Craving
I look down at what is in Annie's bowl of food.
"What are you eating?" I ask because it doesn't look appetizing. If I am correct it looks like she is eating mangos, pineapples, and jalapenos all in the same bowl. The juices are mixing together making a strange flavor.
The other night she ate almost a whole jar of pickled fish which she normally hates. It was accompanied with raw jalapenos.
Annie says it's pregnancy cravings. I asked if it was like this when she was pregnant with Nick and she said yes but a little different. Apparently she cried one day when they ran out of grapefruits because she always wanted them and their was a shortage. Of course things were a little more scarce when she was pregnant with Nick because the war ended shortly after she found out.
I wasn't there. Annie thought I was dead because they told her I was. Which was easy to believe. In reality when she was pregnant I was in the Capitol getting taken care of. I was injured badly and got an infection from the sewers. I got scars from the lizard mutts and ended up losing an eye. Even with all the Capitol magic they couldn't make these scars go away or heal my eye. I got a fake one and the scars have faded a little but are still noticeable. Annie doesn't seem to notice and doesn't care. She just cares that I'm alive and with her.
The people in the Capitol didn't want me to leave yet. Besides with craziness of Snow and Coin dying and everything else, leaving the Capitol was a hard thing to accomplish. Communications and train weren't fixed for awhile. I tried calling Annie but it kept saying her phone was disconnected. I tried writing her but knew it was useless. A month after Nick was born I was finally able to leave the Capitol. This time it is forever.
She's starting to show. If you didn't know she was pregnant you would just think she gained some weight.
"How can you eat that stuff?" I ask.
"It's what I want. It's what the baby wants." Annie says with a smile.
"Okay i just hope you don't get sick." I say.
She went from eating saltines to eating spicy peppers very quickly.
"Don't worry I won't." Annie says and looks towards the kitchen.
"What?" I ask.
"This would be better with chocolate sauce."
"Seriously?" I say.
She nods.
"Okay, I'll get it for you then." I say. I stand up and kiss the top of her head. I come back with the bottle of chocolate sauce.
"Oh chocolate." Nick our four year old son says.
He's coming in the room holding his teddy bear. He was taking a nap.
His hand goes for Annie's bowl but she pulls it away.
"Can't I have some?" He asks. He sounds sad.
"No that is for Mommy only." Finnick says.
"But it looks good." He says.
"Trust me Nicky you don't want that." Finnick says.
Annie scoffs but isn't offended.
"But it has chocolate. Everything is good with chocolate." Nick says.
I pick him up.
"I can give you something better than what Mommy has." I say and go towards the kitchen to get him a chocolate covered banana. We keep them in the freezer so he can eat it like a popsicle.
"Here you go Nicky." I say and hand it to him.
"Thank you Daddy." He says and takes a small bite.
I walk us back to Annie and sit next to her. I place Nick on my lap.
"Mommy is that a hot pepper?" He asks still interested in Annie's bowl.
"Yes it is sweetheart." She says.
"But it has chocolate on it?" He says confused.
"Mommy wants it like that for now." I say and kiss the top of his head.
"Your baby brother or sister wants it that way." She says.
"Brother or sissy?" He says excited. He didn't ask many questions when we told him he was going to be a big brother. He just wanted to know if it would be a sister or brother. Annie told him only time will tell.
The next day he must have expected his new brother or sister to be there because he was very disappointed when he didn't see anyone new in the house. She told Nick his sibling was inside her tummy and wouldn't come out until they were ready.
He looked puzzled by this statement but didn't ask any questions. I think when she gets bigger he might ask more questions. I just hope he doesn't ask where a baby comes from. I don't know how to answer that one yet.
"Yeah brother or sissy." Annie says with a smile. "You wanted lots of grapefruits when you were growing inside my tummy." Annie says and kisses his forehead.
"But grapefruits are yucky." Nick says.
Annie smiles and kisses the top of his head. Annie rarely eats grapefruit anymore. I'm guessing she got sick of them because she ate them and drank the juice almost every single day until she gave birth or at least that's what she told me.
"Well you really wanted them." She smiles. "Do you like your banana?" She asks him.
He nods.
Once he is finished he goes to his playroom.
"I gotta agree with our kid Annie what you were eating was a little icky." I say.
She rolls her eyes.
"It made me feel better though."
"Should I stock up on hot peppers and chocolate sauce then in case there is a shortage?" I say half teasing.
"No. I won't cry this time." Annie says.
"You sound very confident." I say.
"I know, it's because you're here." Annie says and smiles.
She leans in a kisses me.
The tangy, sweet, and spicy, mix is still on her lips.
Is she really going to want to eat like this for the next five months. I think to myself.
"Well, don't worry I'll hunt the whole District just to find want you want." I say and kiss her forehead.
She smiles.
"I love you." She says.
"I love you too." I say and kiss her again getting that tangy, sweet, and spicy mix on my lips again.
A/N: Got this idea from my sister because she always wanted hot peppers and chocolate sauce when she was pregnant lol.