Chapter 1
Peeta's story
"OK, just one more push!" says the nurse. My wife, Katniss grimaces in pain, but is making a big attempt to hide her discomfort from showing up on her face, although she is not in the arena which would give her all the reason not to show defeat, to gain the sponsors' attention, and a bigger attempt to bring our second baby into the world. Bagel is presently with Katniss's mother outside in the waiting room, with Haymitch. It would be traumatic for our eldest son to see his mother in pain. But I'm sure that everything is fine. In fact, everything was going like clockwork from the time when Katniss's water broke when we were relaxing at the balcony to the time she was wheeled in by ready nurses and doctors. in fact, Effie is presently making a big din about it because she is so excited that the Mockingjay is having her second child. At least, the media ain't going to come along with flashing cameras as Katniss won't like it.
Katniss closes her eyes tightly and pushes as hard as she can. Her hand grips around mine as tightly as she did when she was giving birth to Bagel, who is presently six years old. A groan escapes from her lips, only to be silenced by the loud cry of our baby. Katniss looks relieved and a tired smile creeps over her face. 'Finally." she whispers to me and I kiss her on her forehead. "It's a girl, Mr Mellark." the nurse says with a big smile. "Congrats! Your first baby girl." her voice is jubilant. "What would you like to name her, Mrs Mellark?" I look at Katniss. "Well ,your turn. Remember? Bread names for boys and flower names for girls." I say dreamily. Katniss scratches her head and looks confused. "I don't know what to name her." she admits with a giggle. "Never mind. We'll think about it later." I say. "You need your rest after such an exhausting time."
A few hours later, Katniss is sleeping with our baby in her arms. She looks beautiful when she sleeps, just as she was when Katniss slept in the cave at the arena. When I mentioned it to her, I got a scowl in return, which was pretty worth it as she looked plucky with that short-tempered look. Perfection is the only word I can use to describe my wife's face, when she is recovering from that tiring labour. Those lips that used to kiss me are so...perfect. Our newborn is still awake, looking at me with her small eyes, which tell me a lot of what kind of girl she is going to grow up into. Bagel comes in and I say to him, "Shhhh. Your mummy is sleeping. Here's your baby sister." I gently take the baby from her hands without disturbing her. I put the baby in its cot, which is low enough for Bagel's height. He looks at his sister and says, "Wow, she's cute. And plucky."
Plucky? I look closely at the baby. Her small eyes remind me of the Katniss I found behind the old bakery, when she was starving. I remember suffering a beating for trying to help Katniss. The eyes remind me of the Girl on Fire who was set ablaze on a chariot in the opening of the 74th Hunger Games, and of the notable tribute who used unconventional tactics to survive for days in the arena, by sending down tracker jackers and chaos on the Careers, and burning up food supplies. The eyes remind me of the brave girl who would willingly die to save me by going to the Feast, just to get the medicine i desperately needed, and the humble girl who willingly washed and cleaned me up at the stream.
I see the girl in her, my Katniss, who sparked the flames of the revolution that set us free, by pulling out the berries in defiance of the Capitol's rules and eventually becoming the Mockingjay, who stirred up the districts to work together to ovrthrow Snow and the Capitol, to free Panem and lead it to the peace and prosperity it now enjoys today. The baby has brown hair too. I can imagine Katniss tying her hair into a neat youthful braid when she grows up. Her skin is in the colour of an olive's, just like her mother's. In truth, she is a mini-version of Katniss. You can say that Bagel is also a mini-version of me, as he has blond hair. But the colour of his eyes is a mixture of mine and Katniss's. But he is a child prodigy in baking. The other day, Bagel made a strawberry muffin cake with cookies in it. Unfortunately, it blew up the moment it exited the oven. However, we both spent the afternoon munching on the chocolate bits that we found in the collapsed insides. But Katniss was not pleased with the mess and ordered us to clean it up immediately.
"I know what we'll name her." I say when Katniss awakes. She rubs her eyes and sighs, before saying, "What?" I look at the baby and say, "We'll name her after you, Katniss Junior." Her eyes open wide. "Seriously?" she questions in surprise. "Why would I want my girl to be named after me? You know how it will make Haymitch, Effie and my mum nuts?" Then she looks closer at our baby and she, the baby, lets out something that I can describe as a giggle. "She looks like me. Really." Katniss sighs. She takes the baby in her arms and cuddles it. "OK, have your way. She's Katniss Junior. But one thing, her nickname will be Kat. Not Catnip, like Gale used to call me."
Gale is now married to Delly and they also live in District 12. Delly has recently given birth to a son named Thorn. They say that Thorn looks as muscular and handsome as his father. "Ha! Ha! Two Katnisses in the family. Bagel, wouldn't that be cute?" I ask my eldest son, half in jest. "That will be cool. I'll tell my friends at school!" he celebrates. The baby, or Kat, I should say. shifts uncomfortably in her mother's arms. "Time to feed her." says Katniss. "But she isn't crying. How do you know?" I ask. "Trust me. Mother's instinct." she smirks and starts to undress to breastfeed Kat. "I have a feeling this baby won't cry for whatever she needs. She seems...different." There's some uncertainty in a her voice. Katniss finishes undressing and almost immediately, the baby starts feeding. "There." she says.
Bagel looks rather awkard, so I quickly send him outside.