Together

Chapter 16

Peeta P.O.V.

I lie awake and watch the lightning from the bedroom window. It started storming a few minutes ago, and I know what will happen if I go back to sleep. Sure enough, just a few seconds after the first clap of thunder shakes the house, I hear little feet running across the hallway.

I crane my neck a little to see Willow just standing there in the doorway, clutching her teddy bear in one hand.

"Come here baby girl," I say quietly. She runs over to my side of the bed and I pick her up. "Did the storm wake you up?" Willow nods her head, and I lay her down on the bed between Katniss and I.

"Mama," Willow says as she tugs at Katniss's shirt.

"Shh. It's okay, baby. Don't wake her up," I tell her. "Let Mommy sleep."

When the next round of thunder comes, Willow whimpers and scoots up against me as close as she can get.

"You're okay," I say softly. "Mommy and Daddy are right here. We'll protect you from the storm." I pull the covers up around her, but I make sure they're not covering her face.

"There you go. Now you're all bundled up and you can go back to sleep."

I watch for Willow's eyes to close, but they never do. Instead, Willow stays awake and plays with her fingers.

"One," Willow says as she points to her thumb. She looks up at me and I smile.

"What comes after one?" I ask her.

"Two," Willow says as she points to a random finger. "Three!" she squeals as she smiles up at me.

I chuckle and put a finger over my mouth. "Shh. Remember, don't wake up Mommy." She giggles. "You did a good job," I tell her proudly.

We count to three probably a hundred more times before Willow starts getting tired again. Of course, she doesn't want to give it up too easily, and she does everything she can to stay awake.

Willow pulls her legs out from under the blankets and holds one in each hand. She then starts to rock from side to side and sings a random tune. I smile at her and watch her until she eventually rocks herself back to sleep. I bundle her back up and hold her close to me as I fall asleep.

When I wake back up, Willow is still asleep but Katniss is awake and sitting up against the headboard. "Good morning," I tell her.

She smiles at me. "Good morning."

"Are you okay?" I ask her. "Did you have a nightmare?"

"No, I'm fine," Katniss replies. "I just woke up and decided that there was nothing better to do than sit here." She runs a hands through Willow's hair. "Did she wake up crying?"

"No," I reply. "The storm scared her."

"What storm?"

I laugh. "I didn't think you were such a heavy sleeper, Kat. I can't believe Willow didn't wake you up either. She was trying her best."

Katniss laughs and shakes her head. "She thinks we both have to be awake with her. She also thinks that she has to eat as soon as she wakes up, so you'd better hurry," Katniss says.

"All right," I laugh. I go to stand up, but Willow whimpers and tries to curl up closer to me.

"You won't be able to stand up without waking her. She needs to sleep as long as she can, so I guess I'll take care of breakfast," Katniss says as she carefully stands up off the bed. She looks down to see that Willow has scooted herself as close to me as she can get. "She's such a Daddy's girl."