Katniss P.O.V.
"Are you ready to see your baby now?" Mom asks as Peeta carefully helps me up onto the hospital bed.
"Definitely," I say as I lay a hand on my stomach.
"Have you two decided if you want to know the sex?"
I look back at Peeta, and he wraps an arm around my shoulders.
"You're the one who has to carry the baby," Peeta tells me. "You chose."
"No," I say as I shake my head. "This is our baby." I reach over and take Peeta's free hand in mine, and he smiles at me.
"Well, what do you think?" Peeta asks me.
"I think I'd like to be surprised for once," I say.
Peeta chuckles and nods his head in agreement. "Me too."
I smile at him and look back at Mom. "I think we're going to wait."
"That's fine," Mom says. "Now I have to warn you, this may be a little cold." I nod my head and watch as Mom pulls my shirt up over my stomach. She squirts some kind of gel over my taut skin, making me flinch.
"Told you," Mom says as she laughs a little at me. I smile at her, and then turn my attention to the blank screen beside my hospital bed.
"Alright. Here we go," Mom says as she flips a switch on the side of the screen. Peeta and I squeeze each other's hand, letting the anticipation build up.
"Right there," Mom says as she points to a spot on the black and white image. "That's your baby."
"Oh my gosh," I breathe as tears form in my eyes. Peeta presses his lips to my knuckles as he lets his own tears fall. Watching him makes my heart absolutely melt even more.
Peeta doesn't remember much about our baby, yet here he is, so overjoyed about seeing him or her for the first time, that he's crying.
Peeta and I look at each other in awe, and he leans over to give me a quick kiss.
"She's beautiful, Katniss."
I give him a look. "She?" I ask, Peeta laughs and nods his head.
"I just have a feeling."
"Peeta, if you want to know then that's fine," I tell him.
"No," Peeta says as he shakes his head. "I'm just guessing."
"Everything looks okay?" I ask Mom anxiously as I look back up at her. She looks at the screen for a moment before nodding her head.
"Baby's heart rate is a little fast, but not enough to worry about."
Peeta leans his chin over onto my shoulder while his thumb rubs up and down the side of my stomach, making the baby go wild.
"Look," I say as I point to the screen excitedly. "You can see the baby kicking their little feet out. That's amazing." I look back at Peeta, and he moves his hand across my stomach. We watch on the screen as the baby's feet move to keep up with Peeta's hand.
"Stop," I laugh as I push Peeta's arm away from me. "I know the baby's fun to watch, but you have to remember that the baby is inside of me. I can feel every movement."
"Sorry," Peeta laughs.
"Do you have any questions?" Mom asks us. I take a deep breath and turn to look at Peeta.
"Can I talk to Mom for a moment?" I ask Peeta. He nods his head.
"I'll wait for you out in the hallway," Peeta says. He kisses my cheek before leaving the room.
"I could tell as soon as you walked in that something's bothering you," Mom says as she sits down on the edge of the hospital bed. "And I have a guess as to what it is. You're worried about the birth."
I look down at the floor and nod my head. "I hadn't thought much about it until this afternoon."
Mom nods her head. "I could tell that bothered you, but I promise it's all worth it."
"It's not just that. I'm also worried about what's going to happen after the baby is born. I don't know how to take care of a baby."
"Most of it will be instinct once that precious baby is placed safely in your arms. The rest, you'll have to learn on your own, but that's why you have Peeta."
"I sent him out in the hallway because I didn't want him to think that I'm being paranoid about everything or that I'm weak."
"I bet that if you asked him, that he has his own fears about the baby," Mom tells me. "He's probably just as scared as you are about something going wrong."
I shake my head. "There's one fear that I have that I know Peeta won't have to worry about."
"What's that?"
I look up at Mom and take a deep breath. "What if I can't love him or her like they deserve to be loved?"
"That's nonsense. Katniss, you already love the baby more than you know. Look, why don't I show you something that might calm your nerves?"
"Okay," I say as I nod my head at her.
"Come on," Mom says as she begins to walk out of the room. When I step out into the small hallway, Peeta walks over to me.
"You okay?" he asks me.
"Yeah," I say as I quickly nod my head. "I'm alright." Peeta and I follow Mom down the hallway to a room that has a large window, allowing us to see inside.
"This is the nursery," I say. Mom nods her head and opens the door, motioning us inside. There's only two babies in the room. The smallest baby is obviously the one born this morning, but the bigger baby looks like he's a few months old.
"Who's this big guy?" I ask as Mom picks him up.
"I'm not sure," Mom says.
"What do you mean? His parents didn't just abandon him, did they?" I ask.
"Well, no one even knows if his parents made it here to 13."
"Oh," I say as my heart drops to my stomach. "Poor baby."
"What's his name?" Peeta asks.
"I'm assuming it's Watt," Mom replies as she gently bounces the baby up and down in her arms. "That's the name that was embroidered on his clothes anyways. I'm guessing he's around eight months old based on his size."
"So what's going to happen to him if his parents aren't found?" I ask.
Mom shrugs her shoulders. "We'll keep him in here as long as possible, but it's not really fair to him to not have someone to give him their full attention."
The baby reaches his chubby, little arms out for me, and I smile as I take him into my arms.
"Hi," I say softly. "Is your name Wyatt?" He smiles at me.
"See?" Mom says as she places a hand on my shoulder. "You're a natural." I laugh a little and shake my head.
Peeta wraps an arm around my waist and leans his head against mine.
"You want to hold him?" I ask Peeta.
"No," he replies. "I'm still really weak, Katniss. I'd be afraid I'd drop the little guy."
"I'll help you," I say. Peeta nods his head, and I pass Wyatt to him. I pull my arms away a couple times, but I return them when I see Peeta's arms begin to shake.
"Gosh. I can't wait until we're doing this with our baby," Peeta says. I laugh and nod my head at him.
"Me neither," I say truthfully.
"Why don't you two take him for a while?" Mom asks abruptly. Peeta and I both stop and look up at her.
"What?" I ask her, even though I know we both heard her clearly.
"Take him for a few days and give him the attention he deserves," Mom tells us. "I'm sure you can handle him for a few days. Besides, you need the practice."
I look back at Peeta.
"It's whatever you want to do, Katniss, but remember that you'll be alone with him until I get out of the hospital," Peeta says as he leans over onto his cane for support.
"I-I guess I can manage it for a couple of days," I say.
Mom nods her head. "I'll gather up some diapers and things like that for you," Mom tells me.
I nod my head and look back at Peeta. He smiles at me, and a thought runs through my mind that I should have thought about moments ago.
What on Earth did I agree to?