this chapter will be better…I promise!

Chapter 31 – Peeta's POV

At some point after a month and a half, Katniss stared to show. She learned to cover it up. By the time it was the last day of school, it was harder and harder to keep people from noticing anything. The final bell rang and people ran outside. "Peeta, I need to pee. Meet me there?"

"Okay, babe." I kissed her cheek and she walked off. Our social studies teacher, Ms. Trinket, stopped me on the way out.

"Mr. Mellark, may I have a word with you?"

"Sure."

"Peeta, is there anything wrong with Katniss?"

"What do you mean?"

"She has been sick a lot lately and teachers have been telling me she's been leaving class a lot more often than last semester."

"Oh, really?" She stared at me. "Oh, yeah. Katniss has an allergy to some food, but we have yet to find it out. It makes her a little sick."

"Peeta, if I didn't know any better, I would say she is with child."

"What? Katniss? No, no. There's no way!" I lied. I tried to make it sound realistic.

Ms. Trinket looked at me. "Okay, if you say so. You should get her to a doctor then, just to see if they can figure anything out. Have a good summer!"

"I will." I turned and ran off to find Katniss.

When we got home, she sighed. "I can finally take this thing off!" She went upstairs and I followed close behind. She pulled her pants down and got rid of the spanks we had to buy her to try and hid the belly bulge. "I'm just happy that you didn't make us go to prom. That would have been a real challenge."

"Yeah, but now you don't have to wear this thing." I threw the spanks in a drawer.

"Thank God!" She ran up to me and kissed my cheek. She looked down at her belly and put her hand on it. "Four more months!"

"Yeah." I held her close to me. "Do we want to check how things are going at the hospital?"

"Sure." She put her pants back on and put down her backpack. "Ah! I can breathe!" I chuckled.

At the hospital after we did paperwork and such, a nurse came out. "Katniss Mellark?"

She looked up at Katniss. When she stood up, she said, "Uh, it's Katniss Everdeen."

"Sorry, maybe I read it wrong. Who's Mellark?"

Katniss looked at me. "Sorry, I must have put my last name there instead. My bad." I laughed.

"You did that on purpose didn't you?"

"Maybe." I smiled and followed the nurse into a hallway.

We got into a room. The nurse instructed Katniss to lie down on the bed. After about five minutes, a male doctor came in. "Let's get a look at your baby." He put on some gloves. "How many months are you at?"

"A little over five." She instructed.

"Well, you're very tiny for five, but not that unusual."

I stepped into the conversation. "We've been trying to keep it a secret at school."

"Oh. I see. How old are you?"

"Seventeen." Katniss said.

"Yikes!"

"I know, just don't say anything."

"Okay, let's get a look at him or her!" The doctor pulled up Katniss's shirt to expose her belly. He put some clear-gooey stuff on it and put a sensor on it. A picture came up on the monitor. "Okay, so at this point your baby should have hair, be able to feel things, and-" Katniss put her hand on her belly. "Hiccup." The doctor finished. "And you're at how many weeks?"

"I'd say about 27." I said.

"Right, right. The baby is experimenting with breathing and opening its eyelids, even though it can't see anything." He continued. "So, everything looks good! When will we be hearing from you two again?"

"I don't know, when should we come in?"

"Well, in about three weeks, check in every two weeks."

Katniss was about to get up, but she lay back down. "Boy or girl?"

The doctor checked on the ultrasound. "You really want to know?"

I looked at Katniss who bit her lip. "Yeah. Just so we can pick out names and do the baby's room." She looked at me. "You want a boy?"

"Katniss, I'm happy no matter what!"

"I would like a boy, but I hear girls are easier to deal with." She smirked.

"Hey!"

"Okay, if you guys really want to know, it's a girl."

"Oh Peeta!" She hopped off the bed and squeezed me. There was a cold, wet feeling on my shoulder.

"Katniss, are you crying?" She nodded.

"Expect mood swings and emotional episodes. Those will happen."

I nodded to him and took Katniss's hand. "Let's go."

In the car, she started writing down girl names on a notepad. I glanced over. She had many written down. Rachel, Melissa, Katherine, Andrea, and some I couldn't read. "I like Andrea."

"Yeah, me too. Is that it then?"

"I guess so! Andrea it is!" I laughed.

"What?"

"We could call her Andy, just as a nickname, but that would make her sound like a boy."

"No, no, I like Andy. Who's last name would she take?" We got out of the car and walked into the house. All the lights were off except a couple candles. Prim had done it exactly as I had asked. "Peeta, what's going on?"

I held a box in my pocket and guided her to the couch. "Could you sit down?"

"Only if you tell me what's going on!"

"You figure it out." I grabbed a bouquet of wildflowers from under the table and gave them to her. She gasped.

"Oh my God! These are gorgeous!" She started crying. I wiped her tears off with my thumbs.

I took the box out of my pocket and held it tightly in my hand. Then I cupped it in both of my hands and looked into Katniss's eyes. I knelt down on one knee and held out the box. "Katniss Everdeen. I love you with all my heart." She was crying even harder now. I opened the box. Inside was a gold ring with a green gemstone on it. "Will you marry me?"

dun! dun! dun!

baby girl!

proposal!