~ Back From Honeymoon; December 11th: Peeta's Birthday ~

Katniss's P.O.V

I got Ruby out of her car seat and set her down. I grab the bags that hold the birthday gifts for Peeta. I lift up her carrier and grab the bags. I go into the house. Arlo and Buttercup are waiting for me.

"Hey guys, calm down. Nothing is for you." I say.

I set the bags on the island. I unstrap Ruby from her carrier and set her down on the floor. She gets up and waddles a little, stumbles then goes crawling.

"Watch over her for me boys." I say and pet Arlo and Buttercup.

I take out the cake mix and decorations and move the presents away. Peeta will get a new art set, new baking pans, and a big surprise. He will receive a better gift than these. A possible son or daughter. I found out a few weeks ago. It was around the first week of December. It was a shock and a happy moment. I haven't told him yet. He has made me go to the doctor every time I have morning sickness. I come back each time telling him it is still the flu. And he still worries. But no more after tonight. No one but me knows. Not Prim, Madge, Annie, no one. It is my own dirty little secret. I make the cake and put it into the oven. I start to wrap up his gifts. I put them on the table. The oven beeps and I take the cake out. The smell of chocolate fills the kitchen. I leave it to cool for a while. I go wrap up the surprise gift. I put my positive pregnancy test, a pacifier, and my ultrasound in a box. I wrap it up and put a bow on top. I set it with the rest. I feel small hands grab onto my leg. I look down and see Ruby getting up and reaching for me.

"Hey Sweetie. Come here." I say and pick her up.

I set her on my knee and bounced it a little. Ruby is more occupied with the gifts than the horse game. I brush her dark hair out of her mouth. I can't believe she is two months old now. Her eyes are bright blue like Peeta's. She has his nose, and my ears. She reaches for the table cloth and tries to pull on it.

"No, No, Rubs. Those aren't for you. It's your Daddy's birthday. Yours isn't for a while, Sweetie. But you can have cake." I say and kiss her cheek.

She giggles and reaches for my face. I let her pull it down. She gets my hair and yanks that hard.

"Ow, Rubs. That's hair." I say and laugh a little.

I take her hand and make her release my hair. She giggles wildly and claps her hands. I shake my head and smile softly.

"What am I going to do with you, huh? You silly little girl, pulling on your Momma's hair." I say and poke her nose.

She reaches for me again and giggles.

"M-m-ma." She gets out.

I gasp and smile brightly. "That's right, Ruby. I'm your Mommy." I say.

I hear the front door open, and things set down.

"Katniss?" I hear Prim say.

"Hey, Little Duck. In the kitchen." I say.

Footsteps approach and the paws of the animals follow. Prim comes in a few seconds later followed by the heard.

"How's my favorite niece, huh? Hi, Cutie Pie." Prim says and picks her up. "Cake for Peeta, right? Smells good."

"Yep. Chocolate." I say.

"I can watch her for a bit if you want to finish. Maybe play in the snow, if that's okay." Prim says.

"Just keep her warm. I don't want her to get sick." I say.

"I will." She says.

"Thank you, Prim." I say.

"Of course. I gotta take care of my niece." She says with a sweet smile, then kisses Ruby's head.

I smile as I watch Prim take Ruby to her nursery and play as I sort out for when Peeta wakes up. It won't be long now, half an hour at the latest.

The presents go in the living room, where me, Prim, Ruby, and baby number two will be waiting for him.

There's footsteps on the stairs. He's awake. I head to the nursery and grab Prim and Ruby before he sees us.

"Morning! Where's my favourite girl-" He begins, then stops. He smiles, confused but curious to what's happening.

"Happy Birthday Peeta!" Me and Prim say in unison. He chuckles to himself, turning the corner to see his bday presents.

"W-Wow... this is for me?" He asks stunned.

"Of course, silly! Who else would we get those for?" I scoff, as we observe him holding his new cooking utensils and his new art supplies. He tastes a bit of the chocolate cake.

"That's so good. Thank you, Katniss. And Prim and my Lil Ruby." He says as he walks back to us and sits on the couch with us. He kisses me on the cheek, and kisses Ruby's forehead.

"Is this my special present?" He asks, looking at the gift that I'm holding in my lap.

"Sure is." I say and hand it to him. He smiles brighter than the sun, his blue eyes shining colours of joy. He unwraps the present, and looks down amazed. But that smile fades a bit, each second his happy face forms into a sad, confused one. He holds up the ultrasound, scanning it intentionally and then holds up the positive pregnancy test.

"H-How... why, why?" He doesn't know what to say. His upset expression turns angrier by the second, showing all types of emotions.

"This can't be happening... this can't be happening Katniss!" He says panicked.

"What do you mean? Aren't you happy that we're having another child?" I ask, beginning to feel upset.

"I-I don't know! Having Ruby is the most amazing thing any guy could ask for, but I'm just... I wasn't prepared to have another one!" Small droplets roll down his cheek.

He gets up and runs back upstairs. I hear his door slam shut vibrating the house slightly. I sigh, a small tear coming from my eye. Prim comes and sits next to me, moving aside the gift.

"It's okay, Katniss. He's probably just overwhelmed by all of this. He'll come back..." Prim reassures me, rubbing my back and playing with Ruby's hands.

"I hope so..." I sigh.

~

Gale's POV

I get shoved into the cell, the police closing and locking the door behind me. I glare back, and the cop only shakes his head and walks off. I grumble and swear to myself. The last few weeks have been so... annoying, here in this prison. I'm not free, I'm caged like a small weak bird. I want to be a large bird, soaring through the sky freely. I think I'm losing my mind...

I sit on my bed, looking around at the plain white walls. My breathing echoes, since this cell is so small. Good thing I'm not sharing it with anyone else.

Suddenly sirens ring, the small red ball on the roof flashing back and forth. The sounds of bells ring the room and the rest of the prison. Someone runs up to my door, their hair all messed up. His black eye looks painful...

"Hey, Imma try and get ya out, yeah?" The man around my age says. He slots the keys into the door, swinging it open for me. I run out with him, even though I don't know what's happening.

It's chaos...

"Come on! We don't have much time! He yells over the sirens. He grabs my shoulder and pushes me. We both run down the halls. Each cell is open. Every prison door wide open. All the cops try to gather as many prisoners as they can. I follow the guy out of the building and we stop before a car. Other prisoners inside it, and on top of the ute.

"Are getting on or not?" One of them asks. I chuckle and get inside, sitting in the passenger seat. The man who broke me out slips his seatbelt over him and he turns the car engine on beside me.

"Ready to taste freedom again?" He asks, a smirk crawling on his bloody lips.

"Ready as I'll ever be." I laugh.

~

Peeta's POV

I hold my stuff in my hands, everything I own and have are in boxes. I stand at the door, looking around with no thoughts left in my head. Except for the fact that I'm moving out...

"How long are you staying away for?" Katniss asks me, looking at me with sad, grey eyes.

"I'm going to be at my family's house for... as long as I need to..." I sigh, still standing at the door. Most of my stuff is already in my car, all I need to do is just say goodbye.

"Well, I should head off now... Bye Prim." I ruffle the top of Prim's head.

"Bye Arlo. Bye Buttercup." I rub the top of both their heads. Arlo whines a bit, but I shake the heartbreaking sound out of my head.

"Bye Ruby, I love you." I kiss the top of Ruby's forehead, her hands trying to grab onto my face. I then look up at Katniss.

"I'll come back okay? I still love you Katniss, but... I just can't handle it right now. And my family needs me anyway..." I sigh once more. I kiss her cheek.

"Okay... I love you too. Bye." She says, and waves. I grab my stuff, walk to my car and put it into the car. I get into the driver's seat and start the car. I take one last glance at my family, Katniss holding Ruby's small hand to wave goodbye. I bite the inside of my mouth, my tongue and clench my teeth, trying to hold back the tears. So I drive out of the driveway and to my other family awaiting me.

I clench my teeth harder, rage starting to fill me. Ugh, we were so reckless! I asked her if we should've used it, but she declined it. She wanted this to happen! We both weren't ready to have any of this, now she's only begging for more. Why did I let myself do this? Now I'm torn, and literally torn from the family I loved so much. I still love Katniss, and Ruby and my family... but I was just such a fool!

I drive a bit faster. My arms tense and gripped onto the steering wheel. Eventually I reach my family's house. I see my Mom waiting for me at the door, giving me that look of disappointment. My brothers seen through the windows upstairs, also shaking their heads. I sigh deeply.

I park the car right next to Mom. But she looks at me for a while and walks back inside, indicating that she's not going to help me unload my stuff. I groan with frustration, slamming my head onto the steering wheel and creating a loud ring disturbing everyone around. I should get up, these boxes aren't going to unpack themselves...

~

I sit at the end of the table, looking at my family before me. Mom to my left, my Dad on my right, Ryden and Alex sit opposite to each other and Zack at the other end. We have our lunch, which are just pain sandwiches and I let Mom and Dad glare into my soul.

"Did you guys really need me?" I ask, the words just suddenly run out of my mouth.

"Well, no, not all! Just your brothers had to walk to school for the last year or so! And your Dad was worried sick, and all! It was just fine!" Mom's voice is obviously sarcastic, but it's gone to a point where she's now standing and shouting with the top of her lungs.

"They didn't need me to do that! They're more than capable of walking to school, and Zack has his own car!" I too stand up.

"Don't talk back to me young man! You've only turned 19 today, yet you've already been through so much, such as raising a family! No wonder Katniss kicked you out of the house. You're staying here for the next few months so I-"

"She didn't kick me out! I moved out." I say. She rolls her eyes.

"You argued over something though, didn't you?" She scoffs, and I avoid eye contact. We didn't argue, it was more of a conversation... but she's right, it was over something.

I finish my sandwich and head up to my old room. I walk up the stairs, shut the door behind me and flop onto my bed exhausted. I look at the box filled with the presents Katniss gave me, the objects lying still on the other side of the room. I hear a knock come from my door.

"Hey, lil bro... You okay?" Zack's voice comes from the other side.

"I'm just fine, thanks... Why are you asking? I thought you didn't care about me like the rest of our damn family?" I snark back.

"What?! I always cared about you lil bro! I might not have seemed like it, but if anything happened to you I wouldn't forgive myself. It's called sibling love." He says, a bit of silence follows after. I try to keep my tears back.

"Anyway, Happy Birthday Peeta. Hope you and Katniss solve things out." He says, then leaves. My lips tremble and my hands shake.

Maybe I should've been nicer to Katniss, this wasn't her fault. She just wanted a family, after everything she's been through. And I shouldn't have been so mean to my siblings, they only wanted to get along.

I don't know what to think anymore...

~

Katniss POV

I bury my face within my hands, my face wet from tears. Prim sits on the floor with Ruby, the little one looking happy as ever. Arlo sitting next to me and Buttercup sitting next to Prim.

Prim looks up at me, feeling sorry for me. I wipe some tears away, and rest a hand onto my stomach, carrying my future child. I don't know when he's going to come back. He could be gone for months, and I don't know how I'm going to be able to take care of two children by myself. Prim could help, but I don't want to ask too much of her. She's already done so much for me, for us.

"What are we going to do with his cake?" She asks me. I look at the chocolate cake on the bench, everything still in tact.

"Would you like a slice?" I ask, smiling a small smile. Prim's lips water, so do mine, and I get up and walk to the kitchen. I grab a knife, cut two slices, put them on two plates and we eat the delicious chocolate for lunch.

'Happy Birthday Peeta.' I think to myself, looking out at the blue sky reminding me of his eyes.

~

Gale's POV

The light on my cigar reminds me of the dim lamp light that night... when I did those horrible things to Katniss... and the many more terrible things I did to her after that. I regret those things, deeply. I was just consumed by greed and envy, I didn't think anything through.

"So, what got you in prison?" Ethan, the guy who helped me, asks.

"Well, I did some horrible stuff..." I mumble, not interested in talking about my life to people I just met.

"Who hasn't these days?" Ethan chuckles as if it's no big deal, 'I've been in and out of jail for years, it's become like a second home!'

What he's said hits me in a way I can't describe. It's as if I could see the events that had led to me ending up in jail and now sitting here, as an escaped convict.

'So, you gonna pass the cigar?' He asks me.

I pass it to him absent-mindedly and watch as he takes a drag. Sooner or later, I'm going to have to give in to the world and pay for what I put Katniss through and what I've done to her.

-

~December 24th; Christmas Eve~

Katniss's P.O.V

It's been two weeks since Peeta moved out. 14 days, on the dot, to be exact. It's Ruby's first Christmas and it's without her dad. Without my new husband. All I want for Christmas is a whole, happy family. He hasn't talked to me since he left. I want to badly, but leave him alone. He needs his time... even though it is hurting my own. I can't sleep, eat, or do much without him being on my mind. I am so lost... so hurt... I just want to make things right. But I don't know how to. I could never get rid of this child just to bring Peeta back to me. I will never do that to someone who is barely becoming someone. Even for the sake of my marriage. We arrive home from Christmas photos and shopping. I stomp my shoes off and set all the bags down.

"I'll make us some coco, Katniss. And start the fire." Prim says.

"Thanks, can you take her and set her down for a nap?" I say.

"Of course. Must be tired from this long day, huh Cutie?" Prim says and takes her from my arms.

I take the bags and bring them to the living room. I take out the gifts, and wrapping materials. I got Peeta gifts, even though he may not be home. But they can be here when he comes home. I wrap Prim's so she doesn't see them. I get the envelope of the Christmas cards and pictures. I smile sadly at them. It isn't a whole, without Peeta.

I wish he would have at least come for the pictures, but I knew he won't for a while. Most likely into the New Year... I would hope not, but if he does.. I can't change his mind. Prim comes downstairs and goes to the kitchen. She starts to make the hot coco.

"Did she go down easy, Little Duck?" I ask.

"Yep. Way easy. She was really tired. She didn't even finish her bottle." She says,

She comes over and starts the fire. She takes a seat next to me on the couch. Buttercup sits on her lap and Arlo lays on the ground near my feet. I go on wrapping Ruby and Peeta's gifts.

"Going to be okay, this Christmas, Kat?" She asks and rests her hand on my thigh.

I shrug a little and continue to wrap the gifts. I bite my cheeks and try to keep myself from crying. The timer on the oven beeps and she gets up. She goes and gets us our warm winter drinks. She sets them down on the coffee table. She then hugs me tightly. I let myself feel the pain. The loneliness. The hurt. All of it.

"Things will work out, Katniss. I promise. Just hang on." Prim says. "We can still have a good Christmas. Just the six of us, okay?"

'The worst Christmas of my life.' I think. 

GAHHHHHAAHHH!!! *UGLY FANGIRL SOBBING!!!* What a ride.. We hope you like it and didn't die of sadness! More will come and all of this be happenin for a reason! We swearz to you guys! Plz vote and comment! More will come! We all wrote this! Lots of love and hugs for you guys!! ❤❤😭😭❤

*BIG hug to all!* 

-Zeffie, Fern and Ruby!