**The 74th Hunger Games**
Haymitch was sitting in the last seat by the wall, next to Seeder. Chaff was swigging from his flask. Seeder was showing him a picture of her grandkids.
"They're getting big," he said. Seeder took the flask Chaff handed her, and took a healthy swallow before handing it to Haymitch. Haymitch tapped the little girl. "She looks like trouble." Everyone in the picture was smiling except this little girl. She had her arms crossed and was staring at her mom's knee, frowning to show she wouldn't smile just because someone had told her to.
Seeder laughed. He took a swallow from the flask, just wine, but it was early. He passed it to Chaff behind Seeder's chair.
"She got in trouble for fighting in the orchard three years before her brothers dared to."
Now, Haymitch laughed. It wasn't really a laughing matter, he guessed. You could spend a few days as guests of the Peacekeepers for fighting in 11.
I bet Olive knew how to handle it," he said.
Seeder nodded. "Oh, yes, she put a stop to it. Her kids don't fight."
Haymitch nods. He knows.
"How about Sage? How old are his kids now?"
"18, 17, and 12."
He shakes his head. Seeder has a big family. One nice thing about being a victor in 11 is there are literally just so many of them, the odds of a victor's family members being chosen really are not good. Unless the victor is an enemy of the state, but that's true for anybody in Panem. Seeder has never had any scandals, or if she did, they were well before his time.
Chaff still hadn't wanted kids. When asked, he would say, "I used to think about it," which had led Haymitch to believe Chaff had been hardened against the idea, the way some of them were, the first time he saw a victor's kid get chosen. Sometimes they had to mentor their own kids.
He had never asked Chaff about it, but it was so ingrained in his own mind, it had certainly informed his own decision regarding marriage and children.
"The youngest has a girlfriend."
Hull's got a girl, huh?"
"Says he'll marry her." She laughs. She has the flask back and takes another drink before passing to Haymitch.
He laughs too, but it hurts. He drinks, hands it to Chaff. Sometimes they go the whole day like this, depending on what they're seeing on the screen. Seeder drops out of the relay race before she can't walk straight. Haymitch has always admired her ability to know when that would happen, and to stop.
He had had a girlfriend at 12 too. A pretty blonde girl. He remembered twisting a dandelion into a ring shape, and asking if she would be his girl. She had pushed him down in the mud, and later she had come to his house. She had been crying. She had kissed him on the mouth and run away, the coal dust settling on her pretty white dress.
Their relationship had been rocky and had ended tragically a week later when one of his friends called her a booger and he laughed.
He hasn't thought of that in years. Being Maysilee Donner's boyfriend for a week.
Thankfully, he doesn't have to ruminate long. They're showing shots of the arena before the tributes launch into the arena. It's a good arena for his kids, Katniss especially. Not very different from the woods around the Seam. It's apparently good for Seeder and Chaff's kids too, because Chaff gets very excited when he sees a field of tall grass.
Good tree cover, plenty of fresh water. The audience wants some tribute-on-tribute kills this year, it seems. He's not surprised. They're still recovering the popularity of the Games. A vocal set of citizens who are still upset about the flooding in the 70th are still making noise about losing a bunch of betting money.
He spots Katniss and Peeta. The cameras were following them closely, and they all see Peeta shake his head at Katniss, trying to discourage her from the Cornucopia.
The bloodbath is awful. He's drunk by the end. Seeder and Chaff are cheering. It's been a while since 11, and 12, have made it through the first day. Finnick's boy was killed, but he fought hard, and the girl joins up with the other Careers. Haymitch is pleasantly surprised when Peeta also joins the Careers pack. He knows they're hoping he'll take them to Katniss, that this is one of the shakier alliances he's ever seen, but it's smart, and he can't help feeling proud.
Katniss has made it to rest and safety too, though just barely. He was ready to jump through the screen and throttle her when she pulled that stunt over the backpack, but she got out. Also smart. He hasn't felt this good about his tributes maybe ever.
Once both of his kids are asleep, he gets back to work. Chaff doesn't even ask him to go out drinking. He's got his own kids to find sponsors for.