Our Life After

A Baby Party

*Katniss's POV*

The next day, when Lizzie comes home, she is followed by Catherine. They ask about a billion questions, some of which I could answer, some of which I couldn't.

"So there's a baby, in there?"

"How'd it get in there?"

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Whatcha gonna name it?"

"When will it come out of there?"

"Is it gonna come out soon, because I wanna play with it."

Peeta comes over and sort of nicely guides them away from me, offering to play a game with them, and per Catherine's request, calls to ask Johanna if Catherine can spend the night.

Johanna says no, because there's school tomorrow, but says she can stay for dinner. Catherine was excited to hear that.

So Lizzie, Catherine, Peeta and I play a game of Duck, Duck, Goose and then we paint until it's time for Peeta to make dinner.

I get frustrated, because I'm not a particularly good artist (I kinda suck) and two 5 year olds are doing a better job than I am. I am thankful when Peeta calls us down for dinner. Afterwards, we all walk Catherine home.

That weekend, Annie, Finnick, Fin, and Effie all come into town. We share hugs and kisses, catch up on how our individual lives have been, and soon Gale and Johanna come over. Peeta makes a huge dinner of Orange glazed chicken.with rice and steamed vegetables.

That night, Peeta and I are talking in bed.

"Peeta, I'm worried." I tell him, "What if something goes wrong? I want this baby to be as healthy and happy as Lizzie, but I'm worried."

"Katniss, nothing will go wrong. You carried Lizzie just fine, and you'll carry this child just as well." He says as he rolls over and put a his hands on my belly.

"I love you."

"I love you."

"As if you have to tell me that," I say, "You're a great husband and a great dad, and you're full of love, and sometimes I'm worried I'm not good enough for you. Like you deserve someone better than me." I say, tears welling in my eyes.

He turns me to face him,

"Katniss, I want you to stop thinking that right now. You are perfect. I'd I wanted someone better, I wouldn't have asked for you to marry me. But I did, because I love you and you're perfect and I couldn't ask for anyone better."

And then he kisses me, hard. And I kiss back, and I try really hard to show him how much I love him, because he shows me that everyday. He reaches down to pull off my shirt, but I stop him.

"Woah there, Mellark. I'm already pregnant." I say with a wink, so he knows I'm just playing with him.

The next day, I wake up to find Peeta's body missing. I roll over and look at the time. It's 11:30. I waaaaay overslept. I get dressed quickly and go downstairs.

When I reach the kitchen, everyone is there, and they all yell, "Congratulations!"

Then, we eat a beautiful breakfast and everyone starts handing me presents.

"You guys really didn't have to...."

"Oh, shut up and open them." Haymitch says from across the room. So I do.

A hand sewn blanket from Annie and Finnick, with a doll made by Fin. A wooden hanging mobile from Gale and Johanna, along with a card made by Joshua and Catherine.

Effie gets us about 10 outfits, bows, hats, and headbands each. Haymitch brings a bunch of baby bottles that say "BEER" on them as a joke. It did make me laugh a good bit.

But Lizzie's present made me cry, as usual. It was a painted card with our family on it, me with a big belly, although I didn't have one yet. It was perfect.

"Thank you guys, thank you so much." The rest of the day was spent telling funny stories about having kids, weird things that kids do, etc. It felt good to laugh and forget all the horrors of our old lives.