Chapter 16

It was mid-day when he arrived at District Twelve. His journey home would have taken much longer if it was not for the hovercraft. Peeta had gone off to find Katniss at the bakery, so Haymitch walked home alone.

Much like how it had been when he returned from the Capitol the last time, the front door was unlocked so he let himself in. It always slipped her mind to lock the front door whenever he was not at home, taking her safety for granted since it was only them and the Mellark next door. He had reminded her again and again that since the war, there had been people all over Panem in District Twelve and not all of them could be trusted.

He climbed the steps two at time, determined to give her another earful before he forgot all about the issue with the door. He found Effie attempting to redecorate one of the unused rooms in their house that was right next to their bedroom. Haymitch had only been in it once or twice since he moved into Victor's Village.

She was standing on a ladder with a hand resting on her stomach while in the other, she held on to a paint roller which she was using to paint the walls. Music played softly in the background. He stood frozen on the door way when he noticed the way she was precariously perched on the ladder, stretching as far as she could to get to the top corner of the wall.

"Effie," he called out softly, not wanting to startle the pregnant woman.

Her ears perked at the sound of his voice and turned towards the door. When she saw him, Effie's face broke into a smile. Slowly, she climbed down from the ladder, walked towards the door and wrapped her arms around him.

"You're back," she said happily, looking up at him with her arms still looped around his neck.

Haymitch cleared his throat, surprised at the unexpected hug. Her cheeks turned red. Effie apologized as she hastily stepped back and gave him his personal space.

"I'm sorry," she said, sounding flustered. "I don't know why I just … I miss you."

The admission was done quietly but Haymitch heard it nonetheless. He was sure it was the hormones but he did notice a change in Effie ever since he comforted her the day she found out about the news article about them that was published a few weeks ago. Effie was more comfortable around him and was less hesitant about initiating contact between them. He found her leaning on his sides sometimes when they sat next to each other on the sofa or sleeping slightly closer to him instead of at the edge of the bed like she had been doing during the first few months of their marriage.

"What are you doing?" he nodded towards the paint roller in her hand.

"Oh, this?" she lifted the roller still dripping wet with paint and did a little choking noise when she saw the paint dotting the area on the floor that she had not covered with canvas. Sighing, Haymitch plucked it out of her hand, crossed the room to where the ladder was and put it on the canvas that she had thankfully spread before starting to paint on that side of the room.

"I was painting the room."

"That's why it took you so long to answer the phone yesterday," he muttered to himself. "Why are you painting?"

She smiled sheepishly. "The babies need a room of their own, don't they? Do you want them to sleep with us? I don't think you would so I decided to turn this room into a nursery."

"We didn't talk about this," he pointed out.

It was true. The children needed a room of their own. There wasn't enough space in their own bedroom to put up a baby cot much less two for the twins. And, toys… Children play with toys, don't they? Still, he wished Effie would discuss it with him before doing as she pleased. This was his house after all.

"How are we to talk about this when you're always occupied with the law?" said Effie, sounding slightly bitter.

"Are the twins boys?" he asked again.

"No," Effie frowned, "Are they? Did you talk to Dr. Bell already? Haymitch, I told you I don't want to know their gender. Why did you have to -"

"I don't know if they're boys! I'm asking because - why are the walls blue, then?"

"They're not blue! It's turquoise."

"Same difference," he snapped at her.

He ignored her and began to inspect the half painted walls. Haymitch made a noise of disapproval when he noticed that the windows were only half open. If it had been fully opened, the room would have been well ventilated with the fresh air outside blowing in. He shot her an annoyed look that made her stomach drop. Whenever he looked at her that way, it always made her feel like she had done something wrong.

"What's wrong?" asked a very worried looking Effie.

"You're not painting the room. You'll stop what you're doing. Don't argue with me," he stated. "Look at the room Effie, it's poorly ventilated and you're here inhaling the noxious vapours from the paint. Do you even know what you're doing?"

"I know what I'm doing!" she retorted. "Maybe I'm just not doing a very good job of it but you don't have to be so condescending."

Haymitch glared at her. "In your condition, inhaling vapours from the paint is hardly healthy. Why can't you think before you do something?"

"Oh," she said, finally realizing why Haymitch was so agitated. "I – "

"Didn't I buy you some masks a few weeks back? You could have at least covered half your face with it, if you insist on painting the room."

Effie opened her mouth to say something but she realized that when Haymitch started ranting, he could go on forever, very much like her late grandmother.

"And climbing on that ladder? That's just asking for trouble."

She hid a smile. Haymitch may be annoyed her with but underneath it, she understood why he was behaving that way. He cared enough to reprimand her about being negligent and it was one of his odd little ways of showing it. With Haymitch, his actions spoke volumes.

XxX

She listened to him and stopped painting the room. The nursery was barely completed. What little furniture that was originally in the room had been moved out and fortunately for the five months pregnant woman, the room wasn't as dusty and dirty because she had thoroughly cleaned Haymitch's house when she moved in. All she did while Haymitch was away was to wipe the windows and sweep the floor. She had only started painting when Haymitch returned home that afternoon which meant that a majority of the walls were still a dull, with black stains on the white walls.

That night, as they sat down for dinner, they came to a compromise. Admitting that the children could not all fit into their room, Haymitch agreed to her plans to change the spare room into a nursery. He also agreed to do the painting as long as Effie left him alone to paint at his own time and target, without trying to keep him on schedule or breathe down his neck at each turn.

"But you have to get it done before I give birth!" she pointed out.

"Of course, Effie," he said, deadpanned.

"And before the furniture are delivered."

Effie was contented with her role. She would be picking out the furniture and she could already imagine where the cribs would be, and where she would place the chest drawers. She pictured a corner with a rocking chair where she could sit down with a baby in her arms and sing lullabies until he or she had fallen asleep. While she was daydreaming, she could almost see Haymitch watching them quietly, maybe standing over a crib, trying to put one of his children to sleep. She smiled to herself until Haymitch called her out on it.

"You look ridiculous smiling to yourself like that," he said, biting through a chicken drumstick.

Effie wasn't even annoyed. She merely smiled at him and excused herself to make a quick phone call to her cousin, Felix. Together, they made arrangements to have the furniture delivered to District Twelve once she had picked out what she liked.

"Send me the catalogue, will you? I still need to make sure Haymitch is agreeable with what I choose."

XxX

The catalogue arrived in their mail box a few days later. Haymitch was on the sofa with his legs stretched out on the coffee table. He quickly put them down when Effie walked in with a tall glass of her homemade fruit yoghurt and curled up next to him.

Her all curled up on his side was becoming a much more frequent occurrence and it was startling for him to realize that he actually didn't mind it that much. There first time she leaned against him, Haymitch had been puzzled. He pointed out that there were more than enough space on the sofa without her having to sit so close to him and Effie had not taken that suggestion kindly. After a while, he just let it happen even if he felt awkward. She would simply just settle down next to him, take his arm and slung it over her shoulders. Initially, it was so foreign and strange to him that he sat stiff on the sofa until she moved away. He learned to relax over time but he still had no idea what to do with his hands whenever she put it around herself or what Effie expected him to do at all.

"I think this white crib will look pretty against the turquoise wall," she pointed out to one of the pictures.

"Buy something that will be sure to fit into your apartment at the Capitol," Haymitch reminded her. "You can turn the guest bedroom I usually sleep in into their nursery."

Effie went rigid and was strangely quiet afterwards. She snapped the catalogue closed, put it aside, sipped her drink slowly and switched on the television.

"Did you hear what I said?" Haymitch asked, looking down at her curiously.

"I did."

The phone rang but all she did was look at it briefly before focusing her attention back to the show playing on the screen.

"That could be Felix," Haymitch pointed out. "Aren't you gonna pick it up? It could be about the kids' furniture."

"No."

The ringing went on endlessly. Huffing in frustration at the noise, Haymitch untangled himself from her and stood up but the ringing died before he could answer. Haymitch frowned at her. He could already feel the tension building in the room and sensed that something was wrong.

"Now what the hell is the problem? You were excited about getting furniture ten minutes ago. What happened in between to make you act all - "

"Things happened within that ten minutes," she replied brusquely.

He growled. "What? Okay, is this you being pregnant or you being your normal insane – "

Effie put her drink down on the table rather forcefully, crossed her arms and glared at him from where she was seated on the sofa. "I don't want to decorate the nursery anymore. You don't even have to bother painting them. I don't want to buy new furniture or do anything to it. Leave it the way it is!"

"What is the problem, Effie?" Haymitch asked in measured tone. He took a deep calming breath and tried to control his temper. "You're the one who wanted to turn that room into nursery and now, suddenly, you don't? What change?"

"You spoil everything, Haymitch. That's what's wrong. I'm just trying to do something nice and fun, get you involve in it and what did you do? You had to remind me that it's all for nothing because sooner or later we're going to get a divorce! Buy something that will fit your apartment," she mimicked. "Because, of course, what would you need baby cribs for when you're going to wash your hands off us!"

Her chest was heaving and her face was slowly turning red. "Tell me, Haymitch, what's the point of turning that spare room into a nursery? For all I know three months from now, at your next appeal, the law will be dissolved! For all I know, I'll be back at the Capitol giving birth alone! And then I'll be on my own with two children!"

They stared at each other, a silent face off. Effie was on her feet, her hands were fisted and she was shaking. Haymitch gaped at her sudden outburst never having seen her lost her temper so spectacularly like that.

"You won't," he said quietly in an attempt to placate her.

He was angry at the accusation Effie had thrown at him. Of course, he wasn't going to wash his hands of them. He was a responsible man and he knew his responsibilities. But Effie was livid and it would only worsen the situation if he were to lose his temper as well.

She's pregnant, Haymitch. Just talk to her calmly, he told himself.

"I won't what?"

"You won't be giving birth alone. I'll be there."

Effie gave a bitter laugh. She moved away from him to stand by the window. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Haymitch."

"I promise. I'll be there when you're in labour, and I'll be there to see our children come into this world."

He reached out for her but she took a step back, eyes glistening as she held on to his gaze stubbornly.

"Effie?"

"I want to believe you. I do. But you need to stop -" she paused and wiped away the tears that she could no longer hold back, "- stop reminding me that this isn't forever."

"I was just trying to be practical, Effs. It will be a waste of money if the furniture won't fit into –"

"No, you're just doing your job. You're just reminding me of who we really are. We're not really a family," she said softly. "We'll never be anything to you because you won't ever allow it."

Her eyes flickered to the long silver chain hanging around his neck; the chain that his girl had given to him so many years ago and one that he still kept close to his heart, quite literally. She gave Haymitch a final dejected look before running up the stairs and into their bedroom.

He slept on the sofa that night.

XxX

Haymitch woke up before she did. He crept up the stairs, purposely avoiding the second step from the top landing that would creak loudly each time it was under any pressure and pushed open the bedroom door silently.

Effie was curled on the bed with a hand resting gently on her stomach. The covers were thrown to the side and even in her sleep, Effie seemed distressed. Her brows were crinkled slightly as if her dreams were as terrible as the fight they had the day before.

Haymitch tiptoed into their bathroom, grabbed his toothbrush and towel, and disappeared into the guest bathroom two doors down. By the time he went down to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee, Effie was already awake. She was busying herself in the kitchen.

"You shouldn't drink tea with your meal," Haymitch remarked, "it makes it difficult for your body to absorb iron. I read that in – "

"My book," she cut him off. "I know that but after yesterday, I need my tea."

Haymitch held his tongue and gritted his teeth. When Effie continued to pretend that he wasn't there, he backed out of the kitchen and proceeded to the backyard. Even as he tended to his geese, his mind was preoccupied with a single word Effie had used for the first time in their marriage – divorce.

For all his plans about them separating and going back to their life before the law, he had never once considered a divorce, which was what would most likely happen if his plans were to be successful. He had somehow, in his preoccupation to repeal the law, thought that Effie would simply pack up her bags and return to the Capitol once they were no longer required to be married to each other.

Divorce, he tested the words on his tongue. We're divorced. I'm a divorcee. He cringed. The words sounded terrible in his mind. As far as he knew, there were hardly any divorces in District Twelve before the law, odd though it might be. Most of the people in Twelve had grown up knowing each other and they usually marry someone they love. It was not to say that there weren't marital problems but it hardly ever come down to a divorce. Most would just live apart for a period of time and get back with each other for the sake of their children. But if the law was repealed, a divorce was the only way out.

"I'm going over to Katniss' house," Effie announced when she found him at the backyard. Without waiting for a response, she walked off.

XxX

Haymitch was absentmindedly flipping through the same catalogue Effie went through the night before as he waited on the line.

"Yes?" a sleepy voice answered.

"Is this Felix?"

"And who is asking?"

"Effie's husband. Not sure if you remember –"

"Haymitch! Of course, I remember you, you handsome devil," he exclaimed jovially suddenly sounding very much awake.

Haymitch squirmed uncomfortably. Does he really need to be that way?

"Listen, I need a favour."

Haymitch didn't like asking for favours. He hated knowing that he was in someone's debt and being in a debt with someone like Felix especially was vexing to him. Still, for Effie's sake, he tried not to let it bother him that much and went on to explain what he needed. Felix was more than happy to oblige.

"I'll see you both in a few days, then!"

With a sigh of relief, Haymitch rested his forehead on the wall only to jerk upright again when he heard the panicky voice of his wife calling for him.

"Haymitch!"

She looked alarmed as she headed straight for him, running in her wedges like a penguin

"What's wrong?" he couldn't help the worry creeping into his voice. He ran his eyes over her body, silently checking for any signs of physical injury that might have befell her. It wasn't the pregnancy then because her hands were not resting on her stomach protectively, something Haymitch noticed she had been doing quite a lot lately.

"You have to come! Katniss is in labour!" she beckoned him, already wheezing and out of breath.

Haymitch stood rooted to the spot.

"Haymitch!" she made a grab for his wrist. "Katniss is in labour. Peeta send me to get you. Hurry, please."

I hope that's not too much in a chapter! Reviews are always appreciated, so leave me one :)

Thank you for all the reviews for the previous chapter! To Ana, I usually post over the weekend.