Prim's eyes are welled with tears. "She's the cutest baby girl I have ever seen." She whispers. All of us smile.
After almost five minutes, Prim's sighs. "I'm sorry…for hogging." She hands Hallie to Rye.
"What are her eyes like?" He whispers.
"Her eyes are perfect. Just wait and see." Peeta whispers. All of us can't wipe the smiles off our faces.
"Okay, Johanna is going to kill us." Graham rubs his hands together after another five minutes. Rye hands him Hallie.
When it's been four minutes of all of us just gazing at her, Mama leaves to collect everyone else.
Graham hands her back to me just as the door opens and I hear footsteps and everyone shushing everyone. Johanna's eyes are filled with tears and it actually makes me do a double take. She doesn't say anything rude or sarcastic, she just snorts and rubs her eyes. "Can I?" she whispers. I nod and carefully pass her Hallie.
Everyone gets their turn with her, all taking five minutes. After a long time, when she's with Brandon, who is the last to hold her, she starts screaming. He panics and hands her to me.
It's actually quite startling. Her eyes lock with mine, and then with Peeta's, and then she silences.
'She hates me." Brandon grumbles.
"No she doesn't," I say. "She's just fussy from being passed around." I say. Peeta looks like he desperately wants to hold her but is afraid to ask. I smile at him as I hand her to him. "She's yours too, you can take her from me all you want." I whisper, resting my head on his shoulder.
After a while, I drift off on his shoulder.
PEETA'S POV
She's fallen asleep, Katniss has.
"Alright Peeta, she's going to hurt herself if she doesn't lay down." Mrs. Everdeen says.
"Okay...who wants to hold her while-" Johanna shoots up so fast that she actually stumbles a little.
I have never seen her look so hopeful, her eyes so full of love. I rise and hand her Hallie. Then she sits down and it's like she can't wipe the smile from her face. "When I lift her up, can someone move her pillows?" I ask. Finnick rises and moves to Katniss's pillows. I lift her up carefully and he moves the pillows and then I lay her down. I back up and Kat's hand shoots out of nowhere and grabs mine.
"Don't go," she mumbles.
"I'm no, I'm just going to sit right-" she scoots over and impatiently pats the spot next to her. "I can't, you need-"
"Well do it anyways." She pulls me down next to her.
"Katniss, I'm really not allowed-"
"I don't care. Stay here and don't go," she opens her eyes this time. I'm still hesitant because Mrs. Everdeen said she needs to lay down and that clearly meant I can't sit with her.
"Katniss, you need to be laying down." Mrs. Everdeen warns.
"I am laying down." Katniss insists. She sighs quietly.
"Your so stubborn. Fine, Peeta, you can stay with her." She says.
"He was going to anyways, so..." Katniss trails off.
"You need to sleep." I tell her. She's so stubborn that it's impossible to get her to do something. She mumbles something I don't hear. "What?" I ask softly.
"Your shirt. Can I have it?" She mumbles. I sit up more and tug off my shirt and hand it to her. She inhales it deeply and sighs. "You smell so good. Like cinnamon and axe." She admits.
I frown, "I don't wear axe."
"I know you don't." She says. I smell my shirt.
"I don't smell anything." I admit.
"Let me." Finnick says. He takes my shirt and sniffs it. "Wow. You do smell good." He nods in approval.
Before I know it, everyone is passing my shirt around.
"Does he taste the same?" Rye teases. She grabs my hand and puts my finger, my middle finger, in her mouth and sucks on it.
We all know what's she's thinking, and it's not kid appropriate.
And the fact that she keeps her eyes locked with mine, that's what really tops it off. She waits until my jeans are too tight, and then she pulls my finger from her mouth with an innocent smile. "Better. You taste way better." She says innocently. The adults all laugh quietly.
"You know out daughter is right there, right?" I say. She shrugs.
"She's asleep and she won't remember anything." She mumbles.
"Still..." I say.
"So what your saying is, when she's older and it's nighttime and she's in bed, we won't have sex?" She raises her eyebrows.
I hesitate and then sigh and punch her shoulder, hardly even touching her because I won't hurt her. "Your such a tease." I say.
"I don't know what your talking about." She says innocently. "I just sucked on your finger, Peeta. What's so bad about that?"
I know, that if she did not just have a baby, if there wasn't a ton of people in here either, we would be making out and it would lead to sex.
She knows it too, and it leaves her with a breathy sigh.
We're all silent, and Katniss begins to drift in and out of sleep, and soon enough, she's out.
…a…
KATNISS'S POV
It's much later when I wake again. It's actually eight or so at night. It's dark outside. Hallie is crying, and I can tell she has been for a while. Everyone is trying to calm her, and I can tell they have been for an hour.
I know what she needs. I take Hallie from Peeta, cover up my chest and expose myself. She latches onto me and falls silent.
PEETA'S POV
Katniss's expression right now is priceless. One side of her face is scrunched up and her lips are in an uncomfortable grin.
"What?" I ask.
"That's weird…" she squirms a bit and settle back down, sitting up now.
"I cannot believe we didn't think of that." Johanna says.
"Me either." I reply.
KATNISS'S POV
"You guys should have woken me." I mumble.
"You need your sleep." Mama replies.
"I'm not tired." I reply.