Chapter 12: The List

8 months later

"Meg! Meg, Meg, Meg!" Amabella called as soon as Haymitch opened the door for her - it was the first snowfall of winter, and they had spent enough time playing around snow in between school and home. If Haymitch was cold, he was pretty sure Amabella was completely freezing.

Meg, the little kitten they had adopted just a few weeks ago, appeared from the dining room doorway, and Amabella ran to her, not bothering to take off her coat or her scarf or her hat. Haymitch shook his head as he heard the little girl coo at the kitten from the doorway.

"We gotta do homework, Bella," he reminded her as he took off his scarf and went to the fireplace, intent to add some logs into the fire that was still working since he had left home to pick the little girl from school. "Your mom's gonna be mad if she finds out we took so long to come home and that you haven't done your homework yet."

"But it's Friday, Daddy," Amabella told him as she picked Meg up. The kitten whined, a little bothered by the fact, but was otherwise quiet in her arms. "We have the whole weekend to do homework."

She raised her little gray eyes at him and pouted.

Damn, the girl was just like her mother.

"Fine, but I expect no whining on Sunday evening," Haymitch told her seriously as Amabella jumped excitedly. "And no telling Mommy you beat me at our snowball fight."

He sat on the couch, feeling pretty much exhausted and happy the kids would be hosting dinner tonight. There was only so much cooking Effie could do and he could stand, and he had already spent half the day helping Peeta at the bakery and painting yet another guest room upstairs. Effie and Amabella moved in months ago, but it appeared that the redecorating was still going as strong as ever.

It was fine by him. He knew Effie had plans to make that guest room into her own private office. It helped that you could hardly hear the geese - and the chicken - from there.

He didn't mind the renovations; he wasn't going to admit it, but it felt refreshing. He had never bothered changing any of the furniture in thirty years, and to see the house being changed and lived in - it made him happy. He didn't even mind the toys scattered all around the place - only when he stepped on a block because hell did those things hurt - or the kitten or the chicken. Amabella was happy.

She giggled as she threw herself against him. She had lost a tooth the week before, her first, and he couldn't help but find the look on her incredibly funny - and cute. "But I won! I have to tell her!"

Haymitch groaned dramatically. "Your mom probably wouldn't like the idea of a snowball fight in the middle of the square very much," he told her seriously. He kissed her temple softly against the hat and patted her leg. "Come on, munchkin. If you stay in that coat you're gonna be soaked."

"Like yours? Because of how much snow I threw at you?" Amabella asked, standing up and slowly unbuttoning her coat, which was a little difficult with her gloves still on. Meg, now free to wander wherever she wanted to, took off without so much as a glance towards them.

Effie complained about the cold constantly. Amabella was still too excited about it to care.

"Yep, like mine. You are a vicious little thing," Haymitch said, reaching to help her with the coat. "Just like your mommy."

The last comment was thrown quietly, as an afterthought, but he froze when he noticed Effie on the bottom of the stairs, crossing her arms and looking like she had heard a lot of the conversation.

"Now I'm vicious," she complained, and Amabella turned around, surprised at the voice. "Really, Haymitch, your adjectives get better every day."

"Mommy!" the child ran towards her, and Haymitch knew she was a true sight, with flushed cheeks and bright eyes and unbuttoned coat.

Effie smiled, though. "Hello, my darling," she kissed Amabella's cheek and immediately reached for the coat. "This is already soaked. Did you roll on the snow while having a snowball fight?"

Amabella giggled, exchanging a look with Haymitch. "Maybe. I won, Mommy!"

"Did you, really? Against your father?" Effie asked, taking off the coat from Amabella and the hat too. Her eyes were bright as she looked at Haymitch. "You know your daddy is the champion of snowball fights around here."

"Really?"

Haymitch stood up. "That's because your mom never had a snowball fight. Bet you two could take me any day."

"Oh, no. No, I'm not a savage," Effie shook her head, leaning forward as he approached her and met his lips in a kiss. "Hi."

"Hey," he greeted her, slipping an arm around her waist. She was wearing one of his sweaters over her tights. "You're home early."

"I thought I'd surprise you," she smiled against his lips, then turned to look down at their daughter, who was taking off her boots now - and leaving everything wherever they fell. "But then you two surprise me with snowball fights. Really. Two children. I'm raising two children."

"I think we should beat Daddy at a snowball fight, Mommy," Amabella said matter-of-factly. "If I won alone, no one could stop us!"

Effie laughed. "Alright. Maybe tomorrow. We have a lot to do today," she looked pointedly at Haymitch. "Homework, and dinner with Katniss and Peeta, and…"

"I've painted the guest room," Haymitch offered. "One step ahead of you, Sweetheart."

"I've seen it, and you've done a wonderful job so far," Effie said patiently.

"So far? It's pretty much finished."

"We'll need one more layer of paint, really, Haymitch, surely you've noticed," she rolled her eyes. "No, but December is almost here, and we need to do our Christmas decorations, of course!"

Amabella jumped up. "Can I help, Mommy?"

Haymitch sighed. Of course the kid loved Christmas decorations.

His house had never seen one single Christmas decoration in thirty years.

"We have a big box filled with them," Effie told Haymitch. "You can relax. It's regular stuff. Boots, and lights. We will need a tree, though."

Amabella gasped. "Are we getting a real tree this year?"

"If your father doesn't mind getting one," Effie said, and both girls looked at him with the same pleading expression on their faces.

He could hardly say no.

"Sure. I'll get us one."

"Yes!" Amabella clapped her little hands, then looked concerned. "I need to start my list!"

"Less than thirty items this year, darling, please," Effie reminded her, and the little girl was running away a second later, only stopping to pick Meg again, who had decided to show up once more.

Haymitch frowned.

"List?"

"Her Christmas list. For Santa," Effie told him, arms encircling his neck. She gave him a kiss. He was still confused by the idea of a list and barely responded. "Of the things she wants for Christmas. I'm sorry. I forget you didn't really have that growing up."

It was true - Christmas had never been much of a thing when he was growing up. They were too poor to have anything fancy - the most his mother would do was to make them a decent meal. He couldn't even remember getting a Christmas present before he met Effie.

He knew she absolutely loved Christmas. It was only natural that this love would pass on to their daughter.

"It's fine, Princess," he held her waist, and his free hand caressed her jaw in the softest of touches. "Thirty items, eh?"

She laughed. "Don't worry. They go from the most expensive toy being advertised to Mommy spending a whole day away from work."

"I get both items, to be honest," he joked, kissing her neck.

It wasn't always easy, the transition - not for them, and not for Amabella. She could be possessive of Effie in certain occasions, and he was reminded of the years they spent without him. And he and Effie, they clashed - often. About anything and everything. Most of the time, the arguments were for the sake of the argument, and they'd be able to find a quick solution that worked for the both of them. Other times, they were serious.

But they were learning as they went, and so far they were doing well enough.

Effie listened as Haymitch told Katniss and Peeta of their latest meeting with Amabella's teacher - the child also had his attention, as she was the subject of the matter, and the little girl was far too clever for her own good. This was their normal now - once or twice a week, they'd have dinner or lunch at Katniss and Peeta's house. A couple more times at Haymitch's house. Their house.

It made her smile every time she thought about it. Never in her deepest thought she had imagined this would be their future.

Her little team, together. Alive.

"She can write and read everything," Haymitch said, pointing at Amabella, "and the teacher tells me she's too relaxed in class. Relaxed. Because she knows all the answers without having to think about it. Give me a break."

Effie huffed. "It's not about that. She wants Amabella to feel challenged, not bored."

"I'd be bored if I had to guess how duck is spelled every day," Haymitch rolled his eyes, and did not bother talking with food in his mouth.

Effie shivered.

Amabella giggled.

"Haymitch, no one wants to know what's in your mouth," she gave him a pointed look, then looked at Peeta and Katniss. "Anyway, that's why she must do her homework and she must attend every class. So she won't be bored."

"Will they make her skip years or something?" Peeta asked.

"Oh, no, it's not like that. She's very bright, of course," Effie smiled at Amabella, who was happily eating beside her. "Haymitch just got very interested in her education and he taught her a lot before her time. Her classmates are a little behind," she explained, taking a sip of the wine in front of her. "The teacher was actually scolding Haymitch, not Amabella. That's why he's so annoyed by it."

Haymitch groaned, and Peeta and Katniss laughed.

"Either way, she's going to try to work on that Christmas list all by herself this year, aren't you, darling?" Effie asked, and Amabella nodded. "Really, it's a blessing. I had to help her with that last year, and there were too many items to write."

"I only have one thing this year, Mommy," Amabella interrupted her.

Both Effie and Haymitch frowned. "Just one?"

"Well, two," she took a sip of her juice and looked at Katniss and Peeta with entirely too much innocence. "I want Buttercup to teach Meg how to hunt!"

Katniss laughed. "You can have him as much as you want, kid."

"Uh, we don't need Meg bringing us dead mice," Haymitch said, shaking his head. "That's a no, Bella. Santa can't make Buttercup teach Meg anything."

Katniss shrugged and winked at the child. "She'll probably learn by herself anyway."

Amabella huffed. "Fine. I'll just ask for a baby, then."

Effie had been in the middle of drinking wine, and nearly choked on it. She coughed, and Haymitch patted her back reassuringly.

"You want another baby doll, little Princess?" he asked distractedly.

He did not get it.

"No, I want a baby. A real one," Amabella explained. "Tilly has a baby sister now. But I don't even mind if it's a brother instead of a sister."

Effie watched as Peeta and Katniss exchanged an awkward look, and cleared her throat.

Haymitch looked positively confused.

"I'm sorry," Effie said to everyone, feeling the need to apologize for the coughing fit. She turned her attention to Amabella. "Darling, babies take time to arrive. You can't ask for one just a month before Christmas."

"I know. I don't mind waiting," Amabella said, as if that was the most obvious thing. "It can be a baby brother, Mommy. I'd like a sister but I don't even mind if it's a boy," she repeated.

Because that made so much difference.

Effie fidgetted a little in her seat. "We will talk about this later, okay? The two of us and Daddy."

"Daddy will help," Amabella continued. Effie's eyes widened as she looked at Haymitch, who appeared completely speechless. She vaguely registered Katniss snickering. "You said you wanted a baby and Daddy helped you make me so now Daddy just needs to say yes and I'll get a baby sister. Or a baby brother."

How did her child get these ideas in her head?

"Yes, Daddy did help a little, but Mommy was also younger," Effie explained a little helplessly. "And this time we already have you, so we need to talk about it, okay?"

"Help a little?" Haymitch huffed.

Of course that would be what he got out of the conversation.

Effie smiled sweetly at him. "As I recall, I carried her for nine months."

"As I recall, I gave you a pretty good time," Haymitch replied in the same tone.

"Okay, who wants dessert?" Peeta asked cheerfully, standing up. Katniss looked too relieved.

"I do!" Amabella was the first to say.

Subject forgotten.

Effie met Haymitch's eyes across the table.

For now.

A Friday night dinner at Katniss and Peeta's house usually meant a sleepover for Amabella, who just loved to spend time there - Peeta made her cookies and cocoa and Katniss would accompany the girl in the movies she wanted to watch, however many times she wanted, and the children also didn't mind if she brought Meg with her, because Buttercup was still too spooked by the little kitten that he usually disappeared for a few hours.

A Friday night dinner at Katniss and Peeta's house also meant a concern-free night for Haymitch and Effie.

Which was exactly why Effie deliberately didn't stop the moan from escaping her lips as she moved above Haymitch.

He was sitting up against the headboard of the bed, and she was straddling him - his fingers were digging into the flesh of her hips and his body were meeting hers in such a perfect tempo that she had to brace the headboard to properly gravitate herself towards him. Her mind was still a little fuzzy from the wine, but in a good way. She rotated her hips a little and moaned again.

"Fuck, Effie," Haymitch groaned, one of his hands leaving her waist to cup her breast.

She just loved the way he felt inside her when they moved together.

He grounded her hips to him again, and she hid her face against the crook of his neck as they met, again and again and again, until she felt the heat coil low inside her and burst suddenly - she moaned loudly, shaking on top of him, and grasped his shoulders, feeling the need to touch him, to anchor herself to him now. He followed her a minute later, spilling inside her and groaning low in her ear.

She couldn't even pretend to understand why sex with him only turned better with time.

His index finger caressed her spine and she shivered, laughing against his skin. She raised her head to meet his heavy lidded eyes and kissed him. Once, twice.

Then she returned to resting her head against his shoulder. She wriggled a little, and he slipped out of her, and she could feel the sticky mess between her thighs, but she felt too heavy to move just yet.

Effie sighed, her breathing slowly returning to normal. "I love you."

His hand curled around her nape. "Love you too, Sweetheart."

It was still a novelty to say the words - even more of a novelty to hear them back. It thrilled her, it made her want to soar with happiness - it took them so long, yet here they were.

The hand around her neck moved to her hair - probably a right mess.

Effie groaned. "We really need to move."

She felt Haymitch nod. "It's gonna be cold soon."

"Let's take a shower," she asked him, kissing the side of his neck.

Haymitch groaned. "I can't move."

She did get up, about two minutes later, amid intimate touches from a very sleepy Haymitch. She smiled against his lips as she moved to the bathroom, feeling the cold air pick at her skin - she hoped Amabella had enough blankets tonight. She trusted Peeta and Katniss, though.

She was still shivering when she entered the shower, a few minutes later, but the hot water was quick to soothe her muscles - she still yelped when Haymitch slid in, though.

"I thought you didn't want to join me," Effie commented as he pressed his chest against her back. She squirmed away. "You're too cold."

"I always want to join you, Sweetheart," he said softly. "Scoot over."

She did so, and they shared the warm water and soap and shampoo in between intimate touches - nothing that was enough to actually start anything. They weren't twenty anymore - they both needed some time to recover.

Haymitch spoke again when she was using the hair conditioner.

"We should have one."

"Have a what, dear?" she hummed, not really following his thoughts.

"A baby."

She stopped moving and gaped at him.

"You are kidding," Effie stated.

Haymitch glared at her. "Five years ago you told me you wanted a baby and I took it very seriously but when I say it it's suddenly a joke."

"You are not kidding," she said, trying to organize her thoughts. Then she registered his words. "You didn't believe me at first, either, so just stop that."

"Okay, fine," he granted.

"Good," she stated, letting the water taking the conditioner off her hair. "Do you mean it?"

Haymitch nodded, only a little slowly. "Yeah. Why not? The kid wants a baby. We're not that old to have one."

"I'm forty, Haymitch."

"You're not that old. Come on," he insisted. "Just… I hadn't thought of it before, but it would be nice, you know. To be there right from the beginning and all. It's fine if you don't want to."

He said that so casually, so normally, as she stepped aside and let him rinse the soap off his body, that Effie wasn't sure if they were actually discussing this like this. In the shower. After a busy week and a busy month and such a busy year.

"Months ago you were freaking out about being a father," she reminded him.

"Yeah, and I'm already one," he shrugged. "I love Amabella. I love being her father. That's not gonna change with one more."

"We'd lose so many hours of sleep. Amabella wouldn't have as much time with us as she does now," she listed. "We wouldn't be able to have loud sex once a week for a while."

"Then we'll just have quiet sex like we do the rest of the week. And Bella is the one who asked for a baby sibling," he reasoned, turning the shower off. "Sweetheart, it's fine if you don't want to. We already got our little girl. We don't need one more, and we can just explain it to her and that's it."

He kissed her lips quickly.

"I don't know if I can get pregnant," she told him, very seriously. "She was already a miracle as it was. I may need to go on treatment again, or maybe we would have to go to the clinic for the fertilization. It still wouldn't guarantee it would work. I'm not that young anymore."

"We barely tried the first time," Haymitch shrugged. "If we got more than three times for this one, it's a victory."

She hated how she chuckled all the same. "Stop it. I'm serious."

"I'm serious too," Haymitch said, reaching for her and encircling his arms around her waist. "We could have some fun with this. I convince the kid to ask for a doll for Christmas. And maybe by the next Christmas she'll get her baby sister."

"Or brother. It's not a problem if it's a brother," Effie reminded him. She kissed his lips. "I was lost when I had Amabella. She… She saved me."

He smiled softly at her.

"What's our reason to have another?" she asked him.

Haymitch frowned. "Do we need one? I mean, if we both want one, if the kid wants one, that's a good reason, isn't it?"

She pondered his words.

"Okay."

"Okay?" he arched his eyebrows.

She smiled.

"Okay, let's try to have a baby," she tried to keep the tone as cheerful and hopeful as she could. "But it might not happen, so let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"Sure, sure," his hands were caressing her sides in a way she knew too well. "Our project, then."

She chuckled. He kissed her again. "Yes, our project. Oh, I'll have to clear it with my doctor too."

"Uh huh."

"It's a good thing we're painting the guest rooms, we might need one of those soon."

"Effie?"

"Yes?"

"Let's get this project started."

She shouldn't have been surprised when he managed to lift her up and over his shoulder and carry her back to bed. She didn't even have the heart to complain about wetting all the sheets and about the cold and about his wet hair on her skin. She felt warmth all over - in his kisses, and his eyes, in the embrace of their child and the tentative smiles of Katniss and Peeta - but, especially, in her heart.

Maybe another smile would be added to the list next year, or maybe not.

Either way, it was nice to have someone to share this project with already.

A/N: Aaand it's a wrap! I'm generally happy because I hadn't written in a while and managed to start and finish a multichapter story - maybe I'd have made it longer, but it was more of an exercise in writing than anything. Who knows, maybe I'll revisit this universe in the future. :) I'd love to know what you thought of the chapter/story! Reviews make my day and would encourage me to write more for this pairing in the future :)

Thanks so much to everyone who's read and reviewed!