Alright. Back with another chapter. Hope you like this one.

Let's get to it.

Chapter 19- Surprise

I gently cradle Willow as I rest against a tree. Peeta is sitting right next to me, one arm around me and staring down at our daughter with love. Wiress is sitting next to me, eyes fixated on Willow and just smiling. The others are all sitting around us, either keeping watch or watching me and Peeta.

I've been feeling more concerned for Willow as the time has passed. She's been very quiet and not moving very much. I'm worried that there might be complications or something wrong with her. And I have no way of knowing what might be wrong with her.

"Is she doing okay?" Finnick asks.

"I don't know. She's been so quiet. I just don't know what could be wrong with her, or if there even is anything wrong with her," I respond, feeling so afraid for my daughter. I've known her for less than an hour, but I already love her more than I thought I could ever love anything. I've asked myself multiple times since she was first place on my chest why I never wanted to have children.

A moment later, Johanna says, "Cashmere and Gloss may have spared us, but they won't do it again. They only said they wanted to give you guys some time as a family. They still want to win the Games, and Brutus and Enobaria are more ruthless than them."

Peeta glares at her, but she just shrugs. However, Beetee is the one who responds when he says, "I may actually have a plan to deal with that."

We all look Beetee, interested in what he has to say. Once he knows he has all of our attention, he asks, "Where do the Careers feel safest? The jungle?"

"The jungle's a nightmare," Johanna responds.

"Probably here on the beach," Peeta says

"Then why are they not here?" Beetee asks.

"Because we are. We claimed it," Johanna says.

"And if we left, they would come," Beetee says.

"Or stay hidden in the treeline," Finnick says.

"Which in just over 4 hours will be soaked with water from the 10 o clock wave. And what happens at midnight?" Beetee asks.

I'm still mostly focused on Willow, willing her to make more sound or move move so that I know she's okay, but I'm still paying enough attention to Beetee to say, "Lightning strikes that tree."

"Here's what I propose. We leave the beach at dusk. Myself, Wiress, Peeta and Finnick will head to the lightning tree, while Seeder and Johanna take Katniss and Willow to safety. Prior to midnight, we then run this wire from the tree to the water. Anyone in the water or on the damp sand will be electrocuted," he says.

I feel anxiety creep into me at the thought of being separated from Peeta right now. Before I can say anything, however, Johanna asks, "How do we know the wire's not going to burn up?"

"Because I invented it. I assure you, it won't burn up," Beetee says.

Johanna and Finnick then exchange a look, and I look at them curiously. Johanna then says, "Well, it's better than hunting them down."

"And even if it fails, no harm done," Seeder says.

"Alright. I say we try it. But I want to go with Katniss," Peeta says.

"I'd prefer you go with me. I'll need someone strong and skilled to hold off the Careers. Johanna and Seeder can protect Katniss," Beetee says.

Peeta and I exchange a look. Suddenly, we hear a scream, and a woman's voice screams, "Finnick! Help me!"

Finnick's eyes shoot wide open, and he sprints as fast as he can into the jungle, yelling, "Annie! Annie!"

"Finnick!" Peeta shouts as he sprints after him into the jungle. Beetee and Johanna hurry after them, leaving me behind with Wiress and Seeder. I stare after them, wondering what's going on.

I'm not sure how long it is before they come back. When they do, I see Finnick and Peeta both looking shaken. Peeta hurries right to me and embraces me, careful not to squish Willow between us. Finnick just walks slowly past us, almost in a daze, and sticks his trident in the sand as he walks into the water and sits down.

Finally, Peeta lets go of me and looks back at me. I look at him in concern and ask, "What happened?"

"Jabberjays," he says, and I realize in an instant what happened.

"You heard me, didn't you?" I ask.

"Yes. It scared me so badly," Peeta says, giving me another quick hug.

Johanna then comes out of the trees and sits down next to us, looking a little somber. She sits down and looks at Finnick.

I look at Johanna, a question on my mind about Finnick's words as he raced into the trees. "Who's Annie?" I ask.

Johanna is quiet for a moment before saying, "Annie Cresta, the girl Mags volunteered for. She won maybe four, five years ago."

"Is she the one that went a little-?" I say, trailing off, remembering Annie's Games. She went crazy went her district partner was beheaded. Later on, an earthquake broke a dam and flooded the arena. Annie won because she was the best swimmer.

Johanna looks at me and nods. She then looks back at Finnick before she says, "Love is weird."

I look down at Willow, thinking about that. Yes, love is weird. But it's the best thing in this world.

Suddenly, Willow begins making some noises more than just her soft cooing. Then, she begins to cry, the first time she's cried since she was born.

I look down at her, tears of happiness coming to my eyes, taking this as a sign that she's not in too bad of shape. I cuddle her closer to me and bounce her slightly and softly, whispering, "There, there, my little pearl. It's okay. Mommy's here."

However, she continues to cry, and her cries steadily get louder. I try singing a song in a very soft voice, but she just continues to cry.

"I think she's hungry," Seeder says.

I feel slightly foolish for not having known that. I feel like, as a mother, I should've known that's why she was crying. I also feel slightly embarrassed, knowing exactly how I'm going to have to feed her.

"Peeta, unzip the back of my jumpsuit. Seeder, hand me a towel," I say. Peeta unzips the back of my jumpsuit, and Seeder hands me a towel. I pull down the front of jumpsuit, then pull the towel over me to cover my chest before I lift Willow up to one of my breasts. I try to get her to latch on, but she doesn't.

I feel a bit frustrated as I keep trying to get Willow to start feeding, but she won't. She just keeps crying. My frustration turns to worry, and then to panic as minutes pass and I still can't get her to latch on.

"It's not working. She's not eating. I can't get her to latch on," I say with panic in my voice.

Seeder moves over to me. "Let me see if I can help. I've had to help several new mothers get their babies to feed," she says.

A tiny part of me feels embarrassed, but the main emotion I'm feeling is concern for my daughter. If she can't eat when she's this premature, I don't think she'll survive for very long.

Seeder has me raise the towel a bit, and tries to help me get Willow to start feeding. But after a few more minutes, she's still not feeding, and her crying is dying down. Though not from not being hungry. I can tell she's getting weaker.

"She's still not eating!" I cry. I look at Peeta, tears running down my face, and say, "Peeta, what are we going to do?!"

He looks back at me, worry on his face too, and a look of helplessness as well. I start to think that it was for nought and my baby is going to both be born and die in the arena.

Then, something unusual happens. Without warning, trumpets begin to blare. We all look up at the sky, knowing that this can only mean some kind of announcement.

Then, we hear the voice of Claudius Templesmith as he says, "Attention, tributes, attention. We have an important announcement. Just a short time ago, something never before seen has happened. For that reason, the Capitol has made the decision to stop the Games. All tributes, remain where you are. Hovercraft will be arriving at your positions momentarily to retrieve you."

All of us stare around at each other in complete shock. Of all the possible announcements that could have been made, I had never in a million years expected this.

Finally, Johanna says, "They can't be serious. Can they?"

"I guess we'll find out," Beetee says a moment later.

We then hear the sound. We look up and see a hovercraft approaching. Instead of lowering a claw, the hovercraft lowers to just off the beach about 40 yards away.

A door opens in the hovercraft, and Capitol medical attendants rush out. They rush over to me with a stretcher, and quickly load me onto it with Finnick's help. They then take off towards the hovercraft, with some more Capitol officials escorting them towards the hovercraft.

As soon as I am taken into the hovercraft, I see an area blocked off filled with medical equipment. A doctor hurries up to me, and before I can react, eases Willow out of my arms.

"No!" I scream as the doctor takes me daughter away from me and hurries her back towards the blocked off area, where the rest of the doctors are waiting. I scream and throw myself off the stretcher. I try to drag myself across the floor of the hovercraft after my baby before I feel a syringe enter my back and I black out.

I slowly open my eyes, looking around and wondering where I am. A second later, I remember what was happening before I blacked out, and I shoot up as I scream, "Willow!"

"Easy! Easy!" I look and see Peeta next to me, reaching out and laying a hand on my shoulder.

"Where is she?" I demand, hysterics entering my voice.

"Katniss, breathe. Everything is okay. We're in the Capitol in a hospital. All the activity in the Games adversely affected your body, and that plus the birth, and you flinging yourself off that stretcher, caused some complications. The doctors want to keep you here for a few more days at least," Peeta says.

"Peeta, where is our daughter?!" I demand.

Peeta looks back at me reassuringly before he says, "She's okay. She's alive. The doctor took her from you because they were worried about complications. She's in what's called the NICU right now. It's a really intensive care unit for babies born with problems and premature babies. The doctors say, for being 10 weeks early, she's remarkably healthy. They say she's having some trouble eating still, so they have an IV in her to give her nutrients. She has several infections, and was having some trouble breathing. But, now that they have her in the NICU, they say she'll be fine. She'll have to stay here in the Capitol for over a month probably, but she'll be fine."

Relief floods through me, and I feel such an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for those Capitol doctors for saving my baby's life.

I look at him and ask, "Were they serious about the Games being done?"

"Absolutely. It sounds like nobody could stand to see the Games go on when Willlow was born, so the Capitol decided to stop the Games. They're not going to be restarting them, and all the Tributes still alive when the announcement went out are out," Peeta says.

"Who's still alive?" I ask.

"The seven of us, the Careers, and Chaff," Peeta responds.

"Wow. Half of the tributes made it out," I say.

"Yeah," Peeta says.

I sit there. Then, I realize something and look at Peeta. "Peeta…we're both alive, and so is Willow. We get to be parents together. We can be a family," I say, emotion in my voice.

Peeta smiles at me. "Yeah. We can," he says.

I reach out for him, and he embraces me. We sit there and cry together for a long time, happy that w'ere both alive, that our baby is alive, and that we get to start our family together.

And, I'll end there.

So, may not have been expecting that, were you? Yes, the Capitol decided to just end the games. Of course, it was very reluctant, as Snow will make crystal clear soon enough. But for now, it's a relatively happy ending.

Now, obviously, Beetee never got to execute the plan. So, I will spoil that the rebellion will not be beginning. In fact, this story only has a few more chapters. However, the rebellion will happen, and it will take place in the much longer sequel story.

Alright. I'll try and have the next chapter up later today. Until it's up, leave a review, and stay tuned!