Real or not real? (everlark)

13

These characters and their original story belong completely to Suzanne Collims, one of the greatest authors in known history.

Each night before I go to sleep, I look at myself in the mirror. My stomach doesn't seem to be growing to much, just how it used to be. I sigh and run my fingers over my soft squishy skin. Ever since the games were over, and no one seems to be poor anymore, I've gained a lot of weight. I'm no longer skin and bones, as thin as I used to be. But, even I can tell that there's no bump yet.
Peeta comes up from behind me and gives me a kiss on my neck, looking at my stomach.
"Whatcha thinking Kat?" He asks me as I sigh deeply. Should I tell him now? That I think it's a mistake that we are having a child this early? I think I'm going too, because it's really been picking at my brain.
"I just... I don't know. Dont you think we're a little to young to have a baby? We're only eighteen after all." I say, and he shakes his head.
"You're eighteen. I'm nineteen." He says smugly, and I squint at him.
"Really? When's your birthday?" I ask him, confused.
"October 11th. I was going to tell you, but we were having that whole thing with the capitol and I didn't feel like making a big fuss about it." He says, and he knows that I feel bad that we didn't celebrate his birthday.
"Peeta! You should have told me!" I say, sighing. "I going to buy your present tomorrow whether you like it or not!" I say and he grins at me.
I climb into our bed, tunneling under the covers. Peeta slides in next to me and turns or tv on. He changes it to a rerun of this old tv show that kids used to watch, called spongebob. I love this show, and he knows it.
I poke my head out of the covers at the sound of the theme song. He laughs slightly at me. I think of how perfect this all is right now, and how I don't want to lose this. But it will also be great to have a kid with us, even I know that.
All of these thick, complicated thoughts swirl in my head, and I wish I could dump all of them out one of my ears. Or maybe even shoot them out of my nose. But instead, I push them into the back of my mind and rest my head on Peeta's chest, losing myself in the world of Spongebob Squarepants.

The next morning, I wake up to find that Peeta is awake as well. He looks down at my face happily, and I smile back. He brushes a piece of my hair back from my face.
"Nightmares?" He asks, and I'm reminded of those days when we slept on the train, and he came to me and comforted me, and each morning I would tell him "No nightmares." Because he chased them all away.
"No nightmares." I say, and I'm glad that they're gone again. Glad that he's chased them away just as he used to. Protecting me, like I protected him.
He gets to his feet and slips on his slippers. I jump on the shower, and when I reenter the kitchen, I find him putting on his shoes and jacket.
"Work today." He says simply, and I nod.
"Yeah. I should go hunting today, I haven't been in a while." I say and he grins at me, handing me my hunting jacket.
"See you at five? Unless you wanna stop by the shop to say hi?" He asks, sounding hopeful, and I grin as I finish zipping up my hunting boots.
"We'll see. It'll be a surprise." And with that, I dash out of the house, in the direction of the electric fence.
I slide under it carefully, and retrieve my bow and sheath of arrows from the hallowed out log I keep them in. I breathe in the smell of the woods, and take in the pine trees and oaks, the leaves and sticks that litter the hard packed dirt ground. I scale a tree quickly, and each step higher brings a new life into me that I've missed. My heart soars as I climb higher and higher, not wanting to stop. And I don't think I will.
But then, there is the unmistakable sound of a branch snapping, and my feet give out.
Dangling in the air, my feet swing and my hands burn from supprting my weight on the rough bark. I inch my hands slowly towards the center. Just as I'm about to grab onto another branch, the one I'm holding snaps, and I start crashing down.
My back hits the solid ground, and I struggle to breathe as the wind is knocked out of me. Slowly, I'm able to breathe again and the air floods my system. I sigh, closing my eyes for a moment.
I gingerly get to my feet, brushing the dirt off of myself and my father's hunting jacket.
Nothing seems to be broken, and though I feel some cuts and bruises, I know I fine. I keep telling myself this as I start deeper into the woods, heading for Gale and I's old hunting spot. When I reach the top of the hill, I start to make my way towards the bushes that is our hiding place. But as I go to sit down, though I expect there to be no one there, someone sits in the dirt, feet straight out ahead of them. His hair shines in the sunlight, and he smiles up at me gesturing for me to sit down. He plucks a single blueberry from the bush, and he tosses it to me, saying the words we joked around with long ago.
"And may the odds...." He says, and I grin at him catching the blueberry in my mouth and sitting down.
"Be ever in your favor." I say, and give him a hug, glad that the old him is back.
My Gale is back.