The Lone Wolf

Chapter 15: Katniss

I wake up to someone trailing kisses up my bare back. I lift my head see Peeta smirking with his head on my shoulder.

"Good Morning," I whisper.

"Good morning beautiful," he whispers back, pressing another kiss to my shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," I say. "Why?"

"I've heard pregnancy causes morning sickness," he says.

"Well luckily, it has not happened to me," I say. "Not yet at least. All I have is a really weird craving for raw meat."

"Raw meat?" he asks.

"Yes," I say. "It's embarrassing at breakfast. It's really any kind of meat, but raw meat is the main part. Surprisingly, the pickled pigs feet is what has really been grossing people out."

"Pigs feet?" he asks. "But you hate pork, except ribs of course. I know you love those."

"I know," I say. "I'm disgusted with it."

"I think it's cute," he says wrapping his arms around my waist.

"It's disgusting," I protest.

"Cute."

"Disgusting."

"Cute."

"Disgusting!" I say sliding out from under him. "I am nasty and sweaty and right now I want raw liver and to take a shower."

"How about I let you go take your shower and find you some raw liver for breakfast?" he asks.

"That would make you my best friend right now," I say as I slip on Peeta's T-shirt I wore to bed and grab some of my clothes before turning back to Peeta as he calls my name. "What?"

"I love you," he says and I smile at him.

"Love you too," I say before blowing him a kiss and slipping into the bathroom. I take a warm shower and lean against the wall, just letting the water run over me. The I feel something. Something moving in my gut.

I turn off the water and just stand there, running my fingers over the tight skin on my abdomen. I feel the little squirming in my gut and I gasp a little. It just seems to soon. The baby shouldn't be moving yet. I'm barely a month and a half gone. I should be able to feel the baby for at least another month.

I get out and dry off before quickly getting dressed coming out. Peeta stands there, waiting with an extremely appetizing plate of raw liver. What the hell is wrong with me?

"I warmed it up a little," he says. "I hope you don't mind." I take it from him and kiss his cheek.

"It's fine," I say. "I like it warmer."

"Well that makes me feel a little better," he says. "I thought you might like it cold."

"No, I'm not that strange," I tell him taking a fork from his hand and sitting on the edge of the bed. I eat my food quietly while he watches. When I'm finished, I noticed he's still looking at me with a strange look on his face. "What's wrong with you? Is it Troyal? Is he fighting you again?"

"No," he says. "He's been quite content since we've gotten home."

"Then what is it?" I ask him.

"It's you," he says. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I don't know why that would be," I say. "I've had a quite uneventful morning."

"You're lying," he says. "I can see it in your eyes." I set the plate on the end table and sit with my back against the headboard.

"I am not," I say but the squirming in my gut gets the best of me and I bring my hand to my stomach, breathing deeply, trying to control my panic.

"What's wrong?" he asks. He comes to sit next to me.

"I'm fine," I say.

"Katniss," he says. "You are obviously not fine."

"It's just," I start but hold my stomach tighter as my baby decides to squirm a little more frantically. "It's moving."

"You can feel her moving?" Peeta asks. I nod looking down to where my arms are clutched tightly to my stomach. "Does it hurt?"

"No," I say. "I just want it to stop. I'm not ready for it to move. I don't know what it wants."

"Shhh," he says as he pries my arms away from my stomach with extreme gentleness. "You need to calm down. You being frantic right now is not gonna help her calm down."

"I can't," I say. "I'm so scared of it Peeta. I'm not ready for any of this." He gently rubs my back and I lean into his gentle hand.

"You're okay," he says. "You are completely fine right now. The baby is just saying hello. She likes you and wants you to remember that she's there."

"I know she's there," I say. "I don't need her to move to tell me that."

"Just lay down and don't focus on her," he says. "Just focus on breathing." I slide down in the bed lay my head on his chest. Peeta gently strokes my hair and I feel myself calm down, even though I feel my little one swirling around inside me. "See, you're okay."

"But it's still moving," I say. "It's still freaking me out."

"I know," he says. "It'll pass. As long as you're calm, she'll calm down."

"Can you talk to it?" I ask him. "Try to calm it down." He nods and I feel him lift my shirt up off my abdomen and gently run his fingers in circles.

"Hey sweetie," he says. "Its your Daddy. I've missed you and Mommy so much, but you need to calm down. You're scaring Mommy right now. She loves you and I do too, but you need to calm down right now so we can make sure Mommy doesn't panic and something happens to you." I feel the baby start to calm down until she's only giving the tiniest squirms here and there. Which after my little panic attack, I am perfectly fine with.

"You did it," I say. "She's not moving as frantically as before." Peeta nods and leans down to gently kiss my rounded stomach.

"But she's still moving?" he asks

"Yeah," I say. "But she's better. Its very welcome after what she just did."

"You're calling our baby a she now?" he asks.

"I guess I'm just following your hunch about it," I say. "Plus, the way it feels, I don't know. I'm starting to believe our baby is a girl."

"So I won?" he asks.

"No," I say. "It's just a feeling that I have now. Before was just me assuming. But we're both Alpha, it's a technicality, but yeah, we both have the same standing. So for us, there is a fifty-fifty shot of our baby being a boy or girl. And now, I'm starting to have a feeling that we're having a girl. Even though I thought at first it was a boy, it never felt right to call it a boy."

"What should we call her?" Peeta asks.

"Isn't it early to pick out a name for her?" I say.

"No," he says. "I mean that I'm not quite comfortable just calling the baby, the baby." I sit there and lace my fingers with Peeta's that still rest on my seemingly flat stomach. Then it comes to me.

"Tadpole," I say.

"Tadpole?" he asks.

"Tadpole," I say. "I don't know why, but it feels right. Plus, with all the moving around she does, she kind of feels like a little tadpole."

"Then Tadpole it is," Peeta says kissing my cheek.

I lay my head on his shoulder and sigh. And for a moment, we just lie there together. Forgetting every care in the world except for the little tadpole swimming around in my womb.