Finding the Missing Piece: Book 3

Chapter Eleven

Peeta POV-

I wake up at 8am and realize Katniss isn't here, then I remember she is with Bristol a few blocks away.

I decide to call her to see if she is up.

(On the phone with Katniss)

"Hello?" Katniss answers groggily.

I smile, "Hey, Sweetheart."

I hear her laugh a little, "What's up?" She asks sleepily.

"Just seeing how everything went last night." I tell her.

"Carter woke up several times. Finally, at about three, I made Bristol go to bed. I finally got Carter back to sleep and I crashed at four." She explains.

I frown, "I'm sorry. I should've called later."

Katniss sighs, "It's fine. Carter will probably wake up soon anyways."

I smile, "Probably. So, what time do you and Bristol want to go shopping? I'm sure you could both use a break."

"Um, I don't know. When do you want to come over?"

"Whenever you want, I guess." I laugh.

"You're so helpful."

"I try."

"Okay. Well, I will call you after awhile and let you know." Katniss yawns.

"Okay, I love you." I say truthfully.

Katniss laughs a little, "I love you too, bye."

"Bye." I say, hanging up.

About an hour later, Katniss calls me, telling me that Bristol and her are ready for me to come over.

I drive over and Bristol welcomes me in.

"Hey." I say.

"Hi, Peeta." She smiles and I walk into the living room to find Katniss playing with Carter on the ground.

My heart melts at the sight.

Katniss really does have a soft spot for kids, whether she will admit it or not.

"You're so cute, Katniss Everdeen." I say.

Katniss jumps a little at my voice and turns around, blushing.

"Oh. Hey." She says.

"Hi." I reply, leaning down and kissing the top of her head.

Katniss smiles widely, "I, uh, I was just playing with the baby." She says, standing up, acting as if I hadn't seen her myself.

"That's good." I laugh and she walks into my arms.

"Well, you two go do whatever you need to. I'll take care of her." I say, prepared to hang out with Carter.

I really do love her already, I can't wait until Annie has her baby.

Katniss and Bristol both look at each other and hold back their laughter.

"What?" I ask.

Bristol laughs, "Nothing. You two just really get along already."

I look at Katniss and she nods.

I feel my face heat up, "Well, she's so good, and really sweet. I really like kids." I say truthfully.

Bristol scoffs a little bit and Katniss glares at her.

As I wonder what's going on, Katniss wraps her arms around my waist and rests her chin on my chest.

"I know you do." She says sweetly.

I smile and kiss her, dropping whatever it is they are keeping from me.

"Ready to go, Kat?" Bristol asks, giving Carter a kiss on the head.

"I'll be back, baby." She whispers, prepared to walk out the door.

"Yeah, let's go." Katniss says, grabbing her purse.

"Bye, see ya later." Bristol and Katniss say in unison.

I laugh a little and wave as Katniss closes the front door.

I walk over to wear Katniss left Carter and kneel down to speak to her.

"Looks like it's just me and you, kiddo." I say, grasping her attention.

Her eyes widen.

"Did you keep Katniss up all night?" I ask her with a chuckle as I sit down next to her reposed body.

She blinks, her little brown eyelashes catching the light.

"You know that's not good for me, right? I have to live with her." I joke.

But it is true, when Katniss doesn't get the right amount of sleep, she can be pretty cranky.

"So, what do you want to do?" I ask her.

She just stares up at me, as babies do and it's not as if I was expecting an answer.

"How about, since it's officially Spring, we go outside? You want to go outside, Carter?" I ask her with my baby voice.

I laugh at her expressionless face and carefully pick her up and grab a baby blanket from the couch.

She is in a purple onesie with a bright pink heart on the front and socks.

I walk out the back door where there's more shade and sit on the back porch with Carter in my lap, half sitting, half leaning against me.

"You're a strong baby." I tell her, amazed at her abilities at less than a week old.

Carter's eyes scan the large backyard, she watches a few birds hop around in a tree.

Occasionally, she gurgles a few little noises or sighs or yawns.

I sit there, just imagining how amazing it may be to have my own kids one day.

Katniss has already proven something that I had never before doubted, though she has many times.

No doubt she is going to be a fantastic mother.

I hope I've proven to Katniss that I could be a good dad, though I doubt it. But it is all I've ever wanted besides a girl like Katniss, but she is better.

Even if we never had kids, I wouldn't blame her and I would be happy with just having her.

It's a lot of work and it's painful and damaging to her body. I don't know what she thinks really. Sometimes, I think she may want them and other times I'm not so sure.

She's always been that way though.

Especially when people just ask her about it. I guess she doesn't like the pressure along with the fact it's awkward and really none of their business.

I don't blame her for getting angry, any of the times people have asked us about our personal decisions and love life.

It's our business and no one else's.

I mean, it was pretty ridiculous, some of those people.

I remember like a month or two after we got engaged, Katniss's mother asked when we were having kids and Katniss exploded.

I love Katniss's mother but that question was pretty off the charts, unexpected.

Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if we had already married or had been married for a while, but we had just gotten engaged.

Then, some people are just stupid, so stupid that I don't know what to think honestly.

I'm knocked from my thoughts when I look down and realize Carter has fallen asleep in my lap.