The Hunger Games: Uprising!

Chapter 38

I crawl through the undergrowth, silently making my way through toward the clearing in the forest. To my left is Gale, and to my right my husband, Peeta. We've been busy combat training for the last month which is all part of Plutarch's master plan, whatever that is. Although Peeta and I agreed we'd throw ourselves into the effort to defeat the uprising we did question Plutarch's motivation to sending us back into training. Again, he said it was necessary to show the districts that we're up for the fight, that we're taking the war seriously.
Today is our final day. The whole squad has been split into small groups of three members and given individual training missions. We're all using small electronic rifles that shoot a harmless light pulse toward whatever your aiming at. If your bulletproof vest gets hit it let's out a loud shrill sound.
I crawl toward the edge of the clearing and have to put my hand over my mouth to stifle a laugh when I see a bored Haymitch wondering around guarding the perimeter. Megan sits in a chair, cooking food around a camp fire.
I turn and look at Gale, "where's the other team member?" I whisper.
He screws his nose up and shrugs his shoulders.
"Maybe they went off hunting for us" he whispers back.
Our task is a simple game of capturing the opposing teams camp whilst taking no casualties. It looks like whoever the other team member was has gone off trying to hunt us down.
"We'll take down these two then lie in wait for the other team member" I say to both of them.
Peeta nods his head at me in silence. Gale moves round to our left, trying to flank Haymitch and Megan. I look across at Peeta to make sure he's ready. He nods and gives me the thumbs up then I glance across at Gale. He nods.
On the silent count of three we jump out from the woods and almost immediately mine and Peeta's vests start wailing. I look at Peeta and he looks at me confused. Just then Gale's vest starts wailing. I look round to see Megan smiling at Gale, a pistol clenched in her hand. She bursts out laughing at Gale, but he just smiles back shaking his head. Okay, Megan shot Gale but who got us. I look to my right to see Lyndon walking out from a bush. He's got small branches and brush tied to his body and any skin showing has been painted with the reed colours of brown and green. We'd of never seen him.
I stand there my head down and shoulders hunched in defeat.
"So Katniss, what did you do wrong?" asks Lyndon

"That I should of waited, spent more time looking and weighing up my options" I reply.

"Exactly! You assumed that the other team member had gone off somewhere, when in fact your prey had become the hunter"

"It doesn't help when you've got a special forces commander on the other team!" Peeta hits back.

"Makes no difference, who's to say what you'll find in the field, it could be an army of mutts?"

I nod dejectedly and start back toward the assembly area. Haymitch walks alongside me.

"You okay sweetheart?"

"No, I'm angry at myself. I knew what I was supposed to do but I always have to do things my own way!"

Haymitch laughs at my outburst then puts an arm around my shoulder.

"Don't worry Katniss, you'll be fine. That's why we're doing this training, so we can learn"

I nod and try to smile. But deep down I'm worried. Why are we learning, why go to all this trouble? We're not supposed to be soldiers, right? I Look at Haymitch, what's the motivation in putting him through training. He's much too old.

I walk with my head down lost in my thoughts when I feel a hand slip into mine. I turn my head to see Peeta looking at me.

"Hi?" he says looking at me curiously.

"Hi, sorry I was miles away" I say shaking my head and smiling back at him. As usual he knows I've got something on my mind.
We walk out into the assembly area. A large clearing in the woods filled with large tents, weapons, equipment and vehicles. A number of other squad members have already made it back, their training missions complete. We check in our weapons and start back along the track to district 13.
We walk back in silence, except for Gale and Megan walking hand in hand with Megan constantly goading him on his defeat in the training mission. She looks so happy to be with Gale, the look of love in her eyes when she looks at him. They really are the perfect match.
We finally make it back to the training ground as the sun starts to creep below the horizon. We all make our way down in the elevator and return to our quarters. I'm desperate for a shower and a nap although Plutarch has changed my training schedule to allow for more rest breaks but even so I'm still struggling.
Tomorrow Peeta and I will return to district 12 for a short visit. This is the propo where Plutarch will announce to Panem that the star crossed lovers are having their first baby. I'll be wearing something to show off my growing baby bump, and we'll both be interviewed in the lounge at our house.
But tonight we've got to go to medical for a scan. It's the first time we'll both see our child and I have to admit I'm a little excited. As usual, any images will be used as part of the propo as we both agreed to give Plutarch full access. After the Propo, I don't know what else Plutarch has got planned for us. I make a mental note to ask him next time I see him.
I walk out from the shower to see Peeta there waiting with a towel ready. I walk into it and he wraps it around me then helps me towel down.

"You excited about tonight?" he asks

"I can't wait, I'm so happy about our baby. To share this with you is the best thing that could've happened to me. He wraps his arms around me and he kisses me gently, allowing his lips to linger.

He pulls away, "lets get you dressed then, we've got an appointment to see our baby" he says smiling.

We walk into medical to be greeted by a young assistant nurse. I'm suddenly startled by her uniform, the very same uniform that my sister Prim used to wear. Peeta senses my discomfort and slides an arm round my waist.

"We have an appointment with Dr Everdeen" Peeta says to the assistant.

She nods and leads us through to a separate room off the main corridor. We walk in to find my mother and a nurse already waiting for us.

"Hello you two" she says smiling.

"Hi Mom" I say, giving her a hug. Peeta walks over and gives her a kiss on the cheek. I'm directed to lay out on the bed and a large semicircular shroud is lowered over my abdomen and lower half of my body. My mother sits by the bed whilst the nurse operates the scanner. I try to relax as much as possible but find it difficult as I'm so excited and a little scared I guess. What will our baby look like, will it be healthy? I feel Peeta take my hand as the lights in the room reduce down to a dim glow. I can hear the nurse pressing buttons, sending commands to the scanner when a holographic image appears above me. Mom reaches out and grabs the image, turning it so I can get a better view. I hear Peeta gasp and find myself overcome with emotion. I'm looking at a tiny person barely bigger than my hand. Large eyes and a tiny protruding nose are all that I can see clearly. My mother reaches up and rotates the image again so we can see more clearly, making out arms, legs. I don't know why but I start to sob silently. All through my pregnancy the baby's almost felt like a figure of my imagination, but to see it so clearly, right in front of my eyes has really brought it home to me. That I'm going to be a Mom, and that I'm responsible for this tiny person.
"Can we see what it is" Peeta asks

"I can see already" mom answers

I look at Peeta. Do we really want to know, or need to? I nod gently at my mother. Of course we want to know. Mom smiles at us.
"Well, as it's still relatively early it's difficult to be absolutely sure but I'd say we're looking at a girl"
Peeta gasps and holds a hand up to his mouth. I turn to him and he leans down and kisses me gently. "I love you" he whispers. I smile back at him then turn to my mother as she's wiping away a tear with the back of her hand.
"I'll leave you two alone for a minute" she says as my mother and the nurse leave the room. Peeta and I just stare silently at our first child. Only the electrical hum of the scanning equipment breaking the silence.

"I cant believe it Peeta, she looks so.... peaceful"

"You make it so" he says gazing down at me lying below him.
I reach up and touch his cheek.
"No, it's you that's made me like this. Before you came into my life I was bitter, twisted and hated life. But you took away all the bad parts of me and repaired them, made me realise that I can be happy in a way I never thought possible. You're the only person who could do that Peeta, I love you, Always"
He takes my hand and kisses it just as my Mother and the nurse walk back in.

"Everything okay?" she asks.

I nod, my eyes still full of tears.

"Well, while we we're outside we ran some tests and can see no obvious problems with your baby. She's got a strong heart, just like her Mom"

We both smile at my Mother.

"I just hope she's not as stubborn" Peeta says jokingly as I give him a playful punch on the arm.
My Mom smiles at Peeta and I "Any questions?"
I bring up the issues with sleep and my Mom assures me that the amount I need during the day should pass in the next few weeks although the problem with sleeping at night may continue. Peeta wasn't aware of this and I have to explain that every night the baby starts kicking and moving about keeping me awake. His eyes open wide in shock at this revelation and he thinks he's missed out on something. The truth is, I didn't want to wake him. We've been so busy training that I've wanted Peeta to get as much sleep as possible.
The nurse shuts down the hologram and we see our baby disappear in front of our eyes. This makes me a little sad and I realise that I could of laid there watching her for ever. The scanner is removed and I climb off the bed. I suddenly feel exhausted from all the excitement, we say our goodbyes and make our way home to our quarters. That night we lay in bed and I let Peeta place his hand on my bump to feel our baby kicking and moving around. Again he gasps and stares at his hand, amazed at the feeling of our child moving inside me, his daughter. We eventually drift off into a happy sleep and I dream of a time when our children play by our house, running freely in a summer meadow.