Two Sides Of A Coin
Effie didn't jog the last few meters that separated her from her sister but she certainly walked faster when she caught sight of the slightly displeased expression on Lyssa's face.
"You are late." was the first thing Lyssa said to her, in the very same tone their mother would have used.
Effie made a small face but presented her cheek for the obligatory air kiss. "My apologies. There was a last minute work thing."
And by that she meant that some people in Five had apparently formed a collective to protest against building a new dam on account of the old one being a piece of history or whatever – the fact that that piece of history was malfunctioning, could potentially drown a significant part of the District and stop providing them all with electricity was notwithstanding. She had put Peeta on the case and Katniss was helping, between the two of them they should unearth all the dirt on every member of that stupid collective that was making her life difficult.
Lyssa sighed but waved the apology away and then turned to watch the boys.
This section of Capitol Park was noisy with the sound of children laughing or screaming and the loud gossip of the nannies sitting together on benches. A few parents were also watching but those looked tired and harried and tended to stick together like glue.
Lyssa was standing apart, looking radiant and absolutely out of place in her immaculate high heels and designer jeans. The casual look had never worked on her sister. She was too beautiful. She always looked overdressed when she tried casual…
Effie, on the other, would fit right in with the tired-looking mothers, she supposed, in her cashmere light blue sweater and her cream pressed tailor pants… Except her own child was a whole country.
It also took her all of eight seconds to spot Lyssa's own nanny sitting on a bench close to the playground, looking nervous because of the presence of her employer.
She wasn't sure how often Lyssa spontaneously decided to go to the park with the children but it certainly was the first time she had invited Effie to meet her there – never mind the fact it was early enough that she felt a little bad having already left work. However, her sister didn't call often enough with requests to meet her somewhere that Effie felt comfortable denying her given the newfound peace between them.
"Is everything alright?" she asked tentatively when Lyssa was silent too long.
Any answer she would have given was swallowed by the delighted greetings of the boys who had finally noticed her. Two rockets collided with her legs – one slower than the other because Timotheo was still significantly smaller. The hugs were quick because they had better things to do than entertain their aunt apparently, there was playing to do. She tried not to be too obvious as she dusted off the dirt the boys had left on her lovely cream pants…
"Let's walk a little, shall we?" Lyssa asked cheerfully – fake cheer, if Effie had to guess – and signaled the nanny – who suddenly looked a little relieved – before looping her arm around Effie and steering her away from the playground and the children's screams.
There were several nice quiet strolling paths around the park and Lyssa chose the less busy of all. The sun was still shining bright but if they lingered too long dusk would fall on them being alone on a deserted part of the park…
She was ready to bet Gale was loving it.
Gale was also doing a good job of trailing her from afar because they had had a serious disagreement earlier than day and he was sulking – again. Was it her fault if he didn't want to accept Katniss was lost to him? She had offered to introduce him to perfectly lovely young girls and… She would not extend her generosity again.
Still, she glanced behind her to make sure the Peacekeeper was following, even if it was from far away. The last thing she needed was to get mugged in Capitol Park. Haymitch would have a fit.
Lyssa seemed to be entirely oblivious to the potential danger of deserted trails through thick clusters of trees in late afternoon though. She was clearly mulling over something.
"So… How did brunch with the Cranes go?" Effie asked after a couple of minutes, at a loss.
"Oh, terrible." Lyssa huffed. "You were right not to come. However, you should not ignore Mother's calls like you do. It is rude and insensitive. I know you have your problems but she is our mother."
Effie lifted an eyebrow at the heat in her voice. "Did you call me here to scold me?"
Lyssa looked started and then a little guilty. "Of course not… I apologize. I am afraid I am having a bit of a temper tantrum."
"A temper tantrum?" she repeated, more surprised than she could say. "You?" Her sister was always calm, always measured, always… perfect. "Now I need to know the whole story…"
But Lyssandra seemed especially reluctant to talk. She pursed her lips and stared ahead but Effie didn't think she was taking any of the view in. Not that she could blame her. Capitol Park was a beautiful place… If one loved trees, topiary bushes and swirling narrow paths between the two…
"About brunch…" Lyssa sighed. "You should expect to hear from Seneca soon. I believe he was lured to attend by the promise you would also be there. He was disappointed. He said you aren't returning his calls?"
Effie huffed. "He was opposing Haymitch's new tax bills. Of course I am not returning his calls." That alone, however, wouldn't have stopped her for long but… "I do not have much free time, you know. I mean to call back… I simply… forget."
"Try not to forget next time because Mother has him half-convinced you are in need of an intervention." Lyssa advised. "She was very unsubtle about what she would like to see happen between the two of you. His father was all for that plan."
"I bet." she deadpanned. "Seneca knows better."
"Does he?" Lyssa winced. "Because it was my impression he plans on running for President in three years and he is going to need a First Lady…"
She turned to stare at her sister, not liking the implications of that. "He plans on running?"
That was news. And not good news. They had all been banking on Haymitch's successor being a weak political figure that would easily be dethroned four years later but if Seneca managed to get elected… She would have a lot of difficulties running against him in a reelection year… Also, he would undo all of Haymitch's progressive agenda… That was not happening on her watch.
"It was implied." her sister sighed, clearly a little bored with the topic. "I did point out if you were interested in being First Lady you would already be one but I was told not to meddle in things I know nothing about."
Lyssa was good at hiding annoyance but she couldn't hide the lick of anger in her voice.
"How pre-Dark Days of them…" Effie scoffed. "And who made that delightful remark?"
"My husband." Lyssa snapped. "Who, then, proceeded to drag Mother into a private argument in which she does not belong."
"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked tactfully. She assumed that was why she was there after all.
"I am angry with Mother." Lyssa declared flat out in a way she had never, never done before. "Have you noticed she always sides with Rufus?"
"Well, of course she does… He is wealthy, he flatters her all the time and he married you." She snorted and immediately regretted it. "I mean… She likes him."
"She is also chiding Bryden every time he slips and calls her Nana." Lyssa huffed. "Honestly! He has been calling her Nana since he learned to talk and now she wants him to switch to Grandmother? And she had the nerves to tell me I should make him call me Mother. That it is not very proper for him to still call me Mama, that it would make him look like a mama's boy in the long run and… Oh! Rufus actually agreed with her and now he is trying to make Bryden call him Father and he tries to have man to man talks with him like he is not six years old!"
Effie tried not to smile. Truly it wasn't funny but it was also the first time she heard Lyssa rant like this. Who knew her sister had it in her…
"Well, Bryden can keep calling me Auntie until he is thirty for all I care." she commented. "And I am with you… This is so old-fashioned…"
"They said I coddle my son too much…" Lyssa growled. "I told Mother I would rather coddle him than be estranged from him and that she might want to take a leaf out of my parenting book if she wished to mend bridges with you. She did not take it well, as you can imagine. Rufus actually chided me in front of her, told me off about disrespecting my parents like I was the child..."
Effie was impressed. Very impressed.
"Is he sleeping in the guest room?" she joked.
"He has been sleeping in the guest room for over a year." Lyssa snapped and then seemed to regret it. Then she seemed to regret regretting it. She was an open book when it came to feelings. You could read everything on her face.
Effie was surprised to learn that because Lyssa and Rufus had always looked like a united couple but… Maybe she hadn't given her sister enough credits when it came to hiding the true state of things. She squeezed her arm where it was still looped around hers.
"And, now, he had this ridiculous idea to save our marriage… And since I wouldn't simply agree to it, he took it to Mother… Who, by the way, has never once tried to see it from my point of view and keeps telling me to make things up with my husband like it's just…" Lyssa stopped talking and took a deep breath. "I had lunch with her today."
Which explained the urgent texts and demands to meet her, Effie suspected. "What did she want?"
"To remind me of the duty a wife owes to her husband…" her sister deadpanned.
Effie stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face her sister, very aware that Gale had stopped walking too a short distance away, very aware also that they were alone and that the sun was starting to set.
"That, Lyssandra, is bullshit." she stated.
Her sister gaped at her but there was a hint of amusement in her eyes. "Language, Euphemia. How District of you…"
She ignored Lyssa's nervous giggling at the curse.
"I mean it." she insisted. "Divorce exists for a reason and if Rufus does not make you happy any longer…"
"It isn't that he does not make me happy." Lyssa sighed. "It is that he needs more than me to be happy."
Ah…, Effie mused, so she knows about the cheating…
"Would you be extremely mad with me if I said I do not think he is a good man?" she asked tentatively.
"He is a good man." Lyssa argued defensively, stepping away from her.
Effie caught her, relieved when her sister didn't shrug her off when she tried to loop her arm around hers again. Given the height of their heels, it was probably necessary for them to cling to each other on those dirt paths too…
Lyssa corrected herself. "He is a good father when he does not try to act like our toddler is sixteen instead of six."
"He is good with the boys." Effie granted because that was the truth and she couldn't deny it.
"And Mother has a point… The children would suffer if we were estranged…" Lyssa added thoughtfully.
"The children will suffer more if their parents hate each other." she pointed out. "You do not owe him anything…"
"Well… I certainly do not owe him a third child." Lyssa muttered. "We had two boys already. The Flavershyms have their heirs… And how ridiculous is it that they all still want boys to carry on the family legacy as if girls were not capable of doing the exact same thing?" She huffed. "When they talk about you Mother and Father make it sound like your job is simply a… a… passing extravagance before you finally marry someone… Like you are a simple secretary – not that there is anything wrong with that – instead of Panem's Press Secretary… Would it kill them to be proud?"
"That was a very difficult lunch, wasn't it?" Effie teased. Two rants in a day? That must have been a record. "What was that about a third child?"
Lyssa glanced at her and then averted her eyes. "I did not mean to talk to you about that… I do not want to hurt your feelings or…"
"We can talk about children, Lyssa. It won't hurt my feelings." She forced a smile. "I actually took your advice." Sort of. "And I had a conversation with…" They were in public, she remembered at the last second. The fact that there was no one around didn't mean it was safe to spill secrets. That was a beginner mistake. "You know. I feel much better about it now."
That was not quite a lie.
Talking it over with Haymitch had made it feel less like a dirty secret she was carrying in her heart.
It also cemented the belief he truly loved her – not that she had doubted it but it was nice to have a proof from time to time.
Lyssandra searched her face for a moment and must have found her convincing enough because she sighed, looking down at the dirt under their heels. "Rufus thinks a third baby would save our marriage. I disagree."
"I would say you are right on principle alone." Effie winced. "Wasn't I an attempt at saving our parent's marriage?"
"And they are still living together." Lyssa pointed out. "Mother's words, not mine."
"Please." Effie scoffed. "Father lives in his office or on business trips. He spends as much time at their house as I do in my apartment… And are we truly supposed to believe he does not have someone else?"
Lyssa made a face. "I sincerely hope he does not because cheating is despicable."
"Is it cheating if Mother agrees to it? An open marriage is not the same as cheating." she countered. "It seems to me like all she wants is the name and the fortune…"
"You are being mean on purpose." her sister snapped. "It cannot be easy for her."
There was a lot of projecting going on there, Effie figured. But her sister was also a lot more soft-hearted and naïve than she was so she relented. "Perhaps."
Lyssa mulled over her anger for a few seconds and then sighed. "Anyway… I do not want a third child."
She said it quickly, almost fearfully, like she was scared Effie would resent her for it.
And a part of Effie did, a little.
"And nobody should blame you for that." she insisted. "It is your body, after all."
She hadn't noticed how tense Lyssa was until she slouched in relief. "It is not that I do not want a third eventually. But the boys are young and already I… They spend more time with the nanny than with me. There are always charities or parties or… There are a lot of social obligations when you are a Flavershym. I do not want to give birth to children only to have nannies and governesses raise them. I want to be able to give them my undivided attention. Does that make sense?"
"Entirely." Effie promised. "And I do not think anyone should pressure you into pregnancy. Never mind Mother."
They were coming out of the path into a more populated area. People cutting across the park to get home after work, teenagers hanging out after school, children and nannies or parents hurrying home for dinner…
"I do not think I ever truly understood what she was putting you through when we were young." Lyssa confessed in a guilty whisper. "Or since then." She swallowed hard, reaching for Effie's hand. "I did not see. Or I did not want to see."
"I am not sure what you mean…" she lied, not meeting her eyes.
"Ever since you have taken that job at the Mansion… You come around less so she turned her helpful advices and remarks to me." Lyssa explained, pursing her lips. "You will find me stupid and, perhaps, you will even be angry with me but I used to think… I used to think when she criticized you and made… comments… I knew it was not quite right because I could tell it was nasty but… I did not think she was out to hurt you, I honestly thought she meant to help… I even thought she was right sometimes… It took taking your place for me to…" She stopped talking and winced. "Forgive me, Effie, please."
There was a reason, Effie decided, for which they never actually addressed that. It was awkward and embarrassing to be confronted with the fact Lyssa had always been their mother's favorite.
"For what should I forgive you exactly?" she joked, aiming for lightness. "You did nothing wrong."
"I am your older sister." Lyssa shook her head. "I should have stepped in a long time ago. I should have protected you better."
"Protect me…" Effie scoffed. "You talk like Haymitch. Mother is difficult, I will grant you that, but… I do not need protecting from her."
She hated the fact that she always ended up defending Elindra. And yet every time…
"I am not quite sure that is true." Lyssa sighed. "I love her but I feel like I need protecting from her when she gets on my case like that… She belittles and demeans me until I feel like crying and obeying her instructions just out of sheer exhaustion. I like when she is proud of me, I admit, and having her withdrawing her approval…" Lyssa waved her free hand in the air. "But that isn't healthy behavior, Effie, it is not. I would murder anyone who tries to manipulate Bryden or Timotheo this way… I hate it when she tries it on them. I certainly would never! That is not what a mother is supposed to do!"
Effie also hated talking about it and she wished her sister would go back to discussing the weather.
"I will call her later and make such a huge effort at being disappointing she will go easy on you for a few weeks." she offered, not quite joking this time.
"That is not what I meant, dear… You should not have to do that." Lyssa sighed. "I will never be on her side anymore. We should stick together from now on."
"That would be novel." Effie muttered.
It had escaped her but Lyssa didn't miss it.
"I hate when Rufus takes her side against mine. He always does." Lyssa lamented. "It makes me feel small and unreasonable and… I hate to think I did that to you all those years. I feel like I failed you. I have been feeling that way for a long time but I was too ashamed to say anything. It felt awkward to… simply address that."
"Well…" She sighed. "To be fair, I did not give you many opportunities to… take my side." At some point during her early teenage years, Effie had stopped worshipping the ground Lyssa walked on and had started pushing her away. She didn't like thinking about why. It was a mix of resentment, jealousy and insecurities she wasn't particularly proud of. "Haymitch thinks she is abusive."
"I beg your pardon?" Lyssa asked, sounding completely flabbergasted – and a bit accusative, as if Effie had gone and invented terrible stories.
"He never actually said the word but… I know it is what he means." She sighed again. "He is convinced I have problems with my weight, with food, because of her."
"Why would he think that?" Lyssa huffed. "It is preposterous. And you do not have problems with your weight or with food. I would know. That's…"
"I stop eating when I think I am too fat." she cut her off quietly. "Or, at the very least, I control everything I put in my mouth. I never noticed until he pointed it out."
"That isn't having… that kind of problems." Lyssa insisted, frowning. "You never… You know, made yourself throw up or… You never, right?"
"No." Effie confirmed. "But I do tend to starve myself for days on end, follow ridiculous diets or spend far too many hours in the gym after work even if I am too exhausted to think straight…"
"Yes, but that is only natural when one cares about one's figure." her sister argued. "I do the very same thing. That is not…"
But wasn't it, though? Portia seemed to agree with him. Worse, Portia had seemed relieved when she had quickly touched base on the subject only to be told that, no, Effie didn't need a drastic diet to lose some weight she didn't need to lose in the first place and that if someone was making sure she fed herself properly, then… It was all for the best.
"Do you remember when I was thirteen?" Effie asked. "Mother made me eat soup for a year…"
Lyssa was silent a long time, then she winced. "I remember overhearing a serious row between Father and Mother over that… He was incensed when he realized…"
Effie lifted an eyebrow. That was news to her. "Was he really?"
"Yes." Lyssa nodded. "He made her promise to start feeding you normally again. He said you were anemic and it was obvious to anyone with eyes… Mother retorted that you were simply fit thanks to her hard workand that he simply never looked at you properly…"
So she owed her reintroduction to normal food to her father, that was nice to know.
"My point is…" she argued. "Would you feed only soup to Bryden or Timotheo for a whole year because they were a little chubby?"
"That does not make Mother… That horrible word." Lyssa insisted. "She never lifted a finger on us…" She had never needed to. Her words were a lot more effective than a quick hand would ever have been… "Besides, it was all about the beauty pageants… That required sacrifices…"
"Ah, yes…" Effie hummed. "The beauty pageants…"
"We loved them so." Lyssa laughed. "Do you remember?"
"I remember you ranking first every time and me being a vast disappointment to Mother…" she joked.
"You ranked first plenty of times…" her sister argued.
"I ranked second or third more than I ranked first…" she corrected. "And Mother hates to lose."
Lyssa's shoulders slouched a little more.
She wasn't sure why. Her sister may be remembering their childhood with fondness but Effie had stopped enjoying beauty pageants during her adolescence when everyone had kept comparing her to her sister and finding her lacking.
"She is not abusive." Lyssandra said decisively. "She simply has… a strong personality."
"And strong opinions." Effie added.
Her sister flashed her a smile. "And a strong temper."
"And a strong desire for her daughters to please her in any circumstances…" She laughed.
Lyssa laughed too but it was a bit off-key and she couldn't quite get rid of the frown on her face. "I love her."
She said it almost apologetically.
Effie sighed. "I love her too. I love her most when I do not have to compose with her."
She took a deep breath, feeling a little vulnerable because she was about to be more honest with her sister than she was comfortable with. She didn't like showing weakness. The only person she trusted enough not to betray her when she felt like that was Haymitch and the prospect of extending that same trust to Lyssandra was daunting. And yet she felt as if she owed to her sister to be honest about this. Because if Elindra had started treating her the way she usually treated Effie…
"She hurts me. I love her but she hurts me and she knows she hurts me and saying she is only doing it for my own good does not make it any righter or better, no matter if she even means that or not." Effie said quickly. She squeezed her sister's hand. "For me, staying away and only seeing her when I cannot help it is the only way to handle this. It is not a perfect way but it works. Lyssa, if she is hurting you… Do not let her get to you. Take some space. Think for yourself. Despite what she would have you believe, you are a clever woman who does not need her to make a decision. If you do not want a third child, do not let her manipulate you into thinking it is a good idea. If you do not want to stay with Rufus, do not let her choose for you, I am happy to let you borrow my apartment if you need a place to stay." She rolled her eyes. "And if you want your children to keep calling you Mama I do not see how it is any of her business. In fact, I would insist on them calling her Nana on principle alone… But that is me… I am petty like that…"
One of the park's exits was in sight and Effie discreetly checked her watch. Peeta was probably still at the Mansion and she really wanted to see what he had found out before retiring for the evening so…
"Thank you." Lyssa said, surprising her by tugging her into a hug.
Effie remained frozen for a second, wondering if that was how her sister had felt the last time she had done the same. Then she embraced her back as tightly as she could.
She made a show of whispering in her sister's ear. "Are we huggers now?"
Lyssa laughed. It sounded a bit choked and she may have been batting away a few tears when she finally drew back. "It seems like we are. I quite like it. It is very liberating."
It was, at that.
"I need to dash…" Effie apologized after glancing at her watch again. "Do you want to have lunch tomorrow?"
She would reschedule a few things and make time for her sister, she decided. Bar any emergency, Haymitch and Plutarch wouldn't mind if she took a whole hour for lunch. Knowing Haymitch, he would probably even encourage it.
"Of course." Lyssa agreed immediately, smiling with obvious relief. "Thank you for coming. Sister."
It would take some getting used to to have her sister back, Effie mused, but a part of her, the little girl who used to follow her everywhere and wanted to be just like her when she grew up, that part of her was ecstatic. "Any time. Sister."
They parted ways at the park's gates and Effie hurried back to the Mansion. It wasn't a long walk but there were a lot of people on the way and, for security reasons or so she assumed, Gale stuck close.
"For what it's worth…" he said, once the Mansion was in sight. "Your mom's pretty fucked up."
She tossed him a glare. "First, language. Second, do not talk about my mother this way. Third, you need to have a talk with Boggs about the deaf and blind part of bodyguard duties…"
Gale rolled his eyes, insolent as ever, but shrugged. "Just saying. That's not how a mom treats her children. I'd know, mine's the best."
There was enough fondness and love in his voice that Effie curbed her automatic answer for him to mind his own business. "Well, then, I supposed you are lucky." He didn't deny that and, feeling a little less angry with him about his earlier behavior, she tossed him three quick glances, assessing his mood. "Are you quite sure you do not want me to find you a blind date?"
"Very, very sure." Gale scoffed. "I can find my own dates."
That wasn't obvious from where she standing. He was extremely attractive but all that pining for Katniss made him look very unavailable... "Suit yourself."
Peeta was, indeed, still hard at work when she showed up. He caught her up on what she had missed and she did some catch up of her own once she had freed him.
It was late by the time she dragged her feet up to the residence's floor and she felt far more tired than her day justified. Haymitch was on the couch, skimming through an official looking report… He glanced up when she came in but went back to reading.
He snorted. "Perfect timing… Was about to tell them to bring dinner up. Took you a while to come home… Everything's good?"
She dropped next to him on the couch without any sort of gracefulness whatsoever, kicked off her shoes and curled up against his side, resting her head on his shoulder. "Adulthood is hard."
"Tell me about it, sweetheart." he mocked. She whacked his arm but it lacked energy and thus it probably barely stung. He tossed the report on the coffee table and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing in particular…" she hummed. "It just so happens my sister's life is not as perfect as I thought it to be. Also, it may very well be that Mother's new favorite pastime is to pester her since she cannot pester me, which I feel vaguely guilty about…" She might call Elindra just to get her off Lyssa's back for a while. She was used to their mother's venom after all. Lyssa wasn't. "And the funniest part in all of that is that I may very well feel like I actually have a sister for the first time in… Oh, forever."
Haymitch was silent for a moment.
"So… This ain't about Five, then?" he asked, his accent dragging the question out. She huffed, not in the mood for his jokes. He must have sensed that because he dropped a kiss on her head. "Your mother's a bitch." She opened her mouth to protest the language if anything but he made a face. "Sorry but I've said it. She's a bitch and if I could stop her from ever talking shit to you again, I would. Your sister's alright, though. Gullible, but alright."
"Is she gullible or is she under influence though?" she hummed. "I did not like anything of what she had to say today… Rufus makes her feel small…"
"Well, he's the type, ain't he?" Haymitch frowned. "I've only met him once but… From what I hear about his scheming… Seems like a snake to me. All smiles until he stabs you in the back. He's never getting anywhere either…"
"True." Effie granted. His political career had been doomed from the start because Rufus had been raised with a silver spoon in his mouth and had no idea about how to apply himself. "I just… I thought she was happy. She seemed happy. I hate to think he… he stifles her. She makes it sound like all she's allowed to be is his wife. She is great, you know, the very opposite of small, she deserves better. And now Mother is harassing her to save her marriage by having a third child…" She scoffed. "A child she does not want, by the way…" Haymitch had tensed, his side embrace tightened a little as if in reflex. She ignored it. It wasn't about children or… "I think she needs me."
"Then, be there for her." Haymitch shrugged. "And, hey, she needs her husband killed, just let me know… I've got connections…"
She chuckled but not for long. She felt… washed out. "We talked about Mother. About the way she treats us. It was odd. I never heard Lyssa say a bad word about her before." She paused. "Not that she actually said a bad word about her today. But there was a lot of criticism." Haymitch's hand had started playing with her hair and, since he wasn't saying anything, she kept talking. "She does love us, you know. And we love her. She is just… difficult."
He kept petting her hair and she pressed her face into his shoulder, snuggling closer just to feel his warmth. She was cold, which was odd because the room temperature was perfectly fine.
"Katniss's difficult. Mason's difficult. I'm difficult, sweetheart…" he said slowly, carefully. "Some of the things you've told me about your childhood… It rings alarm bells for me. Maybe your mom loves you but she sure has a weird as hell way of showing it."
She wanted to reply that Elindra would never hurt her and that she didn't like his insinuations but wasn't that the exact opposite of what she had told Lyssa earlier?
"It's complicated." she dismissed.
"Ain't really…" He sighed. "But she's your mom. I get why you can't just cut her off."
Cutting her off entirely seemed… too much. But she did put more and more space and time between them.
The more time she spent with Haymitch, the less she felt like going to her parents'. She loved the family they had created for themselves. She loved how simple and genuine it was.
"Lyssa isn't used to Mother being helpfully mean to her…" she whispered. "I worry about her."
"She and the boys need a place to stay, we've got plenty of room." Haymitch offered.
"I already said I would lend her my apartment if she needs it." she replied.
"I meant here." he countered. "Where there are Peacekeepers who can keep her husband and your mother out."
That would be very unpractical. If the press got wind of it…
But the fact that he would even offer without a single moment of hesitation…
She sat straighter and planted a long kiss on his lips. "I am marrying you."
He lifted his eyebrows, amusement dancing on his face. "Won't lie, thought that was already the plan, princess."
"And you keep convincing me, again and again, that it is the best plan." She grinned. "So, what is for dinner tonight?"
There were menus established for the week but she hardly ever consulted them unless they were having someone over… She didn't care that much. Haymitch was usually the one handling the food aspect of their relationship.
"Lasagnas." He shrugged. "Asked them for it this morning, I was in the mood."
"Perfect choice." she commented. "I will go have a quick shower while you order it up."
"Or I could go take a quick shower with you while we wait…" he pointed out.
She escaped his arms, laughing. "We both know that shower wouldn't be quick."
"Your point?" he challenged.
"My point is I am hungry." She winked. "But I might let you convince me an early night is for the best later on…"
"Minx!" he shouted after her.
She was still grinning like an idiot by the time she slipped under the warm water of the shower.
It had been stupid to be so jealous of Lyssa for so long, she mused, because she wouldn't have exchanged her life with Lyssa's for the world… She had gotten the best end of the stick here.
Important discussions here... So what do you think? Will Lyssa's marriage hold? Will they confront Elindra? Will Haymitch order a hit ? XD Let me know your thoughts!