Prompt: I have a prompt for you but I honestly don't know if it works: Willow asking Haymitch and Effie how they fell in love and got together while they babysit her. :D

Like A Fairytale

Effie was watching her kitchen table get covered by more and more paint with growing concern.

Willow was a dedicated artist, just like her father, and while Effie recognized the girl some talent – as much talent as a seven years old could have anyway – she wasn't truly happy with the fingers painting that was going on in her kitchen or the fact that paint was getting everywhere but on the sheets of paper.

Not surprisingly, Haymitch was having a blast. He had embraced the activity with both hands – literally – and kept making the little girl giggle by 'accidentally' putting pain on his face, leaving Effie to stand there with her hands on her hips.

Effie might have grown mad if the two of them hadn't been so cute. He would deny it to his dying day but Haymitch was actually so good with children. It made her wonder sometimes. And regret. But those were thoughts she chased easily. He hadn't wanted them and they had a big family anyway.

"Stop hovering, sweetheart." Haymitch chided her, making a face at the little girl. "We're having fun."

"And who will clean your fun afterwards, I wonder?" she sighed.

"I'll help, Grandma!" Willow volunteered with a big smile. She was missing her front tooth and Effie felt her heart melt.

"I hope so because we know your grandfather won't." she teased. "He will suddenly remember a mysterious pressing business he needs to attend to."

Haymitch tossed her an amused look, a smirk stretching his lips. "Need to give you some excuse to start a fight later. Keeps you on your toes."

"Oh, so this is all a ploy to make me scream at you?" she snorted.

He lifted an eyebrow. "Making you scream's never really been a problem now, has it?"

"Haymitch!" she gasped, tossing Willow a concerned look. The girl was watching them carefully but she didn't seem to understand what he was hinting at. Fortunately. She pursed her lips at him. "Horrid man."

"You know, squirrel…" he said slowly, making Willow smile wide at the familiar nickname. "We've been very rude. We didn't ask Grandma if she wanted to have fun with us."

"Oh, no, no, no!" Effie warned, lifting her hands to protect herself.

The girl wasn't sure what was going but she started laughing well before Haymitch stood up. Effie tried to run away but he was still quick for a man his age. He grabbed her wrist, making her squeal when she felt the sticky paint stain her skin, and tugged. She fell in his arms and, suddenly, there was a hand squeezing her nape in a familiar comforting gesture. The other went to her cheek, leaving a wet mark on her face.

"I am going to murder you." she hissed. "I will murder you and feed your body to your idiotic geese and…"

The kiss effectively shut her up, like it always did.

It was chaste enough for them, mindful of the seven years old in the room, but still it left her a bit breathless.

"I hate you." she mumbled, defeated both by his smugness and Willow's delighted laughter.

"No, you don't!" the girl countered. "Daddy says when you shout at Grandpa it means you're saying you love him without really saying it."

"Knew it must have been something like that…" Haymitch snorted, letting her go to sit back down at the table.

"Well." she huffed. "I suppose it is not untrue." Willow frowned and she clarified. "I do love your grandfather very much even when he intends to drive me crazy. You should never doubt that."

"Why, sweetheart, I had no idea…" he deadpanned with an irritating twinkle in his eyes.

"Oh, hush!" she sighed. "She will believe you and I will be the mean one."

As it was, he was already the fun grandparent and she was the strict one.

Haymitch rolled his eyes but nudged Willow's arm with his elbow – to avoid leaving paint on her clothes, she supposed. "We fight 'cause that's how we roll, squirrel, but it doesn't mean we're really angry at each other or that we're gonna split or something. That makes sense to you?"

The girl pursed her lips for a second and thought it over before shrugging. "Yeah."

"Good." he commented, pushing an empty chair with his foot. "Sit down, sweetheart. You're driving me crazy with the hovering."

She did sit down because she wanted to make the most of their time with Willow but she promised herself she would run upstairs to clean up that pain on her face before long. For a while, the girl focused on her painting – putting more paint on the table than on the sheets again – but it didn't last ten minutes.

"Grandma?" she asked.

"Yes? Do you want something, darling?" Effie immediately offered, ready to call an end to the activity so they could all have a proper afternoon snack.

"How did you fall in love with Grandpa?"

The mood in the kitchen changed quickly. With no idea of what kind of bombshell she had just dropped the girl kept on painting, leaving Effie to clear her throat. She didn't look at Haymitch.

"Well… I…" she hesitated. "I suppose I knew as soon as I saw him. But then I actually met him, mind you, and it took a few years to admit I found him charming rather than annoying."

Willow frowned and looked up at her. "It was love at first sight? Like a fairy tale?"

"There certainly was a villain." Haymitch snorted bitterly.

Effie ignored him, drumming her manicured nails against the edge of the table. "It was very much like a fairy tale, yes. The long kind. With a lot of misunderstandings and a dashing rescue at the end."

"And a happy ending." Willow said with such certainty that Effie relaxed.

"The happiest of endings." she smiled softly.

She didn't protest when Haymitch's hand covered hers, despite the fresh coat of paint it left, and her smile softened when he brought it to his lips.

"And you, Grandpa?" the girl hummed. "Did you love Grandma when you saw her?"

He actually burst out laughing and she was very tempted to toss something at his head.

"Really not." he confessed. "She looked terrible when I first saw her. She had paint all over her face and she was wearing yellow and green." Willow wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Yeah. Terrible. She looked like a parrot. Sounded like one too."

"Fashion was what it was." Effie huffed.

She was ignored.

"Why did you fall in love with her then?" the girl asked, having abandoned her painting to listen to Haymitch's every word.

He awkwardly shuffled on his chair, always uncomfortable when it came to his feelings. In the end he shrugged, staring at the wooden table. "'Cause she was bright."

"Bright?" Willow repeated, confused. "Like… Smart, you mean?"

He sighed.

"Bright like a star." he mumbled, not looking at anyone. "Remember how your mom and I taught you how to look for the North star if you get lost?" Willow nodded eagerly and he went on, making a face. "Well, it was like that. I was lost in the dark and she was bright like the star." Effie discreetly rubbed under her eye and Haymitch grumbled. "Don't you dare cry."

"I cannot help it when you are so sweet." she countered. "You do say the most beautiful things."

"Passing fancy." he scowled. "Don't get used to it."

He was saved by Peeta's timely arrival who laughed when he saw her. "Now, what have you done to Grandma?"

It was a bit chaotic for a while after that. They cleaned up the kitchen, shared the pastries Peeta had brought back and then had a long cuddling session with the girl because she needed to go home – which she hated despite the fact that they lived across the street and that they saw each other every day. If Willow had had her way they would all have been living together in a huge house – with her baby brother at the other side of it because he cried at night and woke her up.

Once Peeta and Willow were gone, she wrapped her arms around Haymitch's waist and stole a very dirty kiss.

"Should remember to tell you shit more often." he mumbled against her lips. "Always gets me the best sex."

She laughed and sauntered away, tossing him a heavy look over her shoulder.

She didn't have to say anything for him to chase her to their bedroom.