he asks and I shake my head. He slides a plate of cheese buns over to me and I smile and laugh."What's so funny?"

"Ever since you found out those were my favorite, I've had an endless supply of them," I say taking one and biting into it.

"I want to make you happy," he says.

"I'm already happy Peeta," I say.

"So what do you want to do next week for our anniversary?" he asks.

"I don't really care. I mean our anniversary is important to me but I don't really want to make a big deal about it," I say.

"How'd you like to spend the weekend in the stone house?" he asks.

"What about Willow?" I ask.

"Greasy Sae offered to watch her," he says.

"It sounds perfect Peeta," I say. "My favorite place in the world with the man I love."

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Hey guys! How's It going. Im great but Ive just been busy. On the bright side, I only have eleven days of school left. Hope to talk to you guys soon. Until then.

-Kayla