Four and a half months later
It's four weeks until the baby is finally due to come. Everyone was shocked when we returned to California with wedding rings on our fingers, but eventually they got over it and held a massive party on the beach in celebration for us. A big picture of Peeta and I on our wedding day now hangs above our bed. Peeta's arms are around my waist and he's holding me closely. We are gazing into each other's eyes with our foreheads pressed together. My arms are wrapped around his neck.
Peeta and I are so exhausted and tired. The baby hasn't even arrived yet and we are both mentally and emotionally drained. We've been shopping and have filled our guest bedroom with all of the things we need. We have yet to set the bed up for our baby and we also have to set up the other furniture. We still have four weeks until the baby is due. I have been constantly worrying because the doctors said the baby had a high chance of being born premature. Peeta keeps telling me not to worry but O can't stop.
I look over to Peeta's side of the bed where he is deeply asleep. He, like me, is so tired it's insane. I can't even imagine what's going to happen when the baby actually does arrive. I reach over and brush some of the curls from his face. I curl up against his side and slowly drift off into sleep, hoping and praying that I won't wake up. I am desperate for a good night's sleep. I just can't ever get comfortable.
My wishes are ignored when I wake up a few hours later and the room is still dark. I groan and look at the digital clock; the glowing red numbers tell me it's just past 2am. I go to curl back up against Peeta but then I realise his side of the bed is cold and the covers have been flipped back.
I sit up grudgingly and glance around the darkened room. Slowly, I heave my body off the bed and I pad across the room, trying not to walk into anything in the dark. "Peeta?" I call softly and that's when I see a faint glow coming from around the corner and hear the clanking of dishes.
I glance around the corner and sigh heavily. "Peeta," I say softly but he doesn't look up. Peeta is in front of the stove. He has about 10 plates of pancakes stacked up high and towering. There must be over 300 pancakes there. He has a spatula and a lifter in each hand as he flips pancakes out of the pan and onto the plates, pouring more mixture into the pan. There is flour everywhere and the kitchen is a mess. "Peeta." I say again and his head snaps up.
He has bags under his eyes and he looks dead, that's how tired he is. "What are you doing?" I ask as I walk up to him. He mumbles a bit before I am able to understand a coherent sentence. "You wanted pancakes?" He mumbles and I slowly pry the spatula out of his hand. "Come to bed." I say as I wrap my arms around his waist. "Come on." I say and reluctantly he turns off the pan and follows me into the bedroom.
We climb back into bed and I curl up against his side. "You're tired, let's go to sleep." I whisper and he pulls me tightly against him. "Love you." He mumbles before we both fall into a deep sleep.
We wake up in the morning to the light seeping through the curtain. "Hey." I hear Peeta say and I rest my chin on his chest as I kiss the bottom of his neck. "Hey, are you okay?" I ask, remembering last night. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired. God, the baby isn't even here yet."
"I can't wait to find out what gender the baby is." I say and he smiles down at me. "Me too." He says.
"We better get up and clean the kitchen," I say. "We have a lot of pancakes to eat. We should invite some people over." He nods. "Yeah, we can invite Johanna and Annie and Finnick, maybe Prim. There were a lot of pancakes." He says and I laugh.
"What about Cato and Delly?" I ask and he shakes his head. "Delly was working this morning and Cato had a party last night so he's probably passed out somewhere." He says and I giggle as I roll over and get out of bed.
I waddle into the bathroom and have a shower, twisting my hair in a towel and wrapping another towel around my body. I walk back into the bedroom and Peeta is still in bed. "Get up, you lazy ass." I say, throwing a t-shirt at him. He catches the shirt and throws it on. "Okay, I'm up." He groans as he rolls out of bed and lands on the floor.
"How old are you? 3?" I say and he groans again. "Actually, I'm 23." He says and I roll my eyes. "That's what I thought." I mutter and he sits up. "What did you say?" He asks and I shake my head, turning back to the drawers of clothes.
Peeta's birthday was a week after we got back from Australia. I loved it there. Peeta promised he would take me back one day, after the baby is born. It was so amazing.
I go to pull on a t-shirt but it doesn't fit over my baby bump. I groan as I pull out one of the ugly maternity tops. "I hate being fat." I say and I faintly hear Peeta mutter as he walks out of the bedroom, "It's your own fault."
I swing around just in time to see him sprint out of the bedroom. "You jerk!" I scream. "You did this to me!" I yell as I run out of the bedroom after him. He is standing on the other side of the couch.
I go to run around the couch but he just runs the opposite way to me. "Ugh!" I scream. "You did this to me!" I yell again and he starts laughing. I fold my arms across my chest and glare at him. He jumps over the back of the couch and I barely even have time to squeal before he has lifted me up and onto the couch where he starts to tickle my sides. I scream as he tickles me and pins me down. "Stop." I beg but he doesn't stop until there is a knock at the door and Johanna bursts into the room.
"Thought I might save you, brainless." She says as Peeta slumps down next to the couch. "Did you already call them?" I ask and Peeta nods. "When you were in the shower. See, I'm not completely useless." He says and I smirk at him. I realise what I'm wearing as Annie and Finnick come in through the door with Prim.
I look down and see that the towel is barely staying on after running around with Peeta. "Uhh, I'll be right back." I say and everyone laughs at my flushed face as I wander off to the bedroom. I throw on some comfy pants and one of the maternity tops.
I pad back out to the dining room where everyone is already eating some of the 300 pancakes that Peeta made at 2am.
"Why did you guys make so many pancakes?" Prim asks after I sit down and Peeta and I share a knowing glance. "Uhhh, we just had a lot of mixture." I say and Prim nods, unconvinced. "Uh huh, sure." She says and I roll my eyes at her. "Just eat your pancakes." I say to shut her up.
After breakfast, everyone is lounging around in the couches, not being able to move because we are so full of pancakes. I have my head in Peeta's lap as he brushes my hair with his fingers.
"So, when are you gonna pop?" Johanna asks suddenly and I scowl at her. "Four weeks." I say and Prim looks up. "What if it comes premature?" She asks and I glance up at Peeta. "We have to hope the baby will be okay. Nothing should go wrong, we might just be in the hospital for a little longer than usual when you have a baby." I say and she nods before turning back to her phone.
Later that day, after everyone has left, Peeta and I sit curled up on the couch. "We need to think of names." I say and he nods. "Yeah, we really do, I guess. It all feels so real now." He says and I nod. I go into the kitchen and fetch a notepad and a pen before curling back up on the couch with Peeta.
"For girls, I like Willow or Alexis." I say and Peeta nods. "I like Willow, not Alexis." He says so I write down Willow under 'girls'.
"What about Estella?" He suggests and I shake my head. "Too girly." I say and he nods. "Okay then, Ivy?" He says and I nod. "Yeah, that's a nice name." I say and write it down.
"What about boys? I like Noah." I say and he nods. "Yeah, write it down. I like Adrian." He says and I write that down too.
"Okay, now we need to choose one girl and one boy name." I say and he nods. "Wow, this is so hard." He says and I gaze at the paper with the names Willow, Ivy, Noah and Adrian written on it.
"I like Adrian." I say and he takes the pen out of my hand and crosses out Noah. "Me too," he says and then he leans over and says, "I like Willow."
I cross out Ivy. "So they're our names." I say and he wraps his arms around me. "I'm so proud of you." He whispers in my ear and I turn around and kiss him. "Thank you." I say as I snuggle down into his arms, clutching the paper with our baby's name on it to my chest.
I don't remember much but I do wake up for a minute while Peeta is carrying me to bed and tucking me in. And then I wake up again when he climbs in with me not long afterwards. I curl up into his side and rest my head on his chest as I fall back asleep again.
I wake up with a jolt as I go flying up into a sitting position. I scream out as a sharp burst of pain shoots through my stomach. I scream again and blindly hit Peeta while I clutch my stomach. "Peeta," I gasp and he sits up quickly, flipping on the lamp.
"What is it? What's wrong?" He ask frantically and I look at him through the tears pouring down my face. Another jolt electrocutes me and I scream again, crushing Peeta's hand in mine. I can vaguely comprehend Peeta screaming out my name as I clench my eyes shut in pain.
I curl up in a ball to prevent the pain but it doesn't help much. I can feel myself being lifted off the bed and I curl up into the foetal position in Peeta's arms. I can feel him running as he sprints out of the apartment and down to the car. I cry out loudly as more tears stream down my cheeks and the pain becomes unbearable. "Make it stop." I cry out to Peeta as he jumps in the driver's side.
He reaches over and takes my face in his hands. "Hold on, baby," he pleads. "Just a little longer and we'll be at the hospital." I nod through my tears and hold his hand in a death grip. "Please, please, please," I beg. "Hold on, baby." Peeta says again as he drives one-handed to the hospital.
He pulls up out the front and I continue to cry as pain rips through me. I see Peeta fling my door open before he scoops me up and rushes into the hospital. I curl up and block everything out, trying to free my mind from all the pain that is pulsing through me.
I notice myself being lowered onto a stretcher bed and keep a tight grip on Peeta's hand; I must be hurting it by now. I see the doctors and nurses start to wheel me down the hall as I curl up in a ball, still clutching Peeta's hand close as he runs alongside the bed.
"Stay with me Katniss, stay..." I hear him say as I slowly fade in and out of consciousness, the pain demanding to be felt.
The first thing I notice when I wake up again is that the pain hasn't ceased to exist just yet. I groan as pain splits through my stomach again and I feel tears well up. "Hey, beautiful," I hear Peeta say and I look up through my tears to see him sitting next to my bed, holding my hand and looking down at me in concern. I smile at him weakly.
"What's happening?" I ask as I try to focus on his eyes instead of the pain. "You've gone into labour. The doctor was right when he said the baby would probably come early." Peeta says sadly.
"But it's too early. I still have just over three weeks." I say and he brushes my hair from my face. "It's okay, babe. You and the baby will be fine." He says and I nod my head.
I whimper in pain as it jolts through me. I try and put up with it but after a while I can no longer just focus on Peeta as the pain first doubles, then triples. I scream out and I can hear Peeta shouting for a nurse as he frantically presses the call button.
The nurse and a doctor rush in and I crush Peeta's hand as another wave of pain hits me. "You're doing so well, baby." Peeta says and he rubs my arm. "Okay, Katniss," the nurse says. "I need you to try and relax as much as you can so that you can give birth to your new baby." I try to control my breathing as much as possible.
I must have calmed down enough because not a few minutes later, the nurse is telling me it's time and I'm clutching onto Peeta's hand for dear life.
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Edited by SunshineRainbow7
So that chapter was much much longer than usual!! And its finally time for the baby! Will anything go wrong? And you are also only one more updating from finding out the gender of the baby!
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And yes, the pancake scene was a scene from the movie 'The Backup Plan'.