Gale had run off to find Peeta and Maddey while Haymitch helped me onto a nearby couch. At the moment I hadn't felt a thing, yet everyone was acting like the place was on fire.
"Are you ok, Katniss? Do you need anything?" Haymitch looked me over frantically. He looked more nervous and flustered than I was.
"No…I'm fine," I wrapped my arms around my stomach and relaxed back on the couch. How far away was the nearest hospital?
"A hovercraft's on the way," Effie bustled in, of course, a clipboard in her hand. "Are you feeling any pain?"
I shook my head and closed my eyes as I rested my head back. This, of course, would only happen to me.
"Katniss!" A door busted open and in ran Peeta, his eyes frantically searching through the room. Behind him, Gale had Maddey propped up on his hip, obviously so they could move faster instead of dragging her along. Peeta rushed over quickly, grabbing onto my hand and putting his free one on my cheek. "Are you alright?"
Unable to hide my smirk, I chuckled softly. "Yes, Peeta, I'm fine. It hasn't done anything drastic yet, calm down."
"Where's the hovercraft?" Peeta looked from face to face frantically.
"It's on its way, Peeta," Effie replied calmly.
"Well-"
"Peeta!" I groaned and grabbed his face between my hands. He stared back at me, his words still lingering in his throat. "Calm down, ok?" I ran one hand over his hair then let him go, his face still frozen.
"Calm. Right." He murmured back to me, taking a knee beside the couch.
"Is he coming, Mommy?" Maddey asked, peeking over my bloated stomach.
"We don't know if it's a girl or a boy, sweetheart," I replied. There was a pain in my lower abdomen and I winced slightly. Ouch.
"I think it's going to be a boy. I can tell." She folded her arms on the couch and watched with a small grin on her face.
As the contractions became more and more prominent, my calm mood dwindled off till I was almost as frantic as Peeta had been. Latching onto him as he carried me to the hovercraft, he chuckled. "Calm, huh?" I wanted to smack him.
In the hovercraft, they told me I was almost ready and too close to the birth that I couldn't have the drugs. Just my luck. By then the pain had gotten so bad I was almost screaming with each contraction. Funny, I hadn't remembered Maddey's birth being this bad.
"Just breathe," Peeta grasped my hand. Well, I was actually clamping down onto his. It could have been possible his fingers were blue, but I hadn't exactly checked.
My breaths were coming fast and sharp by the time we reached the hospital. The pain had taken me over. I was screaming all the way down the halls as my large group of friends and family tried to follow us. The doctor stopped them somewhere along the line, Peeta being the only one with me now.
The contractions were ridiculous. They had told me I was dilated enough that I could push, but frankly, I was scared to. It was then that Peeta explained to me that I had the drugs for Maddey's birth, hence why it didn't hurt like this. As I pushed, I felt Peeta getting more and more excited.
"You can do this, Katniss!" He whispered and pressed his forehead to my sweaty one, my breaths coming harder than ever before. "C'mon, hon, just a little more," he urged.
With a final push, my baby was born. Unable to hold myself up anymore, I laid back against the pillows while they wrapped him in a blue blanket. This must have been what it was like to have a baby in the old District 12. Back then, we were such a poor district that we didn't have enough money to buy these kinds of drugs for pregnant women. They would be at home and lucky enough if my mother or someone else who knew what to do could make it.
"It's a boy, Katniss." Peeta kissed my forehead lightly. "Maddey was right."
"Fletcher," I whispered hoarsely.
"Are you alright?" Peeta asked gently and pushed my wet strands of hair out of my eyes. His hand was still tightly laced with mine.
"Yes," I breathed and closed my eyes as Fletcher's cries were heard through the room.
"You've taken much worse before," he chuckled softly and kissed me on the cheek.
As a response, I looked out one eye at him, one of my eyebrows rising in confusion.
"You know…the Games…" he murmured and squeezed my hand.
Sighing, I shook my head a little. "I would have rather played the Games than do this again." Just as I finished, one of the women brought over Fletcher to me. She placed him in my arms and as she did, he quieted instantly. He had my eyes as he stared up at me; his face calm and full of wonder.
"He's got your eyes," Peeta noted.
"No doubt your hair," I replied, running the end of my finger down his soft baby cheek. "Hi, sweetheart," I cooed down to him and nuzzled his forehead with my cheek, holding him close. "Welcome to Panem."
"Well done, Katniss!" Effie beamed at me as Fletcher slept in my arms. "He's beautiful!"
Smiling lightly, I nodded. "Thank you, Effie."
"He looks just like you, Peeta," Johanna nudged him with her elbow, a smirk on her lips.
"He's got Katniss's eyes," Peeta shrugged and I grinned at him.
"Can I see, Mommy? Can I?" Maddey stood on her tip toes to get a peak at her baby brother, grabbing onto the edge of the bed and straining. Peeta lifted her up from behind and set her down on the bed next to me. Her blue eyes brightened at the sight of Fletcher, her mouth opening slightly in awe. "He's pretty, Mommy!" she whispered.
"Mnhm," I nodded. Fletcher's eyelids fluttered but he didn't wake.
"What's his name?" She asked, leaning in closer.
"Fletcher."
"I told you he'd be a boy, didn't I, Daddy?" Maddey smiled widely and looked over at him. Everyone in the room chuckled.
"Why don't you and I go get some ice cream, Maddey?" Effie proposed, noticing my slight uncomfort of Maddey leaning over the baby.
Johanna nodded. "I'll come too. C'mon, Shorty," she chuckled and held out her hand to Maddey who leapt off the bed and took it, skipping alongside Johanna's long strides.
From in the corner of the room, Gale stepped forward, his hands in his pockets. "Congratulations, Peeta. He's beautiful." Gale lifted his hand out to him as silence filled the air.
Peeta hesitated at first then shook it. "Thank you." Peeta looked between me and Gale before kissing my forehead softly. "I'll go make sure Maddey doesn't have too much sugar."
"Alright," I grinned and watched him leave.
Gale looked at me with his soft eyes. "How are you feeling?"
I blinked and shifted Fletcher to a better position. "Better," I replied shortly.
"I wish I could have been there for her, too." He noted, his eyes falling down on Fletcher.
I took a deep breath and nodded, my lips forming a line. Before I knew it, Fletcher's eyes were looking up at me. Suddenly, he began twitching slightly as he began to cry. "Oh, no, sweetheart," I whispered lightly, propping him up better as he cried.
Gale sat down in the seat that was provided for Peeta and watched me. "May I?" Gale held out his arms to me.
Before I knew what I was doing, I placed my crying son into Gale's arms. Gale cradled Fletcher in his arms, close to his chest. Suddenly, Gale began to sing.
"Deep in the meadow, under the willow
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow
Lay down your head, and close you sleepy eyes
And when again they open, the sun will rise
Here it's safe, here it's warm
Here you dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you."
Awestruck, I sat up, my mouth dropping. In Gale's arms, little Fletcher began to quiet as if he was being put under a spell. His cries softened and he slowly fell back asleep. Gale grinned softly, his eyes glued to Fletcher's sleeping body. A lump grew in my throat as I pushed back tears and thoughts of Rue. "Where did you learn that?" I asked, swallowing hard.
Gale glanced up at me then back at Fletcher. "Home."
