Chapter Two

Katniss' POV

*Four weeks later*

I jolted out of bed, the taste of my own vomit against my tongue. I got to the toilet just in time to puke my guts out. Peeta was quickly by my side, holding my hair out of the way.

"Katniss, this is the third time this week that you've thrown up. This isn't normal. I think you need to go see a doctor." Peeta says, rubbing my back soothingly.

"No. I'm not going to the doctor." I tell him, grabbing the side of the bathroom counter and pulling myself up.

"Katniss, I know doctors remind you of Prim and I understand that it hurts. But you need to see a doctor." Peeta replies, his hands resting on the sides of my arms and his eyes pleading for my agreement.

"Fine," I tell him.

Two hours later, Peeta and I are sitting in the waiting room of the new hospital in District 12. When we rebuilt the District, we built a hospital with actual doctors that came from District 1. We also built new elementary, middle, and high schools, a market in the middle of the district, and set up and enforced new mining safety rules and regulations. In the past fifteen years, we've lost less people in mining accidents than in the last hundred years.

"Katniss Mellark!" A nurse in light purple scrubs calls from the doorway. Peeta and I get up and follow her back to one of the exam rooms.

"Just have a seat and Dr. Monroe will be with you in just a moment." The nurse says before leaving the exam room. Peeta and I sat awkwardly in silence for a few minutes before the doctor finally came in.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Sydney Monroe. What seems to be the problem today, Mrs. Mellark?" Dr. Monroe asked.

"I've been throwing up a lot this week." I tell her quietly, a dull ache forming in my head from who knows what.

"Is there anything you've eaten lately that could've caused the vomiting?" She asks and I shake my head.

"Is there a specific time when you throw up?" She inquires.

"It wakes me up early in the morning." I tell her.

"Okay. Well, I think we'll get a blood sample just to make sure everything is okay." She says, writing down orders on my chart. The nurse came and drew my blood and, once again, Peeta and I sat in an awkward silence.

"Well, I have good news for you both." Dr. Monroe said as she came back into the exam room.

"What's the good news?" I ask.

"You're pregnant, Mrs. Mellark." Dr. Monroe said, smiling at me brightly. I, on the other hand, felt like I had just been hit by a train. Pregnant! I couldn't be pregnant! There was no way I was ready to be a mother! This wasn't the right time! No!

"We're going to have a baby?" I heard Peeta ask in disbelief as I'm ranting off in my head about how this is all wrong. Dr. Monroe must have nodded because Peeta starts talking to me. "Katniss, can you believe it? We're going to have a baby!"

"Uh-huh," I reply.

"Are you okay? You don't look excited." Peeta says, resting a concerned hand on my shoulder.

"I'm fine," I tell him, before I get up from the exam bed and leave the exam room. I walk out of the hospital and through the town until I reach our house in Victor's Village. I go straight up to mine and Peeta's bedroom, lock the door, and curl into a ball on the bed, and start to cry.

All the things that could possibly go wrong run through my head. What if I have a miscarriage? What if I can't love it? What if it doesn't love me? What if I start resenting Peeta? What if Peeta starts resenting me? What if Peeta and I separate? What if it dies as a child? What if it dies is a mine explosion or at the hands of a bomb? What if the democracy fails and it's reaped into the Hunger Games? I am still sobbing when Peeta knocks at the door and asks to be let in.

"Katniss please let me in, sweetheart." He asks. His voice is full of concern and I can tell that Peeta is trying hard to keep it from cracking. He persists in his efforts, but I refuse to let him in, partly because I am too upset to get up and partly because I am a little bit upset with him. Eventually, he gives up and goes to sleep on the couch.

I must have fallen asleep eventually, because when I open my eyes again the sun is shining through the curtains. There are dried tears around my eyelids. My clothes from the day before are wrinkled and twisted. I sit up and rub the tear residue from my eyes. It's the first morning in a week that I haven't woken up due to the need to throw up the contents of my stomach.

I climb out of bed and go downstairs. I walk through the kitchen and into the living room. Peeta is asleep on the couch and the sight of his large body cramped onto our tiny couch almost makes me cry again because I know I've been unfair to him. I walk over to him and sit down on the floor in front of the couch. I gently run my fingers across his cheek and kiss his lips tenderly. The kiss wakes Peeta up and, next thing I know, he is kissing me back.

"I'm sorry," I tell him, breaking our kiss. Tears threaten to spill out of my eyes and Peeta must notice this because he tries to comfort me.

"Shh, Katniss, everything is going to be okay. I promise." He murmurs to me, stroking my cheek with his thumb.

"Peeta, what if something goes wrong?" I ask him, my voice cracking and tears spilling down my cheeks.

"Katniss, I am not going to let anything happen to you or our baby. I love you. You know I love you, right?" Peeta replies.

"I know. I love you, too." I tell him and kiss his lips gently. We spend the rest of the day looking up things about pregnancy and babies. Peeta is so excited and can't wait to start painting the nursery. He's already got ideas for a boy and a girl. I can't help but love watching as Peeta smiles brighter and brighter as he learns more about pregnancy and babies. And I can't help but feel like the luckiest woman on the face of the earth that this man, my Peeta loves me so much and is prepared to go through this journey with me.