We named our first son Castor. It was only right, we decided, after he saved my life. Ellie came two years later. Alex was last. After him, we decided that three was enough, especially when it became apparent that dealing with Castor was an adventure in of itself.

He was too much like me, unfortunately. Cocky, easy-going, and too good-looking for his own good. With Annie's dark hair and angelic smile, and my build and eyes, he had girls flocking around him from the moment he turned twelve. Of course, he said that none of them mattered, but that didn't keep him from making them think that they did. Just like I did, before my Games.

Fortunately, he didn't stop because something ruined his life, but rather because he finally found the girl that did matter. Johanna and Gale visited with their firecracker of a daughter, and the second that Castor started sweet-talking her, he found himself insulted with all of the ferocity that anyone with Mason blood had to offer.

Ellie giggled behind her napkin, and Alex and I both snorted milk out of our noses. Annie bit her lip to keep from smiling.

Then Castor excused himself with a ghost-white face and strode off to his room. Everything got quiet, and when I went to talk to him later, feeling guilty for laughing since I realized it had really bothered him, I found him grinning like a fool.

"She doesn't like me for my face," he said. Then he shrugged. "Well, she doesn't seem to like me at all, but I'll change that. Don't worry about me, Dad. I'm going to marry her some day."

I didn't believe him. He was too much of a flirt, too sure of himself, too much like me, and Katie Hawthorne was definitely no Annie.

Then he started actually doing his schoolwork. He didn't bring home a girl for the next two months. And when he convinced me to invite Johanna and Gale back, he spent an hour messing with his hair and trying to figure out what to wear, not even threatening to murder his sister when she said he was acting like a girl.

That's when I knew he was serious. Four years later, I found myself with a daughter-in-law who was nearly as terrifying as her mother.

Ellie was easier, marginally. She didn't have to worry about guys because she had a crush on the boy who lived next to us ever since she could walk, but she had all of Annie's fire with none of her soft-spoken nature. Fights between her and Castor were daily occurrences, usually ending with her stomping out of the room with her coppery hair trailing behind her, her pretty face twisted with frustration.

That temper got ten times worse when the boy she swore she was in love with decided to date another girl. And then, when he broke up with that girl, another. And another. Never giving my daughter a second look.

That kid, that stocky brown-haired neighbor boy with an infuriating smirk, made me more angry than Snow ever had. He broke her heart again and again, and when she finally decided to tell him how she felt, just incase he didn't know, he shattered it into a million little pieces.

I was very, very tempted to sit outside of his house with the trident Beetee gave me and show him what he deserved for hurting my angel, but Annie and Ellie calmed me down like only they can, and instead I ended up glaring at him whenever I saw him, sending the little coward ducking for cover.

Ellie eventually moved on. Married a skinny businessman with a father from the Capitol, and moved into the city. I still don't trust him with baby, not at all, but he hasn't done anything to earn that mistrust, so I've kept it to myself.

Alex was the easiest. Shy, quiet, unobtrusive. What you'd expect from a boy with two older siblings who think they rule the world. While Castor was flirting and Ellie was pining, Alex tended to ignore romance altogether. He got into politics instead, even to the point where he'd sit on the phone and chat with Plutarch for hours at a time.

I wasn't shocked, then, when he went almost straight to the Capitol after he graduated, to intern under Plutarch. What did surprise me was when he came back two years later with a blonde-haired girl named Grace on his arm.

She was friendly and charismatic, and looked at Alex like he was the only thing that mattered. She was perfect, and beautiful, and then Alex told me that she was Plutarch's granddaughter.

I'm still getting used to that, and they were married over a month ago. But the thing is, even though it drives me insane, I know that it's not the worst that could happen. Just like my son acting like a Casanova, or some creep breaking my daughter's heart, or having Johanna be a part of my family.

It could always get worse.

Actually, sitting outside of my house with Annie by my side, I'm not sure how it could get any better. Even after twenty five years, I still love her more than anything, and I can't stop being thankful for everything that has happened to us, the good, the bad, and the worse-than-imaginable.

Because, as Peeta still jokes, if you put enough pressure on coal, it turns into pearls.

And now, all the coal that was dumped on me is gone, replaced by tens of thousands of pearls that make everything I went through worth while.

The End

A/N- Not much to say, surprisingly. Maybe I'm still in shock that this entire series is completely finished. That's like a year long story, done.

I don't think I'll be doing any other Hunger Games fics anytime soon, even though one-shots aren't out of the question. And, I suppose that that's all I really have to say. Thanks to all of the amazing people who have read and reviewed this entire series, and I hope that you enjoyed it.

~bballgirl32~