Life Will Go On - sequel to Our Love Will Remain

Chapter 17

I jump up from bed as fast as possible and I hear Peeta following me. I run to Ivy's bedroom which is on the same floor as ours, and see her floundering around in her bed. She looks like a fish in a net, trying to get free. I run up to her and wake her up. She opens her eyes and starts breathing loudly. Then tears start flowing down her face.

"M-Mom-my." she stammers and I hug her tight. I feel her chest moving up and down against mine. When she has calmed down a bit, I break away enough to look her in the eye. I feel Peeta right behind my back, holding his hand over my shoulder blades.

"Would you like to come to Mommy's and Daddy's bed, Ivy?" I ask her and stroke her cheek. She nods and wipes her swollen eyes. I pick her up, but when it gets too hard because of my evergrowing belly, Peeta takes her, and we walk to our bedroom, placing Ivy right between us and lie down beside her.

"Ivy, what was the bad dream about?" I ask her carefully. I hope she answers, because I know talking about the nightmares you've had helps. Although I usually don't want to tell Peeta about them. I think I will get a mental breakdown if I do. Ivy wipes her eyes again and yawns.

"It was really scary, Mommy. Little kids that looked like monsters tried to kill me." she says and starts to cry again. Peeta pulls her close to his chest, and I let him because I know how safe you feel. He strokes the back of her hair and has his arms around her. She cries for a while, and I can do nothing but lay there and wait, feeling worried for my daughter. Maybe she was too young after all. I shiver at the thought of that. But if we would have waited, she would probably have came home after school one day, asking what The Hunger Games is. That makes me shiver, too. We did everything we could, and she had a nightmare. I just hope she won't be getting any more. It usually is that way with small children, that when they have heard about something scary, they have a nightmare the following night and then the scary thing is forgotten. I hope it's that way with Ivy, too. My thoughts get interrupted when Peeta pulls me into the hug he is sharing with Ivy. I put my arms around them both, and we soon drift off to sleep.

When I wake up in the morning and open my eyes, the first thing I notice is the dark circles around Peeta's eyes. I look at him worriedly.

"Didn't you sleep at all?" I ask him. He shrugs his shoulders.

"I did for about fifteen minutes, but then I woke up from a nightmare and decided to look after you. I didn't want to sleep while you were having nightmares." he says. I open my mouth and stare at him.

"So... you didn't sleep just to be sure to be able to comfort us if we woke up from a nightmare?" I ask him, not believing what I just heard. He nods.

"Yeah." he says.

"But you have to sleep! Please, Peeta, I want you to get some sleep. My husband won't have to stay up all night just to see if his family possibly gets a nightmare." I say, pushing him down on the bed again. He smiles at me.

"I did it for you, you know." he says and I smile too.

"I know. And I feel guilty." I say. Oh, I shouldn't have said that. He always gets so worried when I say I'm feeling guilty. So I just try to make it sound like a joke.

"Why?" he says. I try to smile.

"Because I haven't told you in a while how much I love you." I say and kiss his lips lightly.

"Who said you could stop?" he says and I lean down again, my lips curved up to a smile against his. We kiss a few times, and then Ivy stirs. I instantly lie down beside her and tell Peeta to get some sleep.

"There's no way I'm gonna do that before I know Ivy is okay." he says and I don't argue. I know how he's feeling, besides tired. Ivy sits up and rubs her eyes. They look normal now.