DISCLAIMER: HG characters do not belong to me.

A/N: I apologize again for the delayed updates Life has been pretty busy for me at the moment, but this story will be finished! My goal is for the story to be done by end of March.

Chapter 128-Blue

"We have another beautiful girl Catnip" Gale whispers into Katniss's ear as she holds her arms up and he places the unhappy newborn in her arms.

Totally exhausted from her lack of sleep the night before but eager to bond with her baby, Katniss is disappointed when the nurse takes the baby away after a few moments, unable to get the newborn to stop screaming.

An hour later Katniss sits up in the hospital bed, her abdomen now stitched up, she is still numb from the fast-acting medication she was given right before her C section was performed.

She is anxious as she waits for the nurse to bring her new daughter back into the room. Having been through childbirth three times before, Katniss knows the nurses and doctor need to examine the infant and clean her up before bringing the baby back to her. She is alone, for Gale was outside in the waiting room with Hazelle, Vick, Layla, and the kids.

A large smile crosses her face when the nurse comes back in. The baby still crying, the nurse says to Katniss, "She did not want to come out" while handing the baby to her.

Cradling the small baby in her arms, Katniss tries to soothe the upset infant but is unsuccessful. Trying a different approach, Katniss opens up her gown and pulls out her breast, hoping the baby will begin to feed.

The baby immediately begins to calm down as she begins nursing, quickly sucking so hard it caused Katniss to gasp in surprise. She repositions the baby so that she can breastfeed more easily with the baby's body tucked under her arm. She then places a pillow beside her so that she can rest her arm, silence overcomes the room as the baby feeds. Katniss can see the baby's eyes blink, but cannot see her eyes directly due to the position she was in. The baby's head totally bald, no traces of any hair can be seen.

"I'll leave you both alone now, ring the bell if you need anything" the nurse says laying a gentle hand on Katniss's shoulder before walking out.

"Thank you" Katniss says appreciatively as she watches the woman leave. A few moments later Katniss hears a soft knock on the door and sees Gale's face in the door window.

She nods her head letting him know it was alright to come in, and she smiles as he quickly comes over to her and pulls a chair up beside the bed.

"How is she doing?" Gale asks, a huge smile on his face.

"Quiet now that she is eating" Katniss says smiling back at him.

"Do you want everyone to come in? The kids are excited to see her" Gale asks.

"In a few more minutes, I want to make sure she is full before I stop feeding her." Understanding her need for privacy, Gale knows even after all the years she has known Hazelle and Vick, there was no way she would ever breastfeed in front of them. Katniss breastfed all of her children in private, only breastfeeding openly in front of him.

He leans in and kisses her softly and gently touches the baby. Gale sits and watches them and when the baby finally finishes feeding, Katniss gasps in shock when she looks down at the baby's face.

"What is it?" Gale says, moving closer immediately concerned that something was wrong.

"Her eyes-look!" Katniss says and reaches for Gale's arm bringing him closer to her chest.

Gale is taken aback as he looks into the baby's eyes, expecting to see the same gray color he and Katniss and their children have, he is shocked when he sees deep blue eyes staring back at him.

The same shade of blue as Prim and her Mother's eyes. The shade of blue the typical merchant of District 12 had.

"Her eyes are just like-"

"Prim's" Katniss says interrupting him.

"And your Mother's."

Katniss shakes her head and says, "No, they are exactly like Prim's. My mom's eyes are a lighter shade of blue, these are darker, just like hers."

Gale tries to remember Prim's exact eye color, while he spent a lot of time with Prim, the memories began to fade as the years went by since her death. With it being almost twenty years since he last saw Prim, Gale doesn't have the heart to tell Katniss he doesn't remember the difference between her Mother and Prim's eyes.

"I guess this makes her name even more significant" Gale says as Katniss hands the baby over to him.

"Would it bother you if she ends up having blonde hair as well?" Katniss asks, catching him off guard.

He jerks his head up and says, "No! Of course not. Our lives in District 12 happened over twenty years ago, the past is the past. This is my child, I love her no matter what. Boy or girl, blonde hair or black hair, blue eyed or gray eyed. I can't believe you would ask me that."

Knowing that she was in the wrong she sighs and says, "I'm sorry, I just-I'm so tired and-I'm afraid."

"Hey, we agreed not talk about that right now okay? We need to enjoy this moment, this is our last baby, we need to take advantage of every second we have with her" Gale says looking fiercely into her eyes.

Katniss nods as the baby's small fingers wrap around her finger. She moves up and kisses the baby's head as Gale continues to hold her.

"Maybe everyone should wait until tomorrow to see her, you need your rest" he says as he places the baby back into her arms.

"No-I want everyone to meet her, Please, let's bring everyone in."

"Okay, but they are not staying any longer than an hour. I'll take everyone out to lunch in order for you to get some sleep."

A few moments later, Katniss smiles as Hazelle, Layla, Vick, Sienna, Avery, Jackson and Taran come in. Jackson now 4 and Taran 3, the two boys were extremely close since Taran was still an only child and Jackson the only other boy in the family.

Hazelle as expected swoops in and takes the baby from Katniss's arms. Used to this behavior, Katniss sits back and tries to relax as Hazelle gushes over her newest Grandchild.

"Mom are you okay? You look sad" Sienna says as she comes over to Katniss.

"I'm fine sweetie, I'm just really tired" Katniss says, not letting on that she was beginning to feel some pain in her abdomen, the numbing medication beginning to wear off.

"Her eyes are blue!" Avery says as the baby is placed on her lap on the chair, Taran and Jackson leaning over her to get a better look.

"Yes they are" Gale says as he kneels down wrapping his arm around Taran.

"How come her eyes aren't like ours?" Jackson asks confused.

"Because it appears your new sister might look more like your Grandmother's side of the family" Hazelle says.

"Will she have light hair like Grandma?" Avery asks.

"We don't know yet, she might" Gale says smiling.

"Her eyes are so pretty" Sienna says, waiting patiently for her chance to hold the baby.

"Enough about the eyes, what's her name?" Vick asks quickly changing the subject.

"Well, before we saw that she has eyes like my sister's, we had decided on a name that would represent our District. As you know, this will be the last baby for us, it took us a while to agree on a tree name but-her name is Juniper."

"Juniper-I love it" Layla says leaning in and giving Katniss a hug.

"It's a lovely name and both of your Father's would have been proud of the two of you choosing a name to honor District 12" Hazelle says.

"Thanks Mom" Gale says appreciatively.

Once everyone has their turn to hold Juniper, Gale quickly ushers everyone out saying that he will be taking them all to lunch at the new restaurant that opened up near Hazelle's townhouse.

"I will see you all tomorrow okay?" Katniss says as she hugs Sienna, Avery, Jackson and Taran goodbye.

"Me too?" Taran asks.

"Yes, you too buddy, all of you are staying at Grammie's this week while your Aunt gets some rest" Vick says pulling his son away from Katniss's bed.

Gale gives Katniss a quick kiss and places Juniper in the portable crib next to her, the baby now asleep. Gale gives Juniper a soft kiss and bends over Katniss and says, "I'll be back in a couple of hours, if you need anything-"

"We'll be fine" Katniss says, yawning.

"I love you" he says quietly.

"I love you too."

Once he leaves and the door closes behind him, Katniss changes the setting on the bed so that she is able to lay back, trying to get into a more comfortable position to sleep when she begins coughing uncontrollably, ringing the bell for the nurse to come help.