Ch 11

A month goes by, and I feel like I haven't even blinked. Artimis had us legally married on paper, but I wasn't invited to the ceremony. I'm not sure I even signed the right paperwork to make it legal. None the less he was King, so whatever he decreed would be. Worry has taken over me as I anticipate a pregnancy, and my fears are a reality when I being to throw up every morning. The slightest smells send me, and I've even asked Artimis to stop wearing his cologne. He is ecstatic to have a child on the way. I personally become numb to the idea, and so I carry the pregnancy.

I am given a regiment to do every day that includes all of my meals. Artimis is serious about having a healthy child, so he dictates everything I do. I eat what I'm given and I exercise when I'm told to. I'm not put on camera in the beginning which I'm thankful for, but once I being to show Artimis wants to parade us around as a family.

I can tell the districts are unhappy, but they aren't suffering. The thought is the only thing that keeps me from killing myself. At lease they aren't starving like they did in Snow's reign and we're not killing children but creating them. Any time I am put on TV I can feel how much the people of Panem hate me, but I don't care anymore. The only person I care about has been gone for 2 months now.

I spend most of my time in my study reading books written about Peeta, and I often get lost in there for hours while I read every word written about him. As I leave the study in the evenings I kiss his picture and walk to my room, praying I will dream of him.

The doctor confirms my pregnancy and that the baby is healthy. The size of the baby puts me at 20 weeks, and I can see Artimis tense up.

"2 weeks? It should be closer to 17 weeks…" he says. The doctor looks at the baby in the ultrasound again confirms 20 weeks.

"These things aren't concrete; the baby could be growing faster than normal." She says and gives me a small smile. I smile back, but my brain is turning on another thought.

"Looks like you've been taking care of our baby!" He says kissing me on the forehead as the doctor cleans off my belly. Artimis bids me farewell and I am free to roam the mansion by myself. I quickly run to my study and close the door behind me. I look at the calendar on the wall and count back 26 weeks. I look upon the date in awe, and I know the doctor is correct. This baby is 26 weeks along, and it isn't Artimis's.

Peeta picks at his food on their lunch break, not able to eat as he thought about Katniss. He was so close to her, but never close enough to see here or hear her voice. He was in the mansion just last night delivering paintings, but he never was left alone to roam the halls in search of her. Finnick sits down next to him and pats him on the back, his food tray in front of him. Working in the gem mines was rough work, and he wished more than anything in the world he could be with her again.

"Any more plans?" Finnick asks under his breath as he takes a bite of the slop they served them.

"Not yet." Peeta says, looking around to make sure nobody heard him. They only had a few moments to talk before others filed in around them, and Peeta only saw Haymich and Finnick at lunch. Peeta looks down at his hands, dirt and dried blood caked them. He'd been watching Katniss on TV, and he knew she was healthy and alive, and it as the only thing that has kept him sane. He saw her proclaim her love for him, thinking he was dead, and Peeta decided to keep it that way. Artimis must not have told her they had been knocked out by those electric guns. Stunned by Tasers Haymich had explained. Katniss wouldn't put herself in danger to save him if she thought he was dead. Gale sat across them and nodded towards Peeta. Peeta shook his head, he didn't have any more information.

Peeta had been contracted to paint murals and pictures for the mansion. He was so talented Artimis requested it himself. Peeta then came up with a plan to gain their trust to find a way to get Katniss out. Peeta knew she was pregnant, he has been asked to paint the mural in the baby's nursery, but he didn't blame her for doing what she needed to. He thought about the baby and having to raise it as his own after he figured out how to save her. The thought made him so ill he pushed his tray away. Gale pushed the tray back towards him, forcing him to try eating again.

Haymich sat next to Gale, huffed a little and rolled his eyes.

"Did you see the bird?" He asks Peeta, but Peeta sighs.

"No, they have it pretty caged up." He says. They've referred to Katniss as the bird since they were captured, and it's worked pretty well as a code word.

"Do they have iron bars? Or are there cats watching?" Finnick asks. Peeta smiles a little at the lingo he is using.

"Cats; about seven. They're watching all the time, not counting the Crow." He explained. Men filed in next to them and sat down, so all discussion about the bird ended. The quickly finished their meals and deposited their trays and got back to work before the soldier came to whip them.

Peeta limped to his hut in the outskirts of District 1, and of course he was forced the share with Gale. It was awkward at first, but after a few months they both got over it. He was almost inside when the siren came, and Gale greeted him outside the tent. Peeta's prosthetic constantly got stuck in the mud that surrounded their little slave village, and it was a constant ache in his leg that caused him to limp.

"Well at least we get to see her tonight." Gale says, and Peeta nods. As much as he hated the royal broadcasts, he usually got to see Katniss. The last one he saw they announced their marriage, and Peeta went on a rampage through the village that awarded him 20 lashings. They both walked to the common area in the square of their little village and stood waiting for Finnick and Haymich to join them. Haymich clasped Peeta's shoulder while Peeta tried to calm his nerves. As everyone in the village filed in, warn and tired faces gazed upon the screen in front of them.

"Citizens of Panem, We are happy to inform you that our baby is happy and healthy. Our little prince or princess is 20 weeks along, and we should be expecting or baby to arrive early June. Thank you so much for you love and kind thoughts. I speak for both of us when I say we are so excited to give you an heir of Panem." Artimis says. Peeta gazes upon her, her stomach a little more swollen then the last time he saw her. She wore a dress fit for a queen, and the crown on her head made her look holy in some ways. Peeta began counting on his fingers. He covered his mouth with his hand in shock, and Haymich grabbed him before Peeta could lose control of his emotions.

"That's my baby!" Peeta growled through his teeth. Haymich nodded, he'd done the math too. Gale looks at the both of them confused, Finnick close behind them.

"What's wrong Peet?" Gale asks.

"That's my baby!" Peeta says again, pulling away from Haymich to pace a little. Finnick's face goes white as he looks back at Katniss on the screen.

"Really Peeta?" He asks. Peeta nods forcefully.

"To the day Finnick. That baby is mine." He says. Gale sighs painfully but doesn't say anything.

"Let's just hope little Mellark takes after his mother and not after you." Haymich says, and his words cause Peeta to fall to the ground. He buries his face in his hands and screams, his anger welling inside of him. Finnick helps Peeta to his feet.

"He'll kill it and her if that kid comes out blond." Gale says as a matter of fact. Peeta begins to cry out, tension filling his body as he kicks at the dirt. The other men in the village being to watch him, but become un-interested when they see it's Peeta; they've gotten used to seeing this behavior from him. They all saunter back to their assigned huts and the 4 men are left to talk.

"I'm going to kill that man." Peeta seethes. Finnick looks at Haymich who is just as shocked. Peeta was always the most gentle of them all. He's the only one who's never really killed anyone.

"We need to get her and the baby out of there, preferably still inside." Haymich says, but Gale shakes his head.

"When mom had Posey she could hardly walk the last few weeks, Kat isn't going to be able to run." Gale says.

"I have a plan," Peeta says, and they all huddle around to hear it.