Together

Chapter 5

Katniss P.O.V.

The bed shakes suddenly, waking me up. I open my eyes to see Peeta sitting up with his head in his hands.

"Peeta?" I say as I place my hand on his back. He turns to look at me and relief floods his face.

"Oh my gosh!" Peeta cries as he pulls me in a tight hug. He's shaking really bad and his breaths are coming out really fast and choppy. "Are you okay?" he asks as he looks me over.

"I'm fine," I reply. "What about you? Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Peeta finally starts calming down when he suddenly jumps up from the bed. "I'll be right back," Peeta says as he runs out of our bedroom. I watch as he enters the nursery and I wait a few minutes before I follow him in there.

He's leaned over the crib with one arm laying on the railing and his other arm stretched down as he runs his thumb over Willow's cheek. I go over and lay my head on his back between his shoulder blades.

"I'm sorry, Katniss," Peeta says. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

I shake my head. "Don't apologise, Peeta. You couldn't help it."

"It's just... I've never had a nightmare like that before," he says. "I never wake up like that. Usually I just open my eyes and..." He stops and I lift my head up off his back.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask.

Peeta shakes his head and takes a deep breath. "It was just... so real." He turns around and looks at me like he still can't believe that I'm okay.

"I know the feeling," I say. Peeta gives me a sad smile as his hand comes up to caress my cheek. He leans his head down and kisses me and I wrap my arms around his neck. Peeta wraps his free arm around my waist as he leans over me.

Willow starts crying, so we pull apart. "I'll get her," Peeta says. "You go on back to bed. I'll be in there in a minute." I nod my head and Peeta gives me another quick kiss before I walk out of the nursery. I lay down on the bed and close my eyes, but it's not long until Peeta comes in carrying a crying Willow. "She started crying for 'Mama,'" Peeta says, mimicking Willow.

I laugh and stand up. Willow reaches out for me and makes a whimpering sound. I take her from Peeta and hold her close to me, laying her head down on my shoulder.

"Shh. Mommy's got you. It's okay, Willow," I coo as I rock her from side to side. Peeta wraps his arm around my back and lays his hand on my left side. His other hand comes up to rest on my shoulder.

Willow keeps staring at me and I smile at her. "You better go back to sleep baby girl," I say as I run my fingers through her hair. Her little eyelids start to close, but when she realizes she's about to fall asleep she opens her eyes real wide.

My heart instantly melts when I see those big, beautiful blue eyes that are an exact copy of Peeta's.

"Can you believe she'll be a year old in just four months?" Peeta asks. I sigh and shake my head. I open my mouth to say something, but that's when I realize that Peeta's still shaking. I turn around to face him.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I ask.
Peeta nods his head. "Yeah," he replies, but he doesn't sound very convincing considering that his voice shakes. Not to mention the fact that his breathing is still way faster than normal.

"I'm going go put Willow back in her crib," I say before I walk across the hall to the nursery. As soon as I lay Willow down, she starts crying. "It's okay. Go back to sleep baby girl," I say softly. She finally settles back down, so I go back to our bedroom. I expect to see Peeta standing there, but he's not.