The Mellark Children

Chapter 8: The One With The House Call

"Good morning, Katniss." Peeta sweetly whispers in my ear, kissing my cheek lightly. When I don't wake right away, I feel the covers lift a bit and Peeta inch closer to me. I ignore it all and try and get back to sleep. He wakes up way too early in the morning, so it can't possibly be that late into the morning, and I didn't sleep well last night.

Peeta has managed to wake me just enough and move me to the couch downstairs every morning before leaving home. Yesterday morning when he lifted me into his arms, my belly felt heavier than normal. All day long I gazed at my bump to see if it had grown at all, but I couldn't tell. When Peeta got home that afternoon, I had him study my bump to see if he could find a change.

We never settled whether or not my stomach had in fact grown, but I felt so uncomfortable all day and it only got worse at night. It took me forever to get into a position comfortable enough to fall asleep and once it finally happened I had to pee.

Peeta snuggles his face in the crook of my neck, resting his chin on my shoulder. He places a hand on my belly and begins to rub circles on my still teeny bump.

"What time is it?" I groan.

"Time to wake up sleepyhead," Peeta says warmly.

I whine, "Are you sure? I feel like I fell asleep only minutes ago."

"Yes, I'm sure," Peeta laughs, kissing my shoulder. I groan. "You alright? I could feel you tossing and turning all night."

"Your child is getting bigger." I state, annoyed.

I can feel the air blow on my neck from Peeta's smile.

"You make that sound like a bad thing," he says.

"Little bug is getting heavy," I complain.

Peeta continues to stroke my stomach and it helps soothe me back to a sleepy state.

"Kat," Peeta whispers. "You can't go back to sleep."

"How come?" I fuss.

"Did you forget?"

I just lay there silently because I did, in fact, forget.

"Your house call?" Peeta quizzes me, but I still don't respond. "Dr. Roman is stopping by today... to possibly take you off bed rest."

Oh yeah. She called the other day and asked if I would have a problem with her coming here to check on everything versus having me spend more time on my feet, just in case I wasn't ready to be up and moving again.

"Can't she just exam me while I sleep?" I grumble.

"I'm afraid not," Peeta says before he kisses my neck.

I roll over onto my back and gaze up into Peeta's eyes. With each passing day my hormones get more and more intense, making my want for him grow even more. His tiny tokens of affection only add to that.

"What?" he chuckles, detecting that my mind is elsewhere.

"Nothin'," I smile.

"Are you ready for breakfast?"

I nod, biting my lower lip.

Peeta pecks my lips and scoots away from me, inching his way out of bed. He walks out of the room for a brief second and returns with a breakfast tray before I even get the chance to get up and follow him.

"Breakfast in bed for the woman of my dreams," he says, walking around the bed.

I move myself into a sitting position so Peeta can place the tray across my lap.