No Games Left to Play

10: A Cake and A Letter

"Oh Peeta, I love it." I say.

"You do?"

"It's incredible. You did an amazing job. Are these real flowers?"

"No, they are sugar flowers. They're completely edible."

"They look so real!" I say. "What flavor is it?"

"I used a yellow cake with buttercream filling for this one, but I have samples set up for you to taste so we can decide on an official flavor."

"That sounds like fun. Let's get to tasting."

Peeta goes over and grabs the sample plate. He tells me what each flavor is before I eat it.

There's the yellow cake and buttercream filling one along with a carrot cake and cream cheese filling, a chocolate sponge cake with a chocolate ganache and fresh raspberry filling, a red velvet cake and a vanilla buttercream filling, and a chocolate cake with a chocolate fudge filling.

"So... which one is your favorite?" Peeta asks after I've tried all of them.

"They're all amazing," I say. "I love the chocolate one with the chocolate ganache and raspberries. It's my favorite."

"Mine too." Peeta says and smiles.

"Peeta, we just got one step closer to the rest of our lives."

I take his face in my hands and kiss him. When we pull away he smiles.

"We did."

We kiss again.

"Well I'm sure you're busy, I'll let you get back to work," I say.

"Ok. I'll walk you out."

Peeta and I head to the front of the bakery. Elroy is helping a woman pick out some pastries. She has two children with her, both little girls. The mother is holding the youngest, who looks to be around 2, on her hip while the older daughter is standing on her tip toes looking into the glass case, pointing to the pastries she wants. Each time she points to a different pastry, her backpack slips off her shoulder. She looks like she is about a year or two into school, just old enough to have learned about the games in class.

My suspicions are confirmed when she notices Peeta and I. She immediately stops what she's doing and waves at us. I wave back.

Elroy is putting their pastries into a box, when the little girl walks over to her mom and tugs on her shirt.

"Mommy, can I go say hi to them?" I hear the little girl whisper. The mom shakes her head no.

"Uh Oh," I giggle. "I think we've been noticed." I say pointing to the little girl.

"Pretty please?" I hear the little girl beg.

Peeta walks up to the family and squats down next to the little girl. I follow and stand behind him.

"Hi there." Peeta says with a smile.

"Hello." the little girl says shyly as she clutches to her mother's leg.

"Are you helping your mom pick out some pastries?" Peeta asks.

"Un-huh." she says.

"What kind is your favorite?"

"I like cherry bliss bars and cannolis." she says, warming up a little.

"I like cherry bliss bars too."

"Oh, Oh, and cheese buns." the little girl says excitedly.

"Really?" Peeta asks.

The little girls nods.