Prompt #27 🤭
Thank you @whiwhitetiger and the anon who requested this. Hope you enjoy this very long story.
#27. "I'm pregnant."
Old, Oak Tree
“I’m pregnant.”
Peeta stares at her for a moment, processing the words that had just come out of her mouth.
Hell, Katniss can’t believe that she’s actually saying them.
However, here they both are, in the back of the Mellark Bakery, sitting at the old, oak tree that started their almost five-year friendship as she tells him the biggest news of her life.
“How?” he finally asks.
“You know…” She brushes a leaf off her pant leg, unable to meet his eyes. “…the usual way.”
“I didn’t realize that you were doing that.” Peeta stands abruptly, pacing in front of her. “Whose butt do have to kick? Is it Darius? I always see him staring at you—”
Katniss rises, going to him immediately and placing her hands on his shoulders.
“Peeta, breathe.” Her friend immediately follows, letting out a long breath and she smiles, seeing the color return to his face. “That’s my boy.”
“Obviously, I’m not your boy if you’re having sex and not bothering to tell your best friend,” Peeta snarls. “It’s just that we never keep things from one another.”
“I was embarrassed,” Katniss admits. Taking his hand, Katniss leads him back under the tree. “It was about a month ago and I got very drunk off one of Greasy Sae’s tonics. I wasn’t thinking and when I woke up in the middle of the night, I was next to Ga—”
Peeta looks at her, dread in his stare. “No.”
“Biggest mistake I’ve ever made.”
“He’s wanted you his whole life, Katniss. If you tell him, he’ll marry you. He’ll save you—”
“No.” Katniss draws her legs towards her chest, pulling herself into a ball. “I can’t do it. I can’t marry Gale Hawthorne.”
Peeta nods, putting a hand on her shoulder. “What other solution is there?”
She turns to him; her eyes wide and earnest. “You marry me.”
Shaking his head, Peeta chuckles at her suggestion.
“You’re joking.” However, not hearing her laughter, his gaze goes to her once more. “You’re not.”
“We always said that if there was no one else, we’d marry each other. We shook on it!”
“We were kids, Katniss!” Peeta points out. “A handshake doesn’t make a marriage pact legal in any way.”
“You want marriage. You always have.”
Standing up, he shakes his head.
“Not like this.”
++++++
Katniss was never a romantic like Peeta.
She ruminates over this thought later that evening as she lays in her bed. Her mother is worried as Katniss is never sick and her stomach turns at the thought that she’ll have to tell her mother about the baby.
Her mother will insist on Gale. However, she can’t even think of a life with the boy. He isn’t a bad person. He just doesn’t know her and more than once, he’s remarked on the fact that she hunts instead of doing the usual girl things. She knows that he’s slightly threatened by how good she is at archery, almost having beat him in school.
Gale wants a nice Seam wife to cook and clean, to have his babies, to cater to him and their children. It doesn’t seem like a bad life, but Katniss could feel that fire in her being snuffed at just of the thought of sharing her life with him.
There’s a knock at their front door and slowly she sits up.
Going to her door, she peeks out and is surprised to see Peeta dressed in a white button down, ironed slacks, and his wavy locks brushed neatly back.
She steps out into her sitting room. “Peeta, what are you doing here?”
Her mother widens the door for him to step inside as Prim, her younger sister, emerges from the kitchen.
He clears his throat and Katniss can see that he’s nervous. She hears the erratic tap of his foot and the slight flush in his complexion.
“Actually, I’ve come to speak to you, Mrs. Everdeen.” Peeta turns to her mother. “I’d like permission to marry your daughter.”
Prim lets out a gasp, going to her sister before looking to the man standing at the doorway.
“Well, shouldn’t you get permission from Katniss, first?” Prim asks innocently.
Her mother manages to recover, looking between the two. “Prim is right.”
Slowly, Peeta crosses the floor until he is standing right in front of her. Gently, he takes her hand, running his thumb along the row of her knuckles and she swallows down the shiver.
“You’re about the only girl I’ve ever loved, Katniss,” he tells her softly. “The only one I think I’ll ever love. And we’ll probably drive one another crazy, but I can’t imagine being driven mad by anyone else. So, will you, Katniss? Will you marry me?”
There is a swell within her and for a moment, Katniss could almost believe it’s real. However, she knows that his words are nothing but words for a friend. A promise of devotion, but not of the kind of love that Katniss knows Peeta has always craved.
However, the look in his eyes seems all too real.
She can’t help but say yes.
+++++++
They’re married a week later.
Katniss is in her mother’s nicest dress, and Peeta wears one of his brothers’ best suits.
They agree to tell everyone that it’s a honeymoon baby, but Katniss can already tell that her mother knows why after she measures Katniss to alter her dress. There is the slightest bump on her lower abdomen and her breasts not only ache but have grown not so subtly.
Mr. Mellark is overjoyed, always believing that there was something between the two. He’s always been an ally of sorts, never mentioning whenever Peeta would sneak out back to meet her by their tree. His brothers, Bran and Rye, both give him a congratulatory hug, surprised but happy for their little brother.
For Katniss, she is given a kiss on the cheek.
“Our Peeta landed the prettiest girl in District 12,” Rye tells her with a wink. “Now who will I pine after?”
“Madge Undersee…Delly Cartwright…Soledad Bryant…” Katniss ticks the lists of his conquest on her fingers. “You’ll be fine.”
“You’re a welcome addition to the family,” Bran adds. “Finally got me a sister.”
It’s Mrs. Mellark that’s the biggest hurdle. She has never been able to accept the friendship between her and Peeta, refusing to even speak to her as they gather for the wedding.
It is Peeta who decides that they should marry in front of their tree.
“It's our spot,” he explains after making the suggestion. “Where we got started and all.”
Katniss agrees with a smile. Like she’s always known, Peeta is a romantic.
As they hold hands in front of the officiant, she vows silently to be a good mother for her child and a good wife to Peeta.
They might not love one another romantically, but what they have is better than that. They know each other inside and out, the good and the bad, and yet besides her family, there is no one that she loves more than him.
They say their vows and her heart beats fitfully as Peeta slips the golden band on her finger. Her own fingers tremble as she pushes his wedding band pass his knuckle, but Peeta steadies her with the gentle caress of his thumb.
“You may kiss the bride.”
Her eyes widen as the officiant’s words. Around them, their families cheer and clap—except for Mrs. Mellark.
She, however, is suddenly in the throes of a panic attack.
This will be their first kiss ever.
“Katniss,” Peeta says softly. He reaches forward, his hand clasping the back of her neck. Katniss closes her eyes as he nears. She can smell him, that familiar scent of cedar and sage, and she breathes him deep. Katniss catches the hitch in his breath as her nose brushes his cheek. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”
Peeta brushes his lips against hers and a sigh escapes her mouth. His lips are soft and full; she likes the way he pillows her bottom lip between them. Her arms wrap around his neck and Katniss leans fully into their kiss, her body melding along his. His other hand tangles in her locks and she gasps at the touching of their tongues, a spark alighting at her core.
When they pull away, both are breathless and blushing. Her mother is crying in joy as Prim beams at them. Peeta’s brothers whoop and holler while Mr. Mellark claps heartily. Mrs. Mellark is unsurprisingly sullen.
Then there’s Peeta, whose stare causes her stomach to twist in a way she can’t understand.
Who knew that one kiss could turn her world upside down?
+++++
Later that night, they lay in bed together, both unable to look at each another.
It’s their wedding night—and wedding nights entail sex.
They never discussed the subject, busy planning the wedding.
Honestly, they avoided it.
“I don’t remember,” she suddenly says to break the silence. “I don’t think he did either.”
Gale, as far as she knows, only remembers waking up slightly disheveled in the forest off the Seam border and nothing else. He treats her as if nothing happened, even congratulating her on wedding before heading off to meet Madge Undersee.
She is glad for it.
“I’ve never done it,” Peeta responds.
Katniss twists onto her side to look at him. “Not even with Marnie?”
Marnie Dolce, Peeta’s one serious girlfriend, who he dated for six months before she moved to District 4. Marnie with the big smile and big breasts…Marnie who hated that Peeta’s best friend was a girl…Marnie, whose face she imagined on her target during archery practice.
She had never aimed so well.
Peeta shakes his head. “Maybe some over the top touching but nothing else.”
“Gross, I don’t want to hear about you touching her.”
“Well, it’s not that pleasant to think about Gale putting his hands on you.”
Katniss moves closer to him. “If he did then I don’t remember.”
He turns his head, and she finds herself staring deep into his eyes. His lashes are long and there are tiny flecks of green in his blue eyes. Her hand reaches between their bodies and Katniss lets her instincts guide her.
She takes his hand, bringing it to her chest, and his eyes round seeing that he’s palming her breast.
Peeta swallows harshly. “Katniss, I’m just a man—”
“I realize that,” she replies softly. “And I’m just a woman. It’s just…I liked our kiss and the feeling that it gave me.”
The hand on her breast twitches and she watches as his thumb hovers over her peak nipple. Since the pregnancy, they are unbelievable sensitive and the thought of Peeta just running the pad of his thumb over it causes the heated flood to her core.
This is a hunger Katniss has never known.
Peeta’s gaze deepens, full of curiosity. “What feeling is that?”
“I want more.” Her mouth moves just along his. “I want to feel…more.”
Peeta kisses her, his tongue plunging into her mouth. Her cries are muffled in their kiss and her hands move to explore the hard planes of his body, pulling his shirt off in the process. His skin is smooth and golden despite there being barely little sun in District 12.
“Katniss…” he pants between their lips. “…can I…may I…I don’t know how to ask for this—”
She kisses him, bringing his hand between her thighs. Katniss never thought of herself as wanton person, but she wants him to feel the wetness along her slit. Peeta moans when his fingers make contact with her soaked cunt.
“Oh, God…” He gazes at her eagerly. “You’re so wet.”
“I don’t remember the last time, but I want to remember this time—with you,” she tells him. “My best friend…my husband.”
He nods in understanding before slowly pushing a finger inside her. She feels a yearning and cants her hips to bring him in deeper.
“Oh…”
It feels delicious to have him inside her.
Another finger joins and she wraps herself against him, thrusting onto his digits.
The room is hot, smelling of their arousal, and Katniss meets his eyes. His forehead is sweaty, and his brow furrowed with strain.
“Peeta…” She kisses him wetly as her hand reaches deftly under the waist of his pajama bottoms. He helps her, lifting his hips, and pushing the fabric away till it’s abandoned onto their floor. “You want to?”
He nods eagerly and Katniss smirks.
“I want you,” he tells her, and her breath catches at the tenderness of his words. “My best friend. My wife.”
She nods, taking him in her hand. He is thick but velvety in her hands. Katniss pumps at the shaft and he moans, causing a rush of heat through her body.
Shifting him onto his back, Katniss straddles his hips. Her hand encircles his arousal, and she moves the tip of him along her opening. It feels good, the head of him teasing along her labia and Peeta lets out a heavy breath at the sensation.
Finding her entrance, Katniss sinks inch by inch onto his cock.
Peeta is trembling, the sensation overwhelming him. His hands grip her hips gently, but Katniss can tell that he is just barely controlling herself.
She likes the thought of losing herself to the feeling of him. Her body welcomes him, the spongy muscle inside her squeezing and molding itself to his girth.
“Please move,” he begs hoarsely.
Nodding, Katniss plants her palms to his smooth chest and raises her hips. A small groan escapes him as his cock is exposed to the warm air of the room. Her hips drop down once more and they both moan at being joined once more.
Everything shifts around them as they find their way through. His hands grasp her flesh, his fingers digging into her full cheeks as Katniss snaps her hips.
“Yes…yes…” Peeta says softly, his eyes closed and his jaw tight. “You feel so good…”
His words spur her on and Katniss reaches between them, her fingers finding her clit. She touches herself, her middle and index finger spreading wetness to the pearl at the hood of her pussy.
Occasionally when the hunger rose, Katniss used to do this in her bed at home. She’d close her eyes, imagining invisible hands caressing her, phantom lips sucking at her breasts—
However, as she touches herself, the hands…the lips at her breasts—they’re real.
They’re Peeta’s.
She comes, a strangle cry escaping her lips as she throbs around him. It doesn’t take very long for Peeta to join her, and with a thrust he fills her.
Katniss falls on top of him, feeling his seed pulsating inside her. It’s strange, but she feels her arousal rise at the thought of his essence inside her womb.
Peeta’s hand caresses her gently. He kisses the top of her head. “Will it always be like this?”
She looks up at him, feeling the small embers of hope. They can be happy if they want to.
“With us, it can be.”
++++++
Time passes, sweet and quietly, and as spring arrives, they announce that they’re having a baby.
Everyone is overjoyed, her sister squealing in excitement at the thought of being an aunt at the tender age of thirteen. Bran and Rye pat their brother proudly on the back and Katniss laughs seeing the redness on his cheeks.
“Who knew you had it in you?” Bran jokes, an arm around Peeta.
“You poor woman,” Rye says after giving her a hug. “I think Peeta was the heaviest baby of us all.” He looks to Mrs. Mellark. “Right Mom?”
Mrs. Mellark, she hasn’t allowed Katniss to call her Mom, smiles in remembrance.
“Yes, at least eight pounds,” she tells them. “But he had the calmest temperament.”
“The same with Katniss,” her mother says beaming. “Such a good baby.”
While Katniss is happy that they’ve fallen for the lie, she can’t help but feel guilty seeing the tears in Mr. Mellark’s eyes at the news. He gathers both her and Peeta into his embrace telling them how happy he is to become a ‘Pop-Pop’.
Katniss excuses herself and steps outside to the back of the bakery, finding solace in the deep trunk of their tree. Her mind remembers that day the Peeta gave her the bread, after her father died and her mother lost herself in darkness. Prim was just getting into school while she was just shy of her teens.
She had only stopped to rest, intending to search the forest for berries. However, she knew it would be futile as it was just too cold for anything to grow.
Then, Peeta had stepped out, two loaves of burnt bread in his hands.
“It’s not much,” he told her. “But burning more than two would look suspicious.”
From then on, Katniss would come by, and they’d meet by this tree. He gave what he could, and she gave him friendship.
Though Katniss never understood how a friendship with a girl from the Seam would benefit him.
Out of nowhere, Peeta is suddenly sitting next to her. “You okay?”
She looks at him. “They’re so happy.”
“And you’re not?”
“I don’t know,” Katniss admits. Her hand goes to her stomach, to the barely there bump carrying her drunken mistake. “I didn’t love its father. Will I love it?”
“I would like to hope you will,” Peeta says slowly. “I’m not the baby’s real dad…but I love it already. I think of how it will have your dark hair and your smile—”
“It won’t have anything from you.”
“It will have my love.” Katniss can see the pain in his eyes. “That’s more than enough to make him or her mine.” He stands, holding his hand out to her. “Dinner’s ready.”
Her chest aches because deep inside her, she wishes more than anything that it had been Peeta that she had been with. He is the one who makes her feel safe and love, who makes her feel whole.
Who has become home.
Katniss is in love with him, and it only took someone else’s baby to realize it.
With his help, she stands, and her hand reaches to his wrist to still him.
Her other hand cups his cheek, and his eyes widen in shock at the gesture.
She kisses him, pressing everything she cannot say into it.
Parting, Peeta smiles widely and her heart flutters, her own mouth rising.
“Come.” He puts an arm around her. “Our mothers want to discuss names.”
++++++
“Yes…yes…Peeta!”
Summer has come and with that a sudden rise of hormone course through her as the baby grows. Katniss is insatiable, barely holding on at times, and days like today—she pulls Peeta aside from his work at the bakery to satiate her hunger.
Peeta moans into her shoulder, and the feel of his rough lips against heated skin causes her climax. She cries out into the rough fabric of shirt, grasping at it as she throbs around him. It’s enough for Peeta to fall apart, mouth glued to her neck as he comes inside her.
“Katniss,” he breathes out huskily. “So beautiful and all mine...”
They draw apart, embarrassed from letting themselves get out of hand. It’s the middle of the afternoon, the bakery closed for lunch, and they could barely contain themselves before making it to their tree. She hadn’t even bother to remove her panties, just pushing them aside so Peeta could slide inside her.
She giggles. “I’m really glad that no one comes by here.”
“Agreed.” Peeta quickly zips up, beaming at her. “You should eat before getting back to the counter.”
“Don’t tell your mom but I’ve been stealing biscuits in-between customers,” she informs him as they head back inside. “I’ve been blaming the inventory issues on Rye.”
Her husband snorts, leading her towards the back entrance of the bakery.
“Probably deserves it,” he assures her.
Walking inside, they are greeted by her in-laws. Her father-in-law complexion is flushed while her mother-in-law is trying in vain to look calm as she sips her tea.
“Katniss was feeling under the weather,” Peeta tells them. “I took her out for some air.”
“Is that why there are sap needles in her hair?” his mother replies, a smirk on her lips. “From getting air?”
Katniss can barely stop her laughter but holds it in for the sake of her father-in-law and Peeta, who looks about ready to bust.
When her mother-in-law wants to, Mrs. Mellark shows them that she has a sense of humor.
“Come along, Peeta.” She takes Peeta’s hand. “We have to refill the cases.”
They step into the front and Katniss lets out a laugh. Peeta follows, holding on the counter to keep himself from falling over. It feels good to laugh with him; this man who she loves desperately but has no courage whatsoever to admit it.
He reaches into one of the cases and takes out a biscuit for her.
“Eat, love. I’ll finish getting everything ready.”
Katniss takes a plate and splits the biscuit in half, sighing contentedly as she fills her stomach.
Then a sudden swoop in her stomach takes her by surprise. “Oh!”
“I think the baby is moving!” Katniss calls out. “Come here!”
Her husband is at her side within seconds, moving behind her to wrap his arms around her waist.
“Show me where,” he says, his eyes shining.
Taking his hands, Katniss places them on her swell. “It feels like he or she is tumbling.”
“Your mom said I probably wouldn’t feel anything,” he informs her. “All the books say so too.”
She holds in a smile thinking of the pile of books on pregnancy and childbirth on his side table, some earmarked whenever he reads find something interesting to tell her.
“Doesn’t matter. You should experience this.”
Their eyes meet over her shoulder and Peeta kisses her gently, pulling away to just press a kiss to the tip of her nose.
“I love you, Katniss,” he whispers.
“I know you do,” she replies, her heart aching.
Just not the way Katniss wants.
“No, I mean—”
The bakery door opens and Gale Hawthorne steps in, cool-eyed as he meets her suddenly anxious gaze.
“We need to talk,” he says. “I remember everything.”
++++++
“Are you really going to talk to him?” Peeta paces their bedroom floor. “Do you think he’s told someone?”
“I don’t know,” she replies. “Please come to bed, Peeta.”
“I’m just worried.” He walks over to their bed, slipping in beside her. “What if he tries to claim the baby? Or he takes this to the courts? What if—”
What if he tries to take them away?
It’s the question that is the loudest in their silent room.
“Peeta,” she starts. “There is nothing we can do right now but see what he has to say.” Her hands reached, cradling his cheeks so she can steady the panicked man. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”
Peeta sighs, leaning into her touch. “I know. It’s hard not to worry.”
They both don’t sleep that night, their hands grasped tightly together and their marriage hanging on a thread. It is one thing for their lie to be exposed but it is another for the baby to have to suffer. They don’t know what Gale has planned—and it scares the shit out of them.
Also, there is so much left unsaid.
She watches Peeta finally fall into a fitful sleep and her eyes travel through the dimness of their room. She can see the beginning of a crib in front of their bed, a present from her in-laws. Rye, Bran, and Peeta plan to work on it after her mother and Prim are done with the baby’s bedding.
In the corner of the room is a pile of cloth diapers that Mrs. Mellark has been sewing for the baby. She does them on her downtime at the bakery.
And Mr. Mellark—or Dad, as he insists, she calls him—is trying to work on a mobile for the crib. He wants to surprise them, but she spied the drawing once while she was helping prep the kitchen.
Katniss doesn’t want to lose them.
She doesn’t want to lose Peeta.
“I’m going to fight for you,” she promises his sleeping form. “For our family.”
++++++
Gale agrees to meet somewhere discreet but public. It is how Katniss finds herself at Sae’s—where it started.
She sits across from him, nursing a cup of water, as she awaits whatever he has to say.
“How far along are you?” Gale finally asks.
Her hand goes to her stomach protectively. “About five months.”
“And it’s mi—” He stops to makes sure no one is listening. “—healthy?”
Katniss meets his penetrating gaze, nodding discreetly.
“My mom does regular checkups,” she informs him. “Peeta is there for every appointment. We just recently got to hear the heartbeat.”
Gale nods before taking a sip of his drink. “I had a dream about that night—and it all came rushing back.” He looks at her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that it was your first time—"
“Don’t.” Katniss steels herself. “I don’t remember any of it. To me, my first time was with my husband.”
“And he knows?”
“I told him first,” she says. “He’s my best friend.”
Gale eyes her. “Just your best friend?”
“Peeta is more to me than he realizes.” Her breath catches at the thought of the man waiting for at home, ridden with anxiety. They held tightly to one another until she had to go. “What do you want from me? From us?”
“You know, I’ve never wanted children,” he suddenly says. “I’ve spent my life taking care of my brothers and sister. Now, I just want to do something for myself. However, before I leave for District 2 for my new job—” Gale sighs before looking at her. “I don’t want anything from you, Katniss. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay.”
Katniss lets out a breath, her eyes filling in relief.
“I’m happy,” she tells him. “I’m married to my best friend, the love of my life, and we’re having a baby.”
Gale nods, sincerity in his gaze. “Then, I’m happy for you.”
++++++
As soon as Katniss in sight of the bakery, Peeta rushes over from his spot at their tree.
“Are you alright?” he asks immediately.
“I’m fine.” She reaches for him, wanting to make sure this man before her is real. “I love you, Peeta. Not just as a friend…you’ve never been just a friend to me. I wished I hadn’t taken so long to tell you. I know that you might not feel the same, and I understand, even accept it. But I just wanted to know—”
“Katniss—” Peeta pulls her into arms, leaning down to press his forehead to his. “I’m in love with you.” A happy sob escapes her, and he reaches gently to wipe her tears. “I wanted it to be real, not because of the baby but because there is no one else I’d rather be with.”
Katniss smiles, her eyes on him and only for him.
“One day, will you marry me…again?”
Peeta doesn’t reply.
Instead, he covers her mouth with his, answering her with his kiss.
+++++
They name her Ayla.
It is only appropriate as Katniss’ water breaks under the oak tree that has been a witness to her parents story; now it would bare witness to her own.
She comes into the world surrounded by her loved ones.
Katniss’ mother helps with the delivery in the early hours of winter. Prim and Peeta’s mother—who insists that Katniss calls her ‘mother’ now—help clean the wailing baby up. Rye and Bran take photo after photo as Peeta cuts the cord and the newly anointed Pop-Pop places Ayla in Katniss’ arms.
She sees no trace of Gale in her child, though it is still early.
However, her eyes are clearly Katniss’, almond-shaped and full of curiosity.
“She is beautiful.” Peeta stares at their daughter in awe. “Just like you.”
Katniss watches as he cradles Ayla in his arms, singing softly at the little one, and her chest fills, practically bursting with everything she is feeling in the moment.
“Are you okay?” Her husband asks. “You just had a look on your face.”
“It’s just…we’re a family.”
Peeta joins her on the bed, placing Ayla back in her arms before kissing her softly.
“You know, we never had that wedding that you talked about.”
She smiles before gazing down at the miracle before her.
“We’ll get there.”
++++++
On their one-year anniversary, Peeta finds her and Ayla at their tree. It’s not an unusual sight.
However, the fire pit and the loaf of bread are.
Sitting down, he turns to his wife, dressed prettily in a long white dress with flowers in her hair. She cradles Ayla in a pure white mink blanket as their daughter sleeps contently in her mother’s arms.
“What is this?”
Katniss looks at him, a smile playing on her lips.
“Have you heard of a toasting?”
FIN.
*Ayla = Oak Tree
