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Chapter Nine

"I have an idea." Peeta said as he sat down on the bed that night.

"An idea I'll like?" Katniss asked, sitting opposite him.

"I don't know." He paused and looked at her. "I want to babysit Maggie and Finn. Let Gale and Annie take some time to be really alone."

She smiled, "Finn wouldn't be too happy to hear you say you want to babysit him. He's almost a teenager."

His face was grim. "Almost old enough to kill someone, right?"

She flinched. "Not what I meant."

"I know." His smile returned. "I think you should try it out."

"You think it will push me to choose?"

"You're so good with them, sweetheart. Finn thinks the sun rises and sets with you. And Maggie gave you a nickname."

She chuckled. "It's only because she can't say Katniss yet." She scooted closer to her husband. She crooked her finger. "Come here."

His smile changed. "Why? I thought we weren't doing that for a while."

"I can kiss you." She did, quickly. "And I can touch you." She trailed her fingers down his neck and chest. Her hand came to rest on his hip. She caught her lip between her teeth. "Do you want me to?"

"Here? In our friends' house? With their eleven-year-old on the other side of that wall?" He pulled her on top of him.

She smiled down at him. "I just want to kiss you for a while. No harm in that."

He pushed her hair out of her face. "No harm in kissing. But you should probably keep your hands a little more northward."

She tangled her fingers in his hair. "This good?"

He nodded before their lips met again. He combed his fingers through her hair and rested his hands on the small of her back. He pulled her closer. A moan escaped his throat as she straddled him.

She lifted her head away.

"Don't stop." He begged.

She smiled and pressed her mouth to his again. Their tongues met. It was gentle at first, almost tentative.

Peeta's hand came up to cup the back of her head.

This act gave Katniss leave to deepen the kiss. She untangled one hand from his hair and trailed it down his chest. She slipped her hand under the hem of his shirt and splayed her hand out on his bare flesh.

He moaned again and guided her hand downward.

"You need to be a little quieter." She whispered as she started to rub her palm over his growing erection.

"Shut up." He said with a grin. "Keep going." He slipped a hand under her shirt as he thrust against her.

She covered his mouth with hers again. He moved faster against the pressure of her hand. His breathing was ragged and she could feel all the nuances to which she had grown accustom after all these years together.

She broke the kiss, leaving her lips close to his. They brushed whens she asked, "You good?"

"Mm." His voice came out as a whine. "Almost."

His body tensed. He groaned deep in his throat followed by the dampening of the front of his pants. She kissed him softly.

"Well." He panted, collapsing backward into the mattress.

She sat back on his legs. His hand was still up her shirt. She gently removed it and moved to sit beside him. His eyes followed her.

"What?" She asked.

"I can never get over how beautiful you are."

She scoffed. "Why are you so cheesy?"

"Because you like it." He caught her hand and brought it to his lips. "You like me being cheesy."

"Maybe a little." She examined his face. "Were you serious about us spending time alone with Finn and Maggie?"

"Of course I was." He rolled out of the bed and dug through his bag for new clothes. "Don't you think it will be fun?"

"My idea of fun isn't wiping up drool and changing diapers."

"So you hang out with Finn and I'll take care of Maggie." He smiled. "I think it would be fun. And Annie and Gale really don't have any time alone." He crawled over to her and pinned her to the bed. "What do you say?" He kissed her. "Give our two best friends a break?" He kissed her again.

"You kissing me isn't going to make me think any better. In fact, it makes my mind all mushy."

He smiled and rolled away from her. He was on his side facing the wall.

She wrapped her arm around him and kissed his cheek. "It'll be a challenge. And I like challenges. Let's do it. But let's try to get Finn out of the room when we talk about it. I want to have an adult conversation and not have to deal with the kid." She said affectionately. She kissed him again and then settled her head on the pillow behind him.

"Deal." He kissed her palm. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"So what do you think?" Peeta asked Gale and Annie as he finished his proposal the following afternoon.

They exchanged a look. Annie was grinning. Gale smiled affectionately. He kissed her knuckles.

"I think it's a fantastic idea." He said.

"But are you sure?" Annie asked, looking at Katniss. "I mean, you two aren't used to dealing with babies."

"How hard could it be?" Katniss said with a shrug.

Annie smiled. "You say that now…"

"I have to go make a call." Gale got up from the couch and carried the phone into the kitchen.

"Really, you two, I—"

"Mom, you have got to make Maggie stop crying." Finn said, carrying his screaming baby sister. "I've tried everything."

"It's another tooth." She held out her arms. "Give her here and go get a rag with an ice cube for me, please." As he walked away, Annie explained to her friends, "If you let her chew on a piece of ice, it numbs her gums a little. And after the ice is all melted away, she'll usually chew on the rag for a while. Either that or rubbing her gums with your finger."

Katniss nodded nervously as Peeta moved to sit beside Annie.

"Where's the tooth?" he asked.

She took his hand and showed him where the tooth was coming in.

"Wow."

Maggie quieted as he moved his finger over her aching gums. She bit down a little.

"Feel better, pumpkin?" he asked softly.

Gale came back into the room. "Honey, I've got a surprise." He walked over and whispered in her ear.

Her eyes widened as he pulled away. "Are you serious?"

"Best restaurant in town. Say 'thank you, Katniss and Peeta.'"

"Yes, thank you." She took the rag Finn offered. She gave it to Maggie who chewed it happily. "This means so much." She kissed her daughter's temple. "I'll miss you, baby girl." She smoothed a hand over Finn's hair. "You too, Finn."

"Why? Where are you going?"

"Gale and I are going to spend an evening out and you and Maggie will be spending the evening with Katniss and Peeta."

He lit up. "Really?"

Katniss smiled at him and relaxed. "Really. We can play cards and stuff."

"I wish we could go to the range."

"It's just going to be a few hours. It wouldn't be worth it to try. We'll make supper and play with Mags and play a few hands of cards. We won't have time for anything else." She smiled and winked. "Just have your allowance ready."

"Be kind." Annie begged. "Don't get too crazy." She smiled at her husband. "What time?"

"Not until 7. But I'd love to just walk around or something. Maybe sit in the park for a while."

"Mama?" Maggie said.

"Maggie." She kissed her daughter. "Mama loves you. I love you very much. But I need to go get ready." She kissed her again and then passed her off to Gale. She skipped out of the room.

Maggie started crying again. "Mama."

"Sh." Gale said. "It's okay, sweetpea. Daddy has you."

She rested her head on his shoulder and sniffed. "Dada."

"Yeah, Maggie." He kissed her. "So, you sure you're up for this? She's never been away from Annie."

"We'll figure it out." Peeta said, patting the girl's back. "And it's only a few hours, like Katniss said."

"Oh, my god, when are they getting home?" Katniss said as Maggie continued to cry.

Maggie had cried off and on for the entire evening. She stopped long enough to eat and chew on a rag to relieve her aching gums. As the night wore on, the crying became more incessant.

Katniss and Finn played poker in the kitchen as Peeta walked around with Maggie in the living room. Katniss threw her cards down and walked into the living room.

She held out her arms. "Here, let me try. I've heard enough of this. Maybe you're holding her wrong."

"I'm not holding her wrong." He argued.

"Have you changed her?"

"Yes. And I've checked her again, she's fine."

"Maybe it's the tooth."

"It's not the damn tooth, Katniss. She threw the rag across the room."

Finn appeared at his shoulder. "Try the bounce."

They both looked at him questioningly.

"Bounce her a little. She likes that when she's going to sleep. She doesn't like to, but she's tired. Look at her eyes. They're heavy."

"How do I do the bounce?" Peeta asked.

Finn took the baby over and demonstrated the proper bounce technique. Maggie quieted. Peeta took her back and tried the bounce, but she only continued to bawl.

"Let me try." Katniss said again, gently taking the baby from her husband.

Almost as soon as she was in Katniss arms, she went silent. She stuck her thumb in her mouth and whimpered a little. "Mama." She said around her thumb.

"I know you want your mama, Maggie. She'll be home soon. But it wouldn't be so bad if you went to sleep. Mama understands." She bounced Maggie and walked around the room with her.

Finn yawned and stretched out on the couch. "Wake me when Mom and Dad get home."

Peeta chuckled, "Sure thing." He sat on a chair and watched as his wife continued to walk around the room. She murmured softly to her, but Peeta couldn't hear what she said. He always told her he thought she was beautiful. But he never realized how beautiful until she had a baby in her arms. So what if it wasn't his. In this moment, she was gorgeous.

"Stop staring at me like that." She said softly.

"Like what?"

She looked over at Finn. His arm was thrown over his eyes. She made her way across the room. She sat on his lap. "I don't know if I can do this all the time. She nearly drove me mad with all the crying."

"I know she did, but she stopped as soon as she was in your arms. You're a natural at this." He smoothed a hand over Maggie's hair. "And they say it's different with your own."

She looked between her husband and the baby she still held. "She's so soft. And she fits so well against my chest." Her eyes were brimming when she looked at him again. "I want one. Let's have one. Let's try again."

He smiled and wiped at her eyes. "Okay. You just let me know when."

She leaned in and kissed him. "When we get home. As soon as we get home."

He kissed her again. They continued to kiss for a long time. They were still kissing when Gale and Annie came into the house.

Gale cleared his throat and the pair jumped apart. He threw a blanket over Finn on the couch. The boy turned over and pulled the blanket over his shoulders. He smoothed his hand lightly over the boy's hair.

Katniss stood and met Annie with Mags. "She just fell asleep."

"Did she do all right?" Annie asked.

"She did fine." Peeta said, wrapping his arms around Katniss from behind. "She was fussy, but not bad. Katniss actually got her to calm down and sleep."

"She was already almost there, I just helped her the rest of the way."

"She has the bounce down perfectly." He kissed her cheek. "So how was your date?"

"It was great being able to talk without worrying over why the Maggie's crying or what Finn is trying to convince us to let him do now." Annie kissed Maggie's forehead. "I missed them so much though."

"It was a nice break." Gale said. "Thank you."

"It was fun." Peeta said around a yawn.

Annie laughed. "But exhausting."

"Yeah." He stepped away from Katniss and stretched. "I'll get those last few dishes cleaned." He started for the kitchen, but Annie stopped him.

"They can wait. Let's all retire for the night." She headed for the stairs, pulling Gale behind her.

Gale smiled, "Just get the lights, yeah?"

Katniss giggled, "Wonder what's going to happen in their room tonight?"

Peeta turned out the lights. "I don't want to know. I just need to sleep."

"You sure you want a baby?" she asked as they walked upstairs together.