Chapter Eleven
Clove is already 5 months pregnant when she is finally released. By that time, I've already moved into our new apartment. I've been taking care of all the interviews, and even the victory tour, all by myself, which of Clove of course weren't very happy about. Snow had forbidden her to go.
Besides that, she'd already gained quite a lot weight, and the size of her still growing stomach was obviously a bother to her, making her more than a little grumpy. She has been used to being able to run around like a crazy animal, and now she can barely walk a few metres without getting exhausted.
"Cato...!" Her voice cuts through like a knife, and I remove my headphones and go to check on her, in the kitchen. She has the freezer opened, and is looking at me in a rather unpleasant way.
"What's the matter?" I ask innocently, pretending not to know what's gotten her upset. She scowls.
"You ate the last vanilla ice-cream, even though I told you not to! We still have chocolate left, so tell me why you couldn't just've eaten that instead? You know I hate chocolate." She was hissing at me now. I rolled my eyes.
"You dislike chocolate-flavoured ice-cream, when compared to vanilla, but I know you've been eating it as well. And with all those chocolate-bars you've had these last days, you should pick your words more carefully." I sigh, annoyedly. She fills her cheeks with air, so they get all big and bubbly. It's a weird thing she's been doing lately, whenever she knows I'm right. But it's not like she ever admits to it.
"I do not want chocolate-icecream." She crosses her arms, so they're resting on her belly. "Neither do your children." I raise a brow.
"Oh, so now you suddenly know what they want and what they don't want?" I ask, and she nods her head slightly. We've grown more comfortable around each other after the Games has ended. I've spent just about everyday in the Hospital with her, listening to her complains of not being able to leave.
"Of course I do. They're inside me, I feel what they want... And they want vanilla-icecream. How do I explain to them that they can't have any because their stupid-ass father insisted on taking the last?" She's coming closer, trying to look all big and tough. But besides the fact that she's about a head shorter than me, it is hard to be scared by a pregnant 16-year old."(A/N: I don't remember if I've mentioned her age in this before, and if I have I might have said 14 or 16. If I said something different from this, please correct me.)
"Fine, fine. I'll go get some vanilla ice-cream, if it's such a big problem." I give up. I am certainly not in the mood for fighting. Her face lights up.
"Great, I'll come with you!" She says happily. I freeze, and stare at her.
"You're unbelievable... Why in the world would you make me go, when you're wanting to do so yourself?" I ask, caught completely off guard. She starts chewing her bottom lip.
"I want to go outside, but you know how stupid I look when walking. And besides, I'm not in the mood to be stopped by a dozen of fans that wants my autograph or a picture, or who wants to talk completely unnecassary baby-stuff." She admits. I sigh.
"Yeah, like me coming with you will keep the fans away. If anything, it'll only attract them further." I say with a cocky smile. She scowls, and punches me lightly at the shoulder. I've already given in, and she knows. "But anyways, you might want to try and listen to some of that 'unnecassary baby-stuff'. You're gonna need it at some point, and it's not like you've been doing your homework." I say, as we're putting on our jackets. She sticks her feet into the shoes, and I bend down and tie her laces, since she's not able to reach them herself.
"Yeah, it's not like you're doing it either." She replies, and opens the door that leads out to the stairs. I shrug and follow her. She's right - We have both been assigned a ton of books about pregnancy and baby-care, but none of us have even bothered to open one. "Besides, who'd take advice from a Capitol-citizen anyways?" She murmurs. When we get outside, it's freezing. Not many people are out in this weather, and the few that are, are busy getting home. It has been snowing.
Luckily we don't live too far from the store where we usually buy our stuff. Still, I'm rather annoyed to see that Clove hasn't even bothered to put on a scarf, let alone button her jacket.
"I don't need lessons, taking care of you is just like taking care of a little child." I grumble, as I wrap my own, baby-blue scarf around her neck, catching her off guard. She says nothing, while I also with a little trouble, manages to button her jacket. She hides her face as much as possible in the scarf, murmuring something that I can't hear. "You do have your gloves on you, at least... Right?"
"I threw one of them away..." She admits after a few seconds of silence. I sigh, as I notice her right hand isn't covered by anything. Mine is big anyways, so I give her one of them, and when she has taken it on, I slip my hand down into the glove together with her hand. She avoids looking at me, even if she was the first one to realize that what we had was love, she's also the one who's most shy about it.
After the arena, a lot of things have changed. We've been the number one topic of the Capitol-citizens ever since. Clove hates the spotlight, but it doesn't really bother me. We did put our feet in the ground, when they suggested to make a official name poll on our future babies' names. President Snow made us allow them to at least make votes for the middle names, even if none of us liked the idea. So far, the names with most votes was for boys: Peeta and Darique, and for girls: Katniss and Avlon. And yes, the Capitol still hadn't gotten over the star-crossed lovers from 12, who we've ended up killing. Clove hadn't either, and I wasn't sure if it was her mother-instinct or that killing wasn't quite as easy as she'd imagined. She'd been a lot tougher when I met her, and in the arena, always babbling on about how few kills she had.
Everyone had been very touched by the last scenes with Clove and Katniss, after all everybody had been watching. I bet it's the fact that Clove let the other girl through her shield. Knowing someone, if even slightly, and killing them is far different from killing complete strangers, in order to survive. I know Clove volunteered for the games, but she still haven't told me why she did it. She've told me, that if she could do it all over, she'd go back in time to 2, bring me and her huge belly with her, and let someone else volunteer. I didn't know if I wanted the same. It had been the honour I wanted, the glory and fame that came with winning. That's why I volunteered. And now I had it, I wouldn't want to let go of it. If at all, then only for Clove an our unborn babies.
"Why are you spacing out? And stop looking so sentimal. You're making me nauseous." Clove's words pulls me right back out of my thoughts. Oh well, she haven't changed that much. I smile at her annoyed grimace, and squeeze her hand inside the glove.
"I love you." I say, making her blush visibly. I'm laughing inside, as her gaze flickers around, completely avoiding me.
"I love you too." She mumbles, looking at her feet. "But it's really cold outside. Come on, let's go."
"You say you're cold, and you still want ice-cream?" I ask, as she starts pulling me along.
"It's not gonna be cold back in our apartment, stupid. And it's your children, not me, who's craving this vanilla. So stop complaining, and move those feet a little faster." She says, and I follow her willingly, with a big smile plastered on my face. I have no doubts anymore - I am in love with this girl.
I'm not even gonna try to apologize, because nothing I say will make it allright to post this late. You deserve more, my lovely reviewers, readers, favers and so on! I love you! And thanks for your support, I am sorry to have let you down .
This A/N is gonna be kinda long, but it's rather important for me to say these things:
First, I wanna thank everybody who tried helping me out get on with the story, giving me ideas and praising my work. I really owe you guys, more than one of you got tears in my eyes :')
I'm so glad you like my story, even if it isn't perfect. About the chapter, I know it was kinda sappy... And I have a feeling that even though it's not the whole story, some ( a lot) of the upcoming chapters may be sappy-ish... So if you dislike it, I'm sorry .
I also want to apologize for lying. I told you I wouldn't start any other multi-chapter fiction... But I did... I couldn't help it .
I'm gonna post a lot on that one, but it doesn't mean I'll forget this one and I'll update as much as possible, and more than I have these last times :3
My new story is Cato/Rue, if you can handle the 4 years age difference it has, you could give it a try :) It's called "Bad Behaviour" simply because of my lacking inspiration to find a better title... I suck, I know. It's AU, taking place around the 1800-something. Rue is an orphan, who is found on the street by Cato. Cato, who's father is pressuring him to get married, decides to take Rue and her baby brother in, and he marries Rue to support the two of them, and to make his father satisfied. But how will it work out with the two of them? Will they learn to live with each other, and maybe even learn to love? It's pretty sappy, so yeah... Sappy-sap-writer I am ^^
I also have some replies to some of my reviewers, though I won't reply to everybody, I still want to say that everything you post means A LOT to me :)
BTW, I meant to say this earlier, but I don't think I ever did: It was a reviewer who made the baby into two :) A lovely reviewer gave me that lovely idea, and I never even thanked for it! Shame on me, very much indeed! Thank you, you know who you are, I loved your idea and as you can see, I used it ^^
(Anon)Elizabeth: Hi there! Thanks for reviewing, and thanks for your name suggestions ^^
I'm sorry, but I already have the twins completely planned out, though as you can see I used one of your names for the poll :)
Shimafan1548: Just wanted to say that I love your idea :D We'll see how it turns out :3
RosiePotter: Do I have to tell you how much your words meant to me? You are a very lovely person3 I've also noticed you before, and I really appreaciate everything you've done, and also the two tips ;) Music helps me a lot ;D I'm glad to have you as a reviewer!
Mysticdarkrose00: Thanks for your great ideas, the wedding is supposed to be big, and I also used the baby-name polls idea, as you can see ^^ I can totally see the Capitol do all of these things!
Traya001: You're also one of the reviewers, who I owe a lot! You're words really keep me up, when I feel like throwing it all in the trash. I'm really lucky to have a reviewer like you! :]3
Ola: The reviews you've posted lately reminds me that I have readers, and that I owe them something in return for their wonderful support. Without rushing me, you manage to make me wanna update a lot! Thank you for this, you got me back on track! ^^
Blue Heart Dreamer: You know what? I can't wait to write that scene! :D
