Clove's POV
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19 November 3114
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Cato nuzzles his nose into my neck. I lean my head back away from him and laugh euphorically. He kisses me while making loud "Mwah!" sounds.
"Cato! Stop!" I giggle as I lay my hands on his perfect chest.
Leven groans behind me but Brutus just laughs. Normally, I wouldn't want Cato trying to get me to make out with him in a public place. But after the four months I've been through, I honestly dont care.
His arms are wrapped securely around my waist and he rests his back against the wall of the train.
Maysilee makes a loud gagging sound as he begins to kiss my neck. My laugh and moans fill the whole train.
"Are they always like this?" Maysilee asks the two of them in disbelief. I hear breakfast bowls clanking behind me.
"They're usually not this bad. He's crazy about her!" Brutus says but his voice is muffled out by Cato and I.
"Or this loud. I didn't sleep a wink last night! All I heard was; "Oh Cato!" and "Clove, ugh baby!" It was revolting really!" Leven snaps.
"Ah! I'm right here you know- Cato!" I scold him but can't help but laugh as he whispers sweet nothings to me.
"Well, we'll be home in half an hour, why don't you get dressed Clove?" Brutus suggests kindly, referring to Cato's grey t-shirt that I'm wearing. That's all I'm wearing, but it comes to mid-thigh and my excuse is that none of my clothes fit me.
"Okay, Cato- let me go babe!" I snap but soon break into a smile.
He reluctantly releases me and sticks out his bottom lip. "Do you need help getting dressed?" he asks me with suggestive eyebrows.
I roll my eyes and put my hands on my hips. "I'm a pregnant woman, not an endangered species!"
"Ooh!" Brutus hollers and that cauaes the two girls to smile.
"Come on Mays." I say. I kiss Cato's cheek slowly. "See you later baby."
I then run off like a school girl. Maysilee and I spend ten minutes picking out a dress for me to wear.
"I like this one!" Maysilee pops while looking over my navy skater dress. I agree with her and pull on a pair of black tights.
I slip on a bright pink belt and the same colour heels. I pull my wavy hair up into a messy bun.
"He really loves you Clover. I'm happy for you." She smiles, almost sadly. "I hope I find someone who loves me like he loves you."
"Thanks Mays. But isn't he amazing, I absolutely adore his bones. He treats me right Mays, he'd never hurt me or disrespect me. He loves me and cares for me, and that's all I want."
"I can't wait to meet Nazera! And little Asher! Oh my God, I want a baby! My life is so depressing!"
"Okay, I'm ready!" I declare while putting the lipgloss and the eyelash curler on the dresser. "Are you ready to see your parents?"
"I don't know." she responds bluntly and I give her a meek smile. "You look beautiful Clover, no wonder Cato can't keep his hands off of you!" she giggles.
"Maysilee!" I scold with a laugh. "I missed this, I missed you and our girly talk. We have so much to catch up on!" I grin while staring at myself in the mirror.
"Yeah, we do." she smirks suspiciously. "When did you first, ahem "Do it"?" she asks me and I glow red.
"Maysilee!" I glare.
"What, you said we had a lot to catch up on and the biggest thing in your life right now is the fact that you've got a bun in the oven! And babies are made by two people who-"
"Oh my God! Maysilee please!" I blush.
"What?" she asks, obviously not seeing how wrong that question.
"On my seventeenth birthday." I admit. "He proposed to me just before that."
"Oh my God, I really need a man. Is he good? Is he gentle? Does he say I love you afterwards? Does he sing you to sleep? Does he-"
"Maysilee!" I scold her. "We are not having the conversation right now. What's the rush? Neither of us are going anywhere, are we?"
She stands up and brushes down her skirt. Her walks over to me with her heels clacking loudly. She wraps her skinny arms around me and buries her face into my neck.
"No, I'm not going anywhere!" she confirms and I break out in a smile. "Come on girly, your district is waiting for you."
Within ten minutes, the train doors are opening to reveal the snowy district. The roads, footpaths, street lights and the Justice Building covered in a blanket of snow.
Maysilee scatters off after throwing me a little wave and a wink. The large crowd chant my name and I smirk gaily at them.
Right in the front, is Roni holding my little angle, Nazera. Kyle and Madilyn stand behind them and Cato's family are just to the side. Reese and Bristle are also there.
"Mummy!" Nazera calls and my jaw drops. That's the first word I've heard her say! I glance back at Cato, almost wondering what to do next.
He nods towards my family. Normally the Victor would stand on the train and let the crowd praise them. But me, oh no! I jump off the train, and sprint down the steps.
I grab Nazera off of Roni and clutch her to my chest. I spin her around and kiss her forehead over and over.
Her tiny little fingernails grab hold of the straps of my dress and she tugs on it. Her curled hair is bouncing around the place. "Mummy! Mummy!"
"Nazera baby, I love you darling! Mummy's here, mummy's got you!" I say in a rushed tone. "Oh baby girl! I'm here now, I'm here, I love you!"
Nazera then sings me a chorus of the word Mummy. I give Roni a one arm hug.
"I missed you, Clove. You did amazing!" she cheers. "I'm so proud of you! Dad would be too!"
"Thanks Roni-" I start but stop when Kyle and Madilyn tackle me into a hug. "We have so much to catch up on!"
"Yeah. We do." she whispers inaudubly, she doesn't seem like she usually is. She seems distant or something and I don't like it.
She plays with her shoulder-length golden hair. I stare at her as she has sad eyes as everyone else hugs me, congratulates me and tell me that I did amazing.
I thank everyone and squeeze the life out of them in a hug, I'm just so happy to see everyone again. To be honest, I thought I'd never see them again.
Leven and Brutus make their way out of the train. Dalton is standing there, shaking with excitement to see his parents after four months.
Within minutes, my head is spinning from the noise and hustle. Everyone is chanting and screaming with joy, but I just want to go home.
I want to run away from all the hassle. I want to go home with Cato and Nazera. I want to find out what's up with Roni and then I want to go to bed.
Pregnancy is hard work.
I clutch Cato's arm to steady myself and he coils his arm around my waist. He tugs me close to his body as I cradle Nazera.
I zone out and bury my face into Nazera. I mumble an occasional thank you, just so people think I'm half awake.
Cato can tell that I'm getting rather tired and annoyed at everyone making a fuss over me. He knows that I can't stand it
"Hey, I think I should bring her home-" Cato tells everyone. "You're tired, aren't you babe?"
"Yeah." I play along while biting my lip. He tightens his grip around me.
"Yeah, you must be wrecked doll." Astrel suggests. "We'll catch up with you later, at that ball, yeah?"
"Yeah, that'd be great!" Cato answers for me. "I'll see you later mum."
He places a kiss on her cheek and waves goodbye to his siblings. I give a little nod to Kyle and the rest of them. I poke Roni on the arm.
"We're speaking later, yeah?" I say but I know that she knows that she has no choice whatsoever.
"Um, yeah? That sounds good?" she states but I know that it's a question.
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As I leave the Mayor of Region One's dining hall, I feel stuffed. I walk at a slow pace as I feel like I'm about to explode, Cato follows me with Nazera in tow.
I catch a glimpse of my reflection in a long mirror. I look iridescent and beautiful due to the large chandeliers.
My hair is in beautiful, flawless curls that fall over my shoulders. My eyelashes are curled to excess, it looks like I'm wearing fake ones!
I have a peachy-pink gloss on my lips. My nails and toenails are the same colour. My dress touches the floor and is a halter neck, chiffon, obviously.
It's the same peachy-pink colour. It's tight around the bust area and right under my breasts is a band of diamonds. After that, it flows out in a pleated effect.
My baby bump causes the dress to jut out a bit. The silky, chiffon material flows effortlessly over Asher.
We decided to call him Asher Kale. I love that name, it flows beautifully, in my opinion anyways.
As I enter the ballroom, everyone stops what they're doing. They turn to face me and they clap for me.
I throw them a fake smile. Cato comes up behind me and I gingerly take Nazera -who is dressed in a beautiful purple dress.- off of him.
Cato wraps his arm around me as we descent the large set of stairs. Almost everyone raises their glass of champagne to me and I try not to blush furiously.
I shimmy past the chanting crowd when I spot Mason and his kids. Avery, Spencer and Phillip stand politely next to him. Sienna is in his arms.
"Mason!" I smile.
"Darling! Hello again!" he salutes me. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" he asks. I bury my face into him.
"I've missed you Mason-" I pout. "I really have-"
"Hush darling, it's okay. I'm here. Congratulations, by the way. " he tells me while referring to Nazera and my bump. He winks at me.
"Thank You, and how're you? How're ye all? It's so nice to see you all! Look at how much you've grown, Phillip!"
"Thank you ma'am." he responds curtiosly. My eyebrows widen in surprise at how polite he is.
"Call me Clove, Phillip. But thank you." I smile while rubbing his soft cheek.
"We're all so proud of you." Mason tells me and his kids nod in agreement. "You were amazing!"
"Thank you so much-" I stop when I hear someone call my name. I spin around to see Enobaria holding a tiny baby.
"Go on, scat!" Mason laughs. "I'll catch up with you later."
I kiss his cheek and wave goodbye to his kids. I skip over to Enobaria and Nazera must know there's another baby there because she squeals in delight.
"Clover, look at you! I'm so glad to see you again!" she smirks, even holding a baby in her arms, she still looks deadly.
"You too." I tell her. "Who's this angel?" I ask while bending down to the baby's height. Nazera stretchs out her arm and giggles instinctively.
"This is Afiya Clove." Enobaria states proudly. I bounce Nazera up and down and kiss her forehead.
I take a seat right next to Enobaria. "Oh she's beautiful-" I compliment her. "Look at her huge brown eyes!"
"She's got Corden's look." Enobaria smiles in a nostalgic way.
"She's got your eyes, Eno." I tell her. Nazera then begins another chorus of the word Mummy.
"You were, outstanding inside the arena. You kept your head down, and stayed down. I know that you had a tough couple of series of events, but you coped, didn't you?"
"I keep seeing her, Eno." I whisper to her.
"Who?" she asks me in a confused tone.
"Faye." I confirm. "She's everywhere. It seems she always behind me or she's a blurred image across the room."
"You can't let it get to you. The baby could easily get stressed." She worries.
"That, is exactly what I'm afraid of. I'm afraid her memory will affect Asher. And I can't cope with something like that right now. I have way too much on my plate right now."
"I know you do Clove, but that little boy-" she stops when Nazera stops singing. Enobaria rubs her face. "- and Nazera, must be the most important things in your life."
"They are!" I pout back.
"I know they are!" she gushes out. "But you also have the Capital, the Victory Tour, Cato, your family, you're adopted family, Maysilee came home, the visions and the nightmares, you're bipolar, you've recently been very sick."
"I'm not anymore!" I snap.
"I know, and thank God! But Clove, all I'm saying is that when I was pregnant, and you know that I don't have siblings, I don't have grandparents and my parents hate me! Corden only has Leven so when she went to the Games with you, it was just the two of us. Corden would take Dalton out and I'd be left with Afiya." She takes a long swig of her drink.
"She would scream and cry for no reason, I'd feed her, change her, she wasn't tired, she wasn't teething, she was medically perfect. And when Corden would walk in she'd stop. It drove me insane, luckily she outgrew it buy still. What I'm trying to say is that it's okay to ask for help, you know?"
"I know." I mumble. "Thank you, for absolutely everything. You understand me, more then anyone else does."
She bares her fangs and hisses quietly. I look at her with an amused look. "You've got visitors."
I turn around to see Zayn and Kitty all dressed up. I roll my eyes at them and turn back to Enobaria.
"Go talk to them." She spits. She obviously knows about them lying to me, she probably knows about Nevaeh too. "They're your parents."
"No they're not! Don't say that! He will never replace Derek and I have never had a mother. Maybe Elaine but that's it."
"They still love you, even though I disapprove of them massively." she howls.
"You've been more of a parent to me then they ever have!" And that is so true. Enobaria is more like a mum to me then anyone I've ever knew.
"Thank you doll, you know I'm always here if you to talk."
"I know Enobaria, I'll talk to you later, yeah?" I ask her.
"Make sure you do!" she tells me, she stands up and I copy in suite. She hugs me tightly and kisses my cheek. I'll hopefully catch up with her later, tell her about how my parents tried to apologise to me.
"Bye doll!" she waves and I literally drag my feet across the ground until I reach the man who has trained me for the games.
"Hello." I say, focusing on Nazera. "Where's Cairo?" I ask, referring to my biological baby brother.
"At home with the babysitter-" Kitty begins. "We miss you Adara."
"That's not my name. It's Clove, actually." I reply with sarcasm dripping off my teeth. "And how in God's name could you miss me? You've never been with me?"
"You're our daughter Adara-" Zayn starts.
"Clove." I snap.
"You're our daughter. We've always missed you, always. We've always wanted you to know who we really are."
"Then why didn't you tell me!" I demand, causing Nazera to stir. "Sorry Zera."
Cato notices my discomfort and comes to back me up. He takes Nazera with his left hand, but his right coils around me. "Everything alright baby?"
"Yes. We were just talking." Zayn tells him, Cato glares at him.
"You trained me for a year, you've had all those days to tell me! You watched me cry, bleed and sweat for a full year-" I spit but stop when I get too riled up.
"I didn't mean for this to happen-" Zayn says flustered. "I didn't want-"
"You didn't want what? Me?" I hiss.
"No! We did!" Kitty sobs.
"Then when did you give me to thoae preachers? The day I was born? Why? Was I too ugly for you? Did I cry nonstop?"
"We just-"
"Don't! I'm actually glad you gave me up, otherwise I wouldn't have Roni or Kyle, I wouldn't have known Kalen or Izabelle or Samara. I probably wouldn't have volunteered for the Games and I wouldn't have meet Cato."
"Please darlin'- don't-" Kitty begs.
"No don't you, I'm done with the both of you!" I hiss. "And you-" I say while pointing to Zayn.
"Don't Clo-" Cato moans.
"I don't know if she knows what you did to that girl. But she's my family and I love her. She's going to be my sister pretty soon. And Zayn, you ever touch her again, or anyone from my family, I'll be coming for you, and you know how well you trained me, don't you?"
"What's she talking about Zayn?" Kitty asks him.
"Oh she doesn't know? I'll enjoy this!"
"Let's go Clo, you don't want to start a fight here. Now's not the time, let's just go home. Yeah?" Cato tries to reason with me.
"No, let's stay." I beg while glaring at Zayn who is white with fear of what his wife Kitty might ask.
"What's she on about, Zayn?" She says dryly.
"This is where we leave, see ye later!" Cato says all to cheerily, I know he's putring it on though, I know he can't stand them. Especially Zayn.
He tugs me away from the quarrelling couple and by the look of Zayn's face, I'm happy I'm leaving really.
For another hour or so, I spend some time catching up with Cato's family. I made a fool of myself of the dance floor with Maysilee and I dragged Cato out dancing for a bit.
Eventually Roni is pulling me home as she really wants to tell me something. I am really worried about her, she's never been so secretive, ever.
It worries me, her not talking to me. She's always been so honest and truthful. She's never kept a secret fron me in her fifteen years of living.
She's going to be sixteen in January, I'd hate for her to feel like she couldn't talk to me. I could never be angry at her, the only thing that would make me angry would be her fear to keep quite.
Maybe she's done something bad?
Maybe she's sick?
Maybe she's interested in men or women, or both?
It doesn't matter as she's my sister and I love her. We don't need to have the same parents to be sisters, we never did. So why start now?
After putting Nazera to bed and changing into pajama pants and Cato's large, grey t-shirt, I sit down in the front room with a mug of hot chocolate to warm myself up.
The fire is lit and the large chandelier is dimmed. Cato closes the curtains to block out the snowy meadow outside. He puts a warm throw-over over my shoulders.
Kyle and Madilyn sit on the two seat couch, whereas Cato and I occupy the three seater. I curl my legs up underneath me and lean against Cato.
Roni sits on the armchair, fiddling with her fingers. I feel Cato begin to play with my hair. It's quite soothing actually.
"What's up?" I ask her after pulling my white mug away from my lips.
"Please don't be mad-" she pouts in a panicked tone.
"We won't be. What's wrong, you've been acting strange for weeks now?" Kyle adds and Madilyn nods in agreement.
"Promise?" she questions and I give her a genuine, loving smile. God love her.
"I promise. You know that I'll never be angry with you." I tell her and she bites her lip, as if contemplating what I just said.
"Well then, em, how do I put this?" she asks herself rhetorically. She plays coy for a minute or two, we all stay silent and we respect her until Kyle loses his patience.
"Come on Roni! I want to go home at some stage tonight!"
"I'm expecting."
"Expecting?" the four of us say at the exact same time.
"Expecting, what exactly?" I ask her but I know what she is going to say. I'm not angry though.
"A baby. Please don't be mad!" She sobs while clutching her hands together.
"I'm not, I'm just suprised that's all." I confirm while glancing at Cato who's as suprised as I am.
"A baby?" Kyle gasps once more. I stand up and place my mug onto the glass coffee table. I walk over to her and squeeze in next to her. I pull her into a hug and kiss the side of her face. She breaks into tears. "A baby?"
"Yes Kyle, we got it!" Madilyn snaps at him.
"It's okay Roni darlin', I'm here." I coo to her as she soaks the light blanket. She tightens her grip around me. "Don't cry, what are you crying for? No one's mad or disappointed in you."
"I am." Kyle declares.
"Kyle!" I hiss at him, baring my teeth like Enobaria would. "You leave her alone!"
"You're what? Fifteen years old? And you got yourself pregnant?" He rhetorically asks her in the most sarcastic tone I've ever heard.
"I'm sorry!" She cries.
"You ran away from home when you were fifteen, you left her, Clove and Kalen to fight for themselves, you can't say anything!" Madilyn backs her up.
"I'm seventeen and I'm pregnant! Go on, yell at me! I have two kids, I'm pregnant too Kyle!"
"At last you're engaged to, him-" He says in a disgusted tone.
"Don't you talk about Cato like that!" I spit at him.
"Don't you talk to me like that, you little-" he begins to curse but Roni squeals.
"Kyle, stop it!" Madilyn begs.
"No, you don't talk to her like that again." Cato warns him while standing up.
"Who is he?" Kyle asks Roni who is drenching my- ahem Cato's t-shirt. "I'll flaming kill him!"
"No! I love him!" she admits while squeaking in fear. She bites her lip at what she just said. I pity her so much at this moment, I'm not angry at her, I'm not disappointed in her. I'm happy for her.
"Love? You don't know a thing about love!"
"I do and he loves me too! He knows that I'm pregnant and we're keeping the baby!" she fires back.
"Who is he?" Kyle roars.
"Kyle! Keep your voice down, Nazera's in bed!" Madilyn hushes him. Cato approaches us and rubs Roni's back while she crys.
"Who is he baby? Do I know him?" I ask calmy.
"It's Spencer. Mason's son." She finally opens up.
To be honest, that's who I'd have thought, they always hit it off and they're like best friends really.
"That little-" he swears. "How could you be so stupid? You're a child you idiot? I thought you were better then that!"
"Obviously not!" she winces at him.
"Don't you dare-" I cut a raging Kyle off.
"Get out!" I hiss. He looks at me confused. "I said get out, are you deaf or do you want me to help you? This much noise and stress isn't good for our babies. I'll talk to you soon Madilyn, yeah?"
"Yeah, sorry about him-" she blushes while jabbing him out.
"Don't be, just get him out."
Roni spent the night in my house. She cried most of the time but Cato and I kept telling her it would be okay. That everything will work out in the end.
And eventually, she began to believe us.
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A/N; Hello my lovelies! I really hope you enjoyed it and thanks again for supporting me. This chapter was hard to write as it's juat a filler. The next chapter will make up for it, I promise you. *Devious face* *Smirk*
Fan; If you're happy they're all home and safe!
Vote; if you are surprised at Roni!
Comment; on what you think will be the huge twist.
Next Update; Monday.
Clf xxx
Cheers! ;)