Prompt, Based on the one where Katniss calls Effie 'Mom': The group visits Annie & Jo in 4. Katniss' mom finds out they're there & overhears Katniss' kids calling Effie 'Grandma', & cue regret that she'd never met them, maybe someone even had to tell her who the kids were, & perhaps envy that Effie's closer to them all than she'll ever be now?

Grandma

The playgrounds in Four were a lot bigger than the single one in Twelve and Effie was running herself frayed trying to keep an eye on the children. Next time, she vowed, she would force Finn to come with them. He was a nice young twenty-three year old man and he would never refuse her. He was even sweeter on her than his father had been. It was shocking to realize Finn was older than Finnick had been when he had died and when she had seen him waiting for them on the station's platform with Annie and Johanna, she had been forced to swallow back a gasp.

"Relax, sweetheart." Haymitch snorted. "Willow's right there."

Willow was climbing the monkey bars, urging her newfound friends on – she was just as reckless as her mother and just as prompt to make friends as her father. Effie blamed most of her grey hair on the eight years old.

"And Rye?" she worried.

"Still in the sandbox where we left him." he promised, relaxing further against the bench they were sitting on.

He looked tired, she noticed, briefly taking her attention away from the children to study him. One of his arms was stretched behind her along the length of the wood, his other hand was on his knee and his fingers were restlessly drumming an uneven rhythm. He always looked restless since the surgery. Or perhaps it was having been forced to give up liquor for good.

On bad days, days when he felt weak and sick, he blamed her for what he was going through. He would have simply given up and died if she had let him, let cirrhosis win and take him away from her… She had fought and fought until he had surrendered and accepted to go to the Capitol to get a second opinion and then she had fought and fought until he gave in and agreed to have the operation. They could do all sort of things in the city, cure all sort of things that would have otherwise been considered terminal. It simply had a price because those private clinics didn't operate pro-bono.

All their savings and a part of Peeta's had gone into getting him into that program and Plutarch still had been forced to pull strings.

But it had been worth it. Oh, so worth it.

Now he had a brand new liver grown especially for him from his own DNA – and perhaps it was similar to mutts and perhaps he had had reasons to be wary but she didn't care because he was alive. They wouldn't have had much more than a few more months together without that surgery and instead they had had two years and hopefully many more to come. Having to take meds every morning and night and staying off the liquor were a small price to pay in her opinion.

"We are far too old for this." she sighed. At fifty-eight, she didn't have the energy she used to and the children were a handful on the best day. At sixty-four, Haymitch was even less partial to entire days spent watching children all too prone to accidents. Babysitting was fine but she wasn't sure how they would survive an entire week as their sole caretakers. "Next time, they can send them to Annie and Johanna."

Truth be told, that week was supposed to be a second honeymoon for Peeta and Katniss who had packed up for Seven while they took the children to Four for the traditional summer trip. The children would join them later, at which point, Haymitch and Effie would switch hotels for a smaller cozier one where they would be able to have some honeymoon time of their own.

Haymitch tossed her an incredulous glance. "You wanna send your precious grandchildren away for a whole week with only Annie and Johanna to supervise?"

"They didn't do such a bad job raising Finn." she countered.

His lips twitched into a smirk. "Have you met Willow?"

"Point taken." she chuckled. Willow and Johanna would be a bad mix. Willow was always up to all sorts of shenanigans and Jo was always too willing to humor her. "Oh, no! Rye is crying…"

The three years old must have gotten some sand into his eyes. Effie was already halfway up but Haymitch waved her down, hauling himself off the bench to hurry to the boy. Despite his grumpy attitude, she watched as Haymitch's irritation melted around the baby of the family. If anyone had ever told her she would see Haymitch Abernathy, Quarter Quell victor, willingly sit down in a sandbox to play with a little boy, she would have laughed hard enough to break a rib.

Rye being safe with Haymitch, she turned her attention back to Willow who had now urged her little group of friends to the slide. They were apparently playing at having an adventure and Effie smiled with fondness at the girl's antics. She was having the time of her life, it seemed. Hopefully, if she exhausted herself enough she wouldn't beg to go to the beach later on. Effie refused to let the children in the water if there was no adult to supervise – which often meant her if Annie or Finn were otherwise engaged. She could never say no, of course, it was the point of the holidays after all but… She wouldn't have minded a quiet afternoon, truth be told. A fashion magazine, a cocktail…

Perhaps they could take the children further down the pier where there were carousels and ice cream to distract them from the ocean when they would be done playing. They would enjoy it and they could all go to the beach in the morning instead of…

"Miss Trinket?"

Effie looked up at the woman who had called her name, adjusting her pink sunglasses on her nose to see better – she was up to all tricks to keep people from knowing her sight wasn't as good as it once was, she wore contacts and had her sunglasses corrected. It took her a few minutes to place her because it had been years since she had given her any thought at all.

"Mrs Everdeen…" she said slowly, without any warmth.

Her feelings about the woman had always been somehow mixed because she didn't believe an eleven years old should have been forced to care for her family when there was a capable adult present. But that had been another world and she could have understood if the woman hadn't packed up and left right before the end of Katniss' trial, leaving Haymitch forced to step up to take custody of the girl and thus compelled to leave her behind in the Capitol to look after Peeta when she had barely been able to take care of herself and when their relationship had been at a very fragile breaking point. It had added a lot of difficulties that the obvious pain Katniss had felt at her mother's desertion hadn't helped curb. Never mind the lack of surprise on the girl's part.

The healer looked hesitant but she flashed her a small smile. "I thought it was you. You haven't changed at all."

Effie patted her dyed strawberry blond hair self-consciously, she kept the reddish hue because Haymitch was fond of it and because it was close to its original colors. There were lines at the corner of her eyes but she supposed the sunglasses hid those. The blue summer dress hugged a figure that, fortunately, was still appealing enough in her own opinion, the scars having faded enough in the last two decades not to be so noticeable. The hands, though, were the dead giveaway. They were old woman's hands now. Wrinkled and sometimes swollen at the joints, preventing her from sewing or knitting.

Wait until you hit sixty, Haymitch always mocked because it was went his body had finally cried uncle for him. Not only the liver but his knees and his back.

"You neither." she offered politely.

It wasn't a far cry from the truth. Aster Everdeen looked the same, albeit a little older. Her blond hair was mostly white now, it fell in a long braid over her shoulder. Delicate hands were clutching the strap of a medical bag passed over a shoulder over a medical uniform of some sort.

"Are you still living in Twelve?" the woman asked with a touch of… eagerness. "Katniss mentioned you had moved there a few years ago."

Effie pursed her lips. As far as she knew, Katniss had had almost no contact with her mother aside from the occasional phone calls in the years after the war – and those phone calls had become shorter and shorter until they had simply stopped. Aster hadn't come to the wedding and the girl had never forgiven her for it.

She glanced at the boy who was now busy with his favorite game of let's climb Grandpa and wondered if the woman even knew about them. How long since the last time Katniss had talked to her mother? She remembered it had been a big deal during Katniss' first pregnancy, how the girl had uncharacteristically sought her company at odd times because she felt insecure and needed the input of another woman, one she was close to and to whom she could confide things that would have had Peeta and Haymitch running.

"I have been living in Twelve for more than twenty years, yes." she confirmed. "With Haymitch."

"Oh, of course." Aster smiled awkwardly. It was public knowledge after all. It had made quite the scandal and they had appeared together at various official events since then – the anniversaries of the rebellion weren't things they were allowed to miss, particularly when they hit a new milestone. The healer cleared her throat. "And how's…"

"Grandma!" Willow shouted, choosing that moment to come running to the bench. "Grandma! Can I get Tali's number so I can call her tomorrow for a play date, please? Her mother says I can have it and we can give her Auntie Annie's if you say it's okay."

Effie glanced from the flushed girl to the woman who was standing next to another bench with a little girl, clearly about to leave. She rummaged in her bag for a piece of paper and quickly scribbled Annie's number on it. Willow snatched it from her hand and was gone before she could even blink.

She shook her head with an amusement that quickly faded when she looked back at Aster. The healer was staring at the child.

"I didn't know you had children." Mrs Everdeen commented.

"I don't." she denied. "Not biologic ones anyway. Willow is…"

She never had time to confirm what the woman probably already suspected because the girl was back, her prize clutched in her little fist. "Can you keep it safe for me, Grandma? I really like Tali. I don't want to lose it."

"Of course, darling." she promised, placing the piece of paper with her little friend's number in her purse for safekeeping. "Wait." she ordered before the child could scamper away. "Here, drink something. It's too hot to be running around without proper hydration."

Willow took the plastic bottle full of strawberry flavored water without protest and dutifully sipped from it, knowing that the sooner she complied the quicker she would be allowed to go back to playing. Her grey eyes fell on Aster and her eyebrows shot up, she pointed out at the woman's hair. "My mommy does the same kind of braids."

"Does she, now?" Aster breathed out, her eyes shiny. She dropped on the bench next to Effie who had half a mind to protest but didn't quite know how to handle the whole thing. What would Katniss want her to do? It wasn't her place to decide how to introduce the woman.

"Yep." the girl nodded enthusiastically. "You're a friend of Grandma?"

Mrs Everdeen flinched and Effie realized it must have been a slap in the face to realize she was grandma. Their biological grandmother was a stranger to them.

"I…" Aster hesitated.

"Hey, squirrel, why don't you go back to playing with your friends, yeah?" Haymitch suddenly cut in, his voice a touch wary. "They look like they're waiting for you."

Willow didn't need to be told twice. She tossed the bottle at Haymitch who caught it easily despite the boy clinging to his neck and snickering hard at the game. It wasn't long before Haymitch had secured the three years old against his chest and had handed him the bottle his sister had left behind. Rye took a few sips with obvious relief. He was less flushed than Willow but it was clear he wouldn't have minded some peace and quiet. The way he was rubbing his eyes, Effie figured it wouldn't be long before he took a short nap. Without him needing to ask, she handed him the frayed stuffed horse that usually resided in her bag when it wasn't in his arms. He wedged it between Haymitch and his body, cuddling it close.

"Hello, Haymitch." Aster said, a bit wary herself. "Hello, young man." Rye peered at her under his long eyelashes and then buried his face in Haymitch's neck, placing his horse over his head for good measure. The woman smiled sadly. "I trust this one isn't yours either?"

Effie shook her head. "Why don't you say hello to the nice lady, Rye?" The boy clung to Haymitch a little tighter and refused to look at the stranger. She shrugged apologetically. "He is a bit shy but he is such a sweet child…"

"He's tired." Haymitch said, his grey eyes never wandering away from Aster. Effie knew that look. It was the way he watched out for threats. "I was coming to tell you we should bring the kids home."

"Wait." Aster pleaded, sounding scared. She searched Haymitch's gaze, found no sympathy there and turned to Effie. "How old are they?"

She hesitated but really… "Willow is eight and Rye is three."

"Rye…" the woman repeated. "Wasn't one of Peeta's brother…"

"Yes. His favorite one." Effie nodded.

"Oh…" Aster breathed out, desperately staring at Willow who was once more leading her friends in an adventure. "But Katniss didn't name the girl after…"

"It was too difficult for her." she interrupted swiftly. Rye was now watching them without looking like it and he was a bright little thing. He would tell his sister who was naturally curious and would put the puzzle back together. Questions would be asked if certain names were raised. "We all wanted a clean slate."

Naming the children after dead friends and family members… Nobody had opposed Peeta's choice to give his son his favorite brother's name because none of them had been close to the dead young man. Prim now… It would have been too painful. Rue had been pushed aside for the same reason. In the end, Katniss had decided her children wouldn't carry that sort of weight.

"And they call you Grandma." Aster stated, almost accusative.

Effie opened her mouth, feeling all defensive, but Haymitch got there first and there was a growl in his voice that had intimidated more than one powerful person. "Cause she's there."

"Do they know you aren't their real grandmother?" the healer asked.

And it hurt.

It hurt a lot.

She looked down at her knees, brushing imaginary creases off her blue dress. Haymitch automatically cradled the back of Rye's head as if to shield him from those words. Unfortunately, the boy's blue eyes were staring straight at Effie who gave him a small reassuring smile. It was enough for the child to smile back before he started sucking on his thumb. It was a habit they were trying to break him out of but she didn't chide him for it.

"Now, you listen and you listen hard." Haymitch hissed. "Effie's just as real as…"

"Enough." Effie declared, standing up.

"Sweetheart." he warned with a glare, clearly dying to say his piece. He had claimed to understand Aster's decision to not go back to Twelve after the war but her behavior since then, her failure to come back into Katniss' life had left him angry and bitter. He hated to see his victor hurt.

"Darling." she replied in the same warning tone. She found another piece of paper in her bag and scribbled Annie's number for the second time before handing it to Aster. "Katniss and Peeta will join us next week. Call your daughter if you wish to see your grandchildren."

"Don't call if you're just gonna take off again." Haymitch snapped. "They're kids, not toys. You can't just waltz in their lives and disappear right after."

"I didn't disappear, I left her with you." Aster protested faintly, rubbing her face. "I could never have… I knew you were the best choice, Haymitch. I knew you would look after her better than I ever could have. She had always been closer to her father, you know, and you… You filled that gap in her life."

"Yeah, well…" he grumbled. "Effie filled the one you left so…" He shook his head. "I mean it, Aster. If you call, you better be ready to own it."

"Willow!" Effie signaled to the girl they were ready to leave and the child came running, wrapping her arms around her middle with pleading eyes. "No, darling, we really need to go home. Your brother wants his nap." she said firmly before Willow could beg for five more minutes that would turn into a half hour. "However I was thinking that after a nap and a snack we might just go to the pier."

Where there would be carousels and all sorts of games and where, she was sure, they would end up with one of those gigantic stuffed toys Haymitch grumbled so much about because they had ended up with a huge stuffed panda and a zoo of smaller animals in their guest room given that Willow was running out of space to stock them at home.

The girl's eyes brightened and she squeezed her waist harder. "You're the best Grandma in the whole world!"

Aster flinched and Effie almost felt sorry for her. Almost.

It had been her choice to give up on her daughter after all.

"How about me, squirrel?" Haymitch scowled, faking a pout. "Don't even get a hug? I smell or what?"

Willow laughed, carefree and happy, and switched targets to barrel into Haymitch. He winced a little when her head hit the always tender spot on his stomach but it was soon smoothed away by an expression of utter fondness.

"I am afraid we have to go." Effie told Aster, polite but a touch cold. "Do consider giving your daughter a call."

They didn't give her a lot of time to ponder that. Haymitch herded the children away, Willow clinging to his hand. They hadn't gone really far from the playground when the girl grabbed Effie's free hand so she could walk between them and peered up at her curiously. "Who was the lady?"

"An old acquaintance." she dismissed.

The word seemed to puzzle Willow who made a face and turned to Haymitch for clarification.

"Just someone we used to know, sweetheart." he shrugged. "Don't worry about it."

Willow pondered that and then probably decided it wasn't worth her interest because she started hopping happily between them. "Can Finn take us to the aquarium again sometimes? I like watching the fish."

"We will ask him tonight." Effie promised. "But if he can't we won't insist, alright?"

Finn had been working at the aquarium since the beginning of the year and she didn't want him to get in trouble for them. He loved his job, he loved taking care of animals, and she wasn't sure giving them the behind the scenes tour had been cleared with his superiors.

"Okay." the girl agreed readily. She escaped their hands to run a little ahead.

"Stay in sight!" Effie demanded, shaking her head at how impetuous that child was. A glance at Rye confirmed the boy was now sound asleep in Haymitch's arms. "What did you think?"

"Not sure." he admitted. "Just hope she's serious about it if she decides to call Katniss. The girl's been let down enough." His lips twitched with anger. "She had some nerves too, saying you're not their real grandmother. What's that supposed to mean? Who was there when Katniss went into labor? Who changed diapers? Who stayed up all night with the kids when Willow had that fever? Who's always there to watch the babies when the kids need some air?" He scoffed. "Got some nerves, I'm telling you."

She smiled at how protective he was of her but waved a dismissive hand in the air. "She was just jealous, I think. What I get to be to those children… She will never have it."

He seemed a little surprised. "Didn't bother you?"

"The comment did a little." she admitted. "But…" She shrugged. "A few years ago, I would have been afraid of her stealing them all away from me. Now… Now I know nothing can drive us apart."

They had all been close since the war, they formed a solid family unit that the children's babies had only strengthened. But after Haymitch's health troubles… Katniss and Peeta had rallied around them in a way that had brought her close to tears a few times. Katniss had begged him to take the surgery, she had raged until she had burst out in full sobs and she hadn't stopped until he had held her close like he almost never did because neither of them were touchy-feely – as they claimed. Peeta was the one who had sat Haymitch down and had forced him to consider everything he would be leaving behind if he chose to just give up and accept his fate – not only Effie but Katniss and him and grand-children who worshiped the ground he walked on. The children had been there every step of the way. They hadn't come to the Capitol with them but they had called three times a day to check on him, to talk to him, to make sure everything was going as best as possible – to the point he had one day exclaimed that he didn't need to be that coddled, all the while flushing red in embarrassment and, Effie was sure, pleasure at knowing he was loved that much.

So, no, she wasn't scared of Aster Everdeen coming and stealing the matriarch place back because that place belonged to Effie and to Effie alone. Katniss herself had confessed she felt closer to her than to her own mother. There was no question about how Peeta felt about her. And the babies… Well… Willow and Rye loved her, she knew it deep down and she was secured in that knowledge.

"Look at you being all wise." he teased.

"It suits me well, I think." she teased right back.

It didn't have to be all hers or all Aster's. She could share a little of them.

But it was Aster Everdeen's decision to take that first step.