Haymitch and I sat down for supper and I put Emmie in her car seat, covering her up with a blanket as she was getting tired, and Effie went to get Katniss and Peeta. Supper consisted of pureed vegetables, fish cakes with creamy line paste, birds with orange sauce (which I didn't eat), wild rice and watercress. Desert was chocolate custard with cherries that I picked off, since I was allergic to them.
All was quiet until Peeta started to make conversation. "I love your new hair Effie." He said.
"Thank you. I had it especially done to match Katniss's pin." She said. "I was thinking we might get you a golden ankle bracelet, Brooke a charm and maybe find Haymitch a gold bracelet or something so we could all look like a team." She told us.
"I think that's a great idea." Peeta said. "How about it Haymitch? Brooke?"
I nodded. "That sounds cool."
"Yeah, whatever." Haymitch said. He was refraining himself from drinking and it was now making an impact.
"Maybe we could get you a wig too." Katniss, who had been silent up until now imputed.
Haymitch shot her a look. I cover up a laugh at that mental image and took a bite from my custard.
"Shall we watch a recap of the reapings?" Effie asked, dabbing her mouth with a napkin.
I nodded and headed to the main compartment and sit in a chair, setting the car seat down at my feet. Effie made comments on some of them, like Cecelia from 8, and Chaff from 11. It wasn't long before Haymitch left the compartment, I lifted the car seat and and told Effie, Katniss and Peeta good night and caught up with Haymitch.
"Hey." I said, and he stopped. I hand him the two slips from the reaping that Purnia managed to give me. Both of them had Katniss's name on them.
"It was rigged." He said, looking at both slips.
I nodded. "Katniss was destined to go back into that arena." I said, going into my compartment. The next morning, once at the Capitol, Peeta and Katniss were whipped off to see their prep teams and so, we mentors had some free time. I
I dressed my daughter in a pink bodysuit that said "Daddy's girl," and a pink and brown leopard printed shorts and pink and brown socks. I also put a hot pink floral headband on her head. I grabbed the pink, brown and grey elephant diaper bag and slung that over my shoulder and wrapped my daughter in that matching blanket and picked her up and settled her in her car seat that was settled on the stroller. I strapped her in and covered her with a blanket.
Purnia and I went to a deli for lunch since we had a bunch of time to kill. Afterwards, Purnia had to go sign in, but with the promise of meeting me after the parade. I stayed behind at the deli for a while longer, so the I could get a little bit of ice cream. After a few minutes, I got up to leave. Emmie yawned and closed her eyes, settling into sleep.
I found Katniss there, dressed as a glowing ember. "Katniss." I said, before joining her.
"Brooke!" She said. "Peeta and Haymitch hasn't arrived yet." She said, petting one of the horses, and soon, from District 4, Finnick Odair, came over. He ruffled Emmie's hair and stood beside Katniss. I gave a soft smile, knowing what he was doing.
I rolled my eyes as he put a sugar cube into his mouth. "Hello Katniss." He said.
"Hello Finnick." She said.
"Want a sugar cube?" He asked Katniss, as I blocked him out then as I take a look around me, I saw Johanna Mason from 7 who waves at me before turning back to her stylist who was scolding her.
"No thanks." Katniss said, as I tuned back in. "I'd love to borrow your outfit sometime though." I shook my head at the District 4 outfit, he was draped in a golden net. I silently laughed at his and Katniss's exchange and I noticed Peeta had arrived.
"Peeta is coming. Sorry you have to cancel your wedding. I know how devastating that must be for you." He says. "See you later Brooke." He said, walking off.
"What did Finnick Odair want?" Peeta asks, joining us.
She turned to Peeta and did an imitation of my friend from 4. "He offered me a sugar cube and wanted to know all my secrets." She said seductively before turning to me. "Is he really always like that?" She asked me.
I smiled. "Kind of. Fin isn't really that bad. He's a good friend." I stated. I went to go join Effie and Haymitch when the music started playing. The parade was bittersweet, seeing my friends, who will soon possibly face their ultimate deaths, but Katniss and Peeta were a huge hit with the capitol.
After it was over, I followed Haymitch to see Seeder and Chaff and Seeder and I made conversation. I nudged Haymitch when Peeta and Katniss came in and he nods in their direction and he and they follow me over to them.
Seeder hugged Katniss. "The families?" Katniss whispered to her.
"They're alive." She said softly. Suddenly, Chaff threw an arm around Katniss and gave her a big kiss on the mouth and he and Haymitch laughed while Seeder and I sigh and shook our heads.
Purnia joined us. While we waited for the elevators, Johanna came up to us, throwing her headdress behind her. She greeted me and tickled Emmie's tummy before ruffling her own spiky hair and rolling her eyes. "Isn't my costume awful? My stylist's the biggest idiot in the capitol. Our tributes have been trees for over 40 years under her. Wish I'd gotten Cinna. You look fantastic." She said.
She and Katniss talked about her outfit in district two during the tour, in which I didn't do too much off, even though I was Peeta's mentor, as I was 7 months pregnant. Suddenly, Johanna unziped the rest of her outfit.
"Johanna!" I almost whined. "You're one of my best friends and I love you, but nobody wants to see that!"
She shrugged, "Sorry." She said. The Elevator came and Johanna rode in the same elevator as us and talked with Peeta about his paintings and with me about life.
"She's going to kill you." I muttered to Peeta once Johanna left, seeing that smile on his face. Once Seeder and Chaff steped out on floor 11, he started laughing. I sighed as Effie, Haymitch, Purnia and I followed them off when we get to our floor.
Suddenly Haymitch's face grows hard, I looked at him curiously before I looked, and my eyes widened when we see the avoxes. They both had red hair, but the male Avox, of all people, was my husband. Haymitch and I exchanged glances. "Oh boy." Purnia muttered, seeing the same thing we were.
Effie also noticed the Avoxes. "Looks like they've got you a matched set this year." She said brightly. I surpassed the urge to glare at her, instead, I focus my gaze straight ahead of me. He met my eyes for a moment, his eyes telling me that everything was alright. For now.
Then I shift my attention to our baby daughter in the stroller. I could tell she was sleepy as she was getting fussy, but I kept her quiet by lifting her up and rocking her.
Haymitch quickly grips Katniss's wrist, in case she was to do something she would regret. Then she twisted out of Haymitch's grasp and ran off to her room. And Peeta went to his not long after.
"I'm going to go and try to put Emmie down." I said, pushing the stroller with one hand down the hall to my room, where Purnia was waiting for me.
I tried to hold back my tears as I laid my daughter down in the pack n' play that I had packed and covered her up. "Oh Brooke, I'm sorry. Are you alright?" Purnia asked, giving me a hug.
I nodded and wiped my eyes with a tissue. "Kind of, I mean I knew Darius was an Avox, but I never thought he'd be assigned to 12." I told her. She sighed and patted my back.
About 20 minutes later, I picked up Emmie and carried her to the dining room along with a bottle. Haymitch was already in the dining room by the time I arrived and Effie was getting ready to go and get Peeta and Katniss. The Avoxes had set the table up, and they stepped off to the side, behind what would be Effie's seat. I sat down in the seat across from her and beside Haymitch.
"Well, I best be going." Purnia said. "Got to get back to 12, my job here is done." She said. She had her peacekeeper uniform on minus the helmet.
"Good luck." Haymitch muttered. He knew we knew that he was talking about Thread.
"Thanks, I'll need it." She muttered back. "See ya, and Brooke, I'll keep in touch if I can." She said. She sighed, taking one last look at us and Darius and left.
Cinna and Portia arrived and then Peeta. Katniss was the last to arrive, looking hallow. "Are you alright?" I mouthed to her and she nodded. It wasn't long before she knocked down a bowl of peas and jumped down to pick them up, and Darius went over to clean them up. Haymitch and I exchanged glances.
"That isn't your job Katniss." Effie scolded and I wanted to laugh at the expression on her face, but I didn't. Instead, I started feeding a bottle to Emmie.
"She's just adorable." Effie squealed. "Whose her father anyway, she doesn't look much like you." Effie asked. Peeta and Katniss looked down at their plates, remaining silent and Haymitch took a sip of his wine. I let my eyes flicker to where Darius had returned, with his hands behind his back and I knew he'd heard Effie's question. He looked at me and gave me the slightest nod of his head. You couldn't see it if you weren't waiting for any kind of reaction. His nod meant for me to tell her and his eyes told me to tell her everything.
I got up and went to Effie to whisper in her ear. Her eyes grew wide as she turned to look at Darius for a moment and then back to her plate. "But a peacekeeper." She said and I rolled my eyes and went on to explain. I was 22 and he was 25, and it was true that peacekeepers had to give 20 years of service before raising a family. But I was a victor and everything was different when it came to victors.
I went back to my seat to finish eating before I excused myself. I didn't watch the recaps of the ceremony and parade, instead, I gave my daughter a bath and putting her to bed before getting my shower and changing into a pair of pajama pants and a tank top.
A knock came at my door and I opened it to find Effie. "Meet me on the roof." She said. I narrowed my eyes, but reluctantly I grabbed my shoes, but then Emmie woke up, and so I grabbed also her blanket, the bottle, the car seat and her.