A/N: It's good to be back with a new story! I hope the intro intrigues people and appreciate any feedback.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of its characters

Chapter 1

I push into the small kitchen at the back and flip over my page long list of orders. The heat in the room is already beginning to rise and beads of sweat immediately begin gathering on my forehead. The two chefs, Castor and Bonnie, dart between stations, cutting up fries, flipping burgers and simmering macaroni. They don't stop working as I fire off my list of orders.

"Two burgers with everything on it, one stack of pancakes and three meatball sandwiches. Mrs Cartwright has gone dairy free so no cheese or butter in her cheese and pickle sandwich," I bark.

Bonnie smirks as she straddles an aisle, attending two pots on opposite sides at the same time.

"She does know there is milk in whipped cream? That woman always has a creamy cake in her hand," Bonnie replies.

I smile.

"I still think this fad will last longer than veganism. She only managed that for two days. But she was always on to a losing battle with that one. Her husband is a cow farmer!" I reply.

Both Castor and Bonnie laugh and I pin the latest orders to the board before ducking out the sweltering kitchen and re-entering the diner.

I've worked in this small town diner since I was sixteen. Back then I was a fresh-faced waitress, hating the fact that my best friend had suggested I wear roller skates while at work. Over the next twelve years I managed to make myself indispensable to Sae, the owner of the diner, by helping set up and maintaining an electronic card machine and running the popular open mike nights. When Sae retired just over a year ago, she kindly handed the diner over to me. I spend most of my day feeding and listening to the small population of Seam.

The lunch time rush is in full swing and the poor waitress scurries between the red and black booths with her hair falling out of her ponytail. I give her a sympathetic smile as I walk up to the counter and prepare to serve the patrons there.

Haymitch Abernathy sits with his head slumped forwards on to the counter. The smell of white liquor seeps out his body. His long muddy blond hair falls around his face like a curtain and he clutches a small hunting knife in one hand. I lean forward to carefully extract the knife and slam a steaming cup of black coffee in front of him.

Haymitch jerks his head back and scowls at me.

"Didn't anyone tell you it was dangerous to wake a sleeping lion?" he grumbles.

"So I've heard. But I don't think the same phrase applies for a tabby cat," I say with a pointed look.

Haymitch grumbles as he wraps his hands around the hot coffee and slurps some of it greedily. However, he then proceeds to burn his tongue.

"Fuck, Katniss! That's hot. This needs to come with a health warning!" he exclaims.

I push a large glass jar, filled with ones, in front of Haymitch.

"That's another dollar for the swear jar," I reply. "This is a family place, Haymitch."

Haymitch grumbles again but does dutifully throw in a crumbled dollar note.

"I don't know why I bother coming. You always take my cash," he says.

"Obviously you come for my winning personality," I say with a grin.

Haymitch scoffs and shakes his head.

"That and the fact the bar doesn't open until 3pm," he mumbles.

He takes hold of his coffee again but drinks it a lot slower this time. I leave him as he starts his cycle of either being hungover or drunk. No amount of company has ever managed to break that cycle for him.

Next the baker, Joel, pushes into the diner carrying a tray of leftover cakes. I lick my lips at the sight.

"Here's today's helping of slightly stale baked goods. Give them away free to anyone who wants them" he says, placing the tray down on the counter. He then leans in to whisper in my ear. "I did save a white chocolate chip cookie for Ava. I know they are one of her favourites."

"I think you may be her favourite person in the whole world. Food is definitely the quickest way to her heart," I reply.

"She could help me out in the bakery one day. With all my sons gone it gets a bit lonely," Joel says.

"You may live to regret that offer. My daughter is a mini-tornedo!" I say.

Joel gives me a broad grin.

"At least life is never dull," he replies.

I chuckle lightly and then Joel turns to Rooba, the butcher's wife. She sighs heavily as she studies the menu.

"Life surely can't be that bad," Joel says. "Here. Have a day old cookie."

Joel passes a cookie to Rooba while I pour her a glass of ice tea. But Rooba just sighs again.

"A cookie is the last thing I need right now, Joel. Is there anything low fat on the menu?" she asks me, already knowing the answer.

"Everything is cooked in grease," I reply with a shake of the head. "I would recommend the salad but the dressing alone is probably close to a thousand calories."

Rooba sighs again as she pushes the menu away.

"I guess I'll stick with ice tea. I'm trying to watch my weight. I don't want to look like a hippopotamus in a tutu at Bristel's wedding," she says.

I shake my head. It's true that Rooba has a few extra pounds around her middle and her breasts are so big that even my dad has been caught staring at them but she's always been like that and I think it adds to her charm.

"Nonsense," Joel says. "You were the prettiest girl in our grade at high school and that hasn't changed. If Derek hadn't snapped you up, I would have."

I nod my head in agreement.

"Joel's right. You looked amazing at the summer carnival this year in that sparkly blue dress. Ava said you looked like Elsa from Frozen. That is the biggest compliment you can get from a five-year-old," I reply.

Rooba puts her hand on her chest and looks genuinely touched by what I just said.

"She really said that? Bless her little soul. That's made my day, Katniss," she says.

I smile warmly back at her and Rooba eyes the menu again. She chews her bottom lip for a moment before slamming her hands down on the counter.

"Oh, what the hell! Order me a pulled pork sandwich with a side of macaroni!" she declares.

Joel and I give her a big grin and Joel then slaps her on the back.

"That's the spirit. Remember, no one in this town judges you for what you eat. Well, apart from judging Mrs Cartwright. Those diets she has are just plain weird," Joel says.

Rooba gives him a grateful smile and I jot her order join and send it through to the kitchen. When I come back, one of my best friends pushes into the diner with two little whirlwinds behind her. Madge slumps onto a bar stool, placing her two-year-old son on her lap while her two eldest sons rush between tables firing imaginary guns at each other.

"Pow! Pow! You're dead!" her four-year-old son, Aiden shouts.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!" his twin brother, Hunter shouts.

Aiden stops in the middle of the diner and looks at his brother, confused. Hunter continues to flick his wrists forward and pretends to swing about the room.

"That's not the sound of guns!" Aiden exclaims.

"I'm not using a gun. I'm Spiderman using my web shooters!" Hunter replies.

"That's not fair! You're cheating! Mommy!" Aiden cries.

Aiden runs up to Madge and flings his arms around her legs before he starts wailing about his brother. Madge lets out a weary sigh and then turns to face her eldest son.

"If you play nicely with your brother I'll get you an ice-cream sundae," she says.

Aiden's tears stop immediately and he scampers off to play with Hunter without another word. Madge sighs as she turns back to me.

"Don't have another kid, Katniss. I hear them bickering in my sleep," she says.

I laugh as I go to pour her some tea but she stops me and shakes her head.

"Can I actually have some ginger beer. Feeling pretty nauseous today," she says, rubbing her stomach.

I raise my eyebrow at her as I get the cool refreshment. Madge catches my look and nods her head in confirmation.

"Gale's got me pregnant again," she says.

"I want to say congratulations but I'm not sure you want to hear that," I reply.

Madge and Gale were those childhood sweethearts everyone had at high school. The ones that got together as soon as they became teenagers and every other couple inspired to be. Everyone in the town knew they would get married and have kids but Madge has found out the reality of the situation isn't always as fun as it sounds.

"I don't even know how it happened! I was on the pill! But apparently Gale has some super sperm that can fertilise me not matter what!" Madge exclaims.

"Oh God! He's going to get an even bigger headed after this!" I reply.

"It's alright for him. He doesn't have to push the thing out of his vagina. Or get the heart burn and morning sickness. But as long as he gets enough for his baseball team," she says.

Madge shakes her head as she sips at the ginger beer. Her youngest son, Dylan, gurgles in her lap and tries to reach for her glass. Madge pushes the glass out of his reach and smooths his blond curls before placing a kiss on his head. I smile at the sight. Madge may complain about her kids a lot but she loves them more than anything in the world.

Rooba watches the whole interaction and smiles sympathetically at Madge.

"I remember what it's like. I used to lock myself in the bathroom just so I could get a minute's silence," she says.

Madge nods her head in understanding.

"I can't wait for the little terrors to start school so I have two less to deal with during the day," Madge replies.

"I can take the twins for you this afternoon. They can help me take the dogs for a walk," Rooba says.

Relief floods Madge's features.

"That would be so good, Rooba. This fourth baby is tiring me out," she says, rubbing her stomach.

"And bring them to the park later. Ava and I are meeting Prim there this afternoon," I say.

Tears begin to gather in Madge's eyes and she reaches out to take my hand.

"Thank you. I'll return the favour and have Ava one day," she says.

"You know I don't like to share her," I reply with a grin.

Madge laughs and Dylan turns his head to her with a toothy smile. Madge smiles back at him before bending down to rub their noses together. Dylan shrieks with laughter and I smile before turning to get back to work.

I go back to the kitchen and the radio is on when I enter. The local news bulletin rings out through the room.

"And there has been another bank robbery in Hob. This is latest in a series of bank robberies that date back to 2008. The police still have no suspects but speculate that there are two rival gangs involved."

I stride over to the radio and abruptly change the station. Some bouncy pop music begins to fill the room instead and Bonnie and Castor turn to me. I ignore them and busy myself filling up the dishwasher.

When I reappear out front, Madge and Haymitch are still sitting at the counter but Rooba has gone with the twins. Madge looks a lot more relaxed and Dylan giggles as she tickles him.

The lunch rush has diminished and I help the waitress by cleaning some tables. As I'm doing so, Darius, the local cop comes in. We share a bright smile and I put down the damp cloth to go over and speak to him. I lean in to give him a warm hug.

"I've got your steak already cooking," I say as I pull back.

"Ah. You're so good for me. Remind me why we broke up?" he says with a smile.

"Pretty sure not having sex in three months had something to do with it," I reply.

Darius laughs as he takes a seat. We dated for two years, even lived together for a while but Darius' promotion at the station and Sae giving me the diner coincided. We barely saw each other, even though we lived under the same roof. It was with a heavy heart that we mutually decided to end things six months ago. Thankfully, any awkwardness has faded and his friendship is one of the ones I value most.

I go to my purse and pull out a folded piece of paper. I unfold it and hand it to Darius. His eyes light up when he sees it.

"Ava drew you another picture. They are learning about dinosaurs at school but she added a unicorn horn to make it look pretty," I say with a grin.

Darius laughs as he looks down at the picture fondly. My daughter loves to colour and used as many of her crayons as possible to create the multi-coloured unicorn-dinosaur. Darius studies it for a while before carefully folding it again and placing it in his pocket.

"I'm glad she's branching out. My refrigerator doesn't have space for another cat picture," he says.

"Yeah. Buttercup has gone out of favour after the whole bird killing incident," I reply.

Darius smiles again as he shakes his head. One of the things I loved about him was how great he was with Ava. He accepted her straight away and they still have a special bond today. Darius will take her out and she draws him a countless number of pictures. It makes up for the fact that her real dad is not around.

Darius turns to Haymitch and gives him a grin.

"How you feeling today, Haymitch? I didn't get a call to pick you up last night so it must have been a tamer evening," Darius says.

Haymitch glares at him while Madge smirks.

"Aren't there any real crimes for you to investigate?" Haymitch replies.

Darius smiles and shakes his head.

"One of the Cartwright's cows went missing but we found it wondering in the next field," Darius replies. "All the action is happening in Hob. That's the third time their bank has been hit in three years. Nearly every bank within two hundred miles has been hit. We're lucky the bank here has never been hit."

Three pairs of eyes all turn to look at me but I don't acknowledge them. I duck my head and pretend to be busy sorting menus. Madge manages to catch my eye and gives me a sympathetic smile. I look back at her and change the topic of conversation.

"So any big plans for Gale's birthday? Or is another child gift enough?" I ask.

"He might get a fumble in the bedroom if he's lucky," she replies with a grin.

I laugh and the conversation begins to flow again. The bank robberies aren't mentioned for the remainder of my shift.

I leave the diner mid-afternoon so I can go and pick Ava up from school. I smile at the many moms that crowd the school gates and Delly pushes her way to greet me.

"Katniss! I'm so glad to catch you. I just wanted to thank you for the hot dogs you provided for the fundraising fair. They were just what everyone needed and meant people didn't rush home to get the kids fed," she says.

I smile back at her. Delly was in my year at school and is now the head of the PTA. She is an absolute supermom and the most organised person I know. The school fundraising fair was a big hit with a giant moon bounce, colourful face painting and a rather competitive dad race.

"Not a problem. I'll remember to bring more next time. I didn't expect the hot dogs to sell out so quickly," I reply.

Delly nods her head.

"They really did help us raise a lot of money. We're hoping to have enough money now for a class set of ipads," she says.

I nod my head, impressed.

"I remember being impressed by lemon clocks in school. It's crazy how quickly things move on," I reply.

Delly nods her head in agreement but then the school bell goes and the children begin filing out. I crane my neck to catch sight of my daughter and eventually catch her eye. She waves at me enthusiastically and runs over to me once she's pointed me out to her teacher.

"Mommy! I drew you another picture!" she says.

She collides into me and I pick her up to bring her to my eyelevel. Ava is a miniature version of me. Dark hair in braids. Olive skin. Cherub like face. She looks like me in almost every single way. Everything apart from her blue eyes.

I place a kiss on her head and she shoves her picture in my nose.

"Hey, bug, what type of dinosaur is this one?" I ask.

"A T-Rex. ROARRR!" she replies.

I laugh and take a closer look at the picture. I'm very impressed that she even drew the scales on the dinosaur's skin.

"We learned that they are carnibores and only eat meat!" Ava exclaims.

"You mean a carnivore?" I say. "That's a very difficult thing to learn about."

"Yep. And you get herb..herby…herbimores. They only eat leaves. Which is pretty boring. If I was a herbimore I would have to eat broccoli all the time!" she adds.

"That's true. And spinach and brussel sprouts and cabbage!" I say, listing all the vegetables I know Ava doesn't like.

"Yuck!" Ava exclaims. "I want to be a cakeimore! I only want to eat cakes!"

I laugh.

"I think you eat enough cake already," I say as I put her back down.

Ava pouts but takes my hand as we begin walking out the school gates.

"Grandpa lets me eat cake whenever I want," she says.

I roll my eyes. It doesn't surprise me that my dad sneaks her treats. Since she was his first grandchild, he spoils her. We've had quite a few arguments because when I come home he's bought her yet another new toy.

"If you're good this week Joel said you can help him in the bakery," I reply.

"Yay! Maybe this time we won't burn anything, Mommy," Ava says.

She looks up at me hopefully and I grin. Considering I work in a diner, my baking skills are appalling. Last time I set off the fire alarm and the whole house stank of burnt cake for a week.

"Joel is a much baker than me. I'm sure you'll make a very yummy cake. What else did you get up to today? Did you get a new reading book?" I ask.

Ava bobs her head.

"It's about ladybugs. Miss Trinket said I'm getting real good at my words," she says proudly.

"I bet she did. I can't believe how many words you know!" I exclaim.

"I'll read you the story when we get home," Ava replies.

I smile and nod my head but Ava's eyes drift towards the park. She looks up at me with hopeful eyes.

"Can we go to the park, Mommy? I can do my homework later," she pleads.

I pretend to think long and hard about it, but have already made plans to meet Prim there anyway.

"Okay," I say. "I think we can go. I think Auntie Prim and Jacob will be there too."

"Yay!" Ava yells, jumping up and down. "Is Jacob big enough for the slide yet?"

I try to hide a laugh as I shake my head. Jacob is only five weeks old.

"No quite yet, honey. Babies take a long time to grow up," I reply.

Ava shrugs her shoulders and lets go of my hand as soon as we pass the gates of the park. She runs straight for the slide. I spy Rooba across the park and she waves at me as Aiden and Dylan clamber about the jungle gym. Ava spies them too and rushes over to them once she's zoomed down the slide.

I keep one eye on Ava as I make my way to my sister, sitting on a bench, cradling my new nephew. I greet Prim with a kiss and she gives me a tired smile as I sit down. I peer at my nephew and stroke his cheek when I see he's sleeping.

"First trip to the park and he's asleep," I say with a grin.

Prim laughs and shakes his head.

"Only just got him to settle. I swear he gets his moods from Rory," she replies.

"Enjoy the stage when they can't walk. I spend my whole life chasing after Ava," I reply.

We both look out at the park as we watch my daughter order Aiden and Hunter about in some running game. But it doesn't take her long to get bored of that and she darts off the climb up the jungle gym. She is unperturbed by the height of it and climbs it like a monkey until she gets the top. She shouts down to Hunter and Aiden and they try to follow her, but their shorter legs mean they don't get as far.

"She's certainly fearless. She gets that from you," Prim says.

"I should probably be more worried but Dad let us do some crazy things as kids," I reply.

"Yeah. I still can't believe he let you climb that tree for that honey nest," she says.

"One of my proudest achievements. Second to Ava," I say.

Prim sighs and looks down affectionately at Jacob. He stirs slightly and Prim holds her breath to see if he wakes but Jacob just stretches and continues to snooze lightly. Prim lets out a sigh of relief before turning to look at me.

"Thanks for coming today. It just so good to get out of the house. With Rory in the mines all day I'm going stir crazy with just a baby to talk to," she says.

"I don't think my chat is that much better. It's all the diner and Ava," I reply.

Prim laughs.

"Stories about Ava make my day. What adventures has she been up to recently?" she asks.

"She managed to put Dad's fish hooks in the washing machine. Cost me $200 dollars to repair it," I reply.

"Ouch. You should have blamed Dad for leaving them within her reach," Prim says.

I laugh and then dig out Ava's most recent drawing.

"Dinosaurs are her new thing at the moment. I've got so many pictures of them and we make junk models of them whenever we have a spare moment," I add.

Prim takes the picture off me and her eyes widen.

"Wow. This is amazing. I can't draw this good and I'm twenty-four. She definitely didn't inherit her drawing ability from you," she says.

I tense and snatch the picture off her. Prim looks up at me confused.

"Don't," I say. "Don't insinuate that she's like him."

Prim sighs and shifts Jacob in her arms.

"Come on, Katniss. Half her DNA is his. You just need to look into her eyes to see what she's inherited from him," she says.

I shake my head fiercely.

"I don't want her to be anything like him. She's not going to turn out like him," I say.

"I hardly think being good at drawing means she will follow in his footsteps. Not everything about him was bad, Katniss," she replies.

I shake my head, putting an end to the conversation. I don't want to see her similarities with him.

I have to drag Ava away from the park as dinner draws closer. Prim and I part with a hug and I promise to make more of an effort to see her. I tell Rooba that I will drop the twins back with Madge and the three kids argue about the Frozen soundtrack as I drive the boys back home.

I'm exhausted when I get back home but Ava still hasn't run out of energy and bounds into the house to greet her grandparents.

"Grandpa! I found a spider in the park! I was really brave and picked it up but Aiden and Hunter got scared and ran away," Ava exclaims as she clambers up on to my dad's lap.

I've been living back with my parents since Darius and I broke up. Cash is a bit tight at the moment and when things get busy at the diner it's handy having my parents around to look after Ava. Ava loves them both, particularly my dad and he takes her out to the woods on a regular basis.

"That's pretty brave of you. How big was the spider?" Dad asks.

"This big!" Ava says, putting her hands out to slightly exaggerate the size of the spider.

"Wow! That's a really scary one. Are you sure it's not one that eats little girls?" Dad says.

He then tickles Ava in the stomach and she giggles loudly. They are soon wrestling with each other on the couch.

"A whole afternoon in the park still hasn't tired her out, I see," Mom says.

"She never stops moving. She must drive her teacher nuts," I reply.

Mom laughs and spends a moment longer watching Ava and Dad before turning into the kitchen.

"How was Prim?" Mom asks.

"Tired. But's she a natural with Jacob. I need to see her more. I think she's getting a bit lonely," I reply.

"I think I'll pop round tomorrow. Maybe bring her some apple pie," Mom says.

"She'd like that," I reply.

I spend a moment helping Mom prepare dinner before wiping my hands on a towel and straightening up.

"I better wrangle my little rascal off Dad. Just shout if you need me to do anything else," I say.

Mom nods her head and I go back through to get my daughter. Her and Dad are now making different animal noises at each other and I shake my head.

"Okay, Ava. That's enough. You need to do your reading before dinner and you're having a bath tonight," I say.

The animal noises stop and Ava turns to pout at me.

"But I had a bath yesterday," she whines.

"No, you didn't. You had one two days ago and you are getting smelly," I say.

I lean down to sniff Ava and make a show of scrunching and wafting my nose.

"Euurgh! I think you're going to need TWO baths!" I exclaim.

"No!" Ave replies with a smile.

I grin back at her before hoisting her up.

"If you read your story two times to me, I'll let you only have one bath," I say.

"Okay. Race you upstairs!" Ava giggles.

I smile again before putting her down and letting her scamper off to get her reading book.

Even when Ava is in bed I still have work to do. I leave Mom and Dad watching some nature documentary and sit at the kitchen table with the diner's accounts in front of me. I put on my glasses and peer at the pages, hoping everything adds up.

It must be close to eleven o'clock when the doorbell goes. I look up from the accounts and frown. We're not expecting anyone but in a town this small it's not too unusual for someone to pop round unannounced, even late at night.

I push off my chair and call through to Mom and Dad.

"I'll get it," I say.

Dad shouts back his thanks and I just hope the bell hasn't woken Ava. I pull the door back and get the shock of my life when I see who's standing there.

I haven't seen him in five years and his blond hair has gotten longer. One hand clutches the door frame desperately for support while the other hand covers a hole in his side. Blood seeps through his fingers and blooms across the fabric of his shirt.

"Katniss….I need your help," he says breathlessly.

I'm lost for words as Peeta Mellark then collapses at my feet.