Falling For You

Chapter 29

Cameras are everywhere I look, aimed at me from all directions. The pain is excruciating even with the medicine. I look around frantically, trying to find something to focus on, but I'm too consumed by my own fear to focus on anything but the pain. I scream and squeeze Peeta's hand as another contraction hits. I'm terrified. I hate President Snow for doing this to me, for making something that should be private put on display for everyone to see. I scream again as I get another contraction. They're getting so close together that there's almost no pauses between them. That means the baby's coming soon. "Katniss, look at me!" I look at Peeta and he squeezes my hand to keep my attention even though I have to be hurting his hand from all this squeezing. "Look at me. Everything's gonna be okay." He tries to soothe me, but I can't control the terror that rises up in me as another contraction hits. Still, I stay looking into his eyes this time. I'm squeezing his hand so hard I'm scared I might break it, but he doesn't even flinch. He just stares into my eyes, saying soothing things, trying to keep me calm. I could live a thousand life times and never deserve him. Just as I'm thinking the pain will never end, and I'll just keep staying here screaming and crying and squeezing Peeta's hand, I hear a baby cry, and the pain's relived.

I gasp, looking at my baby covered in blood as the doctor wipes her off. It's like time freezes as I'm staring at her. "Would you like to hold her, Katniss?" I nod. I'm completely speechless. The doctor hands her to me and I hold her against my chest. She whimpers a few more times, then stops crying completely. "Hi, baby." I manage to whisper, smiling at her. She's so beautiful, with dark curly hair and bright blue eyes staring up at me. "Momma loves you." I say, looking into her eyes. They're just like Peeta's. I glance over at him and see he's staring at the both of us, his eyes moist with tears threatening to spill over. "She's so beautiful." He says, leaning in closer to us. "She's got your eyes." I say, not looking away from her. We both just stare at her and she stares back, neither of us willing to look away. "I'd like to clean her up now If that's alright with you, Mrs. Mellark?" A nurse says, making me look away from willow. "Oh. Of course. Here." I hand Willow to her. As she walks out of the room with her I feel myself getting nervous. I know she'll only be gone for a few minutes, but it already feels like I'm missing a piece of my heart.

With exhaustion clouding my mind, the last thing I remember before falling asleep is Peeta kissing my forehead. When I awake, it's daytime out. The sun is shining in through the window and the hospital is alive with noise. I look around for Willow and see her sleeping in a crib across the room. "Peeta." I whisper. He jerks awake immediately. "Hey, you're up. What's wrong? Do you need anything?" He asks, jumping up from the chair he was sleeping in and moving beside my bed. "I'm thirsty. Do you know if I can drink anything?" I ask, struggling to sit up. "Oh! Ice chips!" He runs out of the room and returns with a plastic cup. He hands it to me and I suck on some ice. "I'm sorry I feel asleep for a couple of minutes. I was just watching you and then I was watching her and-" He looks at me, a little too wide eyed. "Peeta, it's fine. You need to go to sleep." I set my cup down. "No. No. I'm fine." He argues. "No, Peeta. You're not fine. You need to go to sleep. The nurse will be here soon and she'll take care of me. I'll wake you up in a few hours. You won't miss a thing. I promise." I say, wanting to fall back asleep my self. Giving birth really takes a lot out of you. "Okay. But you have to wake me up as soon as Willow wakes up." He sits back down in his chair. "I promise." I watch him as he closes and his eyes and falls back asleep almost instantly.

Later, a nurse comes in with the birth certificate and other forms we need to sign. "Did you decide on a name?" She asks, looking between both Peeta and I. "Willow." We both say. "That's a beautiful name." She hands us the forms. "Perfect for such a beautiful girl." She glances at Willow in Peeta's arms. I write out her name, Willow Mellark, on the paper and sign my name. Then I pass it to Peeta so he can sign his name and in return he hands me Willow. Over a twenty-four hour period we've already worked out an unofficial system. We switch Willow back and forth between us when necessary, he holds her while I eat or drink, he passes her back to me when I need to breastfeed her. It's like parenting comes completely naturally to us. We hand all the forms back to the nurse, completed and signed. She leaves and we're alone again, at least for a while. I'm sure a camera crew will be here any time now, ready to interview us or take pictures or whatever invasive thing they can think of, but for now I don't care. Willow whines and Peeta passes her back to me again. "How many times can she possibly want to eat in one day?" I ask, moving my shirt out of the way and holding her up to my chest. "I wonder the same thing about you everyday." Peeta smirks at me. "Shut up." I say, but I'm smiling. "I love you." I say to Peeta, finally for once thinking it's true. That I really do mean it this time, probably more than I've ever meant it before. "I know you do. I love you too, Katniss." I smile at my husband, then glance back at our baby. "You can come up here if you want. There's plenty of room." I suggest, scooting over so there's enough room to fit us both in the hospital bed. He climbs up into the bed with me and lays down. We both stare at our baby, our bodies pressed tightly together to fit us both in the bed. In this moment, I don't think I could possibly be any happier.

A/N: happy Mother's Day! Mommy Katniss absolutely makes my heart melt. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please vote and comment