A/N: I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. If this story was further progressed, I'd post my adorable mother's day chapter, but you know. Instead, you get the infamous blue-slushie scene. Bon appetit! :) (I got a few reviews on Archive of our Own, and it's now at 4 total. So here you go.)

Disclaimer: Nope, still own nothing, but on the upside, y'all get another chapter! :)


I don't make it back until dinner. I had spent all evening wandering around, stopping in at the local gas station to grab mine and Peeta's favorite flavor slushie- blueberry. I wonder, absently, if our baby will like that flavor, too. I walk to the spot where our baby was consummated and sigh. At least it was a beautiful night. All the anger I had been feeling at him is gone. He might not want anything to do with this baby, but at least I'm not a murderer, or whatever. Maybe it's not murder, but I just can't see myself giving up this baby, now. Besides, it's the best listener in my life, and aside from some hormonal changes, weight gain, and morning sickness, it isn't really hurting me.

It's getting chilly by the time I get home, and while I know Haymitch won't be worried, Primrose must certainly be. I throw my slushie cup in the trash bin outside of our house and enter, prepared to answer any question Primrose has for me.

"Where have you been?" She shouts in a whispered tone, because Haymitch is sleeping in the living room; I can hear his snores. I begin to answer her, but instead, lean over and vomit in one of the decorate vases that Haymitch has sitting in the mud room.

Blue slushie has never looked so unappealing.

"What's the matter?" Primrose is automatically at my side, rubbing my back while I cough up the last of the slushie.

I shake my head as tears well in my eyes and I plop on the floor beside the vase. Prim notices my tears and sits in front of me, holding my hand and squeezing it. I look at her and begin to sob.

"I'm pregnant."

This is the third time I've said this- today- and it doesn't get easier. The silence shakes the room, as Prim covers her mouth in shock.

"Don't hate me," is all I can manage to spit out before the need to vomit surfaces again and I stand up and run to the bathroom. I barely make it before spitting up a shit ton of bile into the toilet. I'm sufficiently grossed out.

Primrose is there in a flash, soothing me and holding a damp washcloth against my head. She leads me to bed where she tucks me in and takes off my jeans. Primrose was born to take care of people. She dreams of being a nurse. I don't know how she deals with the blood. Ugh. Thinking of blood makes my stomach churn again.

Primrose tucks me in, and then crawls into bed to cuddle me. "How could I hate you, Katniss?"

"Because a baby… is going to ruin everything," I feel so guilty saying that, but I can't help it.

Primrose tucks my hair behind my ears and I sigh into her touch. Sleep finds me quickly.

I dream of babies. Lots of babies. Babies crawling everywhere- babies with no faces.

I am not present in this dream, but Peeta is. He's trying to take care of the countless infants, but he can't cope. His mother appears, berating him for sleeping with such trash. Haymitch is there in a flash, but instead of standing up for Peeta, he curses me. "Katniss Everdeen, you little bitch!"

Prim appears in my dream, too. She is thin- too thin. She looks at the babies and sighs. "If only you weren't here… We would have money for food." She slowly withers away into nothing.

And I never come to help them.

I wake with a gasp. Primrose is still cuddled to me. I look at my alarm clock. It's 5 am.

I hear Haymitch clambering around downstairs, and I numbly make my way down there. He's looking for a clean glass to drink out of. Without speaking, I clean one and rinse it for him. He takes it from me silently and pours himself a glass. We sit together, just staring at the counter, before I speak.

"I have to tell you something."

Haymitch doesn't even move, and I wonder if he's heard me, but I continue.

"Peeta and I… we… I'm sort of…"

"Pregnant?" He finishes for me.

I nod, not having the courage to speak anymore. Instead, I look at him and try to question with my eyes, how?

He shrugs. "I saw the blue vomit, and you two girls really aren't as quiet as you think you are." I groan.

The room is quiet except for the crickets that chirp outside. In a few months, they'll be gone too. In a few months, I'll be so big that I won't be able to hide my bump from classmates. Peeta's mom will know by then, and Gale…

Gale doesn't even know.

Gale Hawthorne wasn't someone I ever pictured myself being friends with.

But as soon as his dad died, too, when I was twelve and he was fourteen, we connected.

It isn't like there's some 'half-orphan' club at school, but people started talking to him weird. Or, at least, weird to him. They were sorry for him, and he couldn't stand that.

He started hanging out around the range, a place where I'd already been visiting regularly. He was pretty pissed when the director paired him with me, saying I'd be able to teach him a few things, but he got over it quickly when I showed him how to get a bulls eye every time.

From that point on, we were best friends.

Gale had always been sort of jealous of Peeta, though. Maybe because I knew him longer, maybe because he was richer. I'm not sure. I'd asked once, and the answer I got (the cold, icy glare) was enough for me to never ask again.

I wasn't afraid; I just knew Gale would never answer me.

"What are you thinking of, sweetheart?" Haymitch's voice is nicer than I expected. I look up at him. I can't believe I have the ability to form tears anymore, what with all the crying I've been doing, but I can't help it.

"Are you mad?" I answer his question with another question. I'm not exactly comfortable telling him about my inner dialogue, and I don't trust his nice tone entirely.

Haymitch shakes his head. "Can't say I'm happy, but I know you're just a kid, and kids make dumb mistakes. I figured you were smarter than that, but I can't be mad at you." He sips, thoughtfully, and continues. "Things'll be tough, that's for sure. I assume you're telling me because you wanna keep it."

Haymitch knows my behaviors almost as well as Peeta and Primrose do, and I'm pretty sure he has put two and two together and figured out where I was half the day.

I nod, and pull my legs up to my chest. My chin rests on my knees and I look at his glass, half empty. "I just saw this couple… and the girl was crying. They were getting rid of their baby and I couldn't follow through with it. And then crazy Annie Cresta told me my baby has fingernails."

"Fingernails, huh, sweetheart?" Haymitch uses his sardonic nickname, but this time, with a more paternal tone. "Well, I understand, and I promise I'll do what I can to help."

I shrug my shoulders. "I can get a job… Rent my own place. This is my mistake." I am not about to accept any more charity from Haymitch.

"Katniss, please. You know that Prim would kill me if I allowed you to move out. And this kid, mistake or not, is gonna need a lot more than what you can provide on your own. Unless, you think Peeta's gonna help out?"

I think back on his facial expressions. His reaction. His lack of freedom. I want to cry. Peeta isn't going to help. Then my brain kicks into gear, and I close my eyes and scold myself. You stupid girl, you know Peeta isn't like that.

"I'm not sure." I tell my God-father honestly. "I think he'd like to help, but we're only 17. And I think his mom would kill the both of us if we ran off together."

Haymitch looks at me thoughtfully. He looks like he wants to say more, but shakes his head. "You've always been a rebel, girl. Never doing anything the right way. It'd make sense that you'd get pregnant at 17."

"Sorry I can't be perfect like you." I respond, my eyes flicking down to his drink. He guffaws, and downs the rest of it.

"I'd say you should try it, but I guess you can't in your condition."

And just like that, with a snarky argument between me and my useless guardian, my world is fine again. I am able to slip back up the stairs and into my bed without disturbing Prim, and fall back into sleep. No dreams frighten me this time, and I feel better than I did twenty four hours ago.

Maybe everything will be okay.


A/N: Probably one of my favorite relationships to consider is the Haymitch/Katniss one. There are so many ways one can go, and I love to see him as more of a guardian type than anything (besides his obvious role as a mentor in the series). A good read (if you're interested in this like me) is All This Waiting for the Skies to Fall by monroeslittle. It's really beautiful and brings tears to my eyes every time, and Haymitch is more a 'father' to her than just a drunk neighbor (but he's not overbearing). If anyone has any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them! :)