Life Will Go On - sequel to Our Love Will Remain

Chapter 21

When I wake up, the first thing I notice is that Peeta is beside me, Adrian in his arms. I turn my head towards him.

"Hey." he says and kisses my lips softly. That's when I notice how tired he looks.

"Peeta. You haven't slept." I say and reach my hand towards his cheek. He puts his hand over mine.

"I wanted to stay awake and look after you two. I changed your clothes and the sheets. Besides, I'm not tired." he says and smiles tiredly. I don't believe him for a second. He looks like he hasn't slept in ages, and seems to be struggling to keep his eyes open. He's been awake for more than twenty four hours.

"Peeta. I need you to sleep now. And you didn't have to do all that. You're too good to me." I say, and he sighs. After that, he hands Adrian to me, after kissing his forehead. He pulls off his shirt and pants, and then crawls back into the bed beside me. He closes his eyes and falls asleep in a few seconds, while I stroke his hair. I smile at him, he looks so cute when he is asleep. Adrian whimpers, and I instantly know what the matter is. He's hungry. So I reveal my one breast and feed him. After a while, he is satisfied. Then, he does something that makes me gasp. When he opens his eyes, I see the exact shade of gray that I see every day when I look myself in the mirror. My son has inherited my eyes. In some way, I am honored by this. That means there is a little more of myself that I can pass by. Besides the features of my daughter. And then, when I look closer at his features, I see more of Peeta than I ever did before. His nose. The round cheeks. The wide jaw. And his hair. Although it is still dark, I can see the curls forming. He is so beautiful. Just as Ivy was when she was newborn. Ivy. I need to see her. Then, like on order, Lane walks in.

"Oh, you're awake. I stayed in the house over the night, I hope that was okay. I needed to stay here to keep an eye on you and check periodically if everything was okay." she says. I nod and smile at her.

"It's Adrian, isn't it? He really is a beautiful baby." she says and walks up to me. I nod. "Is there anything I can get you?" she says.

"Could you get my daughter Ivy from Haymitch's house? Haymitch Abernathy." I say, and she nods, smiling and walking out of the room. I wait for about ten minutes and then Ivy and Haymitch are inside the room.

"Mommy!" Ivy outbursts and runs up to me. She hugs me, careful not to crush the baby. Haymitch stands there, and in a while he smiles. Ivy breaks away.

"Mommy, he's so cute!" she says and starts jumping up and down.

"Well, let her hold him, then." Haymitch says and I stick out my tongue at him playfully, but hand him carefully to Ivy. She gasps and holds him just as I told her to. She reminds me of Leisel five years ago when Ivy was born. Then, I feel the bed shift and Peeta's arms are around me. He didn't sleep for long.

"Peeta, you slept for like half an hour. You have to sleep more, you know." I say, pushing him down on the bed again. He gets up again.

"I'm not gonna miss this." he says and kisses my neck once. Haymitch snorts.

"What's his name?" she asks, her eyes twinkling. I smile.

"Adrian." I say, and Ivy awwws and rocks him a little. I reach for him, and she gives him to me. Haymitch steps forward.

"He's looking good. Looks like his father." he says, and strokes his cheek with a finger. I smile and turn around. Peeta is just about to fall asleep, so I push him down on the bed again and start caressing his hair. He is asleep in no time. I turn to Haymitch and Ivy.

"Haymitch, would you like to take Ivy for another night, we need more recovering, Peeta's barely slept and I need to look after Adrian." I say. Haymitch nods.

"Okay, sweetheart. I can do that. Just call me when you want your monkey back." he says, waves at me and takes Ivy out. I blow her a kiss and she giggles. I love her so much. Now, we are a family of four. And I promise myself that that's what we will be until death do us part.

I walked around in the house with Adrian while Peeta was asleep, and I knew he was awake when I felt his warm arms around my now much flatter stomach. It was already dark outside, but I didn't know what time it was. I hadn't bothered to check. There were so many things that were much more important right now. Like paying attention to my husband.

"Are you hungry?" he asks, kissing my neck. I am distracted by this, so it takes a while for me to answer.

"I already ate, I just want to go to bed." I say, and he stops kissing my neck.

"Okay." he says, and we walk upstairs again, the three of us. When we are at our bed, I lay Adrian down in his crib and lay down on the bed. I already am tired, although I haven't been awake for many hours. Just when I am about to close my eyes, Peeta puts an arm around me.

"You were amazing, giving birth to our son." he says. I smile at him. "So I bought you something." he says, opening a box. It contains a necklace. But not just any necklace. It is a chain made of white gold, and there is a small heart hanging from it. The heart has at least twenty diamonds attached to it. I gasp. This couldn't have been cheap. Diamonds are rare nowadays. And when I turn the heart around, I see three simple words engraved into it.

"I love you"

Even though the sentence is simple and I have heard it a million times, my eyes tear. I put a hand in front of my mouth and sob. This is too much. I love it, of course, it's beautiful, but it must've cost a fortune. I can't believe he did this for me.

"Honey, what is it?" he asks worriedly. I bet he didn't expect this reaction. Oh crap. Now I've ruined his joy again. So I suck it up and swallow my tears, that are certainly not caused by sorrow. I am just so touched about this gift Peeta bought me.

"It's-it's just that... was this expensive?" I ask him and he laughs.

"The most expensive thing I've ever bought. Well, it may compete with the car... But it was definately worth it." he says. "I didn't hesitate a second to buy it. Besides, we're filthy rich." he says and kisses me. He finishes it to put the necklace around my neck.

"You look so beautiful." he says, and I wipe my face and look at it. It really is beautiful.

"I love you." I say. He tells me the same. Then, he does something unexpected. He trows himself on top of me and starts kissing my neck intensely.

"I love you." he tells me again. "I love you." he says, while kissing my neck. It seems like he isn't aware of him saying it so many times, but I don't bother. Soon, I am turned on as well and am kissing him as fervently as he is kissing me. My nightgown slides off me and Peeta finds my breasts. Now, when my pregnancy is gone and I have no stomach in the way, I want to do what I promised Peeta. Not only for him though. For me as well.