Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Please continue, you make my day :)

The story is going quite slowly now but I think these parts are important. The pregnancy will come soon, I promise! Hope you enjoy it, I am open to any future suggestions.

I won't be able to update as I'm going away for a couple of days but I will upload the next chapter as soon as I get back.

Chapter Two

President Snow is sitting by the side of the lake, his hands tight around a man's neck. I find myself in the lake desperately treading water as the current tries to drag me under.

The man turns, his face almost purple from the lack of blood. His lips are blue and his eyes beg for help. It is only then, when I see those big eyes, that I recognise who it is.

"Peeta!" I scream, using all my strength to swim towards him. The water is cold and I feel like my lungs are being crushed, but I thrash about to try and get closer to the beach.

Snow laughs and I can suddenly smell his roses. I realise that there are thousands of white roses scattered around him and Peeta, so many that they are ankle-deep in the ivory flowers. Peeta's face is getting darker and his eyes less bright. He looks down to his left before his eyes begin to close.

There is a dead baby lying in a heap of roses next to him.

I wake up gasping for air, sweat pouring down my face, instinctively grabbing onto Peeta's big warm body. I wait for the comforting, soothing words to come, but there is silence. I look up. The other side of the bed is empty.

My mind flashes back to last night, how Peeta had brought up the subject of children and I had snapped at him and turned away. He was only trying to suggest something, something I know he desperately, desperately wants more than anything in the world.

A baby.

The thought sends a shiver down my spine.

The Hunger Games are over. President Snow is dead. The Capitol have signed a Peace Treaty with the Districts. The hunger and fear in District 12 has gone. So why shouldn't I have children? They will always have me and Peeta to care for them, to look after them, to protect them. They will never come to any harm.

The clock on the bedside table reads 6am. Good, just enough time to catch Peeta to apologise before he leaves to go to the bakery. I get out of bed, change into a simple top and leggings and walk downstairs. I see the shape of Peeta's body on the small sofa, an old blanket messily strewn on the floor. When did he get out of bed to sleep down here? The kitchen is empty. I walk through the hall. Peeta's boots are missing.

I sit down at the kitchen table, my hands shaking, my throat thick with tears. How much I regret saying that last night. Where has Peeta gone? The woods, the bakery? Haymitch's? Has he finally realised that I don't deserve to be married to him? Because it is true. Peeta is always so caring, so nice, so loyal. I shout at him, provoke arguments and spend most of the day in the woods missing Gale. It hits me how awful I really have been these past few months.

I put my old hunting boots on and my father's hunting jacket. The rough leathery smell comforts me as I open the door. Victors Village is empty. The sun is just rising and casting a warm glow across the street. The frost crunches under my boots as I walk down the street and into the town. I will try the bakery first.

Just as I reach the first few shops, my heart sinks as I see Haymitch walking back up to his house. I groan as I notice the drunken walk, the quiet singing and the whisky bottle in his hand. Haymitch is completely spent.

"Enjoying the night, sweetheart?" He shouts across to me, taking a swig from his bottle.

"It's six in the morning, Haymitch," I groan as he walks past me.

I gasp as I feel arms closing tightly around me. I can smell the alcohol in his breath.

"Haymitch!" I yell, pushing him away.

"How are you and Peeta getting on? He knocked you up yet, sweetheart?" Haymitch shouts as I quickly walk away from him. He chortles to himself and staggers away, muttering to himself.

I feel anger rushing through me but I remember why I'm here. To speak to Peeta. I can't let Haymitch distract me.

The door rings as I open it and step inside. The sweet smell of bread is overpowering. I look up and see Tallo, one of the assistants who helps at the bakery. He smiles as he sorts bagels into the display cabinet before the shop opens for the start of the day.

"Peeta's in the back," Tallo says, winking mischievously. Relief floods through my veins as I return Tallo's smile. Peeta is here. Peeta is safe.

"Thanks," I say, slipping past the display and through a side door. I only walk down a few steps before I freeze in my tracks. I have a clear view of Peeta kneading some bread next to one of the massive ovens. He has his back to me, thumping the dough around forcefully. I can hear him mutter as he drops some dough into a tray and slides in into the oven before slamming the door shut. I take a deep breath because my heart is pounding now, and walk into the kitchen.

"Peera?" I say, my voice almost a whisper. Strong Katniss, strong. He turns around and gasps as he sees me standing here. I can see the anger in his face being replaced with sorrow.

"Peeta, I'm so sorry about last night," I barely muster, finding my eyes fixed on his. He stares at me before I feel myself being embraced in his arms. I can't believe what's going on. Babies, Peeta, Prim, President Snow, Haymitch...I burst into tears as Peeta calms me.

"Shh, it's okay, I understand," Peeta says, and I feel sobs rack my body by his sweetness about the whole thing. I don't deserve Peeta, not for one moment.

I pull away after a moment, rubbing my tears with my jacket sleeve.

"What you said last night...It made me realise that it's safe. Our children will come to no harm. We've been married for so long Peeta..." I feel more tears roll down my face as Peeta strokes my forehead. "You want them so badly. And you would make such a good father. I've seen how you are with children, they love you to pieces."

There is a pause.

"Katniss-"

"I want a baby, Peeta. I want to have our baby."

There. I've said it. My heart thumps and I force myself to stop crying. I dare to look up and see the joy etched in Peeta's face.

"Are...are you sure?" Peeta stutters, his voice barely containing the excitement. He takes my hands in his and I notice that it's his hands that are shaking now. "Don't say that just because of me. You know I love you and I'm still going to love you whether we have children or not."

"I know," I murmur, looking down at the tiled floor. Peeta has told me that over and over. He's brought up the subject of a baby before on several occasions, expressed how much he would love to have a baby of his own. But when I tell him he can marry a woman who will happily have all the children he wants with my permission, he tells me that he doesn't want any old baby. He wants our baby. Our baby that we have together.

"You've told me right from the start that you never want children," Peeta says, his voice tinted with hope.

"I made up my mind this morning," I say, with more confidence in every word. "I think I'm finally ready, Peeta."

His face glows like a ray of sun. He plants kisses all over my face, then finishes with a longer kiss on the lips.

"I love you so much," he whispers into my ear.

"I love you too," I giggle as he gently bites my earlobe.

We are broken apart by a cough. Miles, Peeta's other assistant, is looking at us from the bottom of the small staircase leading up to the store front.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your...session," Miles says with a glint in his eyes. Both Miles and Tallo have great senses of humour, which makes them and Peeta a great team. "But the bread's burning." He steps back up to the store front where I can hear people beginning to arrive, a smirk playing on his face. We turn and see one of the ovens spewing black smoke. Peeta runs over and switches it off, bringing out several loaves of bread charred and burnt.

A sudden memory hits me as I see the burnt bread. The first time I really noticed Peeta. It was only a few months after my father's death and my family were starving to death. I saw Peeta throwing out burnt bread to the pigsty, and when he checked his mother wasn't looking, he threw some out to me. I don't think Peeta really knows how important that bread was. Without it, we would have almost certainly starved to death.

Peeta reads my mind and hugs me tightly.

"The past is the past, Katniss. We're here now, and I'm here. For you," he says gently, smiling sadly.

I push the memory to the back of my head as I concentrate on Peeta's soft lips crushing into mines.