That Ol' Wind

Chapter 15: Peeta

"You sure you'll be okay while I take Joey to school? Annie offered to take him. I don't really like the thought of leaving you alone right now," I say as Katniss waddles over to me, her full term stomach making her a little off balance.

"I'll be fine. I've been through all this before," she says laughing.

"But you could go into labor any time now," I say.

"I promise, I'll call you if anything happens in the fifteen minutes of you being gone. Besides, its not like you see on TV," she says picking up a peanut butter sandwich stuffed with sliced apples, which she hasn't been able to get enough of lately, and takes a bite.

"How so?" I ask her.

"As soon as I go into labor, the baby's not gonna just be ready to come out. It'll be a few hours before that happens," she says.

"How long was it with Joey?" I ask her.

"Thirteen hours although its not usually quite that long," she says.

"And you aren't scared about that happening again?" I say and she shakes her head.

"Don't get me wrong, with Joey I was absolutely terrified, but since I know what's coming and the reward at the end, it's not as scary. I'm a little nervous, but no where near what I was with Joey," she says.

"So you'll be okay?" I ask as Joey comes down and stands beside me.

"I'm positive. I'm absolutely fine Peeta, I promise," she says kissing my cheek. Joey hugs her goodbye and also tells the baby goodbye. We walk out to my truck and he sits net to me.

"Do you think Momma will have the baby today?" he asks.

"I don't know. Why do you ask?" I ask him.

"I don't really know. Today just feels like a special day," he says.

"It's possible. I just hope everything goes okay. Your mom's not scared but I'm really scared for her," I say.

"She's already been through this before. She had me. But you weren't so you don't know what'll happen. I know you couldn't have been there, and so does Momma, but that only makes things harder for you," he says.

"How'd you figure that one out?" I ask him.

"I'm very observant," he says proudly.

"You're also ten," I laugh.

"Anyway, what's gonna happen to me if Momma has the baby while I'm at school?" he asks.

"The school will find someone to cover for Prim and she'll get you from class and take you to see Momma and the baby," I say as we pull up outside the school.

"Okay. Bye Dad! I hope to see you before you would usually pick me up!" he says.

"And why is that?" I ask.

"I want to meet my new brother or sister," he says jumping out of the car.

"Me too kid, me too," I think as I pull away and start for home.

When I get there. Katniss greets me at the door.

"And just like I told you," she says smirking,"Nothing happened while you were gone."

"Okay, okay," I say," you want something for it?" She goes to sit on the couch and lifts up one of her swollen feet.

"My feet are a little sore," she says matter of factly.

"Yeah, yeah, I get the hint," I say sitting at the end of the couch and placing her feet in my lap. I gently start to massage her sore feet and she laughs.

"I really got you trained don't I? Now I just need to teach you to put the toilet seat down and pick up your dirty socks," she jokes and I just smile and shake my head.

"You know, Joey's convinced that he's gonna meet his little brother or sister today," I say.

"Could be today, could be a couple days from now. I can't really tell. But when I do feel the signs, I'll know she's coming," she says.

"And you'll tell me right?" I ask.

"Of course I will. Its not like I'm gonna just pop her out. I'll need to get to the hospital," she says. She rolls onto her side and I let go of her feet.

"What are you doing?" I ask her.

"Taking a nap. What does it look like?" she asks.

"You just woke up a little while ago," I say getting a little concerned.

"I'm nine months pregnant. I'm not allowed to be tired?" she asks.

"Were you this tired with Joey?" I ask her and she nods.

"The last week of my pregnancy, I was only awake about eight hours a day, and they were never eight hours strait. Just a few hours here and there," she says yawning and laying her head down. I get up to leave her in piece and before I even get to the kitchen, I hear her soft snores.

About a half an hour later, I hear Katniss' slow heavy thread come up behind me.

"Looks like Joey was right," she says as I turn to face her.

"About what?" I ask her.

"My water just broke. Looks like Joey's gonna meet his little sister today."