Pregnant in the Games

Chapter 28: In Memory

Katniss, Peeta and I sat in President Snow's lobby, staring at the television screen. They were showing Gale and Willow hugging each other and crying over their alliance's deaths. Katniss was holding Peeta's hand and gently crying beside me. 

"Gale can't die. He can't," Katniss said.

"Gale is fine. He won't die," Peeta replied.

"But what about Willow? Or Crystal?" Katniss looked at Peeta. "Only one can come out alive."

"That's over two years away. Let's not worry about it."

Katniss sighed and looked away from Peeta. I put my hand on top of her hand. She glanced over at me and gave me a weak smile. I can't imagine how much she's struggling. I'm having a hard enough time watching these games. I consider both Willow and Gale as family. For Katniss, though, Gale is actually her son. Plus, Titus is Gale Hawthrone's son. I'm sure Katniss felt protective of Titus. She's feeling real grief over Titus and she's terrified for her son's life. 

Suddenly, a door opened. Not the door to President Snow's office, but the door to get into the lobby. I glanced over at the door.  I weird sense of deja vu ran over me as I glanced at the man. I definitely knew him. But from where?"

"Gale?" Katniss asked, slowly standing up from her chair. She stared at the man in shock. 

Oh. Now I know why I recognize him. It's Gale. Not Katniss' son, but Gale Hawthorne. Titus' dad. 

"Katniss," Gale replied. He didn't seem surprised to see her. He smiled at her. Suddenly, Katniss smiled too. A big smile. I haven't seen her smile like that since before Willow got reaped. Katniss ran over to Gale and hugged him tightly. Gale hugged her back. 

When the finally pulled away, Gale put his hands on her shoulders. "You named your kid after me?"

Heat rose to Katniss' cheeks. "Yeah, so?" 

Gale chuckled. "My daughter's name is Catnip. She prefers to be called Cat."

Katniss smiled again. "I'm honored." The smile fell. "About Titus..."

Gale closed his eyes. Pain flashed across his face. "I'm here to talk to Snow about that." 

Finally, the door to Snow's office opened up. The four of trickled in. 

"Gale Hawthorne? What a surprise," President Snow said. 

"Luke killed Titus," Gale replied. "The wolves disappeared as soon as they killed him. His soul purpose was to kill Titus." 

"It's a Gamemaker's job to keep the audience entertained. He was doing his job," Snow defended. 

"We need to take him down, Snow! No more stalling!" Katniss yelled. "We already know that he purposely put Titus in. Then he kills him? What if Gale's next?" 

"What? Luke rigged the Reaping?" Gale Hawthorne asked. 

No one replied to him. "I know, Katniss. I'm thinking. We need to do something without bringing harm to baby Crystal. Somehow we need to take Luke down without their being questions about why we removed him from his position. How are we supposed to do that?" President Snow asked. Meanwhile, Gale sat down in the corner and buried his face into his hands. His shoulders heaved. He's sobbing. 

"If Luke runs off, then we can tell Panem that he went missing," Katniss replied. "That's the only way."

"So now we just need to make sure he runs off," I said. "How?"

Silence fell over the room. No one knew the answer to that. 

"Actually, Katniss, there's something else I need to tell you," President Snow said. "I did some more digging into Luke. I figured out that he put Blaze into the Games on purpose. He gave her family money for her to volunteer. And the condition was that if Blaze went into the Hunger Games..."