Chapter 9 has finally been written and reviewed by me... I apologize 100000% for the delay! I had a really rough summer- my cat died, my parents split, etc etc- and couldn't focus on writing. But now that I'm at school for my senior year, I'm feeling happier and ready to work on this story.
Thanks to all the faithful readers- your comments, favorites and follows over the summer really made me happy! Just recently I noticed a bunch of people favoriting and following the story, so I figured you deserved my attention.
Disclaimer- I don't own this story or any of its characters/inspirations!
School is arguably easier with Peeta by my side. I almost feel foolish for being so resistant before. Gale is on a weird schedule because he's a senior and he spends most of his school day working with a trade. It's a cheaper alternative to college. His mother can't afford to send him off, and he needs a job as soon as he graduates. However, this means he isn't around much- just the first and last periods of the school day. Because of this, I'm not sure he knows about the Cato thing. If he were here, I wouldn't even be nervous to come back; Cato would either be lost in a foreign country or dead… and I'm not sure which he'd prefer.
While Gale is absent, I have a replacement friend. Madge is sticking a lot closer. In fact, by the time lunch rolls around, I haven't been by myself once.
Cato, fortunately, was silent all during English. I was worried he'd try to apologize in class, and make a big scene. Instead, he spent the hour sneaking glances at me and clearing his throat. In my opinion, almost nervously.
Wait- was he acting like that because he's scared of Peeta?
Hmm. Interesting.
I sit at lunch with Madge and wait for Peeta. The cafeteria food sucks, so I usually just grab a salad. Madge gives me a dirty look as I dig in. "What?"
"A salad, Katniss? Is that really going to feed two people?" I roll my eyes.
"Prim told me as long as I'm eating a lot of leafy greens I'll be fine. And I have a doctor's appointment this weekend."
Madge, her worries now subsided, jumps into conversation. "Are you getting pre-natals? I hear they do great things for your hair."
"You're insane." I tell her.
"Why is Madge insane?" Peeta asks, joining us. Along with him came Delly. They're both carrying trays with sandwiches.
Madge, in response, shrugs and rolls her eyes in a 'who-knows' way, and I scowl at her.
"I hope you don't mind that I brought Delly. She usually eats with me, but since I'm eating here, I thought she could join." Peeta takes a bite of his sandwich.
Delly isn't awful. She's actually one of the nicest girls in school. And not even in a patronizing way. She's just always smiling and doting over people. But I just can't stand being smiled at 24/7.
I notice Peeta staring at me. His eyes are almost pleading, and I have to force myself to breathe.
It hits me that Delly is Peeta's other best friend, just like Gale is mine. It takes me back to how nervous I was to introduce the two, how desperately I wanted them to get along.
I invited them both over for dinner. Prim was just learning how to cook, and had prepared us a big bowl of macaroni and cheese. Haymitch was passed out drunk, but I wasn't even worried. Gale had told me all about his life, and I mine. We connected immediately, and I knew he'd never tease me for my home life. In fact, when he complimented Primrose and made her blush, I knew he was worth it.
Peeta had been quiet all dinner, shooting Gale nervous looks. He later admitted to me that he was afraid of the older boy. I couldn't blame him- Gale was, and is, a good six inches taller than Peeta. He's also got a rough, rugged body from hard work and his face has an ever-present scowl on it.
It wasn't until I kicked Gale's foot with mine that he talked to Peeta. "You work at the bakery?"
Peeta's face turned red, and I felt awful for him. "Yeah, my family owns it."
"Cool. My sister likes the sweet rolls."
"The ones with the cream cheese?"
They really talked about desserts. All dinner. By the time the night was over and we parted ways, I felt it was a partial success. They were still uncomfortable with one another, but that would change in time.
The next day, Gale called me. "Peeta's an alright guy."
"What makes you say that?" I asked. Gale never complimented anyone.
The phone crackled in the silence. "Well, he dropped by this morning with a pack of those sweet rolls. Posy went bonkers, and I think mom's got tears in her eyes."
I didn't know how to respond, but that was typical Peeta. The first time I confessed that nothing made Prim happier than looking at the extravagant cakes in his shop, he brought home one specifically decorated for her. 'Best Little Sister' it said in soft pink letters, with frosted primroses of every color planted in the icing. She told him she'd never eat it, but sure enough, by dinner it was half gone.
"He does that, you know?" That's all I could say about my best friend. Gale asked me to thank him again, and from that point on, we were best friends.
I realize that the only 'big gesture' I could do for Delly would be to smile at her, so I did. She smiled back, just as wide, and asked how I was feeling.
"Pretty good. My stomach's starting to calm down."
"She hasn't puked once today. Which is a miracle, considering how much candy she ate yesterday." Peeta jokes, and winks at me. I roll my eyes, but manage to chuckle.
Delly takes another bite of her sandwich, and chews thoughtfully. "Is that Cato walking over to us?"
Sure enough, over my shoulder, the burly jerkwad is on his way over. His face has a large bruise on it, and I think the only reason people haven't teased Peeta about his is because Cato's is bigger.
"Don't- don't… Get mad at me." He says, immediately guarded, as he sits by me. I furrow my brows at his tone. It's shaky. "I just want to apologize for what I did."
I don't know how to respond, so I look to Peeta for guidance. He nods his head in approval- it sounds sincere enough.
"Okay. Thank you." I respond, and then start to turn.
The jerk looks confused, and gets up slowly, as if I'm going to attack him. Instead, I turn and look at my friends. Madge has a bewildered look on her face, as if she's shocked he apologized. Delly is smiling, surely proud of Cato for being the 'bigger person'. And Peeta looks smug.
I like his face the best, so I focus on him and send him a small smile. He returns it, and reaches his hand across the table and grips mine. The feeling of his rough thumb pad rubbing against my knuckles is soothing.
"So, I hear that Thresh asked you out!" Madge breaks the silence, turning to Delly. Delly almost swoons on the spot.
"He's so sweet. He got me a dozen carnations and asked me to go with him to his father's business party. I mean, can you imagine?"
I try to imagine the large, dark boy being sweet. He's very quiet- Delly's opposite- and serious.
Peeta's thumb is still sliding across my hand and I think about us. Opposites, too.
He's loveable. Popular. Caring and sweet. Sympathetic, understanding, forgiving… And I'm me.
Distrusting. Cold. Manipulative. Hurtful and difficult. Some would say a bitch.
However, the look in his eye when I glance up tells me he doesn't care. Tells me he likes me the way I am.
Tells me he's happy, and once again, I realize how lucky I am.
The rest of the week passes with no huge problems. There are occasional glances, mostly at my stomach, or my hand grasping Peeta's in the hall, but other than that, people mind their own business. I still hear some really off-the-wall rumors, but the heavy feeling is gone from my shoulders. Peeta's family knows. My sister and Haymitch know. Gale knows. The school knows. There are no more surprises left.
Just, you know, a baby.
On Tuesday, Primrose had hounded me about going to the doctor's office. I hate doctors. They charge way too much and are too nosey for their own good.
There's also the fact that they couldn't save my dad. Haymitch tried explaining to me that by the time he got to the hospital, his heart wouldn't have been able to restart even if the doctor was Dr. Frankenstein himself, but I have my doubts.
Doctors get paid so much. They go through so much schooling. Shouldn't they have been able to save him from the work incident that took his life? It was one loud boom, and it was big enough to send his body careening through the mines. Everyone said it was the risks of working the mines.
Today, there are more regulations, and the corporation's a lot stricter. There's a limit to how many workers can be down there at time, and for how long. Before, my father would tack on as many shifts as possible to make money for our family. Mom wasn't working at the time, and it was hard to make ends meet with two babies.
Sometimes, I wish I could find my mother and shake her and scream "Was it worth it?" She could have gotten a job. She could have done odd things around town for some extra money, or food. She could have done something, and instead, she stayed home and watched my father kill himself.
It's with these pleasant thoughts that Haymitch drives me, Peeta and Prim to the hospital that Saturday morning. It's a little cooler than usual- autumn is here and winter is coming. I glance down at the sweatshirt I'm wearing- it's Peeta's. He let me borrow it last minute, as I realized (too late) how cold it was outside. Prim scolded me, "I told you we didn't have time!" and Haymitch shifted his weight and sighed. Peeta quickly slipped his crew-neck sweatshirt off and handed it to me wordlessly. I smiled in appreciation and pulled it on.
It's a soft gray, with 'University of Panem' stitched across the front. The state school that Peeta's brother, Rye, is attending. Peeta must have visited. I wonder if he planned on going, too, and my stomach does a flip.
He isn't anymore, if he was. My hand, which is clenched in his, grows sweaty. He gives me a questioning look.
"I'm nervous."
"Me, too." He says, almost relieved that I feel the same way. From the front seat, Prim changes the station from country (Haymitch's favorite) to pop. Haymitch grumbles, but the bouncy beat helps take my mind off everything negative. I close my eyes and rest my head behind me as the car speeds along to its destination. Outside, people are walking, biking and driving to their own places, on their own time, not realizing that I'm facing my biggest fear in less than ten minutes.
"Everdeen, Katniss?" A timid voice calls from the booth. I give Haymitch a look, who gestures that I move forward. I grab for Peeta's hand and drag him with me.
The nurse who's waiting for me gives me a confused look, but I cut her off. "He's coming with me."
I'm already shaking. I feel so pathetic. We follow our nurse to a room in the back. There's a simple bed with stirrups, and a chair beside it. On the bed is a paper gown waiting for me.
"The doctor would like you to put that on- you may leave on your bra, and that's it."
My shaking increases tenfold. Naked? No one told me I had to get naked here. I give Peeta an accusing glare as the nurse leaves.
"What?"
I turn away from him and walk into a corner of the room, which has a curtain I can draw to hide behind. I change quickly, and slide the paper robe on. It feels ridiculous, and I'm embarrassed to leave my hide-a-way in just this paper robe. Especially since Peeta's out there…
Shut up, I tell myself. You brought Peeta here. He isn't going to judge you. He might smile and laugh, but he would never be mean.
I roll my eyes at my own insecurities and walk out, trying to seem as confident as one can in a paper robe. Peeta tries to hold back his smile, and I ignore it. I take my place on the bed, and look at my dangling feet. My toenails are still bright red from when Prim painted them two months ago. However, they're starting to chip, and it looks bad. I notice Peeta's staring at my feet, so I cross my ankles and try to hide them from his view.
"So, what all happens? Do you know?" He asks, trying to break the silence. I shrug. I wish Prim could have come back here, too.
We wait for a few more minutes.
"What is taking so long?" I snap. "This is a joke. It's Saturday. How many people could be at the hospital on a Saturday?"
Peeta looks around. "You don't come to the doctor's often, do you?"
"What makes you think that?"
"It always takes a long time. It's just the way it is. They schedule multiple people at the same time, in case people skip or run late. The doctors need to make their money."
"What selfish assholes." I proclaim. Unfortunately, because I was listening to Peeta talk, I didn't hear the doctor knock and let himself in.
"Oh," is his response.
"Sorry." The best I can manage. Peeta snorts under his breath.
"So you're Katniss? I'm Dr. Aurelius." The doctor, who has gray hair and round glasses, flips through his clipboard papers. "This is the first time I've seen you since you were five."
I finish for him in my head- This is the first time I've seen you since your dad died. "Yeah, it's been hard to schedule an appointment," I lie, while looking at my lap. Dr. Aurelius doesn't say anything, just grabs a device and shoves it in my ear.
"To check your temperature." He tells me. I would nod, but the device keeps me from moving my head.
"So, how old are you now, Katniss?" he asks, as he throws out the tip of the device, and grabs for a thick arm-band that's connected to a pump. He wraps it around my arm tight.
"Seventeen." I muster, as he pumps the arm band. It tightens even more, and when I'm about to tell him I can't take it anymore, he stops, and the band slowly releases my arm. I can feel my pulse pounding.
"Good heart pressure. You eat very healthy, I take it?"
I shrug. I don't really like junk food. I mean, aside from Twizzlers… which for some reason I am craving ridiculously.
"What are we here for?" I think the doctor knows all the answers to these questions, and it irritates me.
I sigh. "I'm pregnant."
Dr. Aurelius nods, as if seventeen year olds tell him this every day, and he gestures towards the stirrups. "I'm going to do a pelvic exam. Have you ever had this procedure done before?"
My heart races and I shake my head. "No." Peeta shifts in his chair, and I look at him. He looks uncomfortable for me, which makes me feel better, and also worse.
"Well, just relax. I promise it's not as painful as you think. Just lie down and put your feet in these stirrups."
I comply hesitantly. Peeta has moved from the chair to my bedside, and he's holding my hand. I squeeze once, in gratitude, and he squeezes back.
"I take it you're the father?" Dr. Aurelius asks, as he slips on latex gloves. Peeta answers, but I tune them out as I lay back.
Suddenly, there is pressure… down there. I fight my natural instinct to kick him away as he pushes and prods around. It's the most uncomfortable thing ever, and I feel tears welling up, but Peeta is there. Stroking my face and kissing my knuckles. I hear him whispering vaguely, and I take a deep breath. I can do this.
When Dr. Aurelius finishes, he tosses the gloves away and pulls me up. "Very good, Katniss. Everything is in working order. Now, we're just going to take a quick ultrasound. You can put your clothes on, and follow Nurse Smythe to the ultrasound room. She'll be performing that, and afterwards, we'll discuss medication and other options."
I barely register what he's saying as I jump down and rush to put my clothes on. Peeta chuckles, and thanks the doctor.
When he leaves, Peeta turns to me. "You did really well."
"I don't need your patronizing remarks, Mellark." I tell him, but secretly, I'm pleased. I didn't hurt anyone. I let a doctor touch me in a really inappropriate place, and didn't scream or kick or fight or even cry.
I so deserve ice cream after this.
Once I'm dressed, a different nurse than the one from before knocks on the door. She takes us to another part of the hospital, which is darker and has signs reading 'All Cellular Devices Must Be Off'. I'm glad Peeta and I left ours in the car.
We go to a quiet, dark little room, where once again, I lay on a bed. This time, only my shirt and Peeta's sweatshirt get lifted, and a cold, clear gel is spread across my belly. The woman turns on a machine and pushes a little hand-device over my stomach, smearing the gel across. On the screen of the machine, a picture pops up, like the usual 'sonogram' images that expectant mothers love showing off. When Hazelle was pregnant with Posy, she had one hanging up in the house. And one of the secretaries at the archery range had a baby, and when she was pregnant, she would show me the sonogram every time she saw me. Personally, the more pregnant the woman, the scarier the images. Babies in sonogram pictures never looked as cute as they do when they're real.
"Well, it's hard to see right now, but we can see a little bit of your baby. Just that little potato looking figure right there." The woman points to a spot on the screen. She clicks a few buttons and a printing noise is heard. "I'll get a couple copies for you to show off."
I look to Peeta, to roll my eyes, but his expression is of awe. He happily accepts the prints and flips through them, even though they're all the same image.
I lay back and let the nurse wipe my belly off.
I'm happy that one of us is excited. It means this baby has a fighting chance.
Peeta is about to say something to me- most likely cheesy and embarrassing- so I cut him off, "Hey, how about we go get ice cream?" The boy beside me just laughs and shakes his head.
"You're something else, you know that, Everdeen?" But he helps me get down from the table and we walk out together.
"I want ice cream." I announce to our entourage. They're sitting out in the waiting room, playing some kind of crossword puzzle together in a magazine. Haymitch rolls his eyes and Prim jumps up to see the pictures that Peeta's holding. She coos.
"Your baby is so cute!" I see her eyes go dreamy as visions of, I'm sure, baby sitting and shopping for baby clothes float in her head.
I snap my fingers in front of her face to wake her up. "Yeah, um, no Prim. That is not a baby." I look over the ultrasound. "That is a potato."
Haymitch lets out a belly laugh, and shakes his head, "You certainly sound the part of a loving, caring mother. Glad to see that excess estrogen ain't making you go soft."
I scowl at him but point to the exit. "Ice cream, now. A bad man touched me in an inappropriate place."
Everyone laughs this time, but we head exit together, and make our way to the car and, therefore, ice cream. All the while, I hold Peeta's hand. I let him lead the way as I sneak peeks at the pictures the nurse printed out for us… thankfully, if anyone notices, they don't tease me. I can't help but notice the tiny features of the baby- my baby. I wonder if it has my straight nose or Peeta's sparkling eyes.
I chalk the fluttering in my tummy up as hunger and urge my family onward to ice cream… My family, including Peeta.
Did you like this chapter? Leave me a review of what you think! And again- sorry for the super delay!