A/N: Short, sweet Catoniss fanfic. Hope you enjoy it! Please drop me a comment if you get a chance Much love and peace, Em x
As her muscles tensed, Katniss Everdeen prepared to pounce on her unsuspecting target. All other thoughts were forgotten as her mind focused on him with an obsessive intensity. She was acutely aware of every slight movement of his tall frame, every hitch in his breath and every hesitation in his walk as he searched fruitlessly for her. An overwhelming sense of certainty flooded her veins; she was going to win. Without a second's hesitation, Katniss moved in on her target remorselessly. She would punish him; this would be her ultimate revenge. Gleefully Katniss took aim and in one short, sharp movement fired, launching the cake into the air and hitting him squarely in the face.
"Ow!" Cato squealed, all masculinity lost as the butter cream frosting dribbled down his haughty nose. "Katniss you are going to pay for that!" He screamed, lunging after her, weaponry in hand.
She laughed merrily, easily dancing away from him and behind the kitchen counter. "I think you bluff Mr. Calloway! For you could not possibly injury me whilst I am in such a delicate state!" Giggling, Katniss backed away from him as he determinedly approached her.
His warm blue eyes danced with excitement as he declared, "why Miss. Everdeen I do believe you are trapped." Holding her firmly against the counter top, Cato slowly lifted his cake filled hand above her head.
"Don't," whispered Katniss imploringly. Her brown, honey flecked eyes looked up at him beseechingly, but Cato stuck fast to his threat and unceremoniously dropped the baked goods on her head. Katniss' gaped, momentarily in shock as a wedge of sponge slid down her hair and landed on her clean, cream blouse.
"Now you look good enough to eat!" He announced, licking the vanilla frosting from her forehead. She smiled, embarrassed by his compliment despite the frequency of them. "Mmmm..." he sighed dramatically, a smile playing on his lips, daring her to retaliate.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, instantly forgetting about the blouse and their merry little war. "So do you," she murmured as her index finger wiped a dollop of frosting from the tip of his nose. He laughed, pulling her closer to him and leaning in for a kiss. Their warn lips touched, moving fluidly as one until a sudden pain wracked Katniss body causing her to pull away.
Chuckling, Cato's hand drifted down to her large stomach, "so the little one is at again!" Leaning down, he laid his head next to her every-increasing baby bump. "You know you really must give us some privacy occasionally! Otherwise how am I ever going to show my future-wife that I love her?" He murmured in a mock-whisper as Katniss' delicate fingers ruffled through his blond, shaggy hair.
She smiled down at him, the depth of her love for him evident in her eyes. Of one thing she was sure about in this world, she could not live without the brave, sometimes frustratingly arrogant man kneeling before her. It had been a very long time since the 74th Hunger Games had ended and they had found solace in each other's arms, yet everyday she seemed to love him more. He was her world, her everything since Prim and later her mother, had died. His self-aggrandising family she could live without, but Cato Calloway was not his family. This he had proved many times before, during and after the War that had brought them all their freedom from the constraints of Snow's Panem. She was proud of the man that the world now knew him as; they had finally met the person she had seen the very first day she had met him at the training centre. For a moment, her thoughts darkened as she remembered the horrors of that places.
"What is it?" He asked; concern flooding his being as he worried about her sudden change of mood. He looked deeply into her eyes, reassuring her wordlessly that he would always be here for her and their baby through both the good and bad times they would face.
In his gaze, Katniss saw everything she had spent her early life searching for; sanctuary, love and security. Smiling weakly, she replied "I was just thinking how lucky I am to have you."
He smiled, "damn right Everdeen!" Caressing her face, he quietly murmured, "but then, I am lucky that the most amazing woman in Panem fell in love with me..."