A/N

By Alan Gilfoy in the world of Suzanne Collins. AU. Katniss has a tryst with Gale after a canon 74th Games and ends up pregnant from it. First-person present-tense Katniss POV.

This story is inspired by Dirty Little Lover by jioni2 and is a sort of sequel to it. It's one of the first fics I read, especially as far as Gale/Katniss goes. The first paragraph of my story summarizes the events of that story.

Chapter

I won the Hunger Games by faking love, but I had wondered if parts of the Peeta act were becoming real. Gale visited me in Victors Village soon afterwards, and he was hurt by my act with Peeta and how I had been changed by the Capitol. Fair enough. My doubts and his hurt were quashed as we realized we were right for each other after all. Caught up in the sudden realization of our love, we reveled in the heat of the moment. I realized I was fertile at the time, and meant to tell him to pull out. I had gotten cut off as our climaxes hit. Sure enough…

I figured I'd talk to Mother first. "I'm late."

She went to work on confirming this. To her, the plant work was so simple, but I never could quite grasp that stuff. The test was positive. "So Peeta couldn't wait, eh dear?"

"Please. The Mellark boy couldn't even talk to me for eleven years; do you think he'd suddenly build up the courage to make that move?" I shot back.

"I always wondered if there was something romantic between you and Gale," Mother said, quickly realizing what the only other plausible explanation was.

"There wasn't, until recently," I clarified. "Ironically, it took the 'star-crossed lovers' act with Peeta to bring us to our senses. That was a magical afternoon as we suddenly realized the truth and acted upon it. He was very good, and quite a gentleman," I continued.

"Let's see if he continues to act like that after hearing about this," the elder Everdeen said haughtily.

I was taken aback by this worry that hadn't even crossed my mind, and I replied "He's such a devoted family man around his mother and siblings; why wouldn't that carry over to his own child?" To me that seemed like stating the obvious; I hoped my gut instinct was right and not hers.

I saw a little girl poking her head around the wall – Prim acting much like how Rue had in the training center. "It's Auntie Prim." The words rolled off her tongue, quietly but confidently. You could not put anything past her, especially if had to do with both medicine and her big sister. "I'm happy for you, but if the Capitol finds out you lied to them…" She drew her hand across her throat. Exactly.

It would be a sensitive topic for both Peeta and Gale, so it seemed best to confront those young men separately. Peeta would be easy enough to find, just across the path in Victors Village, which ironically made that talk easier to put off. I'd have to find a good time to talk to Gale. The day after the conversation with Mother, we went hunting like usual. I didn't want to distract us from our work, but really, I didn't want to despoil the woods that were so special to us.

On the walk back home, I said, "Remember last month?"

"How could I forget?" he said with a twinkle in his eye.

The laughs were about to stop, I thought as I cut him off. "Hawthorne, we have a problem - thanks to that, I'm pregnant. You wanted kids, now you're about to get them."

"Catnip, you know I'm still there for you. I'm still excited, even unexpected, this soon, and with the Mellark complication." He sneered those last three words, and I couldn't blame him. He went on with his mix of anger and tactics. "I'll be the most dedicated cousin Panem has ever seen. We can't get away with giving it my name, but you aren't giving it his name either."

I hadn't even thought about naming it yet. However, ideas came quickly to me once he mentioned that. "Very well, it will simply be an Everdeen. If a boy, named after my father. If a girl, named after … Rue."

"Jacob Everdeen the second. I like it too. And I figured that thing with the little girl was for real," he said to agree with me. I appreciated understanding sentiment now if ever. "Considering everything else life in The Seam throws at us, we can weather this with a smile too…a 15-year-old being called 'dada'?...I'm the closest thing to a father Posy will ever know…that's where the experience and enthusiasm for this one comes from." He patted my belly as he said this.

"Yes, your family knows how good you are to them and how good you will be to another one," I agreed. "Mother was relatively matter-of-fact about it. Prim was excited, but also understands what the stakes are – as you said, the Mellark complication," I said to explain my family's reaction.

In a surprise move, he lifted me up effortlessly. It befit his strength, even as I was starting to approach a healthy weight unheard of in The Seam. I was reminded that myself and the child were safe in his hands, but Gale had a dual purpose in mind. I let myself go along for the ride; I did want his touch again, and anyway, what's the worst that could happen now? He carried me all the rest of the way to my Victors Village house.

Prim was in the doorway. "Nice haul today, eh, Big Man?" she joked. Very funny, Little Duck. 'Big Man' was Rory, Vick and Posy's nickname for their oldest brother. To them, it referred to his height. To me, it referred to a different dimension of his.

"Your sister is the best thing I've ever found in those woods," Gale responded quite seriously. I'd stretch to give him a kiss for that. Our lips touched as we went through the doorway.

"Little Duck, why don't you walk down the path a bit and drag our bags back with you. Leave them in the kitchen," I suggested. I can't believe we forgot about those, but Prim could manage them this time. She probably had a clue what we were about to do – she is a very smart girl, after all. However I wanted to make the deniability somewhat plausible.

"Functional and fun. Very nice, Catnip," Gale whispered, understanding perfectly. With me still in his arms, he found what I believe was the same bedroom we used last time. He laid me down on the floor as he flopped back onto the bed. We weren't going to stay still for long. Father's jacket was the first thing to come off. I opened my tunic and said, "Sometimes you have such nice things to say about my eyes - well, what do you think about these orbs?"

"They're on you! More proof of how beautiful you really are. Even without Capitol finery. Especially without Capitol finery," he answered. He was right; I hadn't been looking like the real me. More succinctly, he started working at his belt. I tickled him while unbuttoning his shirt. While I got at the firm skin, he returned the favor on some of my softest parts. I squirmed again as he massaged those breasts with his hands instead of mouth this time. He started kissing his way down the rest of my body. "Looks like the damn Capitol style team left some body hair alone," he said to joke about my lady garden.

"Yeah, my arms and legs getting waxed was quite enough, thankyouverymuch," I agreed. Since my crotch was hidden under the costumes, I had eventually gotten Octavia, Venia and Flavius to leave it alone. They were professionals, I had to give them that despite all I disliked about them, but I hadn't wanted anybody else touching me there.

I had since made an exception for Gale. "I am experienced at carefully treading through the bush," he said with a naughty smile. He started thrusting fingers inside of me while his other hand flicked at my button. Oh yes. Then he started flicking at my sweet spot with his tongue, and I was even more ecstatic.

I slowly lowered myself down onto him. This was already our second time, but even a woman much further from virginity would have been careful with this tool. This still took some getting used to, and was still oh so worth it. Like the last time, my initial pain slowly turned to pleasure and we sped up. I found my release and found it again before he did. "Now you're really a girl on fire in her best outfit – or lack thereof" is what came out of his gifted mouth as he spilled his seed inside of me, and taking his load didn't matter this time.

We collapsed onto the bed and started running our fingers through each other's hair. As we rested next to each other, he whispered, "We've never felt better than in each other's grasp. This was meant to be, and I think part of us knew all along." So right.