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A blonde boy named Peeta Mellark stood in Twelve school’s library, staring at the empty red velvet chair in the town’s small scale version of a Christmas Village, looking for all the world like he was about to burst into tears.
His godfather, Haymitch Abernathy, stood behind him, looking like he had no idea what to do if his godson were to burst into tears.
“It’s - it’s alright, Peeta,” he said, giving the boy’s shoulder a squeeze, “you can leave school a little early tomorrow, and we’ll drive down to Eleven and go to the mall there.”
Peeta looked up at him, uncertain, lower lip pushed out in a rather endearing pout. “But tomorrow is the holiday party at school. You said you’d help me make cookies tonight.”
“Right...” Haymitch frowned. He’d known that, but things had been a bit busy the last couple of days with it being so close to Christmas and the end of the year.
This would be the first Christmas Haymitch had celebrated since he was sixteen for the sake of his godson. The child's entire family had died tragically in a fire almost one year ago and Peeta was the only survivor. The boy had lived with Haymitch since, having no other living relatives. He was the closest thing to a family that the child had.
Despite not being a fan of Christmas, Haymitch had tried his best to make Peeta feel the holiday spirit, - buying Christmas lights, sweets, decorating the house together, and above all checking the local newspaper every day to see when and where Santa Claus would be.
Haymitch was certain though, that he had read the times for the Christmas Village in the paper correctly. ‘Santa’ should have been in the Twelve School’s library from three until seven, and it was just now six o’clock.
But there was no Santa, just an empty chair.
“Oh!” Came a voice from the back of the library. “I’m sorry! I didn’t realize anyone came in.”
The man’s face lit up as Peeta’s teacher, Effie Trinket, came around the shelves. “Trinket,” he started, then he stopped and his mouth dropped open when he saw what she was wearing.
The green skirt was a bit shorter than her usual wardrobe, and it puffed out around her legs from the crinoline that was beneath it. Her top was a simple green button down with some red and white embellishments, but what really made her ensemble were the candy cane striped stockings and the sparkly red heels. She was the most adorable Santa’s elf he’d ever seen, and he was quite possibly even more smitten with her. And that was saying something given that he’d been besotted with her from the first day they met and had been harboring a growing crush every day since.
"Mr Abernathy, I see you have finally learned my name. But you should also add 'Miss' before my surname," she said amused. “Do you need something?”
“Uh, I’m –I mean we were-” He snapped his mouth shut, struggling for words as a slow smile spread over her face.
“Where’s Santa?” the child asked, interrupting the embarrassing moment.
Effie’s face fell. “I’m so sorry, dear, he had to,emh, go back to his workshop.”
Peeta shuffled his feet and pushed his hands down in his coat pockets. “Oh. Why?”
She knelt down in front of him and gave him a small smile. “Well, there was a problem with some of the toys and he had to make sure it was all fixed in time for Christmas.” Her eyes darted up to Haymitch’s face, and her smile broadened when she met his stormy grey eyes. “It was very last minute, I’m very sorry. I meant to put up a sign, but I got distracted reshelving some books.” She apologized, before chewing her bottom lip, torturing it.
Haymitch shrugged his shoulders. “That’s quite alright, elfie,” he said, putting enough emphasis on the last word. Effie narrowed her eyes , glaring at him as he started to chuckle at his own joke.
When Haymitch had first met Effie, he had been picking up Peeta at school. He had noticed she loved to behave like a proper lady, and he had found it entertaining to seize every opportunity to annoy her with boorish behavior. She especially had a distaste for pet names, and he was a master of those.
He raised a cocky eyebrow, challenging her to quip back at him. Effie just shook her head in resignation, before shifting her focus back to Peeta.
"Santa is a very busy man." She explained.
The Santa duties were usually covered by a combination of Mr. Heavensbee from the drugstore and Mr. Odair who taught biology at the high school. Haymitch wondered what had happened for there to be no one to cover the shift.
“Will he be back tomorrow?” Peeta asked expectantly.
Effie bit her lip and shot another look at Haymitch. “I’m sorry, but Santa’s schedule is so busy he won’t be able to come back tomorrow.”
The child looked almost distraught. “But Mitchy - how - how I tell Santa what I need for Christmas?”
The man braced himself for a difficult evening with an extremely disappointed six year old.
“Well, uh, we - we can go this weekend…” No, there was the Everdeen’s party this weekend in the woods. “Or, you can write -“
“Hey, darling,” Effie said, her voice just above a whisper so that Haymitch could just about hear what she was saying. Peeta immediately turned his attention to her, and she leaned in with a sly smile. “You know, I’m Santa’s Official Helper in Twelve; if you tell me what you want for Christmas, I can inform him, myself!”
Haymitch gave her a grateful smile for swooping in when he had been in distress.
The boy tilted his head to the side. “How?”
“I’ll text him.” The woman grinned.
Peeta’s eyes went wide. “You have Santa’s phone number?!”
“All Santa’s helpers do.”
“Wow...” His voice was hushed and he looked up at Effie in awe. Then he pulled a face. “Do I have to sit on your lap?”
It was all Haymitch could do not to laugh, and when he looked at Effie, he could see she was also struggling to stifle her laughter.
“Not if you don’t want to, darling. All you have to do is whisper to me.”
She turned her head to the side, her eyes on Haymitch’s as his godchild leaned in to whisper his wishes in her ear. The way the man was staring at her made her heart skip, and she had to ask Peeta to repeat his last item after her momentary distraction.
“You promise you’ll tell Santa?” Peeta asked.
Effie smiled and straightened, brushing her hands down the front of her outfit. “I’ll do it right now.”
She walked over to the main desk and picked up her phone, opened a new text message and typed out what the boy had just told her. To continue make it look more real, she entered ‘SANTA’ into the recipient line. Of course, there was no such contact in her phone, but the child didn’t need to know that.
“See?” She said, bending down to show him the phone.
Peeta eyed the screen and a wide grin spread over his face, much to his godfather’s relief. She had turned away to show Peeta the message she was pretending to send to Santa, but Haymitch could read the screen quite clearly over her shoulder. Luckily, he knew the child would have asked for a recipe book and for a small building kitchen that children usually used to fake cook. He had only to go out, buy them and then wrap and hide them on the top shelf in his walk-in closet. He thought he must be beaming from ear to ear. Effie Trinket was an absolute treasure.
“Thank you, Miss Effie!” Peeta exclaimed, throwing his arms around Effie’s neck. She laughed and hugged him back.
“You are so welcome. I’m glad I could help. What a gentleman you are, unlike your godfather,” she teased, turning to look at Haymitch with sparkling eyes.
Haymitch scoffed but didn't say anything.
“Peeta, why don’t you go grab some candy out of the bowl? I think there’s some chocolate with rasberry cups left!” Effie suggested.
Peeta gave a cheer and ran across the room to the refreshment table to dig through the candy bowl.
“Speaking of phone numbers...” she said as she turned to Haymitch and held out her phone.
The message for Santa was still open on the screen, the cursor blinking in the contact bar. It took Haymitch a moment to understand what she wanted, but he finally reached out and took her phone, and added his number.
He wasn't sure he'd done the right thing - giving her his phone number. He found her annoying and stuck up, among other things. Who cared that she was one of the sexiest women he had ever seen? Who cared that he loved her smile and how she behaved with children? Or that she had a masterpiece of an ass? Certainly not him! Well, he might have a crush on her, but it was nothing more than that.
He handed the phone back, while thinking about all of those things. A few seconds later, his cell beeped in his pocket. Effie waited as he pulled it out to see the message from her number, which contained the list of Peeta’s gifts.
He grinned. “Very clever, princess.”
Effie’s head dipped and she smiled. “Why, thank you.”
"No, really you have just saved me,” he added.
She gave him a soft smile and then she spoke again. "So, now the princess has just saved her prince?" she asked with an endearing glint in her eyes.
Her words surprised him, leaving him unprepared and without a quick remark. He nervously touched his hair.
"I'm not... We are not.. well not that I don't find you hot, but you are my godson’s teacher," he babbled.
She started to laugh at his attempt to say something comprehensive. "It was just a joke, you have to relax," she brushed her hand against his, "Prince," she added with an amused smile on her lips.
He shook his head in bemusement while Peeta hurried back to his side, the pockets of his coat stuffed with candy. Haymitch rolled his eyes.
"Umh, we need to head home and bake batches of cookies for tomorrow.”
Effie gave Haymitch a sympathetic look. “Goodnight, Mr. Abernathy. And goodnight, Peeta!”
“Night, Miss Effie!” The boy hollered back, already halfway out the door.
“Goodnight, and thank you.” He sighed and inclined his head, not looking forward to spending the night in the kitchen with a child hopped up on sugar and covered in flour.
”If you need help,” Effie called out, holding up her phone and wiggled it back and forth. “You know how to reach me.” She winked.
Haymitch paused in the doorway and his eyebrows lifted. “Indeed I do, princess.”
Effie was standing in her small kitchen, toying with the string of a steeping tea bag, when her phone buzzed. She picked up and tapped the screen.
I'm bored, Miss Trinket. You know how to help me? Haymitch.
She smiled fondly at his inappropriate message.