The Life of A Victor || Finnick Odair

EPILOGUE

➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳

"Thanks for coming to Uriah's birthday," Dove said, sitting beside a spaced-out Katniss, who kept her eyes glued to her and Peeta's newborn, a beautiful boy with blond curls and grey eyes.

"We couldn't miss such an important event. Not every year do we get to see the little ones become ten. Two digits. He has grown so much since the first time I saw him," Katniss muttered, raising her eyes to watch the lovely sight they had in front of them.

Along the coastline, Finnick and Peeta were playing with the children in a splash war. Annie and Angel were close to them, encouraging Charlie, their timid son, to do something with smug grins plastered on their faces. Melo was watching over Johanna, who, just a few months back, had found out she was pregnant. Ron and Librae were with the elders, sitting on a table far away from the water, and having a relaxing tea time.

"Prim asked me to apologise to you on her behalf. There aren't many doctors in Twelve, and she had to stay one more day due to an emergency," Katniss said, glancing at Dove, who was staring at her children lovingly.

"Don't worry. We understand. The kids miss her a lot, though. Kalea wouldn't stop asking if 'aunty Prim' would come to her brother's birthday party," Dove chuckled softly, watching as Charlie gave something to Alder, Katniss and Peeta's oldest son. They were too far from them to see what it was, but Alder seemed to like it very much, as he blushed and immediately went to show his dad before running in Katniss's direction.

"Mum! Look what Charlie gave me. It says A.C. He gave it to me as a promise. He promised we'll get married like you and dad when we're older," the nine-year-old chimed happily, showing both her mother and aunt the bright blue surface with the engraved letters.

Dove recognised it right away. How could she not? She hadn't buried any other bright blue urns with the letters 'A.C' engraved on them. Alder Caldwell, her long-lost friend, was coming back into her life almost eleven years after her goodbyes. Nine years ago, when Katniss and Peeta's son was born, they told her personally they wanted to name him Alder.

The baby was just like his father, almost an identical copy, which also made him look just like Alder. She had already argued with them at that time, but there was nothing she could say about the matter when it was about their kid's name. Peeta tried to explain. How both of them felt indebted to her and wanted to make sure her ally and friend's spirit would never die. "Alder Caldwell has to be remembered, Dove. Not forgotten. Moving on doesn't mean forgetting. Don't do that to him." He stated.

"Dove." Katniss called, causing her to return to reality.

She took a deep breath and smiled kindly at the child, who seemed to be concerned at his aunt's sudden change of behaviour. "It's beautiful, sweetie. Hey, I've got a story to tell you. Go get the rest, and I'll tell you all about one of the bravest boys I have ever met."

The little boy nodded rapidly and ran to the water excitedly to get everyone, while Katniss simply stared at Dove worriedly. "Are you sure?"

"It's time. Perhaps I should have done it a long time ago. Not even Uriah or Kalea know. I always skipped that part about the games. Clem's as well. I just said someone really brave helped me. But that was it," Dove muttered, shifting her position on the sand to be more comfortable before adding. "They deserve to know."

"Mum! Is it a story about those brave boys that helped you?" Kalea asked excitedly, jumping on her mother's lap. Her long bronze hair tangled to Dove's necklace. If there was someone that could get their hair tangled easily, that was Kalea.