Pregnant In the Quell

Chapter Thirty Five

"Mrs. Mellark?" A nurse says tapping my shoulder. "Your children are hungry, and need to be fed."

I rub my eyes and sit up slightly to see Peeta holding Jay and Raine, bobbing them slightly and trying to get them to stop crying.

"She's awake." A nurse says to him before leaving and shutting the door tightly behind her.

"I'm sorry," I groan. "How long have they been crying?"

"About an hour.." Peeta says.

"Why didn't you wake me sooner?" I ask as a red faced, crying Raine is passed over to me.

"You've had a rough few days, and I wanted to see if they'd calm down. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, Peeta." I say as I take my shirt off. Raine latches right away.

"Where's Aster?"

"She hasn't woken up yet." Peeta replies, still trying to get Jay to calm down.

"Ugh." I groan. "I wish I could feed them at the same time!" I say angrily, getting frustrated with myself. My breasts already hurt from having to feed all three of my children so much.

"As soon as we get home, we can start pumping and bottle feeding." Peeta insists.

"I just don't want them to be unhappy." I say, not realizing that I am bawling.

"They won't be unhappy, Katniss." He says, still bobbing Jay up and down in effort to stop him from crying. "They're infants."

"Look at Jay!" I snap.

I grab a pillow from behind me and place Raine on the pillow as she continues eating.

"Give him to me." I say as I place Jay next to her. He latches to my other breast.

I wince in pain as I lean down to feed my children. My back pain is still terrible, and I'm not even mobile yet.

"I'm sorry, Katniss." Peeta whispers. I look over to him and see a few tears run down his cheek.

"It's not your fault, Peeta." I sigh. "I'm just in a lot of pain."

"I wish I could take it all away from you." He whispers as he stroked my hair.

It feels like as soon as Jay and Raine are done eating, Aster begins to scream at the top of her little lungs.

Peeta scoops Raine and Jay up, and hands me Aster.

"Thanks for being patient, Little one." I say with a small sigh as Aster begins to eat.

I look over at Peeta.  He is smiling down at Raine and Jay. It is at this moment, that I realize that all of the hate and sorrow that was left is completely drained from his eyes. Peeta finally has what he has wanted for the longest time. For the first time, Peeta and I are happy. We are genuinely happy.

+++

"Welcome home, my beautiful children." I whisper as Peeta opens the door. I have Raine in my arms, and Peeta is carrying Aster and Jay.

I shuffle over to the couch immediately, where I plop myself down with a wince.

"Agh." I cry as I hold Rainy tightly. Peeta quickly puts Aster and Jay in their little cots and runs over to me.

"Are you alright?" He asks in a concerned tone.

"It hurts so bad, Peeta." I whisper as I grit my teeth.

"Here.." He says as he lifts Raine gently out of my arms and into her cot.

He sits down next to me, and lifts me up gently so that he is holding me like an infant.

I lean my head on his shoulder and feel slight relief.

"How does that feel?" He asks as he kisses my lips softly.

"Better." I breathe.

A few moments later, as soon as I am about to finally rest, Haymitch and Effie barge in the door, tons of gifts in hand.

"Oh, you two look adorable!" Effie squeals. "Now, where is the little one?"

"Shit." Peeta whispers with a laugh. "I forgot to mention that we had triplets."

"Peeta!" I say with a giggle.

"They're over there." Peeta points to the three cots that sit in the corner of our living room.

Haymitch and Effie exchange a glance before slowly approaching the cots.

"W– How'd this? What?!" Haymitch asks.

"We had triplets!" Peeta and I say in unison.

"Oh my goodness!" Effie says. "This is great! Oh, what are their names?"

Peeta gets up to introduce the triplets to Effie, and Haymitch comes over to sit next to me.

"Well.." He says. "I guess you're in some pain?"

"Yeah.." I say with a small wince as I try to move.

"They're beautiful, Katniss." He says with a smile. "What are their names?"

"Aster, Raine, and Jay." I whisper.

Haymitch stares over at Peeta and Effie who are now holding the triplets again.

"I'm so proud of you two, you know that?"

"Oh, are you?" I ask jokingly.

"Yep." He says as he hits my shoulder lightly. "But really, Katniss. I'm proud of all you have accomplished. I think of you as family. I love you like a daughter, and I'm happy that you finally have your happy ending."

"Thank you, Haymitch." I say as I give him a hug.

"Now let me go meet these sweethearts!" Haymitch says with a smile as he runs over to Peeta and Effie.

I let out a small chuckle, before laying down again and finally getting some rest.

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HEY!! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update. I've been super busy. I also have a book called life after mockingjay that I've been working on! Please read it!

Xoxo