Mentors

41

I bring Raina in command with Prim, Peeta and I to track down her family. Plutarch and the so called "reputable" President Alma Coin are not to be found there, so Boggs helps me with my problem. I still can't put a face to the name Coin. I have yet to meet her.
Boggs looks through files and papers before he takes out one sheet of paper and reads it closely.

"It says here that the only member of the Belle family that checked in to District 13 is a newborn."

"A newborn? As in a baby?" says Peeta.

"Yes, Mr. Mellark. A baby."

"What do you mean a newborn? There are no babies in my family." accuses Raina.

"Also reads that the child is not named, and now almost a two weeks old. She's in the nursery. You should go meet her and see what that's about." Boggs tells her.

"No way. I don't have any baby siblings." she dismisses.

"Raina, is there a possibility that your mother could have been pregnant?" I ask her.

"Not a chance. My father died almost...ten months ago."

Her eyes widen after the words leave her mouth.

"Why wouldn't my mom tell me she was pregnant!" She recalls, dragging Peeta and I to the nursery. Prim quickly follows.

"Does this mean my family is gone?" she mumbles to herself. I can't answer it.

Her thoughts are interrupted by Peeta talking to the nurse. She leads us through a hallway and we end up in a small room with few baby cries that radiate off the walls. A few infants lay in cribs, with nurses who seem to be round the clock watching them.

A nurse recognizes Prim and hands her a stack of papers about her nurse training.

We are brought to a tiny wooden crib at the back of the room, and the nurse picks the crying newborn up, handing it over to the first person she sees, Peeta. He's shocked by the gesture, but is way more than happy to hold the child. He cradles her for a few moments, swaying back and forth. She opens her eyes, to see Peeta's piercing blue ones and his warm smile. She instantly replaces her cries with a big toothless smile.

"You must be Raina." The nurse shakes her hand.

"I'm Atala. I believe your family has left you something other than a beautiful healthy baby girl."

Atala opens a drawer and pulls out a brown notebook, handing it over to Raina.

She looks down at it flipping through pages.

"My family left me a bunch of notes." She says, closing it back up.

She stares at the cover.

"How am I supposed to care for a baby all by myself? I'm just a kid."

Right away I feel Peeta's gaze on me. I look at him slightly and nod. I'm going to regret this.

"We'll help you." Peeta says, cooing at the fragile life in his arms.

I thought she'd be overly thankful, but she just shakes her head.

"I can't let you guys do that. I can't ruin your lives." she sighs.

"It's our choice to help you. We don't feel obligated." I tell her.