Chapter V: Play the Cards You're Dealt
A/N: Apologies on the longer wait. The chapter really got away from me. However, with this longer wait, comes a longer chapter, with a lot that happens in it. Thanks go out to TheReaper94 and alexandria-likethecityinEgypt for their help. Enjoy this long chapter! SSD
While her tributes were sleeping, Tylara decided to go talk with the mentors of Isabel and Damon's allies.
She wasn't too worried about either district's mentors. Aras, despite his youth, was pretty good at mentoring. During his own Games, he had been allied with the tributes from 10. And in the Games afterwards, at least one of his tributes followed suit.
Tylara wasn't sure which of the two Victors from 12 present were Thomas's primary mentor. She'd known Haymitch for years, even passing a bottle of whiskey between them. For the first ten years after his win in the Second Quarter Quell, Haymitch had actually tried to mentor the wretched kids he got. But after those ten years of dealing with near constant Bloodbath bait, he had turned to a drunken stupor.
She knew that he still drank like a fish frequently, but he'd seemed to have cleaned up his act, at least during the Games.
Peeta was the one who opened the door when she knocked. Before he could speak she asked, "Hello Peeta. Is Haymitch decent?"
"He's as decent as he ever is. Taking a shower at the moment. Would you like to come in," he asked politely.
Once she got in and sat down, Tylara decided to get down to business. She was never one to beat around the bush. So she asked, "Which one of you is Thomas's primary mentor?"
"Haymitch is his mentor. But as he just went in, he'll be a bit. Is there anything I can do to help," the younger man asked.
Wanting to get started, Tylara asked, "What do you think of Thomas allying with my tributes?"
"It's definitely a useful thing, especially given the fact that your two need a healer badly," Peeta replied before asking, "How's she holding up?"
"She's scared. And with very good reason. The Careers are circling her like a pack of wolves. With some help from Damon, she's holding up better than I thought. Definitely better than I would," Tylara remarked before snarling, "She's likely going to have to give birth in hellish conditions, and with cameras on her every move, and documenting every scream she makes!"
Neither of them spoke for a while, until Haymitch came in with damp hair.
"Hey Tylara, what's up," Haymitch asked as he made his way to the bar area.
"I was just asking Peeta what he thought of the new alliance involving our tributes. What do you think old friend," Tylara queried.
"He's got a good heart, Thomas. That's one of the reasons he would have made a good healer. I'm okay with the alliance. That girl of yours is going to need all the help she can get," Haymitch finished as he knocked back a shot.
"If it doesn't strain your hospitality, would you give me some of that," Tylara asked Haymitch, motioning to the bottle of moonshine in his hand.
Peeta was shocked to see Haymitch pass the bottle to Tylara with no comment other than an eye roll. He was even more surprised when she knocked back a shot that rivaled Haymitch's.
"Well tomorrow is coming fast. I'll be talking to Aras about Rose tomorrow during training. One of you should probably be there," Tylara said as she left.
Day 2 of training started quiet for Isabel. She, Damon, Rose, and Thomas had started the day at the stealth station, which she wasn't doing too badly at.
After that, they'd gone back to the camouflage station, then the edible plants one. Isabel was now watching the other three work on hand to hand combat.
While they were occupied there, she ambled over to the trap station where a skinny dark haired, dark eyed boy was working on an elaborate metal trap with nimble looking fingers.
"May I join you," she asked politely.
The boy flicked a glance downward at her rounded belly before whispering, "Sure" and going back to work.
The two of them worked in silence before the boy said, "I can help you with that," as he took the wires out of her hands.
Isabel watched as the boy's agile fingers quickly wired the trap properly.
"There, that's how you do it," the boy said with a shy smile.
"Traps can be used for food as well as on people. I don't think any of us are good at traps. Damon and I certainly aren't. This boy would be highly useful," Isabel thought.
"What's your name," she asked.
"My name's Nikola Coil."
"You're from 5 right?"
"That would be correct," the boy replied whilst working on another trap.
"You're good at traps. None of the members of the alliance my district partner and I are forming are good with traps. Would you like to become another member," Isabel asked, crossing her fingers for luck in her pocket.
Nikola was silent for bit, before he replied with, "Tributes in alliances tend to live a little bit longer in the Games. I would love to become a member of your alliance."
Isabel breathed a sigh of relief. As Nikola finished up with his trap she said, " Come on. Let's meet the others."
Tylara smiled as all five 18 year olds sat at a table together. They complimented each other fairly well.
Damon and Rose could manage the close quarters fighting. Thomas and Rose knew edible plants. All five of them could hunt, some better than others, and with different methods. Isabel and Thomas could fight from a distance, with throwing knives for Isabel and a bow and arrows for Thomas. Both had been avoiding those, saving those for the private sessions. All of them were good at stealth, with oddly Isabel doing the best. Thomas was the best of the group at camouflage. Then there was Nikola and his traps, which could be used for many different things.
However, they each had their disadvantages. Isabel had her nine month belly to work around. She also could go into labor at any time. Damon was protective of her, though that wasn't a distraction per se, but that was something that could be taken advantage of. Nikola was good at traps, but would be absolutely useless in a direct combat situation. Haymitch had shared with her, his concerns as to whether Thomas would be able to kill, even to defend himself. Rose could be baited by the Careers.
"The second day of training went well. The Careers did not escalate their behavior beyond verbal abuse. Let's be thankful for small favors," Tylara thought as she went back up to the apartment.
Isabel was pleased that the second day had gone much better than the first one.
Just like the day before, as soon as Isabel got to the bathroom, she stripped all her clothes off. However, unlike the day before, her feet were too sore to stand in the shower.
"I'll take a bath. But not too hot," Isabel thought as she remembered that in her condition, very hot baths were a bad idea.
Isabel got into the tub carefully. It was a big tub, something Jade had called a Jacuzzi. The main thing Isabel liked about it was that due to it being big, she did not have to try and wedge herself into a smaller tub.
She basked in the warm water as it came up to her belly. No sooner had the water come up over it, her little one started moving around as much as he or she could. But that didn't distract her from the warm water.
"Ahhh," was her next thought as she laid back in the Jacuzzi seat.
The baby of course chose that time to start kicking his or her little feet as if for dancing. Rolling her eyes, Isabel said,
"Okay, since you're obviously not going to let me rest, I'll tell you about my day. Your Uncle Damon and I have three allies now. The one we got today is Nikola. He's very good at traps, which should keep us well fed among other things. Then there's Thomas, who's going to help me with you when the time comes. Thirdly, there's Rose, she's very good at plants, and is wicked good with her scythe!"
As she was talking, Isabel had decided she would try and float on her back in the Jacuzzi.
"It's certainly big enough, even for me, to float around with ease," Isabel thought to herself.
Isabel was quite surprised when she saw that she was actually able to float, even if she was rather low in the water.
For a while, she just floated. Her baby at the moment seemed soothed by the warm water.
When the water began to get cold, Isabel decided she wanted to get out.
Very carefully, she let the water out, then used a bar to lever herself out of the tub.
The bath had relaxed her considerably. Isabel put on an oversize t-shirt, climbed into bed and fell asleep.
Even though she had fallen asleep quickly, Isabel had need to get up through the night to either change position or go to the bathroom since the baby was constantly sitting on her bladder.
Early in the third trimester, Isabel had learned the hard way that sleeping on her back was most unwise. It was hard for her to breath and that position seemed to make her baby press on her bladder all the more.
She was soundly sleeping when she woke up for the third day of training to a rather sharp kick.
"You little devil, that was my liver" Isabel hissed. "One of these days, you and I are going to have a chat about your manners," she continued as she rolled out of bed for the final day of training.
The morning was devoted for review for Isabel, Damon, Thomas, Rose, and Nikola. They wanted to be as prepared as possible.
Everything was going smoothly. There was little talking amongst the tributes as most were nervous as to what the afternoon would bring.
Isabel had seen the Gamemakers watching her throughout the days of training. It seemed that they watched every move she made, her quick trips to the bathroom, her waddling gait, and her leaning back posture to accommodate her bulbous belly, which preceded her every time she entered a room.
"Sizing up my coffin already, are you? Don't be so sure about that," Isabel mentally snarled.
The baby stirred a bit. Isabel rubbed where she knew where her little one was located.
"Are you alright Isabel," Rose asked as she came level with her.
"I'm okay, Rose. Nervous about the private sessions though," Isabel replied with a small smile.
"There's been one good thing about today's training so far," Rose remarked.
"What's that," Isabel wondered.
"The Careers have mostly left you alone today."
Isabel had noticed that and was mainly pleased with it. But it also made her nervous.
"They're probably saving their savagery now for the Games," she replied before saying, "I'm going to go use the bathroom before lunch."
Soon after lunch finished up, Auric from 1 was called into his private session.
The whole group, but especially Isabel, was thrilled when they noticed that the Careers did not return after their private sessions.
There had been some final bits of verbal abuse from them, primarily from the tributes from 1 and 4. However, Mirena Blackstone from 4 decided to take it further. As she left for her own session, Mirena was facing Isabel. She drew a circle around her belly and an X across it with an evil smile.
Isabel felt the blood drain from her face and nausea rise in her throat.
"That was revolting," Nikola commented with a shudder after the sandy haired girl left.
"We need to figure out which Careers we need to deal with first," Rose declared. They did not have to whisper any more since the Careers were now all gone.
"I'd like Mirena to be dealt with, but we can't fight them in the open. We'll have to use trickery to topple them," Isabel murmured as she rubbed her belly.
"Fighting the Careers in the open amounts to suicide," Thomas's voice was slightly muffled due to the fact that he was resting his head on top of his arms on the table.
"A fight in the open would have to be something of last resort," Nikola and Damon accidentally said in stereo.
Before any of them could say anything else, Nikola was called.
"Good luck," Damon called out to the skinnier boy.
"I'm going to need it."
As the afternoon wore on, the number of tributes whittled down. Some sessions seemed longer than others. All of the sudden it seemed, Damon's name was called.
The other three members of the alliance wished him luck. Isabel got up to give him as much of a hug as she was able.
"I'll see you back at the apartment Izzy," Damon said with a slight smile.
Isabel nodded. She was feeling to nauseous/nervous to speak.
Rose and Thomas sensed her desire to stay quiet, and started to play a game of checkers while she watched.
"I know I'm going to be utilizing my talent for throwing knives as my main way of impressing the judges. But what else can I do? I could perhaps show my steath, and then end with my limited trapping ability," Isabel mused to herself while she watched the game, and waited for her turn.
Sooner than she would have liked, Isabel heard her name called. Thomas and Rose both said "Good luck" at the same time. Again this was an accident.
"Thank you," Isabel replied. And as she waddled to the door, she thought,
"Here goes nothing."
When she entered the room, Isabel took in what weapons were available to her. There was a whole plethora of them.
There were swords of all sizes, spears of all lengths, and many other weapons she did not recognize.
Isabel knew that the eyes of the judges were on her, despite the lateness of the hour.
She picked up a throwing knife and tested its heft. Upon deciding she liked it, Isabel took a few more of a similar type and took up her stance.
In rapid succession, Isabel threw all four knives, and they all hit the same place on the dummies: right in the middle of the throat.
"If some weren't looking at me, they certainly are now," Isabel thought with a grin.
She then decided to go and show what she'd learned at the stealth station. It didn't go too badly.
Isabel felt that she was nearing the end of her energy store. She made up some rope traps, and then used dummies to trigger them.
A short time after that, a Gamemaker called out, "You can leave, Miss Storm."
Isabel waddled to the door. On the other side was Tylara.
"Are we going back to the apartment," she asked. Isabel was bone tired. She fought the urge to rub her eyes. And failed miserably.
"Yes. You can get some sleep before the training scores are shown," Tylara replied before asking, "How's the baby doing?"
"Right now, hiccupping. The little one was quiet during the training session."
"Speaking of the session, how did it go," Tylara asked as they got into a cart that would take them back to the elevators.
"I did my best, that's all I could have done," Isabel replied as she rubbed her belly.
"That's all anyone expects of you."
Isabel actually managed to sleep for three hours before waking up to make a beeline to the bathroom.
After getting back from it, Isabel decided to change her shirt from a grey one, to a deep blue one.
The baby squirmed a bit inside her.
"No bath yet little one. That'll be a bit later," Isabel replied as she rubbed the small of her back.
She then thought, "Though I would really like one in that Jacuzzi at the moment!"
Before Isabel could even make another move towards the bathroom, there was a knock on the door which startled her.
"Who's there," she asked.
"Izzy, it's me. Tylara says it's time for dinner and for the training scores," Damon replied through the door.
"I'll be right there, give me a moment," Isabel said as she straightened her clothes.
Shortly after that, Isabel and Damon were walking down to the living area together.
Dinner was delicious. Once she saw it, Isabel had moved straight towards one of her favorite dishes: noodles with seasoned tomato sauce on top, and garlicky breadsticks.
This time, Isabel took care to portion her meal more carefully.
Soon after everyone sat down to eat, Jade turned on the TV.
The scores for 1 were shown first, with Auric's score being a 9, Serena's an 8.
"Not too surprising, Careers typically score in the 8-10 range," Jade commented.
The pair from two popped up moments later. Achilles got a rare 11, with Freya getting a 10.
Tylara saw the completely ashen faces of her tributes and said, "High scores don't mean everything. In the past four Games, a tribute from a Career district has only won once."
The pair from 3 didn't warrant much attention. Isabel gulped when she saw Mirena's 9 and Trident's 8.
"She won't touch you. Not if I have anything to say about it," Damon snarled. He had told Tylara about the incident with Mirena before she'd left for her training session. Even though Tylara had told him not to worry, he could tell that she was worried.
When 5 came up, Damon and Isabel paid a little more attention, as a member from their alliance was from 5.
As they saw that Nikola had pulled a 6, Isabel felt pleased that the member of the alliance she'd brought in, had acquitted himself well.
Districts 6-9 weren't much to look at. Only the tributes from District 7 scored above a five.
When they got to District 10, Isabel was holding Damon's hand so tightly, that it was starting to tingle. Damon didn't complain. He knew she was nervous.
Damon came up with an 8.
"Well done Damon, that's a very good score for anybody, especially someone from an outer district," Tylara said.
"I nearly got myself with the whip," Damon muttered. Isabel had given him a hug as his score was shown. And she'd let his hand go with a "Sorry."
"It's alright Izzy. I know you're nervous," he replied.
"What matters is that you didn't get yourself," Tylara remarked back.
Before Damon could say anything else, Isabel's score came up. She had gotten a 7.
"A seven is usually seen as average, but given your condition, that's fantastic," Jade squealed.
"Very well done Isabel," Tylara said with a small smile.
The baby was wriggling in the excitement.
After everyone had calmed down (Jade had paused the program), they went back to the show. The last two districts had allies in them, and everyone wanted to know Rose and Thomas's scores.
Thomas got a 7 and Rose wound up with an 8.
"Looks like your choices in allies were sound," Tylara commented.
"Yes we did," Isabel replied as she tried to stifle a yawn.
"Time for bed," said an undeceived Tylara. "Tomorrow's a big day. You have to work with Jade and I during the morning, then we'll turn you over to Antonio, Octavia, and the prep teams. The interviews are tomorrow," Tylara said as she ushered her tributes to their rooms.
As Isabel crawled into bed, she thought,
"Please, whomever is listening, just let my interview dress be decent!"
As it turned out, the work with Tylara and Jade was rather easy. The interview angles had been easy to come up with for the two of them: A young mother with something extra to fight for was Isabel's angle. Damon's angle was that of the protector.
To Isabel, Tylara said, "You need to rustle up as much sympathy for yourself as possible. No one likes the possibility of a pregnant girl getting hurt. If they ask about Erik, mention how much you miss him, even mention his suspicious death, if needs be. Talk about the baby and how much you want to hold your little one in your arms."
Isabel nodded.
To Damon, Tylara instructed, "You're the protector. Tell them of your oath to your best friend. How you are willing to do anything to protect her. Mention the coin flip with your brother. Also, be prepared for being asked if you're in love with Isabel."
"I have the perfect answer for that question," Damon thought with a grim smile on his face.
"Now, go onto the stylists. Jade and I will see you two before the interviews start.
"The stylists and the prep teams weren't kidding when they said they were going to be doing a lot," Isabel thought to herself.
Domitia, Esmerelda, and Vothan had been working on her whole body all afternoon. Right now, they were redoing both sets of nails.
Since she'd been off her feet most of the afternoon, that meant her baby was moving. A lot. The prep team had been very understanding, letting her go to the bathroom as she needed to. During that afternoon, when the baby wasn't pressing on her back or wriggling, he or she was sitting on her bladder.
Isabel had kept her water drinking to a minimum, so the team could work.
She'd also used the time to think about her interview dress.
"How could I possibly look good in anything at the moment? Most of the other girl's dresses are going to be flattering, how can mine possibly be flattering," Isabel thought as she fought back tears. She didn't want the prep team to see her crying.
She just let the prep team flit around her a while longer, rubbing her belly the whole time, which soothed her.
"There. All done my dear. It's time for Antonio to come in," Esmerelda said.
Isabel got up from her chair to stretch her legs. For the first time since the morning of the Reaping, Isabel looked in a mirror.
Her face was still puffy, and likely would be until she gave birth. Her hair was still its natural mahogany red. The prep team would be doing her hair once she got into her dress. She thought
"It isn't a crime to want to look good, even with a nine month belly greeting the world before they even see my face."
Isabel also loved that her blue eyes gleamed with a steely determination.
She then looked to her breasts. Before the pregnancy, she had barely been a B cup. Now, she was well into a C cup and could tell that her breasts were still growing and likely would until the birth.
Before Isabel could think any further on the matter, there was a knock on the door before it opened. It was Antonio holding a garment bag. Vothan was there as well, holding a box that likely contained her shoes for the night.
"I think you will like the dress I have for you. It will bring out your eyes," Antonio started with a smile.
"I'm sure I will," Isabel replied.
"Close your eyes and put your arms over your head please," Antonio instructed.
Isabel felt something silky smooth fall over her skin. Part of the dress stopped at her bump, then flowed down around her ankles.
While her eyes were still closed, she felt laces being tied at her back. They grew tighter across her belly. Most likely to emphasize it even more.
"Not that it needs any more emphasis," Isabel thought as she put her arms down.
While her eyes were still closed, she was maneuvered to a chair to put on the sandals that went with her outfit. After they were on, Antonio helped her up.
"You can open your eyes now, Isabel."
When she did, what she saw pleased her: A blue silk halter dress with a bright silver band of silk for the halter part. Even though it was tight around her belly, it was not uncomfortable. The skirt was flowy. On her feet were blue and silver lace up sandals.
Isabel had to smile a bit. The blue did indeed match her eyes. The dress made her look (and feel) good.
"Thank you Antonio."
"You're welcome. You'll shine bright. Now it is time to go and meet the others," Antonio said while he opened the door for her.
Isabel's hair was in a simple thick braid down her back now. At the last minute, it had been decided to keep her hair simple.
"Do you know what Damon is wearing for the interviews," she asked Antonio as he'd finished up the braid.
"I've seen a few drawings Octavia has, but I'm not sure which one she went with," he replied.
Isabel was sitting in a comfy chair while she was waiting for her friend to come out. Her mind was on the interview.
"Okay, all I have to do is drum up sympathy for myself and my child before an audience. Now is not the time to get stage fright," she thought.
Before she had any further thoughts on the matter, Damon entered the room in his outfit. They'd gone with the cowboy look again. This time it was an all white outfit, with fringe on the sleeves of the jacket.
"You look good, old friend," Isabel said as she got to her feet.
"So do you, how's the baby," Damon asked in reply.
"Seems to be alright at the moment. He or she gets more active at night," Isabel remarked while she was rubbing the small of her back.
Damon knelt before her belly saying, "Hey little one. Let your mom get some sleep tonight!"
Isabel could not help but smile at Damon's antics.
As she opened her mouth to reply, Tylara interrupted them.
"It's time to go to the interviews."
"Okay, at least District 10 isn't dead last. I still have to listen to all of the other tributes before me talk," Isabel thought as she sat waiting for her turn with Ceasar Flickerman.
From what she'd seen in previous Hunger Games, Flickerman did his best to make every tribute look good.
Unsurprisingly, the Careers had been coached well. They all bantered with Ceasar easily. Outside of those interviews, Isabel only planned on listening to those in her alliance.
However, it seemed that Trident felt that the turtle soup reference could still be made.
"The first thing I want when I get home is a nice big bowl of turtle soup," the boy had remarked.
Damon had squeezed her hand at that. And as he'd walked back to his chair, Trident had mimed eating soup.
Nikola's interview was alright. While he was not overly comfortable, he still talked with Ceasar easily.
The next districts were not of much interest after Nikola. The Morphlings from 6 barely said a word at all, Isabel could tell that they were coming down off a high.
All too soon, she heard her name being called.
Damon gave her a hand squeeze and a nod. Isabel then waddled up to the interview area.
"This must be quite the wild ride for you Miss Storm," Ceasar began.
"That it has been Ceasar. I've had a lot on my plate recently," Isabel replied tightly.
"I can certainly see that," Ceasar said flicking a glance at her belly with a smile, before asking, "Do you know what you're having, Miss Storm?"
While she rubbed her distended belly, Isabel felt almost at ease with Ceasar. She replied with a smile, "I don't know what I'm having, Ceasar. All along, I've wanted it to be a surprise when the little one comes."
"What does the father have to say about that?"
"You knew this would likely come up. Keep it together Isabel," she thought before replying, "Erik really hasn't had much to say on the subject. He's been dead since shortly after I found out I was pregnant." She could feel the tears beginning to fall.
There were murmurs of sympathy in the crowd. Ceasar asked, "What happened to him?"
"He died in what was supposedly a ranching "accident"," she answered while wiping the tears from her cheeks.
Determined to get the topic off of Erik, Isabel asked, "Would you like to feel where the baby is?"
"Are you sure, Miss Storm," Ceasar asked, genuinely surprised.
After she nodded her assent, Ceasar put his hand on her belly. As she moved it, Isabel said, "The little one is usually more active at night."
Sure enough, a short time later, Isabel was rewarded with a kick and roll that was obvious through her dress.
There was a collective "Aww" from the crowd. She had a feeling that her interview time was coming to a close, and she had one more thing to say: "I have more to fight for. Don't count me out just yet."
"I certainly won't be" Ceasar replied.
Isabel waddled back to her seat. it was time for Damon's interview.
Isabel spent the early part of Damon's interview trying to get reacquainted with her seat. She'd finally been able to pay attention again when Ceasar said,
"We all know that you volunteered to protect Isabel. You've also told us about your coin toss with your brother, right?"
"We couldn't both go so we had to decide somehow," Damon replied with a smirk.
"Are you in love with her?"
Isabel and Damon had both been warned that he'd likely be asked that question. However, Isabel wasn't prepared for Damon's reply.
"Oh I love her. But I'm not *in* love with her. That would be my brother James."
"What did Damon just say?"
Back in District 10...
James Martell could feel his face burning like the surface of the sun as his 20 minutes older than him brother dropped one of James's biggest secrets to all of Panem.
Ignoring the questioning looks from his parents and younger sister, James got up to leave the room for a bit.
Once he got to the outside porch, James thought,
"Damon, if you get out of this, I'm gonna kill you!"
Damon's interview ended shortly after that particular bomb drop. Isabel hadn't looked at him since his remark in regard to James.
"I'll tell you more about James when we get back to the apartment," Damon whispered.
The moment they got back to the apartment, Isabel rounded on Damon asking, "How long?"
He could tell that Isabel was not in the mood for word games. Damon began with, "I don't know how long James has been in love with you. I'm pretty sure it's been for a while. I do know that shortly before you began dating Erik 3 years ago, he was trying to get up the courage to ask you out. From what he told me a year later, he was happy that you were happy."
Isabel chewed at her lower lip. As if she didn't have enough to think about tonight!
Before she could reply, Tylara came into the room and said, "Time for bed."
Isabel knew the moment that she stepped into her bedroom, that sleep would not come easy to her. Especially with her mind going a mile a minute.
She was extremely thankful that her dress was easy to remove on her own. The laces untied easily, and soon she was out of her dress. Isabel's shoes, while they were laced, had a discreet Velcro edge so that she could toe them off.
Once naked, she went straight to the bathroom for a soak in the Jacuzzi. She was sore all over.
When she got out, Isabel waddled over to the closet to program her pajamas. She decided to go with an oversize button up black and purple top. It was big enough to button up over her belly if she so desired.
Isabel tried to get comfortable in her bed. But her mind would not allow her even to think about resting.
She took a glance at the cushioned window seat. With a sigh, she rolled out of bed and waddled over.
After a few minutes spent getting comfortable, Isabel began to rub her belly in silence. A few moments after that, she unbuttoned her shirt to just above her belly. She wanted to feel the kicking through only her skin.
For a while longer, Isabel rubbed her belly in silence still, before saying, "First I'm going to apologize to you for the conditions you'll likely be born in. Who knows what the arena will be like. If we're lucky, there will be a tarp between you and the ground when you're born."
She could feel the tears coming. Isabel did not fight them.
"I wish your daddy was here. He was nervous when he first found out about you, but was happy. Unfortunately he got taken from us, shortly after you became common knowledge," Isabel could feel the tears coming down her cheeks.
Then a different thought crossed her mind: "What am I going to do about James? From what little Damon told me, he's been carrying a torch for me for years. If by some miracle, I make it out of this alive, I'm going to have to handle that situation carefully." Isabel got up to get a bottle of water before heading back to the window seat.
Isabel watched her baby kick and roll inside her, occasionally pressing against a little foot or hand.
As the night wore on, Isabel finally felt herself begin to calm down enough to the point where she decided to try and sleep. Even though the Games started at ten in the morning, she would have to get up early to be flown out to the arena.
Isabel's last conscious thought as she fell asleep, was of her holding her baby.
A/N 2: That was quite a ride. I'd love to hear what you think of it! SSD