Madge's POV
I stare into the familiar gray eyes. "Are you sure?" they ask. The warm feeling that spreads to my toes pushes me to nod. A strangled sound cuts the tense air. I quickly look up to those eyes rolling back.
"Gale?" I yell grabbing his arms tight.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Sorry!" he rushes choking back air and looking deathly pale
"You alright, there?" I wonder pushing black hair out off his forehead. I lead him over to the bench at the end of our bed. He takes a deep breath, grips his knees, and meets my questioning blue ones.
"For sure?" he asks timidly
"Err… I have to make sure first but… until then… yes" I shake under his piercing gape. He jumps up. Surprise over takes me as I feel the ground leave from under my feet and get the twirling feeling. Laughs are heard in my ear making my heart soar high above the clouds. Nausea takes over my throat, stomach, and brain. "Dizzy" I squeak. I land softly on the wood floor with Gale's arms wrapped around me. He takes a step back looking me over with an affectionate smile. "What?" I whisper taking in each speck of dust that has settled on the floor. His fingers find my chin pulling it gently up. He leans down and brushes his lips against mine. He sighs "Is it… ok?" I barely whisper feeling the nausea comes back.
"Why wouldn't it be?" he asks worriedly, "There isn't anything wrong is there?" he demands looking more frightful then I've ever seen him.
"No!" I say covering up my question "Your reaction… scared me… that's all"
"Your news scared me" he laughed. I try to smile but end up falling back a little. Gale's arms are a blur as they catch me "Madge?" he cries searching my eyes. My eyelashes flutter then I hit upon his chest. I wake up to coldness flowing into my head. I groan and push the wet thing off me.
"Here she is. You see Mr. Hawthorne? No harm done" says a light women's voice off to my right. My hand flies up to cover my face from the light blinding me. Morning. Last night's memories are remembered and I throw my eyes open. My gaze first falls on Mrs. Everdeen. She is smiling sweetly. "How are you feeling?" she asks me. I start sitting up but a firm hand pushes my back down to the fluffy pillows.
"Ugh. What happened?" I ask grabbing my throbbing head.
"You pasted out, dear" Mrs. Everdeen responds quietly moving my hand away from my forehead and replacing it with hers. "You became too overwhelmed" I let this flow through my head. My hand lying next to me creeps up to my lower abdomen where it rests for a moment.
"Overwhelmed" I sigh "Partly my fault"
"Mostly mine" Gale's voice rings out
"If I'm not intruding into personal matters- may I ask what happened?" Mrs. Everdeen asks politely. I nod toward Gale. He clears his throat.
"I'm going to sum this up" he pauses to yawn then tells her. Mrs. Everdeen gasps and laughs excitingly
"That's great news!" she squeals clapping her hands "How did you faint from that?"
"My reaction scared her" Gale regretfully admits
"I thought he was upset" I whisper
"I would hope he wouldn't be upset" Mrs. Everdeen chides
"I wasn't- just surprised" Gale says taking my hand
"Well if you're feeling better Madge, I'll just be going" She stands up and kisses me on the forehead. She nods to Gale and walks to the door, "Oh and I'm guessing this is our little secret?"
"Until tomorrow's dinner" Gale smiles. Mrs. Everdeen smiles back and lets herself out. Gale looks down at me and I feel burning in my eyes. Tears block my vision and sobs rock my body. A petrified Gale looks around for comfort but settles on wiping my tears away. I lie there in silence for a moment and look up at him. "Hormones?" he says hopefully. I shake my head, no. "Scared?" I nod my head yes. He looks thoughtful for a moment. "Can you get up?" I take his hand and push away from the pillows. I follow him down the hallway of our home. He stops in front of a door and opens it. The guest room now has nothing in it. I look around. "What do you think?"
"It's the perfect size" I say putting my hands together in front of me. Gale smiles and walks around behind me. Strong protective arms squeeze around me then loosen. I lean back into him waiting for his grip to retighten again. I turn around in his arms, laying my head on his chest but his arms still don't budge to tighten. I pull his arms but he loosens them even more. I huff and look up at him. "Tighten your arms! I like the feeling" His eye brows scrunch together.
"No- I don't want to hurt you" he states looking worried
"Gale! You're not going to hurt me" I laugh but his arms stay where they are. I back him up against the wall and kiss him. I deepen the kiss waiting for his arms to take a strong hold of my waist. Finally I pull away and give up. I feel the rejection settling in my stomach as I make my way down the stairs and out into the back yard. I sit on the swing and push myself back and forth. The breeze feels good as it pushes my hair off my face and cools my angry body. The ground leaves my feet, touches my feet, and leaves my feet.
"Careful, love, you fainted last night" Gale reminds me. I make a tisk sound and continue swinging. I suddenly have to quit swinging and jump off the swing running towards the house. I hear Gale's panic name-calling behind me. The toilet seat is flung up giving me enough room to be sick. When it passes I curl up on the bathroom rug. Gale runs in out of breath. "Madge?" I look up then bury my head in the heaving chest. "It's going to be ok… SHH" he whispers over and over in my ear. We sit there for a while. "Sorry" he says pushing some hair behind my ear and wiping my face off with a cold cloth. "It just seems like you're so breakable" I shake my head.
"I understand- kind of – except I would choose the word tender. I'm not to breakable yet" Gale snorts, then agrees and makes us sandwiches. He gets up to call the hospital when I remember. "Gale!" I yell excitedly he turns almost dropping the phone. "Why didn't we have Mrs. Everdeen tell us?" I giggle and his eyes widen
"I never thought of that" He turns back to the phone. I hear him talk to Mrs. Everdeen. We past the time along by playing a somewhat innocent game of Go Fish. Gale asks if I have any twos and Mrs. Everdeen rings the bell.
"Go get the door"
"You're supposed to answer go fish" he laughs at his own joke but gets the door. I squirm in my seat. I slowly walk into the living room where Mrs. Everdeen has her new technologies. My body goes ridged with nerves and I flinch away from the machines. Gale's face is off-white and Mrs. Everdeen looks content. Now Gale's arms wrap around tightly.
"Ok Madge you can lay down on the couch" Neither of us move causing Mrs. Everdeen to turn around. "Don't freak out… I'll explain what all of it does. None of it will hurt you, Madge" I look up at Gale, signaling he can let go and wait
"Gale? Can you let go of me?" His face is still closed off staring at the blinking generating portable machines. "Gale?" I laugh. "You who! Gale?" I wave my hand in front of his face and he looks down. "Let go of me please?" He's hesitant but lets me crawl onto the couch.
"Alright lay on your back and lift up your shirt" Mrs. Everdeen instructs taking out a curved plastic stick. Gale quickly asks what it is, and Mrs. Everdeen explains that it will give us a picture. He kneels down and watches my face for any pain. Mrs. Everdeen places some cool gel on my abdomen then moves the stick over it. Gale's head turns toward the screen where Mrs. Everdeen is pointing out the heart beat.
"That's it?" Gale asks fascinated.
"Yep" Mrs. Everdeen grins. We sit there for a moment staring at it before I look over at Gale. The palms of his hands are smashed into his eyes.
"Are you crying, Gale?" I ask trying hard not to laugh
"No. I have something in my eye" he mutters, getting up
"Peeta cried too but he wasn't afraid to show it" Mrs. Everdeen laughs
"What?" I gasp
"I MEAN… I bet Peeta would cry…" she smacks her head lightly "Sorry! You weren't supposed to know"
"Katniss too?" I laugh and shake my head
"Katniss what?" Gale asks occupying his seat on the ground in front of me. His eyes are red but no one says anything about that.
"Nothing" I shrug. Gale is looking at Mrs. Everdeen who is studying a piece of paper.
"Madge I would have to say that you are in the middle of your third month" she smiles, "You should start to show soon"
"Yay" I yell dryly. Gale and I say good bye to Mrs. Everdeen and she leaves walking back to her house. We sit in quiet for a minute.
"A baby" Gale says like he just realized it for the first time. His smile lights up his eyes as he looks at me for my reaction. I smile back then giggle lightheartedly. I turn over on my side but I get up instead and sprint to the bathroom to get sick.
"This is going to be a long six months" I groan into my hands.
Mini Gale! YAY! :D I have some name ideas for the new family member... but you don't get to know... until chapter 6!(:
If you have any ideas for chapters over the next five chapters comment and tell me.