11.
"Are you certain the children will be alright?" she hissed as he tore her blue blouse off her.
His bedroom was a mess, as it always was, and the blouse ended up on a heap of clothes he had been meaning to drop into the washing machine for days. He hoped she wouldn't notice – or, more likely, wouldn't care.
"Chaff won't let anything happen to them." he replied, kissing her neck, happy to notice the bruises had totally faded away now. "But we don't have a lot of time."
Finding time for them had been awfully difficult of late.
It was all his fault, of course. The stunt he had pulled hadn't been without consequences. Aside for the fact he had spent days craving a drink after that night, Katniss was now just as clingy as she had been when she had first arrived. She didn't want to let him out of his sight, she didn't want to go over to Effie's to play with Peeta if he wasn't there and she threw tantrums almost every morning before going to school because she was scared he wouldn't be there to pick her up at the end of the day. It was slowly starting to get better but it had still taken almost half an hour to convince her to go in the woods with only Chaff and Peeta.
And he owed his best friend for taking the kids out of his and Effie's hands, he knew that.
Effie had remained angry for a while after the stunt and Haymitch hadn't trusted himself around her. It had taken a few days for them to go back to that place where everything was lust, banter and maybe even feelings – and a whole week before she consented to let him out of the dog house and back into her good graces enough to let him have sex with her. It had been hard to find moments to escape the kids' watchful eyes. He and Katniss had slept over at her house three times in the last three weeks. He was starting to wonder if spending Saturday nights at her place would be a regular thing. He was also aware that a night a week wouldn't work for him. He wanted her. All the time. He wanted to touch her, he wanted to hold her… He had taken to drop by at her shop if only to steal a few kisses in the back of the building while Cinna and Portia – who were absolutely not fooled by their excuses – took care of customers.
Chaff had taken pity on him and had offered to take the kids for an hour or two before Haymitch died of a severe case of blue balls.
"Stop thinking." Effie purred and pushed him on the bed.
He was too happy to obey.
Afterwards, they allowed themselves a few minutes of cuddling, knowing they would have to get up and get dressed soon. Peeta would get tired very quickly from walking in the woods because of his leg and the stroll would be a short one.
"We are going to the zoo next week-end." she announced, peppering his chest with lazy kisses.
"By we, I take it you mean you, me and the kids, not you and Peeta." he snorted.
She had a habit of making plans for them all without telling him first. She was bossy. He complained a lot about that but he couldn't say he minded it so much all things considered.
"Dylan said he would take him to make up for missing his birthday party." she explained. "Now he cannot find the time. Or Liddy does not want him to find the time. Anyway, enough is enough. I am taking him next week."
He trailed his hand up and down her spine in a soothing motion. She hadn't told him about it and he hadn't wanted to pry but it seemed there was a cold war going on between her and Peeta's parents lately – more than usual, that was.
"Okay." he shrugged.
She beamed at him and started babbling about plans, picnics and schedules… He didn't really listen, trusting her with the general organizational side of things.
They had barely gotten dressed and had been back in the kitchen for less than ten minutes when the door opened and the tapping of little feet echoed through the house. He placed the cup of coffee in front of Effie, grabbed his and sat down.
"Katniss, wait!" Chaff urged after her, worry lacing his voice at the thought the kid could interrupt something she wasn't meant to see.
"In the kitchen!" Haymitch called out, rolling his eyes for Effie's benefits. She simply smiled.
It was only five seconds before Katniss appeared, her grey eyes ranking over him from head to toes to determine that he was still there, still breathing, and seemingly in one piece. She didn't rush to hug him, it wasn't exactly her style, but she did fling her braid over her shoulder with irritation, just as Peeta and Chaff caught up.
"Did you have fun in the wood, darling?" Effie asked.
"Why, yes." Chaff drawled out, his voice taunting. "Did you have fun in the bedroom, love?"
She gaped at his audacity and then narrowed her eyes at him. "Imply as much in front of the children again and I will have your head."
"What were you doing in the bedroom, Auntie?" Peeta asked. "Did you have a playtime with Haymitch?"
Chaff's laughter boomed out and he ruffled the boy's hair. "Something like that, kid. Something like that."
"Oh…" Peeta frowned, his eyes darting from his aunt to Katniss and then up to Chaff, open and trusting. "Is that boyfriend stuff? Do I have to go to the bedroom to have a playtime with Katniss?"
Haymitch choke on a mouthful of coffee.
"I don't want to play in my bedroom." Katniss countered before anyone could say anything. "We said we were showing the dragons to Uncle Chaff."
Peeta beamed at that and ran to the living-room and back with the stuffed dragon he had taken to drag everywhere as of late. He thrust it in the air and Chaff dutifully picked it up and inspected the black mass of soft plushy fabric.
"That's Toothless." Peeta said proudly.
"Nice." his friend answered, handing the stuffed toy back. "What use is a dragon without teeth though?"
"But he has teeth." Katniss sighed with obvious frustration. "We told you!"
"You have to watch the movie!" Peeta insisted with enthusiasm, turning to Effie. "Auntie, do we have time to watch the movie?"
Effie's eyes darted to the clock hanging on the wall that was always ten minutes late and nodded. "I suppose so. But don't force Chaff to watch it. Perhaps he would like some grown-up conversation time."
"With you two making doe eye at each other, I'd rather stick with the kids." Chaff snorted, before frowning slightly and glancing at Haymitch. "If that's okay."
Haymitch frowned too. Chaff had certainly never asked that before.
"Of course, it's okay." Katniss deadpanned, clearly not seeing the problem. "And you can eat with us. Uncle Haymitch is cooking stew. I'll get the dvd. Come on, Peeta."
Peeta followed like a dutifully trained boyfriend, his stuffed toy trailing after him.
"You do not have to give in to them at every turn, you know." Effie offered hesitantly. "They will have you playing with them all day long if you do not set boundaries."
Chaff shrugged. "I don't mind. They're good kids."
Haymitch's frown deepened. "What's with all the walking on eggshells stuff? Since when do you ask if you can stay?"
His best friend shrugged again and then rubbed the back of his neck with his stump. "Things are different now. You've got a family…"
"I'll go check on the children." Effie offered tactfully, rising up to leave the kitchen. She placed a hand on Chaff's shoulder on her way.
"Don't be stupid." Haymitch growled as soon as she was out of earshot. "You're family too. Nothing's changed."
"Look, you've got a good thing here." Chaff sighed. "I would get it if you didn't want me showing up at random times and sticking around for hours…"
"I don't care about that." he scoffed.
"Your girlfriend might." his friend pointed out.
He ignored the odd thrill at that word. On one hand he was still uneasy with it. On the other… he liked the possessive feeling it allowed him.
"Effie doesn't live here." Haymitch insisted. "And she doesn't care. She thinks it's good for Peeta to be around you." He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, she might not be so fond of your language but she really thinks it's been good for Peeta to talk to you."
Peeta had developed something akin to hero worship for Chaff. The fact that the man had an amputated limb was an endless fascination for the boy, who had promptly declared that since they were both missing something they ought to be best friends. Haymitch knew, through Effie and a few overheard conversations, that Peeta asked some questions to Chaff about amputations and life in general that he had never asked before but that had clearly been worrying him for a while. They were deep questions for a five years old abut Haymitch assumed losing a leg so young made you grow up faster.
Besides… There was a reason Chaff came and went so often, often at random. The same that had motivated him to seek him out at two a.m. before Katniss had come along. The demons in their heads weren't pretty. They needed a distraction. Someone who understood. Someone who could say hey, I've been there, I know what it's like, you're not alone.
"I like the kid." Chaff mumbled, shrugging it off with some embarrassment. "Katniss could have found worse."
"Don't encourage that." Haymitch grumbled, walking around the table to clap his friend's shoulder, hoping it was the end of that nonsense. As far as he was concerned, Chaff was like a brother and that meant special status. He could come and go in his home as he pleased and if Effie had a problem with that… "Katniss won't have a boyfriend. Ever."
Chaff's laughter echoed throughout the kitchen, bouncing back on the walls. "Keep telling yourself that, buddy… Keep telling yourself that."
It was a nice evening. Effie and Haymitch were both forced to sit down in the living-room to watch yet another re-run of How To Train Your Dragon with Chaff and the kids – Katniss wasn't as fond of it as Peeta but it was Peeta's latest obsession and, as such, Haymitch had been submitted to the cartoon far too many times.
The kids were busy cheering at their favorite parts and explaining some details to Chaff who nodded as if he completely understood what they were talking about even though it didn't make much sense even to him who had seen the damned thing ten times already. He supposed it made a nice change from Brave. Still, the kids were distracted and Chaff was humoring them, so nobody really noticed the arm he had stretched on the back of the couch, around Effie's shoulders, and nobody noticed the thumb that was lazily running up and down her neck either.
He found himself smirking at the whole scene. Katniss and Peeta joyfully cheering when Toothless managed to fly again, Chaff shaking his head and arguing it didn't work that way, Effie leaning more and more into his side as she started to drift off, probably as bored as he was by the re-run and exhausted from their earlier activities…
Family, he thought.
And he wouldn't have exchanged it for anything.
He would have exchanged the trip to the zoo for a quiet day in, though.
The kids had been excited as soon as they were told. Katniss' enthusiasm faced with the prospect of seeing real life bears had lasted as long as it had taken her to realize going to the zoo would involve a long trip in the car.
The week felt endless to Haymitch, mainly because she kept trying to convince him there was no reason to drive there when they had two legs each and could walk.
Not only was the drive a difficult topic but the closest zoo was far enough that, to make the most of the day, Effie insisted they left at an ungodly hour.
That was how he and Katniss found themselves in her sport car at five on a Saturday morning.
At least, it partly solved the car trip problem. Katniss fell back asleep before they even reached the end of their street, clutching her Mockingjay to her chest. Peeta had never woken up and was drooling a little on the Toothless stuffed toy he was using as a pillow. Haymitch considered doing the same as the kids but Effie thrust a Starbucks paper cup in his hands and ordered him to keep her company.
Fortunately, aside for the occasional grunt proving he was still awake, she was happy to chat without pausing to ask his opinion on whatever subject she was babbling about.
"It's going to rain." he observed a little after sunrise.
"Nonsense." she replied and cheerfully continued on telling him about that particular customer who always wanted glitter on his outfits.
Thunder boomed as they were still an hour away from the zoo, startling Peeta awake. Katniss mercilessly slept through it.
"We should turn back." Haymitch told Effie, watching the sky. "It's not going to get better."
"We're not going to the zoo?" Peeta asked with a small disappointed pout.
Effie's hands clenched on the wheel and, when she answered, her voice was clipped. "Of course, we are, my darling. It is just a spell, it will pass."
Rain stopped a little before they parked but the sky remained crammed with angry grey clouds. Haymitch was relieved to step out of the car after so long a drive but he still had his doubts about spending the whole day outside. It was cold, it was humid, and the wind was icy.
Effie crouched next to the kids who were too excited to be cold, making sure they were both safely bundled in their coat and scarves and laying out a few ground rules – never leaving their sight, holding out to one of their hands if there was a crowd, and, if they ever got lost, finding someone with a zoo uniform.
The sight, for some reason, tugged at his heartstrings.
For a while, everything went great. The kids had a blast, running around from one exhibition to the next, and they trailed behind, often calling out for them to wait or slow down. The weather didn't improve though, the occasional roar of thunder boomed and Haymitch kept glancing at the sky, waiting for the inevitable downpour to start.
At some point, Effie looped her arm with his and buried her hand in his pocket.
"I am cold." she said by way of an explanation.
He rather thought she liked being huddled against his side.
They stopped at a picnic area around noon and shared the sandwiches Effie had brought. She was chatting happily, pestering the kids with questions about what they had seen and what they preferred. Katniss played along willingly enough, insistent that they needed to go see the bears again before leaving even if they were sleeping, but Peeta remained strangely quiet, his lips locked in a thin line.
After lunch, when they went back to touring of the zoo, Peeta didn't run off ahead with Katniss, he grabbed Effie's hand and walked with them.
"Are you alright, darling?" she frowned. "Are you enjoying your day?"
"Yes." Peeta mumbled.
She and Haymitch exchanged a look. Katniss wandered back before she could insist and dragged him with her to try and spot the red foxes. They remained in front of the huge pen for a while, Effie and Katniss completely lost to their visual hunt for the animals. Katniss was uncannily good at spotting the hiding creatures but Effie was so vocal in her enthusiasm she often spooked them away.
Haymitch shuffled on his feet to fight the cold, not entirely invested in what the zoo had to offer anymore. He was cold, the sky kept flashing with the occasional lighting and the thunder sounded close. It wasn't raining yet but when it would hit, the storm would be bad.
He watched Katniss and Effie wandering further along the pen to find a better observation angle, his niece tugging her by the hem of her coat. Peeta followed at a slower pace, limping badly. Eventually, he completely gave up on catching up with them and leaned against the plastic glass, staring moodily inside the pen.
Haymitch approached him with caution and crouched to be at eye level.
"Your leg hurts?" he asked, trying to sound detached.
He had learned early enough that Peeta hated any hint that his leg could be a bother. The boy desperately wanted to be treated just like anyone else and it was always difficult when there were things his friends could do and he couldn't. Meeting Chaff and seeing him so well adjusted to everyday life helped, it seemed, but Peeta was still five and it was hard for a five years old to be realistic about what he could do or not.
It was not only cold, it was damp, and they had been walking for a while. Of course, the stump would hurt. They should have thought about it. Effie should have thought about it. She was so busy trying to please her godson with the outing, she seemed to have forgotten all about his comfort.
That was Effie in a nutshell. Selfish in her selflessness.
"A little." Peeta admitted, before making a face. "I don't want to go home! If you tell Auntie she will want to go home."
"You can't keep walking on it if it bothers you." Haymitch pointed out. "It will swell."
The boy's lips started wobbling in disappointment. "But we didn't see all the animals yet!"
He sighed. Truth be told, Haymitch thought it would be better to head back now, while the storm was still far away and they still had a chance to pass through. The rest of them were having such a blast with the outing though, he knew there was no point even suggesting it.
"I'll carry you." he offered, thinking if the boy didn't put his weight on the severed joint it would probably help the pain and prevent swelling. Still crouching, he turned around so the boy could get on his shoulders, it would be better than having him in his arms or giving him a piggy ride all afternoon. "Hop on."
Peeta's face lit up in amazement. "Really? Like daddies do?"
Effie, he realized, wasn't strong enough to carry him around on her shoulders and his father obviously couldn't care less. It made his jaw clench in annoyance at those people who didn't love that boy like he deserved to be.
"Yeah." he said, before he could think twice about it. "Like daddies do. Come on."
It wasn't as easy to get there as he had thought it would be and it took him several seconds to find his balance with the kid perched on top of his shoulders. After a few minutes of Peeta gleefully laughing and ordering him around, he felt very much like a horse.
When she spotted the new walking arrangements, Effie's eyes immediately flew to the boy's knee and guilt flashed on her face.
"It's fine for now." Haymitch told her before she could burst in theatrics.
It wasn't exactly fine though. As they wandered on, the foxes remaining invisible, Katniss' scowl deepened and deepened. Haymitch felt the tantrum brewing as surely as the storm overhead. She kept glancing at Peeta who had found it more comfortable to fold his arms on top of Haymitch's head, his chin propped on them, and the glances were becoming darker and darker. He could read the quickly escalating jealousy clearly in her eyes and hoped she would contain it.
For about an hour, her cunning plan seemed to consist in drawing Peeta away from Haymitch by making him jealous. She attached herself to Effie's side, insisting on holding her hand or on her hair being braided again because it was coming loose, talking to her and hugging her leg at random – Katniss wasn't too fond of hugs so Haymitch saw clearly through that ploy. Effie seemed pleasantly surprised and was beaming. Peeta, it seemed, didn't have a jealous nature and couldn't care less, pointing out things to Haymitch and asking about them.
The afternoon was well advanced when Katniss stopped in front of Haymitch and stretched both of her arms in the air.
"My turn." she declared petulantly.
"Peeta's leg hurts him, darling." Effie immediately cut in. "You wouldn't want him to walk on it, now, would you?"
Katniss bit her bottom lip, in deep thoughts.
"But he's my Haymitch." she retorted in the end, with a stomp of her foot.
"Ladies don't stomp their foot, Katniss." Effie chided her.
"I'm not a lady. I am Katniss." the girl sulked in what was clearly a rip-off from Brave.
"Look, sweetheart, you borrow Peeta's aunt all the time, right?" Haymitch pointed out. "She braids your hair instead of playing with Peeta. So that's the same thing. Peeta's just borrowing me."
That didn't convince the kid and she kept sulking even though Peeta insisted he was fine to walk now – which neither he nor Effie let him do – so they went back to the bears for Katniss. They called it a day right after that. The children were becoming cranky and it had started to drizzle.
The boy was delighted to be placed back in the car where he grabbed his Toothless and hugged the hell out of the thing. Katniss looked happy to be in a dry place too, even if it implied a long drive back. The heater was a nice bonus in Haymitch's opinion – his back hurt like hell from a whole afternoon of carrying Peeta.
"Did you have a good time?" Effie smiled as she took her seat behind the wheel.
Everything was fine at first. The kids talked and talked, recalling everything they had seen that day with more shouts and laughter than was entirely comfortable for such a small space. Effie took part in the conversation until the drizzle turned into a downpour and a frown remained perpetually glued to her face. Slowly, Peeta and Katniss stopped talking, clutching to their stuffed toys and each other's hands. Visibility wasn't great, she had to squint to see the road and the regular bursts of thunder made the kids jump.
"I…" Effie hesitated after a while. "Do you want to drive?"
She was going slow but the car kept gliding one way and another. She was scared of losing control, he figured.
"Okay." he shrugged, not sure he would manage any better than she was.
She stopped on the side of the road and they switched places. The short run around the hood of the car was enough for them to be drenched. The smell of wet wool made his stomach churn unpleasantly.
With each new rumble of thunder, Katniss made another distressed whine. Peeta tried to reassure her but he looked frightened too. Effie did her best to distract them, asking them questions about the zoo and Disney movies and school and what not.
Haymitch didn't listen to any of it, focused on the unfamiliar car and the stretch of road ahead.
He had been hoping the storm would clear but they weren't that lucky. They were very slow and night fell on them. It was a nightmare. If visibility hadn't been great before, with only the headlights to pierce the rain, it was simply dangerous.
They passed an advert for a motel close by. One look at the white terrified face of his niece in the rear-view mirror was enough for him to make his decision.
"We're stopping for the night." he declared.
Effie seemed to hesitate but in the end nodded, clearly seeing the wisdom in that statement.
They weren't the only one who had been caught in the storm and there were a few people waiting in the motel's lobby. The kids were cranky. Katniss remained glued to his leg, always wary of strangers, and Peeta was firmly wrapped in Effie's arms. It took twenty minutes before they were given a room with two king size beds.
Predictably, the kids jumped on one of the beds as soon as they were in the room.
It took a while to sort out damp clothes from mostly dry ones. The kids' coats and trousers were soaked but the sweaters and undershirts were good to go. They laid everything to dry in the bathroom. The heater was working well for a cheap motel and the temperature was warm enough that they left them in their underwear with their undershirts on. Peeta's fake leg was removed but Effie was relieved to see the stump was just a little swollen, nothing too dire. Without them being prompted to do so, both Katniss and Peeta crawled under the covers of one of the bed.
"Are they sharing?" he asked Effie, low enough that the kids wouldn't hear. "I was going to share with Katniss… Should we let them share?" He wrinkled his nose. "I don't like my kid sleeping with a boy."
Effie's smile was distracted but nevertheless mocking. "I do not think we have to worry about them sharing a bed yet." She gave the kids a glance. "They will be fine. If they want to share, let them. I will go see what I can find to eat, I need to call home anyway. I told Peeta's parents I would bring him back tonight."
He nodded his approval and let her go, relieved not to have to face the storm outside again, even if it was just to run to the reception. He fumbled with the TV remote for a few minutes, eventually finding a channel with cartoons to keep the kids busy while he stepped into the bathroom and tried to shed as much of his soaked clothes as he could. The coat had protected his sweater and long sleeves undershirt but his pants were damp from ankles to knees. He didn't feel comfortable walking around the kids half naked though so he kept them on, taking off his soaked shoes and socks instead.
Effie took a long time to come back. The kids were rubbing their eyes with an increasing frequency. Katniss had long given up on the idea of waiting and had curled up under the covers with her Mockingjay when Effie finally came back, completely drenched, with chattering teeth, her arms full of potato chips packages, chocolate bars and water bottles.
"There was nothing healthy." she explained, dropping everything on the children's bed. They were suddenly far more awake and jumped on the food as if they had forgotten to feed them at noon. Effie walked directly into the bathroom, shedding her coat – that might have been fashionable but had done a bad job at keeping her dry. The fake strained smile on her face also did a bad job at convincing him everything was alright.
Katniss and Peeta were so busy swallowing everything they didn't even notice when he followed her in the bathroom, pushing the door just enough that they would have privacy but could still hear what was happening in the bedroom.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Aside for the fact that I do not have a single dry item of clothing left?" she retorted briskly, unbuttoning her blouse and violently tossing it in the sink. She then sighed, picked it up, wringed it and sighed again.
"Effie." he frowned.
"I am cold, wet, and annoyed." she snapped.
He rolled his eyes, slipped his sweater over his head, did the same with his undershirt, and handed both to her. "Never say I don't do anything for you."
She accepted the clothes with a small but genuine smile and he watched while she stripped completely and put them on. Someone else would have given her privacy but he thought they were a little past that.
"Liddy was not pleased that I wouldn't be bringing him back tonight." she finally admitted in a quiet voice, avoiding his eyes. "But it will be fine. She is just in one of her phases when she remembers she is his mother and... It will be fine."
"You don't sound like you think it's going to be fine, sweetheart." he pointed out.
"It will be." she replied, stepping past him to the bedroom, a fake bright smile on her face.
There was no need to put up a show, the children were both asleep. She turned off the TV while he picked up the leftover food and dropped it on a chair. He switched the lights off, kicked off his soaked pants and climbed in bed with her, sparing a thought of regret that it would only be to sleep.
A few shared nights hadn't made them used to sleeping in the same bed yet – and they had never actually shared a bed without anything sexual having taken place before – so there was a moment of awkward shuffling. In the end they settled for spooning.
"If I have a nightmare..." he reminded her.
"I know." she whispered, distracted. She was picking at a loose thread on the pillowcase.
He wanted to say something, to insist she tell him what was bothering her – because it had been going on for a while and he had a feeling the trip to the zoo may have been the icing on the cake as far as Peeta's mother was concerned – but he fought hard to keep his mouth shut. She clearly didn't want to talk about it and probing would only make her defensive and angry. They couldn't afford to fight locked in a room with their kids. Bickering and bantering were one thing – the children didn't even blink anymore when that happened, it rather made them laugh – but actual fighting couldn't happen in front of them.
"You know I'm here, right?" he winced, a little awkward. "I mean... I've got your back, Princess."
"I know." she said again, reaching behind her for his neck. Her hand coiled loosely around his nape and he pressed a kiss on the top of her head, not trusting himself to seek her lips right then – not with the kids right there. "Thank you. And thank you for coming with us today."
"Katniss had fun." he shrugged.
"I like spending time with her." she hummed. "She is a great little girl – she certainly won't ever be a lady but she is a great child."
"Yeah, she is." he smirked. "Peeta's a great kid too."
She chuckled and, finally, he felt her relax. "You are his new hero, you know. I swear, he worships you. All I hear at home is Haymitch this and Haymitch that." He tried not to feel pleased about it but he couldn't help it. He liked the boy. She entwined their fingers. "It could be so good. The four of us."
There was so much yearning in her voice he wasn't sure how to answer it. How much was part of her concern over Peeta's parents and how much belonged to a longing for something more?
"It's already good, sweetheart." he said after a while. "Better than good."
But, like always, he was certain the other shoe would drop.
Did you like the zoo outing? How long do you think before the shoe drops? Let me know what you think!
Also, short update, there won't be a chapter next Sunday because I'm dancing at a charity event and will be away all afternoon. Think of it as a mini hiatus! We'll be back the week after that =)
