Chapter 7
Apparently Peeta's back in hospital. I don't care. He wants to see me. I don't care. Haymitch keeps telling me that Peeta didn't mean it, it wasn't him. But, I still don't care. I don't listen to him. I'm now thirty-five weeks pregnant and I haven't see Peeta in two weeks. And frankly, I don't want too. Mom tells me this stress isn't good for the baby. It makes me laugh because she brings that up now. This whole pregnancy has been and caused the biggest amounts of stress. The situation which this baby is growing in, I'm surprised it's still alive. Must be strong. Don't know where she must have got that from, because it's definitely not from me.
"Katniss, he wants to see how you and the baby are going." Haymitch tells me as I lay with my back facing him in my mother's and Prim's compartment.
Anger boils deep inside me, I try and roll around to face him, but it proves difficult. Fucking bump… I glare at Haymitch when I do turn around. This angers me right down to my core. I'm bleeding with annoyance. I push myself up from the bed and I land on my very sore swollen feet.
"Katniss?"
I ignore him, I throw over a long-sleeved shirt over my head and I hobble out of the compartment, leaving Haymitch inside. I make my way to the hospital. The nerve of that fucking man. Soon Haymitch catches up with me, saying things to me, but I don't listen. I'm blinded by rage. I march into his observation room and everyone looks back at me and stares. They say my name, shocked by my sudden appearance.
"Open then fucking door." I tell them, waddling over to the door.
The door buzzes and I slam the door open, walking straight into the room. Peeta isn't tied to the bed. He's got his notebook in his lap and a pencil in his hand. I couldn't give a fuck what he was drawing.
"You are one of the most selfish fucking people ever, Peeta Mellark!" I start.
His eyes look up at me widened. I don't know whether from my words, my now known presence or what, but he is shocked.
"Katniss?"
"Fuck you, Peeta! Seriously, you are just so… You are worse than I am!"
"Excuse me?"
"You say you want to see how I'm going. That's fucking so wrong. You couldn't care about me. You only care about the baby. If you had a brain at all, you'd just say that."
"Katniss!" Haymitch yells behind me, grabbing my arm.
"No, Haymitch!" I pull my arm away from his grasp and I walk closer to Peeta.
"Don't ask about how I'm going if you couldn't care less. Because, I don't want to hear that you 'care about how I'm doing' bullshit. Because you clearly don't. You're just wanting to see your baby. Not me. So, fuck you."
"Katniss?" His voice sounds hurt, but not inside my mind when I hear his horrible revelations from two weeks ago echoing inside my head.
I turn around to go out of the door, I feel a small pain in my stomach, but I breathe through it. "Oh and because you were wondering…"
I turn around and look at him again, pointing an accusing finger.
"Your precious child has been keeping me up all nights and then all day. It doesn't stop. She's constantly abusing me from the inside. Like I needed something else to remind me about its existence."
I don't even want to see any more of his reactions. He's just making me feel worse. I don't dare bring up the fact that at the moment that all I want to do is jump his bones, no matter how I've currently been feeling towards him. I feel my heart racing and it's started to make my head spin. I stop and lean against the wall for a second, trying to get my heart rate down.
"Katniss?"
I start gasping to try and get more air, my head feeling like it's going to explode. My hand tightly grips onto the door frame, trying to hold myself up. I feel woozy and my chest won't stop thumping along with the strong and fast of my beating heart. I don't even realise or can take in my surroundings, they are blurry and my mind is going to explode. Soon, I do realise that I'm falling. Before the impact of the floor hits, I am being held. It confuses me, almost makes me more disorientated. As I start to feel cold, my eyes adjust to one thing: blue worried eyes staring right back into mine.
:-:
"Please, Katniss. Wake up. Please."
The first thing I am able to comprehend are those words. The voice is familiar. The voice sounds like comfort. I groan, trying to move, but my bones are too heavy to move. My eyes open, blinded by a white light and it makes me blink a few more times to get used to the light. I turn my head to see Peeta, ruffled hair and blindingly blue eyes staring into mine. His mouth is gaped, face red and completely deprived from sleep.
"Oh Katniss." He whispers.
He gets to his feet, leaning over my bed and cupping my cheeks with his large hands. His thumbs caress my cheekbones and makes me crave his touch more than anything else I've ever needed.
"I'm so glad to see those eyes." He whispers, eyes starting to glisten.
"Peeta…" I sigh, my words getting caught in my throat. His lips descend to my fore head and he presses a hard kiss to my now hot skin.
"I thought that I'd lost you." Peeta murmurs softly, his low voice soft with stinging pain with the words escaping his lips.
"Peeta…"
"Seeing you collapse in front of me… I'd never been so scared. It was almost like the Jabberjays all over again, but this time I could get to you."
My head starts shaking, not wanting to recall such a terrifying moment inside the Quell arena.
We stay silent, Peeta's eyes searching mine, mesmerising them. I do the same for those beautiful blue eyes, I hope our baby can see the world through his. His eyes look relieved, but they still show a high amount of worry. Worry which seems to be eating away at him. He sighs heavily, head shaking and blowing out a large breath.
"Katniss, I'm so sorry for what I said to you. I didn't realise I was saying any of the things I did. Haymitch told me when I came to. I've been regretting everything I did since the moment I came back to my senses. I've missed you so much, Katniss."
I shake my head and try to control my hormones, not bursting into tears. Now after seeing him this vulnerable and so upset and worried, it's making me forget everything I was annoyed at him for. My overreacting seems pathetic now. I'm so upset at myself for making Peeta live through that pain and myself taking his child away for two weeks.
"Peeta, I feel—"
"Don't, Katniss. I did the bad thing here. I just wish you'd have come and seen me to allow me to apologise. You may have gone off at me, but I deserved everything which you threw at me. Gale told me how bad your hormones can get, I knew that already, but he made me realise how bad they can actually get." He chuckles softly to himself.
Gale? What? Peeta and Gale? Together? Talking? WHAT?
He must see the confusion spread across my face from the thought of Gale and himself in a room together, being civil, maybe even laughing together. Peeta's hands come from my cheek and grab onto my hands, kissing my knuckles.
"Gale heard that you were in here. At first, Haymitch was worried about me reacting to him coming into the room, because I haven't left your side since you passed out into my arms. I was worried too, about him coming near me. I didn't know if he would trigger something, but he didn't, so we actually talked, which surprised both he and I. He told me that he finally let you go, so he didn't need to worry about you getting taken away from me by him. So, it reassured me and we talked like normal people. He said that he was happy you've found happiness inside this war and rebellion."
This shocks me to hear, but it makes me smile. Thinking about how far Gale and I have come since our kiss in the woods, the devoted love which he had for me in those days. I love and appreciate him for finally figuring out himself and allowing me to be happy with another man who he always hated from his love for me. Gale is accepting towards the happiness which I've created with Peeta. I hope he can find someone to love him the way I love Peeta, because Gale deserves that.
"Gale helped me when you weren't here. I needed someone when you weren't around, because I was too pissed at Haymitch for him saving me instead of you. Gale made sure that he'd get you back for me. So, he was on your rescue team, he put his hand up first. He knew how much happier you made me. He wanted our baby to have a father so I wouldn't have to do it without you, and we both know how life can be without a father. I owe him a lot. He put up with the worst hormones, worse than you've seen. My hormones were so bad back in those first few months. It was hard without knowing what was going on with you and my pregnancy hormones were all over the place. He dealt with a whole lot of craziness."
Peeta only smiles at my soft confession about Gale.
I laugh a little, recalling my thoughts of one of the worst things I did when my hormones were bad around Gale.
"Tell me." Peeta asks softly, like he knows what I'm thinking about.
I shake my head and stop laughing.
"The day that we got our weapons made by Beetee, I was about to shoot a fire arrow at the target inside Thirteen. Gale stopped me before I could let it fly, but it annoyed me so much at him stopping me. So, I shot the arrow at the dummy which was next to him. The look on his face was priceless. Beetee had a fire extinguisher at the ready though, like they knew I may do something stupid."
Peeta huffs with laughter, bringing my fingers to his lips.
I look down at my stomach, seeing it protruding and standing high in the air.
"She's given me some of the worst tantrums I think I've ever had." I say, breaking my hands from Peeta's running a hand down the side of it, resting it back against the bed.
I see Peeta's hand in my vision as it comes to my stomach, placing it softly at the bottom where I cannot see anything. I look up to Peeta and he is looking over my stomach, taking in the huge bump which has consumed by body.
"She's grown so much more than I remember."
His hand comes into view from the blind spot of my body, running his hand up my stomach and rubbing a huge circle around it.
When she doesn't instantly move, I panic.
"Did I hurt her? What happened when I blacked out? Why did I black out? Is she alright? Please tell me she is alright!" I beg, words spilling out of my lips, my worry spiking to one-hundred-percent.
"Katniss, calm down."
"No! She didn't move! She didn't move when you touched my stomach!"
Peeta doesn't react, he just runs his hand over my stomach again, stopping in the middle. His thumb moves back and forth, then I feel her hard kicks against Peeta's hand. Now my gathered tears begin to come falling over top of each other. I choke out a sob, covering one hand over my mouth, the other reaching for Peeta's hand which I grasp tightly against my stomach. The tears burn, the kicks hurt, but I'm just so grateful and relieved that she is alive.
"Your blood pressure went wild, it was too high. Too much stress and you just fainted."
I nod my head in understanding.
"The doctor said that stress wasn't good for the baby, also that you've known that the whole time. But, all the stress could have easily put you into an early labour. And you and her could have had complications when delivering."
This spikes my attention again.
"What?!" I exclaim.
"Katniss, I'm not joking. It could have happened. These next few weeks up until you give birth, I'm going to make sure you are in a stress-free environment."
My heart leaps, but I also feel guilty. I've just put him through hell, from the looks of him with his sleep deprivation and the worry across his face and deep inside his eyes.
"Peeta, you need to take care of yourself and get better—"
"I only get better when I'm with you."
"You mean her?"
"No. You."
I'm shocked. I've thought this whole time he's been getting better for her, because of her. That's what he told me. So, that's what I've been trying to do, give her to him the best I can. Let him touch her home, let him kiss it, talk to her, see her on a screen and on paper. It's never been me. He's lying to me again, but this time, I can't feel myself getting worked up again. I just shake my head at him, but he grabs my hands and brings them to his chest, pressing a kiss to my knuckles.
"It's always been you. I thought it was her, but it's been you."
I gasp, but tightly clasp my lips together.
Peeta sighs and gives off a breathy chuckle, again kissing my knuckles.
"The thing I remembered best when you first came and visited me was your swollen feet."
I narrow my eyes at him confused.
"Because you said they were like cinnamon rolls. I wanted to compare them to the pastry I'd made a million times."
Ah!
"And also how big your boobs were too. What they did to me that night, I just wish I had more privacy."
I blush fiercely.
Peeta's horny confession is instantly gone from his face as he looks at me seriously. His eyes are serious, but they are looking at me with that thing which I can only describe as love. It makes my heart skip a beat and my insides start to shake up a storm, my inner Goddess wanting to bring him underneath me and to take him without a second thought.
"No matter how much Snow messed up my mind, it hasn't ever changed the deep love which I have for you."
I just about stop breathing.
"I've spent the last two weeks only thinking about seeing you again, telling you how much I love you, apologising for saying what I did, talking about our baby and arguing over who she is going to look like. The thought of you just makes me so much more repaired than anything those doctors could give to me. Our baby has helped me so much, but it was you being there and allowing me to touch her, talk to her, feel her, just letting me be a part of her life. You're my saviour, Katniss. You've helped me through all of this hate and horribleness. It's you saving me, Katniss."
He's almost pleading, it seems like. It's like he's pleading for me to stay with him, not to leave him, to let him love me, to be around me, to see me live. It's taken any words from my mouth. Instead of words, I use my actions. I pull my hands from between Peeta, bringing them to his cheeks and pulling his head down to mine, connecting our lips together.
He's quick to kiss me back, my insides burning a fire hotter than any. I crave his contact, his touch, his lips, other parts of his body- but I can't do that here. Our lips wrestle together in a passionate attack, Peeta's hands tangled together into my brown hair, whilst my hands grasp Peeta's cheeks to keep him against me. Peeta pulls back, biting on my lip and it makes me gasp and want his lips back on mine.
"Katniss, I love you." His words soft, meaningful and said with his whole heart.
I smile with my eyes closed and fore head holding Peeta's head against mine.
"I love you." I whisper for only Peeta to hear.
He lets out another breathy chuckle and then his lips are straight back on mine, consuming mine and making me his, as I make him mine.
:-:
Peeta kept his promise. He has done everything in his power to stop anything which could cause stress to me away. He has moved back into our compartment, as did I the next day after waking in the hospital. It's been another two weeks, I'm thirty-seven weeks pregnant now, three to go. And since it hit the three weeks to go mark, I've been stressing. About being a mother, about giving birth, about the lack of baby things we have here in Thirteen, about almost everything which is vastly approaching. Waking up this morning, I feel disgusting, fat and overtired because she's been keeping me awake with her kicking. And those things which have been plaguing my mind are getting to me from my awake nature last night because of her. I groan as I push myself towards the top of the bed, resting on the pillows. Peeta is still soundly asleep next to me, not being affected by my almost constant awake state. I sigh, running a hand over my stomach and instantly thankful for not awakening the constantly moving child who lives inside me.
"What am I going to do with you when you come?" I whisper to my stomach, looking down at the bulging lump with tired eyes.
I push myself up from the bed, with much difficultly, waddling to the toilet and doing my business, before going and grabbing some clothes. I don't have much in the way of clothes, I have all of Peeta's shirts to wear, which aren't doing much at the moment with my stomach always strained against it. I'm lucky the leggings I was given have proven to be good to wear all the time, they fit almost perfectly around my colossal sized stomach. I have a few singlets which I can wear, doing just about the same as Peeta's shirts, just more fitted around the chest. I pull out a grey singlet and leggings, grabbing a long-sleeved shirt so I can put it on over top encase I get cold only wearing a singlet as a shirt. I waddle to the main area, pulling a piece of paper from Peeta's book. I write a note telling him where I'm going to be, placing it on my side of the bed, just so he doesn't worry and can find me when he wants too. I slip on my slide on shoes, before exiting the compartment and making my way down to Gale's.
It takes me half an hour of waddling to finally find myself outside Gale's compartment, I don't know his schedule, but I hope he is home. I need someone from home to talk to, someone other than Peeta or Prim, I need a best friend. I knock on his door, waiting for any answer. Within a few moment, the door opens and I'm greeted by matching grey eyes.
"Catnip!"
His shocked expression and tone of voice instantly shows his excitement to see me on his doorstep. He comes out from his compartment, wrapping his arms around me in a friendly embrace
"Hey Gale." I say into his shoulder, with a genuine smile of happiness on my face from seeing my old friend again.
When he pulls back, he looks down examining me. His eyes bug out when they look down at my stomach.
"Catnip, you're huge!"
I huff happily and smile, rubbing my hand over my stomach again.
"I know. She's been very active recently."
"Just like her mother."
I scoff.
"Hope not."
Gale laughs and pushes his door aside, stepping to one side and letting me enter his compartment. Since he turned eighteen and is becoming a solider for this war, he got the option to have his own compartment. So, he chose to so it was roomier for his family in their small compartment. His is smaller than mine and Peeta, because it's supposed to fit one person. It's one open space with a boarded off area for a bathroom, bed in the middle of the room, bench to one side with inbuilt couches to the other side. Everything is as neat as the hair on his head, groomed and kept to a perfect level of neatness. I walk over to one of the couches, sitting on it as my feet are killing me. I lean back into the almost comfortable couch cushions hoping for some relief of my aching body.
"What brings you here? I haven't talked to you in almost months."
I try and sink into the cushions, feeling guilty for not coming to see him sooner. I wish I could just disappear into them, but I don't because that will make me feel even guiltier.
"I needed a best friend. Because I don't want to talk to Peeta about this stuff. And I missed you."
His smile is genuine when he comes and sits on the couch next to the one I am leaning inside.
"I missed you too. What's wrong?"
I swallow hard, breathing deeply and looking down to my lap.
"I'm scared, Gale."
Ashamed, I keep my eyes looking down at my fingers which are knotted together and laying on top of my stomach.
"Of the baby?" He questions.
I nod my head.
"Everything about it." I murmur.
Gale sighs.
"Catnip, you're going to be an amazing mother."
"I'm seventeen!" I exclaim, looking up to him.
He doesn't look taken aback from my bluntness, he's used to it, he understands.
"Your mind is so much older than that."
"My mind has nothing to do with how I am going to be able to raise a child, Gale. I'm too broken to raise a child. Especially thinking about how much I struggled to keep myself sane when Peeta was gone."
Gale shifts, moving to the same couch and I turn my head to look at him.
"I'm not prepared for her."
Gale's grey eyes stare into mine, trying to find the words to comfort me, but also nothing which could set me off.
"What don't you have for her?"
Gale, also assuming the baby's gender because I'm always referring to it as a girl. Thanks Peeta.
I sigh, unknotting my fingers and placing my hands underneath my stomach. She starts kicking that moment and it makes me groan, closing my eyes and wishing she could stop lodging her foot into my ribcage.
"Katniss?" Gale says abruptly.
"What?"
"Are you—?"
"No. I'm not going into labour. Just little miss in here is finding the worst places to lodge her feet." I groan, rubbing where she is hurting me.
Gale is then quiet and I open my eyes, turning to face him again and sighing.
"I don't have anything for her to sleep in, Mom's been at me for that. I don't have clothes for her, any toys or anything that my Mom has been giving me the worst for."
Inside Gale's head, something clicks and he rises to his feet and holds out his hands for me.
"Come. I've been meaning to send you over there anyway, just didn't know where you've been for the past few weeks."
I grab onto Gale's hands, trying to push myself back up but Gale pulls me up almost effortlessly. I adjust my long-sleeved shirt, placing my hand on my hip and following Gale out of his compartment. He secures the door, turning left to the long hallway of compartments I assume for other soldiers. After lots of twisting and turning, an ongoing soreness inside my limbs, Gale stops outside a door and knocks hard. I hear some soft yelling from inside and I am sure I know exactly where he has taken me. The door flies open and so does a little screech from my lips. I leap forward into Hazelle's arms and hug her tightly, the best that I can. She giggles, swaying the both of us in her large motherly arms. When my mother was being the worst, Hazelle was always there to make sure that I was feeling my best, gave me that love and support which my mother never gave to me. I thought of her more as a mother than my own at some of the days I really needed a motherly figure inside my life. I'm so glad to see her. She will give me the support and help which I am desperate for in these last horrible weeks of my pregnancy.
"Oh sweetie! It's been too long! I've missed you, dear." She whispers into my ear.
"I missed you too! I'm sorry I haven't come around." I apologise, pulling back and giving her a genuine look of disappointment in myself.
She brushes me off with a small wave of the hand and a click of her tongue, she just smiles brightly and ushers myself and Gale inside their little temporary home. Inside, I'm shocked by how small it is considering the four people living here. Two double beds are set towards one side of the room, another room connected to a wall next to them- a bathroom I'm assuming-, a table with four chairs, two couches and a bench to the other side. It's just bigger than mine and Peeta's compartment, I'm sad just thinking they are living on top of each other inside this underground hell which we are supposed to call home. Hazelle keeps a hand on my back and leads me towards the couch, she knows I'm in pain. She's done this four time; she understands better than anyone what I am going through. Sitting down, I sigh and Hazelle sits next to me, her hands holding onto mine against her legs.
"Look at you, Katniss. How much longer?"
I take a deep breath, trying to remember, but it escaping my mind for the moment. Peeta knows it off the tip of his tongue. He's reminding me every morning, I suppose I didn't have that this morning and I am a loss for words.
"Thirty-something-weeks. I can't remember. Peeta is the one who you should be asking." I state, leaning back into the semi-soft cushions of the couch.
She smiles and pats my hand, something also clicking inside her head and she jumps up from the couch.
"I'll be back in a minute. I have something to give you." She walks away and disappears to the other side of the room where the beds are.
I look over to Gale who has brought a chair from the table and is sitting on it, leaning back and looking as chilled as possible.
"Katniss! Katniss!"
I'm startled by little Posy jumping onto the seat next to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and giggling into my hair. I chuckle and hug her back.
"Hello Posy."
"I've missed you! Where have you been? Gale's been saying he was going to bring you around!"
"And here she is now." Gale says matter-of-factly, leaning over now off his chair and kissing Posy's head.
Posy giggles, pressing herself into my side.
"You're so big, Katniss!" She says, as innocently as possible.
It doesn't pain me to hear this from her, she's only little. I know I'm pregnant, I don't think anyone could offend me when it comes to my size at the moment. I'm huge!
"Posy May!" Hazelle curses from the other side of the room, coming back towards us with a large box.
"It's okay." I tell her.
"I'm having a baby soon, Posy." I whisper to her.
"I know!" She says, just like Gale with his matter-of-factly tone. It makes me chuckle.
"She's kicking at the moment, do you want to feel her?"
Posy nods her head repeatedly with a large smile on her face. I hold out my hand for her and she places her hand in mine, myself guiding her small hand to where my little girl is kicking up a storm around my ribs. Pressing her hand to that place, she starts kicking straight onto Posy's hand and it makes Posy giggle really loud. It makes me smile and admire her as she starts talking nonsense to my stomach, getting her head really close. As she does this, I place my hand on her head, straightening out her hair.
"What are you even worried about? Look at you now." Gale says, breaking my unfocussed concentration.
I look down and notice that I've got one hand under my stomach, rubbing it softly, the other is running through Posy's brown hair as she still continues to talk to my baby. I look up at Gale and he just smiles at me.
"You're a natural. Don't worry about not being a good mother."
It makes my lips turn up slightly and then watch Hazelle as she comes to the second couch with the large box sitting next to her. I eye it suspiciously and I look over to Gale.
"Is this why I'm here?"
He nods with a small smile on his face.
"Posy, why don't you go and play with Vick." Hazelle suggests.
"But, I'm always with Vick! I want to stay with Katniss."
"Posy, please. Mom and I need to speak with her." Gale says softly.
She sighs and jumps up from the couch with her bouncing hair, exclaiming happily,
"Okay!"
I'm about to ask where Rory is, but I remember clearly. Prim came running to me two days ago very excited because Rory had asked her to hang out with him, not as the friends which they were before. I always knew that they were walking around each other's feelings, now they were pursuing it and it's so cute. And I'm sure I'll be fun to tease them a little bit, only because we love them.
"What's in the box?" I ask, confused about their silence.
Hazelle again grabs the box, getting up and coming to sit beside me again where Posy has now vacated the seat. She places the box between us and smiles as she looks down, lifting the lid.
"When Peeta said that you were pregnant in the interviews, I knew it was true. I'd seen you around even though Gale wasn't talking to you. So, I put this together. When Gale was ushering us out of Twelve, I made sure I'd bring this just encase we saw you again."
"Hazelle…" I breathe.
She brings out a white onesie from the box and holds it up for me to see.
"Gale was once in this, before he grew too fast for the clothes we actually could have for him."
My vision goes blurry when I reach out a hand and grab onto the very small onesie, which somehow even feels soft after all of these years.
"Oh Hazelle."
"This is all for you."
I shake my head, bringing the little onesie to my chest and letting the soft fabric calm me and make my worries disappear.
"Hazelle, it's too much…"
"Nonsense, I'm done with them, it's time for it to be passed on to the newest generation."
I smile and continue to clutch the onesie to my chest.
"Having a baby is terrifying, but it's the best thing that can happen to you. I promise you. It's amazing when they do get here. Even if later on, they run amuck!" She pushes herself up from the seat and walks to Gale, messing his hair, kissing his head and leaning into him with her head on top of his.
I place the small onesie back onto the top of the box, pushing myself up with difficulty and walking over to Hazelle. She stands straight, opening her arms right away and allowing me to find myself buried into them in a completely comfortable motherly embrace.
"Thank you, so, so much. You have no idea how much this means to me. And Peeta too. Especially her." I whisper into her shoulder, more tears escaping my eyes.
"That's okay, Katniss. I love you like my own. You deserve this."
:-:
I spent about an hour crying over everything which was in the box, small toys, clothes for both a boy and a girl- all mainly unisex clothes anyway so not an issue, blankets, rattles, even a wooden mobile that my dad even made for Posy, before he and Mr Hawthorne died. That made me a weeping mess when I saw it, but I know that I'll use it for sure. Along with everything else, it'll come to great use when the baby comes. Gale and I leave Hazelle's with Posy pretty much attached to my leg, then in Hazelle's arms with Vick standing beside her waving as we walk back down the hallway. We go towards mine and Peeta's compartment with Gale holding the box and myself still hobbling beside him. Getting to my compartment, I find the door unlocked. I walk inside and see Peeta sitting on the bed, worried eyes staring at me as he jumps up from the bed and walks towards me. I'm in his arms before I can even comprehend anything.
"Where were you?" He asks, pulling me back so I'm at an arm lengths apart.
"With Gale. Like I said."
"Yes with Gale, but not where you said. I came to see you and you weren't there!" He says worriedly.
I want to slap myself in the head. I'm an idiot!
"Oh Peeta! Sorry! We went to see Gale's Mom, I should have put a note on Gale's door. I'm so sorry!"
I push myself back into his arms and I feel him relax against me, bringing me closer to him.
"My Mom had things for the baby. I've been meaning to come and get her to collect it, just haven't seen her since you got back." Gale chuckles after with a smile which I see after I turn in Peeta's arms, standing side by side with him.
"What?" Peeta says shocked.
Gale gestures to the box, lifting it up a little and then walking into the compartment, placing the box onto the bench against the wall.
"Hazelle gave us pretty much everything we need for her. She's had it packed up since you said I was pregnant on television."
Peeta's face breaks into a smile and he rubs my side, making her move around again. I let out a heavy sigh, holding onto my stomach, Peeta sighing happily beside me and now realising what he just did. Peeta kisses my temple moving towards Gale, holding out his hand. They shake hands, exchange words softly and they both smile at each other, Gale then walking back towards the door and to me. I reach up and grab his shoulders, pulling him into a hug.
"Thank you, Gale." I whisper.
"Anytime. I'm always around to see and help you out. And so is Mom. She's probably better help with the pregnancy stuff instead of me." He tells me.
I laugh.
"Maybe just a little bit." I agree.
Pulling away, she kicks me hard and it almost takes the wind out of me. Bending over, I feel both Peeta's and Gale's hands on me.
"She just kicked me really hard." I chuckle, trying not to worry them.
Peeta's hands rub my back as I come back up and Gale's drop to his sides.
"She's so much more powerful than before." I tell Gale.
"I bet."
"Wanna feel her? You can actually feel her now."
Gale looks taken aback, like he's going to step over a line. He looks above me, to Peeta. I look up and see Peeta nod, looking back to Gale who looks almost nervous. Gale nods his head, stepping closer and holding one of his hands out to me. I take it, pressing it against where she's kicking. Within a few moments of nothing, she gives a large swift kick to Gale's hand. He almost jumps back, pulling his hand back with him.
"Wow. She is powerful."
I smile. Gale looks weary, his hand held out in front of him and looking like he's out of place.
"I should go. Training." He states.
"Okay. I'll come and see you again. I promise." I say, following him as he walks out of the door.
"Thanks. I'll see you soon. Enjoy the baby things."
With that he is gone, walking down the hallway swiftly.
I turn back to look at Peeta when I've securely shut the door.
"That was weird." I say, confused with his sudden uncomfortable state just prior.
"He's probably still trying to adjust to seeing the girl he used to crush on heavily pregnant with another man's child."
I walk over to the bench and run my hand over the box.
"Yeah, most likely."
I open the box, seeing a bright yellow and white onesie, letting my fingers memorise the fabric. I have visions of a small girl with blonde curls and blue eyes wearing this little onesie as she lays in Peeta's arms, a huge smile on his face. I smile at the thought, closing the lid to the box, picking it up and walking to the bed, sitting down on it and placing the box beside me again.
"Wanna see what our baby's going to be wearing?"
Peeta's face cracks into a huge smile and he nods, walking over and sitting next to me.
:-:
Another week goes by and I'm starting to become terrified. Especially when Gale comes around and ushers me into Command at nine in the morning, two hours before my check-up. Peeta is doing training and so I don't have to worry about him inside the meeting. Inside Command, I take a seat next to Gale and wait for Coin and Plutarch to enter. Within a few minutes, we are joined by them, Coin taking the end of the table and Plutarch across from me and next to Coin.
"You're glowing, Katniss!" He gushes.
I give a small, fake smile and thank him. Coin turns the tables so it's on her almost instantly again.
"Miss Everdeen, you're how long from your due date?"
"Two weeks."
"Good, that just about works with the timeline we have set for your trip to the Capitol with training before you leave."
"When are you thinking about sending us?" Gale questions.
I hold my breath, knowing it's going to be sooner rather than later.
"Six weeks from now."
"What?!"
Six weeks? I have six weeks left with Peeta. Most likely only four with our baby. How am I supposed to get into shape that quickly? I've done nothing requiring exercise for months, then I'll be back into training almost to the minute after giving birth. Is she insane? I'm not even going to be around in order to be a mother. How am I going to have the time to be a mother? Will I even see her? Oh my God!
"I'm sorry, it's the best for all the soldiers schedules." Coin defends.
"Their schedules? Or yours?"
"Excuse me?"
I'm angry and heartbroken all at the same time. I want to rip her head off for doing this. Making my time, maybe my only time left, with Peeta and then my baby. And she's doing this just for that purpose. She wants to taunt me. I know she is.
"Why are you doing this to me? Have I ever done anything against your orders? I've done everything you asked of me, even still agreeing to be a pawn of yours inside the Capitol just after I've had a baby. But, that's way too soon for me to leave my baby. How am I even supposed to be a mother when I'll be in training as soon as I've given birth? I may only have those four weeks with her and that's it. And six more weeks with Peeta. I'll probably die out there, I know that's your plan for me. You never wanted me, just Peeta."
I stand from the table, walking away and not looking back. She needed to hear that. I'm so angry. I'm hurting. And thinking that's all the time I'm going to have with her, possibly in her whole life, that's what plays in my mind and makes my tears fall. I start jogging to the best of my ability, I need to get far away from her, from them, everyone. I don't even know where I end up, but I'm curled in a small room letting myself have some time before I'm sure to die on the Capitol streets. Six weeks from now. Tears never stop.
Author's Note:
I'm sorry for another cliffhanger, I really am. When I was writing this, it was intended as a long oneshot piece, but as it grew longer, I thought uploading a 100k word oneshot would be rude if the page refreshed and you lost where you were. I wish I could upload more often, but I'm tangling work, married life and just life in general in between writing and I want to make sure I stay ahead of the demand so I can continue to keep uploading regularly.
I am currently up to Chapter 20, so there's still I'm Coming, Baby Girl goodness coming for a while. I'm also juggling writing one of my first novel (I hope) at the same time and that seems to be taking up most of my writing time at the moment, but I will be back to the fanfic soon I promise!
I'm loving all the love towards this fanfic, it makes me feel like I'm actually succeeding again and it feels amazing. Please continue to review/comment and bring me joy! I appreciate every single one of you readers, I really do!
Lots of love, everlark4ever75 xx