Together

Chapter 12

Katniss P.O.V.

"Willow, baby. Get away from the Christmas tree," I tell her as she reaches out for the strand of lights. She thinks she's helping us put the tree up, but really she's just making a mess. Willow pulls on the lights, and the tree starts to topple.

"Woah!" Peeta says as he catches the tree. A few ornaments fall off and shatter once they hit the floor. We both look at Willow and she just grins at us. "Did Mommy tell you to leave the tree alone?" Peeta asks her. She just looks at him. He picks her up and sits her down on the couch. "Stay there until I say so," he tells her. She crosses her arms and pouts. Peeta shakes his head at her. "You're not even two yet and you already have your Mommy's stubborn attitude."

"Excuse me?" I say. Peeta looks at me and smiles.

"I'm just kidding," he says.

I scoff. "No you're not." Peeta comes over to me and kisses my cheek. "Stop," I say as I push him away. Peeta wraps his arms tightly around my waist and starts repeatedly kissing my cheek. "Quit it," I laugh as I try to get away.

"No," Peeta says as his arms tighten around me.

"Peeta, come on," I whine. "We're never going to get this tree fixed up if you and your daughter over there don't stop playing."

"Sorry," Peeta laughs as he lets go of me. I can't help but to smile at him. "What?" he asks.

"Nothing," I say. "You just make me really happy." He smiles and leans in to kiss me.

"You make me really happy too," he replies. I go over to the couch and pick Willow up.

"And you make Mommy and Daddy really happy too," I tell Willow as I kiss her cheek.

"Down," Willow says as she points to the floor.
"You gotta ask Daddy," I tell her. She looks over at Peeta and he nods his head. I sit her down on the floor and she takes off running back to the tree. Surprisingly, she doesn't pull at it. She just sits there and watches it with wonder in her eyes.

"Sit there and be a good girl," Peeta says. She laughs and lays down on the floor under the tree.
"You're rotten," I say as I laugh at her. Peeta shakes his head and we go back to decorating the tree. When we get done, I look down at Willow and smile. "Peeta," I say quietly.

"Yeah?" he asks as he looks at me. I point down at Willow and he smiles. "She's out," he laughs. He picks Willow up and she starts whimpering. "Shh. You're okay. Go back to sleep, baby girl." Willow lays her head over on Peeta's shoulder before she closes her eyes again. He sits down on the couch with her and I sit down beside of him.

"I knew she was getting tired," I say.

Peeta chuckles. "We'll have to watch her around the tree. She'll be knocking it over all the time." I smile and shake my head.

"Maybe we should've waited until Christmas morning to put the tree up," I say. Peeta chuckles and I lay my head over on his shoulder. "She never bothered it last year," I say.

"Yeah," Peeta replies. "But I don't think she paid as much attention to it last year. She was still pretty little."

"That's true," I say. "Sometimes I wish that she could stay that little. But then another part of me is excited to watch her grow up."

Peeta smiles at me. "I know what you mean." Willow starts to move in Peeta's arms and we both look at her. "You're okay, baby girl," Peeta tells her. She re-situates herself and quickly falls back to sleep.

I take a deep breath before I continue what I was saying. "There's also a part of me that wonders how different our life would be if our other baby had lived." Peeta quickly looks at me with a sad expression on his face.
It's been so long since either of us has brought it up. We've both tried to forget, but Peeta and I quickly learned that you never get over the loss of a child. No matter how little time you get with them.

Peeta swallows hard and slowly nods his head. "I think about that too," he says softly.

"Do you think we would've still ended up having Willow?" I ask him. "Or do you think we would have decided not to have anymore kids. Or maybe we would have had another baby but she may have been completely different from Willow, or we may have ended up with having a boy."

Peeta shakes his head and sets his free hand on top of mine. "No," Peeta says. "I'm confident that we would have still ended up with our Willow."

"Really?" I ask. Peeta nods his head.

"Do you know why?" Peeta asks. I shake my head and he smiles at me. "Because she's exactly what we need to get through everything. Just like we need each other. She fits into our lives too perfectly for us not to have her."

I feel a tear slide down my cheek, but Peeta quickly wipes it away.

I give him a sad smile. "Why are you so good at making me cry?" I ask him. Peeta chuckles and shakes his head at me. "I love you," I say as I lean over and kiss him.

Peeta smiles at me. "I love you too, Katniss."

When Willow finally wakes up, she has a huge smile on her face.

"Someone woke up in a good mood," Peeta laughs.

I look at Willow and smile. "Did you have a good nap, baby?" I ask her. She nods her head and reaches for me. I take her and she points to the tree. "Is that the Christmas tree?"

"Uh-huh," Willow says before she starts babbling about something. She keeps pointing at the tree and looking back at me.

"Really?" I ask her. She nods and looks at Peeta.

Peeta laughs. "I have no clue what you just said, but okay." I look at Peeta and smile.

"You may not know what she said, but she sure does," I say.

Peet chuckles and shakes his head. "I know."

"Mama," Willow says.

I look at her and smile. "Yes, baby?"

"Down," she says. I laugh and nod my head.

"Yes, you can get down," I say as I sit her down on the floor. She goes over and takes Peeta by the hand. She tries to pull him off the couch and he starts laughing.

"What do you want?" Peeta asks Willow as he stands up off the couch. Willow pulls on Peeta's hand and he follows her into the kitchen. When Willow comes running back into the living room, she has a cookie in each hand.

Peeta walks in and I give him a look. "What?" he laughs as he sits down beside of me again.
"She hasn't even had lunch yet," I say.

"So? I just won't let her have any sweets after lunch," Peeta replies.
"Well, if she's too hyper to sleep tonight, I'm not the one who's going to stay up with her," I say.

Peeta laughs "Willow, you won't keep Daddy up all night, will you?" She looks at him and smiles widely.

"It's your own fault," I laugh.

"Well, I can't say not to her," Peeta says.

"I know," I reply. "And that's why she's spoiled rotten."

Peeta looks at me. "Like you don't have anything to do with her being spoiled."

"I'm not the one that gave her a cookie for each hand."

"But you would if that's what she wanted."

"Nope," I lie. Of course I'd give our baby girl anything that she wants. I just like giving Peeta a hard time about it.

"Whatever," Peeta laughs. "You spoil her just as much as I do. I smile at him and then look over at Willow. She goes over and plops down in front of the Christmas tree, while still tightly holding on to her two cookies.