*UNEDITED*

Cato:

Her stirring wakes me up at 6:30 in the morning. Rose is laying beside me, tossing and turning in her sleep, unable to control the motions of her arms and legs. She wasn't kicking, but there was definitely something wrong with her.

Rose began mumbling in her sleep just as the pounding in my head began to settle in. I drank a little too much and now is the time for it to take its toll on my body. I can't worry about that right now, though. Rose must be having a bad dream, so I need to be here when she wakes up.

As I watch her, the events that unfolded yesterday begin to come back, one by one. My baby is having a baby. My love is bringing someone else to love her into the world. That kid won't love me. Why would it? When she goes to school, and her teacher asks her what her parents do, she's going to say her Daddy is head Gamemaker, a man whose probably going to kill have of them by the time they reach eighteen. I'm already turning into a monster, not the same one my dad was, but a monster nonetheless.

I didn't know what to do yesterday. Rose and I had a fight, nothing new, but she said something that hurt more than anything in the world. She said that she'd rather our baby not have a father at all than have one like my father was. And instead of making sure I didn't turn out that way, I did the one thing that was actually his dream, something that would make him proud. Now I'm going right in the route that he wanted me to go into, the destructive path toward the hell I deserved. I was heading there in full force.

I hadn't planned on running into Snow last night, but he caught me walking into the Capitol building with a drink. He knew something was wrong and invited me down to talk "business". I was already pretty tipsy from drinking straight from the bottle, so I agreed without thinking much about it. One conversation led to another, and the next thing I knew, we were talking about the Games, and Snow was telling me about how much of a true asset I would be to the whole team if I would cooperate. It would pay marvelously, which would be great with having to take care of Rose and, now, our baby, even though I didn't want the thing. I couldn't walk away from her now.

Plus, this is what I've been working towards for more than half of my life. Why not do something that I would be incredible at? Why stop here? I can keep going and become what I want: powerful, someone important and in total control. I knew Rose wouldn't like it, but I've already made the decision, signed the papers, and promised my commitment to the Games, making sure that the seventy-fifth would be the best yet.

Rose surprises me out of my thoughts by sitting up straight. She was beautiful, hair spilling all around her face and eyebrows set in a frown. Her bottom lip was sucked tightly in-between her teeth, and that's when I knew something was wrong.

"Why are you awake?" she asks when she finally notices that I'm sitting up right next to you.

"I woke up because you were tossing so much," I answer quickly. "Are you okay?"

Rose clutches her stomach and shakes her head. "My stomach feels like it's about to fall out."

It's the morning sickness. I remember vaguely when my mom would get her sick spells while pregnant with Charlie. Rose was about a month along, so she's right on time for this shit.

"Lay back down, I'll rub it."

Rose moves to lay down, but as soon as her back hits the bed, she jumps right back up and runs to the bathroom, holding her mouth closed with one hand and clutching her belly with the other.

Fuck, here we go with this disgusting shit.

I hear her heaving into the toilet bowl and sit for a few seconds before I get up to go help her. Rose is holding her hair back with her hands and I see what little from her stomach comes up. She hasn't eaten much. She needs to eat.

I grab at the long strands of her silky blonde hair in my rough, calloused fingers, holding it back for her. I pat gently at her back, praying that this will be over soon so that she can stop suffering. When she suffers, I suffer.

I don't like it.

Mrs. E walks in, worried about Rose.

"How is she?" she asks me just as Rose blows a huge chunk. She's fully dressed and ready, even this early in the day. It reminds me of my mom, who would always be up at the crack of dawn, ready to tackle the world and take care of me and Charlie.

"That answer your question?" I say with a little laugh.

"I'll go make her some tea. Do you want any?" she asks.

I shake my head no.

She walks away, leaving me alone with Rose, who is now just dry-heaving into the toilet. She stays bent over for a few more moments before she sits back and grabs a towel hanging behind her. I flush the toilet and take a seat next to her on the floor.

I reach out to touch her, but she smacks my hand away from her. "Ow, what the fuck?!" She hit me really hard. I didn't even know she had any strength.

"You did this to me," Rose almost yells. "I don't want you to touch me for the rest of our lives, okay?"

I laugh. "You can't be serious."

Rose raises an eyebrow and frowns. That's when I know she's serious. "You wanna test me?" she snaps.

My eyes go wide. She's getting feisty. Maybe we can do something with that little attitude in the bed.

"No, ma'am," I mumble, throwing my hands up in defense.

Rose stands and walks to the sink. Since I'm on the floor, I get a great look up her shirt and catch sight of her lacy underwear. They look good. Real good. I want to reach out to touch, but she might gouge my eyeballs out, so I think against it.

Rose brushes her teeth, making sure to gurgle lots of mouthwash. I sit on the toilet seat and watch her. She notices me staring and frowns.

"Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like that."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean! You're looking at me in that way."

"What way?"

"The way that you're looking at me right now."

"Can you describe the look?"

Rose sighs and I hold in my laughter.

"It's the look you always give when you want sex."

Damn, I didn't know I even had a "look".

"What do I do?"

"Your eyebrows get really hooded and your cheeks flush and you bite your lip."

I laugh because she's right. "Well can we take this to the shower? I promise I won't look at you like this afterwards."

"You're never allowed to touch me again," she says firmly. I almost pass the fuck out.

"What?"

"You did this to me, so you can't touch me."

I stand up and nearly faint. "Oh come on, you can't be serious!"

Rose crosses her arms, her way of sealing her words. "You wanna bet?"

I reach out to grab her arm and she smacks my hand away sharply. I pull back quickly and she laughs. "When you behave, you'll be rewarded with one touch, just one!"

"Rose!"

She steps out of the bathroom, away from my direct reach. She can't be serious. She just can't be.

I slowly make my way into the kitchen since I know I won't be able to get back to sleep. Rose is sitting at the counter, talking to her mom in low whispers. Her mom is setting a plate of food out for her, but Rose is pushing it away.

I sit down next to her and push the plate back in front of her. She knows how I get when she doesn't eat.

"Cato, stop. I'm not eating anything that I'm not sure is going to stay down." She pouts and pushes the food away again.

"Rose, eat, now."

"You need to eat, honey. You'll feel worse later on if you don't eat something," her mom says, agreeing with me.

I cut a piece of a pancake for her and put it to her mouth. She pouts for a little while longer before she finally opens up and takes the piece. She chews it slowly, like she's unsure of whether she likes it enough to want to swallow it.

I continue to feed her small pieces, just so I know that she's eating at least something while my food sits in front of me, slowly getting cold. Rose's mom joins us eventually, and when Rose refuses to take another bite, I finally dig into my breakfast.

"So, what's on the agenda today?" Rose's mom.

Rose shrugs. "I really don't have anything to do today. I might go down to the market and pick out a few decorations that remind me of home."

"Oh, I can go with you. You guys don't have anything worth making a real, wholesome district 12 dinner."

"Is Snow even going to let you stay for any longer, Mom?" Rose asks, sipping slowly on her favorite, orange juice.

"Oh I'll talk to him about that today. He can't send her home now, not after the news of your kid," I answer.

"My kid?" Rose scoffs. "Last time I checked, this is our baby." Rose looks like she's going to hit me at any moment for what I said, but she knows I don't want a baby, and I don't think I'm going to change my mind. She should just get rid of it. "And why are you going to talk to Snow today?"

"I start Gamemaker training. We have less than a year to go through planning and setup, so he wants me to get started right away, especially since I've lost a few months already."

"So you're going through with this Gamemaker thing?" she asks, turning to face me fully.

I stop eating. "Well yeah, I'm not going to change my mind now. I'm already committed."

"But before, you told me that you would never want to be a part of what the Capitol did."

"I don't remember ever saying that, but if I did, I obviously lied."

Mrs. Everdeen gets up to give us space, signaling that a fight was coming soon. I don't need to fight right now. I don't have time for one. I'm meeting Snow at nine.

"Mom, you don't have to get up. I don't have time for this. It'll make me want to barf all over again."

She looks at us uncertainly before sitting back down.

"What time do you leave?" Rose asks me quietly. I know she's completely against this, but what can I do? I'm a monster. I need to embrace it instead of hide it.

"Nine."

"And what time will you be back?"

"Whenever."

Rose sits quietly for a second before she stands abruptly and storms away. I would have run after her, but I don't have time. It's already 7:45, and I need a shower. Usually it wouldn't take me as long to get ready, but I might as well get going.

"Are you sure about doing this?" Mrs. Everdeen whispers to me.

I nod. "Yes, Mrs. E, I'm sure."

"Just call me Priscilla." I nod. "And you know this is going to kill her inside. She doesn't need the added stress."

"There's nothing I can do about it, now, though."

Priscilla smiles kindly and stands, taking both our plates. "Just think about it, honey. What's more important, this job, or Prim and your baby?"

I was getting ready to stand, but she keeps speaking.

"And how could you tell her that you didn't want that baby? You both made it, so why can't you just accept that and be happy?"

I shrug, because I can't tell her, and I don't know what to say.

Priscilla begins washing the dishes.

"I think that you'll come around. You can't see it now, but that baby is going to change you. It's going to change all of us."

"I highly doubt that," I mumble, standing and walking into the room. Rose was laid out on the bed, watching the news and ignoring me at the same time.

I walk past her and get ready to go, because I don't want to fight and I don't want to see her cry after what I would say. She always cries when we fight.

Once I'm ready, I step out of the bathroom and slip my shoes on.

I call that I'm leaving to Rose and her mom and step out, down to the same place I trained for my Games.

I know exactly where to go: the Games Center. Snow is already there, along with Seneca and others, all sitting at their designated stationed, ready to fulfill my every command. I feel so much control as I step through the door. I have the power over all of these people. They're my servants, my slaves. They're all mine.

I run the show, and I'm loving it.

Snow smiles, reaching his hand out to shake mine. "Are you ready?"

"I was born ready, Snow. Just let me work my magic."

Snow smiles widely, showing how proud he must be in me.

"How is Ms. Everdeen doing? I heard about the pregnancy, and I'm overdue for a congratulations."

"You're congratulating me for going through with your sick, twisted plan?" I scoff. Fuck this guy.

Snow laughs, taking a seat. "If I remember correctly, you were the one that came to me, desperate for a solution. Your exact words were, 'I'll agree to anything if you get us both out alive'. I kept up with my end of the bargain. Now it's your turn."

"I get that, but you cannot take my baby. Rose would never forgive me if she knew."

"I'm not taking away your baby. I'm giving it up to chance, just like I do with every other child."

"Well why don't you punish the other worthless kids in this world?"

Snow shrugs. "I can't control chance, Mr. Hadley. There's no guarantee that the child will even be reaped."

"But there's still a chance that it will."

I shake my head, dismissing the whole conversation. "Whatever, let's just get to work so I can get back to my pregnant girlfriend. We're gonna fight later and I'd really like to just get it over as quickly as possible so that I can take care of her."

Snow nods once, and I take my stand at the head of the room.

Hey y'all. So I've finally gotten around to finishing this chapter, and I know I said I would have it up earlier, but I just did not have any time. I hope you enjoy it regardless, especially since you've been waiting for it for so long.

I'd like to know how all of you guys' school years are going so far, so most definitely leave a quick little comment and I'll make sure to read all of them since I have a short break.

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

Cheers. Laters, baby.

Myesha xx