Prompt : Hi! If you're still taking prompts, can you write about Effie discovering she's pregnant but she doesn't know how to announce that to Haymitch, please? Love your work!

Miracle

She had barely closed the door before Haymitch shouted her name with enough distress that she quickly hanged her purse and jacket on the coat rack and rushed to the living-room. She was expecting more or less anything, with Haymitch, you could always count on a catastrophe – he had managed to put her lovely pink curtain on fire once and although he swore that was an accident, Effie was more prone to believe Katniss' theory about him really not liking the color and accidentally projecting embers on them to get rid of them.

The living-room wasn't in flames – which she counted as a victory – but it was a lot more messy than it was when she had left for her appointment. There were toys everywhere, furniture wasn't in its usual place and Haymitch was clearly out of depth, sitting on the couch, hands outstretched in front of the one year old who was tottering here and there. Haymitch didn't even look up when she arrived, he never once stopped watching the child.

"They left their daughter with you." She didn't even try to fight the smile. Haymitch was wiped for Katniss and Peeta's child, it was no secret and a source of great amusement to them all, but he had never ever volunteered to babysit before. One on one time with the baby girl was a big no in his book.

"You said you wouldn't be gone long." he snapped. "Katniss had to go, she didn't exactly give me a choice." He chanced a glance at her but quickly went back to stare at the child. "She said she would flay me alive if I took my eyes off her or if I drank a single glass before you came back."

She swallowed back her laughter knowing he wouldn't appreciate it. "Why didn't you put up the playpen?" She gestured to the colorful plastic laying down next to an open bag full of toys. Well… The toys that weren't already all around her living-room anyway.

"I don't like the idea of fencing children in." he shrugged, picking up the plastic toy the girl had just thrown at his head and handling it back.

There was a whole world of problems in that mere statement but now wasn't the time to tackle them, Effie thought. Her day had been too strange and too surreal so far for her to try and convince Haymitch that playpens weren't mini-arenas. He had obviously done a decent job at babysitting so far – which surprised her but it probably wouldn't be very kind to say that aloud – despite the mess in her usually spotless living-room. She went to sit on the couch, patting the girl's head on her way.

Haymitch frowned at her unusual behavior but she pretended not to notice. Were it any other day, she would have hugged the child and doted on her until Katniss or Peeta came by to pick her up… However, it wasn't any other day and she felt sick and stressed and she would have preferred for the children to come and get their daughter quickly. She didn't need a toddler in front of her at that precise moment as much as she loved her.

She felt as if her whole world was about to collapse and she didn't know if she was thrilled or dead terrified. One second she was so happy her heart could burst, the next all she wanted was to crawl in her bed, have a good cry and deny everything.

"Everything's alright with you, sweetheart?" Haymitch asked, once she was sitting next to him.

She didn't answer right away. She picked up a stuffed bear and the cute stuffed rabbit she had bought the child and arranged them on the coffee table before sitting properly, back straight and ankles crossed, exactly as she hardly ever did anymore. This was ingrained behavior from her childhood : when you feel awkward, act like a lady. She had left most of that behind with her heavy make-up and wigs when she had left the Capitol after the rebellion though.

It had felt like running away at the time, not just from a Capitol she couldn't recognize anymore but from herself too. The old Effie had died in their prison and it had been tough to find herself back. When Peeta had offered her his guest room, she had accepted and had started over in Twelve. It had taken a long time, years really, but she loved the life she was living now. She had Haymitch, she had the children and their daughter to spoil, she had a fancy job in the Justice Building and she even had a few friends who were willing to look beyond her past as an escort – the fact that she had been imprisoned and tortured during the rebellion helped. Her life, right now, was far from what she had imagined it would be but she loved it nonetheless. There were practically no more nightmares or panic attacks, Haymitch was drinking a lot less those days, it wasn't perfect but it was good.

And she felt like running away again. Except that wasn't something you could run away from, she would only take the problem with her.

She immediately felt guilty for thinking of that as a problem.

"Yes, of course." she said mechanically. The child stumbled to her, waving a wooden toy in her little chubby hands and she smiled despite herself.

When the doctors had told her she wouldn't ever been able to have children, after she got rescued, she hadn't felt anything. It had just been another information on a pile of bad news and there had been more urgent matters than eventual children she wasn't even sure she wanted. She hadn't been crushed by the idea, she hadn't been inconsolable, she hadn't felt anything. During Katniss' pregnancy, there had been a tinge of envy for something she would never get to experience for herself but she had scratched that in the bud. Haymitch didn't want children and they were too old for that anyway. Who had a child at nearly forty-one?

Well, Effie apparently.

Despite the odds that never were in their favor.

She rubbed a hand against her stomach absent-mindedly. She had been feeling sick for days so she had finally listened to Peeta's worried requests – because Katniss and Haymitch could be as blind as you couldn't believe sometimes – and she had gone to the doctors. She had expected some illness or maybe consequences of her time in prison that hadn't been picked on earlier, not… She had really not expected the doctor to tell her she was with child.

The whole thing was…

"Where were you, then?" Haymitch asked casually, sprawling against his side of the couch. If sitting like a proper lady was her battle stance, acting careless was his. "You said you needed a new dress but I don't see shopping bags."

She cringed a bit and grabbed the child. She felt better once she was sitting on her lap, happily trying to throw her toy at Haymitch's head. Haymitch picked it up and handed it back every time with a surprising amount of patience. Effie shouldn't have lied to him. She should have told him she was going back to the hospital but she had just gone there the week before for all sorts of tests – because when they had asked if she could be pregnant, she had immediately said no and so they had jabbed and nudged and interrogated her until she had felt sick – and she hadn't wanted him to worry until she knew exactly what she was suffering from.

"I didn't go shopping." she confessed, avoiding the grabby hands that wanted to play with her hair. Katniss' daughter had a thing of her hair, she liked to pull on it.

"Yeah, I got that." Haymitch snorted. He didn't ask again where she had been but the question was implied and Effie found herself stalling for time.

She didn't know how to tell him, she didn't know how to explain and she absolutely didn't know how he would react. Well… That was a lie. He was going to be angry about it and throw a fit probably, perhaps drink himself into oblivion. She almost wished she could do the same. That was another thing : she didn't know how she felt. She was stunned and confused and she didn't know how she felt. Wasn't she supposed to love her child as soon as she was aware it was there?

"Effie, if you're going to leave me, you just say it." Haymitch said, not looking her in the eyes. He was staring at the child in her lap. "You should pour me a drink first, though. Manners and all that crap you're always muttering about."

"I don't mutter." she huffed. "And I don't plan on leaving you even though I can't guarantee you won't leave me before the day is gone."

He wouldn't, would he? He wouldn't dare to leave her with a child growing in her belly? He wouldn't abandon her ? Because she was fairly sure she didn't want to go through all that without him. In another life, she could have. Before the rebellion she had been a strong independent woman and proud to be and while she knew she could survive on her own if she had to, she needed Haymitch. Nothing kept the nightmares and the horrid memories away like his embrace did. Nobody infuriated her more than him. Nobody loved her more than he did.

"I didn't leave you when you looked like a clown, sweetheart, I think I can promise I'm not going to do it now." He rolled his eyes. "Spill it out. It can't be that bad." She bit her lower lip thoughtfully which told him everything he needed to know. "Or it can." Haymitch sighed, rubbing his face. "Stop using that poor kid as a shield before her head pops and Katniss kills you." he snapped and then softened a bit. "Come on, Princess, tell me."

She realized she had been hugging the girl a bit too tight and put her back down. The child didn't lose a second before heading to the bag of toys. She was quick for a small human being on wobbly legs. She was quick and Effie and Haymitch were old… A vivid image of them outrun by a toddler flashed through Effie's mind.

"I was at the hospital." There. That part was easy.

"You went there last week." he countered at once.

She stopped watching the girl who was playing with another stuffed animal to look at him. He was staring at her with obvious concern. "Yes." she confirmed. "You might want to have that drink now."

It would soothe part of his anxieties away and a relaxed Haymitch would be better, she figured. He waved her suggestion away, however, reaching out for her hand. He would never have done that if he hadn't been really worried and that made her feel horrible because if she could just get the news out already… "How bad is it?"

"I'm not sick." she said quickly, feeling even more guilty when relief washed all over his face. "It's… I am…" She winced. "Are you sure you don't want a drink?"

He knew her too well to be so easily distracted. He frowned and gently tugged on a strand of her hair. "What are you afraid of?" There was nothing but concern in his grey eyes, concern and that calculating spark that told her he would puzzle everything together before too long if she didn't tell him soon. What was she afraid of? She was afraid of losing everything she had.

She kissed him. A real kiss. In a way you probably shouldn't kiss someone in front of a child. A kiss that left them breathless but that helped her feel a little more grounded.

"I will tell you once the children are back." she decided. "You're going to shout and the baby doesn't need to hear that."

"I'm not waiting, you're telling me right now." he retorted. "Who says I'm going to shout anyway?"

"My experience in dealing with you." She stood and went to crouch next to the child. She busied herself by helping her empty the bag of toys. The living-room was already a mess anyway.

"Effie." he growled, getting up too. The child looked up at him, unused to him talking so harshly in her presence, and then waived her arms. He picked her up automatically. Effie could remember a time when he was afraid of carrying her but those fears had gone away slowly and he didn't even have to think twice now. It gave a tiny fluttering second of hope but she wasn't their child, it was totally different for him to accept caring about a baby and to have one of his own… It had been hard enough for him to just accept he had feelings for Effie… Haymitch had lost everyone he loved once and she knew he was still terrified of that happening again despite everything they had done to ensure that Panem would be a safe place.

And yet, she couldn't look away from Haymitch and the baby girl. She let herself imagine the girl was blond rather than dark-haired and with the same grey eyes as Haymitch… She let herself imagine and it was her downfall because she started feeling then. If she hadn't been sure that she wanted the child before, she sure as hell was now. Her hand flew to her stomach again. It was instinctive really but that small gesture betrayed her.

"No." Haymitch said, flat out.

"Yes." she breathed out, adverting her eyes.

There was a heavy silence that the child's babbling barely covered. "But you can't…" Haymitch started only to stop, at a loss for words. She could count the number of times that had happened on one hand.

"They said it's a miracle." She walked to the window and stared outside pointedly, not wanting to see the rejection in his eyes. Her hand found her stomach again. A miracle… She liked the idea. They didn't have much in terms of miracles in the past. "It should be impossible but… It happened anyway."

"Yeah, thank you, sweetheart, I know what miracle means." he snapped.

She winced but didn't tell him off for raising his voice : he had every right to be upset, after all she had been too at first. She was relieved when she spied her friend coming up the front lane.

"Katniss is here." she warned.

"Good." He was out before she could say more. She saw him handing the child to her mother, through the window, they exchanged a few words but that was it. Katniss and her daughter went back to their house and Haymitch slammed the front door shut once he was inside. She folded her arms protectively over her chest and waited for him to come back to the living-room. When he did, he had a glass of whiskey in his hand. She didn't quite dare tell him now wasn't the time to drink anymore.

"Do you want me to go?" she whispered, fighting the tears that were starting to gather in her eyes. She didn't mean forever. She didn't think she could bear the thought. She loved their home and she loved him but if he needed space she could give it to him. And if she didn't want their child then…

"Go where?" he shrugged. "It won't change anything, will it?"

"I didn't do it on purpose." She felt defensive all of a sudden. "I didn't try to…"

"I know." he cut her off harshly, before closing his eyes and obviously trying to remain calm. "I know." he repeated more softly.

She wanted to run to him, throw her arms around his neck and never let go ever again. She sat back down on the couch and worried her hands in her lap.

"I'm scared." she confessed, eyes riveted to her red-painted nails.

"Yeah?" He put the glass on the coffee table and sat next to her. "Of what?"

"I'm scared of losing you." She blinked the tears away. "I'm scared we're too old for this. I'm scared we're going to get our hopes up only to lose the baby in a month. I'm scared we won't be good parents. I'm scared I…"

"Lot of stupid things to be scared about." he scoffed. "This is my house, I'm not going anywhere and it isn't big enough you can lose me in it."

"Stop joking!" she hissed. "I'm being serious."

"You often confuse serious with ridiculous, Effie." He rolled his eyes and pulled on her wrist until she was safely trapped in his arms. "I won't lie to you and say I'm happy." She pressed her face against his shoulder because he was breaking her heart. "Sweetheart, don't…" he sighed. "Just let me get used to the idea, alright?"

"You don't want children." she objected.

"I didn't want someone in my life either but you're here and we're not doing too bad, are we?" He held her tighter and rested his head on top of hers. "Never thought about it, to be honest. Children, I mean." He shrugged. "Games are over… It should be safe enough on that front."

"What are the other fronts?" she asked.

"Having an alcoholic disturbed murderer as a father." He kept his voice light on purpose but she could tell he was serious.

"It can't be worse than having a former escort obsessed with manners as a mother." she joked. Or she tried to anyway.

"That kid is fucked." Haymitch snickered.

"Language." she chided him automatically, settling more comfortably against him. Now that she was sure he wasn't going to bolt away, not yet anyway, she felt a tad better. She touched her stomach again wondering at what point she would start feeling her baby and already planning a trip to the bookstore. She needed to be prepared. She needed to do some research.

She was a bit surprised when his hand covered her hesitantly. "What if I can't protect you?"

"I'm a tough woman, Haymitch, I don't need you to protect me." She had survived months in prison on her own after all. She appreciated and craved Haymitch's protective side but if she had to, she could manage on her own.

"I meant you and the kid." he rushed out. "What if I can't protect the kid? What if something happens and…"

"Nothing will happen." she promised, even though she couldn't know for sure. That was one thing she had learned the hard way : you never knew. "We have Peeta and Katniss to help us. Johanna and Annie too… And I won't let anybody touch a hair on my child's head. Just watch me."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Over my dead body." His thumb stroke her stomach softly. "See? We will be the worst parents ever but the kid will be safe. Nothing to worry about."

She giggled in answer, feeling more and more relaxed. She closed her eyes, intending to take a nap right where she was. Peeta would come to get the toys eventually and she had every intention of making him and Haymitch put her living-room back into its original clean state but that would require energy. She was starting to doze off when Haymitch's voice startled her awake.

"The kids are going to laugh their ass off." he grunted.

She told him off for his language but she knew he was right.

And, as later proved to be the case, he was.