Chapter Fifty-Four

Their footsteps echoed throughout the empty hallway with the President leading the way. Haymitch followed quietly until they came to a stop in front of a vacant room. The President entered, leaving the door open. Plutarch ambled in with Haymitch bringing up the rear. He shut the door behind him.

"A secret, close-door meeting?" Haymitch raised a dubious eyebrow. "Must be something special."

President Paylor sat perched at the edge of an oak desk. She appraised them quietly and then spoke to them, "I wanted to let you in on it first."

"It's too soon for the Council to pass their decision, isn't it?" Plutarch asked, peering out of the window into the streets below.

"I think we all know what the Council will say," President Paylor spoke softly. Haymitch dropped into an armchair and crossed his leg. He tapped his fingers against his knee rhythmically. "Yesterday was a good session, wasn't it?"

Plutarch turned around, his eyes cutting to Haymitch.

"I didn't throttle a Council member. So I count that as a victory," Haymitch said simply. "What is really going on here?"

"I still stand by what I said years ago. The both of you should have been on my Council," she smiled.

"I'm very happy with my current appointment, Eileen," Plutarch returned her smile good-naturedly.

"I prefer life in Twelve."

"Of course, except for the occasional trip you make to the City in order to play the Devil's advocate which I find is good, it keeps my Council members on their toes," Paylor added. "The both you have raised some valid issues once again at the meeting; very thorough and very well thought off. The issue of the government's finances has been in constant debate since we were first established as the governing body, so trust me when I said that some members whole-heartedly agree with your views."

Haymitch sat up straight, leaning forward in his seat.

"So what are you saying? They'll repeal it?"

"At the moment," she conferred, "we are able to sustain the policies and the rebuilding of Panem. They are able to run concurrently albeit on a slightly tighter budget. But I have all the confidence that as the economy picks up over the course of the next few years we would be more than able to provide for the people."

"Next few years?" Plutarch frowned.

President Paylor went on to justify. "With regards to your concerns on the delay in constructions, those are between the workers, suppliers and the private contractors. We keep an eye out on these things but we try not to meddle in the affairs of private companies, especially when the government has contracted out the business to them. When it comes to late deliveries on materials or petty disagreement over wages the private companies should be able to resolve it between employers and employees unless they have seriously contravened a law in which case, the Courts will hear it. "

Haymitch exhaled loudly, the frustration evident in his feature. "They're not going to repeal the law, are they?"

"The Council members are divided and they have not decided on anything but between you and me, it is highly unlikely that they will. To do so now will make my governing seem incompetent in the eyes of the public."

"So you're trying to save face," Haymitch pointed out.

President Paylor ignored it.

"We are trying our best to take all the points you have brought up and all the issues you have raised. This is good… what we have. You poke holes in our laws and we work to make it better. I value this cooperation. It's a good partnership -"

Haymitch snorted. "It's not a partnership."

"- and I hope we can continue in the same vein."

"I understand that you are trying to ensure the law runs smoothly and that the needs of the people are constantly being revised and cared for. That is commendable," Plutarch stepped in. "But – "

"But people would still be married," Haymitch interjected. "And in some, these union is outright destructive, not to mention – "

"Not yours, I hope," the President looked at him imploringly.

"I don't hit women," Haymitch scowled feeling insulted, "and I sure as hell won't lay a hand on my wife. I respect her enough and knowing Effie, she would haul my ass in jail if I so much as try to do that."

"Good. Nobody wants to find out that the person they placed their hopes in is not all they imagined him to be. You've become quite popular with the public lately, haven't you?"

Her eyes fell on the morning paper where a photo of his family at the park taken the day before graced the front page.

Haymitch frowned. He had seen that paper that morning but couldn't be bothered to read it. "So it's a no with the appeal, then?"

"It's still too early, Haymitch."

"Nearly two years," he said.

"Like I've said, it's still too early for us to scrape it away. The law is the only thing that will boost the population. Years ago, District Thirteen had their pox epidemic that nearly wiped out half of their population. We had the war that killed thousands of people including children. We need the law," President Paylor insisted. In a softer voice, she added, "the first baby born under his law has not even attained two years of age. Give us a little faith, Haymitch. We are trying our best."

"I see that you're still not pregnant despite this law being your Council's brain child," Haymitch muttered, taking a swing at her.

That got a laugh out of the President. "Tell you what, why don't you bring your children around to the City in seven months' time for a little play date? Granted, he or she will be too young to play but…a little introduction, wouldn't hurt the children, would it?" she smiled, a hand rested daintily on her stomach.

Plutarch was the first between them to offered congratulatory words. Haymitch stared at her.

"Are you serious? Are you really…?" he asked, shaking his head.

"That's still classified information. Keep it to yourself… and your wives."

XxX

The return journey to Twelve felt long and arduous. Effie was careful to keep the children from bothering their father and gave Haymitch space to brood. He needed it and better now than when they were back home in Twelve.

Effie tried to occupy the children as much as she could. She read and sang to them, she pointed out to different objects and started naming them for her children but knowing that Haymitch was there, Tristan reached his hands out for his father.

"He wants you," Effie told him quietly.

Without a word, Haymitch picked Tristan up and settled the toddler on his lap. He gave the boy his pacifier. Tristan snuggled against his father with his hand wrapped tight around Haymitch's finger and fell asleep. Effie sat across from them with Ethan next to her, snacking on a teething biscuit.

"Each time I see him, he's got some food in his mouth," Haymitch commented. "That one eats a lot."

"As long as he's happy, sitting here quietly instead of trying to crawl around everywhere, I'm not complaining."

Haymitch said nothing. He continued the rest of the journey in the same manner, staring out of the window watching the sceneries passed him by. Effie knew he had no interest in the sceneries outside and was just trying to distract himself from the need to drink. If this had been ten years ago when there was only him to think about, Effie was certain that he would have tried to cope with a bottle of whiskey in his hand.

Instead, his hand was methodically brushing back Tristan's hair as if to occupy itself with the lack of bottle in its grip. Effie smiled at the sight of Haymitch and Tristan. She wished she had a camera on her. It would certainly make for a nice photo.

That night when they returned home and the boys had gone to sleep, Effie said nothing as Haymitch sat by the front porch nursing a glass of whiskey. A glass, in her opinion, was better than the whole bottle. She sat with him on the steps, in the dead of night with her head resting on his shoulder.

"You're going to be stuck with me for a little bit," she said, looping her arm around his.

It was a long while before Haymitch spoke, "better you than some other stranger."

And that was enough for her.

XxX

It wasn't the first time that the thought had crossed his mind but Haymitch would rather endure the physical training Peeta had put him through prior to the Third Quarter Quell than what he had to deal with at the moment. Having not one but two toddlers who are fast on their feet had placed him in a state of extreme exhaustion almost on a daily basis that by the time night greeted District Twelve and his head hit the pillow, Haymitch fell asleep almost immediately. He marveled at that fact sometimes, a far cry from how it had been for him before when only copious amount of alcohol could knock him out at night.

That afternoon, Haymitch came out of the back door into the small backyard where Effie had put up the clothes line to a sight that made his heart skipped a beat.

"Ethan," he raised his voice slightly to get the boy's attention. He hardly if ever called his sons by their names and the rare use of Ethan's name made the child freeze. The boys would soon learn that whenever their father called them by their given names, they were usually in trouble. "You put that gosling down now."

Effie, much to her chagrin, has her own gaggle of gosling which had imprinted on her. She had demanded he do something about it.

"Is it not enough that I have two toddlers to look after and now your… your pets are following me everywhere I go!"

To be fair, it was hardly his fault that happened. When the birds had hatched, he had been away assisting Peeta with the central air-conditioning system at the bakery and when he returned home, he saw Effie standing by the pen looking curiously at the newly hatched goslings from a safe distance but the damage was done. She had been there during their sensitive period and they had imprinted on her.

Ethan looked up at him with his big grey eyes.

"Put that bird down, tiger. It's hardly fair - you're bigger than him," Haymitch said.

Ethan gave Haymitch a wide smile, showing off his four front teeth. He raised his hand innocently in excitement, the bird held tight in his grip. Effie walked in front of Haymitch towards the clothes line, carrying a basket full of laundry. The goslings trailed behind her. Ethan chased after them on his tiny feet in an attempt to capture another. Haymitch swooped down and scooped him up. He freed the bird from the child's grip which prompted a temper tantrum.

"Da!" Ethan screamed angrily, kicking his legs to free himself.

Haymitch raised both eyebrows at Effie, a smirk on his face.

"Still not a proper word," she rolled her eyes, remembering very well how a few months ago he had claimed Tristan had called him by the same word.

Haymitch laughed.

"Jealous," he teased her. Ethan was still kicking air, trying to free himself from his father's grip. He had started crying. "This is exactly how that gosling felt when you half strangled it earlier."

"Haymitch! Your son is eating grass," Effie exclaimed, drawing his attention to yet another problem.

His eyes cut to Tristan who had been quiet all those while. He was sitting on the ground, pulling blades of grass and putting them in his mouth.

"Did we starve him that he has to resort to that?" Haymitch muttered to Effie.

Haymitch scooped him up the same way he did with Ethan. With a boy on each side, he turned to Effie, the exasperation was evident in his eyes.

"I'm really starting to consider putting a spoonful of whiskey in their milk and knock them out, Effs. I'm exhausted. And you may be the very picture of health," he said and Effie smiled, "but I'm too old to be running after their asses and watching their every move.

"You're not that old," she reassured him. "And, fair warning, if you do that to my children, Haymitch, you'll be sleeping at Katniss' house for the rest of the week."

"It doesn't have to be whiskey," he negotiated. "Yeah, maybe that's too strong. I could rub some wine on their gums."

"No," Effie laughed. "Absolutely not!"

"Come on, aren't you tired of – okay," he said hastily when he saw the way she was glaring at him. "Fine, we'll let them just run around all day then."

Haymitch did exactly that. He let them run wild on the swing set he had built. Retreating back to the front porch, Haymitch sat on the top step and watched them until they tire themselves out. Tristan crawled into Haymitch's lap and fell asleep. It took Ethan a while before he simply lay on the freshly mown grass, asleep and quiet at last.

Effie came out from the back of the house when it was time for their afternoon nap, the laundry basket in her arm now empty and saw her two children sound asleep. She glanced over at Haymitch.

"Guess it's nap time," he shrugged. "At least it's quiet now."

"Did you spike their milk?" she frowned.

"Give me a little credit, sweetheart," he said. "I put them to sleep without having to do that. They haven't had their bottle."

"You can't just let Ethan sleep out here or wherever he feels like, Haymitch. There are proper places to fall asleep and he should learn that from a young age," Effie started. "And you can't always let Tristan sleep in your arms while you hold him. He'll never learn to sleep on his own or in his own bed and it's going to be very difficult for us later. By the way, please don't forget to get their birthday cake from Peeta for tomorrow," she switched into a different subject without warning.

"You've only just reminded me about fifteen times," he muttered.

"No need to exaggerate."

Haymitch knew that Effie was looking forward to tomorrow when the children turned one. He wasn't feeling particularly excited especially when he felt that time was running too far ahead, leaving him powerless to stop it. Their first birthday would mark the fact that he had been a father for a whole year. He could remember with perfect clarity the sheer panic he felt on that hovercraft, trying desperately to make it back to Twelve in time for their birth. Haymitch had never truly forgiven himself for missing out on Tristan's birth or leaving Effie to go through it without him especially when he had promised her that he would be by her side. He had never broached this topic with Effie, choosing instead to keep it to himself but he regretted it. He had missed his children's birth and he didn't think he would ever experience another. Throughout his adult life, Haymitch had learnt to live with guilt and regret and this was just another of his failure to add to his existing list.

"Don't forget the candles… Haymitch, are you listening to me?"

"What?"

She pinched her lips into a thin line. Effie had never liked it when he turned a deaf ear to whatever she had to say, something he did quite often especially before the Rebellion. That was the only way he knew how to deal with her. Haymitch was saved from another repetitive lecture on how it was bad manners to ignore someone when the phone in the house rang.

"I'll get it," Effie said. "You should carry them back to bed."

"I'm really getting too old for this."

"So you've said," she smiled, patting his shoulder sympathetically as she walked passed him.

XxX

"Felix, please, you're not making any sense. Slow down and explain to me clearly."

He turned curiously to look at her, carrying both boys with their heads slumped on each of his shoulder. They were getting heavier and the thought of having to climb the stairs up to their nursery gave him pause. He doubled back to the living room and laid them at each end of the sofa before collapsing on it with a tired sigh.

Effie sounded distress but if that was Felix on the other line then Haymitch wasn't particularly worried. The last time Felix called with an 'emergency' was to complain that the new pair of shoes he bought had been stolen and he believed the lack of security surrounding his apartment building was the cause of it. Haymitch thought nothing of the phone call until Effie asked, "is she okay?"

His ear perked and Haymitch began to give the one-sided conversation his attention. He stood up and moved towards her, propping his elbow on the mantelpiece.

"Well how could you not know? Is there anyone there that you can ask?" Effie frowned.

Haymitch tapped her shoulder to get her attention. He gestured with his hand, asking her silently if everything was okay. She waved her hand for him to be quiet.

"Okay, so you're not at the city right now? Are you at Seven or… District Two with her? Pass the phone to… What do you mean she's unconscious?"

"Who's unconscious?" Haymitch demanded.

"That isn't right at all," Effie shook her head as if Felix could see her. "Felix, you need to tell them that she cannot be treated in such a manner. Demand that they take the cuff of her ankle. If she's unconscious like you said she is, then there isn't much she can do! No, no, listen to me, you need to …" Effie exhaled through her nose and leaned her forehead on the wall. "Where is her husband? Isn't he doing anything to help?"

There was a pause before Effie spoke again.

"You're making me very scared."

Having had enough, Haymitch pulled the phone out of Effie's hand and pressed the receiver to his ear.

"What's going on?"

The line went dead. Felix had hung up.

He turned to Effie for some answers.

"It's Johanna."


If you're frustrated that the appeal has been rejected again, imagine how Haymitch must have felt. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter with some family time with hayffie and their children.

Please review. I would appreciate it very much.