Chapter 13- Accepting

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS IN IT, THIS IS SIMPLY A FICTIONAL WRITING WRITTEN FOR PURE ENJOYMENT. THANK YOU.

Peeta nearly cries at the fact that I say that I am ready to have children. To be honest, I am not, but seeing him happy is worth it.

I stare at his eyes; his scars on the side of his head are healing from the ointment, but are still vaguely visible.

"Katniss… Are you sure? I mean I don't want you to not be ready, or to feel pressured; I really don't want that to cause a ruckus. If you don't feel ready, don't do it-"

I cut him off, "Yes, Peeta, I am ready! I want to see what we would look like together, as a family, and make you happy."

"Katniss, will you be happy?"

I think about it, will I? I probably will not, it will bring up too many dark memories. I don't care, so I twist the truth, "Of course I will be!" I say as happily as I can manage.

"Good!" He kisses me, "I am so happy you are ready! I love kids! I cannot believe that on the very first day of school, I fell for that girl who sang the meadow song, but now… Now, she is mine. You are my whole world. I am so lucky, too lucky. Everyday I am with you I am convinced it is a dream, and when I open my eyes I will wake up again in 12. It's not, and I am so grateful for that, Katniss, I truly am."

"I am amazingly grateful for you too Peeta." I am scared now, what if I don't love the child? What if Peeta loves the child more than me? What if the child is scared because of my nightmares? What is Peeta hates me because I will not love the child? The horrible list continues in my head as Peeta talks to me. I am not listening, I am dazing off, I know, but I can't control it.

"Katniss? Did you hear me?" Peeta asks.

"No- I am sorry, I was distracted."

"I was talking about the wedding. I am assuming you want to get married before we have a baby…"

Yes! Of course! We needed to get married first before anything could happen!

"Yes! I do, I feel like having a stable household put in place will be a good idea before bringing a child into the situation."

"Right. Well we need to tell everyone about the engagement." He says, disappointed.

"We can call Effie, then my Mom, then the other tributes, then Caesar and schedule an interview…" I say.

"Well, I am still not out of the hospital! Hah!" He laughs.

"Oh, I am sorry, I forget sometimes." I note.

"It's okay Katniss, I will be out soon!" He says cheerfully as he rubs my shoulder.

"Yeah, I want to talk to Dr. Aurelius. I will be right back." I say as I get up.

"Oh-okay…" He says.

"I will be back! Don't worry! Nothing can hurt me out there."

I start walking and I look down at the floor while doing so, I didn't want anyone to recognize me. Not now. I keep walking at a steady pace and a woman bumps into me.

"Oh excuse me." I say, briefly.

"Katniss?" The woman asks.

It is my mother, looking shocked. She hugs me.

"Oh, hi Mom." I say.

"Why are you here?" She asks.

I guess they kept it really quiet that Peeta was here. No press came, which was nice. The press has been laid back, Effie told them that I was really tired form the rebellion and needed some rest before we were asked questions. It didn't stop them from stalking me inside my home and taking pictures, long story short, they are nowhere near me now.

"Peeta is in here, he's receiving treatment…" I say, quietly.

"Oh Katniss! I am so sorry!" She says with remorse.

"It is okay,' I try and cut things short, 'do you know where Dr. Aurelius is? I need to talk to him…"

"Third floor, Katniss, I love you." She hugs me hard.

"I love you too Mom."

I run to the third floor and find Dr. Aurelius standing with Beetee.

"Hi! Beetee? Why are you here?" I hug him.

"Katniss, we need to tell you something that will change the treatment course." Beetee says frankly.

"Well is it good?"

"Yes, we believe that once we put in this device, he will stop his horrible behavior once and for all."

"Well that is great! What is it?"

"Well it is a little chip, that will connect to the inside of his frontal lobe, where memory is controlled, and we will trigger it to use a special serum that will erase the signals running to the rest of his brain of his fake memories then later on causing his actions and so forth." He sees my confusion, and then looks down at my hand. "I see you two are engaged, congratulations."

"Well thank you. Is the special serum dangerous?"

"No, all natural."

"And you are sure that it will work? It will not cause any harm to him? Or pain?"

"No, nothing will affect him." Beetee notes.

"Well when can we do it?" I ask him.

"Well, you see Katniss, Peeta's head is a little jumbled because of the EST, which as you know is very painful… This resulting in the fact that he will need to stay and recover for a little while before he can get the surgery."

"How long is a little while?" I ask, my heart is beating at this point.

"8 more months until it is all over." He says.

"I guess 8 more months it is then." I say, accepting the fate that we both have in front of us.

8 more months without Peeta.

8 more months getting ready for a wedding.

8 more months to prepare for children.

8 more months to accept everything.