Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games, I am not Susan Collins.
A/N: You can't even begin to understand the excitement I felt when I received so much positive feedback on my first story. Especially since it was it's first day being up on the website. Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed! Please continue it? Enjoy!
Chapter Two.
I sat in the kitchen picking at a few crackers that were supposed to help with nausea. The clock on the wall told me it was just about time for sunrise. Peeta was still sleeping, thankfully. I feel so bad that I've kept him from so many hours of sleep because of my insomnia. It was getting a little ridiculous lately, I was so tired all the time. Trying to sleep seemed to be the hardest task these days. Especially when I didn't sleep well to begin with. Between nightmares and my current worries, with the addition of carrying a baby and continuous vomiting, I was lucky to get maybe an hour or so of rest.
It felt like the room was spinning and my head was throbbing with pain. I just wanted to fall asleep for days without my dreams being haunted by the memories I tried so desperately to forget. I rest my head in my hands to stop the dizziness, because I don't think there was anything left in my stomach that I could release.
I heard his heavy footsteps dragging down the staircase and I knew he was awake. I sighed and looked back up at the clock. Not even ten minutes had passed between now and the time I came downstairs. He emerged in the doorway and rubbed his eyes as he made his way to sit down in the chair next to me. Before he rested his head in his hands, he leaned over and kissed my cheek.
"Morning." I whispered while I still tried to force the room to stand still in my mind.
"How many hours of sleep did you get this time?" He didn't even waste time jumping to the question that he repeats every morning. I shrugged my shoulders, because in all honesty, I don't even know if I slept at all last night. He sighed and ran his fingers through my tangled hair. I stopped braiding it a very long time ago. Instead I would usually brush it and let the soft waves flow down to my waist.
"I think I'm going to go hunting today." Maybe that's exactly what I needed, just a few hours of the day to clear my head. Peeta nodded, he didn't have to go to the bakery today and I was wondering if he would ask if he could come along with me. However, he remained quiet, which was actually a first. He must have understood that I needed to be alone for a while because, I wasn't exactly trying to conceal my emotions about our current situation.
Peeta is a much better chef than I am, it was a good thing because ever since Greasy Sae's passing, somebody needed to take over the cooking. So, Peeta makes us breakfast that I wish I could stomach but the smell of it alone makes me queasy. Then, I tugged on my father's hunting jacket and worn out boots before going to the closet to retrieve my bow and arrows. I moved them into our house a few weeks after returning to District 12 because there was really no need to hide them any longer.
I found Peeta in the spare room with his paints lined up and tarp on the floor. I imagined when I got home there would be at least a dozen different visuals hung to dry around this room. He noticed me and met me in the doorway.
"Don't overexert yourself while you're out there." He kissed my lips and wrapped one arm around my waist. He stopped to brush his hand against my stomach before completely pulling away.
"I'll be careful, don't worry. I'll be back before sundown." I turned to leave but stopped when I heard him call my name again.
"I love you." I couldn't even hide the smile that quickly spread onto my face with that sentence. I turned around to meet his gaze and found him wearing a matching expression.
"I love you, too." He's still smiling as he turns to pick up two paint buckets and I still wore the expression as I walked to the meadow. It changed to the point that it was almost unrecognizable. Multiple different colors sprung up from the green, grassy ground, though the only ones I really paid attention to were the yellow dandelions. I made my way to the fence that was now free of the barbwire that once circled the top and had a gate that you could enter and exit through as you pleased. However I don't think many people used that new feature. Most people who returned to District 12, even the new comers, were still skeptical of the things that lived beyond their borderlines.
I began my hike to the bolder I would go to when Gale and I would go hunting in the early hours of the morning. The sun was still just rising and with the cool air invading my already tired brain, my mind actually tricked me into thinking that Gale would be sitting there waiting for me like he always did when I was sixteen.
I came to the quick realization that it was, in fact, just my mind playing more tricks on me when I found the boulder, cold and lonely, in the middle of overgrown bushes that were thriving with edible berries. I tugged my jacket closer to me while I settled myself to overlook the meadow. Maybe it was just my off-balance hormones, or maybe it was the sleep deprivation; but, I was overcome with sadness at that moment.
How is Gale these days? Surely he must have found himself a beautiful wife and had plenty of babies. I bet he makes a great father, he had years of practice from taking care of all his younger siblings. I brought myself back to consciousness and sighed, maybe one day in the future I would go to visit him in District 2, that is, if he was still there. For now though, I concentrated on the wild turkey that was roughly 10 yards away from me. I armed my bow with an arrow and waited for the bird to lift it's head once more to get a clear view of it's eye. Once it did, it didn't even have time to register what was coming towards it before my arrow pierced through it's eye and continued into it's brain. I left my spot on the rock and went to retrieve my kill.
I looked both ways, keeping myself armed in case a hidden predator would attack, as I walked over to the turkey. I reached down to get it and my brain decided to trick me again.
As my hands went to reach around it's throat, it wasn't a turkey that was dead on the ground with my arrow pierced through it's eye. It was Gale.
I jumped back too quickly and tripped over a tree root. I tried blinking but the image didn't change. I felt bile creeping up into my throat and knelt forward as I heaved up whatever could possibly be left in my stomach. My eyes were squeezed tightly shut and I dared not to open them. Why was Gale here? Why was he here at the exact moment that I was hunting? How did I not see him clearly before I released that arrow?
I leaned back to sit against the tree root again. My head was reviewing the scene that I was trying to block out. It was when I saw Gale's face in my mind again that realized he was completely unchanged. Surely if the body laying dead at feet was really Gale, he would have aged at least some in the fifteen, nearly sixteen years that I last saw him.
I involuntarily let my eyes slowly slide open. Sure enough, my theory was correct when I looked down to find exactly what I saw in the first place. It was just another wild turkey, just more game for trading. I breathed out at relaxed finally before quickly stuffing the bird into my bag.
When I noticed the sun was beginning to set, later on that day, I made my way back into town. I usually ended up selling whatever I killed to the butcher in town for whatever he would give me. The Hob never reopened since there was no longer any need for an illegal trading center but there was no use in wasting freshly killed game. I collected my coins and placed them in the pocket of my father's coat. I wiped down my arrows and placed them back with the remainders.
As I walked home I watched the sky as it turned to a soft orange color. Peeta was definitely watching it from the porch to our house. I smiled as I nibbled on a few strawberries at the thought of Peeta. I was relatively happier now, my worries seemed to be nonexistent at the moment. I actually went so far as to rub my mid-section to feel for any sign of a baby bump. I also came to realize that the strawberries seemed to be the only thing I could keep down long enough to digest. I made and mental note to myself to make a trip into town tomorrow, maybe in the morning if I wanted to eat breakfast, to buy at least a month's supply worth of them.
I made my way into the Victor's Village and noticed the cleaning crew leaving Haymitch's house. I wasn't joking when I said I would try and get him another maid. I didn't see Peeta on the porch, so I figured I would go to see if Haymitch was suffering from withdrawal just yet.
I opened the door and was pleased when the only scent I could smell nothing but the scent of pine being given off by an candle directly next to the entrance of his house. I walked in farther to find him picking at his dinner, once again in the kitchen. I don't think he moved from there very much. He looked up when he saw me there. He noticed my bow and arrows and hunting outfit and chuckled.
"You still hunt after all these years?" I walked over to sit across from him while placing my weapon on the table in front of me.
"Soon enough, I'm not going to have much leisure time left to do it. So, I'm trying to savior what I have left." I figured I should tell Haymitch, he was the only family I had here besides Peeta.
He looked up from his plate confused, "Why would that be? You two going some place?" I simply shook my head in response and waiting to see if he could catch on. After all, he may be a drunk, but he was certainly not stupid. Sure enough I was proven to be correct when he laughed to himself.
"It's about time you two had a kid." He said it with a tone that should have insulted me and it would have, if it wasn't for that smile playing on his lips which he was trying to hide. "Oh, I'm sure the folks down in the Capitol will love to hear about this." I didn't think about that. Though, it didn't really bother me, people all over Panem were surely tired of hearing all about the mockingjay and her star-crossed lover.
"Well, thanks for the congratulations, Haymitch." I spoke sincerely even though I was being sarcastic. I stood up and gathered my things, "I just wanted to make sure you were sobering up. I'll see you tomorrow." He nodded and I went on my way to cross the lawn over to mine and Peeta's house. I entered and removed all my gear, folded my father's jacket and placed it on the table next in the entrance way. I place my muddy boots next to the table along with my bow and set of arrows then brushed any remaining dirt off my clothes.
Peeta must have heard me come in because once I finished brushing my hands free of the filth, he was at the end of the hallway. I made my way over to meet him and hugged him tightly.
"I hope you didn't miss me too much while I was gone." I said in a playful tone and I rested my chin against his chest to look up at his face. He smiled before leaning down to kiss my lips.
"How could I not miss you?" He answered with the same playfulness in his voice. I laughed and pulled away. I began to walk into the kitchen, finally feeling just how starving I actually was when Peeta tugged on my arm to pull me back to him.
"Before you do anything, I have something I want to show you." His face was full of excitement and I decided to force myself to endure hunger for a few more minutes.
He lead me up the staircase with his hands covering my eyes. I didn't know which part of the house we were heading to but I could smell fresh paint and figured he was taking me to his studio.
When he released my head from his hands, I opened my eyes to find out my guess was wrong. I wasn't standing in his studio. Instead I was standing in what used to be just a spare room in the house. It wasn't a spare room anymore. I looked around and wasn't sure how I should react. He transformed the whole room into the meadow during sunset. But why?
Baby's room.
A wave of emotions hit me after that thought. I was happy- no, I was ecstatic that Peeta did this for our baby. However, the more it sunk into my mind that I was standing in what would be our future child's bedroom, the more paralyzed with fear I became.
"What do you think?" Peeta finally asked and I turned around putting on my best convincing smile.
"It's amazing, Peeta. It's absolutely amazing." The worried that was painted on his face faded into joy at my statement. I wasn't going to lie, it was an absolute beautiful site, but that wasn't my exact emotion I felt towards this room. My exact emotion was more along the lines of terror.
He didn't pick up on my hidden emotion and engulfed my body in a hug. I reached up on the tips of my toes and return the gesture and turned my head to kiss his cheek. He pulled away and gazed into my eyes for a few moments. He adverted his gaze when he reached out to rub the unnoticeable bump on my lower abdomen. I put my hand over his, he must have thought it was out of happiness because he met me eyes once more and smiled. Really the only reason I did that was to stop him.
I was getting dizzy again. This whole room, the fatherly gestures from Peeta, just the whole idea about this was making me more and more uneasy. It was even scarier when I realized that even Peeta being here wasn't comforting me.
I was thankful when my stomach growled and Peeta suggested to get me something to eat before leading me out of the room. If I had to stand there for a few more minutes I don't think I would be able to hide my emotions anymore. This was becoming a reality very quickly and even after all I've been through, I don't think I was ready for this. I don't think I'd ever be ready for this.