Our Love is Complete

Chapter 4

The emotions I feel in the next 5 seconds are conflicted between surprise, happiness, regret, and fear. Do I want a second child? I do. I know I do.

Peeta leans down and kisses me on the lips, and I kiss him back. I smile and our foreheads touch for a brief moment. Then he looks at Janelle and she continues, "It's obviously too early to tell what gender it is yet, do come back in a month and, you know the procedure, right?"

We smile and nod. Yes, yes we do.

By the time we get to the car, all I'm thinking is how happy Willow will be. Another playmate.

As soon as Peeta gets in the car, his hands find my waist and he kisses me. "Somewhere inside of us I guess we wanted another one, right?" I snort and he touches my abdomen lightly. I grin.

"I wonder if it will be a boy this time," I wonder out loud.

"Maybe," Peeta says mischievously as we drive away.

When we pull up to the house, I feel relieved for some reason. It just feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my chest.

I open the door to the house and you can hear Willow run down the stairs, Haymitch following. Peeta opens his arms and she runs straight into them, wrapping her legs around him.

"Daddy! Is Mommy okay?"

Peeta smiles big and says, "Yes. She's actually quite perfect. We have something to tell-"

"Oh, my sweet Lord, is she pregnant?" Haymitch hollers from the kitchen.

"Shut up, Haymitch!" Peeta yells back.

Willow just looks confused.

I laugh.

Peeta kneels down and says, "So, Mommy and I have been thinking for a few days and-"

"Willow, sweetheart, your mom and dad are having a baby. In a few months time, you will have a new brother and/or sister running around this house painting and baking muffins with you and it will be so, so, so much fun!" Haymitch says with too much enthusiasm.

"What? Really, Mommy?!" Willow exclaims.

Peeta's face had a mix of horror and relief as he nods.

"Yes, dear. Mom got sick this morning because that's what happens when you're pregnant. She also has to rest for a while so the baby can grow properly."

Willow nods thoughtfully.

"Can you tell the baby I should be a girl so we can paint primroses and daisies together?"

We all laugh and say, "Willow, you silly goose. The baby becomes what it becomes. I can't tell it to be a girl. But you'll love the baby even if it is a boy, right?"

Willow smiles. "Of course, Mommy. I will."

She runs over and gives me a big bear hug and kisses my belly. She whispers something I can't hear then runs off to her paint set in the kitchen. She comes back a minute later with a piece of paper.

"Daddy, look at what I made!"

She turns the paper around and I gasp. For a child her age, the painting is beautiful. Daisies and roses and primroses and tulips and a whole bunch of wildflower so can't name dance in the wind on the paper. The sun is setting in the backround and I see two colored in stick figures in the backround holding hands.

"Oh, Willow," is all Peeta can say. He walks up to it and points to the figures.

"Who are these people?" he asks gently.

"Daddy! How do you not know? That's you and Mommy in the Meadow!" she says matter-of-factly.

I look at Peeta and he's on the brink of tears. A gift that he has - a gift that is so wonderful - has been given to our daughter.

"Oh, Willow," he repeats. He walks slowly over to her, shifting his prosthetic so he can stand, and gives her a hug. He starts shaking and I know he's crying.

"Daddy?" Willow asks quietly. Then her little lip starts to quiver. She always cries when her father cries. It's heartbreaking.

But I stay strong.

I give them all hugs. Willow first, telling her I love her, and she wipes the tears from her eyes. She nestles her head under my chin and I rock her slowly. Peeta then comes over and wraps his arms around us. I totally forget Haymitch is here until he puts a hand on Peeta's shoulder.

"Alright, so while you all experience your sob story, I'm gonna go home and ... drink. Is that okay with you all?"

Peeta nearly shoves him out the door.

---

After a few more minutes of hugging, I say, "Willow, would you like to take a nap?"

She nods, her snot smearing into my collarbone. I kiss her temple and head upstairs. I enter her room and place her gently in her big girl bed, which she recently just got a few months ago. I sing her a lullaby from ages ago, and she yawns.

"Mommy," she says, "Daddy said when you were little, your daddy taught you to sing. Is that true?"

I nod, my insides shriveling up as I recall so many memories.

"He also said the birds...they stop talking when you sing. Daddy said your voice is so beautiful that they stumble over one another to join in with you when you sing. Is that true, too?"

My eyes well up and I choke out, "Yes."

She nods thoughtfully. I can practically see the images she's conjuring up in her big blue eyes.

"Can you show me someday?"

I smile, a tear running down my cheek.

"Of course, my little mockingjay."

She smiles big and I kiss her nose.

"You take a nap, okay? I'll wake you up just before the sun sets."

"Okay. I never want to miss any sunsets."

"I know you don't, my sweet girl. Sweet dreams, okay?"

She nods and I get up from a kneeling position. I kiss her in between her eyebrows and start towards the door.

"Mommy?" her little voice calls.

"What, sweetheart?"

"I love you."

I smile. "I love you so much more, little bird."

---

By the time I get to the kitchen, I'm having a full on breakdown. I'm sure some hormones are mixed in, but the emotion I'm feeling now is something I can't name.

When I see Peeta in the kitchen, he turns around. He opens up his arms and I run straight into them. He doesn't say anything and he just rocks me while I cry. He puts his lips to my head and doesn't move for a while. I'm still shaking when I pull out from under his chin and just stare at his face. His eyelashes are still as gold as they were a decade ago. His golden curls are swept on his forehead just the right way. Just as they were that day in the rain in front of the bakery. And finally his eyes. The part of him I fell in love with first. Right now they stare at me the same way I'm staring at him. Not with lust. Not with longing. But with love. I see it in him that he can't stand it any longer and he leans in. His lips match perfectly to mine and I stand on a tiptoe and run my hands through his hair. We don't even need to say we love each other. Our embrace says it all.