"Hello Ladies and Gentlemen!" booms the voice of Caesar Flickerman from the monitor. "We have some very special guests with us here tonight! Two of my favorite people, and I'm so excited! So excited!"
Katniss shifts awkwardly on the couch before whispering in Peeta's ears, "Not. A. Word."
"No," Peeta shakes his head profusely. "Never. Not at all."
"So Peeta, Katniss," Caesar addresses them, "how is married life treating you?"
"We're doing pretty good so far, Caesar," laughs Peeta.
"Any new, developments," the insinuation. "What can we expect from you two in the future?" Peeta and Katniss glance at each other. There's no way that he knows already. "Ooh!" he exclaims. "What was that look? Do you have something you'd like to share with Panem tonight?"
"No," they say resolutely in unison.
"Oh, come on," coaxes Caesar. "Don't leave us hanging!"
"She's been teaching me to shoot," says Peeta, astonishingly convincing. "Still not quite hitting the mark. But hopefully that will improve in the near future."
"Oh," says Caesar disappointed. "Has he taught you anything Katniss?"
"I burn everything I try to bake," she shrugs, "so he's doing better than I am...and I'm a horrible teacher."
"Well, I guess you'll have to adjust then, won't you?" laughs Caesar. "What with the Quarter Quell coming up here. You get to be Mentors this year! That must be exciting to think about!"
"Oh, yes," snaps Katniss, "training children for death." Peeta taps her shoulder.
"We're ready for anything Caesar," says Peeta quickly. "Well, not anything, but being mentors is a privilege so we're looking forward to doing it well, and getting to know our fellow Victors."
"I can certainly say," nods Caesar - feigning interest - "we're all glad to have some new Victors in District 12. It has been far too long, and at least now the girls will get some more one on one time!"
"Sexist," Katniss mumbles.
"Shh," hisses Peeta in her ear. "Don't provoke him."
"I'm sure you'll both do wonderfully," says Caesar emotionless.
The next few questions are a bore to everyone, Caesar, Katniss and Peeta, even the prep teams have started to yawn. It's clear that Caesar is not getting the answers he's wanting because he decides to ask the audience for questions. One person in the front row with bright blue hair - and the ugliest yellow suit ever - stands to ask his question and shocks everyone, "so how's the sex? It must be amazing being Victors and everything - defying death together and whatnot."
Katniss and Peeta stare at each other in utter shock. "What?"
"I believe the gentleman was asking about the sex," snickers Caesar. "I myself must admit I've been wondering the same thing."
"I don't really think-" Katniss starts.
"Oh come on," chides Caesar. "Give us something."
Then the front door bursts open and Mrs. Everdeen is standing in front of Katniss and Peeta looking right at the monitor where Caesar is waiting expectant. "Absolutely under no circumstances do they need to answer that question."
"Oh come my dear Mrs. Everdeen," chuckles Caesar. "It's a perfectly harmless question."
"Then do tell us all about your sex life, Mr. Flickerman," snaps Katniss' mother.
"Okay," retreats Caesar. "Any other questions?" There's a temporary uproar at the question being dismissed, but Caesar is able to dissipate the anger and another Capitolite steps up to ask a question.
"When can we be expecting a little victor?" pipes a tiny woman with tomato red hair in a tacky white ensemble. Even Cinna cringes at the costume choice. Cinna has an eye for beauty, and clearly, an eye for an atrocity in heels.
"No immediate plans here, Caesar," says Peeta flatly.
"Why so taciturn Peeta?" mocks Caesar. "Come on, give us some details! You must have talked about it by now!" He laughs heartily. "You've been married long enough, you should have some sort of plan."
"We're still young Caesar," explains Peeta.
"She's already pregnant isn't she?" exclaims Caesar in elation.
"No…" Katniss drags the word out while shaking her head profusely till Peeta grabs the back of her head to stop her and then laughs nervously.
"You heard it here ladies and gentlemen!" shouts Caesar jumping up and down. "We'll see a child of not just one but two victors in the very near future! What wonderful news! This interview has gone much better than I anticipated! Of course we are all happy for you!" The camera pans to the audience and many have tears in their eyes, hands on their chests, or heads buried in the shoulder of someone sitting near them. "Well on that magnanimous note we'll end tonight's show! We hope to hear more from you both in the future! As for now, have a good night everyone and may the odds be always in your favor!" Then the screen cuts out.
"Is that true?" Katniss' mother immediately asks.
"It wasn't intentional," mumbles Katniss, barely audible.
Mrs. Everdeen sighs, "it never is." Walking forward she places her hand on Katniss' shoulder. "I can't say that this doesn't upset me, because that would be an absolute lie, but I think you two can handle it...though you don't have much choice in the matter."
"Hey you victors!" shouts a drunken Haymitch as he enters the house with a bang as the door crashes into the wall. "You were all nervous," he slurs coming into the living room as everyone stares on at the scene. "You were all nervous about anyone finding out, and now all of Panem knows? You two really need to sort out your priorities, because that was poor form my simple-minded minions."
"Are you okay?" Katniss stands and looks at him.
"Pft," he leans forward and crashes to the floor. "You two, are just," he gets back to his feet and stumbles over to Katniss, "you're getting everything that I didn't. Snow's plans just keep backfiring...and you two, you're going to be parents." When he's about a foot from Katniss he crashes to the floor shattering the bottle in his hand. "I didn't get nothing."
Peeta and Katniss make eye contact and almost as if agreeing completely Katniss turns to the camera crew, the prep teams, Portia, Cinna, Effie, and her mother and calmly asks them to leave. "This is a very personal matter. We will take care of this, but I need - we need -" she gestures to herself and Peeta, "you all to leave. And I'd prefer," whilst glaring at the camera crew she continues, "that this little event didn't make it into any news platform. He's still recovering from the reaping...that's the last thing he needs now."
Without much prodding everyone leaves the house. Once the last guest has departed Katniss turns to find Peeta bandaging up a cut on Haymitch's hand. "Haymitch," drawls Katniss as she kneels down beside him, "what is going on? We've never seen you quite like this before...what is happening?"
Haymitch curls into a ball holding the top of the broken bottle in his arms. "It's okay Bonnie, you'll be fine." He starts to rock back and forth at a steady pace. "It's all my fault. It's all my fault. I did this to you. It's all my fault." He pauses, gives the bottle a slight kiss and then smashes it on the floor causing both Katniss and Peeta to jump back in alarm, "I did that to you!" he shouts.
"Haymitch," Katniss slowly squats down by him and pulls the bottle shards from his hand. "Who is Bonnie?"
"She was my girl," his shoulders slump and he falls over on the shards. "I got her killed."
"He's laying in a pool of blood," Katniss leans over Haymitch to tell Peeta. "We need to move him."
"I'll move him," Peeta nods towards the couch, "you just go grab some towels and bandages...lots of bandages."
"I can help you," Katniss begins to insist.
"You are," he smiles. "Please get the towels and bandages."
Katniss nods and leaves the room.
"How did you get her killed Haymitch?" asks Peeta hoisting Haymitch up off the bloodied ground and pushing the glass bits away with his boot. "I'm sure it wasn't your fault…"
Haymitch cuts him off, "No."
Peeta gets Haymitch steadied and solitary until Katniss has laid out the towels over the couch, and Peeta drags him over and lays the catatonic and babbling Haymitch down on the towels. Reaching above his head Haymitch grabs a pillow and holds on to it so tightly that Peeta doesn't know what to do.
"Who is Bonnie?" Katniss asks Peeta slowly sitting on the couch by Haymitch's feet.
"I think she was from the Seam," Peeta shrugs. "I don't know too much about people from the Seam...my parent's aren't exactly fans."
"So you don't really know?" she asks cautiously.
"No," Peeta shrugs as he starts to pull the bits of glass imbedded in Haymitch's forearm out. "Whatever happened…" Peeta glances at Katniss, "whatever happened...might have resulted in this." He gestures to Haymitch. "Maybe that's the reason he drinks - or at least one of the reasons that he drinks. We still don't know how he won his Games, so it could really be anything."
"I guess that's true," Katniss gives a shrug and then starts to clean Haymitch's cuts.
"This is the worst I've ever seen him," mumbles Peeta.
"Yeah," Katniss shakes her head. "But we only ever really paid attention to him this year...it's not like he was on our radar too much when we were younger. He was always drunk, that much we knew. We didn't know him. We hadn't talked to him." She takes a deep breath and rubs a tear from her cheek with her elbow, "who know what he was like before us."
"We're all he has," Peeta looks down at Haymitch not in pity, but in shame. "He hasn't had anyone before us."
"He must have had someone," insists Katniss bandaging an already cleaned area of Haymitch's arm. "At some point."
"I've never heard of his family," Peeta shakes his head.
"Neither have I," Katniss leans her head down on Haymitch. "I'm so sorry Haymitch...that you've been alone all this time."
"Well you're not alone anymore," Peeta says wrapping the final cut. "We're on this train together."
"I'm so sorry Bonnie…" Haymitch trails off once more into a garbled snore. "I'm so so sorry."
Over the next two and a half months Peeta spends his days in the kitchen or in the - will be - nursery. Katniss is banned from the room, which was probably a good thing, because as she was becoming more and more aware of her situation she was becoming more and more frightened of what the future was sure to hold.
"Peeta!" Katniss calls to him from the bottom of the staircase. "These cheese buns are going to burn if you don't get down here! And if you don't get down here I'm going to take them out of there myself!" There's a thud on the floor above and then hurried movement as Peeta rushes down the stairs and past Katniss. "It's not even the fact that you don't want them to burn, it's that you don't want me to grab them."
"Nope!" calls Peeta affectionately. "The last thing you need is to burn yourself on something."
"Peeta," she says flatly. Coming up behind him as he pulls the cheese buns out of the oven, she continues in a condescending tone, "I am still months from having to be babied."
"Nonsense," he waves the air over his shoulder. "Never too soon for that."
"Yes, too soon," she leans forward hands on her hips, "now is too soon."
"Psh," he puts the cheese buns on the island in the middle of the kitchen. "Make sure you let those cool down before you eat them."
"Hey, I'm not the hungry one," she chides pointing to her slightly protruding belly. "Plus I don't want to look like a pig at the shower. I already feel like one, so there's no need to give anyone the ammunition to tell me that I look like one."
"You don't look like a pig," Peeta leans down and kisses her forehead. "Now I'm almost done. Give me an hour and then I'll bring you up and show it to you. Then we can watch the Quell announcement and get ready for Effie's insane baby shower."
"Fine," she grumbles. "But I'm not waiting until these are cold to eat."
Peeta laughs, "yeah, I kind of figured that much." With that he retreats to the upstairs again and there's a knock on the door. Peeta starts to come back and Katniss waves him back.
"I can answer the door Peeta," shaking her head she steps towards it.
"Holler if you need me," he calls down.
"Yes, I know, now go." He disappears from the landing and Katniss pulls the door open. "Hello Madge!" she exclaims. "How are you? Come in, won't you?"
"Hello Katniss," she smiles. "I'm more concerned about how you're doing, are you feeling well?"
"Oh," Katniss waves her hand in one quick motion downward, "I'm doing quite alright."
"Well, that's good to know," nods Madge walking into the house. "No one was sure."
"No one was sure?" says Katniss incredulous. "Did they think I was dead?"
"No," she shakes her head. "You just haven't been around."
"They turned the fence on Madge," Katniss sighs heavily and walks to the couch and sits down.
"We're aware," she shrugs.
"Katniss!" Peeta shouts.
"What?!" she jumps up from the couch and runs to the bottom of the stairs, Madge at her heels. "Is something wrong?" She rushes the landing. "Did you hurt yourself? Did something fall on you?" he doesn't respond immediately so she gets frantic, "PEETA!"
"I'm fine," he rushes forward to the top of the stairs and give her a calm down hand motion. "Sorry." She glares at him. "Sorry. I didn't mean to freak you out."
"Well, Peeta," her hands are on her hips. "I've seen you almost die, so not answering me after yelling my name is not what you should be doing!"
"I know," his shoulders slump. "I'm sorry."
"I think I should go," says Madge quietly descending the stairs and walking to the door.
"Come over tomorrow?" Katniss beckons to her.
"Sure," Madge smiles and leaves closing the door behind her.
"Peeta," Katniss says through gritted teeth, "don't do that!"
"Sorry…" there's a pause. "I just got excited."
"Fine," she starts up the stairs. Upon reaching the top Peeta places his hands over her eyes. "Do you want me to trip and fall on something?" He drops his hands instantly. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
"Okay, well," he steps around to the front of her and grabs her hand, "I at least have to go in first."
"Alright," she nods and lets him pull her to the door. "Are you sure you're done?"
"Positive," he smiles and pushes the door open.
"Peeta…" Katniss is caught up in the room. It's her meadow. At sunset. She wasn't even aware that he'd been to the meadow before, and maybe he hadn't, maybe he just had a brilliant imagination...but it looked like the meadow. And the brilliance of the sunset. His favorite color, her favorite color. The room had bits of both of them. In that moment she realized her child would want for nothing as long as they had Peeta for their father, and they would always have the most brilliant mural in their room. "It's beautiful…" the only words she can form. Wrapping her arms around his waist he kisses her on the forehead.
"Perhaps this isn't how we wanted it to happen," he shrugs wrapping his arms around her. "But I think we'll do okay. I think we'll be alright Katniss. We have each other. We can do this together."
"I know," she nods as tears fall freely from her eyes.
Suddenly-
The monitor flashes on. It's the President's Mansion with the snake of a man standing behind a podium. "Hello." He goes on to give the history of the Hunger Games before addressing this current year, "And now as we honor this - our third Quarter Quell - On this the seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the male and female tributes are to be reaps from their existing pool of victors in each District-" he continues to talk, but no one is listening.
"Peeta…" Katniss starts to falls and Peeta catches her sitting her in the rocking chair. "The odds will never be in our favor...will they?"
"It doesn't seem so…" he inhales and exhales so sharply that he drops to his knees.
"I guess we can cancel the shower," Katniss says as she bursts into tears.
Peeta wraps his arms around her, but even he can't hold it in.
The odds will never be in their favor. Not as long as Snow is alive. Not at all.