It's Never Too Late
Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
A/N: There aren't words to explain how much I love Hayffie. I had to write a story for them. For the purposes of this story, I'm going with the idea that Haymitch stopped drinking as much after the rebellion, as requested by Katniss/Peeta/Effie. Effie lives in The Capitol but visits District 12 quite often. This story takes place a couple of months after the birth of Peeta and Katniss' first kid. Enjoy!
"Haymitch! You're supposed to be helping me!" Effie Trinket whined as she held the screaming baby out in front of her.
Haymitch sighed. Why did he agree to this in the first place?
Peeta and Katniss had showed up at his doorstep earlier that night with dark shadows under their eyes and a tired look on their faces. They had asked him to watch their newborn daughter for just one night so they could relax. Haymitch, thinking he could just get the baby to sleep and that would be it, agreed to their request. Little did he know, Effie would be joining him… and getting the baby to sleep wasn't as easy as he thought it would be.
Haymitch took the crying baby from Effie's arms and started bouncing her softly in his arms. "C'mon kid, ya gotta shut up at some point." The baby proceeded to scream louder. "Really? Stupid—"
Effie grabbed the baby from him. "Haymitch, that is no way to treat an innocent little baby. It's not her fault she can't stop crying. You probably scare her, that's all." She smiled at the baby as it started to quiet down.
With her attention completely focused on the baby, Haymitch had time to watch and admire Effie's interactions without her noticing. She smiled and cooed at the whimpering child in her arms. If Haymitch didn't them, he would have thought that she was the mother of the little girl. The baby's whimpering ceased and it's soft snores could be heard. Effie slowly and quietly walked over to the crib and gently set the baby down. She turned to face Haymitch with a smirk on her face, pushing past him and walking towards the living room.
He ignored her smirk and simply followed at her. "You'll make a wonderful mother someday."
Her eyes widened with shock and the smirk dropped from her face as she stopped in her tracks and turned around. "Oh— well… um… thank you, Haymitch." She gave him a friendly smile and walked over to the couch, sitting down and smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles in her dress.
Haymitch walked over and sat down beside her. "You ever thought about having kids?"
Effie shrugged, looking down. "As a child, I always had the dream of growing up, getting married, and having children. But as I grew up, the thought… disappeared. I feel as though it's too late for anything to happen."
"It's never too late," he replied.
Her eyes lifted to meet his. She gave him a warm smile and reached her hand out, linking her fingers with his. Their eyes never broke contact as he lifted their intertwined hands and kissed hers.
The moment ended when crying was heard from the other room.
"Is it weird that I'm kind of afraid to see what happened while we were gone?" Peeta asked his wife.
Katniss smiled at him. "Not at all." She let out a breath, putting her hand on the doorknob. "Here we go." She opened up the door and the two of them walked through. Katniss headed towards the nursery.
"Haymitch, Effie, we're home!" Peeta called out, lagging behind Katniss.
The only answer he got was silence.
"Peeta, the baby's not in the nursery!" Katniss said frantically, rushing back to him.
"It's okay," Peeta said. "I'm sure they're around here somewhere."
"But what if they're not? What if they were kidnapped? What if someone's trying to get to me through them? Peeta, what if—"
"Found them," Peeta interrupted, smiling as he stood in the entrance to the living room. Katniss joined him and smiled at the sight before them.
Effie was curled up against Haymitch, her legs laying over his with the Mellark baby nestled in her arms. Haymitch's arms were around the two girls, holding them all together. All three of them were sleeping soundly.
Katniss tiptoed over to them and gently picked her baby up, trying not disturb any of them. Effie twitched and snuggled in closer to Haymitch. He grunted in his sleep and pulled her tighter.
The baby's eyes fluttered open and she looked at her mom. Katniss smiled and softly said, "If you cry right now, you'll make Mommy very angry, okay?"
Despite the fact that the baby was less than six months old, it seemed to understand Katniss, as she closed her eyes and went back to sleep. Katniss looked over at Peeta and silently gestured towards the hallway where the nursery and their bedroom were located. They silently walked out, making sure not to disturb the two sleeping lovebirds. After tucking their daughter into her crib, they went back to their bedroom.
"Peeta?" Katniss whispered as they lay in their bed.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"You think Haymitch and Effie will fall in love?"
He gave a soft chuckle. "They're long past that, sweetheart. They've been in love since before they met us. They just don't know it yet. I have an idea, though."
"What?"
He smiled. "It's never too late to ask them to babysit again."
A/N: I hate ending stories. :P
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