Life Will Go On - sequel to Our Love Will Remain

Chapter 15

I get up from bed and get dressed. I see that Peeta is checking me out.

"Peeta." I say and smile at him. He chuckles, and gets up too. He walks up to me and kisses my neck a few times, and then walks into the closet. I freeze. He can't just do that. It's not fair. He starts putting his clothes on. I'm only wearing my underswear, that's the only thing I got to dress in before Peeta surprised me.

"I'm going to Haymitch's." Peeta says, and before I can stop him, he pecks my lips and is out of the door.

Peeta

I walk out of the door to the bedroom after giving Katniss a goodbye kiss and run downstairs. I meet Ivy in the stairs and tell her that Mommy is in our bedroom. Then, I continues to run through the living room anf hall and out of the front door. It is pretty cold outside, but Haymitch's house is right next to ours, so I don't need a coat. I am really angry right now so I wouldn't care either. I storm through Haymitch's door and find him in the living room, drinking. I grab his shirt collar and shout at him.

"What did you tell our daughter!" I shout. He looks dizzy, but I see that he doesn't understand.

"Wh-whu..." he begins.

"You started telling her that Mommy and Daddy are having sex!" I shout. He stares at me. Then he smiles.

"Oh, that. Well I thought it was funny. Besides, she didn't..." I punch him in the face. He just stares at me like he doesn't believe it.

"You don't start telling my five year old daughter about sex! She doesn't understand! She will start wondering, and then she'll get nightmares because she doesn't dare to talk to us about it, and..." I don't come up with anything more. "I just want our daughter to have the best childhood possible, since I know what it is like to get up five in the morning every day and get beatings by your mother because you weren't good enough and then get stale bread for dinner. I won't ever let that happen to either of our kids." I say and get a lump in my throat. I see a bruise forming around Haymitch's eye. He just looks at me. I sit down on the couch. "Just don't tell her anything like that again. And I'm sorry for punching you." I say and look down. Haymitch grabs my shoulder.

"Ok, I won't. I didn't know you would get so upset." he says. I nod.

"Well, I should probably go. I have a pregnant wife and a daughter." I say and get up. Haymitch nods and I walk over to our house again. I find Katniss attempting to make porridge. We usually don't make that, because that's what we ate a lot in the bakery when I was a kid, we made it out of stale bread and water, and it brings back bad memories. But I haven't ate it in many years and now it isn't made of stale bread. And it is made by my wife, so it can't be bad. I walk up to her and put my hands around her stomach. I feel the five month bump under them. Then, I feel something else. Katniss seems to notice too, and she stops stirring the porridge. Then, I feel it clearly. The baby is kicking. Our baby is kicking. Katniss looks at me with a shocked expression. She looks like she is scared to death. When Ivy kicked for the first time, she wore an exact copy of this expression. I hug her tight so that she can feel safe and then break away and smile at her. If I try really hard, my good mood has a tendency to effect other people's moods. She smiles a weak smile at me and I kiss her. Then I put my hands over her stomach again.

"Our baby kicked. Ivy, come here!" I say, and Ivy is soon running up to me.

"What, Daddy?" she asks. "Is the baby ready?" she asks.

"No, honey, the baby isn't ready until February. But the baby kicked." I say. Katniss takes a deep breath.

"Wanna feel?" she asks Ivy, and Ivy nods eagerly and walks up to Katniss. I move my hands so that Ivy's fit beside them and then the baby kicks again. The happiness is tingling in my toes and fingertips. Soon, it's tingling in my eyes too, and then I feel a tear of happiness roll down my cheek. I seem to be moody today. First, I was so angry I felt like I could kill someone, and then I get so happy that I want to kiss everyone I see. So I do that. I kiss Katniss slowly, and then I pick Ivy up and kiss her cheeks. She giggles and kisses mine. They get really wet but I don't wipe them off. I want her kiss to stay there forever. As I want every kiss I've shared with Katniss stay on my lips. And my body. It's been a lot of that lately. But I guess we should take advantage of this time when our kids are young, because when they get older it will be a lot harder to find that private time. And when Katniss gives birth we will have a baby and a five year old daughter, who both need to be taken care of. I suppose it will be Katniss takng care of the baby most of the time, since she's the one breastfeeding. So I will have to take care of Ivy. But we will handle that when the time comes, not now. Katniss looks at me. She sees the tears flowing down my cheeks and catches them, one by one. She kisses me and lets me know all her feelings. Happiness, love, and fear. Fear for the baby. Uncertainty about the future. Worry for our children. But I try to let her know from my lips that everything will be okay, and that we will go through this together. Tonight, we'll tell her about the Games. That won't be easy for either of us. On Monday, we will know the gender. In four months we will have our newborn baby. In a few years the baby will start school. Then they will end school and move away, and... I get a lump in my throat. I can't stand to think about Ivy moving out with her future boyfriend or husband. I just can't. She's my girl. My baby girl. And will always be. I try not to think about this anymore, it gets too rough. I look at Katniss. She is looking at Ivy, stroking her cheek. I am still holding her. I hug her tight.

"I love you, honey." I tell her.

"I love you Daddy." she replies. Katniss continues stirring the porridge and I kiss her neck. I know she hates when I do that, because it turns her on. And when I don't give her more, she gets restless. But I think that it's a good and simple way to show her that I love her in every way a man could ever love a woman. We've been through everything together and we have no secrets from each other. We're like one. Without one of us the other couldn't exist. If Katniss ever gets taken away from me I couldn't handle it without help. I would try to get her back until I die. But that won't happen. Not as long as I am breathing. I promise myself. Katniss takes the porridge off the stove and pours it into small bowls. we start eating at the dinner table. I remember when Katniss and I made out on this table one night many years ago. I can't believe we've been married for sixteen years. That's a long time, and we lived a long time together without kids. Just hanging around in the house, going down to the bakery, swimming in the pond, walking in the Meadow and kissing at night. Those were amazing years. But I'm not sure how I could've made it if we wouldn't have gotten kids. I would walk past them every day and break down sooner or later, and then Katniss would feel guilty. But I don't have to think about that, she agreed to have kids. Even two of them. How did I get so lucky to have her?

"How did I get so lucky to have you?" I say and look up at her. Then I look at Ivy so that she doesn't feel left out.

"I was just thinking the same thing." Katniss says and takes my hand. I see our rings shine in the sunlight. Her rings with the pearl and the diamonds, and mine, which is a simple golden bond. She picked it out for me. All of them have the word 'Always' engraved into them. We wanted something to tie us together more. I never take off my ring. Not even when I shower. Not when I bake. Not when I do the laundry. Never. I am not afraid of it falling off, it is tight enough not to do that. I look at Ivy. She seems to have finished her porridge. We clean up and walk to the living room. The porridge tasted much better than stale bread mixed with water. We turn on the TV. They are showing some memorial show for the people who died and were forced to fight in the Hunger Games. It goes on for a long time, because they show the faces of everyone who have ever participated. We watch it, even though I don't know why. Ivy doesn't understand what the programme is about, she thinks they are only showing pictures of random people. But when they come to Annie and soon Johanna, she starts wondering. We didn't see Haymitch, they had showed him a lot before we turned the TV on. Besides, she would never had recognised him, he was only a teenager. We see a lot of faces, and finally, they come to us. They show pictures of us as sixteen year olds, and then as seventeen. Ivy frowns and I almost hold my breath. This is the time. We have to tell her.