Day 7! I'll confess that from all the oneshots I've written this one is my least favorite so… sorry? I didn't want to do the usual hayffie snowed in post mj but it didn't turn out as cute as I wanted it to be so… Yeah. I hope you enjoy it anyway!

Prompt : "Well, looks like we're snowed in"

Christmas Traditions

"Well!" Haymitch announced when he walked back into the living-room car. "Looks like we're snowed in."

Nobody looked really surprised by that but, then again, the train abruptly braking to a stop and the blizzard swirling gallons of snow against the windows had kind of given away the game already. The kids and the stylists welcomed the news with uncaring shrugs but, not unexpectedly, Effie immediately launched into her usual theatrics.

"What are they doing to fix this? Have they called for help?" she asked, hands fluttering in the air as she talked. "When will we be moving again? We will be off-schedule and…"

"Relax, sweetheart." he grunted, already done with the ridiculous panic she was displaying – and, if he knew her and he did, would continue to display until they were back on schedule. "They're doing what they can but it's Christmas Eve and, apparently, it's a big deal in Two or whatever…" He rolled his eyes. "Career Districts…"

Christmas, in Twelve, was a day usually left unmarked because nobody could afford to celebrate it. Some years, depending on who was mayor and who was Head Peacekeeper, the day was declared a bank holiday, giving people a rare off day from the mine. That was the sum of it.

"Is it?" Effie frowned, glancing at the clipboard she had abandoned on the coffee table amongst drinks. "No, you must be confused. I would have remembered."

"Is it, darling." Portia confirmed, leaning forward from the armchair she was currently curled up in to pat her leg. "I told you I wanted to get hold of a phone tomorrow to call my mother, remember?"

Effie looked so agitated that Haymitch took pity on her and sat next to her on the couch. He casually stretched his arm on the back of it, it looked innocent enough – or at least he hoped so – but it did allow him to brush his hand against her shoulder and she settled. Not much but a little. That was already something.

"You did not say you wanted to call her because it was Christmas!" she retorted. "I would have realized and…"

She looked around the living-room car that was showing the wear of a month spent on the road with utter dismay.

Peeta's sketchbook was abandoned in one corner along with pencils and charcoal, there were sketches of dresses from when Cinna had tried to tutor Katniss one evening when they were both bored, his own books were lying around, Portia had a bad habit of taking off her hairclips and dropping them everywhere, Effie was perfectly neat, of course, but he spotted a bottle of nail polish that he was pretty sure belonged to her as well as her cigarette case…

"Cleaned up?" he mocked. There were staff attendants for that, of course, but they were not as diligent as Avoxes and they would never touch their private stuff – or, at least, get caught touching their private stuff – which meant they didn't pick up after them the way people did in the penthouse. The train wasn't a mess, really, but it certainly wasn't as tidy as it had been when they had first moved in for that Tour.

"Decorated." she corrected with a small sad pout.

"It's alright, Effie." Peeta offered with a shrug. "We don't really do Christmas in Twelve."

"We don't do Christmas at all in Twelve." Katniss snorted.

"All the more reasons to give one you would never forget this year!" she lamented, biting down on her bottom lip. "I am so sorry! I got so caught up in the Tour that…"

"Sweetheart." Haymitch cut her off. "It's fine. We don't care."

There was a short bout of silence after that. They all listened to the wind raging outside. It was pitch dark, much darker than it should have been at this time of day. He had seen enough bad snowstorms to know it was unlikely they would get to go anywhere for a good while, Christmas or not. They were safe though. The heating system was working, electricity would keep running, they had food and water… They would be fine for a few days if need be. They just couldn't go anywhere yet.

Which might become a problem for Effie because standing still was not her strong suit. She would go stir crazy.

"No Christmas at all?" Cinna finally asked, sounding curious and a little bit sad.

Haymitch, Katniss and Peeta looked at each other and then collectively shrugged.

"We have a roast sometimes. If it's been a good year and we can find some meat." Peeta volunteered. "And cake if mom's in a good mood."

"A roast is a good choice." Portia hummed. "My mother always makes a stuffed turkey and so many side dishes we end up eating leftovers for weeks. We always end up sick of it and it stays in the freezer forever."

Haymitch didn't need to look at the kids to know they were exchanging a low-key look and thinking the same thing he was: how nice to have so much food on hand you could waste it on a stupid holiday.

"Mama Rose's turkey is a thing to behold…" Cinna nodded, a small smile on his lips. "I am sorry to miss it this year."

"At least we will have the leftovers." Portia joked. "And I bet she will throw us a belated Christmas dinner once we are home. For the presents if nothing else. You will come, Effie, yes?"

That was a weird way to ask the question in Haymitch's opinion but what did he know about Capitols or girly friendship? Effie, naturally, nodded. "If your mother does not mind… I would not want to impose on a family gathering…"

"Oh, we do not stand on formality in the Rose's household…" Portia dismissed. "And I told her so much about you Mama loves you already."

The M word hit Haymitch in a weird way. He didn't hear it often. Capitols used mother, Katniss and Peeta used mom… He used to call his own mother Mama and it endeared him to Portia that she did the same for a stupid reason he couldn't quite pint-point.

Sentimentality. It was a plague.

Effie's eyebrows lifted up high, as if she couldn't quite grasp the concept of a mother liking her.

To be fair, he mused, her own mother was a bitch.

"You're gonna go to your folks when we hit the city?" he asked, following that train of thoughts.

Effie wrinkled her pretty little nose. "Not if I can help it." She hadn't meant to be that truthful, he saw at once, because she shot a guilty look around the room. "I mean I will be very busy with the Tour. Any social visits will have to wait after it is over."

"Of course." Portia agreed.

"Naturally." Cinna added.

The kids exchanged a weird look again.

Haymitch wondered if they were trying to find a polite way to get excused from that very depressing conversation. Fuck knew he was.

"What do you usually do for Christmas, Effie?" Peeta asked, trying to soldier through.

"Vomit tinsels and fairy lights all over her apartment." Haymitch muttered, earning himself an elbow in the ribs for his troubles. She narrowed her eyes at him, her lips pursed, her head slightly tilted… Shit but a single look shouldn't have been so hot. Certainly not after ten years of getting what came after the look. And yet… "What? It's true. You think she's manic about her manners and her schedules?" he asked the kids. "Just watch her go crazy with Christmas stuff…"

Katniss frowned. "How would you know?"

"I've been in the city one time or two in winter for the Tour." he dismissed. "Her place looked like Santa's toy shop."

"I happen to enjoy the holidays." she huffed. "Sue me."

"Is that a real thing in the city?" Katniss asked, still frowning. "Santa?"

Effie forgot to be angry at him to look stricken. "Don't you have Santa in Twelve?"

"No kid's dumb enough to believe in an old guy handing out presents for free in Twelve." Haymitch snorted.

"That is sad." Portia professed quietly.

"Not really." Katniss denied. "We don't need the presents and everything… In Twelve what's important… It's your family."

"Hear, hear…" Haymitch declared, grabbing his half-empty drink from the coffee table. The ice had melted and the whiskey would be watered but he still raised it in the air in a toast. "I'll drink to that."

"You would drink to anything." Effie rebuked but she still grabbed her own glass and lifted it up in the air. "To family. Blood related and otherwise."

"To family." the others echoed.

The mood lifted a little when Peeta suggested a game of cards.

There were worse ways to spend Christmas Eve, Haymitch decided, briefly coiling his hand around Effie's nape when nobody was looking…

Mama Rose, I will have to use again I have to say. I only got a glimpse of her but I love her already :p Did you like it? Tomorrow shall be more cheerful I promise!