**UNEDITED - LET ME KNOW IF YOU FIND ANY MISTAKES BC I LITERALLY HAVE NO TIME TO CHECK!**

I couldn't believe it. I actually couldn't believe what my ears were hearing. It was true, it was actually real. Something I had hoped for was happening, and things were going my way for the first time ever. Granted, I've only ever experienced intimacy twice, my Mommy instincts were already heading into full effect. My forearm never left its rightful place, protecting my baby.

"Are you sure?" Mom asks with her hand slightly covering her mouth. She speaks in surprised whispers, as though she was going to faint.

The doctor smiles and nods with reassurance. "Positive. She's most definitely baking something in that oven."

"Fuck," Cato groans, screwing his eyes shut. "I think I'm gonna pass out."

I bite down on my lip, keeping my peripheral on him. He really did look like he was going to fall onto the floor at any moment. Cato had grown pale and had permanently set a cute little frown on his eyebrows.

"Are you okay?"

"No, no I'm not okay."

I guess I know what his reaction to this whole thing is, and while he is surprised, Cato sure as heck doesn't seem happy about it. He looks absolutely terrified. When I took the test and it came out negative, I had never seen a man more relieved than Cato, and that surpassed the time that a man came into my home in Twelve for healing and found out he didn't have to lose his leg. Anyway, while I was silently sulking, Cato had already moved on to the newt topic, forgetting about a baby at all.

The doctor raises his eyes at Cato, but returns his attention to me. "Now, you're pretty early into the pregnancy, but you should soon be starting to feel the preliminary effects. We're going to have to put you on pre-natal vitamins, and you'll need to come in every three weeks so that we can monitor how you and the baby are doing."

"What will the vitamins be for?"

"To keep your body in balance. A baby can throw everything off track drastically."

My mind was racing so much that I could barely comprehend all the information that he was giving me. The doctor was off talking about brochures I could read and how to maintain a healthy diet, but I wasn't listening. I was thinking about how in less than eight months, I was going to be bringing a life into this messed up world. I can't let my baby live the life I had to.

Mom was in another world, clutching onto my hand tightly and looking at me with so much joy that it took me a minute to register that we were in the Capitol. Snow wouldn't let her stay with us once I got out of the Games, and he may just send her home again. I really need her right now, though. I don't know what I'm doing and how I would be able to get through this without her.

"This is the best thing I could have ever heard at a time like this. My baby girl is having a baby."

"I am," I smile.

"Do you know what we're having yet?"

"No," the doctor shakes his head. "While we have incredibly advanced technology, it's still not developed enough to determine the sex of the baby this early."

"So when can we know?"

"Once you're about five to six months, we can determine that for you."

Cato was holding onto my other hand, and his sweat was transferring to my palm. I looked over at him and he stared back at me with big, green eyes. His eyes went from looking at my face to my stomach, and I saw in him that he had finally realized the meaning of "pregnant".

Cato took one more good look at me, and then he fainted to the floor.

I quickly jumped up and kneeled next to him on the floor, completely ignoring the IV and morphine stuck to my arm. It tugged on my arm harshly, but I ignored the sharp pains. Mom stepped back, surprised and confused. I don't think she knew what to do, and she's the master healer here.

"Cato?" I slap his cheek, but there's no sign of life, so I look to the doctor.

"He's fine." The doctor chuckles lightly and moves Cato to the couch. "I've seen much worse than this."

Cato is settled into the couch safely, but I keep a sharp eye on him until I know that he's truly okay. As I'm being put back in bed, the door opens once again and Effie peeks her head in slowly, the bright blue of her hair making its way in first.

She eyes Cato warily before stepping inside completely, smoothing her dress down and she watched me. "Is it okay for me to come in?" she asks quietly, I assume not to wake Cato.

I nod and she walks in, her high heels clacking along the floor, just like always. I was surprised that the noise didn't wake Cato up, but he was passed out completely.

"You must understand how deeply sorry I am for what happened to you, darling. You know that you are just my star, and I would not dream of anything ever hurting you. I just want-"

"Effie," I interrupt, "please, it's okay. It's not like it's your fault."

Effie places a hand on her heart dramatically. "Oh, but it is! I should have made sure that you were completely safe and that he-"

"It's fine, Effie! I'm happy, not upset with you."

"Happy, why on earth would you be happy at a time like this? You've just been hit by a car!"

"I'm pregnant."

Effie stops everything. "What?"

"I said I'm-"

"I know what you said, but what?"

I smile and nod.

"It's true."

"But I thought the test said that... you know."

I shake my head. "The test was wrong."

"So you're...?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Really, really?"

"Yup."

"You're absolutely sure? This isn't a joke?"

"Yes!"

Effie almosts drops dead, literally. She begins jumping up and down, clapping with every mini-hop. "Oh my goodness, this is just brilliant! This has to go to the press immediately! Oh goodness, they're going to have a field day when they hear about this, I just can't wait any longer to tell everyone!"

"Effie, you're not telling anyone about this," my Mom steps in to say, crossing her arms in a bossy way.

"But I absolutely have to. I am under strict instruction by the President himself to make sure that this is the most desired couple in the entire nation. Everyone either wants them or wants to be them. The only thing to solidify this relationship and keep the both of them alive is to make sure that everything goes as planned."

"But, Effie, I don't want anyone to know about this just yet. The news is new to me, so I would at least like some time to process all of this first. And I need to talk to Cato about things."

Effie sighs and shakes her head, once again not taking my own life into consideration before everyone else in Panem.

"Well, what am I supposed to tell Snow? Once he finds out, he's going to want the works set up for the nation to celebrate this baby."

"Tell him that he can wait at least a month before we announce anything to anyone, or I'm going to deny it."

"I cannot make any guarantees, but I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you."

"This is so amazing. Think of the clothes that the baby will be wearing. She'll be the most stylish child in all of Panem. She'll be on billboards all around the world, just think about it."

"Seriously, Effie, you are not turning my baby into a model." I burst into laughter and Effie joins in, even though I know she is completely serious about having my baby be a model. I wouldn't let her near the baby. If anyone can style my baby, it's Cinna.

I cannot wait to tell him the news. He's going to be so happy.

Cato stirs on the couch and slowly opens his eyes, taking in his surroundings. He zeros in on Effie and jumps up almost immediately, pushing her away from me.

"Get the fuck away from her!"

"But Cato..."

"No!" He stops me before I can say anything. "I don't want this... this bitch anywhere near you!"

"Cato, please! Watch your language!" My mom scolds and slaps him on his arm harshly.

"OW! Damn, I didn't- OW!" Mom hits him again as he lets another curse word slip.

I laugh as Cato pouts and rubs his hand, but keeps his mouth shut. I kiss him on the cheek and he frowns.

"Cato, I did nothing wrong," Effie defends.

"You always do something wrong," he grumbles under his breath.

"Well," the doctor clears his throat, "you've been cleared to go home. Why don't you get ready while I process your medication?"

I nod and remove the IV from my arm, along with what was connecting me to the morphine. My body doesn't like that, and it begins to ache incredibly. Once the doctor and Effie leave, I move slowly to reach for the spare clothes set on the edge of my bed. My mother reaches to help me as Cato takes a place on the couch, his head hanging in his hands.

Mom gets me fully dressed, making sure to take extra care with touching me, and once I'm fully dressed, I struggle to stand up. The lack of morphine brought the ache back into my bones.

Cato jumps up to my aid. "Here, let me help you."

I look him carefully in the eyes but he looks away. He doesn't want to look at me, but he helps me stand and walks me out of the hospital room while Mom gathers up the rest of our things from the room.

"Cato, are you okay?" I whisper, holding on to his arm tightly.

"Hm?" he looks down at me briefly. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I mean, we just found out we're having a baby and now you can barely look at me."

"I'm fine," he snaps quietly. "Just tired."

I rub on his arm. "Well, we're going to have to talk about this sooner or later."

"We don't have to talk about anything."

"Yes, we do."

"Not right now, we don't."

"The faster we talk about this, the faster we can fix the problems we have."

"No."

"We have to, Cato."

"No, we don't."

"Why are you acting like this?"

"Because you know I don't want a fucking baby!"

My heart stops thumping in my chest momentarily. This was finally happening, and he was angry at me about this like all of it was my fault. He was angry with me for being a girl and having the ability to bear a child. But it's not all my fault, we were both involved.

"Look, Rose, I'm sorry."

"No."

"I didn't mean it like that, it's just-"

I let go of his arm. "If that's how you feel, then why don't you just disappear. I'd rather be alone than give my baby the same type of father you had."

Cato looks shocked, but I turn and slowly make my way towards my mother, who is just walking towards me with medicine bags in her hand. I take one look back at Cato, but he's already gone. I try to hold back my tears, but they threaten to fall at any moment.

"Where's Cato?" she asks.

"That doesn't matter. Can we please just go?"

"Oh... okay. Let's get you two home and in bed."

Two... two. I can't help but smile.

The ride home seemed ten times longer than it actually was. I was happy, afraid, sad, excited, and anxious all at the same time. I was worried about a baby, worried about Cato, and worried about all of life. But, I was excited. I didn't need Cato, and I won't need him anymore if he wants to take off. I can pour all of my love into my kid, and he/she will love me back more than any guy could, even more than Cato. I don't need him. I can survive on my own if he decides he wants nothing to do with this. I have my mom to get me through the good and bad times, and that's all I need, really.

Once we make it back to the Capitol penthouse, Mother tucks me into bed, makes me a hearty beef stew, and gives me my vitamins and pain medication. I stayed in bed for the rest of the night, half concerned about Cato and where he was. He wasn't here when we got back, and it's been hours since then, so hopefully he's okay.

Cato was probably out drinking again. That's what he's usually doing when he's out for long periods of time. He just needs to come home so that we can talk about this properly. I'm having this baby whether he likes it or not.

I didn't sleep for the entire night. I wanted to be awake when Cato came home. Once the clock struck three a.m on the dot, Cato bursts into our bedroom door, laughing quietly to himself. Like I suspected, he was tipsy.

He plops down onto the bed and looks up at me.

"Oh, look who it is!" he smiles. "It's my girlfriend. My beautiful, beautiful girlfriend."

"Hi, Cato," I giggle.

"Hi," he draws out. "Hi, how are you?"

"I'm in a little pain."

"No! No, why, what's wrong?"

I shrug and smile. "I don't know. What's wrong with you?"

Cato sighs longingly. "Oh, well, I don't know."

Cato leans close, placing his head close to my belly.

"Um..."

"There's a little invader in there, huh?"

He's talking to our baby.

"Helloooo! Hello in there!" Cato pokes me, but I swat his hand away.

"Stop."

"No, that's my baby. Yea, my baby."

"Is it?"

"Oh yeah. I'm the one that fucked you right? You didn't sleep with anyone else, right? Because I'll kill him, you know I will."

I cross my heart. "I swear, you were the only one."

"Good. Isn't that good, little baby?" Cato smiles up at me. "You love me?"

"Yes, I do?"

"See that, invader. Your Mommy loves me the most."

"I do," I say, running my hands through his sweaty hair.

Cato smiles and kisses my thigh since he cannot reach my face. "See, baby? She loves me the most. But when you come out of there, she's going to forget about me. She's not gonna love me anymore. She won't call me baby, she'll call you that."

"Cato, I would never forget about you."

"But you will. That's what always happens with babies. You're a little invader and you're going to take Mommy away from me."

"No, it won't."

Cato doesn't hear me. "And then, little baby, you won't love me. You won't love your Daddy. You'll only love Mommy, because Mommy says I'm just going to end up the way my Dad did. I'm going to hurt you and your Mommy, and you won't even want to look at me because I'm going to be a monster."

Crap, I did say that to him. Why would I say such a thing?

"Cato... I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean that." I feel so bad for saying something so cruel.

"Yeah, you did." He pouts. "But that's okay, because you're right. I am going to end up like that man, maybe even worse."

"No, you won't. You are going to be the most perfect father." His reaction almost brings me to tears. How could he think about himself in that way, when we both know that it is simply not true.

"I will. Want to know why?"

"Why?"

"Do you know who I was drinking with?"

"Who?"

"President Snow. And guess, guess what I agreed to?"

"What?"

"I agreed to become head Gamemaker. He asked me and I accepted, because I am a monster. I am nothing but evil."

"You what?!"

Cato smiles. "You are looking at the new head Gamemaker!"

"Why would you agree to something like that? You know that it's wrong."

"Because I want to. The Games are where I'm in my element, when I feel the most at power. Being the head of the Games, I'm going to have all the power in the world." He yells this.

"Cato, let's talk about this tomorrow, when you're not drunk, okay?"

But he doesn't hear me. He's already passed out.

HELLO HELLO HELLO. Sorry if you didn't like this chapter, it was kinda a filler but not really. I had to squeeze this chapter out and now I have to return to some homework, so I cannot converse much.

Make sure to vote, comment, share and follow. And thank you so much for reading!

Cheers. Laters, baby.

Myesha xx