There will be a sequel

"No Mama! No Daddy!" Hallie and Bailee cling to me, and Brennan clings to Peeta. Today is the first day of Kindergarten and all three of them burst into tears and cling to us. Hallie with her long hair, which got darker but is still blondish, and her mesmerizing blue eyes. She's five, and will be six in about two weeks. Then Bailee, Brennan's identical twin. She has long blond hair, all three having wavy hair. And she has blue eyes, but everything else is mine. She just turned five, obviously the same day as Brennan. Brennan has dark hair like mine, and gray eyes. He's got Peeta's face. They're all three hysterical, and I see the teacher watching from the doorway, and the other parents behind their children, watching us with smiles on their faces. I kneel down next to Peeta, down to their level.

"Listen, listen to me." I wipe all three of their tears away. "It's going to be okay. You all are going to be perfectly fine. Mrs. Hawthorne will make sure you three are safe and happy. You're going to color, and make friends! You're going to meet more people like Chase! You're going to make friends, right Daddy?" I ask.

"Right, listen, you guys are going to have so much fun. Mama and I will be right here when you're done, and you can come home! You're going to have fun."

"Promise?" Hallie sniffs and wipes her tears away.

"Now honey, would Mama and Daddy ever lie to you?" I whisper.

"Nope," she mumbles.

"Exactly. Now come on, give Mama and Daddy a kiss." I say. They each kiss all three of us on the lips and then get in line. Peeta and I wait behind them. When the teacher calls them inside, they pick up their lunch boxes, Hallie's being Princess Belle, Bailee's having Tinker Bell and Brennan having Scooby doo. They have matching backpacks with their lunch boxes and I put their name on the outside and the inside of all of them.

Gale moved to Vermont and I ran into him in the grocery store a couple of weeks ago. I didn't recognize him, or his wife and son until he said "Catnip?" I had all three with me, and when I saw him, I was shocked. He's here now, with Madge, taking their son, Justin to school. Chase is starting too, but he's in another class.

When the teacher leads them inside, all three wave at me and Peeta before the door shuts behind them.

"What if they need something? Did we get enough paper, I really should go and check-"

"Katniss, we have to let them go at some point. It's starting school, and I know it's hard, but it will all work out, I promise. Maybe it didn't work out as planned when we were kids, but that was then, and this is now. Life goes on, whether we go without it. They're going to grow up, and we're going to get older. We have to let them go to school darling." Peeta says. I allow him to pull me to the car and home.

I know it's incredibly short, but the sequel is literally starting right up from here.