Disclaimer: Uhh, do I look like Suzanne Collins to you?
"When do you think would be a good time to tell her?" whispers Peeta.
I glance over towards the living room where I can see our three year old daughter Lily seated on the floor playing with a few of her toys. She is currently in her own little world and is oblivious to the conversation Peeta and I are having in the kitchen a few feet away.
I then give a light shrug. "I suppose it depends on when we know how to tell her?"
"Well how exactly do you propose we tell her?" Peeta asks.
"Well, I remember vaguely how my parents told me about Prim." I say. I then cringe a little at the sound of my own mouth uttering my dead little sister's name. For a second, I want to cry, but I compose myself to speak again. "They first asked me how I felt about it, and then told me."
"Do you think that would work with Lily?" he asks me.
"We'd have to tell it to her slowly, and see how she feels about the idea. We just have to make sure she understands." I reply.
Peeta smiles at me and I smile back. We found out about two months ago that we were expecting a second child. Everyone else close to us knows except Lily, and it's only a matter of time before the news slips to the public. I'd much rather have my daughter find out from us than the tabloids and gossip.
"Lily do not throw that!" I say sternly to my rambunctious three year old whom I just caught in the nick of time aiming a block at Buttercup. She doesn't like the old cat at all, and Buttercup has been jealous because of the lack of attention he was getting ever since Lily was born.
"But I wanna hit him!" Lily protests in her toddler gabble that a lot of the time, only Peeta and I are able to understand.
"No, we don't throw things in this house." I tell her.
She starts to whine and stomp her teeny little foot.
"Lily Primrose, bring mommy the block right now." I say holding out my hand for it.
"Nooooooo!" she whines.
I begin using the old counting method that 99.9% of the time, seems to work. "One, Two, Three-"
She gasps and scurries towards us and places the block in my hand.
"Thank you." I say placing the block up on a high shelf.
Lily turns to Peeta and holds her arms up, indicating she wants him to pick her up. He happily does so and plants a kiss on the top of her head.
"You need to stop being so mean to poor Buttercup Lily-Pad." he says.
She makes a pouty face and turns her head to me. "Why? Mommy kicked Buttercup today when he standed in her way."
Peeta laughs. "Umm, that's different sweetie. That was mommy's way of getting him to move. She wasn't trying to hurt him."
"But why does he hiss at her?" asks Lily.
"They've always had that kind of a relationship." Peeta says setting her down.
For the remainder of the evening, Peeta plays with Lily in the living room while I finish washing the dishes and doing the laundry. Lily's clothes have numerous stains on them from who knows what. She's probably one of the messiest toddlers that ever walked this planet.
When the clock hits 7:30, I make my way into the living room.
"Hey Lily, guess what? It's bath time." I say.
"No! I wanna play!" she protests.
"You can play with your bath toys." I tell her.
"I don't wanna play with my bath toys!" she pouts.
"Well what about this new one?" I say pulling out a new rubber toy boat from behind my back. Lily's eyes light up with excitement and she runs towards me. I pick her up in my arms and carry her up the stairs.
As Lily is splashing around in the tub, a memory comes to mind. I remember when I was only seventeen years old, bathing in that exact same bathtub. The day President Snow came and told me the news that changed my life forever.
I shudder at the memory. The very thought of that day is enough to send chills down my spine.
Only glancing at my splashing, happy daughter is enough to tame it. Every single day starting from the day they drew Prim's name, to the day the Rebellion was won, was worth it. Now, Lily and all other children are able to live their lives happily, without fearing that all the happiness could be taken away from them at any moment.
I think back to the vow I made to keep Peeta alive. So that one day, Peeta's child could be safe. I just never dreamed that I would be alive to see that day, and that I would be the mother of his child.
I smile at Lily while she plays, and pray silently to myself that this second baby, will be just as happy and as healthy as she is.
As I am tucking Lily into bed that night, she's finally starting to settle down.
"Mommy?"
"Yes Princess?"
"Can you sing me the song?" she asks, her bright blue eyes looking right into mine.
I smile and run my fingers through her dark brown hair and nod.
I start the song softly.
"Deep in the meadow, under the willow, a bed of grass, a soft green pillow, lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes, and when they open, the sun will rise. Here it's safe, and here it's warm. Here the daisies guard you from every harm. Here your dreams are sweet, and tomorrow brings them true, here is the place, where I love you."
Her eyes are starting to close.
"Deep in the meadow, hidden far away, a cloak of leaves a moonbeam ray. Forget your woes, and let your troubles lay, and when it's morning, they'll wash away."
As I sing the song, I remember my sixteen year old self, kneeling over Rue's dying body in the arena, singing the very same song. I remember how I was too late to save her. I make a silent promise to myself, that I will never, ever let anything hurt Lily.
"Here it's safe, here it's warm, here the daisies guard you from every harm. Here your dreams are sweet, and tomorrow brings them true, here is the place, where I love you."
Lily is now asleep and I plant a soft kiss on her forehead.
"I love you Lily." I whisper.
I turn around and see that Peeta's standing in the doorway. I'm not surprised though. He usually always comes to listen to me sing to Lily.
"Is she asleep?" he asks quietly.
"Out like a light." I reply with a smile.
Peeta quietly walks over to her bed and lightly kisses her on the forehead. "I love you baby girl."
When we have both made our way back downstairs I say "How about we tell her tomorrow? After you get home from work?"
Peeta has helped in rebuilding a new bakery in District 12 and now owns it.
"Sounds good to me. Do you want me to take her to work with me tomorrow? It's been a while since I've done that. It'll give you a break." He says.
I'll admit, while I do love Lily to pieces, she is quite a handful.
"That's fine. I haven't been hunting in a while." I say.
"Alright. Just don't overexert yourself to much." He says.
I sigh. "I won't Peeta."
He chuckles. "You love me, real or not real?"
I smile and embrace him. "Real."
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Peeta's POV
"Lily, hold my hand." I tell my energetic three year old. "We're about to cross a busy street."
She bounces over to me and grabs my grown up hand with her teeny one.
We get adoring glances as we walk through town, hand in hand. Lily, being the social butterfly that she is, says hi and waves to almost everybody we pass.
According to a group of elderly women, she looks adorable today. I can't say that I disagree. She's dressed in a bright blue dress, and Katniss did her hair up in two braids and tied them off with white ribbon.
Lily and I spend all day together. She helps me and all of the other employees bake and even helps lure in a few extra customers.
Making our way back home that evening, I decide I should check up on Haymitch.
"Lily, can you do daddy a big favor and run these home to mommy?" I ask placing a bag of cookies in her hand.
She nods and skips over to our house. I watch her from Haymitch's doorstep until she enters our house.
I then knock on Haymitch's door. Surprisingly, he answers. And he looks sober.
"Hey Haymitch." I say as he lets me in. It's surprisingly clean in his home.
"Hey." He grumbles.
"You seem very put together today." I say noticing how clean he looks as well.
"Well, I am babysitting tomorrow. Just thought it would be best to get myself together." He says trying to sound like he doesn't care. But I know he loves Lily just as much as Katniss and I do.
Haymitch is babysitting because tomorrow is our first ultrasound. We'll find out if it's a boy or a girl, and find out if the baby is healthy or not.
When I get home, I smell dinner cooking, and hear Lily's loud babbling.
I walk into the kitchen and see Katniss looking almost comically stressed out.
"I'm hungry!" Lily whines.
"I am making you dinner Lily. Please be patient." Says Katniss trying to keep her composure.
I chuckle. Katniss turns around.
"Honestly, I think that child does nothing but talk Peeta." She sighs.
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Katniss's POV
After dinner, Peeta and I are sitting on the couch. Peeta has Lily in his lap.
"Lily, we have something we need to talk to you about sweetie." I tell her.
She just looks at me and listens, which is a new thing for her.
"Lily, how would you like to have a little brother or sister?" asks Peeta.
She thinks about it for a moment and then answers. "Would my baby brother or sister be able to play with me?" she asks.
"Yes, you two would absolutely be able to play." I tell her.
"Then I think I would like one." Says Lily smiling.
"Well I'm glad to hear that sweetie, because guess what?" says Peeta.
"What?" she asks.
"In a few months, mommy's going to have a baby. You're going to have a new little brother or sister to play with!" says Peeta.
Lily's eyes light up with excitement and she bounces up and down. "When is the baby going to come mommy?" she asks.
"Soon." I tell her.
A/N: Well, I hope you liked Chapter 1!:) I certainly enjoyed writing it. Please tell me what you think in a nice little review! Until next time, my fellow Panemaniacs.:)
~Morgan