I'm Coming, Baby Girl

Chapter Eleven

Chapter 11

We both stare at the end of the bed, our hands tangled together, waiting to see what I've just given birth too. A moment later, a small, shrill cry fills the room and I feel my heart grow a million times bigger. We watch the doctors gather up something between my legs and then we see it. In a tangled, bloody, white mess, our small baby. The little baby they hold onto is ours. I don't realise I'm crying until I feel tears fall onto my cheeks as a sob escapes and the bundle passed into my arms.

"Congratulations! It's a girl!"

I look to Peeta for half a second, the smile on his face and the tears on his cheeks are severely contagious and I find myself chuckling a little.

"I knew it!" He whispers with a little laugh attached to it.

Looking down at our baby girl, I take in what we created. The tuff of my hair atop of her head the same colour as mine. Her small yet plump lips which Peeta has given to her, wide as she cries showing off soft pink gums. The cute button nose which is so tiny fitting perfectly with her face. She's absolutely perfect. She is exactly how I imagined that she would be. I am instantly filled with something I have never felt before. I feel it to a certain degree with Peeta, something even more similar with Prim, but still nothing on the same level. It's love, a pure love from a mother to her child. I didn't know if I was going to have the instant connection with my child that you hear about. I knew that I already loved her without even knowing her gender, but I didn't know whether I was going to be able to love her the same way which others have spoken about. She is mine. I created her. Peeta helped obviously, but she grew in me, I fed her, kept her as safe as I could in the environment that is surrounding our lives, she is mine. I am so thankful for that night the Quell was announced. Now, more than I ever thought that I would.

As I stare down, teary eyed at my beautiful daughter, I am completely full. I'm so glad that Peeta was able to make it here to see our daughter born. I snatch my eyes away from my daughter to look at Peeta for a moment. I can see that he is thinking the same kinds of things that I am. He's so excited. The love and admiration that his eyes cast down onto our daughter are the most beautiful thing I have seen. Peeta's eyes flick over to lock with mine. His smile and excitement are contagious and I become even happier to a complete different level. With my face now sharing one of the biggest smiles in my life, Peeta leans down and presses his lips to mine in a compassionate, thankful, relieved, happy kiss. It makes me feel the love only Peeta is able to give me.

"Thank you, Katniss. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

"If I could carry her, I would have." He says pulling away to stare at our daughter again.

I stay looking at him for a few minutes, just watching his facial movements as he takes in all of our daughter. I don't bother to say anything else. I am exhausted, but it's worth that pain one-hundred times over just to see her beautiful face as fresh as it is now. I can't wait until she gets bathed and has her natural colour come to her face instead of the bluey veiny girl she is now. Still beautiful, but I can't wait to see her when her body start adjusting to this outside world instead of the cramped inside of my overgrown uterus. She is really incredibly beautiful. I can't stop myself from thinking it. She is absolutely adorable and a complete person from half of Peeta's genetics and the other half mine. She's precious. I'm scared to hold her because I don't want to bruise her silky soft skin. I don't want to squeeze her and crush her bones by accident from how fragile she is. I don't want her to ever feel like she is alone and without anyone in this world. I know that for as long as I shall live, whether that is only a few more weeks, or whether it's forever, but I will make sure that she is happy, loved and safe in this world.

As I think all of these things, I can see that Peeta is doing the same thing. He's saying, thinking, promising all of these things to himself for our daughter in his head as he stands there with his eyes not leaving her small, precious and beautiful body. He is so overwhelmed with happiness and love that I just can't stop flicking my eyes between her and him. Makes me even more see the similarities between the two of them. Makes me so happy and excited to see. I can't wait to see all of the amazing and beautiful interactions that they will share together for what I wish was the end of time. I can't wait to see them drawing together and Peeta's face light up and him always lifting her up with his beautiful words even if she can't draw because of her Katniss artistic trait she may possess. I can't wait until I can watch Peeta draw millions of different pictures of her. I can see hundreds of art books filled with pictures of our daughter. This moment having the most variations of all, that I am certain. I can see Peeta falling asleep with our daughter as he reads her books to try and get her to see and the beautifully amazing image that is. Every image I imagine is absolutely breathtaking and I'm very excited for when it can finally all unfold in our future lives together as a family.