And here's the next chapter, fair warning, here we diverge from canon, into the wild AU.

Cinna was concerned about Effie. She put on a good face when they were all out in public, but he could tell she wasn't sleeping very well. Of course, he knew she worried for all three of her victors, and he and Portia were well aware of the fact that Effie and Haymitch were together romantically. He told Portia the things he'd noticed, and it turned out, he wasn't the only one. Portia and Effie had been friends, real friends for years. She voiced some of the things she'd picked up on over the last few weeks. They argued briefly about which of them should ask Effie if what they suspected was true.

It was the day before the reaping for the quarter quell, when Portia, who'd lost the coin toss, asked Effie in a private moment what was wrong. The couple had invited Effie over for dinner. She pointed out the things both Portia and Cinna had noticed. The lack of appetite, clear loss of sleep, and odd emotional reactions. Then she asked the question,

"Effie, is there any chance you're pregnant?" Effie's eyes went wide. With everything going on, all the stress and worry, she'd never even realized she'd skipped her period. The insomnia and other symptoms she'd shrugged off as a result of the quell. Her nerves had her so on edge, she hadn't even thought about anything being off. She'd been so worried about Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch that things she'd normally notice right away were brushed to the back of her brain.

"Oh shit." That was all Effie said for a moment, thinking back. The last time she'd been with Haymitch, the night of Finnick's party, they hadn't used any protection. She mentally backtracked to the party, it had been roughly two months. She closed her eyes, "Maybe?" Portia took hold of one of Effie's hands.

"I bought a few tests, you should find out for sure if there's anything to worry about." Portia told Effie gently. Effie nodded, her heart stuck in her throat. She and Haymitch had talked about having kids, when the rebellion was over and they would be safe. But now? Just before they started the rebellion? The timing was so off. But, in less than a month, they'd be in thirteen. Effie took the test Portia offered her.

The next morning, Effie was up early, ready to make the trip to twelve. She was not ready to pull Katniss's name, or Peeta's or Haymitch's. She knew she had to, though. Backing out wasn't an option, not that it had ever been for her. The ride seemed to take too long, and she found herself pacing up and down the aisles. She wanted to get there and she wanted to talk to Haymitch. He had to know, and she was incredibly grateful for Portia and Cinna's support. She wished they could have come, but they had to stay in the capitol and work, get ready for the parade.

Effie pressed a hand against her stomach; she hadn't started to show yet. This was good, since Snow would obviously take some form of action if he knew. Cinna had also assured her he'd have a dress or two for her that would hide things if the quell took longer than expected. They were only anticipating having to wait for another two weeks. Then they wouldn't have to hide anything.

The ridiculously slow train finally made it to twelve, and Effie made her way to Haymitch's house. She did not look forward to telling him he was going to be a father. He had to know though, it wouldn't be right to keep something this big from him. Not after all they'd been through together. He'd been there for her so many times. Effie had to trust him now. He'd do right by both of them. When he opened the door, he looked surly, but sober. Peeta was apparently still going on with the 'no drinking' regimen.

"That time of year already. Damn." Effie slid past him, giving him one of her usual greetings for reaping day. She closed the door, looking at Haymitch seriously.

"We have to talk, Mitch." Haymitch was surprised at Effie's tone, and the fact that she hadn't just hugged him. Usually, that was the first thing they did out of the public's eye.

"What's wrong, Mia?" He hadn't forgotten the night of the party. It was still fairly vivid in his mind. And he remembered that they didn't use protection. He'd been wondering for a while if anything had come from that time.

"I . . . I'm . . ." She was so nervous, she was tongue-tied. She just couldn't get the words out. Haymitch knew what she was going to say, and let her off the hook,

"Knocked up?" Effie nodded, as her eyes started to water. Haymitch couldn't stand to see her in tears, and grabbed a relatively clean hanky before pulling her into his arms.

"S'alright, sweetheart. We'll be safe in thirteen 'fore anyone's the wiser. Who else knows?" Effie told him that it was only Cinna and Portia. Which was good. Those two could definitely keep secrets.

"Besides, this was something we both wanted, right? Not yet, but someday." He shrugged. It could be worse. At least it hadn't happened earlier, like on the victory tour. He didn't think even Cinna's genius could hide a pregnancy for that long. He held her for a few more minutes, as he felt Effie relax against him. He gave her the hanky,

"Better clean your face before anyone sees you've been cryin'. We've got a reaping to do." Effie wiped her eyes, making sure that not too much make up had smeared. She quickly fixed what need fixing and they headed out, both wishing they could hold hands.

The reaping went without a hitch, although Effie had a hell of a time keeping her composure when she read Haymitch's name on the slip of paper. She couldn't show her true feelings when Peeta volunteered to take Haymitch's place in the arena. Even with Haymitch being sober for months now, he would still likely be older and slower than other tributes in the game. Then she was startled when the new head peacekeeper told them that there was not time for the tributes to say their final goodbyes to their families before leaving.

Dinner was a subdued affair, no one felt particularly talkative. Effie waved away the wine, allegedly for Haymitch's sake, but more for the unborn child she carried. Tea was a perfectly good substitute. Alcohol was out of the question for the next several months. And it was rather too easy to pretend that it was all for Haymitch, who managed to look miserable. The high point of the meal was Katniss, when she joked about getting the mentor a wig to match Effie's. To hopefully ease the tension, Effie suggested that they watch the reapings from the other districts.

Everyone sat down to see who they'd be facing. Haymitch was not thrilled to see his friend Chaff was going back in the arena. Effie was especially struck by Cecilia, a mother with three young kids being reaped. It took a lot of effort for her not to start crying. She dabbed at her eyes, determinedly not touching her stomach. The kids were in the room, and she didn't need either Katniss or Peeta figuring things out, and then letting it slip at an inopportune moment.

After watching the other reapings, everyone went to their own rooms, at least at first. Then Haymitch joined Effie in her room, making sure to keep quiet. They didn't need to talk, it was enough just to hold each other. At least until Effie could no longer ignore the 'morning sickness' that sent her almost running to the bathroom. Her dinner made a quick reappearance, while Haymitch knelt behind her, rubbing her back and holding her hair out of the way.

"Is this normal?" Haymitch was a bit worried. He didn't know much about pregnant women or what to expect. He handed Effie a glass of water, letting her rinse the foul taste out of her mouth.

"I think so. I remember when my friend Claudia was pregnant with her first child. I don't know how long it's supposed to last or why they call it morning sickness, when mine seems to hit mostly in the evening." Effie didn't know very much about having a baby, but there were some things that seemed to be fairly common sense.

There was something about the bathrooms on the train that Effie had never realized. Most people didn't. Katniss was going to take a nice hot bath, and had just turned off the water, when she realized she could here noises coming from a nearby vent. It sounded like someone being sick. It took her a few minutes to realize that she knew who was in the other bathroom.

It was Effie. And it sounded like Haymitch was in there with her, talking to her. But the words were muffled and she didn't get most of what they were saying. This made no sense to Katniss at all. The mentor and escort bickered all the time. They couldn't stand each other. Katniss decided to forget about what she'd heard, for now. She was going to enjoy a nice hot soak and not think.

It was a rare quiet morning in the penthouse. Both tributes were with their prep teams, leaving Haymitch and Effie to themselves. They decided to forgo being inside, and go up to the roof, where they could talk in peace. In the small garden, they are not easy to observe, so no one would see when Haymitch laid very gentle hands on her abdomen, where he thinks the baby is. Their baby.

Haymitch had a meeting with Plutarch later, and made a mental note to ask him about medical facilities in thirteen. Effie had some possible sponsors to see later, they'd made inquiries into sponsoring Katniss. So they both wanted to have a little time together before things got busy. Effie asked him, a little curious,

"Do you want a boy or a girl?" Haymitch looked thoughtful. While they'd talked about having kids eventually, he hadn't really considered how many or what sex. He ran a hand over his stubble before he answered honestly,

"Dunno. Suppose it doesn't matter too much, as long as he or she's healthy. You?"

"I think a boy would be nice, to start with. But you're right, it's more important to have a healthy baby."

They'd spend all day up here, if they didn't have other things they had to do. They headed their separate ways, each looking more and more forward to being away from all of this. Away from the damned hunger games and the capitol.

The training week went well, all things told. Peeta and Katniss didn't talk much about it, but from what Haymitch said, almost all the other tributes had requested Katniss as an ally. Apparently, no one had ever really seen Katniss shoot before, and it must have been impressive. She kept on her usual capitol ditz air, until both tributes said what they did in their individual sessions with the game makers.

Peeta's painting of little Rue from eleven is bad. Not that Effie is against it; personally she's thrilled that he did it. But she pretended to be horrified, as whoever is monitoring the bugs will expect. And then Katniss told how she made an effigy of Seneca Crane, and Effie nearly loses it altogether. She can't help being over emotional, and fought hard not to burst into tears in the living area. She left the room; unfortunately Katniss noticed the tears in her eyes.

When Effie returned to the room with red eyes, they are all waiting for the scores. She sat down next to Haymitch, but not too close. Cinna squeezed Effie's shoulder, while everyone watched the screen. The other tributes earned the expected scores. Then it was the moment of truth for twelve. And Peeta and Katniss both received perfect scores. Well shit. This made things interesting, to say the least.

And that's a wrap for chapter 7. Thank you for your continued support. Reviews, questions etc are welcomed.