Oh people! Thanks for all the story alerts, the favorite alerts and the author alerts. Gosh! I never thought I'd have readers by my first day! So thank you! So much! It gives me more inspiration!

To Ava The Fan-fiction Lover, who happens to my first and only reviewer (for now), thank you so much for the comment! I appreciate it! I'm actually trying to squeeze my brain regarding politics. That's really one of my weakest links, ever. Never have I found any fondness regarding that matter. But I'll try. I'll find a way to show what their lives were like early post-revolution, I hope. Thank you really. :)

(I'd love to post more A/Ns here, but I'll be leaving spoilers if I do so, so I'm going to put it in the end) Have fun reading! Do leave reviews!

I don't own the Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins does :) [Eternally grateful for her]

CHAPTER 3

I stretch, patting Peeta's side of the bed. I find nothing but an empty space; it's a bit warm though so he just probably woke up. I yawn and open my eyes "Peeta?", I mumble. No answer. I sit up, rubbing my eyes and I turn towards the bedside clock. 4:02 AM. Peeta isn't usually awake at this time. I decide to get up from the bed and I realize I don't have any clothes on.

Oh, I smirk to myself as I remember what happened just hours ago. I stand up, make my way to my closet, and then close it cause I don't feel like wearing anything from my closet. So I pick up Peeta's shirt lying on the ground and I put it on. I love how he smells, it helps me calm myself.

I make my way downstairs, to the kitchen but he's not there. I run back upstairs and continue towards his painting room but he's not there too. Oh Peeta! It's ridiculous how I miss him eventhough it's only been a few hours. So I go back to the kitchen, heat myself up a nice hot chocolate since I cannot go back to sleep without Peeta on the bed.

I sit on the counter as I toy around my cup of hot chocolate. I chuckle to myself. It's been 4 months since Peeta and I have been trying to get pregnant. Every single day, we try and try. I smile at the thought of his baby growing inside me; I never thought the time will come that I'll be fascinated with a baby in me. Tell that to a sixteen year old version of myself and I probably would've vomited my stomach out.

I bring the cup to my mouth, and as soon as the smell of the chocolate hit my nose I start to sprint towards the bathroom. I make it in the nick of time before my stomach contents landed on the toilet. Oh God, where did Peeta get that chocolate? I am about to stand up when I feel my head spinning. Uh oh. I attempt to walk but I send myself crashing against the bathroom counter, knocking over some hygiene products. Ouch, I think to myself.

"Katniss?", a troubled voice enters the house and I know it's Peeta.

Where had he been in this wee hours? "I'm..here.. Peeta", I try to answer. My head is really bothering me right now.

I hear his loud trails as he makes his way towards me in the kitchen bathroom. "Katniss! What happened to you?", he panics as he effortlessly picks me up and sat me down in the couch.

"Nothing really. Just the chocolates. When did you get them? I'm pretty sure they're expired", I say as I began to knead my own head, it still is bothersome. "It smells…"

"Let me check. But firstly, do you need anything? Did you fall?", he noticed me kneading my head. "Katniss, did you hit your head?", he concernedly ask.

"No, Peeta. I didn't hit my head, thankfully", I smile at him. "Probably because of the lack of sleep you know", I teas his locks of curls.

He chuckle. "Oh Katniss. What are you doing up anyway?", he asks as he put my head on his lap.

I yawn. "Well, I woke up next to nothing", I pout. "And you know I can't go back to sleep alone, Peeta".

He strokes my hair up and down with his fingers. "I'm sorry sweetie, I just needed a breath of fresh air".

All of a sudden, my temper shoots up and I am enraged by what I heard, but instead of getting angry I end up sobbing as I sit up straight and say "Fresh air? Am I too much… clingy? Too.. needy?".

Confused, he reaches out but I pull back. "Katniss.. You know it's not like that. I just needed to take it all in, you know. The past 2 months are a wonderful bliss", he scoots over and put his arms around me. " I needed to keep my head in check before it gets too bloated with happiness. Happiness is good, don't get me wrong. But too much of one thing is bad, Katniss. We know that", he continues while he kept stroking my cheeks.

What he's doing is calming me. Everything Peeta does is just so wonderfully blissful. So I let out a little giggle and stared into his blue eyes, I turn myself facing him and I decide to straddle him. He lets out a small whimper and I know I have him again.

"Oh Katniss!, You're going to be the death of me", he whispers as he mumbles sweet nothings to my ears. I feel the fire again as I purred my ears to his mouth. He chuckles and smirks and I capture his lips with mine. I know these are the type of kisses that will probably end up being more just heated kisses. His tongue asks permission to get into mine but instead of giving in too quickly, I decided to play a little bit. I keep my mouth shut and I pulled him towards me, hardly, as closely as we can ever get. I grind into him and he groans. Oh god, I just love that sound so much. He begs entrance again, but I pull away chuckling.

"Playing little games, are we Mrs. Mellark?", he asks as he gets his arms inside my shirt and strokes the area right below my breasts. I groan in response. "Peeta…", I moan. "More..", I demand. I become disappointed when he pulls out his hands out from inside what I'm wearing and I shoot him a scowl.

"What's that for?", I ask furiously. He smirks, "Well, you have to learn a lesson Mrs. Mellark, no playing games with your mister", he says oh so seductively. He leans into me again this time, not kissing me on the lips, but on my neck. I whimper. "Peeta….." He lets out a little laugh. He began fumbling along the hemlines of what I'm wearing. "Katniss, do you know how it incredibly turns me on when you wear my shirts?", he says as he tugs me shirt-free. He immediately took one breast into his mouth and pinched the other. "Oh.. Peeta", I moan as the sensation gets too much. "Peeta…..", and then there it was again, my head pounding like crazy, not from pleasure but from pain.

Peeta knows me well and immediately detected my last cry isn't because of what he's doing but by something else. "Baby, what's wrong?", he says as he takes my head in between his hands.

"My head Peeta. It's painfully pounding", I say, wrapping my arms around his head.

He laughs. "Katniss, I really think you need to get a nice sleep. Too much of one thing is bad you know", he smirks.

I find myself laughing with him eventhough I still can feel the pain on my head. "I think so. I'm sorry I got you undone this early Peeta", I put my gaze down to where I am straddling and noticed he was evidently hard.

"Oh well, things like these have to happen to married couples I guess", he says jokingly. "Come on, we'll sleep. No funny business for now, Mrs. Mellark". He carried me towards our room and he lays me on the bed as gently as he can. He slips right next to me and starts massaging my head.

Mmmm gosh that feels really nice. Peeta really has gifted hands. He seems to be very gifted with everything he does. I smile at the thought and I feel his lips on me again, only this time it was an innocent kiss.

No nightmares I think, pleased with how well I sleep. I turn around and figure out it's already 10:30 AM. Oh no! I was supposed to be in the woods a while ago to catch a game for Greasy Sae. I immediately get on my feet, open my closet and am about to get dressed in pants when my mind suddenly tells me I'd like to wear a dress. Weird! I laugh. So I decided to give in to my own silliness and wore a light pink sundress and I begin braiding my hair into its usual style.

I go to the kitchen to see if Peeta prepared breakfast. He surely did, sitting on the table are cheesebuns and a note that said,

Katniss,

I know you're probably going to wake up late today. So I made you tea, but it's probably cold so you need to reheat it again.

See you soon! Get well! Love you.

Always,

Peeta

I chuckle and I pick up a cheesebun and shove it into my mouth. That's weird, I think to myself. It's kind of bland for me. So I decided to taste the thing again and concluded that Peeta may have forgotten to add some sweetener to it. I think I like to eat something from the bakery.

The cheesebuns are put inside the refrigerator as I make my way outside towards Peeta's bakery. I lock the door, and started to walk when Haymitch spots me.

"Hey sweetheart", he calls out.

"Haymitch!", I stop by his house.

"Up late, aren't you? Jesus, Katniss. Tone it down a little bit. You have neighbors trying to sleep you know", he says as he gulps down liquor down his throat.

I turn beet red with what he said, I haven't really thought about how loud we are. "Sh..shut up Haymitch! It's n…none of your b…business", I stutter.

"Oh hell it is! Jesus, I haven't had a decent sleep with all your noise for 8 years Katniss! Can you give the old man a break?"

"Urgh! I have to go now Haymitch! You should probably sleep while you can!", I playfully tease him and finally took my walk towards the bakery.

I made my way towards the back of the bakery so as not to disturb any customers in the front. I immediately see Peeta in his office, filing out orders for the supplies he's going to get from various Districts. It's the way things are now for Panem, Capitol doesn't control everything anymore. Each district has its own exports/imports committee independent of each other. It's better this way, people have greater access to the goods they need.

Oh that look that he has when he's concentrating really is sexy. What in the world are you thinking Katniss? I smile to myself.

"Oh Mrs. Mellark! You're here!", one of Peeta's workers says loudly grabbing Peeta's attention towards us.

"Hey Eric!", I greeted him.

Peeta stands up from his office and made his way towards me. I meet him half way and give him a big hug.

"Hey sweetie, glad you're up!", he says as he kisses me lightly. "Does your head still hurt?"

I shake my head, "Not anymore", I answer. "But I'm pretty hungry, the cheesebuns you made me are a bit bland for my taste so I went here instead hoping to get something a tiny bit sweeter?".

His brows crease "That's weird; I swear I put the same amount of sweeteners to it earlier. Oh well, let us see what we have in the counter shall we?", he leads me into the counter and he asks me which one I wanted.

Suddenly, I can't make up my mind. Everything in the display is mouth-watering, I have to get everything. "Uhm, Peeta.. Can.. uhmm.. Can I have one of everything? Please?", I beg turning to him and hugging him.

Shock, that's what's written on his face. "Are you sure Katniss? You're not the sweet tooth kind of person the last time I checked.", he replies.

I look up to him, back to the display and then back to him. "I don't know, but they all seem so appetizing to me. Please?", I say as I hug him tightly.

"How can I say no to my lovely wife?", he lovingly says as he kisses the top of my head. He takes a brown package and stuffs one of each delectable sweet into it and then hands them to me. "Enjoy Mrs. Mellark".

"Thank you!", I say, kissing him on the lips. "Uhm, Peeta can I stay here with you for the rest of the day? I don't feel like going anywhere".

"Well, I don't mind having extra hands in the bakery, especially if those are my wife's", he says as he sits me on his lap.

I spent all day in the bakery. Handing goods, stocking the displays, writing orders, talking to people, smiling at customers. All in a day's work. It's about to hit 6pm when Peeta decides that we should be heading home so we close the bakery, brought a couple of extra pastries with us and start to make our way home.

"Katniss?", Peeta asks as we walk hand in hand . We decide to go to Rooba's place first to get some meat for dinner since I wasn't able to hunt.

"Hmmm?"

"You seem.. different today", he says as he took my hand and kiss it.

"Different?", I wonder.

"Yeah.. You normally don't like spending a day in the bakery, let alone talk and smile with customers. You eat sweets like there's no tomorrow, you seem to do things you don't normally do", he explains.

"Hmmm. I don't know Peeta. I just feel like doing those things", I look at him and smile.

Suddenly, a child's squeal appears right behind us.

"Hiiiiiii Miss Mellawk! You wemembew me?" a little blonde girl came up and smile at us.

"Oh hey Rosie! How have you been little lady?" I greeted her as I bend over to be at her level.

"Fine, thwank you Miss!" she beams. "Thwank you for the cookies! I miss seeing you in the bakewy!" she says as she unexpectedly hugs me.

I feel that warm feeling again, this time, even stronger. I hug the little girl back and mumble, "Tell you what, come back this Friday and I'll be waiting for you, okay?" I tug her ponytail and tickle her neck with it.

"Weally Miss Mellawk?", her eyes widen.

"Really, little Rosie", I reply.

"Katniss, Peeta!", a booming voice echoed. I turn and see Rooba with fresh meat on her shoulders.

I smile at her, still holding little Rosie's hand. "Hey Rooba!"

"Care to sell us some meat? Katniss wasn't able to hunt today so we need to buy something for dinner", Peeta says.

Rooba walks closer and each time she does, I can feel that nauseating feeling in my stomach and my head pounds like crazy again. Oh god, not again! She comes closer and closer until I can smell the flesh of the freshly cut deer. At that moment, I immediately spring my way to the grass area and throw everything I ate that day. What in the world is happening to me?

I feel strong yet soft hands on my back and I turn and see Peeta. His face is pretty much torn with worry. I attempt to smile but then bile hikes up my throat again and I throw what little is left in my stomach.

"Katniss…", he continued rubbing my back. "Let's call your mother now. She has to help you with this."

"No Peeta, she'll just get worked up. I don't wanna bother her. Besides, this is just a day or two thing, it will eventually fade the following days", I weakly smile at him.

"Has she been like that for long now Peeta?", Rooba asks but she doesn't dare to get nearer. She knows that it's her game that is making me dizzy.

"Just last night, I think", he answers as he strokes my braid like he always does when something's bothering him.

"Uhm, no actually", I bite my lip as I feel Peeta's questioning eyes. "I've been throwing up for days now, think it's just something from what I'm eating. Some smells make me throw up too, like that for instance", I continue as I point to the games.

Just then, little Rosie makes her way to me, pats me on the back and says "I know what you feel Miss Mellawk, my mommy was like you when my weetle bwothew was still teeny bity in her tummy. She thwows up a lot too. Sometimes, she gets dizzy", she stops and then moves her hand from my back to my forehead, "She even makes my dad massage her head cause it hurts. But not anymowe, when my weetle bwothew got biggew, she doesn't vomit anymowe", she smiles as she moves her hand again, this time towards my tummy. "When this baby gets biggew, you won't feel these anymowe Miss Mellawk", she says. "Hewe, hewe baby, don't make your mommy sick anymowe, she's taayurd", she strokes my tummy and then runs back to her playmates. She takes one look at me and gives me that big smile that often reminds me of Prim.

Pregnant? I thought to myself. I know it isn't impossible because well, we have purposely been trying to conceive. I turn to Peeta and I read the same emotions in his gorgeous blue eyes. Shock. Terror. Confused. Excitement. He looks at me, unable to say anything. We just stare into each other's eyes like having a mental conversation. I want to say something, but words don't want to leave my mouth.

Rooba clears her throat. "Uhm, Peeta, I'll just have the meat delivered to your house. For now, I think it's best for you two to go the hospital and get her checked".

Peeta nods, "Thanks Rooba". And then she leaves. He turns his gaze to me again and now I see joy in his eyes.

"Katniss...", he says as he helps me stand up. "Hospital?", he asks.

I can't say anything. My mouth still refuses to let go of words. I just nod to him and take his hand. The walk for the hospital is a silent one. I am pretty much absorbed with my own thoughts. A baby? Wow, I never thought it will be this quick. Some couples even wait for long to have a child. I've just stopped my birth control medications and then this immediately followed. I sigh and look at Peeta again. He is looking down, focusing on the ground as we are walking. But I can still see the smile that he has on his face. I love seeing him smile, it's like my whole world turns into a feast when his mouth turns up like that. I squeeze his hand and then he looks at me, still smiling. I smile back at him.

5 minutes later and we're on the hospital doors. And then terror shocks my system. What if I'm not pregnant? What if this is just a flu? I'll make Peeta really sad, he already has his hopes too high. I don't want to be the reason he frowns again. Please be pregnant, Katniss. I think to myself. I didn't notice I am dead frozen on my tracks.

Peeta caresses my cheeks and asks, "Something bothering you, sweetie?".

"Peeta.. ", I started sobbing. "What if I'm not pregnant? What if this is just some kind of flu? I don't want to hurt you Peeta", I continue as I lean my head against his shoulders.

"Hey, Katniss", he starts to caress my back again. "Don't worry about it, okay? So what if it's negative? We can still try, can't we? Besides I'm happy to have you in my life. You agreeing to have a baby with me is just a bonus Katniss. I love you, remember that", he ensures me as he kisses me reassuringly on my lips.

"Promise?", I ask like a little child would.

"Always", he smiles. "Now, let's get you checked".

"Good evening Mr. and Mrs. Mellark. I'm Dr. Collins", a red haired doctor appeared before us. "So, tell me what are you feeling Mrs. Mellark?", she asks as she takes out her pen and her tablet.

"Well, I've been throwing up for days now. I feel dizzy and light-headed sometimes, especially if I inhale certain kinds of smells. I've been acting pretty weird, and I'm eating things I don't normally like to eat", I say.

She scribbles down and asks, "How is your period? Are you late?"

"Uhm, I really don't know. I took off from my birth control medications four months ago and well, we've been trying to get pregnant since then. Besides, my periods weren't really regular".

"Oookay", she answers as she scribbles down again and then she smiles at us. "Well, let's get you an ultrasound to check you okay? It doesn't hurt, just a dab of jelly on a wand, place it on your tummy and we'll try to find something", she stands up and leads us to where the machine is.

She makes me lie down and lets me pull my dress up. I grab Peeta's hand and hang on for dear life.

The doctor dabs the jelly on the wand and puts it on my tummy. "We'll try to locate a heartbeat, if we find one that means you're on your way to become parents", she says as she puts the wand on my tummy.

There's no sound emanating from the machine. She moves the wand around more, and still nothing. She arches her eyebrows. Oh lord no, I have to be pregnant. I couldn't bear seeing Peeta sad again. I think to myself as I squeeze Peeta's hand and turn to him. He looks at me with his blue eyes and mouths It's going to be okay, sweetie. I want to cry. The doctor puts a little bit pressure on the wand on my tummy, moved it around. There's still silence. No.. I am about to cry when suddenly a thudding sound from the machine emanated. I turn my gaze to the doctor and see how her lips curve into a smile.

"Oh look at that. There's your little munchkin, Mr and Mrs. Mellark", she says. "Judging by the fetus' measurements I believe you're now on your 8th week Mrs. Mellark", she continues as she presses buttons on the machine. "Let's get this printed for you to have a copy of your little munchkin, and for future doctor's visits.", she stands. "I'll be back to get the pictures. Congratulations to the both of you", and then she leaves.

"Peeta", I call unto him feeling tears running down my face.

I can feel his hands on each side of my head as we come face to face. Grey meets blue again. "Katniss, you're having my baby, thank you", he says as his tears fell down and he kisses me feverishly on my lips.

"Peeta, we're having our baby", I corrected him. "And thank you for this little one", I say as I rub my tummy. I let out a light laugh as I cry with joy.

He puts his hands over my hand above my tummy, kisses me on the lips and then moves his head near my tummy and says, "Hey there little one, it's Daddy. Mommy and Daddy are going to take care of you from now on okay? Just keep growing in there. We love you", he says as he strokes my taut tummy.

He laughs and I laugh with him. I have never felt something greater in my life. This is paradise. Me, Peeta, our baby. I sigh to myself. What did I ever do in my life to deserve this? I kiss him again and I know that whatever happens, we're going to be in this together. Me and my Peeta.

A/Ns:

Oh yeah, my attempt to make something kind of lemony? hahaha. I know I suck at that. Sorry. I haven't really had any lemons in my life, really. hahaha. So, forgive me for that part.

P.S: I know this is probably a veeeeeeeeeeeeeery long chapter. I just love pregnancy stories so much that I had to make it long. Hahahaha.

I need more reviews to get me going guys. Constructive reviews, that is. Thank you! :)

Love, Sophia-Emm