Hello my beautiful readers. I'm trying t update a lot this week because since Spring Break is right around the corner I don't think I will have a lot of time (Yea, I know. It sounds odd). Anyways, I have an important question to you! Do you guys prefer that I take a break and write some 'romantic' scenes between our lovers, meaning no action just romance? Or you prefer that we make their lives even harder? You choose. Here is chapter 23. Enjoy
I don't own The Hunger Games
Chapter 23
Peeta's POV
I need to finish this. I've been baking the entire morning to satisfy customers. The bakery is a success. I never though I would be able to rebuild and run my family's business but here I am.
"Peeta" I hear someone yell. It's Katniss, I would recognize her voice anywhere. She appears in the kitchen with two beautiful children. The girl has what looks like her breathtaking soft brown hair and my eyes. The boy that she is holding in her arms has blonde hair and her silver eyes. They look so much like us.
"Daddy" the little girl yells as she runs and hugs my legs. I pick her up and take a moment to study her face. She looks exactly like Katniss when she was younger, except for the eyes.
"I think this one missed you too" she says as she walks closer to me as the little boy extends his arms for me. He looks so much like me when I was a baby, at least according to the pictures my parents showed me. They both are our children. But how is that possible? Katniss didn't even want kids, right?
"We thought it would be nice to come and visit daddy. They wouldn't stop asking me about you."Katniss says as she leans in a gives me a peck on the lips. She looks more beautiful than ever. Her hair is longer than I remember, caressing her hips; her eyes are as radiant as the moon light and she looks way more mature. Not older, just mature. Is this how out lives are supposed to be like in the future?
"Peeta I need you to be strong and fight for me, for us. This is our future Peeta, this is only possible if I have you by my side. Please wake up, Stay with me my Dandelion." Her eyes are pleading. So, am I dreaming? I want to live thees moments. I want to spend the rest of my life by her side, with our children.
"Always Katniss. Always."
When I finally open my eyes I'm back in the hospital. Wait, did I say "open my eyes"? Yes, I can open them; I can finally open my eyes. I blink a few times and look around. The room is basically all white, a few machines surround my bed and I'm connected to at least a dozen tubes, each one of them monitoring one part of my body. My eyes land on the chair next to my bed. My Katniss is here; her head is resting on the bed next to where my head was lying. She looks so beautiful and peaceful. My mind travels back to my dream, I need to be strong to get out of this hospital and fight for the kids I just saw. I take a deep breath and try moving my body a little. My legs are frozen in place and I can barely feel them; but I can move my head and my arms with some difficult. I try moving my hand towards Katniss's cheek. It's harder than I though it would be, my hand is moving slowly and it is shaking so much that I just want to give up. Finally, what feel like five minutes later, it finally lands on her left cheek. I move my fingers, caressing her delicate and soft olive skin.
I can't take this anymore. I want to see her eyes, to kiss her lips, to tell her how much I love her.
"Wake up love" I say, my voice sounding hoarse. She opens her eyes and immediately I can see the moon shining through them. She looks scared, like she just saw a ghost. Well, maybe she did.
"I thought I would never see that beautiful face again." I whisper.
"Peeta?" Katniss asks. She brings a hand to my cheek and touches my skin, probably to make sure that this is real, that I'm real. I nod.
"Yes Katniss. It's me baby. I'm back" I say. I can see tears willing to escape her eyes.
"Shhhhh, please don't cry. We suffered enough already. I'm tired of seeing those beautiful eyes crying so much. Everything is going to be okay now my love. I promise." The smile that appears on her face is priceless. She brings her other hand to my hair and starts caressing it.
"Peeta. My Peeta." She whispers. I don't think twice before leaning in and capturing her lips with my own. I've missed this so much that I can't wait another second. I make sure to put all the love I'm felling right now on our kiss. She kisses me back with equal fervor and soon our tongues are dancing together as we show our passion towards each other. I can feel tears streaming down her face so I quickly use both my thumbs to wipe her cheeks. This is a new era for us, I'm tired of seeing her suffering. I will make Katniss happy for now on, for the rest of our lives.
"Oh God, I've missed you so much. I've missed this so much." She whispers against my lips. My hands find their way from her cheeks to her waist on their own, I grab her and bring her closer so she is lying on her side, next to me. I keep caressing her waist and soon my hands are under her shirt and I'm finally able to touch her soft skin. Both her hands are caressing my bare chest. This feels so good that I don't know how I will be able to stop. We keep kissing until she pulls away. I look straight into her shining orbits; she looks frightened.
"I think we…need to stop…..for a little bit." She says. "I'm not….ready yet...for this. I'm sorry." She is struggling to catch her breath, and so am I.
"You have nothing to be sorry about. I pushed you too far, so I apologize. I just missed you so much." I whisper, still trying to catch my breath.
"You have no idea. I though I would never feel this again. You hands sending fire through my body, you lips giving me strength. You are what keeps me alive Peeta." I smile. Katniss is not the kind of person to show a lot of affection, but she is improving a lot. She is not good with words either, but today she is letting it go. I hold to every single one of those words because I know that I will not hear them again so soon.
"Kiss me again? Please" She doesn't need to ask twice. I start leaning in and our lips are inches from each other's when I heard a door opening.
"OH MY GOD….PEETA.." Ms. Everdeen yells, which almost makes Katniss fall off the bed; I grab her waist and bring her back closer to me just in time.
"Hello " I smile at her. Her mouth is hanging open and she doesn't seem to find the words to say.
"I never though that….Oh my, I'm so glad you are finally awake. I will call your nurse!" she says as she walks out of the room. I look back at Katniss, her head is resting on my bare chest and her eyes are closed; she looks like an angel.
"You alright?" I ask while I bring my hand up to caress her hair.
"Yes. I'm right now. I just missed you too much." She says. I wrap my hands around her torso and bring her as close to me as I can.
"I know. I missed you too." We stay in that same position until my nurse comes flying through the door.
"Is everything alright here? Oh Peeta, look at you." She says as she walks to the other side of the bed. She checks on the machines and looks back me with a smile on her face.
"You seem alright. I will ask the doctor to come here and we will need do some examinations and tests. Katniss, I know you guys want to spend as much time together but I need you to leave for a couple minutes. I promise you can come back as soon as we are done." She says. I feel Katniss's grip me tighter, I look down at her face; her eyes are closed tight, she looks scared.
"Hey, hey baby. Look at me." She doesn't move. I grab her chin and try bringing her face up but she just shakes her head. I kiss her forehead and whisper in her ear.
"Its okay now. We will be together again soon. I'm not going anywhere." She nods.
"Come on Katniss. Let's tell the others." Her mother grabs her hand and drags her out of the room, but not before I get the change to give her a quickly peck on the lips.
Now is just a matter of days before I finally leave this place and start rebuilding my life with the love of my life.
Katniss's POV
I miss him already; his warm arms, his soft lips, his radiant blue eyes and his bright smile. I still can't believe that Peeta is really back. I feel like this is all a dream and soon I'm going to wake up and he will be gone.
"Never though I would see you smile like that." My mother tells me. I didn't even notice I was smiling until now.
"What time is it?" I ask, trying to change the subject.
"A little past 11. I haven't checked on them yet. They will be so happy to know that Peeta is awake." At this I smile again. My Peeta is definitely back.
We walk together until we are back in the waiting room. I'm content to see Tom and other five guys talking to Haymitch, they must be Peeta's friends. Greasy Sae is sitting on the corner eating what looks like an apple. They all seem worried. Haymitch is the first one to look up and I run straight to his amrs.
"What is happening?" he asks. I only hug him tighter, I wish I could let him know without saying anything but I know that I'm in charge of giving the news. I pull away and look straight into Haymitch's gray eyes, so much like my own.
"Haymitch he is back." I say. I'm not sure if I said it loud enough for everybody to hear. Haymitch takes a couple seconds to register the information but as soon as his brain clicks I'm lifted off the floor and he is spinning me.
"OH MY, I KNEW IT. I TOLD YOU HE WAS COMING BACK TO US KATNISS. I TOLD YOU." He yells. I've never seem Haymitch so happy in my life and I can't help the giggles that come out of my mouth.
"What did you just say Haymitch?" Greasy Sae asks. As soon as Haymitch puts me back on my feet I'm running towards Greasy Sae and giving her a hug.
"He is back. Peeta is awake." I say, this time loud enough for the entire room to hear.
"Can we see him?" Asks Tom.
"Not right now. The doctors are doing some tests on him. Soon enough they will be done and you guys can go in. Excuse me now, I'm going to see if they still need me." My mother says.
"Oh my girl. I'm so happy for you two." Greasy Sae says.
We spend the next hour or so talking and laughing about nothing. We are all so happy to have Peeta back that nobody can hide the smile on our faces.
"Katniss can we talk for a second?" Haymitch asks me. Tom, the other guys and Greasy Sae are busy talking about the new district. I follow Haymitch until the cafeteria.
"Katniss I know that I'm not your father but even though the games are over I feel that it's my responsibility to look after the both of you. Sweetheart what I want to say is that I know what motivated you to move away from Peeta and cause all this mess. Please don't do it again." He says
"Haymitch I was trying to give him a better future." He takes both of my hands between his own.
"His future is next to you. I can guarantee you that you are going to make him the happiest man alive." He says "I said that you could live a hundred life times and not deserve him, but sweetheart it's not about deserving, it's about being happy." He kisses my forehead and starts walking back to the waiting room.
"Let's walk back and join the party."
Peeta's POV
"Everything seems fine so far. We will bring you dinner and see if you can eat normally. Other than that, you seem well." My doctor says. I lost count of how many tests they did on me. I'm pretty confident that I passed them all. I just want to get this over with and get my Katniss back here with me.
"Very well. Can she come back now?" I ask
"Oh someone is impatient! We will call Katniss back as soon as we can Peeta" my nurse says. They all laugh and my doctors shake my hand before they all leave, leaving just me and my nurse.
"I'm just going to check on some vitals and then you are free to get some visits." She says. I can't wait another second.
"There you go, I will tell them that you are all set."She says. I try to relax but It seems like I haven't see Katniss for years. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, I need to concentrate on getting better, I need to get out of here as soon as possible. I'm so lost in thoughts that I don' hear the door opening.
"Here we go. Like I promised." The nurse comes in and Katniss is right behind her. I barely have time to see the radiant smile on her face before she is jumping into my embrace.
"Be careful you two. Peeta I have to remind you that your body is not fully healed yet, take it slow. The others are dying to see you so I will bring one by one so Katniss can stay." I just nod and mouth "thank you". As soon as my nurse is out the door I'm pulling Katniss to a kiss. I have not time to waste right now, I need to enjoy every single moment with her like it is last.
"I though I was going to die. It's been less than two hours since I saw you and it feels like it has been years." I whisper against her lips.
"I know. I just want to stay with you." We pull away and I bring her to lay down with me on the hospital bed. We hug and kiss until I hear the door opening again, this time Haymitch comes in.
"There you are. Welcome back lover boy."Haymitch says to me, a smile on his face that goes from ear to ear. I'm so happy to see my family again, because this is what Katniss, Haymitch and my closest friends are, my family.
"I missed you too Haymitch" I joke.
"I know you did boy, but I can guarantee that nobody missed you as much as sweetheart here." He says, referring to Katniss. I smile and give her a peck on the lips. We can't hide how much we need to be close to each other.
We talk for a couple minutes and then Haymitch leaves claiming that other people want to see me. Katniss and I enjoy the few minutes we have alone between the visits. The next people to come are half of the construction crew. They welcome me back and we talk about the rebuilding of the district, then they leave. Tom and Greasy Sae come together.
"It's so good to see you back brother." Tom says.
"It's a miracle. I always believe on you child. I knew you were capable of finding your way back." Greasy Sae tell me with tears in her eyes.
"Thank you Greasy Sae. I had something to fight for and find my way back." I say while pointing at Katniss. She smacks my arm playfully and smiles at me. It feels so good to be able to make Katniss smile, I want to make her the happiest girl alive.
We talk for what seems like a long time until the nurse brings me dinner, I will finally be able to try eating by myself. I asked her to bring something for Katniss too since she looks so skinny that I'm sure she hasn't been eating at all.
"I will leave you two alone to eat your meal. If you need help with anything or if you feel any discomfort please don't hesitate to call me." I nod. As soon as the nurse leaves I grab my plate and give Katniss hers. She stares at it but doesn't make a move to eat.
"Hey, please eat something. You seem to be staring." She shakes her head. "Come on Katniss." She looks away.
"I don't want to eat" she whispers.
"But you have to. Please baby, you look a little too skinny. You are still healing, you need to take care of your body." I try. She signs
"My stomach is hurting a little. I just don't feel like eating."
"I know baby. But when was the last time you ate?" She shakes her head. "That's probably why your stomach is hurting. Come on, try for me." She slowly picks up her fork and brings some food to her mouth. I can see that she is struggling to eat and it breaks my heart. I take her fork for you and feed her, little by little we finish out food together.
"It wasn't that bad, was it?" I put the places aside and try to get more comfortable. I lay down on my side and bring Katniss down to lay next to me, her head resting on the space between my shoulder and neck, like it was made for her head.
"Sleep tight love, I'm right here now. Nobody or anything will harm you. I will protect you the entire time. Now close your eyes and relax." I feel her small body relaxing and after a few minutes her breaths are even and I know that she is finally asleep. I kiss her soft lips become I close my eyes and let my dremas take me over.
There we go again. So I've received a review about how Katniss cries every single chapter. Does that bother somebody else? Again, she was raped by her best friend and I don't know about you guys but I would be pretty messed up. Anyways, I want some opinions about what you guys think about my way to write the characters. I always hated Katniss's cold attitudes so I'm changing it a little bit. Please review and see you next time.