In The Blowing Ashes

Chapter 22

Peeta

"Stop kicking me!" Katniss groans as she rolls away from me.

"I wasn't," I start but she cuts me off.

"If I was talking to you, I would just kick you back," she grumbles before sitting up and getting up out of bed with a bit of difficulty. Her slightly rounded stomach gets in her way more and more and the baby has even started keeping her up at night. "I swear, this kid has bruised most of my internal organs." I look over to see her rubbing her hand over her bump and I smile.

"You were tossing around a lot last night," I say.

"I couldn't sleep," she admits. "If the baby doesn't sleep, it doesn't seem to want to let me get any rest either." I slip on my prosthetic, get up and walk over to her. I lay my hand over her's on her bump and feel the little pushes of our child's foot against my fingers. "Not that there's much comfort in sleep anymore."

"More nightmares," I ask and she nods.

"I should have figured this would happen," she says. "Everyone I care about turns up in my nightmares. Why not our unborn child?" She just shakes it off, but I know that the dreams where she loses the baby are making her terrified of falling asleep. The adrenaline just sets up a chain reaction which ends in the baby keeping her up all night.

"Katniss, the doctors keeps telling you that both you and the baby are perfectly fine," I remind her. She pulls away from me and shakes her head.

"I know that in my heart, but that doubtful little voice in the back of my mind," She just shakes her head. "It doesn't seem to care what the doctors say."

"You have an ultra sound today right?" I ask.

"At ten," she says. "I got up to get ready for it actually."

"Maybe I could come along," I say. "Would that make you feel better. Another set of ears to hear those big words they say." She laughs and shakes her head.

"If you really want to sit there while they measure my belly and listen to its heartbeat?" She asks.

"Actually, yeah, I really do," I say.

"Fine, I need to get dressed and so do you," she says. "And I call the bathroom because I really, really need to go." She walks to the closet and opens it, grabbing a pair of leggings and one of my T-shirts before disappearing into the bathroom. I sigh and grab my clothes and quickly get dressed, not wanting to get on Katniss' nerves anymore than I already am. Her lack of sleep has not improved the attitude that I've learned to love so much. In fact, she has become more and more stubborn and it is getting harder and harder to keep my cool. I know it's not really her, the woman I love, snapping at me like she does. That is just one of the many lovely little strings attached to the wonderful little miracle growing inside her.

I look over at the door as she comes out, her bump stretching the front of my shirt. I laugh at her and shake my head.

"I think we'll have to be getting you some maternity clothes pretty soon," I say. "You're outgrowing my clothes." She glares at me from beneath her bangs.

"Are you really calling me fat right now?" She asks and I take a step back, attempting to get out of the line of fire. Shadow, who had been curled up, sleeping at the end of our bed in the sunlight leaked through the curtains, jumps up and dashes out of the room. For a moment, I wonder if he's smarter than me. "Because if there is one thing you don't want to do, it's call the woman carrying your baby fat."

"You know I wouldn't say that," I say. "I'm just saying that the bigger that our little one gets, the harder it's gonna be to fit into my clothes. So maybe it's time to get clothes that will fit you a little better, that you'd be a little more comfortable going outside in." She shakes her head and goes to the closet, coming back out with a large cardboard box she struggles with. I gently take it from her and find that she's stronger than she looks to have even picked the dense box up.

"What's in here?" I ask her.

"Maternity clothes," she says. "Annie gave them to me a little while after our wedding. I guess she thought I would get pregnant a lot sooner than I did." I look at the dusty box and notice that it looks like it hasn't been touched in years.

"Have you ever opened it?" I ask.

"Not since she gave it to me," she says. I carefully open the box and find practically everything Katniss needs is tucked away, carefully folded in piles of shirts, dresses, and pants and skirts. I pull out a light blue top and hold it up. It's not to big, but it's made to fit around the abdomen loosely so it won't look so tight and awkward over a pregnant belly. I hold it out to her and she raises an eyebrow.

"Try this one," I say. She looks as though she's thinking of starting a fight with me, but reaches out and snatches it from me. She struggles a little to get my shirt off herself, but I don't dare try to help her. Like I've said, she's been cranky lately and I don't want to be the way when the frustration building up erupts. When she finally does get it off, she easily slips the long sleeved pale blue fabric on. It fits her perfectly with room to spare for the baby to grow. She looks down at it and then looks at her reflection in the mirror, and sighs.

"I hate when you're right," she says. I just smile at her and lay my hands on her belly as our child kicks beneath them. I kiss her forehead and she looks up at me from beneath her long lashes.

"You thought you'd have more time before you needed them," I say. "I know. But now, you've got a whole new wardrobe."

"You know I don't care about clothes," she says.

"Normally yes," I say. "But let's remember that that strong, bullheaded mind I love so much isn't running the show very much nowadays." She lets out a small laugh. I feel her intertwine our fingers and looks up at me.

"Come on," she says. "I think it's time you and our baby are formally introduced."