Fate

Chapter 16

Katniss P.O.V.

"Have you thought of any names yet?" Peeta asks as he sits down beside of me on the couch. I shake my head.

"Have you?"

"No," Peeta says as he shrugs his shoulders. "Maybe we should wait until the baby is born."

"What if you…"

"Stop."

I look over at Peeta and swallow hard. This has been our conversation for over a week. Peeta talking about the baby. Me reminding him there's a possibility he may never get to see our baby. Him telling me to stop.

"I can't live like this anymore" I say, almost in tears.

"I know."

"Who is Snow going to kill next?" I ask bitterly. "Who will be threatened next? How is he going to punish us next? And for what? What have we done that's so bad? Snow's the one killing people and getting by with it. We did what we could to stay alive, yet we're being punished for it. It's just not fair!"

I furiously wipe my tears away on my sleeve. Peeta reaches over and takes my hands away from my face.

"Easy," he says as he wipes his thumbs across my cheeks. "I know it's not fair, Katniss. But getting mad isn't going to help anything. You have to remember that when you get upset, the baby also gets upset."

"I can't help it, Peeta. I'm tired of sitting around and waiting for Snow to make his next move."

"I know. But just try to relax. Okay?" Peeta tells me. "I promise you that everything's still going to be taken care of."

"And I believe you," I tell him truthfully. "It's just hard to imagine how it's all going to be okay when everything seems to be falling apart."

"I know it's hard to imagine," Peeta says. "But just believe it, okay?"

"I want our baby to grow up in a better world than this."

"They will," Peeta says.

I look over at him. "Are you sure about that?"

"Katniss, I told you. You have to…"

"Believe. I know," I say. "But just because you believe something, doesn't mean it's true. There has to be evidence. And so far, I'm not seeing any evidence."

Peeta swallows hard. "If it's so impossible for you to believe what you can't see, then at least trust me. Can you do that?" I nod.

"I've already told you that I trust you."

"You just don't believe me."

"I believe you, Peeta. I…"

"You basically said that you don't believe that everything will start looking up," Peeta tells me. "And that's exactly what I'm telling you is going to happen."

"Of course I..."

"It's not the same, you know," Peeta says abruptly. I look over at him and raise an eyebrow.

"What's not the same?"

"Trusting someone and believing what they say," he tells me. "They're different things, Katniss."

"Peeta, I promise…"

"It's okay," he says softly. "I understand that it's difficult to think about it." Peeta starts to stand up, but I grab his hand.

"Please don't be mad at me, Peeta."

"I'm not," he says quickly. "I just wish that you would…" He stops and takes a deep breath. "I wish there was a way to ease your mind about everything."

"That's going to be hard to do with all these threats hanging over our heads," I mumble. Peeta leans over and tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear.

"I know," Peeta says. He leans over and kisses me. "I'm going to go fix us something to eat." He carefully places a hand on my stomach. "I bet you two are getting hungry."

I laugh a little and nod my head. Peeta leans back over and kisses me again before he walks off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After we eat, Peeta and I stand at the sink washing the dishes. Peeta washes them, then hands them to me to dry them off. I grip the counter a little, and Peeta gives me a concerned look.

"You okay?" he asks as he places a hand on my back.

"Yeah," I say as I nod my head. "Just a little dizzy."

"I thought that was getting better," he says worriedly.

"It comes and goes," I say. "I'm fine."

"Why don't you go sit down?" Peeta asks me. "I can get the rest of these. There wasn't many anyways."

I nod my head. "Okay," I say as I start to walk off. I get almost over to the couch when I suddenly start feeling nauseous. I don't have time to make it to the bathroom, so I end up getting sick all over the floor.

"Katniss!" Peeta says as he rushes over to me.

"I'm sorry," I breathe out as I finish vomiting.

"It's okay, Katniss. Don't worry about it."

"I'll clean it up."

"I've got it," Peeta says as he shakes his head. "You go lay down. Can you make it up the stairs by yourself?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"Okay. I'll be up in a minute to check on you."

"Okay," I say before I start up the steps. I get to the top of the steps and start feeling dizzy again. I feel myself begin to fall backwards. A scream escapes my mouth right before my head hits the step, and I back out.