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Chapter 14

Katniss P.O.V.

My heart starts racing. I look up to see that Haymitch has left already. I get ready to scream for Mom, but Peeta's hand clamps over my mouth. He stands up, wincing with every move he makes, and uses his free hand to grab a handful of my hair.

He uses my hair to roughly pull my head back onto the table. He then leans over me, getting as close as he can with my belly in the way.

"I'm going to let go of your mouth, but I don't want to hear you scream. You understand?" I nod my head. He takes his hand off my mouth and I look him in the eyes.

"If you don't want to hear me scream, the I suggest you cover your ears," I say before I open my mouth again to scream. Peeta pushes me off the table, but I never hit the floor. I wake myself up screaming instead. I jump up, knocking my chair over, and take a few steps away from the table.

"Are you okay?" Haymitch asks as he places a hand on my arm. I nod my head.

"I'm fine," I reply. Peeta's looking at me like I'm crazy.

"Everything okay down here?" Mom asks as she comes flying down the steps.

"I'm fine," I say. "It was just a nightmare." I look past them towards the front door. "I'm going to go get some fresh air." Before I make it outside, Haymitch stops me.

"I wouldn't go out there if I were you."

"Why not?" I ask.

"Reporters and their camera crews have been out there all night. They showed up not long after the police did."

"The police are out there?" I ask.

"They were," Haymitch replies.

"Did they say anything?"

"Not really. Just that the body is completely unrecognizable. They said they might be able to get an identification later, but it's going to take a while.

"I just want my family to be safe," I say as I turn from the door to look back at Peeta. He's already drifting back to sleep. Without another word being said, I go upstairs to take a bath and get dressed.

When I'm done, I go sit down on the bed and prop my feet up. I lay back against the headboard and both of my hands go to rest on my stomach. I almost doze off, but Mom comes in before I can.

"How are you feeling?" she asks as she sits at the foot of the bed.

"I'm fine," I reply "How's Peeta?"

"He's tired. After you came up here, I made him try walking around before he tried to go back to sleep. He did good for a few minutes, but then he had to quit. He's really sore and weak, so I've got him downstairs trying to eat something. He'll be doing better once he gets his strength back."

"And his memory," I say. Mom nods her head. "Is he down there by himself?"

"No, Haymitch is watching after him."

"Not anymore." I look up to find Haymitch standing at the bedroom door. "He says he needs to tell you something," Haymitch says as he points to me.

I get up and go downstairs as quickly as I can. I am a little surprised to find Peeta sitting at the table instead of laying on top of it.

"I'm going to stay right here," Haymitch says as he stands by the doorway of the kitchen. "Just in case." I smile at him and turn to go into the kitchen. Since Peeta's back is turned to me, I try to be quiet so I don't startle him. I walk around to the other side of the table and sit down. Peeta looks up at me.

"Haymitch said you need to talk to me," I say. Peeta pushes his empty plate to the edge of the table and nods his head.

"I remember being hijacked," he says. "I know that the things I said last night about you being a mutt and trying to kill me aren't true." My hope starts coming back. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about," I say. "You was just trying to get answers." I reach across the table and take Peeta's hand in mine. He doesn't jerk his hand back like I expected him to do, but he curiously looks down at our entwined fingers. It takes him a minute before he looks back up at me and speaks again.

"Is it Gale's?" he asks. I raise my eyebrows at him.

"Is what Gale's?" I ask.

"The baby." My mouth falls open and I quickly shake my head.

"Wh-what?"

"I remember you and Gale being good friends. I figured you'd married him and..."

"No, Peeta," I say as I stand up and start walking to his side of the table. "I married you. This is your baby." I sit down next to him and quickly take his hand, placing it on my stomach. "Our baby," I say, looking him right in the eye. He shakes his head.

"I don't remember." Tears are coming to his eyes. He starts to pull his hand away, but I hold it in place.

"Do you remember anything other than being hijacked?"

"Yeah," Peeta says as he nods his head. "I remember us being in the Hunger Games together." I nod my head.

"Twice," I add.

"Twice?" he asks.

"Yeah."

"I only remember one. I remember you volunteering for Prim. She was your sister, right?"

"Yes, she was my sister," I reply.

"I remember you pretending to love me to keep me alive. Is that what you're doing now? Just trying to protect me?"

"No. Peeta, I really do love you."

"I'm sorry, Katniss. I wish I could belive you but..." Peeta stops talking when the baby kicks. His eyes travel down to the spot where his hand is pinned between my hand and my stomach. "That was the baby moving," he says softly.

"Mhm," I confirm for him. "She's been restless this morning."

"So it's a girl?" he asks.

"I don't know," I reply. "But you've seemed pretty convinced of it ever since you found out that I'm pregnant." He looks at me and the smallest hint of a smile plays across his lips.

"Feeling the baby kick my hand felt... familiar," Peeta says. I smile at him.

"It should," I say. "You're always feeling my stomach to see if the baby is kicking." He looks away and shakes his head.

"I believe you," Peeta says. "I just can't remember."

"That's okay," I say. "That's what I'm here for. To help you."

"You said we were in the Games twice." I nod my head. "I don't remember being in there the second time, but I do remember being captured at the end of it. I also remember the war and coming back to 12 after the war ended. Anything after that is like it never happened to me."

"We got married a few months after the war," I say. "We had a baby..."

"We have another baby?"

"We did," I reply. "She...um..." I look down at the floor. I watch out of the corner of my eye as Peeta moves his injured arm, which is now bandaged up, and places his hand on my shoulder. I look up at him.

"It's okay," he says. "I understand."

"Did that help any?" I ask. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He pulls his hand away from me and runs them through his hair.

"I received an antidote for my hijacking," Peeta says. I nod my head. "That's it. That's all I remember. Why can't I remember anything else?"

"I- I don't know." He gets up and starts pacing the floor very slowly. I can tell that it's taking all his energy out of him just to pace the small space he is at the pace he's going. He angrily knocks his chair over and slaps both of his hands down on the table.

"Why can't I remember?" he screams. He has tears streaming down his face. I get up out of my chair and place a hand on his shoulder. It's been a while since I've seen him this upset.

"Peeta, please calm down." He shrugs my hand off his shoulder and walks over to the wall. He acts like he's going to say something, but instead he turns around and kicks the wall. He puts his back against the wall and slides down to the floor. Haymitch starts coming into the kitchen, but I stop him by putting my hand up and shaking my head. I go over to Peeta.

"Peeta," I say as I bend down next to him. "It's okay. Please calm down." He has his head turned away from me. "Look at me," I say softly. He reluctantly turns his head towards me and I place a hand on his cheek. "I'm sure that you aren't going to get all your memories back at once. You need to stay patient. Just remember, we're in this together."

"Katniss, I can't even remember us getting married and starting a family. I don't know why you want to help me."

"Because no matter what happens, Peeta, I love you." A single tear falls down my cheek. I barely whisper the next word. "Always."

Peeta puts one of his hands on the back of my head. He doesn't pull my hair like he did in my nightmare. Instead, he pushes my head towards his and our lips meet. Peeta's tense muscles immediately relax. I feel him smile beneath the kiss. I wrap my arms around his neck and his free arm wraps around my waist. He pulls back a little.

"I remember," Peeta says quietly. "I remember everything, including the explosion."

"What do you remember about the explosion?" I ask, hoping that he remembers something that will help the police identify whoever did this.

"Whoever it was was wearing a mask," Peeta says. "I remember following them into the house. They were hiding behind the front door, and they grabbed my shoulder when I walked in. They hit my head with the butt of their gun and took off running. They made it to the door, and I was getting ready to come check on you. I didn't figure there was any use in chasing them down. That's when the bomb went off."

Peeta stops for a moment and gets teary-eyed again. "I don't remember how I cut my arm, probably from debris that came flying towards me, but I do remember being terrified. Terrified that I was going to loose both you and the baby." His arm that was wrapped around my waist now moves towards him so his hand can rest on my stomach. "I don't know how I'd live without either of you. I love you both so much, Katniss," Peeta quickly says.

Our lips meet again for just a quick moment. When we break apart again, Peeta pulls me in closely and gently pushes my head down to his shoulder.

"So much," he whispers. His voice is thick with tears.

"We love you too," I say.

Later, after we've ate supper and Haymitch has went home, Peeta sits in a kitchen chair as Mom renews his bandage on his arm and applies fresh ointment to his burns.

"How are you feeling?" Mom asks Peeta.

"I'm feeling a lot better now," Peeta replies. "Just tired."

"Well, I think I'm done here, so you two can head on up to bed," Mom says as she starts putting things away. I give her a hug before Peeta and I head upstairs. Once the bedroom door is closed, Peeta wraps his arms tightly around me. Just like he's done so many times today.

"I'm sorry for everything that I've put you through today, Katniss," Peeta says for the millionth time.

"Peeta, I told you, it wasn't your fault. You have nothing to be sorry about."

"Sit down," Peeta says as he leads me over to the bed. I do as I'm told and Peeta kneels down in front of me. "I noticed something today. After everything was straightened out this morning, you've seemed a lot happier than you ever have since we've moved to the Capitol. I haven't seen you smile as much as you have today in a long time. I love seeing you happy. And despite everything that happened this morning, I've been pretty happy myself. But we can't stay happy like that as long as I keep putting our family in danger because of the position I hold in the government."

"Peeta, what are you saying?" I ask. His eyes lock on mine.

"I think I should step down from being president and we should move back to 12." I look at him, thinking it over. "You don't have to give me your answer right away. I just thought I'd tell you so you'd have some time to think about it."

"Is this what you want?" I ask.

"I want what's best for our family," Peeta replies.

"Well, I would rather raise our baby here than in the Capitol." Peeta smiles at me and I smile back. "Promise me one thing," I say.

"What's that?" Peeta asks.

"That we won't move until Gale's situation is figured out."

"I promise," Peeta says as he nods his head. I hug his neck and rest my head on his shoulder. We get into bed and fall asleep with his arms wrapped around me. The way it should be.



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