Chapter 3: Carrying his Little One
It was weeks before Katniss began to feel strange. She would vomit at the strangest moments. She was eating more, but sleeping less. She gained a lot of weight. At last, she was freshening up in the bathroom one morning when she felt something shift inside her.
Startled, she raised her shirt and looked at her belly, which had curved out just slightly. Oh, no. I can't be….
With a startled cry, she stumbled backward, crumpling into her vanity. Her mother and Prim came running to find her wailing on the floor.
The words tumbled out. Katniss told them everything – how they had heard Gale in the Slag Heap, how Peeta had kissed her when she said she would never find love, how she had asked him to make love to her and threatened to go sell herself to Cray if she refused. By the time she was through, Prim was crying and Mrs. Everdeen had her face buried in her hands.
"And you're sure you didn't use protection?" her mother pressed for the fifth time.
"I told you, I skipped that class session," Katniss again explained. She paused before saying quietly, "It's not his fault, Mama. Peeta is a good man. A generous man. He's been in love with me since we were little."
Mrs. Everdeen looked up, her eyes bloodshot. "Will he marry you?"
"I don't know," Katniss admitted. "But I know Peeta. He'll probably propose marriage to me as soon as I tell him about the baby. It's what he's always wanted, to call me his wife."
Satisfied, Mrs. Everdeen nodded. "At least he's a Merchant boy. I can rest a little easier knowing you'll be taken care of."
Katniss nodded. "I'll tell him tomorrow at school."