8
Katniss wasn't a happy camper. She was sitting on one of the white chairs, wrapped in a white towel and very much glaring at everyone. There was a little boy very busy getting comforted by Cinna. It was a tantrum, Haymitch mused. The kid was giving Katniss a pointed glance every five seconds and wailing harder afterward. Johanna was sitting on the floor next to his niece, a sneer on her face. She was still dressed and she was keeping away from the pool so he figured she had yet to move past her water phobia.
"What did you do?" Haymitch sighed.
"He made fun of Peeta." Katniss replied calmly, as if it absolutely made sense to drown a boy just because he had mocked her friend.
"That's not a reason for..." he started but was cut off by Jo who clearly didn't care enough to let adults finish their sentences.
"He made fun of his leg." Johanna clarified, almost challenging. Katniss was looking at him in a similar fashion.
His eyes darted from one girl to the other and then he sighed. "Fine."
That was apparently the good reaction because the two kids looked at each other and nodded. "I'm done swimming. Take them off." Katniss declared, waving her arms so he could slid the water wings off.
"Don't go near the pool without them." he warned, before going in search of Peeta. It seemed Cinna was done comforting Marvel but there was another drama happening in the water. Finnick, Annie and Mags were all surrounding Peeta who was angrily wiping his eyes every two seconds and arguing – Haymitch could hear him from afar – that it was just water from the pool and that he wasn't crying. He crouched next to the edge. "What happened?"
For a kid without a leg, Peeta was good at moving in the pool. He was near the edge in seconds, lifting his arms so Haymitch could pick him up, which he did as much out of reflex as because when he lifted his arms, the water wings weren't keeping him afloat and his head dropped underwater.
"I got him." he assured Mags. He walked away from the pool and toward the table with the towels. "So what happened?" he asked again once he had placed him on one of the white chairs, had taken the water wings away and had wrapped him in a towel.
"I want to go get dressed." Peeta replied. "Can you carry me, please?"
"You don't want to swim anymore?" Haymitch frowned. "You were having fun in the pool..." Peeta remained silent but he didn't miss the way the boy rearranged the towel so his stump was hidden. Haymitch shot the Marvel kid an annoyed glance. "Look, kid, he's just a nasty boy and you can't let him spoil the party for you. I don't know what he said but it was probably stupid. I don't care about your leg. Katniss doesn't care about your leg. Finnick, Annie and Jo don't care about your leg. People who care about that or make fun of you because of it are stupid people and I don't want you to listen to them."
"Mommy cares about my leg." Peeta mumbled.
"Proves my point." Haymitch muttered. "Anyway, you shouldn't have to pass on the pool just 'cause there are idiotic people in the world or you will never do anything. I'm gonna tell you a secret, there are idiots everywhere. It's a plague."
Peeta giggled and glanced at the pool. Finnick and Annie were getting out and joining Katniss and Johanna. It was obvious the other kids had been invited by courtesy rather than a real interest because they were playing by themselves. The two groups were obvious.
"I want to go play with the others." the boy said, biting his bottom lip. "I need my leg."
"Okay." Haymitch granted easily. "Let's go find your aunt."
He made sure the kid was a little dryer before picking him up again, even though his shirt and some parts of his pants were soaked – there was nothing to do for it. Peeta pointed at his favorite rooms on the way to the kitchen.
"Are you my Auntie's boyfriend now?" the boy asked as they were reaching the living-room. He almost tripped on the brown carpet. Peeta didn't falter. "I heard her talking to Portia on the phone."
Haymitch hesitated, not sure how much Effie wanted her godson to know and a little too aware that whatever Peeta knew, Katniss would know in a matter of minutes. He could always answer that it was a grown-up thing but he didn't really believe in giving that line to children who were naturally curious. "Would it bother you if I was?"
Peeta chewed on his bottom lip thoughtfully. "Can I still marry Katniss if you marry Auntie Effie?"
"Nobody's marrying Katniss." he retorted before he could stop himself.
"Why?" Peeta frowned. "I have a ring and everything. I will give her after the party 'cause she won't like it if I ask her in front of everyone."
The boy knew his niece so well it was uncanny. "So you're asking me permission to marry my girl?"
Peeta's frown deepened. "No, I'm asking Katniss."
Of course, nobody wanted his opinion on the matter. Why did he even bother? "You're a bit young to get married."
"But I love her." Peeta argued. "And she loves me. And you didn't say, can I still marry her if you marry Auntie Effie?"
"I'm not marrying Effie." he told the boy.
"But you're her boyfriend. Boyfriends and girlfriends have to get married." the boy argued.
Haymitch was relieved to see the kitchen was in sight, less relieved to notice Effie wasn't.
"Some people never get married." he pointed out.
"That's sad." Peeta declared. "And you have to get married 'cause I want to see Auntie in a princess dress. I'll help you choose the ring. The one I got for Katniss is pretty. Oh, and we can get her a crown too!"
"Who is getting a crown?" Effie frowned, walking back in the kitchen with her arms full of orange juice bottles.
"You, when we get married apparently." Haymitch snorted.
Effie didn't miss a beat. "If that is a proposal, you will have to do better."
"But can I still marry Katniss if you get married?" Peeta asked for the third time.
"Of course you can marry Katniss, darling." Effie answered, placing the bottles down on the counter. "But Haymitch and I are not getting married. Where did you ever get that idea?"
The boy propped his arm on Haymitch shoulder and twisted to follow his aunt as she moved around the room. "I heard you talking to Portia on the phone."
Effie winced.
"Planned our wedding already, Princess?" Haymitch mocked. A huge part of him wanted to freak out. His reason kept telling him this was nothing but the imagination of a five years old.
"Absolutely not." she hissed. "We were simply joking and, you, young man, shouldn't be listening to private discussions. It is rude and does not at all befit a gentleman."
Peeta didn't look like he understood half the words. Haymitch could sympathize. The boy shook his head. "So if I marry Katniss, Haymitch is my uncle, right? And if Auntie Effie marries Haymitch, he is my uncle too..."
"That' is correct but we would all be related through marriage so it does not count. We can still all marry in either case." Effie explained. "Not that Haymitch and I have any plans of getting married."
She shot him an apologetic look and he gave her a half-shrug. There was no harm done. He understood she wasn't the one who was already dreaming of a big wedding. It was the kid.
"But I want Haymitch to be my uncle." Peeta argued and maybe they had been missing the point all along. "'Cause Auntie is like my mommy and Haymitch is like Katniss' daddy and if you get married he can be like my daddy and you can be like Katniss' mommy. But I'm not really Katniss' brother so I still get to marry her."
Effie blinked, Haymitch stared.
"Oh, no! You're taking this one." he protested when she looked at him.
It seemed Effie was at a loss about how to really answer that because she eluded the problem by taking Peeta off his hands and disappearing upstairs to get him dressed.
The rest of the party thankfully went without a hitch. No more murder attempts. At some point a toy ring with a small white plastic pearl did appear on Katniss' finger and, when he asked, she informed him Peeta had proposed but she wasn't sure yet because maybe Gale would ask her too and she didn't know who to choose. He hoped she hadn't told the boy that – although he was afraid that, given her usual bluntness, it was exactly how it had happened.
Blight and Mags were the first to go with their kids, exhausted from having spent the day in the pool. Then came the ballet of what Effie privately dubbed for him "the Careers", which meant businessmen and businesswomen who were definitely just as snobbish as she was but not as nice. He wasn't sorry to see Marvel and his cousin Glimmer go.
Once there was only Katniss and Peeta left, Cinna and Portia took their leave with many teasing comments and a lot of winks in Effie's direction. She was red to the root of her hair by the time she finally closed the front door on them.
"Crimson is a good look on you." he taunted.
That warranted him a glare and a warning that there were five bedrooms in the house and that she didn't have to share hers if she didn't want to. That made him shut up.
He was a little afraid the kids would find him sleeping over too suspicious but they were oblivious, lost to their own world and their own games. The party had tired them out, which was a good thing because Haymitch couldn't keep his hands to himself when Effie was walking around, wearing next to nothing, and he was out of excuses to brush against her. He was relieved when Katniss fell asleep on the living-room's couch. By the time he had carried her to the cot in Peeta's bedroom – a special cot for sleepovers, Haymitch was informed by the boy – Effie had her arms full of a sleepy little boy too.
It felt strangely domestic to get the kids ready for bed, make sure they had their favorite toys nearby, that they were tucked in...
"I believe I promised to introduce you to the hot tub." she grinned, once they were back downstairs.
"You also promised clothes wouldn't be involved, sweetheart." he reminded her.
"I did, didn't I?" she hummed, reaching behind her neck to unknot the blue sarong.
The cloth fell to the floor in a shimmering flow of fabric.
Haymitch couldn't keep his eyes off her but he resisted the temptation to touch just yet. He could read the same hunger in her eyes that was probably shining in his. She led the way to the pool room and he followed, enticed by the light swinging of her hips.
"You think the kids will be okay?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder with some guilt. He wasn't used to leaving Katniss to deal on her own.
"They are worn out. They will sleep until morning." she answered, slipping her hand in his.
"Katniss has nightmares sometimes. What if she wakes up? I don't want her to think I abandoned her." he insisted, not so much glancing as staring over his shoulder now. "She has separation issues."
" It seems she is not the only one." Effie teased, unlocking the door to the pool and switching the lamps on. The lights were soft and the water tossed changing shadows on the wall. It was soothing. "Honestly, she will be fine. Peeta is with her and if she calls we will hear." He was still looking at the dark corridor when she cupped his cheek and brought his gaze back on her. "Haymitch. You have a child now. She will always be here, asleep somewhere. She is sleeping, she is fine. She won't know what we are doing."
That hadn't actually occurred to him but now that he was thinking about it... Was it the responsible thing to do to sneak out to have sex when your kid was asleep somewhere in the house? How did couples juggle the parenting thing with the sex thing?
He was unconvinced and she could probably tell because she sighed with some disappointment but no irritation. "Do you want to go back upstairs? I can get a guestroom ready for you. I would offer to share my bed but, as Portia so kindly informed you, it has been some time and I am afraid I do not have enough restrain to have a handsome man in my bed and do nothing about it."
She wasn't looking at him.
He brushed his fingertips along the line of her jaw.
"Handsome?" he mocked.
"In spite of the stubble and the shabby look." she amended.
He snorted at that but couldn't quite bring himself to accept her proposition. He was being ridiculous and overprotective. Katniss was safe and sound, she didn't need him at the moment. Effie, on the other hand, was right in front of him and he could tell, at the ways she was awkwardly shuffling from one foot to the other, that she needed him.
He kissed her, simply because he could. There was nothing hesitant in it and it quickly grew heated. He backed her up toward the tub, needing a flat surface to pin her to because… Her fingers deftly worked on the buttons of his shirt, almost impatient. Her palms ran on his chest once she had it open and she drew back a little. He tried not to notice her staring when she pushed the shirt off his shoulders but it was difficult to ignore.
"Not so handsome anymore, right?" he taunted.
He had never really been self-conscious about the scars before, one-night-stands didn't care. As for Katniss, when she had glimpsed them she had more been concerned about why anyone would hurt him than about the unaesthetic aspect of them.
The biggest one was on the right side of his stomach. It had been hastily stitched up on the field and it had remained swollen and pale on his tanned skin. He avoided looking at it because every time he did, he remembered how it felt to hold his own guts in his hands, to stare death in the face and beg for more time he didn't deserve. The other scars weren't as ugly or as loaded with bad memories but they were there, marring his skin, and he could imagine they weren't that appealing to a woman who used to be a model.
"It looks so fresh…" Effie whispered with unmistakable horror. Of course, she would be horrified. What did she know of war and pain? She was born for beauty and laughter. She was so bubbly… She brought the sun everywhere she went. Maybe that was why he was so attracted to her. Maybe he needed that. The colors and the joy that went with Effie Trinket. He felt almost detached when she reached out with trembling fingers. Her hand dropped before making contact again, as if she didn't quite dare touch. "Does it still hurt?"
"They're decades old." he shrugged, staring at the wall over her shoulder. "Same op that cost Chaff his hand. Wasn't pretty."
And it wasn't getting him the right mood either.
Thinking about that mission made him crave a drink more than a fuck.
"I hate that you got hurt." she breathed out, finally allowing herself to touch him again. He braced himself for pity but there was none of that on her face, just… anguish. For him. It took his breath away for a second. Her fingers retraced the length of the old wound almost warily. "It must have been so painful..." She stepped further into his space and he instinctively pushed her back against the side of the tub, trapping her there, his hands gripping her hips. Her hand roamed on his side and her lips brushed against his neck, teasing more than kissing. "I will make you forget." She hummed against his skin and it turned him on in a way he hadn't expected it too. "I will make you forget everything."
His fingers ghosted on her back, quickly finding their way to the straps holding the top of her bikini in place. He didn't ask for permission. He didn't even ask if she was sure she wanted this. They were both trembling with suppressed need.
He didn't completely understand this attraction he felt for her, it was overwhelming and all-encompassing. He couldn't resist it. From the start, he hadn't been able to resist it. He had avoided getting involved with women all his life and now… She would be his downfall, that one. He could see it so clearly… She was either a curse or a miracle but, either way, his life would never be the same again.
They never made it inside the hot tub.
They barely made it to her bedroom.
It was neither slow nor sweet, it was rough and passionate and it ended quicker than he would have liked. They curled up against each other, sweaty and entirely spent, and almost immediately fell into a blissful sleep.
Haymitch wasn't a great sleeper.
He woke up several times during the night, surprised every time to find himself in an unfamiliar environment. It always took a few seconds for the disorientation to pass. The blonde snuggled up against his chest helped a lot.
At some point, he emerged from his slumber to tempting kisses and a hand coaxing him awake. This time, it was slow although never entirely sweet. It was still too new to be lazy but it was sensual, more about discovering what made the other tick than about reaching their peak. They were both covered in sweat by the time they were done, their limbs heavy and tangled in the dirty sheets.
They spent more time kissing in the afterglow than he had ever spent with a woman afterward. They didn't seem to be able to stop. Kissing, touching, learning… It was a little scary how good it was, how good Haymitch felt.
And later, after a shared shower that had done nothing to save water, once they were all having breakfast in the kitchen, Peeta and Katniss talking over their bowls of cereals, Effie braiding his niece hair at her request, her cup of coffee forgotten next to his... It felt strangely like what he had always imagined a family ought to be, like something he had never experienced himself but had, maybe, secretly dreamed about, something he had stopped hoping for long ago.
The fact that it might be within his grasp was almost dizzying – humbling, because it wasn't something he would ever take for granted. He knew only too well how fragile families were. How precious.
The rest of the day retained some dream like quality.
They spent most of it at Effie's, the kids playing or watching Disney movies while Haymitch and Effie stole kisses and touches every time they could get away with it without the children noticing – making out like teenagers in the kitchen under the pretence of getting lunch ready when the kids watched Ratatouille in the living-room, for instance. It felt a bit surreal. Even once they came back home, it still felt too good to be true.
Katniss kept shooting him weird glances.
Probably because he hadn't stopped smirking all day.
Probably also because, at that point, it wasn't as much a smirk as a genuine smile.
Even when Chaff showed up late that night, even knowing it would mean endless hours of teasing, he couldn't shake it off his lips.
"You're back." his friend said, ruffling Katniss' hair. "I stopped by yesterday and you were out."
"We had a sleepover at Peeta's auntie." the girl announced before Haymitch could stop her.
Chaff's eyebrows shot up. "Really? Both of you?"
Katniss nodded, clearly not understanding why Chaff started chortling like a mad man. Haymitch muttered an invitation to stay for dinner that was wordlessly accepted and his friend had the decency to keep the teasing to a minimum in front of the girl. It changed as soon as he had tucked her in bed.
Haymitch walked back in the kitchen, spared an annoyed glance for the two glasses of milk Chaff had poured them, regretting the time they could freely share whiskey, and rolled his eyes. "Go for it."
"I don't know what you mean." his friend taunted.
"Cut the crap." Haymitch sighed. "Do your worst."
"Fine, I'll bite." Chaff grinned. "How was the sleepover?" He had every intention of telling his friend to fuck off once and for all but the memory of the previous night – and morning – left him smiling again – which, unfortunately, made Chaff cackle with unabashed amusement. "That good ? Must be a tiger in the sack, that one."
"Careful." Haymitch growled, irritated for no good reason. It wasn't the worst either of them had ever said about a woman.
"Sorry, man. Didn't mean to insult your girl." his friend snorted, his dark eyes dancing with mirth. There was a small bout of silence. Chaff was waiting for him to deny her the title. When he didn't say anything, his friend's eyebrows shot up again and he let out a long whistle. "We're serious about her, aren't we?"
Haymitch licked his lips and shrugged. He wasn't good at thinking serious, he wasn't good at projecting himself in the future, he had refused himself the possibility for too long, but with her...
"She's different." he declared. "And..." And feisty and smart and maddening and caring and irritating and batshit crazy and impossible and bossy and sexy and brave and independent and too many other things properly to list. "She's different." he repeated. "And I think that's good."
He hoped it would be, at least.
They did the naaaaaughty... And I think Haymitch is kind of in too deep don't you think? ;)
