Chapter Text
It took Effie some time to leave the Capitol. A year and a half after the war ended, actually.
Haymitch was glad for it, because by the time she came along to 12, the kids were better. They weren’t screaming every night, and they started acting like the stupidly in love teenagers they were.
He was better, too. He didn’t drink himself to sleep every night, and he wasn’t as angry anymore, he hasn’t been this calm since before his Games.
And he missed Effie. Hot damn, he missed her.
It’s been a year and a half since they’ve seen each other, and lord help him, Haymitch missed Effie.
She exchanged letters with Peeta, and the boy always told Haymitch about them, told him that Effie was doing well, working for Plutarch, adjusting to the new Capitol.
His phone rung, sometimes, and Haymitch knew it was her. He never answered.
When Peeta told him that Effie will be moving to 12, Haymitch felt like his brain short wired. But Katniss was watching him with an interested expression, and Peeta looked like he already figured something out, so Haymitch shook his head and boldly told the kids that Effie will be staying with him.
‘That’s actually a great idea’, Peeta said. ‘It wouldn’t be good for Effie to be here on our bad nights.’
‘Sure’, Katniss said, not once taking her eyes off Haymitch.
He sighed and went back to his house.
☆
To be fair, Effie wanted to leave the Capitol immediately. But it was easier said than done.
At first, she had to stay to take care of Peeta. Then, he kept saying that they weren’t okay, that Katniss, Haymitch and himself still needed time, that they weren’t safe. To fill her days, she started working for Plutarch, and then he didn’t let her leave.
But a year and a half after the war ended, she couldn’t take it anymore. There were too many bad memories in the Capitol, and she missed her team. So she announced Plutarch she was leaving, and didn’t hear his pleas.
☆
Even though she didn’t let anyone know exactly when she was coming, and even though there was barely any daylight when the train arrived, there is a young man named Thom waiting for her, alongside a car.
He explains, that he was paid to just get the weekly supplies for the Victors, but that Peeta told him she would be coming along, at one point. Effie’s grateful for the help, she doesn’t have as many possessions as before, but three suitcases are still too much for her to carry.
Thom helps her get the bags into Haymitch’s house, where she will be apparently staying. He then informs her that he’s probably over at Katniss’ house, they usually have breakfast together.
So Effie freshens herself a bit as fast as she can, doesn’t bother unpacking, just grabs the bag of gifts that she brought with her, and goes over to Katniss’ house. Which is empty.
She finds them all in the back yard, sitting around a table, eating breakfast. Katniss and Haymitch have their backs turned to her, so she only sees Peeta, who is in the middle of telling some story.
Of course, he is the first to notice her, and he freezes completely, in the middle of a word. Then he bolts out of his chair and runs to her, Effie barely having time to put the bag on the ground, until Peeta hugs her tightly.
She starts crying, but really, how could she not?
‘Don’t cry, Effie’, Peeta says, chuckling slightly, still holding on to her. ‘You’ll ruin your makeup.’
She snorts. ‘I’m not wearing any makeup.’
At that, Peeta lets go of her, so that he can see her face.
‘You’re pretty’, he frowns after a few seconds, and it’s Katniss’ turn to snort. She also shoves him aside, and hugs Effie just as tightly as Peeta did.
‘Are you really staying?’, she asks as she pulls away, and Effie nods as she wipes away her tears.
‘In that case’, Peeta comes back to their side, ‘let’s have breakfast’.
‘I brought coffee’, Effie says, handing the bag she brought to Peeta. ‘And other gifts, it’s mostly food.’
‘Gummy bears!’, Peeta all but screeches, running inside with the bag.
Effie finally turns to look at Haymitch. He hasn’t even gotten up from his chair, and he isn’t showing any signs of emotions.
Still, she lifts an eyebrow and addresses him. ‘Are you still drinking?’
That makes him scoff, but Katniss answers.
‘Not much. A glass if he feels like it, two or three if he needs it to sleep.’
‘In that case’, Effie winks at Haymitch. ‘There’s a bottle of very expensive whiskey in your kitchen.’
Haymitch doesn’t thank her, but there is a slight hint of a smile on his face.
‘And on that note’, he gets up from his chair, ‘I’m gonna go get your room ready.’
‘I’ll help’, Effie doesn’t miss a beat.
‘No, you will not’, Haymitch rolls his eyes. ‘Have breakfast with the kids, we’ll’, he waves a hand, ‘catch up later.’
He’s gone soon after, and when Effie turns back, she’s startled by the way Katniss is watching her. She seems curious, excited a bit. It’s disconcerting. Katniss doesn’t say anything, though, she just piles Effie’s plate with food.
As they eat, the children talk about District 12. About how much it’s changed, how hard they’re still working on rebuilding it. They talk about the people who live here now, how different they seem now that they’re free.
And that’s the thing that Effie’s most scared of. Everything is different. She is different, too. She just hopes she’ll be able to live in 12, and she hopes the people will be able to accept her too.
Especially Haymitch, who even though offered his guest room for as long as needed, was acting off.
But all doubts leave Effie’s mind when she gets back to Haymitch’s house. He wasn’t in, and her bags weren’t where she left them. Instead, they’re in a guest room on the first floor. The room is clean, the bed is made, the window is open. Her bags were left empty in a corner, and her clothes were put away in drawers.
There was even a pajama on the end of the bed, which was hers, but Haymitch also gave her one of his sweaters, dark green and very soft from wear. She doesn’t hesitate in putting it on, it’s chilly in the room.
Effie falls asleep to the sound of the geese being fed, Haymitch yelling profanities at them.
☆
When Effie wakes up, the sun isn’t out anymore and she is famished. Confused and still sleepy, she doesn’t bother changing out of her pajama before making her way downstairs. Haymitch is in the kitchen, grilling something.
‘Oh, you’re up’, he says, without even turning around to look at her. ‘I was going to wake you up in a minute, you’ve been asleep for 20 some hours.’
Effie sits down in a chair, blinking weary upon seeing that it is set, with plates and glasses and a bread basket.
‘I must have been more exhausted than I thought.’
Haymitch snorts, turning off the stove and finally turning around. He doesn’t look at Effie, though, he just piles both of their plates with omelets.
‘I didn’t know you could cook’, Effie says, staring at the food in her plate, at the chopped mushrooms and onions and tomatoes.
‘There are a lot of things you don’t know about me’, he says, pouring them something that smells like grape juice. After he sits down across the table from Effie, he smirks, finally looking at her. ‘But I guess you’ll find out now, won’t you, roomie?’
He laughs at that, even if Effie scrunches up her nose. She starts eating, and it is a silent affair for a while, but half way through, she realizes there is something she never said, and she really needs to.
‘Thank you’, she says softly, startling Haymitch. ‘For letting me stay here. And for taking me to 13. And for taking care of me for all those years.’
He just stares at her, for a long time. His mouth is slightly open, and his eyes are comically wide. Finally, he visibly shakes himself, leaning back in the chair.
‘What’s wrong with you?’, he asks, genuinely curious.
It makes the snappy resort she had die on her tongue. Instead, Effie goes back to eating.
‘No, really’, Haymitch insists. ‘What the hell was that?’
‘Gratitude’, Effie all but spits out the word, the strength of it clearly startling Haymitch. She wills herself to calm down.
‘We’ve all changed, Haymitch. So don’t expect me to be the same Effie you’re accustomed to.’
He eyes her weary. What he says, makes Effie burst out laughing.
‘Will I like this Effie better?’
‘Oh, Haymitch.’, she shakes her head, still giggling. ‘That only implies you liked me before.’
He narrows his eyes, but doesn’t say anything, so Effie moves past it.
‘Some things will never change’, she explains. ‘For example, I do plan on cleaning the house, and I will surely end up yelling at you to shower.’
He pulls a face at that, and it makes her laugh again, but when she speaks next, she doesn’t look at him.
‘But, on some nights, I’ll also wake up screaming.’
Haymitch snorts. ‘Don’t think you’re special, there’s plenty of that going around.’
‘Right, well. Thank you for dinner’, is all she can think of saying. ‘I’ll cook tomorrow.’
‘Are you still tired?’, is what he says, and it takes a few beats for Effie to shake her head.
‘Let’s go for a walk then.’, he gets up, without leaving any room for discussion. Not that she was going to discuss it, a walk sounded lovely.
So Effie quickly went upstairs to get dressed.
☆
It was still chilly outside, so as they walked away from the Victor’s Village, Effie put her hands in the pockets of her jacket and buried her hose under the scarf she had wrapped around her neck.
Haymitch snickered, but didn’t say anything.
Effie saw how different 12 was on the ride from the train. But now, late at night, it was absolutely astonishing.
There was so much light, it shocked her. There were street posts that let out a soft yellow glow, creating shadows on the road. The houses, even though she couldn’t see them too clearly, were lived in. That was the sense she got from 12, it was lived, alive. There were shoes on the stairs, clothes drying in the yard. There were flowers and animals, and there were some houses that still had light in them, despite the late hour.
At one point, there was a man sitting on a rocking chair in front of one of the houses. He was old, with a long gray beard. As they passed in front of him, the old man tipped an imaginary hat at Haymitch, and to Effie’s immense surprise, Haymitch actually smiled as he returned the gesture.
‘He’s a teacher’, he tells her when they are far enough that the man doesn’t hear. ‘Math, and physics and stuff like that. He’s so old, I had him in school. I can’t believe he made it.’
‘He must be strong’, Effie agrees. ‘You all are.’
‘Give yourself some credit, princess’, Haymitch snorts.
‘I do’, she smiles. ‘But I’ve got nothing on them’, she points back to the row of houses.
Haymitch says something under his breath, that she doesn’t understand, but then he grabs Effie’s hand and drags her into another direction.
It’s only when they get to the square that Effie realizes he didn’t let go of her hand. She doesn’t care, she’s too busy staring.
The square is unrecognizable. It’s clear that they put a lot of effort into rebuilding it, and into making it nothing alike the last one.
There’s a big building, still under construction, that must be the new District Hall, but beyond that, there are a lot of shops, some small, some larger. Most of them aren’t open yet, but the ones that are, they have colorful signs and witty names.
In the middle of the square, where a wiping post once stood, there are several benches, and a few swings.
When Effie sees those, she turns to look at Haymitch, who’s watching her amused. Effie screeches and lets go of his hand in favor of running to one of the swings.
Haymitch makes his way to her side, slowly. When he leans against the frame, Effie has already caught some speed and height.
‘How old are you?’, Haymitch says, seemingly incredulous.
‘I wasn’t allowed in swings since I was 8. It wasn’t proper for a girl of my social status.’
The eye roll that Haymitch throws her is overly dramatic and equally hilarious to Effie. So she doesn’t control the giggles. He does, however, make his way to sit on the swing next to her, but he doesn’t do much beyond that.
They’re silent for a while, but neither of them gets up, even after Effie stops swinging like a maniac.
‘Am I going to be okay here?’, she finds herself asking.
Haymitch turns to look at her, but she doesn’t look back, keeping her eyes trained on the buildings in front of her.
‘Probably’, he says after a while. ‘It’s a good of a place as any.’
‘No’, Effie shakes her head. ‘I didn’t send every district’s children to die.’
She hears Haymitch sigh, and then she feels his hand on her knee. Effie stares at it, still unable to look at him.
‘Everybody who lives here is a survivor’, Haymitch says slowly. ‘And so are you. They’ll understand.’ He takes his hand away. ‘And if they don’t, then the kids and I will make them understand.’
They stay there, in silence, for the rest of the night. When the sun comes up, Haymitch wordlessly takes her hand and they head back together to the Village, going straight to Katniss’ house, where Peeta is already cooking. He smiles at them, doesn’t even ask why Effie is shaking and why Haymitch keeps sneezing. Peeta just gives them a hot cup of tea and tells them to be more careful in the future.
Katniss, however, who comes to the kitchen five minutes later, she stares at them for a long while, until Haymitch snaps at her.
‘Sorry’, she says, but it’s clear that she’s not. ‘I was just thinking that Peeta and I never asked about the two of you.’
‘What about the two of us?’, Haymitch narrows his eyes.
Katniss shrugs, faking nonchalance. ‘How long have you two known each other?’
Effie and Haymitch share a look. They’re both weary, at first, but then he raises an eyebrow. It looks playful, but challenging.
‘How about you take this one?’, he winks at Effie. ‘I’ll just… complete you if you miss anything.’
It’s a trap, Effie thinks. But Katniss and Peeta are both looking expectantly at her, so she starts to tell the story of how she and Haymitch met.
‘The former escort introduced us’, Effie starts by saying. ‘I told him that I was very pleased to meet him, and I was, in my naivety.’ She smiles at him, briefly. ‘I always admired him, because of the strength he showed in his games. So of course’, Effie rolls her eyes, ‘he was drunk. First, he tells me I have a glorious rack, then he asks me if I’m ready to send children to the butchers.’
‘I have no recollection of this’, Haymitch points out, frowning heavily.
‘As I said’, Effie shares a look with Peeta and Katniss. ‘You were drunk. And it was the year before I started working as your Escort.’
‘If you don’t remember this’, Peeta asks around a grin, ‘what do you remember as your first meeting?’
It’s Haymitch’s turn to grin. ‘She came early, to remind me it was Reaping day. She found me sleeping on the couch. Naked.’
Peeta starts laughing, Katniss looks like she wants to, and Effie sighs, heavily.
‘How long ago was that?’, Katniss asks. ‘I don’t remember ever seeing anybody else at the Reaping.’
‘The Quell was my 13th year’, Effie says with a heavy heart. It brings silence over the table.
‘That’s a long time to put up with Haymitch’, Peeta says, managing to bring up the mood.
‘It wasn’t all horrible’, Effie says around a smile, refusing to look at him. ‘There were times when we both managed to forget why we were really there.’
‘Like that time you threw Chaff into a pool’, Haymitch says.
‘Or when the first year after he won, Finnick followed you around like a lost puppy’, Effie counters.
‘When Joanna spilled wine on your dress.’
‘When Cashmere gave you a black eye because you slapped her behind’, Effie can’t help but chuckle.
‘When you let Cinna dress you for a party’, Haymitch was full on laughing, ‘and he chose a simple black dress.’
‘The year that cat followed you around, and nobody wanted to help you get rid of it’.
‘Mini-Mitch’, Haymitch all but yells, still laughing. ‘They called it Mini-Mitch.’
‘Oh!’, Effie gasps. ‘Remember that Escort, from district 7? The one that fancied you? What was her name, Lilly, Lilith?’
‘What about that game maker?’, Haymitch counters. ‘The one that asked you to marry him before he even introduced himself?’
They were both laughing hysterically by this point, and it took a while for them to calm down. When they did, Peeta and Katniss were staring, with their jaws dropped.
‘Well, thank you for breakfast’, Haymitch says breezily. ‘But we should go now, we’re both very tired.’
Effie wordlessly follows him out the door, leaving behind a still shocked Katniss and Peeta.
☆
The first time Effie wakes up screaming in the middle of the night, Haymitch doesn’t come rushing into her room.
But in the morning, when she wakes up again, he’s snoring in the armchair next to her bed.
☆
Days go by. They almost always have breakfast at Katniss’ house, even when she’s out hunting, and Effie and Haymitch take turns making dinner.
She cleans the house, it takes her a whole week, but he doesn’t make a mess of it afterwards.
Effie adjusts, but as he is far too happy to point out, she never goes into town. So he takes matters into his own hands, loudly announcing one day that they’re going out for dinner.
She knows better than to argue.
☆
Haymitch takes her to the square, where one of the bigger buildings is owned by Greasy Sae.
He explains, that calling it a restaurant is going too far, and that most people still don’t have the money to eat out. But the government pays her to make food for the workers that are still building the district, so she gets by. Sometimes, they have visitors, tourists, so Greasy Sae set up a few guest rooms upstairs. It’s not a hotel, but people from other districts seem to be pleased.
Effie’s heart starts beating faster as they get closer to the door, but Haymitch’s hand on her lower back keeps pushing her forward. Nobody bats an eye when they walk in, and Effie feels relieved beyond belief.
The food is good, much better than either of them ever make, and Greasy Sae is very stern about only allowing Haymitch a glass of wine. By the time they get to desert, some sort of crème brûlée with sour berries, Effie’s face hurts from all the smiling.
Haymitch wordlessly heads to the swings after they leave Greasy Sae’s, much to Effie’s pleasure. They stay there until the cold gets to them.
On their way home, Effie can’t help but wrap her arms around Haymitch’s, pressing their sides together. He grumbles something under his breath, but doesn’t push her away.
They’re half way through, when Haymitch asks.
‘Are you regretting this yet?’
‘What?’, Effie frowns.
‘Moving here.’
It takes a few good minutes for her to gather her thoughts, but Haymitch doesn’t press. When Effie talks, it’s not hard to say the words, but it is difficult to not start crying.
‘I would never regret it. Not if everybody in town would have hated me, not if they would throw rocks at me, not if I’d have to live in the woods or work as a builder. I’d never regret it, because I’d be here with you and the kids.’
‘We’re that important?’, Haymitch asks, clearly dubious.
‘You’re the most important things’, Effie chuckles. ‘I don’t have anything else left, Haymitch. My family is long gone, my friends were never anything more than brainless… I was never happy in the Capitol. I was just a puppet that didn’t know better.’
‘And this is better?’, he stops walking so he could look at her.
Effie smiles. ‘I love you, you know.’
Haymitch just blinks at her, prompting her to chuckle.
‘And the kids’, she adds. ‘Any place where you are is better than the alternative. And it really does mean the world’, she pauses long enough to kiss his cheek, ‘that you’ve accepted me here.’
‘Well, we are a team, as far as I was informed’, Haymitch rolls his eyes. It’s the last thing either of them says that night.
☆
Plutarch keeps calling, trying to make Effie convince the Victors to do some interviews. After the 5th call, Effie tells him to shove his camera up where the sun doesn’t shine. That gets her a kiss on the forehead from Haymitch.
☆
Sometime during her second month in 12, Effie wakes up one night to Haymitch screaming.
He never does that, no matter how ugly the nightmares get. But he is screaming now, yelling for Maysilee.
Effie goes to his room, relieved in seeing that he doesn’t have a knife on him. She can’t wake him up, though, nothing she tries works. In the end, she settles beside him in bed, holding him as tightly as she can.
She whispers to him, words of love and comfort, but Haymitch doesn’t wake up. When he does calm down, when his breathing evens out again and the shaking stops, his head is pushed into the crook of her neck and his fingers are digging bruises into her hip.
Effie doesn’t leave.
In the morning, Haymitch brings her pancakes in bed. His bed.
☆
Effie has been there for four months, when Johanna and Annie come to visit, bringing along little Finn.
Peeta and Katniss still don’t think they’re safe, so while they let Johanna sleep at their house, Annie and Finn stay with Effie and Haymitch.
While they’re all glad, that Annie and Johanna are doing well, nothing compares with having Finn around. He is an adorable child, with Finnick’s eyes and Annie’s hair color, and his simple presence in the room brings a smile to everybody’s face.
Katniss and Peeta are always together when they play with him and his toys, and Finn seems to enjoy playing with her hair.
Effie’s best play time activity is picking Finn up and dancing around with him, making up songs on the spot. For her troubles, she is always regarded with screeches and baby hands on her face.
Haymitch, however, keeps his distance. Until one evening, when Finn crawls to the armchair he’s sitting in, and grabs onto Haymitch’s pants leg to pull himself onto his feet. He babbles something, while Haymitch watches him wearily, not moving a muscle.
‘He wants you to pick him up’, Annie says, grinning wildly.
‘No’, Haymitch tells Finn, to which the baby smiles, screeching happily.
‘No’, Haymitch tells Finn again, but they all see that he’s wavering.
To this, Finn wraps his hands around Haymitch’s leg, hugging it.
‘Damn, boy’, Haymitch sighs, ‘you’re just as stubborn as your dad.’
But he picks Finn up, much to his pleasure, and he sets the boy down in his lap. He squirms for a bit, much to Haymitch’s displeasure, but eventually, Finn ends up curled up against the older man’s chest, as Haymitch very hesitantly wraps his hands around the boy, making sure he doesn’t fall.
Everybody else is staring, and Haymitch looks like he wants to curse at them, but all he says is ‘Shut up.’
‘You’re cute’, Effie can’t help but say.
‘Uncle Haymitch’, Peeta says pointedly, making everybody laugh. Except Haymitch, of course. He just mumbles under his breath. Until Finn puts his little hands over his mouth, effectively stopping him.
Effie is delighted to see that over the next days, Haymitch doesn’t keep away from Finn anymore. Every time the boy would demand it, Haymitch would pick him up without any complains. He even changed his diapers. Haymitch was teased about it, especially by Katniss and Johanna, but Effie never said a word.
One day, she goes into the living room to find Haymitch laying on the floor, with Finn soundly asleep on his chest.
‘I didn’t want to wake Annie up’, he whispers, ‘but he needed a diaper change.’
Effie can’t really find words to answer to that, so she wordlessly putters around for a while, putting a pillow under Haymitch’s head, covering them both with a blanket. And then she lies on the floor next to Haymitch.
‘Really?’, he whispers in a playful tone.
‘Shhh’, Effie counters. ‘It’s nap time now.’
She doesn’t actually fall asleep, but closes her eyes nonetheless.
Later, Annie joins them on the floor, and after Finn wakes up, they all play with him for a while.
After they leave, Katniss levels Haymitch with a look.
‘I understand why you never had children before. But things aren’t so bad anymore.’
Haymitch glares. ‘Sweetheart, you’re in no position to talk.’ But he looks at Peeta as he says it.
‘Oh no’, he shakes his head, backing away slowly. ‘I’m not getting into this conversation again.’
‘I’m not getting into this conversation ever’, Haymitch tells Katniss.
‘Fine’, she rolls her eyes. The girl looks at Effie, then, and she is once again a bit scared by the way Katniss is looking at her.
‘Oh no’, Effie finds herself saying. ‘I’m not having Hamitch’s children.’ She turns to look at him, just as his jaw drops and his cheeks turn red.
‘I do love you’, she tells him around a wince, ‘but just the thought of a baby as stubborn as you gives me a migraine.’
She leaves the room before anybody else responds.
☆
Effie is very excited when Katniss invites them to the lake. It’s a bit of a hike to get there, and it takes them a while, but it’s completely worth it.
The lake is beautiful, and the clearing it’s in surrounds it with large trees and beautiful flowers, that Effie has never seen before. It’s a very sunny day, and they set their blankets in a spot that is bathing in it.
Upon request, Annie has sent bathing suits for them all. Dark colored shorts for the boys, and one piece suits for the girl. Of course, Effie has a bright pink one, while Katniss has a dark green one.
The two of them are equally excited to get into the water, while Haymitch keeps grumbling that he’s too old, and Peeta keeps saying that he can’t swim.
The women leave them be and get into the water. It’s cold, but not unbearable, so Effie doesn’t hesitate in sinking herself completely in it.
When she emerges, Katniss is grinning at her. It melts Effie’s heart, because she looks like she doesn’t have a care in the world.
‘Race you to the other end?’, is what Effie finds herself saying. Katniss gets a very particular look in her eyes, challenging and playful, but she doesn’t acknowledge Effie’s request, she just takes off.
Effie spares a few seconds, whining about cheating, but follows her quickly. As quickly as she can.
Effie wins the race, much to everybody’s shock. They don’t race back, opting to swim side by side at a leisure pace. When they get to the bank where they left the boys, Peeta is in the water. Katniss doesn’t stop until she’s plastered to his back, hugging him like an octopus.
They look like children, happily in love, and it warms Effie’s heart. So much so, that she has to get out of there. She doesn’t race this time either, swimming back and forth between the two banks at a comfortable pace.
Haymitch joins her after two runs. He matches his pace to hers, and they don’t say anything for the better part of an hour, just swimming side by side, their hands or legs bumping every now and then.
The kids are still splashing around in the water when they come out, and Effie and Haymtich share a smile.
☆
She doesn’t know when she falls asleep. But when she wakes up, there’s a thin sheet covering her and Haymitch is lying on his back next to her.
He doesn’t open his eyes when he speaks.
‘The kids went for a walk. I covered you up before you got burned.’
‘They seem happy’, Effie says, and Haymitch smiles.
‘They’re as happy as they can get.’
Effie sniffles.
Still without opening his eyes, Haymitch lazily lifts up a hand, whispering a very soft ‘come here’. Effie doesn’t hesitate, in bringing her body close to his, resting her head on his chest. His hand comes around her shoulders, and he doesn’t argue when she covers them both with the sheet.
‘I love you’, Effie says, closing her eyes too.
‘You keep saying that’, Haymitch mumbles, making her smile.
‘I’ve spent 15 years too afraid to say it. Indulge me.’
Haymitch snorts at that, but doesn’t say anything else. It’s not long before she falls asleep again.
☆
When she wakes up this time, it’s to Haymitch snoring next to her ear, Peeta sitting across from them, drawing them in his sketchbook, and Katniss grinning like crazy.
‘Fake-mommy and fake-daddy are cute together’, she says, and it takes a few beats for Effie to understand whom she’s referring to.
‘Don’t let him hear you say that’, is what Effie says, slowly detaching herself from Haymitch. ‘He’ll kill you.’
‘So you’re not denying it’, Peeta points out.
‘Oh I’m denying it’, Effie nods. ‘I just know it’s useless, considering how stubborn Katniss is.’
The girls scoffs at that, but it just makes Effie smile. She gets up from the blanket, and tries waking Haymitch up by shoving at him with her toes, but of course it doesn’t work.
What does end up working, in the end, is Effie yelling in his year that ‘it’s a big big day tomorrow’. Haymitch curses her, but she just tells him that she wants to swim some more, and he wordlessly follows her into the lake.
An hour later, Katniss and Peeta somehow rope them into a water fight, and as she was struggling to get away from Haymitch, whose sole purpose seemed to be to getting her under water, Effie couldn’t help but think that moving to 12 was the best thing she ever did.
☆
Six months after she moved to 12, the District Hall was finished, and the mayor offered her a job as his executive assistant.
Effie accepted it, because she liked working, and this is what she was good at.
She still had breakfast with the kids and dinner with Haymitch, but she spent the time in between at the District Hall, doing what she did best.
The mayor made her feel welcomed, and he acted like her friend, not her boss. It was a very nice feeling, and she felt a sense of accomplishment, working, doing something.
In her own way, Effie was finally helping District 12.
She was happy.
☆
Seven months after she moved to 12, Katniss and Peeta got married.
Effie was very emotional, not during the ceremony at the District Hall, not during the toasting done at their house, not during the small party in their back yard, but during the time in which she helped Katniss get ready.
She helped with her hair, letting Katniss braid it expertly, but pinning it up for her in a complicated bun. And even though Katniss was weary at first, she let Effie do her make.
It was a simple affair, glowing skin and a pink stain on her lips. But on her eyes, Effie used a dark green eyeliner, creating a thin line on Katniss’ eyelids, that ended in a small arrow head.
The first thing Katniss said was ‘This isn’t very wedding appropriate.’
The second thing was ‘I love it.’
The third thing was ‘Peeta is going to laugh.’
That’s when Effie started crying, and Katniss didn’t hesitate in hugging her.
‘They’re happy tears’, Effie said, feeling the need to explain. ‘I am so happy for you.’
‘I’m glad you’re here’, Katniss said as she pulled away. ‘I know we’ve never seen eye to eye, but I do care about you a lot.’
Effie couldn’t say anything even if she wanted to.
‘And I don’t know what you’re doing with Haymitch’, Katniss awkwardly winked, ‘but keep doing it. He seems happy. Well, as happy as he’ll ever get.’
Effie laughed out loud at that. There were a lot of words on the tip of her tongue, a lot of different explanations, but she didn’t say any of them.
‘It’s a big, big day, Katniss’, is what she said, very softly. ‘It’s the first day of the rest of your life, and I’m so happy to be by your side.’
☆
Haymitch didn’t leave her side throughout the festivities. She didn’t mind, of course, especially not when he awkwardly asked her to dance. Not when he held her tightly, swaying in tune with the music. Not when they both ignored the catcalls around them, especially Johanna’s.
Not when Haymitch’s reaction to Effie telling him ‘I love you, old man’ was to dip her, very close to the ground, still holding onto her tightly as he cackled somewhat manically.
☆
Two months later, Effie wakes up with an epiphany.
She doesn’t know when it actually happened, she didn’t realize it at the time, but somehow, along the weeks, she moved into Haymitch’s room.
Effie slept in his bed, her clothes were in his dresser, her skin care products were in his bathroom, she had her side of the bed and her books were on the nightstand.
There were bad nights, when nightmares grabbed a hold of either of them, but they got through them by holding each other tightly.
She’d wake up in his arms some mornings, and he’d whine when she’d leave his side to get ready for the day.
It felt normal.
So on that morning, when she stopped him before going out the door, when she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him quickly on the lips, it felt normal.
Haymitch wasn’t surprised. Effie watched him closely, as he swallowed thickly, as he ran his tongue over his lips, as he stared at hers. Then, Haymitch smiled, and bent down to kiss her again, a bit longer, but not by much.
‘Come on, princess’, he smiled. ‘The kids are waiting and I’m hungry.’
☆
Effie tells him ‘I love you’ sometimes. He never responds, but he does show his love.
He holds her hand while they’re walking side by side. He kisses her every morning, before getting out of bed. He gives her foot rubs after long days. He brings her flowers for no reason. He always stops drinking when she asks him to.
After almost 20 years, he still calls her ‘princess’. Only now, it’s sometimes ‘my princess’.
☆
When Haymitch does finally tell Effie ‘I love you’, he’s holding Katniss and Peeta’s first child and there are tears in his eyes.