Oh my gosh! I can't believe it has been this long. I'm so sorry I didn't get this up a lot sooner. School has really been kicking my butt. But I know now that it is almost over I can update so much faster. I hope at least. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. This is gonna be a pretty big one so I hope you like it. It has a huge time jump so just bear with me a bit.

Chapter 7

5 years later

My life as president wasn't much different than my life as a Victor. Make speeches that made people happy and try not to get anybody killed. More so of the first than the other, though. Being president wasn't what I thought it would be.

Everyone says that I won by a landslide, but never getting to see the actual results made it hard to be true in my mind. After becoming president many projects began to take place at my hands. Hospitals and schools were my main priority, because it was what most needed. People were still injured from the take over. Although District Thirteen targeted traitors there were still accidents. Or "accidents", as Gale says. He still doesn't completely trust the rebels from Thirteen, as do I.

Why would they just sit there and do nothing while everyone else in the country starved and died? There excuse was that they didn't have enough weapons to take on the Capitol. Gale and I immediately called bullshit after we visited Thirteen a few weeks after the election.

I immediately turned District Thirteen into our naval base. They already had the security; it just needed to be official. Thirteen would continue to make weapons and train soldiers who chose to fight if it ever came down to that again. And that was the only thing that I hoped would never happen again. The Hunger Games. War. Death.

I felt that it wasn't a good time to tell Gale that I knew something was stirring inside of me, even if I, myself, couldn't feel it yet. I had just been reelected to president when I found out. And I was scared. I still wasn't ready. But he had been ready for the past five years.

He was upset when I turned him down that night when he first asked me to have his children. It was all too soon. It still seems too soon to be pregnant.

Pregnant. Just thinking that word sends chills down my arms.

"Are you cold?"

I jump as the voice comes up behind me.

"What?" I ask, looking over my shoulder at Gale.

He walks towards me and places his hands on my shoulders then rubs up and down my still bumpy arms. "Are you cold? I thought it was kind of warm in here."

"No," I reply as I turn away from the window in the kitchen and into his arms. "I'm not cold."

We are silent for a few moments as we stare into each other's eyes.

"Gale I-" I begin as he says, "Do you want to-"

We laugh. "You go," he says.

"No, no. You," I reply quickly.

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to go see the baby," he asks quietly.

I smile and sigh slightly. "Gale-"

"I know. I know. We just saw him last night. But I want to see him again. He looks just like Rory."

"Except for that blonde hair. That's all Prim," I reply.

Prim and Rory had married not long after Prim's eighteenth birthday. They had said that they couldn't wait any longer. It was funny. Prim really did pull a Gale Hawthorne. She made poor Rory suffer for four years before she finally admitted to loving him. And a little over a year after their marriage Prim announced that she was pregnant. Now Gale's and my nephew is two months old.

"Fine we'll go. Just give me a minute," I say while slipping out of his arms.

We were in the middle of the worst winter that I had ever seen in District Twelve. At least a foot of snow laid on the ground as Gale and I stepped off our back porch. We hardly walked twenty yards before stepping onto my sister's and Rory's front porch.

As soon as we opened the door we heard the wailing of little baby Lucas. And I froze causing Gale to run into my backside. He grabbed my arms steadying me before looking in my wide eyes.

"Are you all right?"

I just stared forward. The wails of the baby reminded me of what was to come for Gale and me. Realization fell across his face.

"Oh, you've never heard him cry before," he says.

"Uh, no. I haven't. I haven't been around him a lot. I feel like a bad aunt."

The wailing got louder as I took small steps to the living room. Passing through the doorway, my sister and her husband came into view. Prim has the baby on one hip trying to console him.

Gale walks over to his brother who is lying on the couch in the fetal position with his hands over his ears. Gale slaps him on the back of the head and Rory jerks up.

"Hey! Why did you do that?"

"Be a man. Now go take your son from your wife."

Rory stands from the couch and walks to Prim. As they transition the crying baby from one parent to the other Prim gives Gale a thankful and relieved look over Rory's shoulder. Prim places a kiss to both of their cheeks before coaxing us into the kitchen.

"Long day?" Gale asks.

She looks over her shoulder at us. "You have no idea."

"Have they confirmed that Luke has colic yet?" I ask.

"No," she pauses. "But I know he does. He cries too much for a normal baby."

"Runs in the Hawthorne's," Gale replies. "So you can blame Rory."

She smirks at Gale's comment and glances towards the doorway to the living room where the wails have lessened but not completely stopped. "He's a good dad," she says simply.

"You guys staying for dinner?" Rory asks as he enters the room. He stands beside me and Luke, like every time, grabs a handful of my hair. Luke giggles and begins opening and closing his fists.

"Aw! He wants his Aunt Katniss," Rory says.

Horror crosses my face as I begin to stutter. "Uh, I... No."

"Come on, Katniss. It's not like he's crying anymore," Gale says.

"Here," Prim says while handing me a bottle. "You can feed him while I start supper."

"How about you feed him and I start supper?" I reply nervously.

"No," she says simply. "Feed him."

I know the horror doesn't leave my face as baby Luke is placed into my arms. Prim, Rory, and Gale all watch me with worried expressions as I take Luke in. I stare at him blindly and then he suddenly gets fussy again.

"Okay, I think that's enough for today," I say, attempting to hand the baby back to Rory.

"He just doing that because he's hungry," Rory says while refusing to take his son from my hands. "Here. I'll show you."

"No," Gale says suddenly. "Let me." Rory moves to the side and his older brother takes his place. Gale takes the hand with the bottle in it and guides it to the baby's mouth.

"You see you can't just shove the bottle into his mouth. You have to coax him. Rub the tip against his mouth lightly. It's just a reflex they have; he'll open his mouth. He'll suck in as much of the nipple as he wants or can take to get as much milk as possible."

I nod quickly and sigh. "I think I got it."

I stare down at beautiful baby Luke and I'm lost.

Is this what Gale's and my child will look like? Will he have black hair like me and Gale? Or will he have my mother's and Prim's beautiful golden locks? Or will it even be a he? Maybe a she?

I pretend for a moment that this is my child. The one that is currently residing in my womb. I stare down at my nephew and instead of seeing him, I see the child that Gale and I have created.

Gale's arms stretch around me and the baby from behind. I don't remember when I moved but I notice that now it is Gale, Luke and me in the living room standing in front of the big window. Gale's arms are tightly wrapped around us and his warmth tells me that he is protecting us. Even if it is not his child in my arms that very second. But soon- it would be.

Gale and Rory offered to clean the kitchen after dinner. Prim and I sat in front of the fire in the living room and the baby had long since fallen asleep. But we knew it wasn't for long.

"Have you talked to mom lately?" I ask.

"Yeah, I talked to her this morning. Why?"

"I haven't talked to her in over a year, Prim."

"Why not?"

"I'm ready to talk. She just won't pick up the phone when I call. She only picks up when she knows or thinks it's Gale. She knows if Gale calls then something is probably wrong."

"I'm pregnant."

I freeze. "What? Prim you have a two month old. A two month old that has colic may I mention. You're not ready to have another one."

"I know," she whispers. "But it's happening. And I need your support. I know how you feel about babies and I know you are not going to be a mother any time soon or maybe ever but-"

I look away from her after that.

She sighs. "You want children. I know you do. But your not ready, Katniss. I understand that. And, more importantly, Gale understands that."

"He doesn't understand that. He's been asking me for the past five years to have children. I just don't think it's the right time to tell him that I'm pregnant."

I glance over at Prim and her eyes are huge. "You- You're. You're pregnant?" She smiles.

A tear slips down my cheek. "Yeah." My voice cracks. "And I'm scared. I'm so scared. I don't know what to do."

"Do about what?" Gale says while entering the living room. "Are you okay, Catnip?"

I wipe the tears from my eyes and force a smile. "I'm fine. Totally fine."

"Everything all right," Rory asks. He strides over to us and stops when he sees my tears. His gaze falls over to Prim. "You told her?"

Prim just nodded.

"What?" Gale asked.

"Uh, um. Well. Prim is pregnant. Again," Rory stumbles out.

"Wow!" Gale exclaimed. "You two work fast."

He's genuinely happy for his brother but I can see the disappointment in his face even if he thinks he's hiding it.

"Well, uh. We better be heading home," I say as I stand.

"Oh, yeah! That's what I came in here to tell you. Their sink is broken in the kitchen. I was gonna walk you home and then come back and fix it."

"You don't have to walk me home. There is not since in you making two trips," I reply. "I can walk home. No problem."

"You sure?" he asks hesitantly and I nod in answer. I give each of them a kiss on the cheek and a "Congratulations" in both Prim and Rory's ears as I hug them. Gale walks me to the door with a promise to be home soon.

He kisses the corner of my mouth. "Love you," he whispers.

"Love you, too."

I walk into my house not bothering to turn any lights on. I was going straight to bed anyway. No reason to turn on lights just to turn them back off again.

As I reached the steps I could suddenly feel the uneasiness of the house. A creak sounded in the living room next to the stairs and in that instant I knew I wasn't alone. That floorboard only creaked when someone stepped on it. I had no time to defend myself before two sets of hands were holding onto my wrists.

"Hello, Katniss," said an unfamiliar voice. I could feel the heat of the person as they neared my backside. I struggled against the grips that the other unknown people had on my wrists.

Softly, I felt the breath of my attacker on my neck.

"I've come to reclaim my place," it whispered.

A/N: Yay! There it is! Finally!

Who do you think it is? I think most of you already know. I want to hear a few suggestions from you so make sure to review. You guys know I love it when you review!