"It was just a dream, just a dream," he whispered softly into my ear, his voice blending in to the pitter-pattering sounds of the rain hitting our house. His arms were wound around my waist and his fingers traced soothing patterns on the small of my back as I whimpered softly into his shoulder. "It was just a dream." It was a horrible, scary dream, but none the less, a dream.
When I calmed down, he took my face into his hands and looked into my eyes; his icy blue ones and my grey ones meeting as if it was the first time. "What was it about?" he asked this all the time and then he would tell me real or not real, just like I would with him when he had his flashbacks.
"Peeta, I couldn't save any of them. Rue, Prim. I saw them and I wanted to move but they wouldn't let me, but I couldn't move and I watched them die. Then I saw Millie in the games and I couldn't save her either. They took her and I watched as they killed her," at this point I was sobbing to no end remembering Prim and Rue then having to watch Millie go through something that I hoped no one would have to go through again. "I couldn't save any of them, Peeta. I failed them."
He stroked my cheek, brushing away any stray tears. "You are not a failure. You did everything you could for Prim and Rue. And Millie will not go through what we had to-"
"How do you know?" I asked him pleadingly.
"Because I won't let it happen, and I know you won't either, Katniss. It won't happen, I promise." He looked at me with soft eyes, telling me that everything was okay, but I was still a little shaken by the dream I had. He kissed my lips softly. "Are you okay to go back to sleep?"
I nodded and laid back down with his arms around my waist, his chest pressing against my back. I couldn't fall asleep, though. When I could feel that his breath had evened out, I got up and went to the bathroom where I washed my face with cold water and then looked at myself in the mirror repeating that it was just a dream, well, most of it anyway.
Slowly, I crept into the room that was down the hall, near the room where Peeta and I slept. It was dark, the only light that was really given was the one from the moon. I could hear small breaths being taken in the crib. I towered over her, the small child that I fought for. The one that I hoped would never know fear besides the monsters in the closet, and even then, those would never be compared to the fear of the capitol we once knew of. She slept so soundly and peacefully and I smiled. I stroked her cheek, careful not to wake her up. She looked so much like Peeta, always smiling and even as a baby she is so caring. I hoped she would turn out like her father, always looking at the bright side of everything. I hoped she would fall in love, I hoped she would know of everything that I didn't when I was growing up.
"How is she?" Peeta crept behind me, interrupting my thoughts, and creeping his hand to my stomach which he rubbed softly, knowing that another part of him was growing inside of me.
"She is fine," I said, his breath tickling the back of my neck. "I couldn't sleep," I told him.
He sighed softly, "I know. Come to bed." He kissed my neck softly, making me shiver. He saw the doubt in my eyes, the fear in them, as if someone were to come in the middle of the night and steal them both away from me. "It wasn't real, Katniss. Let me show you that it wasn't real, please." He began to kiss me up and down my shoulder. I turned in his arms and met his lips with mine, but before it got too heated, I put my hand to his chest.
"Not here. Millie-" before I could finish, he pulled me out and shut the door behind us, then pressed me to the wall, kissing down my neck, to my cleavage and back up to cover my mouth.
"It wasn't real," he said, finally pulling away. "This," he took my hand and put it to his face, "this," he moved my hand to his heart, "it is all real. We are real, and no one will take you or Millie away from me and no one will take us away from you." He kissed my cheeks and then my lips, "I promise." I pressed into him harder and deepened the kiss.
He picked me up and I hooked my legs around his waist, holding on to him with my arms around his neck. The kiss was filled with passion and reassurance that this moment was the only real thing that mattered right then and there. He led us to the room where he laid me down on the bed gently, him on top of me. I slowly pressed myself against him, filled with the need to feel him all over.
"I love you," he repeated over and over as he kissed me. His hands moved to the end of my tank top and moved it up until it was over my head. He tossed it to the floor and dug his face into my now exposed cleavage, the only thing between his face and my chest was my lacey green bra, which was his favorite. He snaked his hands behind me and unclipped it, slowly taking the straps off of my shoulders, guiding them down my arms and eventually throwing them to the floor.
He palmed my breast with joy as he grinded into me. It reminded me of the first time that we made love. It was carnal, it was needy and it was passionate. I fell in love with him that night again.
His wet lips pressed against my chest brought me back to reality. I arched my chest up to try and get some more relief. He then made a trail of cold, soft kisses down my torso, which had scars everywhere, up to my pajama bottoms. He put his thumbs into the edge of them and pulled them down my legs, not once did he stop kissing me.
When he was about to take the rest of my undergarments off, we heard a small cry, then it turned into a bigger cry. I came up to my face and laughed softly at the inconvenience of the situation. I laughed and kissed his lips.
"Just like her father," I said, putting my clothes back on.
"How?" he asked, laying back down on the bed.
"Her father has the worst timing for everything," I told him as I walked out to get Millie. I remembered when he told me and the rest of the world that he was in love with me. It was the worst timing ever, but I guess it worked out in the end.
"Hi there, baby," I said, picking my young daughter up. "What's the matter?" Then I heard the thunder and the rest of the noise that was coming from the outside. Peeta and I had been so involved in what we were doing that we hadn't even noticed that the storm had gotten worse outside.
I took Millie to our room where Peeta awaited us, his smile brightening as he saw his daughter. I laid her down on our bed between us and tried to fall asleep.
"Peeta," I said, "you love us, real or not real?" I know it was a stupid question because I already knew the answer, but I needed to be sure of it.
"One-hundred thousand fifty percent real," he smiled the smile that he only gives me and Millie. "I love you so much," he said, taking my hand and kissing it softly.
I fell asleep soundly that night. No nightmares.