Peeta P.O.V.

Katniss slept as long as she could. She woke up when the pain became too much for her to sleep through. I reach over and push a piece of hair away from her eyes. She looks up at me and smiles.

"I'm anxious to finally meet our baby," Katniss says. I smile back at her.

"Me too," I reply.

"It won't be too much longer, Katniss," Ellen says. She arrived just a few minutes after Katniss fell asleep. "You're a little over halfway there." Katniss looks at me again.

"Can we take a quick walk?" she asks. I raise an eyebrow at her.

"Are you wanting to go check on the nursery again?" I tease.

"No," she laughs. "I'm just tired of laying here."

"Okay," I say as I help her up. "Just don't let yourself get too tired."

"I wont," she replies. We leave the bedroom and slowly walk up and down the hallway, stopping for Katniss during contractions. She nods her head and we begin to walk again.

"Where did Haymitch go?" Katniss asks.

"He went home," I say. "He told me to call him once the baby gets here." She grabs my wrists just as her knees give out. "Katniss!" I gasp, barely catching her before she hits the ground. She starts panting and I can tell it's all she can do to keep from screaming. She calms down a little and I help her back up.

"Get me back to the room," Katniss says breathlessly once she's standing again. I slowly lead her back to the room and she lays back down on the bed. I sit beside of her, and she reaches her hand out and grabs mine. I use my free hand to rub her back and neck. The closer it get to the baby getting here, the more nervous Katniss becomes.

"Are you okay?" I ask her. She looks up at me with tears in her eyes.

"What if it happens again?" Katniss asks.

"It's not going to happen again," I say, trying to sound as promising as possible.

"What if that doctor was right?" she asks. "What if this baby does have a heart condition and doesn't live very long?"

"That's not going to happen."

"Peeta, can you look me in the eyes and guarantee that?"

"No," I say truthfully. She lays her head back on the pillow with a sigh.

"I don't know what we'll do if we loose this baby," she says. I go to say something, but she cuts me off. "Don't you dare say that it won't happen," Katniss warns as tears flow down her face. "You just admitted that you can't guarantee that."

"That's not what I was going to say," I reply. "I was going to tell you to quit thinking about all the bad stuff that could happen."

"But there's so much that could go wrong," she cries.

"I know. But that doesn't mean that something is going to go wrong"

"Okay, Katniss," Ellen says. "It's time to push." Katniss look up at me and her eyes widen.

"I can't," she says as she shakes her head. "I cant." I place a hand on her cheek and wipe away and few tears.

"Shh. Yes you can," I try to comfort her. She keeps shaking her head. "Listen to me," I say softly. "I know you're scared that something will be wrong with the baby, but you can't blame yourself if that's true. You have to get through this first, then if there is something wrong, we'll go from there." Katniss nods her head.

"Peeta," Katniss says as she's squeezes my hand. "Stay with me," she gasps.

"Always," I reply quickly. I wrap my arm back around Katniss's shoulders as she begins to bring our baby into the world. She's about to give up when Ellen finally says that the baby is crowning. "Come on Kat, don't give up just yet," I say softly.

"I'm tired," she says weakly.

"I'm know you are honey," I say as I move her hair off her sweaty forhead. "But just think, our baby is almost here. We're so close to holding him or her in our arms, but you have to keep going." Katniss nods her head and a pushes again, grunting with the effort.

"Okay, there's the head," Ellen says. "Katniss, the next push needs to be a big one." Katniss squeezes my hand again and screams to the top of her lungs. "One more big push," Ellen instructs. Katniss shakes her head.

"I can't," she pants. "I can't push anymore." I give her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Yes you can," I say. "You're doing great, Katniss. This is it. You're almost done." This time, Katniss's screams are soon joined by a sound that we've both been waiting a long time to hear.

The indescribable sound of our baby's cries.

Katniss leans her head on my shoulder and tears fall down her face. Ellen looks at us and smiles. "She's beautiful."

"She?" Katniss and I ask in unison. Ellen nods her head.

"Peeta," Ellen says as she holds out out a pair of scissors towards me. My smile somehow widens as ideas go over and cut the umbilical cord. The baby is quickly passed to Katniss and I go back to her side. Tears run down both of our faces as we admire our newborn daughter.

"She's here, Peeta," Katniss says quietly as she moves her hand over our baby's dark brown hair. Katniss looks at me and whispers. "Now is when you tell me her name." I laugh at her.

"Willow," I reply. Katniss's eyes widen.

"Peeta, I love it," she says. "Willow Mellark," she whispers then nods her head. "That's her name." Ellen takes Willow away to clean her up. She brings her back and places her back in Katniss's arms. Katniss looks at me. "Daddy, would you like to hold your little girl?" I laugh a little.

"What kind of a question is that?" I ask.

"A stupid one apparently," Katniss laughs as she passes Willow to me. The second she's placed in my arms, it feels like my whole world has been rearranged. So far, everything I've done has revolved around Katniss. Now there's someone else to wrap me around their finger.

I push the blanket back from Willow's face and she opens her eyes to reveal two dark orbs. I hope they turn out to be the color of Katniss's eyes. "Hi there," I whisper. I pull her closer to me and kiss her head. She yawns and rubs her eyes with her little fists. "Are you getting sleepy?" I ask softly as I start to rock her back and forth. It isn't long until Willow falls asleep in my arms.