Archive of Our Own

Because I couldn’t get this out of my head - a one-shot from the “Two Wrongs” universe.

The Hunger Games characters do not belong to me.

Takes place six months after the Epilogue and from Peeta’s  POV.

Thank you to Chelzie for making sense of my gibberish!

Fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too…

                                               -John Mayer

Daughters

“Did you call Prim to let her know that we’re coming?”

Katniss looks up from cooing at the little bundle that is our daughter. India is only two months old, but she has changed our lives. Every little smile or baby noise she makes has us falling to our knees. We are crazy about her.

However, she has also prevented us from sleeping and sadly from touching each other.

It’s such a shame, because my wife’s breasts have become a wonder to stare at.

Unfortunately, the only one touching them is India. Sometimes when my daughter feeds, I swear she is mocking me. I see that little baby face, checking to see if I’m watching from the corner of her eye. I know that she is still a baby and it’s probably from the lack of sleep, but she really is that smart.

“We don’t need to call her,” Katniss says. “She mentioned that she was staying in this weekend and I need to get out.”

“Okay.” I look at her from my rearview mirror.

She glares back at me. “I haven’t been outside in two months, Peeta. As much as I love India, I need to get out of the house.” She looks at India again. ”Might as well visit Auntie Prim since we’re out.”

I get out of the car and push back my chair so Katniss can hand me the car seat that India sits in. I take the car seat easily, then help Katniss out of the car. She has recovered nicely from pushing India out of her.

It had been a rainy day in San Francisco when India came into our lives. We were walking down California Street to pick up some groceries from Bryan’s when her water broke. Though CPMC was a few blocks away, we still had to get an ambulance.

“You okay?” Katniss reaches over to caress my cheek. Taking her hand and pulling her to me, I kiss her. She groans against my mouth as our lips meet and pushes her body against mine. I’m hard instantly. The things she does to me! When we finally pull away, she kisses the side of my mouth before looking up at me. “How long has it been?”

“A month or two or eight,” I reply, my face warming as she raises her eyebrows. “Yes, I’ve been counting.”

She shakes her head and wraps an arm around my neck. “Look at what I’ve become, all mommied out. I forgot that I was a woman with needs and that you are a man with—“ she presses her hips against my groin. “—that.”

“Well, someone else needs your boobs more than I do,” I reply and hold up the car seat. India looks up at me with her big blue eyes and her tiny pink lips purse in a sucking motion.

“Oh, she’s hungry again,” Katniss says. “We’d better get up to Prim’s.”

We walk to the front of the building and Katniss punches in the entry code to open the door to the lobby. India begins to squirm in her seat, her little fists punching the air in frustration.

“Baby girl, we’re almost there,” I say as we get to the elevator. Prim’s apartment is on the twelfth floor. “Auntie Prim will be so excited to see you.” India stops crying to look over at me. She’s wearing a hat that Carrie knitted for her, tufts of her dark hair peeking out from underneath it. She will definitely look like Katniss when she gets older.

We walk down the hallway and find Prim’s door. Katniss knocks and we stand outside, waiting.

“Who is it?” Prim calls from behind the door.

“It’s us,” Katniss says.

There’s some shuffling and we can hear our sister’s footsteps rushing to the door. Prim answers, breathless and grinning.

She throws her arms around Katniss. “What a surprise! What are you guys doing here?”

“We just thought we’d take India on her first long car trip and thought about you,” I say and give her a one-armed hug. I look at Prim. She is in an oversized button down and shorts, her hair down in long waves. “Are you okay? You look like you just woke up.”

Prim looks at her outfit and blushes. “I was just kind of hanging out. Why don’t I change? Then we can go out to lunch.”

Katniss looks at me and nods. “Sounds good to me, I just need to feed India.”

Prim’s apartment is large. The living room easily fits a large couch and loveseat.  A flat screen TV is over the fireplace. To our right is a hallway which leads to her room and to the right is the bathroom.

“I need to go,” I say to them and head to the bathroom.

“WAIT!”

I turn to see Prim rushing to me.

“What?”

“Uh—I think I might have left some girl stuff in there,” she tells me, her voice trailing off.

“That’s okay. I’m used to it.” I give her a smile. “I lived with you and your sister, remember? Don’t worry – I’ll try not to trip on any tampons or whatnot.”

“Sure,” Prim says, giving me a quick laugh.

I pat her head before heading into the bathroom. I feel like it was just yesterday that I picked her up from school after she got her first period.

Closing the door, I lift the toilet seat and there’s a THUMP from behind the shower curtain.

“Shit.” It’s a whisper.

“Who’s there?” I turn around and wait.

Slowly, the curtain peels back to reveal a red-faced Cato. He is shirtless but wearing a pair of jeans. My mind recalls the oversize button down that Prim is wearing. It’s his.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“Looking for tile grout?”

“Get the fuck out of my sister’s shower!” Red-hot fury builds in me. He is shirtless in my little’s sister bathroom. She’s wearing his shirt. Oh God—we’ve interrupted them. I can’t even think of what we’ve interrupted.

My stomach is actually churning.

“Peeta—“

“Don’t.” I hold my hand out. Walking to the door, I open it. “Go to the living room - we need to have a talk.”

Cato walks out and I follow him into the living room. Prim is talking to Katniss when we enter. India is cradled in my wife’s arms. Prim meets my eyes and I look away.

Katniss looks between them and nods before adjusting India in her lap. “And how long has this been going on?”

“Six months,” Prim replies, her eyes now avoiding me.

 I sit next to my wife. Cato sits next to Prim.

“I get it,” I start. “You both have chemistry. I saw it six months ago, but I thought that you two would maybe go on a date or two—not do this.”

“What exactly is ‘this’?” Prim asks. Her eyes suddenly meet mine. “I’m with someone I love.” She takes Cato’s hand.

“Love?! What do you know about love? You’re 22,” I scoff.

“You were 19 when you got married,” she argues.

“Yes, I know how old I was. But there were different circumstances and you know that.”

Prim’s eyes are steely and stubborn. She gets that from Katniss.

“Peeta, Katniss,” Cato says. “I know it seems surprising, but we really do care for each other.”

“You care about her?” I look at him and he meets my eyes. “If you felt this way, you should’ve talked to us. You’re our friend, Cato, and she is our little sister.”

Prim jumps up from her seat. “He doesn’t need anyone’s permission. I’m 22 for Christ’s sake! I’m going to medical school and one day I’m going to save people’s lives. I think that I’ve earned the right to run my own! And my life includes him.”

“Both of you calm down,” Katniss suddenly hisses. She covers India, who has fallen asleep despite the loud argument around her. “You hid something from us, Prim. You’ve never done that. I thought our relationship was better than that.” Then she turns to me. “Prim is old enough to make her own decisions. She doesn’t need us to tell her what to do. She isn’t a little girl anymore.” Katniss looks at Prim again. “Now, is there anything else that you need to tell us?”

Prim sits back down and Cato puts his arm around her. “We’ve moved in together.”

Getting up, she goes to the side table at the end of the couch. Pulling the drawer open, she takes out a frame and places it in what I can only assume is its original space. It’s a picture of the two of them, her head against his chest and his arm around her. Then she goes to the fireplace and stands up a frame that was lying flat. It’s another picture of them.

Cato reaches under the couch and pulls out a stack of magazines. It’s a mixture of business journals and US weekly magazines; his name with Prim’s address in the little white box at the corner of each magazine.

It’s too much.

I stand up and walk out of the apartment.

++++++

“Are you still mad?”

Katniss stands at the doorway to our bedroom. I close the file that I’m going over as she slowly walks in. Her hair is down and she’s wearing a sheer, white gown with lacy bra cups that hold her full breasts. Katniss sits by my legs.

“I’m not mad,” I say to her. “I hate that she’s mad at me.”

Katniss laughs softly. “This is her…second time being mad at you?” She reaches over to cup my cheek and I kiss the palm of her hand. “She’s growing up, Peeta, and she’s in love. It happens. Why are you so upset?”

“She’s like our daughter. I’m finding it hard to see that the teenager we raised and the woman she’s become are the same person. That the woman Cato loves is the same baby that’s in this Polaroid.”

I gesture to the framed Polaroid on my side table. It’s the picture that made me realize that I couldn’t let my wife leave for Japan without her knowing just how deep my love ran for her.

“What happens when India gets older and she starts to date? Or when she gets her first kiss?”

“That’s never going to happen. She’s going to Mercy when she’s a teenager.”

“That’s not going to stop her from meeting someone,” Katniss tells me. “You walking out on Prim won’t stop her from seeing Cato. It will stop her from seeing you, though.”

I nod. “I know.” Kissing her forehead, I look into her eyes. “You’re so smart, Mrs. Mellark.”

“It happens when you push a baby out of your vagina; you get some sort of Mommy logic,” she replies. Katniss straddles me. Her hands rest on my shoulders and my hands go to her waist. “It’s been a long time since we’ve been in this position.”

“About eight months.”

“Yes, I was a horny pregnant woman, wasn’t I?” she whispers into my ear. “Now I’m just a horny mother.”

“Well, you’re not my mother.”

Our lips meet and my tongue finds its way into her eager mouth. She massages her own tongue roughly against mine. I pull away, my breathing harsh. “How long do you think it will be until India needs to feed?”

“I don’t know, my brain isn’t functioning right now,” she says, equally breathless. “Sometime soon, though.”

“I can be done in five minutes,” I tell her as I begin to remove her nightgown.

She holds her arms up so I can pull it over her head. My hands go back to her waist and feel her skin. It isn’t smooth like before. There are stretch marks from the pregnancy, silvery lines around her abdomen. I find my hands tracing every line, and she inhales sharply at the sensation.

“What are you doing?”

“I’ve never seen you up close.” I am fascinated by her. This was where she carried our daughter, and where she will carry other children. I meet her eyes. “You’re beautiful.”

“Peeta…” She crosses her arms over her chest, suddenly shy.

“Don’t hide,” I say. I kiss her again quickly. “Did I ever say thank you?”

She grins as her hands find their way to my pajama bottoms and she yanks at them. I raise my hips to help her move them from my bottom to my thighs. “For what?” Katniss asks, hooking her finger on the elastic of her panties and pulling them off so that she can move them down her legs.

“For being my wife, for having India, and for any other little ones that might come.”

“I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself. Now lay back,” she tells me. Katniss is straddling me again, and I can feel the warm, wet heat of her cunt grazing the tip of my cock. “We’ve had India for two months and I’m dying from not touching you. What happens when there’s another?”

My hands go to her sides and I raise my hips as she plunges down. We both moan in unison.

“Oh God, finally,” I say. We start out slowly, Katniss raising her hips again and then returning back to me. “I will never let us wait this long.”

“I really don’t think it was your fault —so good. I blame Annie for making us wait this long,” she replies and her hips begin to move at a quicker pace. A moan escapes her mouth when my hands find her breasts and I’m careful when I caress her sensitive nipples.

“You are really lovely,” I tell her as I marvel at how she moves while riding me. Her eyes are closed and her hair falls in a dark curtain above me. Her breasts are full and weighty in my hands. The feeling of her wetness enveloping me sends electricity through my body. “You’re so tight.”

“I guess we’re lucky that India had a small head,” Katniss replies and her eyes roll back. ”Faster…”

I put my hands on her hips and quickly move her under me. Our chests meet as I lay my body over hers and feel her heartbeat against me. She plants her feet firmly down as her knees go up and I enter her once again. We move quickly, racing towards our climax.

“Peeta!” She is first and her hand reaches for my hair so that she can pull my head down to hers. Our lips connect in a sloppy kiss.

As I feel her insides contract around me, my hips quicken and I come, moaning into her mouth as I do.

Pulling away, I kiss her shoulder and I am breathless. She has and will always leave me breathless.

A cry sounds out from the baby monitor. India is ready to be fed.

“Let me,” I say as I gently move off of her and kiss her forehead.

Katniss sits up and gives me a tired, sated smile.

Getting up, I get retrieve a pair of boxers from the dresser drawer and slip them on before going to the nursery. The soft nightlight makes the buttery walls glow and I make my way to the crib where India lays. Her cries have now turned into soft whimpers.

“Hello, sweetheart,” I say quietly as I pick her up and cradle her to my chest. “I’m bringing you to Mommy.” As we walk, India snuggles against me. “Promise me you’ll never do what your Mommy and I just did. Or if you do, at least wait until you’re an appropriate age like forty.”

Entering the room, I find Katniss back in her nightgown. Her eyes are closed. As if signaled, India cries out and my wife opens her eyes. She lights up when she sees our little girl. I never thought I would see this. I sniff back the tears that threaten to fall.

I carefully hand India to Katniss and she unbuttons the top of her gown. My daughter knows right where to go and her tiny lips quickly find her mother’s breast.

Katniss looks over at me. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For waiting until I was ready to have her,” she says. “We have wonderful daughters.”

“We do,” I agree as I watch her.

“So you’ll talk to Prim?”

“Yes.”

++++++

When I open the door the next afternoon, I’m surprised to find Prim standing on our front steps. She is holding a box.

“Prim, what are you doing here?” I ask.

She holds out the box. “Krispy Kreme?” she offers and gives me a tentative smile.

I smile back and widen the door for her. “Come in.”

Taking the box from her, I lead her into the kitchen. She sits on a stool next to the island, while I sit next to her on the adjacent stool.

“Where’s Cato?” I ask.

“In my car hiding,” she replies. “Peeta, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to keep this a secret from you or Katniss.”

“I overreacted,” I tell her. “It’s hard to believe that you’ve grown up. I held you when you were two days old, Prim. Now you’re twenty-two and you’re living with a man. It’s scary for me—I feel old.”

“You’re not old,” she assures me. “I’m not either. I’m still learning. Having Cato move in with me? I’m learning from that.”

“Please don’t talk about that,” I tell her. “I’m learning to be okay with it.”

“Peeta, this isn’t just about sex,” she says seriously. “Though, it is a perk.”

“And my head just exploded.” I grab a Krispy Kreme from the box and take a bite.

“I’ve always wanted to fall in love,” she tells me. “I loved Derek, but this time, it’s different. It’s real.” Her eyes fill with tears. “Don’t you want that for me?”

“Always,” I tell her. “I want nothing but the best for you. Do you think that Cato is the best for you?”

“I do,” she replies in a choked voice. I hate to see the tears running down her face. “You have to trust me. If anything, it was you and Katniss who taught me how to love.”

“What?”

“You learn how to love from your parents,” she tells me. “I watched both of you rise and fall—together. And you’ve come back stronger and become wonderful parents. I watched it all and what I want more than anything is a sliver of that.” Prim wipes her eyes. “Everything good and loving about me is because of you two, don’t you know that? And I fell in love again, which I never thought was possible, because you gave me hope for a new beginning.”

I pull her in for a hug and Prim cries into my shoulder. When I look up, I see Katniss walk in with India in her arms and a smile on her face. I smile back.

“Cato is waiting in the living room for you,” Katniss says to her.

Prim pulls away as she wipes her eyes. She goes to Katniss and they hug. Prim kisses India’s soft hair.

“She is so beautiful,” Prim says.

Together, we all walk to the living room where Cato sits on the couch. He stands up when he sees us.

“Hey, guys.” Cato gives us a nervous smile.

I hold my hand out to him and he shakes it in disbelief. Prim goes to his side and beams.

“Do you guys want to stay for dinner?” I ask.

“What do you think?” Cato asks Prim.

She turns to us. “Who’s cooking?”

“I am,” I tell her.

“Then we’ll stay,” Prim says.

“Hey! I can cook.” Katniss glares at her.

Prim goes to her and puts an arm around her shoulders. “Of course, you can—just not well.”

“You’re such a bitch,” my wife tells her.

“I learned from the best.”

Cato looks over at me. “Do they always talk to each other like that?”

I grin as I watch them walk out. My girls - God love ‘em.

“No, sometimes they’re mean to each other.”

++++++

Two Months Later

“Did you call Prim to let her know that we’re coming?” I ask my wife as we walk out of the elevator. It was already late into the afternoon when Katniss decided that we needed to see Prim. As we arrive at Prim’s apartment building, the sun is just starting to set.

“No.”

I look down at India who is in her travel bassinet. She has had a major growth spurt. Her hair is darker and is curling at the ends. Her eyes, which have become a deep shade of blue, look up at me as she sucks on her pacifier.

“At least we know what to expect,” I say as we reach her door. Katniss gives me a smile and knocks on the door.

Prim opens it quickly and gives us a bright smile. “Hey, guys! What are you doing here?” Cato walks up from behind her as she widens the door. “Come in.”

“We just have to drop something off,” Katniss says to her.

“What?”

Katniss hands her the baby bag. “Actually, we have to drop someone off.” She takes the bassinet from me and gives it to Cato. “Here are all the emergency numbers,” she announces, handing a folded piece of paper to Prim.

“What are you doing?” Prim asks with wide eyes.

“Yes, what are you doing?” I ask her suspiciously.

“Did you really think that you weren’t going to get punished for hiding Cato from us?” she says to Prim. “It might have taken awhile, but it was going to happen.”

“You play a wicked game, Katniss Mellark,” Prim tells her in disbelief, but smiles.

“We’ll be back in the morning,” Katniss says.

“But–” Cato looks terrified, his mouth hanging open.

“Goodnight, Cato. You’re sleeping with my little sister,” my wife says sternly. “Just remember that before you complain.”

He closes his mouth.

“We’ll see you in the morning,” Katniss tells them again and takes my hand. She closes the door to their apartment, before turning to me with a wide grin. “Surprise!”

“Do you think that they’ll be okay?” I ask anxiously as we walk back to the elevators.

“Prim is the baby whisperer,” she assures me. ”They have our number if there are any problems.”

“So where are we going?” I ask as we reach the elevator.

“Did you know that Haymitch and Effie have a second home in Sonoma?” Katniss holds up a set of keys. “It used to belong to Effie’s parents, but they gave it to her after they retired in Boca Raton.”

“I never knew that,” I reply and pull her to me.

“Let me tell you about it,” she continues as I place my lips against her neck. “It’s surrounded by vineyards so there’s no one around to hear anything.”

“So we can turn the music up for the dance it off?”

“Or we can have really loud sex with no interruptions.”

“We can do that, too,” I say lightly, though my mind is suddenly filled with dirty thoughts of my wife’s body.

The elevator door opens and Katniss steps in. She turns to me, her eyes glowing. “Have you ever done it in an elevator?”

I shake my head. “How about you?”

“No, sex wasn’t all that exciting before I married you.” She beckons me with her index finger and gives me a smile.

“Well, there’s a first time for everything.”

Thank you for reading.

Some quick notes:

California Street runs through Outer Richmond and all the way through Laurel Village, where Katniss and Peeta live.

CPMC stands for California Pacific Medical Center, a hospital in Laurel Village. My mom actually worked there for many years.

Bryan’s is a high end grocery store located in the same neighborhood.

Peeta refers to Mercy, which is an all-girl high school around the Lakeside neighborhood. I actually know a few girls who went to Mercy. They weren’t good girls, but are all really nice as people.

Sonoma is a city close to Napa which also has vineyards.

Thank you again for reading! I hope you enjoyed.

-JLaLa