when Haymitch says that Proserpina wasn’t a bad person, but just extremely clueless, he backs his argument by saying that she wasn’t evil, she just had a lot of things to unlearn. which is a funny choice of words, cause while Katniss see her team as dumb kiddos, who couldn’t know any better cause they simply didn’t have the brains to do so, Haymitch doesn’t see their problem as a lack of education. In fact, by saying she had a lot of things to unlearn, instead of saying that she wasn’t very intelligent or that she needed to learn better, he is subtly recognizing that the crux of the problem is not necessarily the quality of the education or how much capable those people were to absorb it, but how biased their system was in stimulating the critical process of their children. As far as we known, the Capitol’s strategy was to corrupt their minds with the strongest method of brainwashing: systematic Information control. They held unlimi-ted power of how further their children could go in terms of knowledge. they manipulated the truth, made up scenarios and changed the narrative so they could force them into unnoticed submission.
Intelectual control is the best way to make sure your people won’t start questioning your methods, cause as long as they don’t know any different, they don’t have anything to compare you to. and if you can hold the power of how much of the reality they know, you can easily control their natural desire for change…
and saying they are like that because they are child-like dumb is pushing them way too shallow into the conversation. the point of the capitol isn’t the lack of education. the real problem is how much their academic influence aren’t used as a tool of ideolo-gical control. the smartest kid at school will still look up at the games as a blessing, because snow’s intention was to efficiently erase the reality off their brains so they could work in his favor. so as long as you don’t have a reason to think out of the ordinary, due to some specific experience, or has the means and desire to educate yourself against what the common sense says, you won’t go any further…
and it’s fun cause most of those people wouldn’t even try to go out of the box, because that system was comfortable for them. if your choice is either to be starved in a war or to be comfy with your family in your three stores mansion, eating shrimps and going to parties in your fancy clothes at weekends, and the price for it is just to watch, for a week every year, twenty-four unknown children sacrificing themselves for the cause (which most of the people in the capitol believed to be a privilege to them, since that was the propaganda the tributes had to sell during interviews —which is another can of worms i am not going to open now), why would you want it to end? if all the government asks you in exchange for your protection is to be in line and don’t let your mind wonder to uncomfortable thoughts you didn’t even want to visit anyway, why would you? that’s the world you’ve been living on since ever, you don’t know anything else. in school they teach you that this is the only normal and you don’t have anything else saying it isn’t, so why would you think that way? at home your mom and dad tells you the games are fun, so why wouldn’t you think they’re fun? should you feel bad just because you were lucky to be born in the capitol? that’s not your fault, that’s just what it is. if the districts choose to revolt years ago and then lost the war because of it, that’s their fault, not yours
As Katniss says herself:
“In fact, all three are so readily respectful and nice to my mother that I feel bad about how I go around feeling so superior to them. Who knows who I would be or what I would talk about if I'd been raised in the Capitol? Maybe my biggest regret would be having feathered costumes at my birthday party, too” Catching fire, page 46
my question is, in this line of responsibility, where the submission ends and the oppression begins? if we can’t blame them for the way they think, be-cause of how much knowledge they were granted by snow’s tendency of masking the reality, can we blame them for not realizing sooner that it was wrong? and not being to blame for the ideals that had been violently carved into their scowls, does exonerate them from everything they did?
i don’t know, those people are just so interesting
[and to be clear, i am not talking about the high classes of the capitol. it’s implied that those who’d access to real information, either from somehow being related to politics or for fitting the category of sponsors who were more or less involved in the underground outcome for the victors, are part of a limited range of people! the majority of the capitol, though still extremely problematic, weren’t granted a close view to the backstage, thus most of their knowledge about it came exclusively through Snow and his controlled, manipulated narratives]
Hayffie Post-Mockingjay (Canon divergence) Multi-chapter, Rated M
SUMMARY: Four years have passed since the end of the war when Effie becomes a fixture in Haymitch’s life once again. An old friendship is rekindled. Will it lead to something more?
Meanwhile, Panem has entered a new era. The rebellion’s over, the borders are open but in the shadows, anger and mistrust are smoldering. Something which will affect Haymitch and Effie’s life in a way they never saw coming. READ MORE
Author's note: Happy Hayffieweek! I won't technically participate but at least you get a ToS chapter. :) A big thank you and a big hug to you sweethearts reading and responding to this story.
You're the best and I'm so grateful! If you were here I'd follow in the prep team's footsteps and invite you over for tea and a batch of Peeta's yummiest cookies. ;)
Chapter 49, In vino veritas
*ring ring*
Hello, this is Effie Trinket’s answer phone. I can’t pick up at the moment but do leave a message and I will call you back. Until then: have a very very nice day!
*peep**ring ring*
Hello, this is Effie Trinket’s answer phone. I can’t pick up at the moment but do leave a message and I will call you back. Until then: have a very very nice day!
*peep*
*ring ring*
Hello, this is Effie Trinket’s answer phone. I can’t pick up at the moment but …
*click*
Hello? … um, helloo?
Hi Octavia …
Oh, there you are! I was getting really worried about you! Been calling for almost five minutes.
Sorry. It’s … I was in the bathroom.
Of course you were. Silly young me! I’m getting ready here too. You all set? Such a thrilling day! Aren’t you so excited? Oh, the twins will LOVE the Summer Breeze! We can’t bring them on any of the roller coasters of course. Flavius always puke anyway. But there are still plenty of “baby-friendly” rides to go around. The Love Tunnel. Lucretius’s Magic Carpet. The teacups. Hey, maybe it’ll even help with your little problem? And we couldn’t have asked for better weather, right? Everything’s perfect!
Octavia, listen …
But before anything else, I need your advice on something. I’m sitting by my vanity – as we speak – and I cannot for the life of me decide which earrings to wear! On the one hand, I’ve got these spectacular neotropical scarlet macaws. You know, the famous red, blue and yellow parrot? Gorgeous. Obviously! But then I also own a pair of silver sea turtles with amethysts and well … you see my conundrum. What do you think? Which one of these will make me the prettiest girl at the fair?
I … I wouldn’t know …
Oh, don’t sell yourself short! Next to me and Flavius and Venia, you’re by far the number one expert on beauty! Come on, Effie, this is important to me! I can’t show up looking ghastly.
Course not … you …
I’m leaning toward the birds, naturally. You know, because colors are so colorful and fun. But then again, if I save the turtles for the Aquarium, won’t it be a cliché? Maybe I should go with the amethysts after all. But if I do, what if people think …
Octavia, look … I … I know how excited you are about today but … I don’t think I can make it.
Wait, what?
I don’t feel very well and the twins … they aren’t even dressed to go out yet.
Are you ill? *gasps* It’s not contagious, is it? Because I cannot under any circumstances be sick this week.
No, no. Don’t worry. It’s just a migraine.
Have you had enough to drink today? Maybe you’re dehydrated? Don’t worry. Flavius and Venia and I will take the twins for a walk and you can treat yourself with a nice, long nap. It’ll invigorate you in no time.
Thank you, but I feel I must take this day for myself. Raincheck? Doesn’t mean you three can’t have fun.
But it wouldn’t be the same without you! Or the children! *tsks* Effiie! We had it all planned out!
I’m sorry.
Flavius will be so disappointed! He wanted to spin the chocolate wheel. *gives a heavy sigh* I guess, we’ll just have to try and find something else to do, somehow. But it won’t be as fun. Take care of yourself, sweetie.
You too. Give my love to the others.
Mm. As soon as I’ve figured out how to break it to them. What a day. No cotton candy. No stuffies for the twins. Nothing. *sighs again* Bye, Effie dear. Get well soon.
Bye.
*toot toot*
xXx
“… and they lived happily ever after.”
Effie whispered the words, lying on her side next to them on the bed.
Sandy hair fell over Ian’s forehead when he rolled in toward her, seeking his mother’s closeness and warmth. Effie dropped a butterfly kiss to his skin.
The girl gave a soft whine. Crinkled her face up from whatever dream she was having. Her chest rose and fell in puffy little breaths as she opened and closed her fists.
“It’s OK, precious”, Effie whispered. Ever so gently she caressed a light fingertip between Amy’s closed eyes and down her nose.
A trick that Sae once taught her. It never failed to help settle the girl down. That and papa Haymitch’s strong, safe embrace. “It’s OK to sleep. I’m here. Mama’s here. Everything will be alright.”
Her own eyelids felt dipped in lead. What she wouldn’t do to just crawl under these covers and sleep the day away. Today and the rest of the week, for that matter.
She knew she shouldn’t have lied to Octavia. About the migraine. But what else could she say?
Certainly not the truth. “I’m sorry Octavia but Haymitch is slowly destroying his brain with alcohol as we speak and if you drag me into an amusement park for three hours I’ll end up on the news, having a nervous breakdown right in front of all those poor chocolate-sticky children. My own included.”
No. It was better this way. Better for all involved.
She nuzzled Ian’s skin. Caressed Amy’s hand between her thumb and forefinger.
“What are they doing now, you think?” she whispered to her children’s sleeping faces. “Uncle Flavius and aunt Octavia and aunt Venia. Enjoying a ride on the Ferris Wheel perhaps?”
She saw it as clearly as she did Amy and Ian.
The three of them, snuggled together in a passenger car. Heading for the place of birds. Giggles. Chatter. Bowls of buttered popcorn, warm to the touch. And down below: a spectacular view of the city. The river. The distant Capitol mountains.
Because of course they never cancelled. She didn’t believe it for a second. They’d been looking forward to this all week long. Especially Flavius. And the tickets were already bought and paid for.
Maybe Haymitch is right, she thought unhappily. Maybe they will grow tired and move on.
The possibility stung, but who could blame them? She hadn’t exactly been fun company lately.
R-i-i-ng!
The bell only just managed to break through her haze.
Not the phone. The front door. Far, far away – in a different life it seemed. Effie closed her eyes. Curled into the twins. Like a baby still in the womb. Nose in Ian’s soft, angel hair. Hand around Amy’s.
Her mother all but cleared her throat, telling her to go get the door, but Effie shrugged her off.
Just this once, she wasn’t going to care. Whoever it was, whatever they wanted – it could wait. Ill-mannered? So be it.
R-i-i-ng!
Her brows came together, eyes still promptly shut.
It’s not the prep team, she thought, despite herself. Way too discreet.
Their rings were always forceful. Insistent. Headache or no.
Couldn’t be Haymitch either. Doorbells equaled decorations in his book. He walked straight in.
That day when he showed up at her doorstep, out of the blue, hours before they made love in a bed for the first time, he’d pressed the bell. But that was a rare thing.
A sort of honeymoon treatment he definitely gave up on after she’d slept with him long enough to have his babies.
Maybe it’s Mrs Pluckrose.
Effie swallowed a sigh.
Yes, her delightful neighbor. Going on and on about how someone didn’t bother to mow their lawn this week and “we uphold a certain standard around here, Ms Trinket, in case you forgot”.
R-i-i-ng!
Oh, go away. Eyes squeezed shut, Effie pressed her lips together, willing her to leave. Just let me sleep.
Maybe the person – whoever it was – heard her thoughts, for a fourth ring never followed.
Effie caressed her daughter’s hair, breathing a sigh of relief. Silence resumed. She had almost gathered her thoughts when,
Tap-tap!
Startled, her eyes flew to the window.
She’d pulled the curtains shut earlier but behind them – a shadow was moving. Face shrouded in darkness, silhouetted by the brilliant sun.
Heart pounding, Effie sat up in bed.
“Who is it?”
And on the other side of the glass, a woman replied,
“Don’t be alarmed, ma’am. I’ve just got a delivery for you.”
Effie inched the curtain aside. Then some more.
Face tilted, the lady smiled as they came eye to eye.
“Thought someone was home”, she said. “What with the stroller out front.”
Effie blinked at the beaming lady, standing there in her flower bed.
Stout. Burly. Dressed in a lavender uniform and carrying what looked like some kind of gift basket wrapped up in cellophane and tied with ribbons.
She looked about Venia’s age. Dark skin. Silver mascara. Purple hair gathered in a ponytail.
A name was stitched on the side of her chest. Effie squinted at the letters. “Briar Rose”.
Briar Rose! Same as Snow’s youngest daughter.
“Oh, don’t hold it against me”, the lady said lightly when she saw her look. “We don’t all get to choose our own names. Besides”, she added, “the story it derives from goes back way beyond the Snow’s dynasty.”
Effie hesitated, then reached for the hooks on the window. Opened it ever so carefully.
“I just put my babies down”, she said, under her breath.
The woman called Briar Rose, nodded.
“I’ll make it brief then.”
“I didn’t order anything though.”
“Well, it says right here, ‘Effie Trinket’, and there’s only one Effie Trinket in the city, right?” The woman sounded almost amused.
“Yes?”
“Then I’ve come to the right place.”
Briar Rose settled the gift basket against the windowsill.
Effie’s eyes were instantly drawn to the sealed envelope attached to it.
A match of hope struck inside her.
“From District 12?”
“I’m afraid not.” The cellophane rustled quietly under the woman’s hands. Purple nails that matched her hair, Effie noticed. “Sorry I startled you before”, Briar Rose went on. “I know this is most irregular, but they said you were feeling a little under the weather. That I had to make sure you got it.”
“They?”
The woman smiled.
“You must have some generous friends indeed. Sign here, please.”
Alone again, Effie settled on the bed. Basket on her lap.
Aphrodite’s Beauty Spa. The famous logo was printed along the ribbon. The envelope had one word written on it. Effie. In beautiful calligraphy letters.
She swallowed and swallowed.
Not a gift basket.
A wellness basket.
Eyes burning, stinging, like standing too close by a smoky fire, she carefully turned it from side to side. Peered at the items through the cellophane.
Packets of dried herbs and flower petals. Bottles of essential lavender oil. Scented candles. Coconut oil. Body cream infused with vanilla. Aromatic soaps shaped like water lilies, so small they fit on your palm.
Bath bubbles and bath salt. Lip smackers. Face masks, bath sponges in three different colors and, shoulder to shoulder with a set of fluffy baby-soft hand towels: a neat package of wrapped up boiled lemon sweets.
With trembling hands, Effie opened the envelope. Got out the card, printed with a field of gorgeous sunflowers.
Her eyes travelled from left to right and as she read, her face crinkled up, shoulders beginning to shake with silent sobs.
She tried to be quiet. Didn’t want to wake the children. But despite her great efforts, she couldn’t quite keep the small, strangled sounds from escaping her throat.
More and more tears just rolled down her cheeks, dropped from her chin and into the wellness basket.
All that built-up heartache for months and months, if not years just … poured through her eyes.
Dear Effie
We’re so sorry you’re feeling unwell. Staying in bed when you don’t want to, is just the worst (especially when you can’t also have sex with a hottie). You know Flavius would offer but he’s just not that into redheads. At least not this season. And sometimes rest, real rest, is all you need to really bounce back again. And you will, darling.
Now try and sleep as much as you can and, when you’re ready, go pour yourself a nice, warm bath. Add some oil, some petals, light a candle and just relax and unwind in the bubbly water.
Once you’re back on your feet, you have our numbers. We’ll bring dinner and iced tea and then we can play a game of Scrabble together. Won’t that be fun? If we can keep the twins from eating up the pieces, that is.
Take care of yourself, dear!
Love
Octavia, Flavius and Venia
PS: Don’t worry about the tickets. Flavius knows someone who works at the Breeze. We got a full refund. The fair will always be there and who knows? Maybe next time, Haymitch might want to join!
xXx
*ring ring*
… Mm?
Eff? Did I wake ya?
Mm.
Oh, shit. Fuck. Didn’t realize how late it was. ’m sorry. Go back to sleep. I’ll call y’up some other time.
You’re here now. What do you want?
Just tell ya … well, how sorry I um ... for bein’ sucha a dick afore.
You really were. Even by your standard.
Yeah … *slurs* those three odd birdies really bring out the worst in me. Go figguh.
*sighs* Haymitch, if all you’re going to do is joke around, might as well hang up now. I’m not in the mood.
No, no. I won’t. Come on, Effs. Don’t be so snippy. You know me. You know how I really feel about things. *hick* Didn’t even mean what I said ‘bout the prep.
Good.
Well … ma’be some of it, but like … not the stuff that were like really mean. Honest, swee… I mean Eff. They’re your friends. I wants you to have friends. If they wanna come over and sing n read n … do theatre, that’s fine.
…
It’s just … I should be doin’ those things!
I know.
I shoulda been there for Am’s first word! What’s next? Ian’s gon’ start callin’ Flavius “papa”? I’m glad someone’s there helpin’ ya out. I am, but damn it … it should be me! Right? Why can’t I be a part of their life too? I’m their father!
You know why, Haymitch.
But I ‘aven’t been drinkin’ all that much lately. Honest! And there are ways around it.
It’s not that simple.
Why couldn’t it be? I know I ain’t perfect, sweetheart. I know I’m not good at it like you are but … don’t ‘ey need me too? Just a lil’ bit? I mean, come on! You said I could see ‘em if I was sober.
And you’re not!
I would be. If you were here. And it’s not like they know wha’s goin’ on, anyway. They’re babies, Eff. Even if I had a cold one right in front of ‘em it wouldn’t affect or hurt ‘em. I won’t fuck ‘em up. I won’t!
That’s what you need to believe in order to sleep at night.
Why’d ya have to be so mean, I already said I’m sorry!! *sobs* I cleaned the house up. Tha’s where I was before. Ask Peeta if you don’t believe me. Whole fuckin’ place: spick and span now. I don’t even live with Sae no more. All week long I just wash everything. Threw out a mountain o’ crap. G-got all their toys ready, so you and … you … Effs, I can’t live like this! It feels like a part of me’s been cut off! I need to see my kids. Bring the prep team along if you must, I’ll wait on them hand and foot, just … please come home! You can’t keep punishing me like this, Eff. It’s too cruel. *sobs* They’re my children too.
I’m not being cruel. I’m just trying to keep this family afloat. Haymitch, I know you’re hurting … but this isn’t about you. Or me. It’s about them. What’s best for them. *draws a deep breath* Look … what we can do or at least try is buy a videophone and install it in the nursery. That way you can both see and talk to each other.
*sniffs* For real? You promise? Yeah … yeah, that’d be great!
But, Haymitch! You need to show me that you’re serious about it, OK? You have to be a grownup here. A real parent. If we do this and you disappoint them …
I won’t! Never!
No showing up drunk. Or hungover. And if we say Tuesday at 2PM that means Tuesday 2PM. No excuses!
No excuses. I swear.
We’ll try that for a while and if you can make it work – then we can talk some more about the prospect of you visiting. But you have to earn it, Haymitch. You must do the work. You.
Yeah, totally! Absolutely! *wipes his nose* Can I tell ‘em g’night? I won’t wake ‘em or anything. Just g’night?
Not when you’re like this. Tomorrow maybe. We’ll talk then. You and I for sure. Now, put that bottle down, Haymitch and go to sleep. Or if not sleep then at least try and rest. Lay down on the bed or the couch and close your eyes. Things will feel different in daylight.
Can you at least tell ‘em I love ‘em? I mean, like … really make sure they know?
I will. Of course. I already do. Every day.
Author's note: And Haymitch's destructive cycle has gone full circle again, only to start over AGAIN. The Trinket Abernathy family truly is completely codependent. What do you think will happen next? Tell me in the comments!
Also, anyone else feeling curious about this Briar Rose character? She was supposed to just be the delivery woman in this one scene but I have a strong feeling this isn't the last we'll ever see of her.
Hayffie Post-Mockingjay (Canon divergence) Multi-chapter, Rated M
SUMMARY: Four years have passed since the end of the war when Effie becomes a fixture in Haymitch’s life once again. An old friendship is rekindled. Will it lead to something more?
Meanwhile, Panem has entered a new era. The rebellion’s over, the borders are open but in the shadows, anger and mistrust are smoldering. Something which will affect Haymitch and Effie’s life in a way they never saw coming. READ MORE
Author's note: You get a canon character returning in this chapter. Yay! Three guesses who? 😉
I hid the title of a young Woody Harrelson movie in this chapter, just for funsies. An Easter egg for you fans out there. Kudos if you found it! Tell me on the comments if you know which movie I mean!
Chapter 47, Tickled pink (or green?)
Ding!
The shiny doors slid open. With a steady hold on her coffee-to-go, Effie pushed the double stroller into the elevator.
There were many places to get coffee in a city like the Capitol. Any way you wanted it. Latte. Affogato. Café au lait.
But none of them, not even the pancake house, held a candle to the Forum’s long black.
It was a poor substitute for sleep. Obviously. But as of late: the only consistent fuel to keep her going.
She pressed the ground floor button. Glanced under the hood of the stroller. Amy and Ian’s sleeping faces, shadowed by the mosquito net.
Sweetlings, she thought, adjusting the boy’s arm so he’d lay more comfortably.
She’d pay for it dearly later. The fact that their nap routine was so out of whack.
The twins had had something of a regression ever since they left Eleven. They used to sleep through the night. Mostly anyway.
Now, that was hardly ever the case. Well, yes. They fell asleep. They just didn’t stay under.
And every day, without fail, business started at the crack of dawn.
Yes. She needed those espressos.
Sometimes, when the children were completely inconsolable, she brought them into bed with her.
Her own mother would have shuddered.
“They will grow too dependent on you”, she’d say. “Next thing you know, they won’t ever sleep on their own.”
But Effie dismissed her mother’s voice in her mind. You couldn’t over-coddle one year olds. She knew Haymitch felt the same way.
But when she lay there in the dark next to them, lips close by their silky skin. Hand against their soft downy hair, passing the time by listening to the little noises they made in their sleep – she couldn’t help but wonder.
Which most of them needed the comfort?
The twins or their mother?
She still waited for his call.
Haymitch.
A proper ring. One that counted.
“I’ll send over some money”, he’d told her answering machine. “Call me if you need anything. Anything at all.”
Need something? she thought to herself. How about my co-parent? My co-pilot.
The time registered on the machine, told her he left his message while she was still on the train.
She couldn’t escape the nagging feeling that it was not an accident. Him calling her when he knew she couldn’t pick up.
All so that he didn’t have to deal with anything she might say.
Apparently, he stayed over at Sae’s for now.
Made sense.
Wasn’t she doing the very same thing herself?
Pushed this stroller, up and down the pedestrian streets, because she couldn’t stand being at home.
The house. Those empty rooms. As morning turned into night and morning anew, they only seemed bigger. Vaster. While she herself grew small.
Downtown, at least there was the open sky. The green parks and gardens. Swans bathing in the glittering blue of the Barrage.
Those getaways, those … distractions, escapes, if you will – provided crucial pockets of air.
Space to breathe. Deep belly breaths as compared to the short, shallow ones that barely moved your chest.
Outside, it was so much easier to just cast off the dashed hopes – the constant disappointment – like a suffocating overcoat.
The ball’s in his court now, she reminded herself. When the need to speak to his children is greater than the need for a drink, he’ll call.
And while she waited for that moment to happen, she filled the twins’s days with love and attention and play.
Poured from every inch of her being – to compensate for the fact that their father wasn’t around.
The elevator slowed to a stop. Broke her thoughts. Well, paused them really. Like a bookmark of a particularly depressing must-read.
Her mind had no sooner registered it was not yet her floor before the doors dinged open a second time.
The young, plump woman hurried inside. Caught completely off guard, Effie all but started, instantly recognizing her, but the girl didn’t notice.
Distracted, eyes not on Effie but her own bulky purse she pressed the already lit button – all the while digging through her belongings with a stressed hand.
A stressed, green hand.
Standing so close, the scent of her perfume curled into Effie’s nostrils, bringing back vivid memories, despite months and months of no contact. No contact at all.
Octavia on the other hand, had yet to see her. The elevator resumed its journey downward and she sifted through the content of her bag, more and more panicky each time.
Hair ribbons and strawberry bubblegum. Tampons and bobby pins. Squares of wet tissues, breath mints, nail varnish the same beetroot color as her hair. They all passed through her fingers.
It wasn’t until her hand closed around a tube of mother pearl lipstick, still in the box, that relief flooded her face. Her brown eyes flitted up.
Looking straight into Effie’s.
Such Déjà vu.
Her former co-worker, her once friend, paled – then immediately blushed a basil green.
Same as last time they crossed paths with each other. That one time by the Fountains of Youth.
The prep team coming in one direction. Haymitch, herself and the twins from the other.
Meeting halfway.
A far-off glimpse of Amy and Ian – just a few weeks old at the time – buckled up in their car safety seats was all it took. The prep team had hurried ahead, eyes downcast, without saying hello.
She couldn’t run now. Octavia. Not instantly.
But not for lack of motivation. Her gaze dropped to the stroller, the twins sleeping inside, and she gave a small gasp. Turned her back, swiftly.
“Hello Octavia”, Effie said softly. She had to at least try. “How are you? It’s been a long time.”
Octavia pressed the button in response. Once. Twice.
“I just swung by to get a coffee”, Effie continued. “But really, we’re heading for the playground. The Children’s Castle, you know? The really big one.”
Now the girl was positively assaulting the button. Like one would a candy machine after it ate your money.
“I spent so much time there when I was a girl”, Effie said. “Climbing, jumping, going down slides. Proper little girls weren’t supposed to, mother and father told me, but I sneaked out anyway. This’ll be the twins’s first time.”
“We shouldn’t be talking”, Octavia whispered through pressed lips. “I’m not supposed to talk to you.”
“Why not?” Effie slipped her coffee in the stroller’s cup holder. “I thought we were friends. Well … I always considered you one.”
Octavia’s bottom lip quivered.
“Things aren’t what they …”, she mumbled. “We can’t … I can’t …” She shook her head. Pressed a well-manicured fingertip into the ground floor button, desperately. Long and hard.
And the elevator slowed. Slowed, slowed, slowed to a stop.
Heavy-hearted, Effie waited for the ding. For the doors to slid open, allowing Octavia’s escape.
But they didn’t. And they still didn’t.
It was eerie how quiet the compartment had gotten.
Too quiet.
“What?” Octavia whispered. “No!” She tried the button again. Then a different one. It lit up at her command but that was it. No moving up or down. “No, no, please no!”
Ian moved sleepily, but Octavia didn’t notice. Breaths growing short, frantic, her eyes darted to the display above the door. The one with the current floor number.
Two.
“Oh God, this is not happening! It’s … we’re going to …” Her gaze darted around the elevator. As if searching for something to use for a ram. Coming up with nothing, she shrieked and dashed for the doors.
Tried to pry them open with her bare hands.
“No, wait.” Effie stepped forward. A gentle hand on Octavia’s shoulder. “Don’t do that. Hold on.”
And she pressed her own finger against – not the floor buttons but the big yellow one. For emergencies.
“Oh, for crying out loud, Timmy”, a male voice barked on the other end. “I’ve told you a hundred times, stop messing with the buttons! I’ll tell your mama on you.”
“Um, hello”, said Effie.
“Who is this?”
“Me”, she replied and swiftly added, “I’m calling from the Forum. Seems like we’re stuck in here. The large one, close by the main entrance.”
“Uh-huh. How many are you?”
“Four. Two grownups and two toddlers.”
“Right.” A tapping sound followed. Like someone typing on a computer. “Don’t worry. We’ll send someone down as fast as we can, lady.”
And the line disconnected before she could say neither “great” nor “thank you”.
In the short span of time that Effie’s attention was elsewhere, the young beautician had backed herself into a corner.
Bag at her feet. Palms sprawled back against the cool surface of the walls, Octavia’s chest heaved. Fast. Way too fast. Nothing but short, sharp gasps. Catch-breaths.
“We will die in here!” she squeaked, so worked up the whites of her eyes showed. Eyes like a horse when a snake slithered across the sand. “Who’s going to feed my mice if I die in here?!”
“No.” Effie shook her head, hands up in a calming gesture. “No, dear. No one will die here today.”
But the words fell on deaf ears.
“They’ve sealed us in like a tomb! Just like Thirteen when they dropped those bombs on us!! The air … I can’t breathe!”
Ian squirmed by all the commotion and from the stroller came a piteous whimper.
Hand against the handle of the stroller, Effie bounced him, face still toward Octavia.
“It’s going to be OK”, she said, voice as tender as if she’d spoken to Amy or Ian. “Follow my finger. Do you see that?” She pointed high on the wall. “Vents”, she said. “That’s where the air comes in. All the time. Doesn’t matter if the elevator is operating or not. These things are built for emergencies. You’re safe here. Safe as can be.”
“That’s what they said about Thirteen!” Octavia gasped. “And they shackled us up. They beat us and they left us! They left us!”
Effie bounced the stroller. At a loss. Four seconds passed. Five. Her mother heart wanted to just wrap her arms around her. Hold her tight.
But she didn’t want to corner the girl. Frighten her more than she already was.
Her gaze dropped to the beautician’s bag.
“I really like the new lipstick”, she blurted.
Octavia stopped, mid-breath. The brown of her irises little more than pinpoints.
“W-what?”
“The tube of lipstick you just bought”, Effie continued, encouraged by the way in. Slim as it may be. “Such a lovely shade! I wish I could remember what it’s called. Peach? Um, apricot?”
“Mother of pearl?”
“Exactly!” Effie beamed. “I bet you have lots of gorgeous lipsticks and lip glosses at home. What are they?”
“What are what? I … I don’t know what you mean?”
“The colors. Which are your favorites?”
“I … I don’t …” Confused, scattered, her eyebrows came together. Cheeks still hectic, breathing still shallow. “Azure?” she said. “One’s azure.”
“That’s nice. What else?”
“E-eggplant.” She stumbled a little on the word, but her voice was growing stronger. “And … mustard: the perfect middle way between yellow and orange. Cinnamon of course. And magenta. I like magenta.”
“Me too.” She dared reach out her hands now. The girl’s palms were slick with sweat. They trembled. Just like Haymitch’s might, coming out of a nightmare.
Effie gave them a soft squeeze.
“You’re going to be OK. I promise. Try and take a big breath. You’ll feel better. A big, deep breath, like this. In … and … out …”
They did it together, hand in hand. Octavia’s eyes hung on to Effie’s, all throughout. Like a child not quite believing it but trusting you enough to follow suit.
“Good. That’s perfect. And again. Breathe in …”
Four breaths later, the beautician had visibly calmed. Eyes heavy-lidded. Hands slack and still.
“I feel a little bit better now”, she said. Voice small but steadier.
“So glad to hear it”, Effie said. “Why don’t we have a seat, you and me? While we wait for them to come get us?”
Octavia’s eyes immediately went to the floor. Her nose crinkled.
“It’s filthy”, she said. “I can’t sit where it’s filthy.”
So, Effie crouched by the stroller. Reach inside the storage basket between the wheels where she kept things like toys, food and the picnic rug.
She spread the latter over an empty spot. The pretty checkers facing up.
It wasn’t until they were already seated, sitting opposite each other, that Octavia’s eyes flitted back to the twins. As if now first remembering that they were there.
A shadow clouded her face, by the sight of their chubby legs sticking out from the stroller.
No, it was more than a shadow.
Wariness. A watchfulness so unlike her. Almost like … fear.
“Why don’t you tell me what’s the matter?” Effie said. ”It’s just us here.”
Octavia’s eyes fluttered her way, then down. She fidgeted with the hem of her orange dress; lights reflecting off her long, painted fingernails. She mumbled something.
“What?” Effie said. “Sorry, I didn’t catch that.”
“It’s dangerous”, the girl repeated. A little louder this time. “They’re dangerous.”
“Who?” Effie glanced to the stroller. “The twins?”
Octavia nodded.
“They’re one year old”, said Effie softly. “How can they be dangerous? They’re just children.”
Effie was quiet. Absorbing this new piece of information.
“What are you saying?”
Octavia drew a deep breath. Spoke to her hands still, but she spoke.
Now, Octavia was no wall flower. Neither of the preps were. Effie had heard her speak from the heart plenty of times. Many dinners. Many train rides across the country.
Things that excited her. Fixer-uppers like Haymitch Abernathy or, for that matter, Katniss Everdeen. Their wells of latent potential – if only they would remember to bring a bucket.
Or her pet mice. She could talk about them for hours. How smart and funny and affectionate they were.
“And so different from each other!” she’d beam, eyes brimming with pride. “They have such distinguished personalities. All of them!”
Things that didn’t excite her. Like bodily odors, body hair or an especially anti-climactic party.
Yes. Octavia had opinions. Same as everyone.
But this … this was different.
The more she spoke, the more she sounded like – not a woman convinced, but a child reciting something in class.
A passage in a textbook, learnt by heart because someone told you to.
“The cuckoo birds are parasites”, Octavia said. “They look innocent enough. Soft and gray with a cute sound. Cou-cou! But at the core, they’re tricksters. Charlatans. Frauds who prey on others. Uses them for their own benefits.
Like the little reed warbler. She builds her nest, lays her eggs and what happens? The moment she’s elsewhere, the cuckoo bird arrives. Not to steal. Not to eat. No. She has only one thing on her mind. One plan: to lay an egg of her own.
She sneaks it in, hides it among the others. Just like her mother did and her mother before her. Not a single cuckoo bird has ever cared for their own young. They just make other birds do it for them.
When mama warbler returns, ready to sit on her eggs again, warming them so that they may grow and hatch – she doesn’t realize she’s been duped. That there are now four eggs in her nest instead of three. She simply can’t tell the difference between her own babies and the killer among them.
Because they are killers. From the moment they crawl out of their egg. It’s in their genes. Their DNA. Natural born killers.
Every time the mother flies off, looking for food, the cuckoo chick seizes the chance. This blind and weak, featherless little newborn now wiggles and squirms about the other eggs. Dead set on getting rid of the competition. Because she won’t share. Not the cuckoo bird. Not ever.
She tries again and again and she won’t stop until she’s forced all the other eggs over the edge of the nest.
Her own siblings. They plummet to their death and the mother … she doesn’t even understand what’s happened. Let alone who to blame.
She cares and nurtures and protects her children’s murderer, thinking it’s her baby. Someone just like herself, who will carry on her legacy.
But it’s not. And they won’t.
This poor mother, she feeds her and feeds her and feeds her but it’s never enough. And the chick grows bigger. And bigger.
In just a couple of weeks she’s almost four times the size of her foster parent. So large that the nest may even break apart from under her.
Even after she’s left her birthplace, old enough to care for herself, she still demands to be fed. And come Spring, she too will fly over the high grasses, the trees, looking for a nest to lay her egg in.”
Octavia paused. Maybe to catch her breath.
“That’s what’s happening right now”, she said. “All around us. Imposters, usurpers, are hatching left and right. Now that the borders are open, people from all around the country travels here and for one purpose and one purpose only.
To breed. District women sleep with clueless Capitol men and return home with babies in their bellies. District men seduce Capitol women with false promises of love and devotion, all so that they will carry and birth their offspring.
There’s a war coming, and they’re creating an army. Programmed to destroy us. Every man, woman and child who carries a Capitol pedigree. That’s their plan, their dying wish, and before we realize it, what they are capable of, it’ll be too late. Unless we do something. And fast.
We must throw them out, before they throw us out. We were here first and unless we close the borders – once and for all – with the biggest chains we can find, they will sack this city for themselves. They’ll torture us. Enslave us. Kill us.
Especially those of us who … who worked in the Games. Because they’ll never let us forget what we did to them. To their forefathers. And this new generation of people … they’re all so much more dangerous than any of us alive.
Because they have the wits and brains of the Capitol but the black hearts of the districts.”
It was very quiet, once Octavia finished. A lot to take in.
Finally, Effie wet her lips. Had to ask the question, despite being quite certain she already knew the answer.
“Who told you that?”
“Gloria Highgrass”, Octavia said.
Effie nodded. Of course. She should have known. Who else could create such a massive pile of hot, stinking garbage? As Haymitch would have said.
“Gloria says what she does because she's deeply unhappy”, Effie said. “She wants someone to blame for her own misfortune and it's a million times easier to just be furious than heartbroken.
But she makes things up, Octavia. She lies. The girl hasn’t set foot outside this city. Not once. I don't think she's ever even had a real conversation with someone born in the districts.”
She reached her hands out. Curled her ringless fingers over Octavia’s green, adorned ones.
“Let’s just think about this for a moment”, she said. “Like the sensible women we are.”
Two years ago. Well, almost two years, when the roundness of her belly left no space for further speculation, people had acted like fishermen around a sinking ship. Rowing their boats as far away as possible, so as not to go down with it.
The Peaseblossoms. Flora. Mrs. Q.
But Katniss’s prep team? After all their years together. After everything that happened. The revolution. The war. She was certain they’d stay. Certain. Octavia, Flavius and Venia wouldn’t stand idly by, while the wolfs tore her apart.
So, when they deserted her. When they joined the masses against her, just by staying quiet – it hurt. Hurt more than she could possibly imagine.
They may not spit or throw rocks or even slander her with rumors, as far as she knew, but in a way, them putting their head in the sand was all so much worse than anything the others did or said.
So, when she told Haymitch she couldn’t get through to them – not like Cinna – that wasn’t altogether true.
Not a lie per se, or if it was: she lied to herself as well.
She just didn’t want to. That was the plain, unpainted truth. Couldn’t deal with any of it. All that painful stuff. Not then. Post-partum. Still healing. With two babies so new, the carton of eggs in her fridge (bought before their birth) was still fresh.
But sitting with Octavia today. Right here. Right now. How different was it really, from sitting in a ring in class, talking with her students? Girls who had also been spoon-fed “facts”, based on people’s fear and ignorance.
She squeezed her friend’s hands.
“Come”, she said, with a nod toward the stroller. “Come say hello to my two little ‘warriors’ in here.”
Octavia paled.
“I … I don’t want to.”
“Please. I promise you, it’s going to be alright.”
Standing on her knees, Effie carefully brushed the edges of the mosquito net aside. Revealing their sleep-soft faces.
Half-hidden by Effie’s shoulder, Octavia peered at them. Still cautious. Still watchful. But at least she did it.
“Don’t worry, they won’t bite”, Effie said. “Well”, she added with a smile. “They might, but they hardly got any teeth yet so it’s mostly just wet and sloppy.”
She brushed a strand from her daughter’s forehead.
“Their names are Amy and Ian”, she said. “But I suppose you already know that. They just celebrated their first birthday, about a week ago. Back in Eleven. Lots of chocolate cake. Before the day was out, they were all but covered in it. Same as I was, a couple of years prior. As you’ve probably heard by now?”
“Naturally”, murmured Octavia, eyes locked on the twins. Like they were a couple of sharp-teethed dogs that might yet strike at any given moment. “It was all over town.”
“Yes”, Effie said. “Naturally.” Little crow’s feet appeared by her eyes when she smiled. “They carry both our names”, she said. “Trinket Abernathy. They haven’t said their first proper words yet, but they’re really getting the hang of crawling.
If I want to get anything done now, I must put them in the playpen or else they’ll shoot across the floor and not always in the same direction. Before I know it, they’ll figure out how to pull themselves to standing and it’s: goodbye potted plants.”
Octavia didn’t respond. Tense and awkward. A little crease between her elegant, plucked eyebrows.
“They love playing with letter blocks”, Effie continued. “Or when we blow raspberries on their bellies. They love bathing, peekaboo, dada playing them songs on the piano. They’re exploring their world, little at a time, and they do it without hate in their hearts.”
She hesitated.
”It is true”, she said, softly. “People on ‘opposite sides’ have procreated since the end of the war. Children with a Capitol father and a district mother and vice versa.
But I promise you, it’s not for the reason Gloria has you believe. It’s all just a natural consequence of peace. Of the way we people function. For the first time in forever we can travel around the country safely. Free to get to know people outside our own birthplace if we want to. Friendship and even love … they are bound to grow in such a soil.
If you read some of Haymitch’s history books, you’d find it’s actually quite common. Even in the middle of bitter conflicts, bloody wars that last for decades, people have a way of finding each other, finding common grounds, no matter what. Despite the fact that they’re supposed to be mortal enemies.”
She caressed Octavia’s hair and down her back.
“You’re so much wiser than Gloria”, she said. “And unlike her, you have friends from the districts. Think about the people you know. Katniss for instance. Does she have a black heart?”
Octavia’s brow furrowed. She shook her head.
“Of course not”, she said. “She saved us. After the people of Thirteen imprisoned us, Katniss got us out of there.”
“But she’s from the districts, isn’t she?”
“Yes. I mean, um …” Octavia wavered. “Yes, but … not when it counts.”
“How about Peeta? What can you say about his heart? Is it black?”
“Oh no”, Octavia said in a hushed voice. “Not Peeta. Peeta’s heart could never be black. It’s full of all the colors. Just like his paintings.”
“Well, that leaves Haymitch”, Effie shrugged. “If anyone’s got a black heart, it’s him.”
“How can you say that?” Octavia’s eyes welled up with tears. “You wouldn’t even be alive if it wasn’t for him! How can you say something like that? And in front of them”, she whispered, pointing to the twins.
“But he’s district”, said Effie. “All three of them are. Same as Primrose. And Posy. Their species is so evil, they pass their bloodthirst down through their genes.”
“M-maybe not all of them”, Octavia said. Uncertain. “Some are different. Katniss and Peeta and Haymitch … they’re different.”
“But are they?” asked Effie. “Are they really? Or can it be that you just know them better than you did the other tributes?”
Octavia’s eyebrows came together, trying to make sense of it.
“If there’s anything I’ve learned these past few years”, Effie said, “it’s that we really aren’t that different. Not at the core. Capitol. District. You’d be surprised how much we have in common.
Sure, there are always people who will behave like asses. Every group has them. I can’t speak for everyone but this I know: When I was at the bottom, my absolute lowest, people were there for me. And some were from the Capitol and some were from the districts.”
Octavia’s eyes found the floor.
“It’s alright”, said Effie and she meant it. “But just think about it. Really think about it. If you met a man. A sweet, kind, thrilling man that you had a really great time with. Someone who made you laugh. Made your heart flutter.
A man who thought you were hands down the best, most wonderful girl in the world. Who never failed to make you feel special. Loved. Would you really care where he came from? If he was district, would it matter?”
Misty-eyed, Octavia didn’t reply. She brushed the edge of Amy’s footrest with an absent-minded finger.
“We didn’t have the twins as part of some greater scheme or plot”, Effie said. “Neither did Lysistrata Vicker’s grandson or his wife.
We never even planned it. I got pregnant simply because Haymitch and I made love, followed by a birth control mishap.
That’s all. And I’m so glad we did! Because I cannot imagine my life without them. Neither can Haymitch. It’s not about vengeance, Octavia. It’s about love.”
All throughout, Effie had kept her voice low – so as not to wake the two in the stroller. And she didn’t.
It was the silence that drew a reaction.
Ian stirred again. Stretched his little body as far as the seat allowed. From Octavia came another gasp, but it sounded more like being taken unaware than frightened. As if nervous, he might ask why she saw fit to break his slumber.
The boy blinked at them. No cries or rages. His gray eyes just moved between Octavia and Effie.
A gurgling sound came over his lips, and he reached for mama.
Effie clicked him loose and lifted him out.
“Hi handsome”, she said and kissed his cheek. “Did you enjoy your nap?”
She settled the boy on her lap and Ian’s face turned swiftly to the other grownup in the room.
“Buh?” he asked his mother, questioningly. Pointed his finger out, as always when something piqued his interest.
Effie kissed his strawberry hair.
“Ian … I’d like you to meet my very good friend, Ms Octavia Haze.”
Octavia’s lips curved into a nervous smile. She gave a small wave of her hand.
“Hello”, she said. “Nice to meet you.” Her eyes met Effie’s. “Goodness. He looks just like Haymitch, doesn’t he?”
Effie smiled.
“He does. So does his sister. Especially when they’re laughing. They have Haymitch’s smile.”
“Haymitch laughs and smiles?”
The question pinched her heart, but she nodded.
“Much more than he used to.”
Octavia’s gaze returned to the child. You could still trace a slight vigilance in her manners, but it was quickly melting.
“He … he doesn’t look dangerous. I mean, as far as I can tell. And I’m a great judge of character. Says Venia.”
“No, he’s not dangerous at all.”
“Gloria doesn’t know everything in the world.”
“No.”
Ian cooed. As if to second that.
Octavia’s eyes softened.
“Such a little jellybean, aren’t you?” she said. “Little guy.”
“Would you like to hold him?” Effie asked.
“Oh”, said Octavia, startled. “Well, I … OK. Yes.”
Effie helped the child over and soon the boy had settled on Octavia’s lap.
Ian wasted no time. With the bold, self-righteous hand of a toddler he grasped for her nose, her cheek.
“Oh!” Octavia gave a chuckle, somewhere between amused and alarmed. “What’s he doing?” she asked as he poked and kneaded her.
Effie grinned.
“Sorry.” She reached out, lowered Ian’s hands from Octavia’s face. “Got to be careful, sweetheart. Play nicely. I think he likes the green of your skin”, she said.
Octavia’s face brightened.
“He thinks I’m pretty?”
“You’re always pretty”, smiled Effie. “We tried our hands at finger painting a few months back”, she explained. “He was over the moon. And then there are the shiny things”, she added, when Ian grasped for Octavia’s earring next, nudging the pretty gemstones with his fingertips. “Haymitch says he was probably a magpie in a previous life.”
Octavia giggled. She gently removed the boy’s hand from her ear, but she didn’t let go.
“Well”, she said. “Let me just tell you, Ian: You have great, innate taste! This shade is called emerald green. I get it done at Aphrodite’s Beauty Spa. She is pricy but she’s the best in town. Well, until the day Flavius and Venia and I have included it in our services, of course. But, I don’t think”, she added, unsure, “I don’t believe you’re allowed to get a full body tan if you’re just one year old. I can ask for you, if you want?”
Effie gave a brilliant laugh. Octavia looked up, surprised, then allowed herself a small smile.
“You hungry?” asked Effie. “I brought some for the park but since it seems we’re going to be stuck in here for a while … I’ve got pasta salad. Banana muffins. Some yoghurt with mashed blueberries. It’s not homemade but …”
“Yes please”, beamed Octavia.
When the repairman finally arrived to get them all out, Octavia sat with both twins on her lap.
It was with near reluctance she returned them to their mother.
Free as birds, the four of them headed for the main entrance together.
“I have to be at the salon”, Octavia said, once outside. The sun glinted in the purple of her hair. “Flavius and Venia are probably worried sick.”
“I get it”, said Effie. “Tell them I said hi.”
They kissed on both cheeks.
“If you ever feel like a visit”, Effie added, “you're more than welcome to come over by the house. Any time.”
Octavia nodded eagerly.
“I will.”
Author's note: I wish I could tell you I came up with the cuckoo bird metaphor myself but that's actually from the 2016 movie version of "The Jungle Book". The chapter words are all mine but I drew inspiration from one of their scenes that start with: "But the one you have to watch out for is the cuckoo bird. Do you know how the cuckoo bird survives? By preying on a mother's weakness."
As a writer, I thought it was an absolutely brilliant way to manipulate someone younger and/or more trusting and so I wrote my own take on the idea, putting Octavia in the role of the wolf pups and Gloria as Shere Khan. 😉
Lastly, this chapter would not have come to fruition if it weren't for a comment I received, about a year ago. I won't put the reader's name on here in case she (you) doesn't want me to but I'd still like to talk a little about the power of feedback.
This reader had a hard time seeing that sweet, loving Octavia (and the rest of the prep team) would treat Effie so poorly. Octavia's heart is just too big for all that and either way, it would instantly melt as soon as she saw the twins in person.
Now, I always planned for the prep to change their minds about Effie and the kids but: much further into the story. Near the end. I hoped that Effie's comments that someone unknown was manipulating them and "pouring poison into their ears" would be enough of an explanation until then but then I read this review and thought "Hm, maybe not. Maybe some more background info is needed."
So then it was back to the drawing board, fleshing out new ideas cause I love Octavia's character so much and HATE the idea of her coming of as cold or shallow or, for that matter, OOC.
This elevator scene came to mind and with it, several others that also included the prep.
So, thank you for the feedback! Now, instead of just two more prep team scenes at the end of ToS you get at least half a dozen chapters, several of them starting now. I hope you'll like them!
Four years have passed since the end of the war when Effie returns in to Haymitch’s life once again. An old friendship is renewed. Will it lead to something more?
Meanwhile Panem has entered a new era. The rebellion’s over, the borders are open but in the shadows, anger and mistrust are smoldering. Something that will affect Haymitch and Effie’s life in a way they never saw coming. Full story here.
Chapter 50, Glimpses of us
”Mama? Mama?”
The voice fluttered into Effie’s dreams.
Head against the sofa cushion, she felt the curious and insistent little hand move across her face.
Five tiny nails softly scratched and she smiled. Kissed the tips of those fingers, eyes still closed.
“Mama?” he repeated his word and as reality tugged at her, came the other sounds of the room.
The clinking of teaspoons against china. Flavius and Venia’s quiet chatter.
“Mama, no sleep”, firmer now, “up, up!”
“Mm ...” Eyelids heavy, Effie peered at her young son, standing there in front of her.
At one and a half, Ian was getting better and better at walking. A little wobbly sometimes but hardly ever in need of a helping hand anymore.
A reality that hurt a little. Swiftly fly the years and … all that.
It never ceased to amaze her how much he looked like his father. Both of them did.
Big Seam eyes, Haymitch’s gray eyes. A ray of sunlight played in the wispy waves of strawberry blonde hair.
Hair that had her color and softness, sure, but the disheveled mannerism of those locks definitely came from Haymitch. His side of the family.
The ghost of him was in everything they did. When they laughed or frowned or yawned, he was there even when he wasn’t.
It filled her heart to the brim but as they grew, Amy and Ian, she more and more understood why it triggered Haymitch so much sometimes.
Triggered that old fear he still carried within, despite years and years of peace.
Because the bond between him and his two children was so unquestionable.
So without a doubt.
Had he gotten her pregnant with them during the Games there would have been no hiding their true heritage. Not from Snow nor anyone else. They'd be goners. Both of them. Just like his first family.
And sometimes she caught Haymitch staring at them, eyes filled with such a mixture of love and a bottomless sadness, she couldn’t help but wonder.
Did he see the shadow of his family pass over their features? His mother? His father? His brother?
Hayffie Post-Mockingjay (Canon divergence) Multi-chapter, Rated M
SUMMARY: Four years have passed since the end of the war when Effie becomes a fixture in Haymitch’s life once again. An old friendship is rekindled. Will it lead to something more?
Meanwhile, Panem has entered a new era. The rebellion’s over, the borders are open but in the shadows, anger and mistrust are smoldering. Something which will affect Haymitch and Effie’s life in a way they never saw coming. READ MORE
Chapter 48, Kettles and fruitcake
The playful September breeze lifted the yellow leaves off the street. Made them whirl. Dance, across from Effie’s window.
One of them, dry and withered, landed in the middle of the pond.
“Haymitch’s pond” as she’d come to call it, ever since that fateful night when he made his wish. His two wishes.
The leaf made rings on the surface. A ship fit for a beetle. Or maybe a family of fleas, sailing for the promised land.
The mid-morning sun filled every corner of the living room. Basking in its light, Effie set a plate of finger sandwiches on the coffee table. Found herself humming along with the radio.
It was a relatively new station. A group of ladies and gems who played music, mainly nursery rhymes, certain hours of the day.
They weren’t the first in that field, but they were the first to play more than just Capitol songs, approved by President Snow.
It’d been quite the project. A two years-long enterprise – supervised by someone other than Plutarch for a change – where they’d set out to collect folksongs and melodies from all around the nation.
Out in the districts of course, but also by digging in Capitol archives and through the mouths of the aging generation who still remembered the songs of old.
They had broadcasted throughout Panem for a couple of months now. For anyone who owned a radio and a curious mind.
Could’ve turned out tacky, only it didn’t. Caused something of a controversy, sure. A few Capitol stuck ups who wanted the show shut down, both before and after it first aired.
But those negative voices were soon drowned out, as the station grew increasingly popular. Here of course, and in District 4 and – out of all places – District 13.
No surprise there really. Not to Effie. Finnick’s district had always been a home for singing. And the latter: just starved for entertainment and fun after all those years in isolation.
If I replace Haymitch’s demolished radio,she thought, he might enjoy listening as well. Anything is possible. He’s such a music lover at heart. Could easily find these melodies on the piano. Play the twins something live.
Hands on her hips, Effie eyed the table critically – set with her finest bone china.
Plump, elegant coffee cups. Matching plates with gilded rims. All decorated with the same hand-painted flowers as the pot out in the kitchen, waiting to be filled.
“My family heirloom”, she could’ve told Haymitch. A wedding gift that once belonged to her grandparents.
Over the course of the years, the pretty coffee set had survived two rebellions, four toddlers (back to back) and one drunken Abernathy.
“What do you think?” Effie asked. “Will this do?”
Harnessed up, safely secured in their doorways, Amy and Ian bounced in response. Like the world’s tiniest skydivers. Dressed for play. Their toes just touching the floor.
Jolly jumpers, Annabel called them. It was a birthday gift from her and June.
What better way to dance with the beat, while you were still figuring out the art of standing?
“We should’ve gotten some fresh flowers”, Effie thought out loud. “Pity.”
She hummed along with the music. Adjusted one of the spoons. The linen napkins.
“Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true”, she sang. “Here is the place where I love you.” She kissed Amy. “And you”, she smiled and kissed Ian. “Yes”, she nodded to herself. “I am not in the least tone deaf. Your father doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
The boy grasped for the flowing skirt of her dress. A creation layered with autumn leaves in shades of orange, yellow and red. Not real ones but real enough. She hardly ever indulged in such fancy fashion anymore – fancy and toddlers didn’t go well in hand – but sometimes she just couldn’t help herself.
Low rumbles of a car engine broke her thoughts. Effie looked up. Just in time to see the cab roll up to her curb. The sky turned the side windows into mirrors and no sooner had the driver slowed to a stop before the doors opened.
One, two three.
The sight, their tell-tale chatter, high heels against gravel, curved Effie’s lips.
Moments later, the front door gave a merry tinkle.
“Who can that be?” Effie smiled the twins’s way.
“We’re here!” Venia thrilled, out in the hallway – seconds before they all burst into the living room. A carnival of big smiles and colors.
Orange, green and aqua taking the lead.
“Look who it is!” Flavius spread his arms out, like a circus director. “Your favorite uncle!”
The twins bounced like mad in their jolly jumpers. Like popcorn in a saucepan. Kicking their arms and legs, they both let out ecstatic little squeak-breaths at the sight of the three.
“Aaw! You’ve missed us terribly, haven’t you? Sweet darlings!” Venia bounded straight for Amy. The sunlight glinted off her gold tattoos when she smiled. “Hi, precious! Are you training for your bungee jump certificate, today?”
“How was breakfast?” Flavius smiled, over by the boy’s side. “What did you eat, young master Ian? Anything good?”
“Oh, look at you! You match the flowers, dear!” Octavia kissed Effie on the cheeks, holding a bouquet of bountiful blooms. “This is for you”, she beamed. “It was Venia’s idea. To take the route through Heaven’s Square. Flavius loves tiger lilies you see, and I simply adore sunflowers. We couldn’t decide on one, so we got you both!”
“Why, thank you.” Effie gave the bouquet a tentative sniff. “They’re gorgeous.”
Octavia nodded eagerly.
“We are such thoughtful friends, aren’t we?” she said, half overcome with emotion. “Oh, what would you do without us?”
Effie smiled. She gestured toward the coffee table.
“Please, help yourself while I get some water for these.”
“I’m glad we didn’t miss the concert”, Flavius beamed. He’d taken a seat on the rug, across from the boy while Ian bounced, bounced, bounced with the music. More or less in-sync. “Oh”, the man giggled next, pointing a well-manicured finger in the air. “I remember this one! An all-time favorite! We played it by my crib day and night!”
He cleared his throat behind a fist, opened his mouth and sang – in a fair and surprisingly beautiful voice:
“The people on the bus go up and down. Up and down. Up and down. The people on the bus go up and down. Throough the Capitoool!”
It was hilarious how fast the prep team had warmed up to the twins.
During that surprise first visit post-elevator, Octavia brought lidded mugs of hot chocolate and her two friends along.
And, kid you not, it took less than an hour. Not only did they melt like popsicles in August. They seemed to have forgotten they ever even had a negative opinion to begin with. Not about “borderless lovers” and certainly not “half breeds”.
The twins won them over in no time at all.
Cinna would have been proud. Katniss and Peeta too.
Since then, the three Capitolians checked in every other day or so. Brought food and iced tea, laughter and stories from town.
A welcome distraction. Their presence, their bright and sunny positivity couldn’t help but rub off. Lift her spirit for the first time in … she didn’t even know when.
Everything just fell into place. No need to sit down and talk things through. And frankly: it was a relief.
To just leave the past in the past. Look ahead.
“Are those Peeta’s work?” gasped Octavia, brown eyes on the table. The three-tier cookie stand. “I recognize the frosting!”
“It is.” Effie set the vase of flowers in the center of the cloth. “He mailed a crate full, the day before yesterday. Have one.”
Octavia smiled and plucked a sugar cookie, frosted with a bright green four-leaf clover. She had herself a small bite. Groaned.
“It’s divine! Venia, you have to try this!”
“How is our precious painter?” the older woman asked, once nibbling on a cookie of her own. “And Katniss too, the sweet dear. Is she still designing women’s fashion? We’ve been dying to visit, but life’s been so hectic. Something always comes up. Like just the other day!”
“Yes”, Octavia said. Voice low, almost conspiratory. “We finally told her. Not, not Katniss of course. Gloria. We put a foot down and kept it down. Didn’t we, Flavius?”
“Oh yes”, the man said, still on the floor, nodding his orange corkscrew curls.
“We explained how much we love you and Amy and Ian”, Venia said. “And Haymitch too of course. In his … best moments. We simply laid down the law and told her if she didn’t have anything nice to say, she shouldn't speak at all. Or else, she cannot get her nails done at our salon.”
“She was livid”, Octavia whispered. “She pushed over a mannequin. And then she said … tell her what she said!”
Venia mimicked her voice:
“‘I don’t need you, do I? Go to hell, for all I care! You’re crap at your job anyway!’”
”Ha!” Flavius laughed, as if the very thought was too ridiculous to ever be taken to heart. “Honestly, I feel sorry for her. Don’t you? I mean, think about it! Her nails will look absolutely dreadful from now on.”
“Why don’t we all take a seat?” Effie gestured toward the table. “The coffee will be ready any minute now.”
“Oh, that reminds me.” Flavius got to his feet, a real spring in his step. “You know, Effie, we were thinking. Since there is something of a breath of fall in the air today. How about, we celebrate? By brewing ourselves a pot of nice, hot tea.”
Effie’s heart sank.
And not just to her stomach. Down down down it went. All the way down to the very soles of her feet.
It must have shown, for Octavia quickly reassured her:
“Not that we don’t appreciate your coffee making skills. We simply adore it!”
“Absolutely”, said Venia. “Especially your con panna. It’s to die for!”
“I don’t really drink tea anymore”, said Effie, heat rising to her cheeks by their curious gazes. “It’s just not for me.”
“But why?” asked Octavia. “You had it during the Games. Plenty of times.”
“It’s complicated”, Effie said, hoping they’d leave it at that. “I had a bad experience with tea a while back. Lost my taste for it.”
“Oh!” said Flavius, hand against his heart. “I know exactly what you mean, love! I once indulged myself at a Pick & Cheese. A fine restaurant, they said. Trustworthy. What a joke!” He drew a heavy sigh, eyes on the ceiling. “I wound up”, he said, “with the worst food poisoning of my entire life! Shooting out both ends, if you know what I mean? God, I thought I was DYING! For years to come I couldn’t even look at a slice of gouda without feeling queasy.”
He patted Effie’s shoulder. Hand heavy with sympathy.
“You just have to tell yourself the same thing I did last year, that one time I fell off a carousel horse. ‘Flavius’, I said. ‘Now is the time for courage. Don’t let fear creep into your heart. If you do, you won’t ever try anything daring ever again. Dust yourself off and get right back in the saddle. Don’t worry. It will all be OK in the end.’”
“It’s not quite that simple”, Effie said. “Besides, I don’t even have any tea.”
“That’s alright!” Octavia beamed. She darted for her bag, bringing with her a fancy box of organic, flavored green tea. “We bought it downtown”, she said. “Just to be safe. Some people’s teas are simply awful! Even the best of people. But this, this is what Cinna and Portia always drank. Remember? Very tasty and it boosts the immune system.”
“Let’s get the kettle on!” sing-songed Flavius and Venia in chorus and before Effie knew it, the three of them bounded into the kitchen.
Ten minutes later they all returned. Carrying her plump china pot, heavy with something other than coffee for the first time in ages.
“Now don’t you worry, love”, Flavius interjected her weak protests. “We will cure this unfortunate mental block of yours in a heartbeat!”
They ushered her toward the couch. Planted her on the middle seat with Flavius and Venia on her left. Octavia on the right.
“Don’t be scared”, the latter smiled. “We are here for you.”
“No need for thanks either.” Venia patted her hand. “Just relax and let us provide with some much-needed tea therapy.”
“You know, this is something we could have charged you for”, said Flavius lightly, armed with the tea pot. “But of course - since it’s you – it’s on the house.” A steady stream, the color of fall itself, poured into her cup when he tilted the pot.
“How about a nip of milk?” Venia lifted the cream pitcher. “For extra flavor.”
“And one of sweet Peeta’s sweet creations to nibble on in between”, said Octavia and placed a pink-frosted cookie on her plate. She lifted the cup off the table. “There you go”, she said sweetly. “Nice and hot.”
Effie had no choice but to accept.
Holding it by the ear, she stirred with the silver spoon. Buying herself more time. The scent swirled into her nostrils. This tea – Cinna and Portia’s tea – smelled nothing like her last time, but the lump still grew in her throat.
Her eyes flitted to the twins, bouncing in their jolly jumpers. As if making sure they hadn’t disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Octavia saw her look.
“Yes, there’s Amy and there’s Ian.” Despite the aching in Effie’s chest, the softness of the woman’s voice coaxed a smile out of her. Octavia gave the children a flickering wave of her fingers. “Hello little dears! Look at your mama. So brave.”
Effie focused back on the tea. Drew a deep breath. Let the air out slowly. She lifted the cup to her mouth. Misty heat warmed her upper lip as she took the tiniest of sips.
As the beverage touched her tongue, flavor spreading across her taste buds, Mrs Q – relentless, tight-lipped, eyes hard as the gemstones in her hollow cheeks – flashed before her mind.
“You should never have let him into your bed.”
A choked sound came over Effie’s lips and, unable to stop them, tears welled up in her eyes.
“Oh, honey!” Venia gasped.
“Don’t cry!” said Octavia and in an instant, they hugged her from all sides. Three sets of arms, cocooning her in their embrace.
“It’s OK.” Flavius gingerly removed the cup from her hands. Set it on the table. “It’s only tea. Just tea. It won’t hurt you.” Patting her hair ever so softly, he said: “Don’t you worry, darling. We’ll bring you a different flavor every single visit and the more you drink it, the easier it’ll become.”
“Absolutely”, Venia said.
“We will help you. We promise”, said Octavia, cheek against her cheek. “That’s what friends do. How about, we braid your hair now? Would you like that, sweetie? Let’s braid your hair.”
“Mama.”
The sudden sound turned every head. Effie’s. The prep’s. Four pair of eyes glued to the same spot.
Amy waved her little arms about.
“Mama!” she repeated. Firmer now.
“Oh my God”, whispered Octavia.
“Did she just …?” Venia stared, arms still around Effie.
“Was that her first word?” Flavius asked under his breath.
“Yes”, Effie said, just as stunned. “I mean, they’ve strung together different vowels and consonants. Tried them out, for some time now, but … this is the first real word.”
“Oh, my God!!”
The prep team jumped from the couch, as one. Octavia heading for Amy. Venia and Flavius for Ian.
“That was so beautiful!” Octavia had already broken into sobs. “Can I hold her? Oh, please, can I?”
“Go ahead”, said Effie.
Ever so gently, the girl lifted Amy out of her sling. Tears rolled down her emerald-green cheeks as she cradles her close.
“Oh, precious, I’m so proud of you”, she sobbed, rocking her. “Goodness, that’s the most amazing thing I’ve seen since Venia’s last birthday!”
“Can you say ‘Flavius’, young master Ian? ‘Flaavius’!”
“Come, angel.” Venia smiled and lifted the boy out. Propped him against one hip, so naturally you’d think she’d done nothing else all her life. “Let’s get you to mama.”
The two women resumed their seats around Effie. And Amy, she immediately climbed onto her mother’s lap, like: “enough’s enough”.
Octavia just couldn’t stop smiling. Caressing the girl’s silky hair with the back of her fingers she said,
“We must take them to the Aquarium soon. Celebrate! Jellyfish are such magical creatures. Do you think the twins will find them magical?”
Riing!
Effie nearly jumped at the unexpected sound.
“Oh, allow me”, said Flavius, the only one still on his feet. And before Effie could stop him, he snatched the cordless telephone.
“Hello!” he thrilled. “Trinket residence!”
“Oh, um”, Effie said. You’d think she sat on an ant hill, by the way she moved. “Please Venia, can you scooch over?”
“Haymitch Abernathy! As I live and breathe!” Flavius exclaimed. “My, my, do I have news!”
“Flavius, hold on.” Effie struggled past Venia, and Ian sitting on her lap. All whilst Amy kept a firm hold on her mama’s body, dress, hair. “Please, the call’s for me. I’ll take that …”
“Your daughter”, the man nearly bounced on his feet, deaf to her words, “just said her first word! She said ‘mama’! Loud and clear! Oh, it was so incredible! Extraordinary! I could’ve kicked myself I didn’t bring a camera!”
“Flavius, let me talk to him.”
“Well, old man”, Flavius went on, “it was so good hearing from you again but as you probably guessed, we’re a little bit busy at the moment. Octavia and Venia and Effie and I – and the little ones of course! – are just about to have ourselves a green tea o’clock. Don’t mind if we call you back? OK, then. Take care. Bye!”
And before Effie could stop him, he ended the call.
xXx
*ring ring*
…
Hello? Haymitch? Are you there?
My stars. Good ol’ Effs Trinket. To what do I owe the pleasure?
I’m sorry. I wanted to get back to you sooner. But we had something of a full house before and then I needed to get the twins down for their nap. Took longer than expected.
You didn’t have to call at all.
No, of course I do! I wanted to. I’m so glad you rang us up. Flavius just beat me to it. Sorry about that. He gets a little over-excited sometimes. You know how he is.
*scoffs*
So … how is everything in District 12? Are you still living at Sae’s?
What’s it to you?
Um, nothing … I guess. It was just a question.
Well, use your imagination. How do you think it’s been?
Fair enough.
Sorry I missed the party. From what I hear, it was quite the talk of the town.
Oh, no. Not a party. Far from it. And we only had tea.
Yeah, well. Must be marvelous to have such all-weather friends. You’re one lucky girl, aren’t you?
… what?
I mean, who am I to judge? If you wanna hang out with the people who threw you under the bus a minute ago, that’s on you. I mean, fuck, knock yourself out. But as the father, one would think I deserve to at least be consulted about what kind of people you expose our children to.
Expose?
You heard me. I may be a drunk but I’m not that drunk. Did you honestly think I’d let you get away with it? That I’d sit here quietly? I know all about your fucked up city’s fucked up ideas! Plastic surgery. Neurotoxins. Puking your guts on purpose! And now those … those … “friends” of yours are gonna pollute my children’s young minds with all that Capitol horseshit? Over my dead body!
They don’t! Not at all! What kind of a mother do you think I am?
Well, you welcomed them back with open arms, didn’t you? I bet they never even apologized for the way they treated you. They ganged up with Gloria for fuck’s sake! Remember? I certainly do. I mean, hell Effs! Where’s your self-respect?
It’s different now.
How? What changed? How do you know it isn’t just some ploy to get an inside scoop? Gossip material for later. Extra, extra, hear all about it!
Stop it! They wouldn’t! They’d never! They’ve been nothing but good to me …
For a precious few weeks …
… and the twins! I chose to forgive. To let bygones be bygones and trust my own heart in this matter. And that should be enough for you too! If you ever knew me at all …
*snorts* Well, don’t come weeping on my doorstep when they discard you. And trust me, sweetheart. They will.
Oh, don’t you worry! And don’t call me sweetheart! I can take care of myself, thank you very much! *inhales a shaky breath* You’re mad about earlier. And I get that but … you don’t have to be mean. I know the prep team far better than you do and you … you wouldn’t even be saying those things, had you seen them today. They adore the twins.
Yeah, they love ‘em. Same way Octavia loves her pet rats. Amy and Ian are little more than dolls to them. The moment something else piques their interest, they’ll toss them aside without a second thought.
Who are you?! You sound just like Gloria!
I d…
Yes, you do! You’re being vicious and prejudiced when you don’t even have a clue! Nothing improper goes on under my roof and I cannot believe you think I’d even allow it! The only thing the prep team’s done is bring happiness back into this house. They make me laugh. Make me feel … hopeful. They even promised to help with my tea anxiety.
Your … what?
I … I mean. They make things better, OK. Easier. Whenever I need help with the children or just need a few minutes for myself to breathe or take a shower, they’re always there. They help me, Haymitch!
Yah, unlike me.
I didn’t say …
Cause last time I checked, princess, you already have a support system. Right here! You didn’t have to break the family up.
I didn’t!
You fucking did, Effs! I didn’t up and leave! Not once! Not even when you dropped your twin pregnancy on me like a fucking nuclear bomb. I always remained loyal to you. To our family. No matter what! You’re the one who saw fit to pack your bags. Who decided to put a whole fucking country between us!
Because you left me no choice! What else could I do?
Like … not leave! Get a place nearby.
Right. And when you come stumbling through the door at night, wasted out of your mind, what then?
Fuck you! I offered to go! Offered my whole goddamn house on a silver platter! I would’ve been fine stayin’ at your fancy-ass place. If it meant that you and the …
No, you wouldn’t! You wouldn’t be fine at all! I wanted to come home! More than anything! But you in the Capitol? Alone with your ghosts and no one checking up on you. You’d drink yourself to death for sure!
I don’t need a fucking babysitter!
Since when?! I can’t be in charge of everything, Haymitch! The twins already claim me day and night. I can’t be in charge of everything all the time! It’s too much!
Well, if things are so taxing for you, then come the fuck home! Your village isn’t the prep team, you hear! It’s Sae. It’s Hazelle. Katniss. Peeta. Fine, I’m just some big and scary monster, so to hell with me, right? But those people, they love you! They care for you deeply and every single one of them is a far better influence than your trio of …
Don’t you dare say it!
Well, they’re nutty as a fruitcake, on that we can all agree!
Better nutty than callous! Callous and unkind! At least they are here! Part of their lives. There’s nothing wrong with that! All they do is read stories to them, sing a song every once in a while, put on puppet shows …
Yeah? ‘bout what? The history of the Hunger Games?
Go to hell, Haymitch! I haven’t heard from you in a month. More than a month! Don’t you think I wanted to tell you about the prep team? Or anything concerning the twins, for that matter? But how can I, when you never pick up the phone? When you refuse to return my calls. It’s been weeks and weeks of worrying and caring for the children without you and now, here you are, after all this time, intoxicated …
Oh, that is so you! Effie Trinket in a nutshell! Yeah, maybe I did have a snifter or two, just to take the edge off things. Of course you’ll hold it over my head forever! Never mind I missed my daughter’s first word. Never mind you took my own flesh and blood away from me! Little Ms. Perfect Mama of the Year … Go, then. Go on! Have a ball with your nutty little friends. You already ruined everything else and if you’re too dense to realize they’re not good for you, then …
You ever stopped to think that maybe you’re the one who’s not good for me?!
So file for sole custody then! Be done with it!! *SLAM!*
Hayffie Post-Mockingjay (Canon divergence) Multi-chapter, Rated M
SUMMARY: Four years have passed since the end of the war when Effie becomes a fixture in Haymitch’s life once again. An old friendship is rekindled. Will it lead to something more?
Meanwhile, Panem has entered a new era. The rebellion’s over, the borders are open but in the shadows, anger and mistrust are smoldering. Something which will affect Haymitch and Effie’s life in a way they never saw coming. READ MORE
Author's note: This chapter was so fun to write it practically wrote itself! 😂 If you love Katniss’s cracky prep team, you’ve come to the right place.
As always: THANK YOU for your lovely support! The reason why this chapter was published today and not this weekend and so (relatively) fast overall is all thanks to you. You guys totally rock!
Chapter 50, Glimpses of us
”Mama? Mama?”
The voice fluttered into Effie’s dreams.
Head against the sofa cushion, she felt the curious and insistent little hand move across her face.
Five tiny nails softly scratched and she smiled. Kissed the tips of those fingers, eyes still closed.
“Mama?” he repeated his word and as reality tugged at her, came also the other sounds of the room.
The clinking of teaspoons against china. Flavius and Venia’s quiet chatter.
“Mama, no sleep”, firmer now, “up, up!”
“Mm ...” Eyelids heavy, Effie peered at her young son, standing there in front of her.
At one and a half, Ian was getting better and better at walking. A little wobbly sometimes but hardly ever in need of a helping hand anymore.
A reality that hurt a little. Swiftly fly the years and … all that.
It never ceased to amaze her how much he looked like his father. Both of them did.
Big Seam eyes, Haymitch’s gray eyes, looking into her own. A ray of sunlight played in the wispy waves of his strawberry blonde hair.
Hair that had her color and softness, sure, but the disheveled mannerism of those locks definitely came from Haymitch. His side of the family.
The ghost of him was in everything they did. When they laughed or frowned or yawned, he was there even when he wasn’t.
It filled her heart to the brim but as they grew, Amy and Ian, she more and more understood why it triggered Haymitch so much sometimes.
Triggered that old fear he still carried within, despite years and years of peace.
Because the bond between him and his two children was so unquestionable.
So without a doubt.
Had he gotten her pregnant with them during the Games, there would have been no hiding their true heritage. Not from Snow nor anyone else. They'd be goners. Both of them. Just like his first family.
And sometimes she caught Haymitch staring at them, eyes filled with such a mixture of love and bottomless sadness, she couldn’t help but wonder.
Did he see the shadow of his family pass over their features? His mother? His father? His brother?
Ian blinked with long lashes, nudging her cheek again.
“‘ama?”
“Yes my darling? What do you need?”
“Ian, d’ink?”
“You want something to drink?”
“I’m already on it.” Octavia appeared through the kitchen doorway. Smiling, she waved a primrose yellow sippy cup.
“Oh, you slept hard, dear”, Venia said, no longer on the couch but cross-legged on the floor with Amy.
Comfy on her auntie’s lap, with crayons all over the small-sized red table, the girl had a ball drawing wild lines all over the sheets of paper.
Stifling a yawn behind her hand, Effie pulled herself to sitting.
“I didn’t realize you were all still here.”
“Of course we are, sweetie”, Flavius said, laid back against the couch opposite her. Feet crossed by the ankles, he balanced a bowl on his stomach. A generous serving of the fruit salad they brought in earlier. “Couldn’t well leave the twins alone, with you snoozing and snoring away”, he said with a cheeky smile.
“Oona!” Ian again. He held his hands out to Octavia. Octavia and the sippy cup. “Oona, me!”
Octavia giggled.
“There you go, baby.” With a caress of his head, she handed him the sippy cup. “Some yummy-yum milk, straight from District 10.”
The boy instantly put it to his mouth, holding it with both hands. Effie rubbed the remnants of sleep from her eyes and lifted him up. Settled him against her lap.
“I’m sorry. We had something of an ultra-early start today.”
“Oh, you poor soul”, said Octavia. “Here. You need a special treat.”
She reached for her bag and before Effie knew it, the beautician was running a brush through her hair.
Soft of hand, as only Octavia could be. When she wasn’t uprooting leg hair, that was.
The gentle graze of those strokes and Octavia’s long decorated nails were enough for Effie’s eyelids to droop a second time.
Like she was a little girl again.
Then again, when had her mother ever been this mild and tender when it came to getting her hair in order? Probably never.
Effie leaned her cheek against the top of Ian’s head. Arms around her child, she almost nodded off again, when Flavius’s voice brought her back.
“Milk and cookies, milk and cookies.” He sang the words to Ian, with a little wave of his hand that made the beads on his bracelets clink together. “Effie!” he said, excitedly. “Sing them something!”
Effie quenched another yawn. Blinked hard to try and rouse herself for real. “I would”, she said, “but Amy and Ian don’t like it.”
Venia frowned. “That can’t be right.”
“Yes, they love music”, Octavia said. “I’ve seen it.”
“We all have”, Flavius nodded. “And every child enjoys it when their mother sings to them.”
“Not these two”, said Effie. “Believe me, I’ve tried everything.”
“Surely, it can’t be that bad?” said Octavia.
”Yes, you’re probably just exaggerating, dear”, Venia said.
“Come on,” smiled Flavius. “Try it! Sing us something!”
“OK”, Effie sighed. She cleared her throat and with her arms around her little boy, she sang, “When you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.”
“No!” piped Amy from Venia’s lap. She frowned, crayon in hand. The Abernathy frown. The Trinket’s pursed lips.
“Do you know the cheese bun man, the cheese bun man, the …”
“Noo!” Ian clamped a hand over his mother’s mouth. Gray eyes dead serious. “Nuh-uh!”
“See?” Effie said, voice muffled. “Happens every time.”
The prep team just stared at her, and Octavia wasn’t the only one looking a little green.
“Good God.” Flavius set the bowl of fruit back on the coffee table. Like he just lost his appetite.
“Never do that again, please”, Venia said, just as shaken.
“I’m bleeding from the ears”, Octavia winced. “That was absolutely, positively … hang on!” she gasped, so distraught she accidentally pulled Effie’s hair. Voice quivering, she said, “But … but if you’re hopelessly tone deaf then who will sing for the twins, when it’s time to go to bed?”
Effie smiled.
“Why, Haymitch of course. He has a beautiful voice.”
“Really?” Flavius sat up against the cushions. He grinned. “No way! Are you just pulling our legs here?”
“No, not at all. He sings over webcam. We’ve got two widescreens installed in the nurseries. One here and one over at his place. They talk for a couple of hours every week.”
“I didn’t know Haymitch could carry a tune”, said Octavia eagerly. “We thought he had no talents at all! Is he as gifted as dear Katniss?”
“Well”, Effie said, “I don’t know if the mockingjays go silent when he sings but they definitely do when he plays the piano. The piano was always his forte.”
“Outstanding!” Flavius chuckled and his two co-workers joined in.
With a belly full of milk, Ian squirmed and wriggled on his mother’s lap, to let her know he wanted to be put down.
Effie obliged and as soon as his toes touched the rug, the child toddled across the floor and flopped down, waving his sippy cup like a baby’s rattle.
What little liquid left inside, sloshed about.
Two toddlers and only one sippy cup usually meant trouble. Life at the house with the wishing pond was rarely a quiet affair.
But Ian got his hands on a train engine belonging to their wooden railroad set and Amy was consumed by her drawing.
An odd sense of calm, a peacefulness, settled over the room. Even with the prep team present.
Or maybe because of them.
Outside, was a winter wonderland. Snow had fallen well into February.
All of the Capitol – the houses, the Barrage, Cupid’s Garden, the Fountains of Youth – everything was covered in white.
Thick blankets that glimmered and shone. Especially on days like this.
Effie poured herself some more tea, while Octavia worked magic on her hair. With skilled hands she parted sections of it, braided it, attaching pins. Butterfly clips.
Fresh logs crackled on the hearth. Flames dancing. Such a soothing sound.
Reminded her of home.
She was almost as deft with her fires as Haymitch now. Almost. If Katniss and Peeta timed them, he’d still win. When he was sober.
“The sweet dears.” You could tell just by Octavia’s voice that she was looking at the twins. “Effie”, she said dreamily, “do you think you and Haymitch will have any more children?”
Taken aback by the sudden, straight-forward question, Effie didn’t sputter the tea all over the table. But she did struggle a bit to swallow what was already in her mouth.
“M-more children?”
“Yes, just think about it!” Octavia said in an eager voice. “A little brother or sister to Amy and Ian. It would be so cute! And you already have the world’s greatest babysitters, right here in this room!”
“I second that!” smiled Venia.
Goodness. Effie settled her cup back on its plate. It rattled, despite her great efforts.
Another baby. Another child coming into the picture.
Out of the question, of course – of course! – but she had no sooner thought it before an image flashed into her head. There and gone again. Like lightning.
And it hit her with such a violent pang of longing, it made her head swim.
Herself in Haymitch’s bed. His bare chest against her back. The warmth of him so close. His whispers in her hair and his hand: caressing her big, round belly. His son or daughter.
Their son or daughter.
“Well?” smiled Flavius, bringing Effie back to herself in a blink. “Don’t you want any more children?”
Effie swallowed, turning a little pink.
“I …” She gave her head a slight shake, as if to clear it. “I think I’m getting too old for all that.”
“Oh, stuff and nonsense!” Venia waved her hand at her. “You’ve got several years left, sweetie. I mean, you still get your period every month, don’t you?”
“I say, do it!” Octavia beamed. “Maybe next time he visits?”
”When will Haymitch show his unconventional face here again?” Flavius asked. “It’s been a minute.”
“Oh, he was just here actually.” Effie jumped on the opportunity to change the subject. “Went back to District 12 the day before yesterday.”
Octavia sucked a breath.
“And you didn’t invite us?!”
“Effie, how could you?” Venia clicked her tongue in disapproval.
“We’re some of your closest, most precious friends”, Flavius whined and pouted his bottom lip. Just like the twins, when they felt wronged.
Effie gave a quiet smile.
“Some other time.” She pointed out the window, unable to nod – what with Octavia working wonders on her hair. “The snowmen out front were his idea. And the snow lantern and the snow cave.”
“Oh, yeah.” Flavius craned his neck. “I was wondering what that was.”
Haymitch’s energy that day was outstanding. The mere memory of it made her smile.
Sometime during that first night over, he tiptoed into her room and confiscated not only the baby monitor but her alarm clock as well.
So, when Effie finally came to, she’d slept a whooping 12 hours. For the first time ever in her life.
Dressed in robes and pink slippers she then went on a search for her misplaced family.
The kitchen was in chaos. Table holding the remnants of breakfast. She just poured herself a cup of coffee when their voices fluttered from outside.
“Ah, there she is”, Haymitch said when she appeared in the doorway moments later. “About time, princess.”
Amy and Ian were both dressed in their snowsuits, with mittens and pixie caps on. The girl stood by the apple tree, poking a white branch with a carrot. She giggled when a cloud of crystals billowed up.
The boy – apple-cheeked and with the pacifier propped in his mouth – stood not far from his father. Ankle-deep in a drift of snow, he scooped some up.
“Dada?” he said and held it out to him.
“Thanks, sweetheart.” Haymitch formed the fistful into a little ball, crouched down and started rolling it forward along the ground.
He’d already made one snowman, over by the pond. While the second waited patiently for a head.
Haymitch eyed the garden critically, then their neighbor’s. “Hm. I might have to steal some”, he said. “It can’t be helped.”
Effie smiled.
“It snowed all through the night, didn’t it? I think it’s safe to say we have enough.”
“Don’t count on it, princess. We need one for each of us.”
“You’re building four snowmen?”
“Six. Katniss and Peeta are part of this family too, aren’t they? So you better go put some clothes on, Effs. Help us out.”
“Oh, I’ll just supervise as usual”, she said, unconcerned. “When you need a break, I’ll make you some cocoa and sandwiches, how about that?”
“Nice try, sweetheart”, Haymitch said. “No lazybones on my watch. Gotta be good role models here. Now put a jacket on or something before you freeze your sweet tush off. We’re a team, aren’t we?”
Well, she couldn’t argue with that.
When it was almost time for lunch, Haymitch excused himself for a bathroom break.
A pretend bathroom break probably. For when he returned, he carried with him something curly and pink and very familiar.
Effie laughed when she saw it.
“Where did you find that?”
Haymitch shrugged.
“People need to know which one of ‘em are you.” He crouched by the children, presented the wig to their curious eyes and hands. “See this one here?” he said in his soft dad voice. “This is what your mama used to wear … in her crazy old days. Yeah, she was wild back then.”
“Oh, that’s cute”, said Effie, but her eyes creased with laughter.
She then of course wanted Haymitch’s beanie for the other snowman, but Haymitch held on to it.
“Nah, I need it, sweetheart. Only got one, remember? If I go ‘round bareheaded, I might catch pneumonia.”
“Oh no, we can’t have that”, smiled Effie and pulled the beanie further down his ears.
Amy and Ian liked the snow – they hadn’t seen a lot of it during their young lives, after all – but they enjoyed their cocoa and sandwiches even better.
That was another trait they got from their father.
Effie had been something of a picky eater when she was their age, but the twins’ appetite for food was almost as great as Haymitch’s.
They sat together at the mouth of the snow cave, having a picnic of sorts. Effie pouring the chocolate and Haymitch, with one child on each knee.
Whenever he visited, it was like their mother didn’t exist.
Bath time, play time, bedtime. It was daddy all the way.
Like right now.
Nestled in his strong, safe embrace, the two of them munched away on uncle Peeta’s breads with cheese and tomato, peanut butter and banana and all was right with the world.
It annoyed Mrs Pluckrose to no end.
Throughout the day Effie kept spotting her just at the corner of her eye. Those hard stares, all but burning holes through the snow rimmed windows.
She couldn’t recall ever seeing Virginia and Carl doing something together, just for the fun of it – with or without their son – and they were married.
Maybe that’s what rubbed her the wrong way. Like: “How dare you get along with your ex and flaunting your two little mistakes like that?!”
And Mrs Pluckrose wasn’t the only member of the family who was interested in their affairs.
Timmy.
Ever since he got home, the young boy came up with one excuse after another that allowed him to leave the house, no matter how short a moment.
He took out the garbage. Swept the snow off the front step. Dusted what looked like an old bathmat or the kind of rug you put under a Christmas tree.
And every time, his eyes fluttered their way when he thought they weren’t looking.
It must be the cocoa, Effie thought. She doubted his mother ever let him have anything sweet like that.
And true enough. When Timmy finally came up short on excuses, he cleared his throat and asked in a bashful, yet hopeful voice,
“Can I have some chocolate?”
But before Effie or Haymitch had a chance to reply, the door slammed open. Mrs Pluckrose. Face flushed with anger.
“Go to your room!” Clouds of white smoke billowed from her mouth. “Now, Timmy!”
“Wow”, murmured Haymitch, when it was just the four of them again. His voice wasn’t even angry. Or annoyed. “It’s like hearing Gertrude with Peeta when he was little. Boy, could that woman’s voice carry.”
“All done!” Octavia piped, waking Effie from her daydream. “Look, Flavius! Venia! What do you think?”
“Nice!” Venia nodded in approval.
“You look like a million bucks, love.” Flavius gave Effie a playful wink. “Too bad Haymitch isn’t here this evening. He wouldn’t be able to resist!”
“Well.” Octavia joined her on the couch. She patted Effie’s hand with a warm smile. “Whether you do have more children or keep things as they are, you simply must let us do your hair for the wedding!”
“Your nails and makeup too”, reminded Venia. “We’ll make it something extra special!”
“And don’t you worry, dear”, Flavius said. “Haymitch will be clean-shaven that day. I’ll wrestle him to the ground if I have to!”
“It’s all just soo romantic!” Octavia clasped Effie’s hands to her own heart. “Very Beauty and the Beast. You’ll have a summer wedding, obviously, and Amy and Ian can be flower children.”
“Will you take Haymitch’s last name once you’re man and wife?” asked Venia.
“I always thought ‘Haymitch Trinket’ had a certain endearing ring to it”, Flavius said, admiring himself in a teaspoon.
“Or a double surname, like your children!” Octavia beamed.
“Yes!” Venia said with enthusiasm. “Double surnames are so sophisticated, don’t you agree?”
“Especially yours, Venia”, Octavia said with glittering eyes.
“You think so?” The woman’s face lit up like a birthday candle. “I think so too.”
All three faces turned Effie’s way, eagerly awaiting her answer.
”Oh.” Effie rubbed her forehead, a little overwhelmed by this sudden exchange. “I’m sorry to disappoint you all, but Haymitch and I … we’re not getting married.”
“EVER?!” the prep team burst, all at once.
“Oh honey …” Venia shook her head in disappointment, softly caressing Amy’s hair. “I know we’re living in modern times, but … is your plan seriously to live in sin until you’re both about ready to scatter each other’s ashes?”
“But we’re not”, Effie said. “Living in sin, I mean.”
The prep team looked at each other.
“I’m confused”, said Octavia.
“So, what you’re saying is you’re like …”, Flavius grappled for the words, “engaged and you … decided to wait or …?”
“No, we’re just not having intimate relations. Not of any kind. Period. We’re simply not a couple anymore.” Effie’s eyes flitted around the room. Octavia’s bag, the hand mirror jutting out from it. “Oh, can I borrow that?” she asked, in a desperate attempt to try and change the subject.
But the prep team wasn’t letting her go that easily.
Octavia handed her the mirror and, with worry etched into every word, she asked,
“Then who’s keeping you warm? You’re sleeping with someone, right? Sometimes?”
“No.” Cheeks flushed, Effie peered at herself in the mirror. “Oh, that’s beautiful, Octavia. One of your best works yet.”
When there was no response, Effie could not not look up.
Three pairs of eyes were all trained on her. Stunned into silence. Mouths open in horror.
“Oh, don’t you worry about me.” She tried a smile. “It’s not that big of a deal.”
“Not a big deal?” Flavius rasped. “When was the last time you did it?”
“Um …”
“Good God.” His eyes flitted to the twins and back again, face growing pale. “Are you telling us”, he whispered, “you haven’t had sex in over two years? Y-you haven’t done the deed since you conceived??”
“Effie, that can’t be true!” Venia said. “Tell us it isn’t true!”
“No, no, it’s not …”
“Oh!” Flavius’s hand flew to his chest. “Thank God!” he panted, eyes closed. “Effie, you scared me!”
“… we did it a couple of months into my pregnancy as well”, Effie finished her sentence. “One time. But given our history and the fact that the twins were about to join our lives, we decided it was better to just stay friends.”
“Oh my goood!” Octavia buried her face in her hands.
“Effie, that’s terrible!” Flavius exclaimed, on the verge of crying too. “Even Venia’s got more action than that!”
“It’s true”, Venia nodded.
“I’ve already had sex four times this week! What’s even the point in having a baby daddy if you can’t make love to him? I mean, sure, Haymitch isn’t the hottest bulb on the Christmas tree, but he’s got a certain … rustic charm. If you’re into that. I mean, hell, if the archangel appeared and told me the world would end unless I slept with Haymitch Abernathy, I’d do it. For sure. For sure.”
“It’s … it’s a little more complicated than that”, Effie said.
“But why?” asked Octavia. “I don’t under… oh!” She clasped a hand over her mouth, when an even more fearsome thought struck. “Is he bad in bed?” she whispered.
“No, no, he’s not bad in bed.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Venia asked. “You get along just fine. There’s a spark. You’re not seeing anyone else. You have two beautiful children together. What on Earth’s stopping you? He’s the only man you ever really wanted, right?”
“You should take him out on a date!” Octavia beamed. “A real proper one. Dinner someplace nice, candlelight and then home for some extended afternoon delight to make up for all the time you’ve wasted. We can watch the children over at my place.”
“On a scale of one to Capitol”, Flavius again, “how would you rate Haymitch’s lovemaking skills? It’s always the quiet ones, right?”
And the three of them giggled like crazy.
But it wasn’t a mean laugh. Not even a little.
“Let’s … let’s just talk about something else. OK?” Effie cleared her throat. “Octavia, how are your pet mice? Have you taught them any new tricks lately?”
“Aaw!” Octavia chuckled. “Look at her cheeks! So red, haha! That is the face of someone who used to get some pretty big Os!”
Flavius grinned and brushed away an amused tear before it tilted down his cheekbone.
He added some sugar to his already candy-sweet tea and said,
”Crying shame. The dating market is vicious and here you are, with a man who already adores and cherishes you and basically eats out the palm of your hand and then you don’t want him? What a waste.”
“Well, if Effie’s not interested”, Venia said, “maybe we can fix him up with someone who is?”
“Yes!” Octavia clapped her hands together at the suggestion. “What an intriguing idea!”
“Hm, let’s think.” Flavius tapped a pondering fingertip against his powdered cheek. “Who do we know who’s desperate enough to go out with a man like Haymitch Abernathy?”
“Oh, oh! I know!” Octavia said. “How about that nice girl from …”
“No!”
The word all but exploded from Effie’s lips. So sudden and unexpected, they all looked up. Amy and Ian included.
“I … I mean …” Effie blushed crimson, looking between the three. She swallowed. “Don’t bother yourselves with all that. Haymitch he … he … his sex drive plummets during the winter months. Yes! It’s the same every year. He won’t be interested in any of that before the snow melts. Probably not come spring either”, she added after a moment’s pause. “You’d only be wasting your precious time.”
“Ah, Haymitch, Haymitch.” Flavius shook his head. “Always was a freak of nature.”
Author's note: Poor Effie. 😂 They do love her though.
so venia as part of katniss's prep team isforgiveneven though she is from the capitol
and it's because of them that katniss realizes that the people in the capitol don't know any better than to root for the games, to anticipate them and thusly they are forgiven
she even uses the term "affectionate pets" to describe them
