If Fire Caught

Chapter 4: Katniss

Everyone close to me but Haymitch know about the baby. My mother and Prim guessed and I told Gale the Sunday after I told Peeta. I thought it was only fair for him to be the second to know because of how I knew he felt about me. He hasn't talked to me since. I can tell he's angry. He just stormed off, leaving me crying in the dust.

I've started to wear a corset to try to hide the fact that I'm showing. I don't want people finding out that the star crossed lovers are expecting a child. I don't need to be bombarded with cameras. I want a more private life for as long as I can. I'm just finishing breakfast before Peeta walks up behind me and kisses my cheek.

"Hey," I say.

"Hey," he replies. "How you feeling?"

"Like I'm five months pregnant, oh wait, I am," I say unenthusiastically.

"You know we should probably tell Haymitch," he says.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because maybe he'll help us with a plan to make sure we can at least get one of us and the baby out," he says.

"Fine," I say standing up."Lets get this over with." He walks over to Haymitch's with me and we just walk right in because the old drunk doesn't lock the door and would probably be to drunk to notice us knocking. I hold my hands over my stomach because the stench of stale alcohol is not helping my morning sickness any.

We find him asleep in a puddle of his own drool and Peeta is surprisingly able to shake him awake. The old drunk looks up at us with tired eyes and when he recognizes who it is, rolls his eyes.

"What do you two want now?" he asks.

"We have to tell you something," Peeta says. "Something that's gonna affect how the games play out."

"Like what?" he asks.

"Like I'm pregnant," I say.

"Who's is it?" he asks.

"Peeta's," I say. "Whose else would it be?"

"Well I can think of one person," he says and resist the urge to smack him.

"No," I say. "It's most defiantly Peeta's child."

"How far along?" he asks.

"Lets just say, she's gonna be really close to giving birth in the arena," Peeta says.

"Wow, you two picked a real good time to decide to get sweetheart here knocked up didn't yah?" Haymitch says.

"We didn't decide this!" I object. "We didn't plan this!"

"You two decided to sleep together so I'm pretty sure you decided this," Haymitch says.

"We didn't come here to get criticized, we came here so you could help us," I say.

"I can't," he says. "There isn't anything that's gonna help you now. Katniss is gonna go in that arena, knocked up or not."

"Yeah but we want to make sure one of us gets out with the baby," Peeta says.

"Which one?" he asks.

"I say her, she says me," Peeta says.

"For Katniss it's simple. She lives the longest and either the baby won't be born yet or she'll hide him somewhere until the games are over and he's safe," he says. "But for Peeta it's different. If Katniss dies after the baby is born there won't be a problem, but if you want the baby to get out and it's not born, you guys are gonna need allies."

"Why?" I ask.

"Because if you die, he is not gonna have the heart to cut that child out of you. You guys need someone who will be able to do that," he says. "Even though that is my main advice. You guys are gonna need allies no matter what because this year you are gonna face experienced killers who all know each other. You two would be very easy targets for them, especially with sweetheart having a bun in her oven."

"Anything else?" I ask with fake sweetness in my voice.

"No," he says. "You two got yourselves into this mess, you got to figure it out. Now if you two will leave me in peace, I wish to take a nap." He slumps back down on a table and starts to snore. I stomp out on the lawn and into Peeta's house. He follows me and I turn angrily towards him.

"That was a lot of help," I say sarcastically. "We'd already figured that much out."

"I know but I thought he'd have more to say than that," Peeta says.

"I just can't stand it, it's like he thinks we're -" I'm interrupted by Peeta and my child moving around.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"I think the baby kicked," I say. "I think he didn't like that we were fighting and wanted to stop us."

"I wish I could feel," Peeta says. I roll up my shirt and unhook my corset from around my stomach. I lay it on the table and take Peeta's hand, laying it over the area I felt the baby moving. Peeta smiles as our baby kicks his hand. "Thats amazing Katniss."

"I know," I say. "I wish this could be a happy moment for us but its not really ever going to be." And it's true. Because of the Games, the Capital is even stealing this simple pleasure from us because we know only one of us is probably going to ever get to hold this child.

"Doesn't wearing that thing hurt him?" Peeta asks referring to the corset.

"Not yet, but Mother is making me switch to wrapping with bandages soon so it doesn't," I say.

"I love you," he says. "Nothing is ever going to change that. I'll always be with you and this baby, even if its just in spirit."

"I know you will Peeta," I say. "I know you will."