Life Will Go On - sequel to Our Love Will Remain

Chapter 11

"Yaaaaaay!" she yells repeatedly and Peeta puts me down. I kiss him while Ivy is calming down. In a few seconds, she does, when she remembers something.

"Mommy, will the baby die like the last one?" she asks with a worried face and grasps my sweatpants. I stroke her forehead.

"No, honey. This time, Mommy will be more careful." I tell her and pick her up. She hugs me and I stroke her back. Peeta kisses both our foreheads and says:

"And I will make sure Mommy doesn't fall." he says and Ivy climbs over to his arms. Peeta holds her close and strokes her hair. They look so cute when they do that. I smile and go to put my shoes on.

"Where are you going?" Peeta asks me and walks over to me with Ivy. She looks like she is falling asleep. I understand her, Peeta's arms are so warm and welcoming, and they feel so safe, that you almost can't help it. I know Ivy loves when Peeta holds her.

"Oh, I was planning to tell Haymitch and the others." I say and smile. "But now that I think of it, I think it would be best to visit the hospital first." I add. It didn't turn out well last time when we told everybody before we had done that. Peeta nods and walks over to me. He makes Ivy look up.

"Ivy, would you like to play with Ryker for a while?" he asks and Ivy immediately replies.

"Yes, Daddy!" she says and Peeta laughs. He puts her down so that she can put on her shoes and he does the same. When we are done, we walk outside, towards the Hawthornes' house. It's early summer, so we don't have to wear any coats to walk to the opposite side of the Village. We knock on the door and Marylee answers.

"Hey. How can I help you?" she asks and Peeta holds my waist.

"Well, we need to visit the hospital, so is there any way you could watch Ivy for us?" Peeta asks, and Marylee nods immediately.

"Yes, that's okay." she answers with a smile. She doesn't ask why we're going there, but I think she suspects. We don't look sad and I think she knows we've been trying again. Ivy runs inside and finds Ryker. Ivy is very social and gets along well with both girls and boys, so playing with Ryker, her "cousin", isn't a problem. They share a lot of interests and are both very mature for their age. We say goodbye and start walking towards the hospital. I walk hand in hand with Peeta, and he holds my hand tightly.

"I will never let you fall." he says and I turn to him.

"I know you won't. As I won't ever let you fall either." I say.

"You know it wouldn't matter if I fell." he says. I shrug my shoulders.

"It would to me." I tell him and we laugh.

"You know it's not the same thing." he says and kisses me. While he does that, he sneaks his one hand to my abdomen. I put my hand over his and we kiss for a while. When we stop, we see a few people looking at us, and I blush. But then I realise they aren't staring at us because of the kiss, I mean, they are used to seeing the Mellark couple kiss. We still have our hands on my stomach. I think they suppose I'm pregnant. Uh-oh. They know. I quickly turn to Peeta and whisper in his ear. He smiles and kisses me passionately. I hold his shirt collar to avoid stumbling and when he is done, he gets down on his knees and kisses my abdomen. Now they definately know. I think and roll my eyes. Well, they would have known soon enough, anyway. Then, I see someone who catches my eye. It's 'Rumour-Ryce', who spreads the gossips all over the district. Oh no. If she knows, everybody will know in a couple of hours. And as we are the 'big talk' of the whole town, we're really screwed. They'll never leave us alone. I pull Peeta up quickly and start walking rapidly towards the hospital. When we are at the desk, the woman recognizes us and gives us a room when we have explained our purpose. We don't get the same room as last time, and I'm grateful for that. We are called inside after only five minutes of waiting, and we are introduced to Dr. Roslyn. She has experienced eight pregnancies before, so I trust she knows what she is doing. She has a midwife with her, her name is Lane and this is her second time as a midwife. But she seems to have nursed a lot more. They ask me a few things about my feelings so far, and I tell them everything I know. Even the breast thing. I have learned one thing, and that is to never sugar-coat anything and to tell doctors everything you know. Peeta sits beside me, quiet, and strokes the back of my hand with his thumb. This makes me stay calm and to hold on to reality. Both Roslyn and Lane nod and tell me that everything I say is perfectly normal. Then, they tell me to get up onto the hospital bed and that they are going to take the baby's ultrasound. I lay back and take a deep breath, because the last time I did this I was told that I had a miscarriage. Peeta calms me by kissing me softly.

"It's gonna be okay." he says and smiles. I take another deep breath and he laughs a little.

"Oh, Katniss. I would take your place right here and right now if I could, you know that right?" he says and strokes my cheek.

"I know. Can you kiss me again?" I say and he kisses me." I feel satisfied. For now. I don't think my physical need for Peeta will ever decrease, and I'm okay with that. As long as he is able to satisfy me. When he gets older, he'll probably be needing Viagra. I laugh to myself. Well, we'll see. That doesn't matter right now. Peeta strokes my cheek.

"What are you thinking about?" he asks. I laugh.

"It's really weird, and you really don't wanna know." I say.

"Well, now I definately do." he says and laughs, too.

"Okay, I'll tell you." I say and then lower my voice. "Viagra" I whisper in his ear, and he laughs.

"I somehow think that has to do with me." he says and I smile.

"Maybe. But I told you it was weird, and you insisted to know!" I defend myself and suddenly feel Lane putting gel on my stomach. I feels a little cold, but I'm okay with it. Lane looks at the screen for a while, and then looks at us. Roslyn has been watching too, and she says:

"It looks like the baby is fine and healthy so far, it's only about a week old. You will probably be delivering in February. We will give you a more exact date in a few months." I look at Peeta and hug him tight. I'm so happy to have a baby. Although I'm still a little scared. But I don't need to be. Peeta will help me through this. I look at my flat stomach. In a few months I will be showing, and then it won't be possible for us to hide this anymore. But I don't care. I feel happy, no matter who knows. I get up from the bed and Peeta wipes my stomach off with a towel. I smile and kiss him on the lips. Then, before I can put my shirt down, he bends down and kisses my stomach like he did in the street, but this time I don't have a shirt on. Then, I pull my shirt back down and take his hand. Roslyn and Lane smile at us and give us another appointment, and some advice in case we have forgotten from last time. I haven't, so we get to leave pretty quickly. When we get to the Hawthornes' house again, we tell them the big news. To my big relief, they don't mention the miscarriage a month ago, and we get to concentrate on the new happiness. Ivy hasn't told Ryker, and I'm pretty surprised by that. I guess she remembers what happened last time. Gale, Marylee and the kids hug us and tell us how happy and excited they are for us. We thank them and take Ivy with us, going to Haymitch's house. We find him a little drunk, but not so bad.

"What is it, sweetheart? Oh, no, don't think I'm taking the monkey." he says and Ivy laughs. Haymitch laughs too, but I can see that he is trying to figure out if we're still grieving. We're not, practically, so I smile.

"Haymitch." I say and he raises his eyebrows.

"Tell me." he says.

"Katniss is pregnant." Peeta says and we both smile. Ivy runs up to Haymitch and grasps his trousers.

"I'm gonna be a big sister." she says proudly and puts her hands on her hips. Haymitch chuckles.

"That's great, little monkey." he says and pats her cheek. I know that although Haymitch tries to hide it, he loves all of us. We are as close to family as we can get. I don't think he could have made it if we wouldn't have came back.

"So, when is it happening?" he asks and looks at us.

"Probably in February." I tell him and he nods.

"Good. Well, don't be too loud, she is a lot smarter than you would think." he says and winks at us.

"Shut up Haymitch." I tell him and take Ivy and Peeta out of the house. We walk over to our own house and lay down on the couch. I sit down in Peeta's lap as always and he puts his hands over my stomach. Ivy sits down on top of us and we relax for a while. It's already five in the evening so Peeta decides to make an early dinner. We eat, telling each other jokes. Peeta is really a whiz at telling jokes, he came up with a lot of them himself. We laugh and laugh and laugh, we have an amazing night. We play some easy card game before going to sleep, and tuck Ivy in. I sing the song for her, and she falls asleep pretty quickly. When I am about to get undressed Peeta walks in to the closet.

"Whoa!" he outbursts and looks at me.

"Could you leave, please." I tell him with a sweet voice and he leaves with his hands raised. I put on a nightgown and hop into bed. Peeta jumps in just after I do and we hug each other. This is how we fall asleep most nights, in each other's arms. This night, I don't have a nightmare.