Death Match (Clato)

Chapter 21: The victory tour

Seven months later

Cato's p.o.v.

I sigh. Chloe and Royle are doing our make-up. Soon enough, we'll be arriving in district 12. Clove was wearing a baby blue dress. Her belly was clear. Only a blind person couldn't see that see was pregnant. Clove and I, decided to marry in the capitol on our victory tour. When Royle and Chloe are done with our make-up, I kiss Clove's forehead. She sighs. She was really tired. But it was normal. I'm also pretty tired. We sit down for another few minutes, and then, the train stops. ''Let's do this.'' Clove says.

We step out of the train. It's cold in 12. I wrap an arm around Clove's shoulder. We are escorted into the justice building. Caitlyn gives us instructions. ''Here are some cards. Read them, and everything will be fine.'' She says. We nod. ''Be ready in ten minutes.'' The lord mayor from district 12 says. I kneel in front of Clove, and lay my hands on her belly. I can feel the baby moving, and smile. She lays her hands on top of mine. ''What does it do?'' She asks me. ''It moves.'' I say. ''Yes, I can feel that myself.'' Clove says. ''It kicks.'' I say.

When the ten minutes are over, we walk over to the mayor. ''When the doors open, you walk straight over to the microphones.'' He says. ''And then, do your thing.'' He tells us. Two peace keepers open the doors for us. We do like the mayor and Caitlyn told us. We read Caitlyn's cards. I looked at the family's from Peeta and Katniss. Katniss had a sister, mother, and someone I guess was her actual boyfriend. Peeta, had a father, mother, brother and sister. All of them were crying. For a moment, I felt sad for them. I thought about Cass. What would he have done if Clove and I died?

The mayor comes to us. ''Time.'' He says. We follow him, and as soon as the doors open, we walk over to the microphones. Clove starts talking. I take a look at the families of Peeta and Katniss. Peeta has a brother and sister, and his mom and dad of course. Katniss, has her sister and mother. There is another guy standing on the platform. I guess it's her actual boyfriend. He has brown hair. All of the parents brothers and sisters are crying, but he tries to keep a straight face. I hear Clove stop talking, and I grab my own cards. ''We know, you guys all think, that we are heartless coldblooded murderers. We killed two of the people you love. We understand that you are mad at us. They were nice people. But, if we wanted to save each other. They had to die. We want you to know, they didn't die for nothing. If they hadn't died, we wouldn't become parents right now. We couldn't have helped building a new year, of the Hunger Games. They died, with honour. And they deserve respect. We thank them, and their families, for the sacrifice.'' I said. We turned around and walked off stage again.

District 11

Talking about Rue and Thresh was pretty hard. Because I killed them. Clove told me, she would do the talking. And she did. She did great. Thresh had a sister, and someone I guess was his grandmother. Rue, had a lot of brothers and sisters, and a mother. I didn't saw a father. It was so hard, looking at these crying faces.

District 4

The people in district 4 were so mad at us. They screamed and shouted all of these words, I didn't even knew from a lot what they meant. When one of the woman called Clove a pregnant whore, I stepped closer to Clove and protectively laid my hand on her back. These people were really angry. I understood, but didn't like it. I talked and talked. And Clove did the same. After several minutes, we went back off stage. I sighed, and hugged Clove.

When we were alone, on the way to district 3, I talked to Clove. ''Is it true?'' She asked me. ''What?'' I asked her. ''That I am a whore, because I am a seventeen year old pregnant girl?'' She asked me. My eyes and mouth were wide open. I stepped forward and hugged her tight, making sure I wouldn't hurt her belly. ''Of course it isn't.'' I told her. I can't believe she actually thought she was a whore. ''NO!'' I said. A tear rolled down my cheek. She stepped backward. I fell onto my knees in front of her, and rested my head on her belly. ''This is my baby. You're not a whore. We already told Caesar that we wanted children soon. I've even dreamt about it a lot.'' I say. Clove is crying too. ''But what if they are right?'' She asks me. ''They aren't!'' I shout. ''They only shout this because we killed their tributes. If they would've won, our district would have done the same.'' I tell her. She doesn't respond. My head is still on her belly. ''It's moving again.'' She says. ''It's kicking.'' I say. Clove lays down on the bed, and lifts her shirt a little, so I can see her belly. What I see, is a miracle. I can see one foot from the baby, kicking in her belly. I lay my hand onto it and smile. ''Hey little one.'' I say. Clove smiles. She's staring to me. With my other hand, I grab hers, and lay in on the place where I can see the baby's foot. She smiles. ''How weird does it look?'' She asks me. ''Very weird, but amazing.'' I tell her. She smiles.