Kmol15 prompt : I love reading about Oria and Haymitch. Maybe could you wright a prompt where in the middle of the night Effie and Haymitch get woken because Oria has a nightmare and Haymitch tries to comfort her.

Sleeping Arrangements

Haymitch's eyes shot open to the sound of heavy stomping, barely a second before something equally heavy jumped on his and Effie's bed. He allowed himself a second of relief at not being violently awoken by a five years old leaping on him – he didn't know how his sleeping mind would have reacted to that and he wasn't interested in finding out, the knife was locked in a drawer but there were plenty of damage to be done with his hands – and then switched the lamp on to look at Oria who was very busy wriggling under the covers in the middle of the bed. A glance confirmed Effie was still sleeping soundlessly.

"What's wrong, baby girl?" he whispered.

She pressed her stuffed bear against her chest and peered at the dark corners of the bedroom with obvious dread. "There were big monsters, Daddy."

"You had a bad dream again?" he asked, cursing Johanna to hell and back in his head for telling horror stories to his kid during her last visit. Oh, Oria had enjoyed it well enough on the moment and had even asked for more… Johanna had complied either because she liked being the cool aunt to Oria and Finn or because she knew it would make Effie mad… However, as much as she had seemed to enjoyed it, Oria didn't like the stories anymore. Every night was a fight to get her into bed because she was afraid that ghosts or goblins or whatever nonsensical creature Johanna had invented would come and eat her. She had ended up in their bed more often than not during the last week.

Oria nodded, sinking lower in the bed until the covers reached her nose. Then she grabbed Effie's arm, placed it around her and burrowed against her mother who held her close without even waking up. "I sleep with Mommy."

"We talked about this, baby girl." He tried to sound patient and reasonable but it was a hard thing to be at… He glanced at the clock and groaned when he saw the flashing red 03:32. Nevertheless, Effie was convinced they needed to at least try to get her back into bed before she got used to sleeping with them. "Let's go back to your bed. I will sit with you until you're asleep and I will do a monster check."

"No, no." Oria shook her head. "I sleep with Mommy."

"Daddy sleeps with Mommy." Haymitch pointed out. Or rather, he mused, Daddy would love to sleep with Mommy but that had been difficult lately with a five years old invading their bedroom at odd times every night. "You sleep in your bedroom."

"That's not fair." she complained loudly with a sulk. "You get to have Mommy and I am all alone!" Then her eyes lit up. "I know, I know! Now, I sleep with Mommy forever and you sleep in my bedroom." She was so happy about her sudden epiphany, she bounced her little feet on the bed, kicking Effie and making her jump upright.

She looked around the room and flopped back down on the bed with a groan of her own when she realized there was no other immediate emergency than plotting the murder of Johanna Mason.

"What are you both doing awake?" Effie muttered.

"Revisiting sleeping arrangements." Haymitch snorted. "How would you feel about sleeping with your daughter forever while I sleep in another room?"

"Very good if that means I can actually get some sleep." she replied with irritation. Her face softened when she looked at her daughter. "Did you have a bad dream again, sweetie?"

"Ugh Ugh." Oria nodded, cuddling against her. "And Daddy is mean. He wants me to go back to my bed. All alone!"

"Now, that's not…" he started only to be interrupted by Effie's glare.

"I want to sleep with you, Mommy." Oria insisted, clinging to her nightgown with entirely too much theatrics.

Effie gobbled it, hook, line and sinker.

"Of course, you can stay with Mommy." she agreed at once, tucking her in and even nudging Haymitch further so the little girl would have more space – because, obviously, the stuffed bear had to be tucked in too. The smug look Oria shot Haymitch's way told him all he needed to know about his daughter's evil mind. "Turn off the lights, Haymitch."

"Monster check?" Oria asked suddenly and there was a real edge of fright in her voice this time which was why Haymitch got out of bed with a sight and opened and closed the wardrobe and the bathroom door without any enthusiasm.

"You're the little monster." he told his daughter, when he was laying in bed once more.

"Haymitch!" Effie gasped. "Really!"

But Oria only giggled, not at all offended. She grabbed his arm and tugged until he was embracing the stuffed bear, the girl and his wife. It wasn't very comfortable.

"Group hug!" Oria squealed in delight.

Group hug, indeed, he thought.

Now, how could he get back at Johanna for this…