Our Love is Real

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

I wake up at 6, when the sun is peaking over the ocean horizon. I tilt my head over to look at Peeta. He's still sleeping. I throw my legs over the side of the bed and make my way to the door. I open it slightly and slip out of the room. Then I open the front door and am greeted with a whoosh of salty air. I tiptoe down the boardwalk, like I'm hiding from someone. Instinct, I guess.

When I get to the beach, there's a box with towels in it. I take one out and lay it on the sand. It's soft and warm under my feet. I spread the towel out and sit cross-legged. I gaze out into the sea, and I see a few...dolphins. I've heard of them once or twice, but I've never seen them before. They're beautiful, leaping in and out of the water like that. Gulls squawk overhead and land next to me.

"I have no food," I say out loud. They squint at me and fly away. I smile.

But there's something wrong. I feel pressure in the sand behind me. I turn around a second too late. Peeta has me tossed over his shoulder and we're racing towards the ocean in a matter of seconds. I'm laughing and telling him to stop, but, of course, he doesn't. I feel the water on my legs and, a beat later, I'm enveloped by it. Thank goodness I had the foresight to braid it before I went to bed, otherwise I'd be blinded by my own hair right now.

I rise above the surface gasping, and Peeta is laughing. I jump on top of him and he crashes into the water. It's my turn to laugh. But when he comes up, his eyes have a clouded look. I realize what's happening and I grab his wrists.

"Peeta, it's not real. Stay with me." I kiss him hard, and the blue in his eyes disappear into black pits for a few seconds, then return to normal. Then black again. Then normal. His eyes lose the grayish tone and he kisses me back and wraps my his arms around me.

I pull back and he says, "I'm sorry, Katniss, I'm sorry, I didn't mean t-"

"Peeta, why do you always apologize?" I ask him. "It's not your fault."

He shrugs and his eyes water.

"I just hate doing this to you. I feel terrible and you always have to calm me down and I never-"

"You just calmed me down last night when I had a nightmare. Don't say you never calm me down. You did long before I ever had to."

He sniffles and nods. He wraps me back up in his arms again. I watch the sunrise from my place on his chest.

--

Peeta and I go back inside for breakfast. Annie's up and is making green scrambled eggs. I have an old book upstairs in my attic about a small boy who hated green ham and eggs and someone was always asking if he did. In the end he tried it and he liked it. It was a silly book from our ancestors before the huge war that created Panem. I guess it's survived a while.

"It's all tinted with seaweed," Annie says. "Don't worry. They're not rotten or anything." She smiles and sets a plate of it in front of me. I smile back and dig in. They're delicious. I see Peeta really likes it too.

"Do you like them?" Annie asks.

Peeta and I say in unison, "Yes!"

We laugh, and that's when Sawyer bounds down the stairs. "Good morning!" he exclaims. We all mutter the same thing, and he immediately makes his way to Peeta.

"Auntie Katniss," he says, "Did you know my daddy?"

I freeze, fork in midair.

Sawyer cocks his head to the left.

"Sawyer!" Annie gasps, "You know we never-"

"No, no, it's okay," I say carefully, "Yes, Sawyer. I did know your daddy. So did Uncle Peeta."

We all smile weakly at him, and he beams back. "Did he look like me? Mommy always says he looked just like me."

I nod. "Yes. In fact, yesterday, I thought you were your daddy!"

Sawyer gasps. "Wow!" he says excitedly.

He leaps into Peeta's lap and he kisses the top of Sawyer's head.

I put my dishes in the sink and I say, "Alright. Are you ready?"

Peeta nods and picks up Sawyer. "Alright, bub. Auntie Katniss and I have to go home to District 12. Promise you'll visit us, okay?"

His eyes water and he hugs Peeta. Peeta rubs his back and walks over to Annie and gives the boy to her. "Promise?" he asks Sawyer. He nods intensely. "I promise!"

Peeta smiles and takes my hand. We run up the stairs and change into our day clothes. We say our goodbyes and walk to the train station.

It's another beautiful day and the kids are outside playing again. I laugh when one hugs me and mistakes me for their mother. "Mommy, come play with us!" she says. Then she looks up at my face. I smile down at her and she releases me. "Oh, you're not my mom!" She says, and giggles. She runs back to play with her friends. Peeta and I board the train with no problem. He wraps me up in a hug again and together we watch the land rush by.

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