Disclaimer - I do not own the Hunger Games or any of the characters. In this chapter I only own the baby and Finley Odair
Peeta's POV
I pace round my living room, trying to work out why Katniss's mother won't let me upstairs, it's my baby after all. Haymitch is glaring at me.
"Come on boy!" he yells "Get it together!" I jump at his tone
"Are you not worried about her?" I ask
"Of course I am! You and her are my only family! But at least I'm not walking around like a drunken mime!"
"A drunken mime?" I ask. He glares at me again and I sit down. He stands up and walks to the kitchen.
"You want anything?" he asks
"No" I say. I'm too nervous to eat. Suddenly Katniss's best friend Annie Cresta appears from upstairs. I look at her hopefully but she shakes her head
"Not yet" she says "Have you been watching Finley?" She asks. Crap. I forgot about her son.
"He's in the study, playing video games" I say. Annie smiles.
"You have no idea where he is, have you?" she asks
"No" I say ashamed and then I realise I can ask Annie about Katniss's mother's strange objection to me being upstairs
"Annie" I say
"What is it?" she replies
"Why am I not allowed upstairs" I ask
"I don't know, but Johanna thinks that Mrs Everdeen just wants women upstairs"
I nod. Then Annie wanders off looking for Finley. I sit back down and turn on the TV.
"NEWSFLASH!" the TV screams "KATNISS EVERDEEN IS CURRENTLY GIVING BIRTH TO HER AND PEETA MELLARK'S FIRST CHILD"
I switch the TV off and throw the remote at a pillow. Then I hear Johanna scream
"Peeta! Haymitch! Get your butts up here" I practically fall up the stairs to our bedroom where Johanna's grinning face greets me.
"Hold up lover boy. Where's Haymitch?" She asks
"I don't know!? Just let me see my wife and my baby" I say almost in tears
"Just so you know, I'm familiar with both of your screams now!" I glare at her. She walks away downstairs in search for Haymitch. I stand befuddled for a second but then my eagerness takes over and I walk into the room. All " she says "I didn't think"I see is my wife holding a beautiful baby before everything goes black.
Katniss POV
After she was born all I wanted was to see Peeta and the pain of longing hurts more than the birth itself. Well. Maybe not. I hear Johanna scream something. Trust her, but she was a great distraction. She told me all about her games, using a lot of swear words. Remind me never to let Johanna babysit the baby. I hear Johanna give Peeta some kind of pep talk outside before he walks in. And passes out. I spring out of bed, still holding the baby and carefully place her in the crib before bending down and shaking Peeta.
"Katniss, Get back into bed!" my mother says bending down to see to Peeta. She pokes her head round the door and shouts on Effie and my prep team next door. Together they lift Peeta up and carry him away. I start to scream and the baby starts to cry, then Haymitch bursts in the door. I can smell the drink on him but he seems as sober as a judge now. He picks up the baby and puts her in my arms before sitting next to me on the bed
"He's gonna be fine Katniss" Haymitch says "You just had a baby! I can't believe he's got to make himself the centre of attention!"
For some reason this makes me laugh. Hard. Haymitch joins in and even the baby makes noises even though she is too little to even smile
"Who have we got here" Haymitch says, looking at my baby
"My baby girl" I say "Do you want to hold her?"
"No, I would just drop her" he says looking terrified
"I'll put my hands under yours so if you do drop her I will catch her" I say before passing her to him
He holds her carefully at first but then warms up to her. I slowly move my hands away and show him how to cradle her properly.
Effie and Octavia come in with a wheelchair. Effie smiles and says
"You and the baby can go and see him" I take her from Haymitch and sit in the wheelchair. Effie pushes me to one of the spare bedrooms where Peeta is lying on the bed. Octavia appears with a crib for the baby and I sit in the chair next to the bed.
"He was so overwhelmed that he passed out" My mother says. "The only real damage is he cut his elbow when he fell, but I've stitched that up"
I place the baby on his chest and she wriggles happily. I smile.
"Have you got a name for her yet?" asks Venia
"Yes, I like Amalia - Rue Primrose Mellark" I say still smiling. Then Peeta begins to stir. I lift up Amalia - Rue and put her back in the crib. Peeta sits up and looks around confused
"How long have I been out for?" he asks
"16 minutes" my mother says looking at her watch
Peeta stands up and rushes off the bed "You need to lie down Katniss, you just had a baby!" he says
"Peeta" I say "I'm fine, you need to lie down" He lies back down on the bed obligingly
"Where is the baby?" He asks "What is the baby? Is it a baby? Is it OK?"
I hold his hand "Calm down Peeta, she is absolutely perfect"
Haymitch lifts her out of the crib and passes her to me. Peeta looks confused.
"Has Haymitch Abernathy held my daughter before I have?" he asks
"You could have held her if you hadn't passed out!" Haymitch says. Peeta grins and I pass her into his arms
"Hello" he says almost crying. I reach out and stroke Amalia - Rue's hair. I look up and see the strangest thing, Haymitch in tears. I look at Peeta and see that he has realised too.
"Haymitch?" I say "What's up?" he comes and sits down on the bed beside Peeta
"Katniss, Peeta, when they made the quarter quell announcement, I thought, well, I thought one or both of you wouldn't make it and you did. But the Peeta was hijacked and well, I just thought that you wouldn't be together but now, you are married and have a beautiful baby and I love you two, three even and seeing you like that, is amazing" Even my mother is crying, but she soon snaps back to herself
"Katniss, you need to rest, and so do you Peeta" she says. Effie pushes me back into the main bedroom and I fall asleep, exhausted.
