Sorry this chapter is kind of short, the next one will be longer! - please review! :Dxx Katniss' point of view.
There she is. My tiny little girl; wrapped up in a blanket and cradled in Peeta's arms. She looks just like Peeta, with one exception. Deep green eyes. Forest green, in fact. She is three weeks old now, and has tiny blonde curls that grow longer each day. Watching Peeta with her is wonderful, she giggles and smiles every time she's with him. I sit on the rug in the living room, curled up next to the fire with a cup of tea. Peeta comes and sits with me, holding forest in his arms. She's asleep, but still wriggling around in his arms. He hands her over to me, and I find myself trying to protect her from everything, scared that if I hold her to tight, I might break her.
"You look tired" I tell Peeta.
"Speak for yourself, you look exhausted."
"I think we are all a bit tired, Gale went home about three hours ago."
"Mmmm" Peeta trails off.
"Peeta, you can't hold anything against him anymore. If I can put aside all the things that went wrong in the past then you should too." I tell him, my voice getting quieter as I speak.
"Ok, come on let's get you two to bed, hey?" he says. I stand up and follow him upstairs, before kissing forest on the forehead and putting her in her crib.
When I wake up, Peeta isn't next to me, and forest isn't in her crib. I grab one of Peeta's dress shirts and pull it on. It's massive on me, but I don't mind. I walk downstairs, only to find Peeta fast asleep on the sofa, with forest curled up on his chest. I make him some tea, and leave it next to him; trying not to wake them. I set the fire up and sit in front of it, warming my hands.
I'm woken an hour later by Peeta, who is no longer asleep on the sofa, but carrying forest with one hand and holding out the other towards me, offering to help me up. I take his hand and he pulls me up. We sit at the kitchen table and Forest sits in my arms.
"Are you hungry?" Peeta asks me.
"Yeah, but I think she is too." I say before picking her up "are you hungry sweetie?" she giggles
"I think that's a yes" Peeta laughs, "Avocado?" he asks. She giggles again as he scoops her up in his arms and feeds her the avocado. "What about you babe? What do you want?" I think about it for a while. Then I remember something.
"Oh, don't worry; I said I would meet sae for lunch. She hasn't meet forest yet, that's all. And it gives you a chance to go and see how Thom is doing at the bakery" He smiles.
"Ok. Well you two should probably get going then, it's quarter to." He kisses me. "Have fun" he hands forest over to me. I wrap her up in a blanket and coat and grab my father's jacket before leaving the house.
Sae welcomes us with open arms. She sits in silence for a while, before finally saying something.
"She's beautiful" she whispers.
"Do you want to hold her?" I ask. She smiles and excepts so I hand her over to says warm arms.
"She is just… perfect." She whispers again.
"She looks just like her father." I say.
"Hmmm. And you"
"Really. I think she looks just like Peeta. I hope she grows up to be like him. I want her to be just like Peeta; artistic, calm, beautiful." I smile at the thought.
"Yes. We wouldn't want another Katniss would we" she mocks.
"I just hope that she's not too much like me." I stare at her, he eyes glisten. They're somewhat familiar.
"You know what? Her eyes are just like your fathers." She tells me. This sends shivers down my spine, but it's true. Tears come to my eyes, but I hold them back, managing to force a smile.
"I guess they are" I say, my voice begins to shake. Sae picks up on this.
"How about I get you some soup, you look hungry" she says.
The soup is amazing and, when it's cooled down a bit, even forest likes it. Rabbit and oak soup always reminds me of a time before the games, before the revolution. Before Peeta. A time when the one thing that meant the world to me was the forest, not my forest. I practically inhale the soup, I didn't know I was so hungry. I even manage to eat another bowl full. I then help sae wash the dishes before we take a seat in the living room. Grey comes home from school and is delighted to see forest. She looks after her all afternoon whilst I talk to sae.
"Oh, I forgot. I made forest this." She says, before handing me a hand knitted cardigan. The cardigan is dark green and has golden leaves woven along the hem.
"It's beautiful" I say.
"I thought you might like it." She smiles. "Oh. Look at the time, Peeta will wonder where you are, you should probably get going." I know that Peeta won't worry. Mainly because he will be at the bakery with Thom, and therefore will stay there late tonight; but also because he knows that I like to spend time with sae, even if I do spend hours and hours at hers. But I know that sae has a life of her own, so thank her for inviting me and say goodbye to grey. I pick up Forest and leave.
When we get back home, Peeta is not there (as I predicted). Forest looks tired, so I take her upstairs and put her in her crib. I sit at the kitchen table with a cup of tea, wondering what I should do for the afternoon, when there is a knock at the door. I answer it.
"My mum wanted me to give you this" gale says, as he walks in from the cold. He hands me a small box wrapped in brown paper. I open it to find a very familiar wooden rattle. "It. It was posy's but, well she doesn't really need it anymore" I smile at him.
"Thanks, gale. Come in. I'll get you a drink" He follows me into the kitchen and sits at the table while I pour him some tea.
"I don't mean to sound rude gale. I appreciate the gift, but why are you really here?" I ask.
"What?" he says, trying to sound surprise.
"Come on. I know you didn't just come to give me that. Why did you really come over?" I repeat.
"Fine" he sighs "I needed to talk to you." I place the mug in front of him on the table.
"Go on then" I say, taking a seat opposite him.
"I guess. I just wanted to say. Goodbye. And… thank you" he says. I look at him, slightly confused. "I'm leaving tomorrow. Going to 4."
"You're going to 4. District 4? Why?" I don't know why it irritates me so much.
"Because. I haven't ever spent much time in four. I have the next three months off work, holiday time, I want to see what it's like."
"Ok. But why 'thank you'. What did I do?"
"You showed me what I wanted. Until a few months ago – I thought what I truly wanted more than anything was you. But I was wrong. What I truly wanted was what you have, here, with Peeta. You have someone that is always there for you, someone to rely on. You have a family. A home. A daughter…" he trails off. "And most importantly, you're happy." I look down at my feet.
"Gale. I. I don't know what to say." but I do. I know exactly what to say. "…good luck"
He smiles at me.
"When do you leave tomorrow?" I ask
"About 6 am." He tells me. "I just, had to speak to you before I left. Good luck to you as well. I hope everything goes well, with forest. Tell Peeta I said goodbye, and well… see you… when I see you I guess." He gets up to leave.
"Gale wait" I say standing up behind him. I hug him, like we used to. After all he is like a brother to me. "Have fun" I whisper, before looking up and smiling at him. He smiles back, half-heartedly and walks out of the door.