I am doomed to die.
I can't conceive a baby with Peeta. I've been trying for so many long months now, and nothing has worked. Even if I somehow managed to conceive now it wouldn't matter- the baby would arrive far too late to pass for the one that the Capitol is expecting. The only thing I could possibly do now is adopt, and I would have to adopt within my tiny circle of friends. I could never trust anyone else with anything this big. And are any of my friends pregnant? No. Even if they were, would they give up their child- to me, of all people? No.
I am doomed to die.
The calls for interviews have slowed dramatically now that my false bump is so much bigger; nobody in the Capitol is interested in a fat woman with only complaints of an aching back and morning sickness to offer up. They'd have picked back up double time when the baby was born, and triple time when Peeta was out of the arena, too. That is, assuming he made it out alive. He's so close, and yet so far. I know he'd rather sacrifice himself than murder in cold blood.
The thought that he might not come back to me makes me sick to my stomach, but I have to ignore it as best I can and get on with life. I have duties to fulfil, and unfortunately the biggest one right now is meeting with my mother and Cinna every day to try and muster up a get-out clause somehow. We just sit in practical silence for an hour or so before one of us- normally me- gives up and walks out. Today's meet up is in five minutes, and I am making my way slowly to the dining room where we gather in hope of answers.
I walk weirdly with the foreign bump attached to me; I must wear it all times now, just in case anyone walks in. They do that a lot lately, Snow's men- they just turn up at any random moment and ask a few mundane questions before leaving again. I think it's to check on my pregnancy, though Cinna says that's me being paranoid. I think they can smell a rat. Luckily they haven't gone so far as to ask to see my bump; the closest to that was when they asked to touch it, which was a terrifying experience. It took everything I had to not flinch away. Someone else I have to keep pleased is Effie, who likes to pop in when she has a spare minute.
I push open the door to the dining room; my mother and Cinna are already sat down and they watch me waddle to my seat awkwardly. Cinna kindly pulls my chair out for me and I give him a rare smile.
"So," Mom says, as she always does.
"So," Cinna repeats as he sits back down.
"So," I echo. I am met with a lingering silence. After little under a minute, my mother's personal communicator bleeps, and she excuses herself to pick up the call.
"I wish I could get one of those," Cinna says quietly.
"Hello," Natalie Everdeen answered her communicator as soon as she was out of the room. "Is everything ok?"
"Perfectly fine, as far as I know," The girl's voice replied. "I've made my decision. I'm giving you the baby."
"Oh, honey..." Natalie Everdeen's relief was clear. "Thank you so much." A few moments of silence passed and when Mrs Everdeen spoke again, she was much more guarded. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. I never wanted anything to do with it, you knew that," she said quietly. "I'm too young, I'm too poor, I hate the father..."
"I know, sweetie, I know," Natalie replied, her tone of voice soothing. "But it's a big decision to make on a whim. How much have you thought about this, honestly?"
"It's all that's been on my mind, ever since you asked me all those weeks ago." Natalie still couldn't believe it. She remained speechless and the girl carried on. "I'd like to know the parents. I mean, if that's allowed. I'm... kinda curious about it. I want to see how it grows up, you know?" She struggled to sound like she had no attachment to the child and it made Natalie's chest throb.
"Of course, that's perfectly fine. I'll make sure of that." She finally allowed a smile to break free and it reigned supreme across her face. "I'll never be able to thank you enough for this."
"Just... Just let me know where it is. And make sure that it's cared for. That's all I want."
"That's ensured from the day it's born with the parents you're giving him or her to." She paused, deciding to trust her generous patient wholly, before continuing. "It'll be here in the Capitol for a few weeks before- before coming back to District Twelve, actually."
"Oh!" The surprise Natalie heard was happy. "So they'll be close to me?""They'll be even closer to me," Mrs Everdeen said quietly. "Next door, in fact." The young girl on the other end gasped.
"You mean... Katniss... The baby will be hers?"
"Yes." Natalie's voice was a whisper. She couldn't risk being heard by anyone but her daughter and the stylist next door, and even then, the girl might want to stay anonymous.
"Oh God, did she miscarry?!" The girl's voice fills with panic.
"No, no, she- it's a long story, one that we'll explain once you get to the Capitol."
"I'm coming to the Capitol? Oh my God!" The delight in her voice made Mrs Everdeen's smile grow. "When? I can come, I can come tomorrow! How long for?! Days, weeks- months?"
"Tomorrow sounds good to be honest," Natalie admitted. "I'll sort your permission and pass out from this end tonight. And you'll need to stay until the baby is here. Then your time is your own again." She took a deep breath. "You- you cannot speak of this to anyone. Anyone. If this gets out-"
"Oh God, I understand completely," the girl gushed. "I won't breathe a word. My lips are completely sealed. I'll be..." She stops to think. "I'll be passing on pregnancy tips to my old friend. That's almost true." An awkward laugh came from both ends of the call. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Dr Everdeen."
"Yes. I'll meet you at the train station. Wear sunglasses and a hat of some sort, and something that hides your figure as much as possible."
"That'll be hard, at over eight months pregnant, but I'll try."
"It's just in case the press are there, which they probably will be. Prepare yourself." There was very little humour in Natalie's words. "Thank you. Thank you for everything." The girl sighed.
"You're welcome. Thank you. You've made this a lot easier for me." Her chest ached once more for the poor girl's plight. "Goodbye."
"Bye, honey." The callers both signed off.
"...and it's silly!" Cinna rounds off his 'I-want-a-communicator' speech with a flourish. I sigh.
"The only people who have personal communicators are doctors," I reply nonchalantly. "They just had to give Mom one, just in case there are any problems with the Baby On Fire." I roll my eyes. Cinna laughs and I join in, perhaps a little hysterical. Still, it feels good. It's been too many days since I forgot my impending death sentence for long enough to laugh. We dwindle into silence and stay quiet until Mom re-enters the room, a huge smile on her lips and happy tears in her eyes.
"We're gonna be ok," she says ecstatically. "I've found you a baby."
AN: ERMAGAWSH YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST! Over 100 reviews! Thank you all so, so much :D And thank you for being so patient over the summer!
In response to chattygleek's and shadowofmyself435's question (how would Katniss pull off having the baby over 2 months later than expected?)- Katniss would have claimed she didn't want the baby in the eyes of the media while she and Peeta grew accustomed to having a child, so she'd stay away from the press for a few months. Then when she did emerge she'd just say the baby was small for its age. As she's no longer having to try, the plan will never be put into action. But who do you think the mystery mother is? Leave your guesses in the reviews! ;) Thank you for reading! x