I was busy, but it was still in some ways a quiet life. Phillip needed help in the bakery, even with his parents and brother still healthy. I did some of that, yet I was more needed for my rare skills as a healer.
A Seam miner felt rich for a moment with a newborn daughter in his arms. That sort of thing was certainly one of the joys of my work. Thorn and Robyn Flowers, baby Anna, I jotted down. I rushed through the Capitol paperwork, giving it the attention it deserved. A few more weeks into the spring, I helped Jackie and Jacob welcome a son Birchwood.
Ceres had gotten into a sack of flour and ended wiping some of it on her baby brother. Peeta immediately started clapping, sending up small puffs of white dust. I especially loved seeing my babies so happy together. Phillip also didn't mind them using the small amount of grain. I was reminded that it might've actually been a matter of concern in the Seam.
"Today I'm this many!" Ceres said cheerfully, holding up the three fingers in the middle of her left hand. The only finger Peeta was using was his right thumb in his mouth. Gosh, my one-year-old is acting like such a baby, I thought to myself with a smile.
I was reminded of when Peeta turned one. Little Andrew had a gift for him. Obviously, he was too young to be able to buy things, but he had picked it out. It was a little table with toys set into the top, a bunch of stuff about colors and shapes, including a small row of plastic gears. It was from Alex Frayer's shop. Even us Townies didn't have the money to go there too often. Yet we still let Ceres pick out something for her birthday. She wanted two girl dolls.
The 59th Games had yet another Career victor – Ivory, the young man from District One. Even those districts couldn't break the age limit, but some of their eighteen year olds looked as developed as average twentysomethings. They did what they could within the rules and bent the hell out of them. Each district was like that in its own way.
Often Peeta looked and acted like a miniature version of his father. Considering how much I loved that man, I took this as a very good sign. I was reminded of a very different toddler that was also a daddy's boy, Cato Adams. Maybe he would follow in his father's footsteps. He was only four, but how soon did it start? Julius the victor got a second son the spring of 60, Claudius. "Another classic name," Phillip observed.
In the summer of 60, the young woman from Eight was the standout amongst the non-Careers. Cecelia Weaver did have a good angle, another tribute with a significant other back home. "I'll see you in a couple weeks, Alex," she declared. It wasn't clear what backed up Cecelia's confidence, but a lot of tributes kept their skills hidden. Julius' face twitched. He knew the feeling, but knew better than to show it. Obviously he had to favor his own tributes, and was trying be an example of his district's cold-blooded image for their sake.
I knew better than to get invested in a couple Seam kids that had no chance. Haymitch knew that too. No wonder he drank hard liquor like it was water. He had to get up close and personal with the problem year in and year out. He'd had five bitter years before Daniel, and the new victor shared his burden rather than eliminate it. Haymitch's family had died soon after his own Games, which obviously didn't help, and it was similarly clear why he didn't want to talk about that.
Cecelia fled the bloodbath. The kids from Twelve didn't have the leg strength to do so, and were cut down by a Career. However, the District Four male took the opportunity to ambush his teammate. This eliminated the biggest threat to him, but also gave the other tributes more of a fighting chance of not being hunted down. Miss Weaver had been barely able to protect herself, let alone her district partner. He was one of the first people the Careers chased down and slaughtered after the initial bloodbath. Aquamarine delivered the blow with her dagger.
Cecelia didn't do too well finding or "finding" food, but that was to be expected, and her sponsor gifts were critical. She was able to stay hidden, which was a surprise for someone from her district. This arena was entirely an outdoor environment. From what I could tell, Eight was all factories. The raw material seemed to come from other districts – natural fibers from Nine or Eleven, animal material from Ten. Artificial fibers might be made in Three, and One perhaps handled fancy fabric. The Capitol sure wanted the districts separated as much as possible, even limiting how they specialized in their specialty.
Over a week in, the District Five girl ambushed Careers with thrown rocks, striking and killing Aquamarine before being able to escape. How many kids in Panem would cheerfully re-enact that with snowballs? Too many. That thought of winter distracted me from the summer heat, yet when the cold set in, I'd think of high temperatures as a relief.
This was shaping up to be a slow year. The Capitol must be aghast that we weren't dying quickly enough for their amusement. Even I didn't have a medicine for that kind of sickness. The Games might even go into September, which was practically unheard of.
Cecelia's boyfriend was the star of the Final Eight interviews. Alexander was also a Weaver, and clarified this was a coincidence. Even if not, inbreeding would be much more of a problem generation after generation. Yet the arena often came down to brutality instead of sponsor appeal.
It looked like this year would come down to the young men from One and Two versus the pair from Four. I was afraid that one of them would find Cecelia eventually. Yet none of them did. They fought amongst themselves, figuring the District Eight girl could be left for later. Yet the winners of that fight died of their own wounds. So Cecelia became the rare victor to survive without taking lives.
Cecelia and Alexander married on September 9th. It was a custom in their district to marry on the 8th instead of right after the Reaping, and this was the next best thing. The odds had been in her favor; they seemed just as happy a month and a day later. Life went on, despite the Capitol's attempts to interfere with the process.