Chapter 25

                                    

                                          
Katniss P.O.V.
                          
"Katniss, come here," Peeta hollers from the nursery.
                          
"No," Willow whines. "Mommy's braiding my hair."
                          
"It won't take but just a minute," Peeta says. I sigh and sit Willow down on her bed.
                          
"I'll be right back, baby girl," I tell Willow before going over to the nursery. Peeta stands over the changing table, and Rye's looking up at him.
                          
"What? Did he pee on you again?" I ask Peeta as I walk over to him.
                          
"Ha ha," he says sarcastically. "Watch this." Peeta leans down and blows air onto Rye's belly, sending Rye into a fit of giggles.
                          
"Oh my gosh. You finally got him to laugh," I say excitedly. "We've been trying for almost two weeks to get him to do more than just smile at us."
                          
"Mommy! I am waiting!" Willow yells. Peeta and I look at each other and shake our head.
                          
"She's definitely your daughter," Peeta tells me. I roll my eyes at him and walk back to Willow. She's sitting on her bed with her arms crossed and a pout on her face.
                          
"What's the matter with you?" I ask her. "I wasn't gone very long."
                          
"You are supposed to be helping me," she whines.
                          
"Daddy was showing me something."
                          
"What?"
                          
"Rye has finally started laughing," I tell Willow. She rolls her eyes.
                          
"So?" she says. "I laugh all the time."
                          
"Huh-oh," I say as I sit down and pull Willow over onto my lap. "Is someone getting jealous?"
                          
"I'm not jealous," Willow tells me defensively.
                          
"It sure sounds like it," I tell her.
                          
Willow sighs loudly. "You are my Mommy," she says. By the sound of her voice, I can tell she's about to cry.
                          
"Willow, I'm Rye's mommy too," I tell her. Willow was a little jealous when Rye was first born, but she's gotten worse now that Rye is starting to do more. 
                          
"I was here first."
                          
I sigh and hold her close to me. "I know it doesn't seem fair to you, baby girl. I promise you that I love you and Rye the same."
                          
She pouts at me. "You not love me more?"
                          
"That wouldn't be fair to Rye," I tell her. "Willow, no matter what happens, you will always be mine and Daddy's little girl. But we have to take care of Rye too." Willow doesn't say anything else, so I go back to fixing her hair.
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"I need you to talk to Willow," I tell Peeta as he fixes our lunch. He turns around to look at me and raises an eyebrow. 
                          
"What for?"
                          
"She's getting even more jealous of Rye," I tell him. "I tried to explain it to her, but I don't think I got through to her. You're so much better at this than I am." Peeta chuckles and shakes his head.
                          
"You do a pretty good job," he says. "But I'll see if I can make her understand."
                          
Before I can say anything, Willow screams real loud, followed by Rye's cries. Peeta and I go running up the steps and to the nursery.
                          
Willow is standing by the crib with her hand reached between the bars. She has Rye's hair gripped in her hand, while Rye pulls on hers. We both rush over to them, trying to pull them apart. 
                          
I pick Willow up, and Peeta gets Rye.
                          
"Willow, what on earth were you doing?" Peeta asks her.
                          
"Him pulled my hair first!"
                          
"It doesn't matter," I tell her. "You should've hollered at me or Daddy to come help you. You know better than to pull Rye's hair."
                          
"But him did it first!"
                          
"Rye doesn't know any better," Peeta tells her. "You could've seriously hurt him, Willow."
                          
I take a deep breath and set her down on the floor. "Go to your room."
                          
"Mommy!"
                          
"Go, Willow," Peeta tells her. "You can come out when we get ready to eat." Willow pouts and stomps over to her room. I look over at Peeta and take a deep breath. Peeta hands Rye to me, and I cradle him close to me.
                          
"Hey," Peeta says as he places his hands on either of my shoulders. "It's just a phase she's going through. It will be okay." I nod my head, and Peeta kisses my cheek. Peeta looks down at Rye and wipes a thumb across Rye's forehead. "Maybe you'll learn not to pull hair now."
                          
I laugh a little. "I have a feeling that we'll be breaking up a lot of fights." Peeta chuckles and nods his head.
                          
"I'd better go finish cooking our lunch."
                          
"Okay," I say. "I'll go downstairs with you. I need to fix Rye's bottle before he starts getting mad." Peeta smiles at me and wraps an arm around my waist.
                          
Willow stays really quiet while we eat. The pout never leaves her face, and she keeps staring down at her plate.
                          
"Willow," Peeta says gently. "You need to eat." Willow shakes her head, and Peeta sighs. "Come here, then."
                          
Willow quickly looks up at Peeta with huge tears in her eyes.
                          
"Am I in trouble, Daddy?"
                          
"No, Willow," Peeta tells her. "I just want to talk to you for a minute."
                          
Willow takes a deep breath and hops down out of her chair. She walks over to Peeta, and he picks her up, sitting her down in his lap.
                          
"Listen, Willow," Peeta says softly. "You know that me and Mommy love you, right?" She nods her head. "And Rye also loves you."
                          
"I love Rye too," Willow says quietly. "But why does him have to take you and Mommy from me?"
                          
"Baby girl, Rye is not taking us away from you," Peeta tells her.
                          
"But you are always paying 'tention to him."
                          
"We have to, Willow," I say. "Rye's just a baby. He can't take care of himself as much as you can."
                          
"And we pay attention to you too," Peea says. "We love you both so much, and we take care of both of you. So there's absolutely no reason for you to be jealous."
                          
"And if you ever feel like you're being left out, you need to tell us," I say. Willow nods her head and smiles a little.
                          
"Are you okay now?" Peeta asks Willow. She nods her head.
                          
"I think I'm hungry now, Daddy," Willow says. Peeta starts to set Willow down on the floor, but she clings to Peeta's neck.
                          
"Daddy, I can sit in your lap while I eat?"
                          
Peeta chuckles and kisses the top of Willow's head. "Of course you can, baby girl."