Life Will Go On - sequel to Our Love Will Remain

Chapter 7

I freeze. Can this be possible? It must be the mockingjays singing. I listen carefully. Yes, it's the mockingjays. But where have they gotten the melody from? I mean, I haven't whistled it lately. I turn around. Peeta looks as shocked as I do. I look at him with a questioning look, and he slowly shakes his head. As he did just before the 74th Hunger Games started. I turn around again and take Peeta's hand again and hold it tight. I see that Ivy has stopped running and jumping around, and now she looks at us. The mockingjays continue to sing, but it sounds like the tune is wandering forward, past us, in the direction where you should come to District Thirteen. I think about it for a while, and then I figure that someone probably sang it far away, and the mockingjays have just passed the song forward for other mockingjays to sing, and it ended up here. In a while, the mockingjays near us stop singing the song, but I can still hear it maybe a hundred feet away. I tighten the grip to Peeta's hand, and we continue our walk. When we reach Gale and I's old meeting place, I sigh but look away. If Peeta sees I am troubled he will just start asking questions and I would maybe not be able to answer. I have hidden my bow and arrows in a log just beside the meeting place, but I am not planning to collect it anymore. I want to avoid killing living creatures, not just humans, even animals. And they bring so much memories of my dark past. Memories that I try to forget. When we have reached the hut by the lake I walk up to it and place my palm on the concrete wall. It feels cold and rough against my skin. The cold in my hand is replaced by warmth when Peeta's palm coveres mine. I turn around and he kisses me. Then we hear a familiar squeal.

"Mommy, I want to swim!" Ivy says. I laugh.

"Sure, honey. But remember, you can't swim." I say and she laughs. Peeta pulls me towards the lake so that we can see Ivy all the time. He pulls off his shirt and I shiver. His features are just so beautiful. He seems to notice me admiring him and wraps his arms around me. Now I am as close to his bare chest as I could be. Alright, maybe I could be a little closer. I bury my face in him and he chuckles. I sneak in a kiss on his chest and I feel him shiver, too. Then, we hear Ivy scream in delight and we break away to look at her. She is holding a flower in her hand.

"Look! It's a Mommy vegetable!" she says. We both laugh.

"Honey, that's not a katniss root, I'll show you how they look." he says and breaks away from the hug. I feel a strong longing but I don't want to be selfish, so I let Peeta walk away to be with his daughter. Although every nerve is aching right now. Seriously. He pulls down his trousers to reveal a pair of swimshorts. "Oh, I'll get to those later." I think. He smiles at me and I get the tip. I pull off my shirt as well and put my pants neatly beside it. Peeta is already showing Ivy what katniss root flowers look like. I surprise them from behind. I lift Ivy up from the water and spin her around. I stop when I start to feel dizzy. She giggles like crazy when I've put her down.

"Mommy, do that again!" she says to me, and when I don't give her an answer, she puts on the puppy dog face. Oh, she knows I can't resist that. But I would get too dizzy and then I could drop her. I would never want to do that. Before I get to answer, Peeta has already picked her up and started to spin her around, and he does it better than I did. I laugh, and when he gets dizzy, too, he stops and lifts Ivy up on his shoulders. She grasps his hair tightly and he starts walking deeper. He looks at me.

"Are you coming too, coward?" he says with a teasing voice.

"You bet." I say and run towards the water. When I am about a feet away, I jump and hit the water a few metres away. When I reach the surface, I see that both Ivy and Peeta are drenched. They are laughing.

"Mommy!" Ivy yells and I start laughing too.

"Sorry, Ivy, I just had to teach Daddy a lesson." I say and come closer to them. I stroke Ivy's cheek and lift her off Peeta's shoulders. I walk a little towards the shore and put her down in the water. It reaches her hips. She looks up at me.

"Do you want me to teach you to swim a little, Ivy?" I ask her. She nods intensely. I teach her a few strokes and she is a pretty fast learner. Just as Peeta was in the Quell. When she can swim just enough to come to the shore if she falls in, I think she's been practising enough and tell her to do anything she wants. She just has to stay near enough so that we can see her all the time. She starts playing with the mud on a rock a few feet away. Something warm grabs my hips. The hunger and longing returns, and I turn around. I am immediately greeted by a wonderful, warm kiss. We sink deeper into the water and let ourselves be surrounded by each other. We stop when we hear the only voice that could bring us back to reality.

"Mommy! Daddy! Stop!" she yells and rolls her eyes. We do as she says and Peeta lifts me up and carries me to the shore. Ivy looks impatient.

"Mommy, I'm hungry." she says. It's funny how she always tells me when she's hungry, not Peeta, although he's the one that usually makes the food. I smile at her and Peeta puts me down. I wring out my braid and a lot of water is released. I crouch down in front of Ivy.

"I've got some apples and sandwiches in the basket over there, just pick what you want." I tell her and she nods, and runs to the basket. She starts eating on an apple. Then, we hear someone walking in the woods. I focus my eyes on the woods behind Ivy and get up to stand protectively in front of her and Peeta. Peeta comes to stand in front of me, and I let him, because I know it would make him unhappy if I wouldn't. Then, someone steps out of the woods. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey, guys! Whatcha doing out here?" Gale says and waves at us. I put an arm around Peeta and kiss his cheek.

"I would like to ask you the same." I say. He smiles.

"Oh, we decided to visit, and when you weren't home, Marylee decided to go with the kids to another house in the Village and I told them I would go to the woods, you know, to remember old times. And I thought I would maybe find you here." he says and puts his hands in his pockets. Ivy laughs, even though I don't know why

"Uncle Gale, can I come and play with Ryker? Mommy and Daddy don't have to come." she says with a smile. She loves playing with Ryker, Gale's and Marylee's third child. They are about the same age and although Ivy is a girl and Ryker is a boy, they get along well. They are like bread and butter, nothing can separate them. Like me and Gale when we were teenagers.

"Sure. Why not?" he says and Ivy squeals. "Is it okay for you?" he asks us, and we both nod and smile. "Well, see ya later, then I guess. Have fun." Gale says and walks away with Ivy jumping beside him. I turn to Peeta and sigh.

"So, whatcha wanna do?" I ask him.

"Do you really have to ask?" he says and before I can even think of something to answer, he kisses me with such passion I have to hold onto him to avoid falling. We spend the rest of the afternoon at the lake, kissing and... Well, I don't have to say that, do I? Anyway, we are exhausted when we are done and we just make it back to the house when we collapse on the floor. I think Gale called to ask if it was okay that Ivy stayed at their place overnight, and I think Peeta said yes. Just maybe, Peeta carried me up to our room and placed me carefully on the bed, before he curled up beside me. But I don't thin that woudl have been possible. He was just as tired as I was. I don't remember much more, because I was so tired I fell asleep immediately. This night, the nightmares weren't about me in an empty corridor, they were about Rue.