Our Anthem

Empty Wine

......................

PEETA POV

......................

The two words I never thought I'd hear uttered from her lips were the words 'I'm pregnant', and I heard them uttered to me last night. She lay asleep beside me in my arms, but I couldn't sleep. I had too much on my mind to sleep. I always thought that children would come later, if at all, not right away. I thought we were being careful, but I guess we weren't being careful enough. I was conflicted. On one hand, I wanted to protect her and keep our baby safe, but on the other hand, I knew she'd never forgive me if I let her miss out on the Siege. I looked down into her sleeping face, which was as beautiful as it always had been, but perhaps even more so, now. The longer we were together, the more I fell in love with her. I smiled at her as she slept, then began to stroke her hair until I found myself joining her in slumber.

Two days after the attack on the Nut and the blockade of the Capitol, the rebel forces attacked the dam, cutting power to all of Panem, excluding District Fourteen. The Siege of the Capitol would begin in two days. Two days left of the Panem that we have known all of our lives, of the Panem that had existed since the planet fell into chaos barely a century ago. Panem as we knew it was born in the year 2057 from the ashes of the former United States of America. Panem, like the United States, would burn, and from its ashes will rise a new Panem. A safer world for Katniss, and a safer world for our baby. I was anxious as I counted the days until the Siege, and I kept Katniss very close to me. She didn't fight me, because she understood that I was anxious about the outcome of the war. What if we did lose again? That was highly unlikely, given the damage we've done to the Capitol and its resources.

"I think it's time we unveil our surprise," Calum told me when Katniss had briefly left my side to run to the bathroom. She was gone only for a few minutes, but those few minutes were ice cold without her to keep me warm. I nodded my head in agreement.

"Tonight, then... Invite only tonight, and tomorrow, everyone else can have it," I said, and Calum agreed.

We held a brief senate meeting that afternoon, the last before the Siege, and hopefully, the last of the old world. Everyone was somber and quiet. We all knew loss. All of us had lost homes, family, friends, pieces of ourselves, and some of us had lost all of those things. There were no disagreements, just messages of hope as the districts supported one another in preparation for the Siege. Our team would fly out tomorrow and stay overnight in the base that had been set up on the outskirts of the Capitol in District Ten, and the next day, teams would converge on the Capitol from all entrances, and the Siege would begin.

"I can't believe it's finally here," Katniss muttered to me with a tone of melancholy when the senate was dismissed. I held her hand and gave it a tight squeeze.

"I know," I said, feeling the exact same way. That evening at dinner, we all sat at our table for dinner - myself, Katniss, Calum and Cailean, Carolina, Gale, Johanna - but none of us really wanted to eat. Carolina was seated closely to Calum, and Johanna was beside Gale, who was rubbing her back as she stared at her food.

"Tonight, I want all of you to meet in 2134," Calum said to the table. "The surprise that Cailean, Peeta and I have been working on forever is finally ready, and I want us all to be the first to enjoy it."

"And the last," said Johanna bitterly. Johanna wasn't going on the mission - evidently, Gale had refused to allow her to, and frankly, I don't think she minded. It must have slipped my notice when they had started a relationship, but it meant that I didn't have to worry about him pining over my wife anymore.