A/N: I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry for not updating yesterday! I've been SUPER busy with the last week of school, so I haven't had much time to update. So, I give you a DOUBLE CHAPTER! It's much longer than my normal chapters. It has Gale's reaction to everything, and (drum roll) THE BIRTH! Will it be Luke? Or will Katniss get a surprise? Haha, I'll let you read now!
~Mock
"Don't tell me you actually married that crazy baker boy?" Gale asks in disgust.
"Of course I did!" I yell back. "Why should you care anyway? You left for District 2, and didn't care about me anymore! But you leaving was a good thing for me. It made me realize that I have always loved Peeta, and without you there to cloud my thoughts and make everything difficult, I'm able to have a life with him."
Gale's eyes harden even more. "Well, that's why I came back. To take you with me."
Peeta steps in front of me. "Over my dead body. If you even lay a finger on her and my child, I swear, I'll destroy you right here."
Peeta has a fire in his eyes. He won't let Gale touch me. I am protected, and so is my Luke. Even though I won't have the strength to overcome Gale if need to, Peeta does.
Gale icily regards Peeta. "You're dead body can easily be arranged," he spits.
"NO! You are NEVER going to touch him. You are never to come near our family again!" I shout, jumping off of the counter. I don't care what Gale once was to me. No one threatens my husband.
For inexplicable reasons, Gale's face contorts into a grim smile. "I can go wherever I want, Katniss. I'm the new vice-president of Panem, thank you very much."
No. No, that can't be true. Gale can't be the vice-president. But he's pulling something out of the pocket of his jacket. An identification card that identifies him as vice-president.
"They trust me in most of the districts. They think I did a great job in the war and that I will do another great job helping to restore Panem," he says. "And they want me settled down, to have a wife with me. So for my wife, I choose Katniss."
I don't know who "they" are, but I don't like them. Gale can never take me away now… Can he? I mean, I'm married.
Annie seems angry with Gale's comment. "No! Katniss and Peeta are already married! You can't take her away from Peeta, especially since she's going to have their baby!" she says to Gale, clutching Finn so that he can't walk around.
Gale's hard gaze shifts to Annie. "I can get whatever I want. Katniss, you're coming with me. That baby will be raised as my own." And with that, he reaches for my wrist, like he's going to drag me with him.
All of the sudden, Gale is flying towards the door. Peeta stands in front of me, his fist raised. Gale gets to his feet, but he's clutching his gut.
"This isn't the end! Katniss, you know me! You know I always get what I want. And you're no exception! I'll get you eventually! I always win!" And then Gale runs off towards the train station, no doubt planning his next move.
Peeta stands there, his eyes closed, one hand gripping the counter. He is visibly shaking. I know it's not just leftover anger from Gale's visit. He's having an attack.
I quickly go over to stand in front of him. "Peeta, he's gone now. He's gone," I say, trying to get some response. I am rewarded.
"You want to marry Gale. Real or nor real?" he asks through clenched teeth.
"Not real. That's why I married you. Because I love you, not Gale." I take his hand and bring it down so it's touching my stomach. "If Luke's not proof enough that I love you, I don't know what is. Because you're the only person I would carry him for."
Finally, Peeta's face relaxes. His hand gently caresses my stomach, and his eyes open.
"Thank you," he says in his normal voice.
"Anytime," I say, kissing him lightly. He captures my face and holds me to his lips a bit longer. Beneath all the steadiness and love, there is a new fear in the way he kisses me. I don't like it at all.
"Peeta, he's not going to win," I gasp as I break free. "I'm never going to go him, I'd kill myself first."
"I know," he says against my lips. "But still, I was scared for a moment that I was going to lose you both. I didn't know if he had the political power to do that or not."
I'm not going to let Gale take me away from Peeta. We'd hide in the woods if we had to. The problem is, Gale knows the woods as well as I do, and knows the first spot I would think of to take my family. To the lake.
No, I won't have to resort to us running away. There can be no law saying that those in high political power can marry whoever they choose, even if that person is already married. Paylor wouldn't allow it. Some relief spreads through me, so I consent to kiss Peeta again.
Later that night, as we are in bed, I feel Peeta move. Opening my eyes a fraction of an inch, I see that his head is by my stomach. He's talking to Luke. It's not the first time he's done this.
"You're going to be here in a few days you know. Then we'll finally be able to see how beautiful you are. We know you have to be very beautiful," he whispers against my stomach. "We both love you so much. Even if she tries to deny it, your mother loves you. But she's not denying it any more, is she? You helped her love again. Although I don't know how anyone couldn't love you. We all do. Your mother, Annie, Tereska, Johanna, everyone. They all know how wonderful you're going to be."
With that, he kisses my stomach, and then reverses to his previous position, next to my body.
In the middle of the night, they start. In my stomach, cramps worse than anything I have experienced before. This can only be what my mother described as contractions. For Peeta's sake I try to keep silent, but it's no good. When the next one hits, I can't contain the scream.
"Augh!" I yell into the night, praying that by some miracle Peeta slept through the noise. No such luck, of course. His eyes fly open.
"Katniss! What's wrong, what happened?" he asks frantically.
I groan as another contraction hits. Why the hell did I agree to this, it hurts so much! "What do you think? I'm giving birth-" my words are cut off with yet another contraction.
"Tereska," mutters Peeta. He goes to the phone quickly.
"Please, come quickly. She thinks the baby's coming," Peeta explains. Wait, I think the baby's coming? I sure as hell know it is!
"What do you mean, I think? It's trying to squeeze itself out of my pelvis as we speak!" I gasp. Why aren't they taking me seriously?
In a matter of minutes, Tereska quickly walks through the threshold in my room. With her are Johanna, Annie (with Finn), and my mother. She measures my stomach with her hands, saying that I'm starting to dilate.
Well, like I didn't know that. I knew that this thing was coming. The contractions slow down, and Peeta takes my hand. I glare at him.
"I really hope that you like this kid, because we are not having another. This is the first and the last," I tell him. He sighs.
"Whatever you say," he says, and I think I hear a note of sarcasm, but I can't tell. Because at that moment, another contraction comes and I crush Peeta's hand.
Four hours later, I still haven't dilated. Why won't this thing just get out already? At one point, I'm forced to send Peeta out to get ice chips, because if I didn't, I would have probably started screaming my lungs out at him. He comes back all too soon, but the ice chips do give me something to crush when I have the contractions.
Four more hours. Johanna has been smirking at me the whole time. Annie and Finn have left the room, because all of my screaming has been scaring him. After a while, Haymitch comes and tells someone to call him when the baby's here. He quickly leaves after I have my thousandth contraction. I think this is scaring him almost more than his nightmares of the Games.
My will crumbles as my labor goes on. I call Peeta every name I know, and even consider asking Haymitch for some I may have forgotten. I'm surprised that he doesn't leave the room actually, but then again, I'd pull him right back in if he tried. Mother shakes her head, asking me how I ever got such a mouth. Well, she can blame Johanna and Haymitch for any words I know.
Tereska tells me when I have two more hours, just like she did with Annie. Two more hours of pure hell. My contractions start reaching my thighs, and it's all I can do not to pick up one of Tereska's sharp instruments and cut this thing out of me.
When the pain stops for a minute I look at Peeta, who's grinning at me. For some reason, it irritates me. "What? You're not supposed to be happy, you're supposed to be feeling terribly guilty and hate yourself for doing this to me."
Peeta laughs. "Katniss, do you realize that Luke's going to be here in less than two hours? We'll be a family, and maybe even have more-"
"There is no way in hell you are going to convince me to go through pregnancy again, or labor. I'm telling you, this is the worst part of the whole thing," I say cutting him off. "It'll be you and me and Luke, and you're going to have to be happy with it."
Peeta leans his head so that his lips brush my ear. "Katniss, as long as I'm with you, I'll always be happy," he whispers.
I'm about to tell him something, but I can't remember what as the worst pain yet hits and I hit Peeta in the face with my forehead as I jerk my head up without warning. Thankfully, he doesn't seem to be too hurt. But for me, the pains don't stop, and they're at their worst.
Tereska and Mother quickly rush to my stomach, saying that I've dilated faster than they expected. It's only been an hour. But now, the contractions rip through my stomach and thighs, and I can hardly believe that the baby has made it through all of this.
A sort of ripping comes through my stomach. With one hand, I crunch against the ice chips, and with the other, I squeeze Peeta's fingers until they turn purple.
"Push, Katniss, push! He's coming!" Tereska yells. Annie rushes into the room, but she has left Finn. Mother quickly leaves, then reassures us that Finn is asleep in the next room.
All the while, I'm pushing as hard as I can, but the thing won't come! Tereska urges me on, but I can't breathe. It's Peeta voice that jars me back to reality.
"Katniss hang in there! Don't give up now, you're too close. Breathe, and just a couple more pushes, then it'll all be over, I promise!" he yells. I glance up into his face, and I can tell that he's worried. For him and for my Luke, I have to stand this.
Taking a deep breath, I push one more time. Tereska seems excited. "He's crowning, Katniss! Just one more, you know you can do it! One more!"
Repeating my process, I push and feel Tereska's hands slide down my thighs, and something else comes with her. The pain has stopped. It's quiet except for a loud wail coming from Tereska's arms.
I look up at Peeta, and notice that his hand is bent in an odd way. "Oh, Peeta! I didn't break your hand did I? Oh, I'm so sorry!"
"Katniss, it's fine, my hands fine, just a little sore. But you did it! He's here, Luke's here!" he says in an excited whisper.
"Peeta, come here. You can cut the umbilical cord. It's tradition that the father does it," Tereska calls. Peeta quickly goes to the other side of the room and hear a faint snip. "Electra," I hear him whisper.
Electra? Wait, it was supposed to be Luke. I thought that I was fighting for Luke. But all this time, Luke never existed? It was always Electra?
Peeta comes back to my side with a bundle in his arms. The bundle is still crying. Without saying anything Peeta hands me the bundle and I see my daughter for the first time.
She is beautiful. Every bit as beautiful as I expected her to be. What does it matter that she isn't Luke? It doesn't change the fact that I've loved her for nine months already. I have always loved my baby girl, my Electra. The joy of holding her here in my arms has made up for the nine months of some of the scariest moments of my life. It has even made up for labor.
The small tuft of hair on her head is as black as midnight, and her skin is the perfect olive color. But when she turns her head towards me, no longer crying, but trying to take in her surroundings, I see her eyes. Or should I say, her father's eyes. My daughter's eyes are an exact replica of Peeta's.
One of her miniscule hands finds its way out of the confines of the blanket. I place my pinky finger in her palm, and she closes her tiny fist around my finger.
I look up at Peeta, who has been watching us. "Get over here," I tell him. "I need to kiss you."
Grinning, Peeta gently touches his lips to mine. Then we both stare at this perfect little creation in my arms. Someone snaps a picture, and lifting my head quickly, I see Mother with a camera.
The crying of Electra brings my eyes to her face once again. Her mouth keeps opening and closing and I remember from Finn's early days that my baby is hungry. I gently lower her to my breast, and she immediately stops crying.
While she's feeding, I begin to sing to her.
Deep in the meadow, under the willow
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes
And when again they open the sun will rise
Here it's safe, and here it's warm
Here the daises guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet, and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you
Deep in the meadow, hidden far away
A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray
Forget your woes, and let your troubles lay
And when again it's morning, they'll wash away
Here it's safe, and here it's warm
Here the daises guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet, and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you
When she's done, I hand her to Peeta. He looks at her with an amazement in his eyes, one that I have never seen before. Electra yawns, her perfect little mouth stretching as far as it will go. She closes her eyes, then opens them determinedly. This goes on for a while, and Peeta laughs.
"She's got your fire," he tells me.
"More like her stubbornness," Johanna says, grinning. I grin weakly back, not challenging at all. I'm too tired.
Finally, Electra closes her eyes for good, breathing deeply. She is passed from every hand in the room, and even Haymitch shows up in time to hold her.
I am drifting out of consciousness when my daughter is back in Peeta's arms. He carefully lowers her into her crib that is beside the bed. He kisses my forehead, and I drift off, basking in the happy glow of Electra.
A/N: WOO! Haha, were you guys expecting that? I know most of you thought it was going to be Luke! Haha, NOPE! With school out, I should have time to write more, so expect more by Friday! Thank you for waiting!
~Mock
