Being In Love With You - Sequel of After The Always

Chapter 26

Peeta's POV

I grasp onto both my wife's and daughter's hands as we slowly walk through the entrance.
I glance over to Katniss and see a frown on her face, the day we have been dreading for the last month has arrived.

We walk further into the courtyard and veer off to the side. The area bustles with activity that my daughter is to get involved in.

We get stares from people, they know who we are. Willow seems to be ignoring it all. Probably some of the stares are towards Katniss, 16 weeks pregnant.
She dresses in a maxi dress which reveals her small bump. It will totally spread rumours around but Katniss and I don't care.

My hands slips from Katniss' and I bend down to Willow's height.
I sadly smile at Willow and see her happily smile at me.

"You're going to be good today aren't you Willow and have fun?" Willow nods, the smile still there.
Willow hugs me and I wrap my arms around her, her small school bag placed against her back.
I close my eyes, not letting those tears spill. We release soon afterwards and Willow turns to look at Katniss.

"Dad?" Katniss asks, using Dad instead of my name. I look up and know she wants some help kneeling down.
I stand up and she grips onto my arm. We slowly lower at the same time and I can see a slight bit of pain on Katniss' face.

Once Katniss is kneeling, she hugs Willow. "Make some friends okay?" She tells Willow and Willow nods.

They both release and Willow places both her hands on her mother's widening stomach.
She bends down and kisses it and Katniss and I smile. We know that the cameras snapped it and the baby has now been revealed but that's not a worry.

Willow hugs us both and Katniss and I take it all in.
Willow Alyssa Mellark, 5 years old. Has been with us since -9 months (hope you get what I mean by negative 9!) and now is her time to be set free into a world still undiscovered.

"Bye Mummy and Daddy! Love you!" Willow comments and runs towards the school door.

Katniss and I, still kneeling, watch our daughter embark on an adventure.
Willow stops and turns toward us at the bottom of the stairs, in the middle of the sea of new school kids her age.
Katniss and I wave, holding the tears. Willow smiles and walks us the stairs, disappearing into the crowd.

I slip Katniss into my arms and stand up. I place Katniss on her feet carefully and we look into each there eyes. I stroke the side of her head and we silently let the tears slip. We share a quick kiss before we entwine fingers and silently make our way to the entrance again.

Metres after we exit, Katniss and I both look back at the school. Still walking, we slowly turn our heads towards each other.

Our eyes meet once again and then we face forward, walking towards a now quiet house in the Victor's Village.