Life Will Go On - sequel to Our Love Will Remain

Chapter 6

I wake to the sound of Peeta humming. He is humming some song we heard somewhere, maybe it was a theme of some TV show. I don't know. I just know that I've heard it before. He is okay at singing. Not like my Father was, but he doesn't sing falsely. I lay there for a while, listening. It has a calming effect on me somehow. Ivy is still sleeping in my arms. I decide to wake her up, so that she can sleep through the night also. If I wouldn't have, she might have stayed awake and overheard us. I shiver at the thought of that. She would maybe even had come to check what was going on. One thing I am sure of, I will make sure my daughter never catches me while making love. It would leave too big questionmarks in her little head. I sit up and when I do that. Ivy wakes up as I planned.

"Good morning, Mommy." she says. I laugh.

"Honey, it's not morning yet. It's soon dinner time." I say and stroke her cheek. She turns around and puts her arms around my neck.

"Mommy, you are pretty." she says. I didn't expect that.

"Oh, honey, you are much, much prettier. You are beautiful." I say. She frowns.

"But Daddy has said that you are beautiful, too." she says. I smile.

"Well, Daddy thinks I am beautiful, but I bet he thinks you are more beautiful than me." I tell her, and kiss her cheek. She smiles and jumps off my thighs and onto the floor. She runs up to Peeta, who is making dinner.

"What's for supper!" Ivy yells and stands on tiptoe to try to see what's on the stove. Peeta chuckles and leans down to whisper in her ear. I can tell he is planning something. I get both suspicious and curious, so I get up and walk up to Peeta. He hasn't seen me yet, so I put my arms around his waist and whisper "Boo!" in his ear at the same time. He jerks a little but soon turns around.

"Hey." he says and kisses me with passion.

"Hey. What are you making?" I ask him, trying to peek over his shoulder. I do not success. He doesn't want me to either.

"It's a surprise." he says and kisses me again. I break away soon to hear more.

"Why? What's the point? I mean, I will find out soon anyway." I say and start to tickle him. He looks at me with a serious face but I can see he tries to hold back a laugh.

"Well, I guess I want to surprise my beautiful wife with something she hasn't eaten in a long time." he says and winks at me. I sigh but walk away. Ivy follows me. We play a few rounds of Memory and in fifteen minutes Peeta is ready. We get up and sit down at the table, which is already laid. Beautifully. Candles and flowers in a vase. Meadow flowers. I recongise some of them. There's wild onion flowers, poppy, ivy, and even evening primrose. A few years ago, these flowers would just have made me cry. But they don't anymore. I am happy Prim is in a good place now, and that she didn't die a very painful death. I just think she would've deserved a much, much longer life. I shed one tear, but quickly wipe it away so Peeta won't see. He deserves all the happiness he can get right now. My mood immediately gets better when he places a steaming hot baking tray filled with... No, can it be. Yes, it is katniss roots. They smell amazing. How did he get these? There is only one place he could have gotten them, and that's by the pond in the woods. I look up at him and give him a kiss.

"Thank you." I say. Ivy squeals.

"We're eating Mommy!" she yells. I feel confused. How does she know about the roots?

"Ivy, how do you know that they are called katniss roots?" I ask her.

"Daddy told me!" she says and smiles. I feel betrayed. So my husband tells my daughter but not me, his wife. I think I know why. When Ivy really begs, she usually gets what she wants from Peeta. He is careful with not giving her too much sweets, though, because we really don't want our child to be fat. I turn around.

"So, you just decided to tell Ivy and not me?" I say to Peeta. He shrugs his shoulders.

"She wanted to know. So I told her." he says. I sigh but don't go any further. That won't take me anywhere. Then, Peeta puts another tray, full of fresh cooked meat on the table, and when he adds a bowl with salad, the set is complete. We start eating, and even Ivy is satisfied. I let out moans every now and then, because of how good it is. When we are done, I volunteer to clear the table, and after a few arguments from Peeta, I win and he goes to the living room to play with Ivy. It doesn't take long for me, so I soon join them. I sit on the sofa and watch them. They are playing hide and seek. In the living room only. It looks pretty ridiculous, but Ivy likes it because Peeta always lets her win and pretends to try really hard. Once, he hides behind a lamp. So he isn't practically covered at all. Ivy finds him at once and he starts tickling her. She gets a huge giggle attack and doesn't stop even when he has stopped tickling her. He starts to laugh too, because of how cute she looks. I end up laughing too. When Ivy gets tired she stops and yawns. We stop laughing too, eventually, and Peeta picks her up.

"Are you tired, honey?" he says. Ivy nods. Peeta looks at me and I walk up to him. Today, I brush her teeth again and she dresses herself as always. She is really tired so she doesn't ask for a bedtime story, just for the lullaby. I sing it to her, Both two verses this time, but that is mostly for Peeta. Ivy has fallen asleep long ago when I finish the song. But Peeta looks enchanted. I take his hand and lead him to our bedroom. The rest of the night passes in a blur.

We wake up early and eat breakfast. Today, it is Sunday, so Peeta doesn't need to go to the bakery. We decide to do something that Ivy wants to do. She says she wants to go swimming. I freeze.

"Ivy, where can you go swimming?" I ask her.

"In the pond where you can find the Mommy vegetables." I smile a little when she says 'Mommy vegetables', but soon continue.

"Where did you hear about the..." I stop and look at Peeta. He looks innocent but I know he has told her about it. Probably when he told her about the katniss roots.

"I'm sorry, Katniss, I just told her about it sort of in connection with the roots, you know. Are you mad?" he asks. I am not mad at him. But now she knows there is something cool in the woods, and I'm afraid that when she becomes older she will start to sneak away by herself or with a friend. I frown and say:

"No, I'm not mad. And yes, we can go to the pond, even though I haven't been there in a long time. It could be fun. But Ivy, you have to understand that you can only go there when Mommy or Daddy is with you, because there can be dangerous animals in the forest. They won't hurt us when we are so many, but if only children go there, it can be dangerous. So don't ever go there without us, okay?" I say with a serious face. Ivy seems to understand. She is very open and social, but sheis pretty easily scared, too. She won't ever go there alone if I tell her there are predators.

"So, should we go now? Ivy, you'll have to wear the swimsuit Aunt Annie gave you when we visited last time." I tell her, and she immediately runs upstairs. Me and Peeta follow her more slowly and put our swimsuits on, too. I quickly fill a basket with apples and a few sandwiches, and then we leave. We walk hand in hand and Ivy runs ahead, as always. When we come to the edge of the woods, I take a deep breath and walk in. When we have walked for a while, I hear it. Rue's four note tune.