*** Katniss POV***
*End of Flashback*
“Gale, I just want you to know that just because Peeta is gone doesn’t mean I’m going to come crawling to you. He will be back in a few weeks. Either with Prim or Rory.” I say and I even catch the sadness is my voice. Gale sighs and sits on the couch. We are both in a bad situation. One of our little siblings is coming home and one will die. If we are lucky enough. They may both die in there and someone else may win. I hold back my tears because I know the baby isn’t helping either. I walk into the kitchen and I grab the juice. I get two cups and walk into the living room. I sit down next to Gale, but not to close. I pour some juice for both of us and take a sip. He stares at the cup. He doesn’t like all the fancier stuff we have to offer him, so he usually just ignores it. Like he seems to be doing now. But I catch him as he is putting his cup down.
“Gale Hawthorne, drink the dang juice.” I say. He smiles a little, but it quickly fades as he puts the cup to his lips. I laugh and put my own cup down. We just sit there for a while. There isn’t much we will be doing anyway until the Games start though. My mother, on the other hand, has been doing everything. She cleans the house when there isn’t a spec of dirt; she has actually been going to houses and checking on people, even if they didn’t send for her. I think she just wants to put these Games off as much as I do. We all want to. But the sooner they are over, the sooner we can let our feelings go. I can’t stay in this house though. Everything reminds me of Prim. I see the pictures she drew to help her decorate cakes with Peeta. I see her school bag on the chair and I see her bedroom every morning and night. I have to get out of here.
“Gale, let’s go for a walk.” I say. He helps me get up. I’m huge now. This baby is going to be pretty fat. I can imagine her now. Maybe she will have blonde curly hair with chubby cheeks. The more she looks like Peeta the more I know I will love her. I look at my stomach and smile. My thoughts are interrupted though.
“You know Katniss, you are going to be a great mother.” Gale says. I look at him shocked. Since when does he think I would be a good mother if he wasn’t going to be the father?
“Thank you Gale.” I say even though Peeta will be the real parent. We walk outside and start heading toward the woods. We get to the fence but I’m not sure about going in there. Not after what happened with Rory.
“Why don’t we just go to the Hob instead Gale?” I ask and he agrees. We walk back where we came from and my breathing is getting heavier. I guess walking around the whole District being pregnant doesn’t help. We go into the Hob and Gale goes off to a stand to buy some warm soup for us. I go to Greasy Sae’s stand and sit down.
“Well there’s my girl! I haven’t seen you in such a long time. How is the baby doing?” She asks with delight.
“The baby’s doing great thank you for asking. She is causing me some problems though.” I say smiling. She laughs.
“Yeah, I remember my boy doing that to me.” She says.
“You have a son?” I ask.
“I had a son.” She corrects me.
“What happened?” I ask although I feel like I’m crossing some kind of line.
“He um… He got picked for the 56th Hunger Games.” She says frowning.
“Oh. Oh my Gosh I’m so sorry. Please forget I said anything.” I say. She nods. I’m better when Gale comes over. He hands me some soup and I eat it. The baby is hungry too.
“Hey, I need some Bandages and more sleep syrup for my mother. How much is that?” I ask Greasy Sae.
“About 8 gold coins.” She says. I reach in my pocket and pull out a 10 piece coin. I flip it to her in the air and she catches it.
“Keep the change.” I say. 2 coins doesn’t seem like a lot, but it does when you don’t have much money. She smiles and packages up my things. We finish our soup and we head home. I give my mother the stuff and I head to the couch. This actually becomes our thing for the next few days. We sit around, take walks, go to the Hob, and we keep ourselves busy while in the Capitol our little siblings are training for a fight to the death. I have no contact to Peeta or Prim or anyone there either. They won’t let me. But by the time Thursday comes around, I’m excited to see Prim’s training score. Last year she did so well and it made me feel even better when I knew how. Apparently she has some of my Dad’s blood in her. I watch the screen as I see Rory’s face pop up. He got a 9. I look at the T.V. in shock, and then to Gale. Gale doesn’t seem surprised at all though.
“I took your advice. Every time I had free time, I took him to the woods. I showed him how to set traps and hunt with a spear instead of having a make out session with you.” He says. I see the hurt in his face.
“Gale, when I said that. I was just mad. You wouldn’t let Rory go with Peeta and Prim and I was having a lot of mixed feelings at that moment.” I say. Before he can answer though, I hear Ceaser saying Prim’s name. I look at the screen and I see the number 4 pop up by her name. A 4? What did she do to get a 4? Last year she got a 10 and now she has a 4? What happened? Then I get it. I burst into tears and Gale looks at me confused.
“Don’t you see Gale? She is trying to get Rory home. She has given up on herself and wants your brother to come back. She got a bad score so the sponsors wouldn’t choose her but they would choose Rory because his score is bigger. He looks better.” I bury my face into my hands and cry. Gale puts his arm around me and tries to calm me down. It’s a gently, friendly touch.
“Katniss, if you figured it out that fast, I’m sure a lot of other people will as well. This is a really bad situation all the way around Katniss. Nothing I say is safe. I’m just going to go.” He lets go of me and starts for the door.
“Gale stop!” I yell before he can get there. “I can’t be left alone. My mother won’t be back until later tonight and I could cry myself until I’m dehydrated. Please stay.” I say pleading. I need someone here with me. Even though it seems really selfish, he agrees and gets me some water from the kitchen.
“Drink. No use it running yourself dry.” He says smiling. I drink the water and lay back on the couch. I sigh and I feel suddenly tired. I look behind me and I see a blanket. I’m not even going to try to go upstairs tonight. I put the blanket over me and I close my eyes. I feel a movement on the couch and look to see Gale still there and not leaving. He reaches over and grabs my hand.
“It’s going to be okay.” He says. I nod through my tears and I slowly fall asleep. Holding Gale’s hand. Oh no.
