Chapter 1
After hunting all morning, I lay on the couch drinking a cup of steaming tea. Peeta won't be home until five. Great. I have 4 hours to sit and do nothing. So I decide to go upstairs and start to clean the house because spring is around the corner.
I start with my nightstand. In the top draw, I notice a little calendar. I pick it up and start flipping through it to today's day, when I realize . . . I'm late. I couldn't believe my eyes so I count the days again and again until I come to the conclusion of being ten days late. I drop the book at the thought that I could even possibly be pregnant. I run downstairs and pick up the phone. I dial the Backer's number and get Chad, Peeta's employee.
"Katniss, is that you?" Chad asks.
"Yeah, is Peeta there? I really need to talk to him." I say. There is a long pause and a lot of shuffling on the other end of the phone when I hear his voice.
"Katniss, is everything okay?" Peeta says in his comforting voice with a little nervous hint to it. At the sound of his voice I brake down crying.
"P-P-Peeta," I say in between sobs, " C-Can you come ho- home?"
"I will be there in 15 minutes," Peeta says as the phone clicks off. I make my way back upstairs into our bed. I put my face in the pillows and curl my body up to my chest. The sobs take over my body and I begin to shake. How can this be happening to me? We were so carful. Lost in my thoughts, I hear the door click open and Peeta is calling my name. I can't answer because another round of sobs breaks my voice. I don't hear Peeta come up the stairs, but I feel his strong hands rubbing my back.
"Katniss," He says worried. He picks me up so he is cradling me in his arms. This is the only place I feel safe. I lean my head against his muscular body and cry harder. When I can't cry anymore, I look up to see his blue eyes looking at me. "What's wrong?" he asks.
After a long pause, I say, "I missed my . . . period."
His blue eyes stare into mine and we sit there for another minute before he says, "You have to take a test." My eyes start to leak with tears that drip down my already wet cheeks. "It will be okay, I promise," he says with hope and he pulls me closer to him and kisses my forehead and whispers, I love you.
He helps me up and I walk into the bathroom and wash my face, trying to get it back to my normal pale color, not bright red with puffy eyes.
Peeta waits for me downstairs with my jacket. I walk to him and he takes my hand and leads me out of the door. When we walk out of the Victor's Village, Peeta squeezes my hand.
We walk closer to the drug store, and Peeta take out two pairs of sunglasses, just as we are approaching the store. I give Peeta a little smile as I slip it on my eyes. The store was warm compared to the cool March air. Peeta places his hand on my back leading me to the aisle with the pregnancy tests, knowing that I needed his support to even face what the aisle holds.
When we are standing in front of the pregnancy tests, Peeta waits a minute for me to respond, but when I don't, he reaches out to grab a box. He picks two different brands, and turns to face me with a smile. I give a weak smile back but he doesn't buy it. He pulls me into a hug and grabs my hand to lead us to the cash register. Peeta places the two boxes on the counter and makes small talk with the cashier lady. I keep my head down and stare at my feet. I let my mind wonder to what we are going to have for dinner and anything else that will keep my mind off about maybe being pregnant. I feel a slight tug on my arm and start to walk after Peeta.
When I am pulled back into reality, we are entering the Victor's Village. It must have been fifteen minutes since we left the drug store and now were home. Peeta opens the door and we take off our jackets. I freeze at the bottom of the stairs not wanting to continue up. Peeta rubs my back and gives me a gentle push up.
. . . .
I'm pacing around the bathroom trying to distract myself.
"Katniss, calm down it's fine." Peeta reassures me, as he sat on the edge of the bathtub. I stopped pacing and hovered by the sink, and start tapping my foot.
"I hate waiting." I complained, feeling my stomach twist and turn at the anticipation.
"I know, I know. Sit down; it's going to be okay. I promise. Whatever happens I'm hear. " Peeta's voice was so soothing that I couldn't help but follow his directions. I closed the lid of the toilet and sat down. I placed my forehead in my hands, rested elbows on my knees.
Breath, just breath. I told myself.
Peeta was right, whatever the outcome is, it will be fine because I have Peeta. I never thought that this would be happening to me. Not now, not ever. The thought of our future made my head spin, and the past made my head hurt. I can only think about what is happening to me right now, and the thought of that made me sick to my stomach.
"How long?" I asked, my voice cracking a little at the end due to how nerves I am. Peeta looked so calm and collected. He has always wanted a child so the thought of me possibly being pregnant made him ecstatic. But in this moment maybe he is scared like I am, but covered it up well.
"Give it another thirty seconds or so, just to make sure." He replied, his sweet blue eyes locked on mine, trying to help make it easier. I tried to turn off the countdown in my head, knowing he was keeping. I wasn't entirely sure how I would react to the news of being pregnant, but I know I would be relieved to find out I wasn't pregnant.
I stared down at my fingers, unable to look at Peeta.
"Fifteen more seconds," he said and lightly rubbed my knee, knowing I was too nervous for any other form of affection.
My heart sped up, adrenaline coursed around me. These were the reactions I'd had in the games. Why was my body producing the same ones to keep me alive, here? It felt out of place, wrong. My eyes shot up to Peeta's as I realized it was time. He nodded to confirm.
I took a huge gulp of air in, suddenly afraid I wouldn't be able to breathe properly after seeing the tiny mark, or lack of, on the small test. I reached out for the upside down pregnancy test, and held it in my hand.
Just as I was about to flip it over, Peeta reached out for my other hand and squeezed it while he said, "Whatever happens, I love you." On the last word his lips curved up into a smile. I knew he'd imagined this scenario a thousand times over in his head. If I could turn back the clock to fifteen years ago and imagine this scenario for myself I wouldn't have believed my eyes that I was the girl standing next to him in our bathroom holding a pregnancy test.
I looked down to the pregnancy test in my hand, and noticed my hands trembling. Shakily, I pulled it up closer to my eyes and turned it over, not wanting to misread it.
"What does it say?" He asked, almost impatient with excitement.
It felt like a lifetime before I remembered to breathe again. Blood rushed to my head and my legs felt like jelly.
"It says . . ." my voice hoarse, "I'm . . . pregnant." Had I read it wrong? No I haven't because when I picked up the other test it said the same thing, only it did not have a little pink plus, it had a smiley face and the word "pregnant." I reached my hand up to my face in shock but was surprised to find it wet. I look up to face Peeta, and saw his sea blue eyes glistening under his own tears. I put my hand out showing him both the test. He pulls me into a hug and we stand there without another word for a few more minutes.
He pulls away, and stutters, "We're . . . having a baby!" and with that, his awaiting smile breaking free onto his face.
I nodded my head, feeling more tears leak down my face. "We're having a baby." I confirmed. Peeta's arms enclosed around my waist again, but this time, he picks me up and spins me around. I locked my hands around his neck and cried into his shoulder. I couldn't believe that a baby was growing in me right now. A piece of Peeta, and a piece of me. Peeta finally pulled away from me, wiping his face with the back of his sleeve. I laughed a little at his reaction, but as he placed me on the ground, I hadn't realized I was dizzy until; I swayed slightly on the spot from all the twirling. Reaching out for the sink to regain my balance, I felt Peeta's hand grab my arm, steadying me.
"Whoa, careful!" He warned me playfully and I could hear the sheer happiness in his voice. He gently led me into the bedroom and pulled me in for a kiss. I could feel him smiling as our lips met each other passionately. I brushed my fingers through his soft hair, wanting to hold onto him forever.
I fell onto the bed with Peeta falling alongside me. We lay side by side, our limbs interlinked with each other's. Peeta dotted a trail of light kisses down my neck and stopped, as he was at my stomach. He placed both of his hands gingerly on the side of my stomach and continued with more kisses, right over the spot where our baby was.
"I love you so much already, and you're probably not even the size of a single grain of wheat." He said, cooing to my belly. I laughed, as I took in how bizarre yet wonderful this was. "And I love your mommy, very much too." Peeta said softly, holding his hand out to help me sit up with him.
I clutched my hand instinctively to where he just kissed. I never would have thought I would feel a sudden sense of belonging, that this baby is ours. My feelings of unfamiliarity with my surroundings dissipated, and I'm here, living in this moment. All those long hard, terrible months and years of agony both of us had been through completely evaporated. My mind was wiped clean, and I felt like my life should start right now, this minute, fresh. If I could bottle this feeling and pass it on, it would be the perfect remedy for anything. I couldn't even take in what was happening right now because I was content. I went over the facts in my head, trying to make sure this was not a dream or a shiny memory that President Snow was going to distort.
My name is Katniss Everdeen. I survived two hunger games. I was the mockingjay in the rebellion. I killed President Coin. President Snow is dead. I married Peeta. I am pregnant. I told myself over and over.