Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!")
A/N: So here is chapter 11. I hope you love it! Oh! P.S. This is mainly from Katniss' POV. You will see what I mean. And, once again, thoughts, texts, and lyrics are italicized.
Chapter 11
Katniss walked out of the bathroom with an expressionless face, shuffled walk, and an absent stare.
Peeta noticed and rushed over to her side, grabbing her elbow and upper arm as if to support her. "Are you okay? You look like a ghost."
She turned her expressionless gaze to her husband. "Yeah. I just…. Threw up. That's all."
"Hmmm, that's weird. You never get sick."
She smiled distantly. "I know. My dad used to joke that germs were afraid of me."
Peeta smiled and rubbed Katniss' back in comforting circles.
She turned into him, nuzzling her face deep into the crevice of his neck and took a deep breath as he continued to rub her back, and put his other arm around her waist.
Moving his hand from her back to her hair, loose for once instead of in her usual braid, Peeta stroked it calmingly and kissed her temple then moved his lips to her ear. "I hope this is your ear," he said lowly. "I can't see through your hair."
He felt Katniss' lips turn up against his skin and she took the hand she had rested on his chest and lightly slapped his chest.
"Ow! I can see why the germs are afraid of you."
He felt her smile grow and when she pulled her hand back again, he caught it right before it made contact with his chest and laced his fingers through it.
"You better stop. You know what you do to me when you get feisty."
With that, she pulled her head back and looked at him; one eyebrow cocked as if to ask, "Are you serious," and a smirk now twitching the corners of her mouth up.
"There's that beautiful face."
Peeta cupped both of her cheeks in his hands and slightly pushed her cheeks forward, causing her to have quasi fish lips. "I missed you," he said as if he were talking to a child.
"Why did I marry you," she mused through her fish lips.
"Because you love me. Because you need me. Because when I'm gone, your whole world fades to grey and only I know how to paint your skies. Or, so you said in your vows."
"Oh, yeah." She smiled although Peeta still held her cheeks, making her look more like a rabid chipmunk than a happy wife.
"I would have just thought it was the cheese buns," he joked.
Katniss' grin was so wide, it forced his hands off of her cheeks.
"Speaking of," Peeta grinned, "I'll go get you some."
"Thank you, honey."
"No problem, sweetie."
They both stared at each other silently, finally breaking down into chuckles.
"Honey lamb, sugar pie? I think we already have enough nicknames. Don't confuse me," Peeta said, turning to walk into the kitchen.
"Whatever you say, booger bear."
Katniss grinned as she plopped down onto the couch, but it quickly faded when she felt the object in the front pocket of the hoodie she wore. Reaching her hand into the pocket, she held the object and absentmindedly rubbed her thumb over the surface of it.
"Your hands cold?"
Katniss jumped when she heard Peeta's voice from behind her.
"Woah! Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you. You must have been deep in thought to not hear me coming."
"Yeah…" She said absentmindedly. Then, as if coming back, "You walk like an elephant."
"So I've heard," Peeta smirked.
"You have? I didn't know you could hear anything over the sound of your own feet."
"Ha, ha," Peeta poked her upper arm playfully, then rubbed the spot as if he had hurt her.
Taking a bite of the cheese bun, Katniss moaned at that taste she loved so much, but it quickly turned into a groan as she gripped her stomach.
"Not even cheese buns, eh?"
Shaking her head sadly, Katniss wore an over dramatic frown, "Peeta, can you please go and get me some Pepto Bismol from the bathroom?"
"Sure!" And off he went, around the corner, and she heard him rifling through the medicine cabinet. I'm a terrible person, she thought guiltily.
Peeking his head around the corner, he said, "Well, I found the bottle." It appeared around the corner as he held the bottle beside his head, and shaking it from side to side, "But it's empty."
I know it is because I dumped it down the sink five minutes ago.
"Really? Well, crap."
"No worries, Kat," Peeta answered, his voice sincere and doting. "I'll run to the store and grab a bottle."
She smiled. "Really?"
Of course, really, Katniss! You knew he would! Get over this and tell him!
"Really, really," he grinned, kissed her cheek, grabbed the keys, and walked out the door.
"Thank you," she called before the door closed. The car horn honked three times, confirming Peeta heard her and as if to answer: "You're welcome."
Katniss smiled at his reply, then waited until she heard the car pull away.
Reaching into the pocket, she pulled out the source of her dilemma. Staring at it, she thought, You. You, little stick, are the cause of all this. Well, no, not really, but you are the reason I am freaking out! Well, even then…. I hate you anyway.
Setting the pregnancy test down on the table and sitting back in the couch, Katniss stared at the little window that showed the test was positive.
Positive? Are you positive that I'm positive? She snorted at her own joke. After several moments of staring, she leaned her head down into her hands, muffling her sigh.
What am I going to do? Peeta wants kids so badly. But…. What will we do when the questions start? I don't want to explain why it only has one grandpa. Why it only has one grandma, and why she is so distant. What if Peeta dies? What if I die?
Peeking through her fingers again, she saw their wedding album sitting on the table.
After several seconds of internal struggle, she sighed and reached for the book, setting it in her lap, and leaning back into the couch, tucking her legs up under her.
She cracked the cover slowly, taking in the binding crackling. When was the last time I looked at this? In scrolling font that she had seen on so many cakes in the bakery, the first page read, "Forever started with you, and always was close behind. And no matter how hard I try, you're always on my mind. Katniss & Peeta's wedding, June 23rd."
Turning to the next page she saw their invitation fastened to the center of the page. I never liked that font. Katniss smiled as she remembered planning their wedding.
"This is hopeless!" she said, throwing her hands up in the air exasperatedly and letting them fall back to her lap with a loud slap.
Peeta chuckled as he reached for her hand from his seat next to her. "Kat, it's only an invitation."
Katniss stuck her nose up in the air. "Yes, but we have to make an impression," she mimicked Effie's tone.
"Sure, sure. But make your own impression. Since when do you care what people think, much less about an invitation?"
Sighing, Katniss put her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her palms, making her head bounce as she talked. "I'm a girl. I'm supposed to care about these things. But I don't. I don't care if it is 'Midnight Blue' or 'Twilight Blue'. If the font color is 'Snow White' or 'Off White'. You and Cinna are the artists. You know these things. Can't you just plan it and I eat the cake and say 'I do'? In that order."
"You are insane."
"No, I am amazing."
"That, too."
Not able to hide her smile, she turned her face toward Peeta, resting her temple against her hands. "For all I care, it can have flames and hieroglyphics."
"And that is where I draw the line. Fine, fine, I'll decide on the invitations."
Katniss closed her eyes and sighed in relief. "Thank you."
She smiled at the memory. And he did a good job, too.
Flipping through the pages, she quickly landed on one with a photo of her and Peeta at the alter. They were married in the same meadow as Finnick and Annie. The shot was taken from the end of the aisle, Katniss and Peeta at the end, under an archway woven out of willow branches covered in dandelions, some yellow, some white, and daises. They were facing each other and holding hands.
Katniss walked into the rehearsal dinner, her eyes immediately going to the archway at the end of the aisle. Letting go of Peeta's hand, she walked quickly to it, and gently ran her fingers over it.
She turned her head to Peeta, who was walking toward her, hands in his pockets and shy grin on his face. "What is this?"
"That is an archway."
She smirked. "Thank you, Captain Obvious."
"You're welcome, General Sarcastic."
"Peeta…."
He held his hands up in the sign of universal surrender "Alright, alright. It's willow branches. It will also be covered in dandelions and daises."
She must have looked confused because he continued, "'Deep in the meadow, Under the willow'…. 'Here the daises guard you from every harm'…." By now he was standing directly in front of her, and he reached out and laced his fingers through hers. "'Here is the place where I love you'…."
Katniss teared up at the memory.
After they had said their vows, they had each plucked a dandelion from the archway, and blew them, spreading the seeds into the wind.
Haymitch had presided over their ceremony as well, and he had said, "May your love last until you find the last seed of those dandelions."
The two of them looked to where the seeds were blowing away on the breeze, and Katniss whispered to Peeta, "I don't intend to start looking right away. What about you?"
His beaming face was enough of an answer for her, but he had replied, "I wasn't even going to try. But I guess we can save it for our first fight."
On the next page the stems from the dandelions were pressed and attached to the page with "Always" written underneath in Katniss' hand writing and green pen.
Sniffling, Katniss turned a few more pages, finally landing on the reception. The photo made her laugh. They were all in a conga line, Katniss leading the bunch, Peeta right on her tail, followed by Finnick, Gale, Johanna, Annie, Prim, Mr. Mellark, Peeta's brothers, and a whole slew of other guests. Haymitch was at the tail end of the line, and Effie was off to the side with a disgusted look on her face.
All this time. All this time my courage was right in front of me.
She heard the car pull up and the ignition turn off, so she quickly closed the book, put it back, grabbed the pregnancy test, and stuffed it back in her pocket just as Peeta walked through the door.
"I also grabbed you some club soda and saltine crackers." He set the bag on the dining room table, and walked back to her with the Pepto Bismol bottle.
He sat down beside her and handed it to her with a smile, which she returned as she took the bottle.
She set it on the coffee table and looked back to Peeta.
"Aren't you going to take some?" Peeta sounded bewildered.
Katniss just kept looking at him, a grin growing on her face.
"What?" Peeta's own lopsided grin was growing.
"Peeta, I've got something to tell you."
She reached into her pocket and handed him the pregnancy test.
Peeta held it in his hand like it would break if he touched it, a blank expression on his face. He looked up to Katniss and blinked a few times. "You just handed me a pregnancy test, real or not real?"
Katniss smiled. "Real."
"And this little symbol mean it's positive, real or not real?"
"Real."
"And you peed on this, real or not real?"
She laughed and shoved his shoulder. "Real!"
"…You're pregnant, real, or not real?"
Her smile was going nowhere. "Real."
Peeta delicately set the test down on the coffee table, and slowly turned back to her. She saw tears forming in his eyes and he suddenly engulfed her in a hug.
"Peeta," she struggled to get out through his bone crushing hug. "I need to tell you something."
"I'm not letting go."
"You have to."
"I can't."
"Well, I can't breathe, so could you at least loosen your grip a little?"
He complied and she took a deep breath.
"I sent you to the store because I dumped our bottle down the sink. I was afraid to tell you. You know how terrified I am of having children. You know all the things I fear about it. What will we do when the questions start? I don't want to explain why it only has one grandpa. Why it only has one grandma, and why she is so distant. What if you die? What if I die? But I looked through our wedding album, and I realized, the courage I needed was in front of me the whole time."
Peeta pulled back and looked at her, beaming yet confused.
"You. You are my courage. You are my strength. Whatever happens, we will face it together. We protect each other, it's wh-"
"It's what we do." He cut her off and grabbed her hands as they rested in her lap.
"We're having a baby." His voice cracked.
"We're having a baby." Her voice cracked.
"Now go make me fresh cheese buns."
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Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!")
A/N: Ta-da! If you have any ideas or suggestions for this story, please PM me, or leave a comment/review! (Comment/review/follow anyway. You know you want to. :P)
Also, you can find me on tumblr: Konzelwoman
In the hopes that you have read this far, thank you. May the odds be ever in your favor, the force always be with you, and may you live long and prosper.
And once again, Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!")