DISCLAIMER: HG CHARACTERS DO NOT BELONG TO ME
A/N: Wow! So sorry for such it being almost three months since my last update! Been extremely busy in my personal/professional life. I also procrastinated because I'm nearing the end of the story I'm sad it will be ending but I look forward to working on my next story. As always thanks for the reviews and sticking with this story on my long journey writing it!
To refresh where the story left off, after the birth of Katniss's fourth baby she started experiencing breathing problems again, this chapter picks up about a month after Juniper was born.
Chapter 130-Trust
Wednesday March 7
"Hello Katniss, I'm Dr. Hughes" the young but professional looking darker skinned woman says as she extends her hand for Katniss to shake.
"Hello" Katniss says nervously as she shakes her new doctor's hand.
"Nice to meet you" Dr. Hughes says smiling then turns to Gale and says, "And you as well" extending her hand again for Gale to shake.
Gale gives a curt smile and a firm hand shake and says, "Thanks for re-arranging your schedule to meet with us."
"Sure. Normally my office schedules new patients 90 days out but Dr. Pace is a personal friend of mine and this week was a lighter week in my schedule. It was no problem for me to re-arrange some things. I know that you had quite a scare right after you gave birth Katniss, have you had any trouble breathing since your daughter's birth?"
"No."
"That's good to hear, let's take a listen" Dr. Hughes says as she moves closer to Katniss and places her stethoscope on Katniss's back to listen to her breathing.
"Everything sounds okay, but we need to do some testing which as you know, will require blood work and X-rays. We will do the first round of X-rays and blood work today and then we will schedule the second round of testing 3 weeks from now."
"What kind of tests are you doing?"
"Basic tests at first, just looking at your current levels, I have some of that information already from Dr. Pace, when you come back three weeks from now, we may be taking a lot more blood from you depending on what the tests show."
"You do know about the Capitol's current research with all remaining Victor's right? About how some of us have shown strange health effects years after leaving the arena? Infertility in some, headaches, neurological problems, now breathing problems like myself" Katniss says.
"I do. With your permission, I can have you sign some paperwork that allows my office to specifically get your tests results from the President's mansion. I'm a doctor here in the Capitol but I'm not one of the former Capitol doctors. You know who I mean."
Katniss nods in response.
"Some of them are still around. The ones who are not serving prison sentences for insubordination are the ones who are working with the current doctors tied to President Paylor's mansion who are in charge of the research on the Victors such as yourself. Like I said, with your permission, I can have access to your test results and be a part of your treatment plan."
"Of course" Katniss says.
"I was hoping you would give me permission."
"It's nice to see that residents of Panem have options when it comes to this kind of thing now" Katniss says.
"All part of what we fought for, all of us" Gale says putting his arm around Katniss.
"Do you have any questions about the testing or the X-rays?"
"Not really. I'm exclusively breastfeeding my daughter. No formula. This is my last baby and I want to be able to continue breastfeeding her as long as I can. With my last daughter I had to end breastfeeding early because I had to get that radiation injected into me. I don't have to do anything like that again do I?
"No. As long as you are not pregnant X-rays are perfectly safe. And after your blood is taken we'll make sure you get a small snack before you leave just to be on the safe side."
"Thanks" Katniss says with a small smile, her fears at ease. She immediately felt a sense of calm with Dr. Hughes, which was rare for her since she hadn't trusted too many doctors besides Dr. Pace.
"One of my assistants will be in shortly to take you back for the X-ray and then to the lab. Then you will be done and my secretary can schedule you for your follow up appointment in 3 weeks." Dr. Hughes then shakes both of their hands for a final time and gives Katniss a warm smile before exiting the room.
Gale turns to Katniss and says, "Well? What did you think?"
"I like her, I like her a lot."
"Me too. I can see why Dr. Pace recommended her."
"She's from District 11 originally, I'm not sure if that's why I instinctively trusted her or not, because she's not from the Capitol."
"I think it's understandable that you'll never trust anyone from the Capitol" Gale says in a supportive manner.
"Too much has happened."
"Of course."
"Even though I do trust her for the most part, and despite the fact she's not from the Capitol….I still don't…"
"Fully trust Paylor?"
Katniss gives Gale a look that was a cross between an apology and confusion. Apologizing for the fact that she didn't trust the person Gale most admired and looked up to. Confusion for not knowing why she couldn't fully trust Paylor despite all the support Katniss had given her during the war and the pardon Paylor gave Katniss after she killed Coin. Katniss knew part of it was the fact that Paylor still kept Heavensbee in the inner circle, Heavensbee who was a supporter of Coin. Heavensbee, the mastermind of the Quarter Quell, key player of the rebellion, and the person who knew for years about the effects of the arena yet remained silent about it for decades. Keeping someone like that around to her was unacceptable no matter how valuable his guidance was.
"No."
"I know you don't. I don't agree with it, but I can live with it."
Katniss leans in and gives Gale a sweet kiss and pulls back giving him a loving look when they hear a knock at the door and a medical assistant walks in.
Thursday May 4
Gale finishes proofreading the report he had written for the final time before hitting the send button on his computer. It was almost 5 pm and he was finishing up what was due to President Paylor before leaving his office for the day to head to the train station to go home. He was off Friday and Monday from work for Katniss's birthday. She was turning 38 and he was taking her to dinner Monday night as a surprise. Her Mother was coming into town tomorrow to stay for a week for she hadn't seen Juniper since she was born. She was also going to be accompanying Katniss to her next follow up visit with Dr. Hughes.
The good news was that the X-rays from March and April showed Katniss's lungs were clear-no more fluid. The bad news was that the blood work from March showed that Katniss's T cell count was abnormally low, and Dr. Hughes began a treatment plan with Katniss right away to raise the T cell count and Katniss began taking medication. In April the bloodwork showed no improvement but the count was not lower. Next week, Katniss and her Mother would be finding out if the count rose or remained the same.
Gale wanted to make this weekend extra special by taking her mind off of things. Luckily the birth of Juniper had brought such joy for the two of them that when he was at home, he didn't have much time to really process what was happening to his wife. But when he was at his office downtown, away from his office at home, reality would sink in.
He tried not to think about what would happen if the unthinkable happened. Dr. Hughes had explained to him and Katniss that the Capitol had seen some Victors in the past die from infections and disease from poor and lowered immune systems. And that most likely, this was the longstanding condition Katniss had developed that had resulted from the arena, not the migraines she had experienced when she had been pregnant with Avery. The migraines being a side effect of that particular pregnancy.
He watches as his computer begins to shut down, the screen updating before going black. He sees his reflection in the screen and stares at himself. He looks down to the left and sees a picture of him, Katniss, Sienna, Avery, and Jackson with Lady outside their home. He realizes he needs to get a new picture to put out, one with all of them plus Juniper.
Juniper was now three months old and overall was a pretty good baby. Her eyes were still blue like Prim's but it was unknown what her hair was going to be like because she was still bald. Katniss had chosen not to return to work so she was off until the fall, giving her the whole summer to spend with the kids. With the exception of Sienna and Avery doing some summer activities during the day, none of the children would be in any type of daycare.
Gale was concerned that Katniss might not have the stamina to care for four children, but her energy level so far seemed fine. Come June when everyone is out of school and she was watching the kids seven days a week as opposed to only being with all of them weeknights and on weekends might be a different story, but for now she seemed alright. He offered to hire someone to help her, but she passed on the offer.
He knows she wants to spend as much time with them as she can with all the uncertainty right now.
He feels the tears start to form in his eyes, he only allows this to happen when is alone. He lets a few tears fall before wiping them away and getting up from his desk. He locks up his office and heads out, for everyone has left already. He refuses to let the tears fall again on the long train ride home.
When he walks in the door, he is greeted by Lady who licks his face. He then is greeted by Jack who is now 4.
"Hey buddy" Gale says as Jack releases himself from Gale's legs.
"Food is ready" Katniss calls out from down the hall.
Gale walks down the hall and into the open kitchen and family room and sees that Katniss has ordered pizza. Everything is laid out on the large kitchen island as 8 year old Avery pours drinks and 9 year old Sienna holds Juniper.
"And I almost thought you had cooked a meal for all of us" Gale says jokingly as he gives Katniss a quick kiss.
"That's your job" Katniss says as motions for everyone to come eat. Katniss takes Juniper from Sienna and places her in the portable rocker while they eat.
Once dinner is finished they play a board game on the kitchen island before getting ready for bed. Once Sienna, Avery, and Jackson have gotten their baths and gone to bed, Katniss nurses Juniper in Juniper's room before putting her down. It was 10 pm, and Katniss knows Juniper will wake up around 6 am, giving her at least 8 hours before she has to nurse again.
She hears Gale come into the room as she rocks back and forth in the glider in the room. The walls painted yellow for they didn't know if Juniper would be a boy or girl when they were getting the room ready before her birth.
"Everyone's asleep" Gale says as he kneels down beside them.
Katniss nods as she sees that Juniper is finished and she pulls the baby away from her and covers herself back up. Gale feels himself start to get aroused seeing Katniss's very exposed, very hardened nipple. Even though he has seen her like this a thousand times before, her body still excited him each and every time.
He knew though that with so much on her mind right now sex might be the furthest thing from it.
Once Juniper is asleep in her crib and they both head back into their room with the baby monitor turned on and placed on the nightstand.
"Peace and quiet at last" Katniss says as she lays down on the bed.
"Do you want to take a shower first" Gale asks.
"I will in a minute. How was your day?"
"The usual, I had a bunch of paperwork I had to work on. It was pretty boring actually."
"Well my day consisted of taking care of a baby, picking up a 4 year old from pre-school and picking up two older kids from school."
"I was looking at my schedule for June, I think I can take a week off towards the end of the month. I was thinking-perhaps we could go and see the tribe-introduce them to Juniper?"
Gale sees Katniss's face light up as she sits up and says, "I was going to ask you if you had any time off from work, I'd like that."
"Even if I didn't have time I'd make time."
Katniss gives Gale a hug as she says, "I love you."
"Love you too" he says smiling.
She begins kissing him softly, then more deeply. He moves her to the edge of the bed and pulls her pants and underwear off. She lays down and spreads her legs for him unsure of what he wants to do next. Having only been intimate a few times since Juniper's birth, she almost feels a sense of shyness as she looks up at him. She watches as he removes his clothes and as he removes the rest her clothes as she lays before him completely naked. He gives her that look of desire that only he can when he kneels down and moves her feet to the edge of bed and begins going down on her. She breaths heavily as he begins, then she begins panting then moaning as he picks up the pace, she feels her nipples harden and begins looking up at the ceiling as her body begins orgasming. Just when she thinks he is finished his mouth is on her again, arousing her and pleasuring her all over again. When he is finally finished, he begins kissing her inner thigh as her heartbeat returns to normal. He then runs his hands up along her body and touches her breasts before giving her a deep kiss.
Once he finishes giving her such a passionate kiss, he pulls the covers up over them to sleep. She gives him a look of disappointment and he says, "This was a teaser for your birthday weekend."
Her frown turns to a seductive smile as she gives a kiss before turning off the light to go to sleep.
