I'm back! Oh my gosh guys, I love you all for your wonderful reviews, really, I do. Some of you hate me right now for not updating on time and I am deeply sorry!
So I need some help from Y'all. I need a new fic to read! I have absolutely none that I am reading right now and need some suggestions on a new story to read! So when you review if you could suggest some to me, it would be great, even if it's your own work, I promise I will read and review it.
I also didn't proof read this, didn't have time. I will tell you I probably wrote and rewrote this whole chapter ten times. Sorry!
And I got a new puppy. He is a 10 week old Pomerania and his name is Thor, after one of my favorite avengers.
So without any further ranting about my new puppy, who is adorable, read on my lovlies! And review, and leave me a fic name! Hunger games, obviously and I like KatnissxPeeta, FinnickxAnnie fics.
Weeks pass and as I begin my second trimester my bump only becomes more prominent; Peeta is ecstatic but me, I'm a little apprehensive. Ever since the incident with Gale and then the phone call from Plutarch my nightmares returned. These were worse than I have ever experienced. First, they are all about my baby; my mini Peeta. He's always running and playing, having fun with his father and I, but then we hear it. The reaping call. My child is no longer a toddler as it runs toward the sound of the siren but instead he is a teenager, stiff and solemn.
All of my dreams are like this now, my child having to go through a reaping and me being helpless to stop it. There is nothing I can do. I wake up in a cold sweat and screaming and poor Peeta has to try and calm me down and all I can do is clutch my stomach, dreading the day my baby has to come out and meet this cruel world.
"Katniss," Peeta says, peaking his head through the bathroom door, "Hurry up and get out of the shower. Breakfast is ready."
I poke my head out of the side of the shower curtain and stick my tongue out at Peeta; he just laughs and shuts the door behind him as he leaves the room.
I quickly realize how hungry I really am and decide to get out of the shower and start the day. Peeta wants to go baby cloths shopping and I don't object, but since we don't know what the baby is going to be yet we don't really know what to buy.
I step out of the shower and onto the soft rug. I tuck my towel under my arm and grab a hair tie as I head towards the door.
"Katniss are you done y-" Peeta says as he opens to door.
"You were saying?" I tease as I walk toward him. His eyes travel up and down my body and I see his eyebrows raise in amusement. I roll my eyes at him and braid my hair into its signature braid and drape it across my shoulder.
"See anything you like?" I ask and he waggles his eyebrows at me.
"Mrs. Mellark, I like a lot of things about this." He says with a smile as he comes closer to me.
"Like what?" I play. He places his hands on my hips and leans his head down.
"I like this," he says as he kisses my jaw right under my ear, "and this," he places a kiss on my neck, "and this." He presses his lips to mine. I wrap my arms around his neck and glide my tongue across his bottom lip. He deepens the kiss and his hands start to wander as I fist my hands in his hair. His fingers are like live wires and electricity courses through me with every touch as his gentle and capable hands glide across my skin.
We break apart for air but Peeta's lips never leave my skin. He trails kiss along my jaw and across my neck as I try to regain my senses.
"What happened to breakfast?" I breath with a smile.
"It can wait." he replies huskily in my ear. With one swift and smooth motion he scoops me up into his arms, his lips still working at my skin, and caries me to our bedroom.
As soon a I feel my back hit the bed I pull his face up to mine and attach our lips and kiss him hungrily. As he hovers over me I moan in pleasure as I feel the towel slip from my body and Peeta's soft hands explore the newly exposed skin.
"Hello!" I hear from downstairs. Peeta and I both groan and he places his head down on my shoulder buries his head in the crook of my neck. I have never been more annoyed with my former escort than I am right now.
"Why is she here?" I breath heavily.
"I kind of invited her and Haymitch to breakfast and forgot about it." Peeta admits. He kisses my neck and stands up. He stares at me for a moment and a ghost of a smile graces his face; I can tell he is debating whether or not to lock the door and have me right now and ignore the guest we suddenly have.
"Oh just go!" I swat as I stand and head toward the closet. Peeta catches my wrist as I pass him and captures my lips in a slow and loving kiss. We pull apart and he has a large grin on his face as he looks me up and down one more time.
"Peeta Mellark, are you checking me out?" I tease.
"You better believe it." he says before he turns and leaves the room, but not before he kisses me one last time and places a soft hand on my protruding stomach.
I hear Peeta make his way down the stairs and try to regain my composure, but I can't seem to wipe the stupid grin off my face. Heading toward the closet, I look through the new set of maternity cloths I had just recently gone out and bought for myself since I was wearing sweatpants and Peeta's shirts all the time. Peeta, of course, still thought I was gorgeous but I thought I looked like a fat cow, so I went and bought myself something I felt better in. But I have to admit, the sweats were really comfortable.i through on av nice long sleeve dress that wasn't too heavy since the weather was warming up and made my way downstairs.
"Katniss!" Effie exclaims when she sees me. "How lovely to see you! Oh gosh, look at you, your glowing!" she comes over and throws her arms around me, but more carefully than usual because of the baby.
"Um, thank you?" I have never heard of the term glowing before and I'm not quite sure if it's a good or a bad thing.
"Oh don't worry dear, it means you look stunning pregnant."
"Oh." I say with a smile. She smiles back and takes my hand, leading me into the kitchen where the boys are no doubt chatting.
"Hey sweetheart!" Haymitch yells, "Look at you! Your fat!" Peeta reaches his hand across the counter and swats Haymitch across the head.
"She's not fat she's pregnant." he defends and I can't help but smile at my protective husband.
"Yeah yeah. So how are you?" Haymitch asks. Effie leaves my side and goes to take a seat at the table, pulling it out a little so that she is facing us and apart of the conversation.
"I'm good." I reply as I go to also take a seat. "The morning sickness is almost completely gone, but I have a lot more cramps and stomach pains but that's suppose to be normal." I tell them. Everyone just stares at me and Haymitch motions to go on. I sigh and put a hand on my stomach as I continue to talk, "The baby is growing normally. Um, I don't cry nearly as much as I used to, oh, my nightmares came back! And I can't walk up the freaking stairs without having to catch my breath."
"Sounds like fun!" Effie chirps and I have a hard time telling whether or not she is joking.
Peeta laughs and announces that breakfast is ready. Everyone sits down and Peeta lays out a delicious assortment of different types of pancakes, sausages, bacon, and my favorite, a jar of pickles. He smiles at me as he places those on the table.
"Pickles?" Haymitch asks with a grin.
"Don't judge my food cravings." I reply and he just grins down at his food.
"Are pickles your only craving?" Effie asks, intrigued.
"No." I say, "But they are the most often. Sometimes I crave pizza or cheese buns but it's mostly pickles."
We eat in silence for a while, enjoying each others company. We talk about the wedding, the baby and miscellaneous things, but it doesn't last long. The phone rings and I groan as Peeta gets up the answer it. We have been getting non stop phone calls form the Capitol wanting us on TV shows ever since Plutarch called.
"Hello?" Peeta says as he answers it. As soon as the other person talks I know it's Plutarch form the look on Peeta's face. Peeta makes his way over to me and places a hand on my shoulder.
"He wants to talk to you." he says as he hands the phone down to me. I scowl and take the phone from his hand.
"Hello?" I say.
"Katniss!" Plutarch's voice fills my ears. "How lovely to hear from you! How are you?"
"I'm good Plutarch." I reply, "What do you want?"
He seems stunned at my bluntness because he doesn't reply at all for a moment. He probably isn't used to people talking to him in such a way.
"Well, we can either send a camera crew to your house and do a documentary on your life now, or you come to the Capitol for an interview with Caesar."
"And if I refuse?"
"We send a camera crew to your house to get some photos and a word from you." Plutarch sounds fed up with our shenanigans and is no longer playing around. I know that we are the so called "face of panem" but I have never heard Plutarch so pissed off.
"Katniss," Plutarch pleads, "please. The world wants to see you and Peeta. You may not see it but they still need hope. It's been two years since the rebellion and I need to shoe the people that we are still strong. That something good came out of all of this heartache and death. Please."
I look down at my small bump and look up at Peeta. He looks at me puzzled and I smile, trying to reassure him that everything is okay. Haymitch shares the same puzzled look and Effie just looks nervous.
"Will you leave us alone if we agree?" I ask. Peeta's face darkens. Ever since the incident a few weeks ago he hasn't left me alone, especially around other people, and the idea of me going to the Capitol obviously scares him.
"Yes. We just want one interview with you pregnant, and another with the, uh, the baby." he stutters.
"The last one is negotiable. We'll do it." I say. Peeta looks down and I see one hand form a fist but he doesn't say anything.
"Excellent! Be on the next train here! A hotel will be set up, and thank you Katniss."
"No problem." I say through my teeth and hang up the phone.
"What the hell was that about?" Haymitch demands. Peeta runs a hand through hid hair and paces around the kitchen. Effie rings her hands as she looks at the floor.
"Plutarch wants an interview with me and Peeta." I explain and Haymitch nods his head in agreement. His face scrunches up and I can tell me is thinking. Peeta continues to pace and Effie continues to wring her hands.
"It's not that big of a deal." I say. Peeta scoffs and continues to pace, one hand on his hip, the other in his curls. "We're just going for a few days." I try again, but no one budges. This is really starting to get annoying.
"Katniss," Peeta starts, "we don't have to do this." he walks over and stands next to Haymitch's chair as if he is waiting for him to back him on this.
"Peeta," I say, "no matter what we do we can't avoid them forever. Let's just get this over with and move on."
He seems to take this into consideration and I see his brow furrow. "I still don't like it." he says as he turns to look at Haymitch for advice.
"She's your wife." Haymitch shrugs, "But if your going we're going too."
Effie's head shoots up at this. "We are?" she says.
"Yes." Haymitch replies. "You think I'm going to leave these two alone in the Capitol? No offense sweetheart but the last time you were there you did murder the president, and Peeta the last time you were there you tried to murder everyone else. If your going, I'm going too."
"Wonderful!" Effie squeals as she jumps out of her seat with joy. "Oh, Katniss we can go shopping and get you some nice cloths for a change. The have the best maternity stores in all of Panem, you will love it!" she skips over and pecks Haymitch on the cheek, "I'll go pack." she says and thanks us for breakfast on her way out.
The next few minutes are tense and awkward. Haymitch eventually grunts and says something about Effie over packing and Peeta walks him out.
When he comes back into the kitchen I had sat down and started picking at the left over food. Peeta comes and sits across from me. He doesn't say a word, he just takes my hand and holds it for a minute, his other hand propped up on the table supporting his head.
"We don't have to go you know?" he says. I sigh and stand up to put the dishes away.
"Peeta," I say but he cuts me off.
"No Katniss. We should have talked about this, you shouldn't have made this decision on your own." I stand in silence and wait, this is going to be a long rant. "Do you know how that made me feel, Katniss? Helpless. I love you to death, more than you could imagine, but this isn't just you anymore. All I want to do is protect you, keep you safe, but you make it pretty damn hard."
"What's that suppose to mean?" I snap.
"You!" he yells, then lowers his voice. "I'm trying to keep you safe, and you go do stupid things, like go into the woods when I asked you not to! And you won't listen to the doctor when she tells you to take it easy, you practically fought me all the way back home from the hospital that day and now this. Katniss, please, listen to me. You need to hear me."
"I do Peeta, I hear you. But this is the end. All I want right now is to be left alone by Plutarch and his goon squad of paparazzi. I'm not trying to be reckless. Really I'm not. Please can we just not fight." I plead.
He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "I know you're trying to be better, your just stubborn sometimes."
"I know. More like all the time." I admit. He stands and reaches his arms out to me and I immediately walk into his embrace. "I'm sorry." I say into his shoulder.
"I know you are." he says. "I'm sorry for yelling at you." He lays a soft kiss in my hair and I close my eyes, enjoying the warmth of his hold.
"We better go pack." he whispers after a moment.
"Okay." I reply and reach up on my toes and kiss him lightly. He turns to clean the table off and I go up the stairs to start and pack for our trip.
While packing I start to think of how good I feel today. No nausea, so pains, no stretching or pulling, nothing. It's kind of nice to not be in constant pain, I just hope this whole trimester is like this!
"Katniss, do you want me to pack some food for the trip?" Peeta calls up the stairs.
"Please!" I call back. I pack Peeta and I a weeks worth of cloths just to be safe. I pack up all of both Peeta and my medication and our tooth brushes and all the other toiletries. Finally, I finish, just in time to hear Haymitch and Effie chatting with my husband down stairs.
"Hey sweetheart. " Haymitch says as I come down the stairs. "Ready to go?"
"I think so. Do we need anything else?" I ask, turning to Peeta.
"Do you have my medication?" he asks me, taking the suitcase out of my hand.
"Yup. Yours and mine."
"Did you take your pills this morning?"
"Yes, Peeta, I took my pills this morning."
"Then we're ready!" he announces and turns to Haymitch and Effie.
"Do we need to stop at your place?" he asks. Haymitch shakes his head.
"No." he says, "the suitcase is outside, let's go."
I take Peeta's hand and he picks up the suitcase and we all make our way out of the house and and to the train station. We stop at Thom's house and let him know that we are leaving town and won't be back for a week and Peeta wants him to watch the bakery. He happily accepts and wishes us luck on our trip. We thank him and leave, making it to the train station two minutes early.
"This is so exciting!" Effie squeals as he stand and wait for the train to arrive. A whistle blows in the distance and the sound of the train fills the air and we watch the tracks in anticipation.
The silver train pulls into the station and a soft wind brushes my face as it comes to a stop. I look up at Peeta, nervous at his reaction to seeing a train so much like the one we took to the Capitol only a few years ago; but then we were going to say goodbye to life, this time we are going to welcome life and share it with others, whether we want to or not.
Peeta's face tenses slightly but he manages to pull off a smile for me as he squeezes my hand. I can see Haymitch on the other side of Peeta watching his reaction as well. He seems to be turning into a mentor once more and I hope that he can keep himself together for his own sake. Haymitch hasn't turned to the bottle in a while, I would hate if he started drinking again because of me.
"Twelve to Capitol." the conductor says from the door. He looks at us and for a moment and I can see the recognition forming on his face. "Oh my." he breaths. "Welcome! Come on aboard!" he says as he steps off and rushes to take the bags from Peeta and Haymitch.
"Thank you." Peeta says as we step onto the train.
I gasp as I see the inside of the train. Platinum door knobs, chandeliers, mahogany tables. Haymitch and Peeta are statues next to me, the only noise is Effie squealing in delight.
"It's just like the one on the victory tour!"
Peeta's hand tightens around mine with crippling force. Any other time I would say something but I am at this moment squeezing his hand just as tight. Haymitch is muttering swears under his breath and stomping off toward the bar car no doubt as Effie jumps around, basking in all the grandeur that comes with a Capitol train.
"Would you like me to show you to your rooms Mr. and Mrs. Mellark?" an attendant asks. I look up at Peeta to see if he will reply but he is stiff as a statue.
"I think we can find it, thank you." I say as I tug on my husbands hand. He follows, but in a trance like state. His eyes are looking off, glazed over as if he isn't really aware of what's going on. When this happens, I know he is fighting off a flashback.
We find our room and I take him inside, groaning when I turn on the lights and see the exact same room that I stayed in with Peeta on our way to the third Quarter Quell and on the victory tour.
"Peeta." I say. His eyes twitch at the sound of my voice so I continue to talk to him. "We have to get unpacked now. Will you help me please?"
Slowly, his eyes find their way to mine and I smile up at him, reassuring him that everything is okay.
"We stayed in a train just like this one before, real or not real?" he asks. We haven't played this game in forever, this must be a bad episode.
"Real." I reply, standing in front of him and reach my hands up, placing them on his cheeks, "On the Victory Tour and on our way to the second Quarter Quell."
"You and I shared a room, real or not real?" he asks again.
"Real." I reply.
"You're my wife right now and we have a baby on the way, real or not real?"
"Very real, Peeta." I say and take one of his hands in mine. Very gently I place his hand on top of my very small bump. He sighs heavily and places his head on my shoulder, wrapping his arms around my waist. I swing my arms around his neck and hold him for a minute as he regains his senses. He kisses my neck and stands up straight, looking me in the eye.
"I love you." he says, taking my face in his hands.
"I love you too." I reply. I laughs and touches his forehead to mine, "It gets better every time you say that."
I laugh along with him and reach up on my toes. He bends down and meets me half way, bringing our lips together for a short but passionate kiss. We break apart and Peeta decides to unpack.
We spend the rest of the day on the train. It takes roughly two days to get to the Capitol and are in no rush. When it is finally time for bed Peeta and I climb in and I curl up into his chest. Peeta tenses slightly.
"Gale Hawthorne hurt you a little while back, real or not real?" he asks. I turn to see what brought this on and then remember that us, sleeping together on this train, has got to be hard on his mind.
"Real." I admit.
"I talked to gale in his room, real or not real?" he asks again.
"Real." I say. A smile pulls at his lips and he relaxes, taking a large breath and then, after a few minutes, starts to doze off. But I have one question that he had just plucked from the back of my mind that has bothered me ever since I left the hospital.
"Hey Peeta." I say.
"Hmm." he hums, obviously trying to sleep.
"What did you say to Gale that day?"
He chuckles and kisses my head and this only pisses me off. I hate being treated like a small child and not knowing things.
"Seriously Peeta, what did you say to him?"
He sighs and sits up, looking at me with a straight face.
"I will tell you in the morning, okay?" he says. "Right now I just want to go to sleep, not to mention you need the rest as well."
"That's an excuse Peeta." I complain.
"No it's not." he replies cooly. "It's a I'll tell you in the morning, now please, let's just go to sleep." he pleads.
"Fine." I say. "But I want to know first thing in the morning. No ifs ands or buts."
He chuckles and settles back down in the bed, pulling me into his arms with him. "I promise." he whispers. He kisses my head and I turn my face up and peck him on the lips. We settle down for bed, both exhausted from the ordeal of today and ready to move on with our lives.
Sleep soon starts to overtake me, and right when it almost has me, a crash echoes throughout the train.
"Oops." Haymitch giggles as I hear him stumble down the hall outside the door.
Peeta and I just look at each other and burst out into a fit of laughter at our old mentor. Some things never change. This distracts me for a while, but one thought floods my mind as sleep slowly creeps back into me.
What did Peeta say to Gale?
Did you like it!? Well next chapter we do get to see what Peeta said to Gale, and we are going into the Capitol now!
Any predictions on who told the Capitol about the baby? That answer is coming up soon also.
Review please, and I love you all!
Quote from next chapter comes from...Effie!
"Oh how I've missed mahongony!"
-LM