Darker And Colder

2.09: The Sign Of Four

Chapter 26
Katniss's POV

I stare at the purple ink on my arm. It basically says I have to eat and go to the doctor at some point. No training. No hard work. Just nothing.

I sigh, because I was actually hoping for something to do, even if it was military training. But I can't do anything because right now I'm a little busy trying to create another person. I wonder around and talk to Finnick and Annie a little, who are talking of getting married. I try to show interest but eventually they leave because they think I'm preoccupied.

I'm not. I'm just bored. I flit about from place to place like a confused bird, never really settling anywhere. At 11:25 am I set toward the hospital for the doctor's appointment I have.

I get to the writing room around two minutes later and stay there whilst people walk past me. The people all seem to be staring at me. Their gazes stab holes into my skin. The hairs all stand up on my arms and neck. I pull my arms closer to me, over my large protruding bump.
A woman with soft brown skin and dark eyes and a couple centimetres of short dark hair leads me into a room.

In the room is a metal table, and a machine with a little screen on it. A tube of gel. Something that looks like some kind of scanner.

On a small grey chair next to the table is Peeta. His head lifts when I come in, so I can see his blue eyes. The bright colour of the sky that once was there is back, no longer driven away by Capitol experiments.

"So," the Doctor says, another woman with lighter skin and blue hair, "you are probably wondering why you are here. We think that this should have happened earlier, but we couldn't under your circumstances, but, anyway..." she pauses, looking confused, like she can't quite reach the thought that has got away from the grasp of her mind. "Yes, um, today we plan to do an ultrasound on you."

"If you would just lie down on this table for us," says the woman with dark hair. Her eyes are firm but kind. "Thank you, Ms. Mellark."

Mellark. Not Everdeen. She actually said Mellark.

I smile at her, and she smiles back. It is a small act of rebellion against Coin, and a kindness to us. I respect her for that. But I can't have her hurt. I look at her badge and make a mental note of her name. If I need to I will try and save her. Hazel Logan.

She rubs some of the clear gel on my abdomen, and then puts the scanner onto it. It feels cold.
I feel fingers wrap around mine, and Peeta gives my hand a small squeeze. I smile at him.
The Doctor with the blue hair turns a few switches on the side of the screen, and we see an image.

It is black with some lighter more grey or white patches on it.
"Those two blobs on screen," she says, pointing to the two blobs, "are the babies."

Two. Two babies.

I can't quite decide whether I am distraught that I am bringing two lives into this world or overjoyed, but when I see Peeta's face I know it is the latter. A smile breaks across my own face, replicating Peeta's and he presses his forehead to mine.

The Nurse with the dark hair turns to me again. "Would you like either of their genders?"

I don't mind, so I look to Peeta. "Yeah," he says, smiling.

The Doctor leaves the room for a minute, and then comes back. "It looks like a boy and a girl."

I smile against Peeta, which is holding me in an embrace. "We're going to have children."

"Yeah."

◇◇◇

Peeta's POV

"So," Katniss says, as we sit in my room. "Do you want to choose a name for the girl, and I choose a name for the boy?"

"Okay," I reply. I think for a minute, then come up with, "I like Willow."

She nestles in closer to me, and I adjust my arm so it is still over her shoulders. "Willow." She repeats. "Yeah. I like that."

"What about a boy's name?"

Her eyes narrow in concentration as she thinks. She does this expression a lot; it's really sweet, but she'd probably hate it if I said that. I don't want her to give me that death glare again.
"What about Haymitch?" She says, looking to me with an enormous grin on her her face that splits open into a laugh. I laugh with her and for the first time in ages I feel truly happy again. "I don't know. I'll think about it. I guess you probably had names picked out, you're the perfect father. And I never even wanted to have kids." The smile goes from her face.

"Hey, it's okay. We can get through this. I'm not going to leave you."

"Thank you. But still, how am I going to be a mother? Me, of all people? And I'm not exactly a good example for Prim either, the only reason this happened is because it was you... That wouldn't have happened with anyone else." She sees my face, and immediately goes back to what she said, "that's not a bad thing. You did nothing wrong. We did nothing wrong. I just... I can't believe this happened. Why now? And how are we going to cope here? I'm not even allowed to be in the same room with you for more than two hours without some kind of supervision."

"I know."

The next thing she says, she says softly. Quietly. "Peeta..."

"Yeah?"

"I've been thinking for a while and... will.... will you marry me? Properly? I would never have minded the wedding just being what it was. That was perfect... but if we want to be properly considered married here, we have to have the proper wedding. And I want to live with you. I want to spend every day with you, because you are the only thing that keeps me going any more. I just want to be with you. I want to be called Mrs. Mellark, if that's what it takes to show people that I love you."

◇◇◇

Haymitch's POV

I sit in some random compatment.

I think about my life. I guess you could sort it into individual books. This would probably be chapter eight of a sequel to his time with those two misfits. Running around, having babies and causing havoc. It would be books about him, but it would probably not tell it from his point of view.

I take another swig of the spirit.

I'd probably only get my view into each chapter eight, I think, trying to stay in first person point of view so I don't confuse any possible future readers. Or maybe past readers, if they could predict some kind of apocalypse.

There had been books, supposedly, about something like what was happening to him now. Written by Michelle Collins.

No, I think, that's that actress from that ancient tv show, west enders? Something like that. A soap opera, I think they call them. Michelle Gomez? No, that was that Missy woman, from that sci-fi soap. It was supposed to have been good. Doctor What, or something. Well, apparently it was good up until series seven of the first reboot. There was loads of reboots of that old thing. Suzie Collins? That was it. Roughly. Suzanne?

My mind doesn't comprehend stuff now. It really is a mess up here, in my head. Switching tenses and Perspectives like a wannabe TheyTuber, or whatever.

I hear a knock at the door, and mumble for whoever to come in.

"Haymitch," Says the short one with the black hair and big stomach, "We're getting married."

And then I throw up on the dwarf's shoes. Probably not a dwarf. An ape maybe?

And the other one. DEFINITELY an elf, I think, Blond hair, blue eyes. Tall, muscly, got to be an elf, I think, right before I pass out.