Katniss cradles her baby, holding it in her arms. Tears start to form in Katniss' eyelids, until she can't contain herself. She bursts into tears, holding her child so tightly to her chest the nurse warns her that she may kill it. But within a second, her beautiful child is taken away. Taken away to an incubator, and she can no longer hear the blissful sound of her child crying. She sinks onto the floor, almost drowning into her pool of tears. The nurses come back, and tell her their condolences, and that her baby is dead. Her beautiful child that she only held for one minute. It doesn't seem real. It can't be real. And then Katniss wakes up, screaming for Peeta. Then she remembers she chucked him downstairs, and she has to comfort herself from this nightmare.

But she can't get back to sleep. No matter how many times she rolls over in all types of positions, no matter how many times she opens and shuts her eyes, it won't work. She hears the nurse's words in her eye, almost like a headache. But so much more painful. Katniss won't admit it, but she needs Peeta. She needs his arms wrapped around her waist, telling her everything's going to be okay. But her pride gets in the way, telling her if she cares for this baby she has to wait until Peeta accepts it. I cannot die, and have this child without a home or a loving father. He needs to do this for our baby, not me. She closed her eyes, hoping sleep would overcome her. It didn't. She checked her clock. 4:35 AM. Katniss rolled over and tilted her head back, her heat beating so fast she could almost hear it.

"Can I come in?" Katniss heard Peeta's voice, much more like a little boy rather than a father. She rolled onto the other side, holding the sheet tightly, even though she was boiling hot. Katniss heard a knock at the door, and rolled her eyes. She wouldn't speak to him. Not until he said he was sorry, that he never meant it. That he would love this child no matter what. That he would love his child. If she heard that, then she would forgive him. Unless he didn't mean it. Katniss has always been able to tell if Peeta is lying. She hears a creek as the door opens, and Peeta enters with freshly baked muffins. Katniss forces herself not to smile. Her favourite.

"I'm sorry, Katniss. I didn't mean it. It's just seeing you run out because of it made me hate it, but I don't want to. I want to be it's father." Katniss looks up at Peeta, her eyes bigger than she realized she could get them, rather like a little puppy. Peeta, once again, found himself lost in her beauty. He remembered the first time he had seen that beautiful face, back in district twelve when he had given her the burnt bread. His mother had never found out, but he had gotten himself hit for her. Seeing the desperation in her face, seeing how she was almost starved to death. He shook himself out of it, returning to Katniss.

"I know you're not lying. But I can't deal with this anymore Peeta. If you're with me and this baby now, you have to be with us both forever. No matter what. Can you do that?" Katniss held her stomach, feeling the baby kick. It occurred to her she didn't have a name for her child. She asked Peeta to feel her stomach, as there were two hearts beating inside her. Two hearts that loved Peeta. He smiled, and felt the baby kick. Then, Peeta nodded his head. It meant I'll stick by you both. And Katniss knew that he meant it. She didn't need to hear him say it.

"I'm going to love this baby, I swear." He says, and Katniss thinks back to their wedding day. When he promised to love and stick by her no matter what. They had their own vows, as the victors of district 12 couldn't have normal, boring vows. Back when they were just victims of the Capitol. Back when Katniss thought she didn't love Peeta. When, inside, she wanted him so bad. Katniss always looked back at that, wondering why she never admitted her feelings. Truth be told, she never admitted her feelings. Feelings made bad things happen. Feelings ruined you. Everything would be so easy if she didn't care for this child, if she could kill it without feeling a thing. But she couldn't. No matter what, she loved her child.

"I'm not going to give up, Peeta. I can't lost hope." And then she realizes she's crying. Katniss Everdeen, who doesn't cry over anything has cried more than twice just this past month. Katniss wants to snap herself out of it, to become stronger. But she can't. She feels Peeta's arms wrap around her, those strong arms she has been wanting all day long. She bends back her head so it's on his chest, tears continuing to pour down her face. She can hear the beat of his heart. He's shushing her, almost like a baby. And Katniss looks up to see he's crying too. Not as much as her, but nonetheless he is crying.

"I know how much this means to you. Please don't cry baby." Peeta sobs, cradling Katniss closer to his chest. It is one of the very few times he has called Katniss baby, and whenever he calls her it, it means that he's scared and worried but he will stick by her. It's so odd how one word can mean so much. She holds his hand, deciding to once again be the strong one.

"We will get through this, I promise." Katniss says, smiling at Peeta, the tears disappearing from her face. Peeta nods, his tears coming thick and at a much more rapid pace. Oh, Peeta. You big softie. Katniss thinks, as she laughs at him. He's always been very feminine, and always cries more than Katniss. She holds tighter onto his hand, forcing it onto her stomach. They lay back on the bed, falling asleep with Peeta's hand still on Katniss' stomach.