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Effie and Haymitch normally do something for valentines day whether going out to dinner or exchanging gifts. Every Valentine's Day since Haymitch won his games this has been their tradition.
This particular February, Effie is staying with Haymitch at his house in district twelve. She's slowly been adding more days to her stays each time she comes. Haymitch is convinced that she's attempting to move herself in.
Katniss is also over at Haymitch's house a lot. After months of him trying, Katniss finally feels comfortable enough to stay over at his house for extended periods of time while regressed. If she's having a particularly rough week she'll pack up all of her things and head over to Haymitch's. This has made things a lot easier for the both of them. With Effie being over more often, Haymitch was finding it hard to juggle going from house to house in order to satisfy the needs of both. With both Katniss and Effie over at his house, he can adequately care for the two of them at the same time.
With Katniss being over so much, Effie has gotten a lot more comfortable with her regression. After Haymitch giving the two a long talk about him having more than enough love for both of them, Effie and Katniss became a lot closer. Effie is by no means Katniss’s favorite caregiver as that spot will always be reserved for Haymitch, but that doesn't mean that her Aunt Effie isn't one of her favorite people.
There was clearly some adjusting needed at the beginning but the two eventually found a groove. Effie, being chronically ill, cannot do all of the things that Katniss wants her to do as her body doesn't work all that great. However, for every activity that Katniss wants, Effie finds an accommodating way to accomplish it. Katniss wants to be picked up? The two can either cuddle on the couch or hold hands. Katniss wants to go explore the woods? Walking around the backyard is just as exciting. Katniss wants Effie to sit on the floor and play a game with her? Playing games on the coffee table is much more fun.
Haymitch considers himself very lucky that the two are able to entertain each other so he can have a little bit of a break.
Peeta swings by Haymitch's house every so often to bring him fresh baked goods. When he first saw the little family that the three made he insisted that he wanted to be a part of it. So whenever Effie is in town, Peeta is normally over at Haymitch's house as well.
Each one of them have their own spaces in his house. Haymitch is a simple man, he needs a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room. That's it. He doesn't see the need for all the extra space. The two guest rooms in his house are respectively Katniss’s and Peeta's. Peeta uses his as more of an art studio than a room. Sure there's a bed but the room is full of canvases, easels, paints and every other art supply you could imagine. Katniss has more of a typical bedroom. She has a four post bed with curtains and fairy lights, a rocking chair where she and Haymitch read bedtime stories together and of course a pile of stuffed animals and toys. Effie sleeps in Haymitch's room, however her space is in the front living room. She has a sewing machine and a bunch of fashion things in the corner. The couch in the middle of the living room is decorated with many plush pillows and pink blankets, as she spends most of her time on the couch since her body hurts so much.
So Haymitch and Effie have this tradition where they go and do something on valentines day right? But this year it might not be able to happen with a little Peeta and Katniss as well as Effie who has been having a very painful week
When Effie wakes up she feels a bit better. Not by a lot but the pain is more manageable than it has been the past few days. She sits up in bed before immediately being pushed back down by Haymitch's arm.
"You stay in bed. I don't want you overexerting yourself” Haymitch mutters.
"But it's Valentine's Day, we have to go do something. We always go do something” Effie protests.
"We don't have to go do something. Sure that's what we've done in the past but that doesn't mean it's not subject to change”
Effie huffs and goes back to bed. Her body really did need the rest.
While she's asleep Haymitch gets up to make breakfast for her. They normally eat breakfast at the table together but if Effie isn't feeling well, Haymitch has no problem making rearrangements.
After a while of cooking, Katniss comes down to see what's going on.
"Sleep well sweetheart?” Haymitch asks.
"Mmm-hm” Katniss sleepily rubs her eye.
“Hungry?” Haymitch asks.
“Mmm-hm” Katniss repeats.
"Well I'm almost done with breakfast so let's go bring it up to Aunt Effie and then I can get you something, sounds good?”
Haymitch puts bacon, eggs and waffles on a plate. He puts blueberries and strawberries on the waffles. Then pours coffee into a pink mug and adds a bit of creamer. He hands Katniss a breakfast in bed tray and leads her up the stairs and into his bedroom, the dishware still in his hands.
"Happy Valentine's day!" Katniss shouts this a bit too loudly, it frightens Effie awake. "Sorry…” she mumbles.
"It's okay dear" Effie pats Haymitch's spot on the bed and Katniss eagerly climbs in next to her.
Haymitch rolls his eyes while setting up the breakfast tray in bed for Effie.
"Aww, babe…” Effie chitters.
“Happy Valentines day” Haymitch kisses her on the cheek.
Haymitch, wanting to give the two some time together, walks back downstairs to clean up the kitchen and fix himself breakfast. Once downstairs, he finds Peeta sitting at the kitchen table patiently waiting.
"You hungry little dude?” Haymitch asks.
"Yes” Peeta replies.
Haymitch returns to the kitchen and makes two more waffles. One for himself and one for the boy. He pours himself a cup of coffee and fills a sippy cup with juice for Peeta. Haymitch places the plates and drinks on the table before filling up a bottle with milk for Katniss and returning upstairs.
In his bed, Effie and Katniss are cuddled up, deeply immersed in some conversation. He just silently watches the two for a few moments, admiring his little family. Katniss will occasionally steal berries from Effie's plate but instead of scolding the girl she just laughs.
“Hey, Kat I brought you a bottle” Haymitch says, hating to interrupt the moment.
Katniss looks up and makes a grabby hand motion towards him.
Haymitch chuckles and sits on the bed next to Katniss. He ruffles her hair before giving her the bottle.
Katniss takes the bottle and starts drinking immediately.
“Looks like someone was hungry” Effie laughs.
“Guess she wasn't satisfied with just berries” Haymitch teases.
Effie leans into Haymitch, nuzzling into his chest. “I'm sorry that we're not going to be able to go out” Effie apologizes.
“Don’t be sorry baby. I'd rather stay home with you than go out with anyone else” Haymitch kisses her forehead.
The two stay cuddled for a while while Katniss bites at her bottle like some sort of ravenous animal.
–
Eventually, Peeta comes upstairs in search of everyone. He stands in the doorway of Haymitch's room and crosses his arms.
Haymitch looks up apologetically. With how frantic everything was this morning, he had completely forgotten about Peeta.
Peeta glares at Haymitch. He's normally so forgiving but it's hard to not be mad when you're forgotten about. Especially when regressed.
“Come here buddy” Haymitch encourages, attempting to set things right.
Peeta angrily walks over to Haymitch, puppy in his crossed arms.
“Listen bud, I'm super sorry that I forgot about you. I've been super busy trying to take care of your Mama and sister that I forgot you were downstairs. I'm really sorry.” Haymitch states his apology. No pressure to accept it or to forgive him. Just an apology.
Peeta huffs, still upset about being forgotten. He walks around the bed and climbs in next to Effie. He lays his head on her chest and sighs.
“Shh..shhh..shhh - it's okay puppy” Effie runs her fingers through his blonde hair.
She lets Peeta have a moment to compose himself before she speaks again.
“I'm sorry we hurt your feelings” she brushes a stray strand of hair away from the boy's face.
“It's okay” he mumbles.
“No - no it's not okay” Effie corrects. “We hurt your feelings and that's not okay. You're allowed to feel sad.”
“Yeah, it's completely valid to feel these emotions bud.” Haymitch adds.
Peeta buries his head into Effie's chest.
“Is it vawid for me to feel these emot-ons?” Katniss asks.
“Not right now Kat” Haymitch chuckles, pushing her head away which causes her to topple over.
This sends Katniss into an uncontrollable giggle fit.
All the noise causes Peeta to look up in order to see what's going on. “What's funny?”
“That is a good question” Haymitch responds.
Katniss is still giggling profusely.
“What is going on in that little head!” Haymitch teases, beginning to tickle her.
She's now howling with laughter, trying to bat Haymitch's hands away.
Peeta and Effie look at each other and laugh.
–
Eventually things settle down and the two littles fall asleep.
“What do you want to do tonight?” Haymitch asks.
“Maybe just watch a movie on the couch” Effie replies.
“That sounds wonderful” Haymitch carefully puts his hand on her knee, attempting not to wake the sleeping Katniss on his lap.
“I'm gonna go make dinner, why don’t you stay with the kids and rest” he suggests.
“Is it really dinner time already?” Effie looks at her clock that reads 4:26.
“Well we had a pretty late breakfast, and I think we're all ready for an early bed tonight” Haymitch responds. He carefully moves Katniss off his lap and onto Effie's legs. She sleepily whines before settling back in. “Do you think you can handle steak tonight?”
“No, not really. Could you make soup instead?” Effie asks.
“Of course my love” Haymitch kisses Effie on the forehead before going downstairs to make dinner.
Effie centers herself in the middle of the bed so Peeta has more room next to her.
She must've dozed off because when she opens her eyes, Katniss and Peeta are quietly playing stuffed animals next to her. She glances at the clock, 6:38? How long had she been out for?
“How long have you guys been awake?” Effie yawns.
Peeta shrugs.
“Well, we've been playing for a pretty long time” Katniss chitters. “Maybe four hours”
“Mmm-hm” Effie chuckles. She finds it adorable how little Katniss has absolutely no sense of time. “Are you guys hungry?”
“Mmm-hm” Peeta nods.
“Yes. I had a snack from Papa earwier but I'm hungry now” Katniss adds.
“Should we go down for dinner?” Effie asks the two.
“Yeah!” Peeta responds.
Katniss gets out of bed and grabs Effie's pink cane. The two have a routine of Katniss getting her mobility aids for her in the morning on bad days. Katniss can always tell when Effie isn't feeling well.
“Thank you dear” Effie takes the cane from her hands and slowly gets out of bed with its support.
Peeta holds her hand as they walk down the hallway and down the stairs to help her not collapse from the change in elevation.
The kitchen is decorated with pink and red streamers, heart shaped banners, candles and a bouquet of roses in a vase on the kitchen table.
Dinner is set out on the table. Soup as requested and two glasses of wine.
“Happy Valentine's Day”
“Haymitch” Effie's eyes begin to well up with tears.
“Oh, don't start” he pulls her into a tight hug.
The four sit around the table in the dimly lit kitchen and eat together.
It's by no means a romantic dinner but neither one of them would rather have it any other way.
–
After dinner, Haymitch sends Katniss to the basement to retrieve Effie's sound of music vhs.
All of Effie's favorite movies are on vhs in Haymitch's basement. Most of them were not exactly legally obtained as Haymitch pays Beetee to illegally transfer movies onto vhs. Effie watches movies in the Capitol that were more recently made so vhs tapes of them don't exist. Haymitch refuses to use modern technology so he transfers new content onto old technology.
The sound of music has always been Effie's favorite movie, ever since she saw it as a little girl. She idolizes the relationship between Georg and Maria and has always been envious of the two.
Katniss comes padding up the stairs, the vhs in her hand. With Haymitch's help she inserts it into the vhs player.
They both join Effie and Peeta who are already cuddled up on the couch.
“Why do you always pick the longest movies Eff?” Haymitch groans, putting his arm around her.
“Because you can't tell a good story in less than two hours” she rebuttles.
“You drive me crazy” Haymitch says, kissing her on the cheek.
–
Peeta and Katniss doze off about halfway through the movie. They've both seen it before so they're not missing anything.
–
“This is my favorite scene” Effie says, as the song something good begins.
“Really? I've always found it really boring” Haymitch replies.
“Yes really. I've always wanted a relationship like theirs” Effie sighs.
“I know that I'm no Von-Trappe but don't we have a relationship like theirs?”
This causes Effie to need to think for a second. “I guess we do” she's never thought of their relationship as that of Maria and Georg before but now that he's mentioned it, their relationship is very similar.
“I'm fine with that as long as we don't adopt five more kids and make them sing” Haymitch jokes.
“Deal” Effie says, leaning into a kiss.
The two interlock lips for the rest of the song.
This was by no means an ordinary Valentine's day for any of them. But none of them would have traded it for the world.