Chapter Forty-Five
Klaus' hand dropped to his side as his eyes shifted away from Haymitch to the party going on in the house. He cleared his throat and glanced at Elias' direction uncertainly.
Good. He's uncomfortable, Haymitch thought. He should be since he turned up uninvited.
Haymitch and Felix stood at the hallway, blocking their path and preventing the pair from going further into the house.
"Come, my friend," undeterred, Elias nodded towards Klaus, "let us meet Effie and her children."
Haymitch straightened up, bringing himself to his full height as his eyes darkened, the silvery grey lost its shine the longer he glared at Elias. Her children. The use of that specific pronoun was not lost on Haymitch.
Klaus' green eyes were fixed on Haymitch and he had the palm of his hand pressed to his chest looking contrite. He spoke quietly, "my apologies, Mr. Abernathy, for turning up in this manner. I should have called in advance. I hate to trespass and impose but Elias," he smiled at his partner good-naturedly, "can be very persuasive when he wants to and I -"
"Elias! Klaus?" Effie's voice cut through the air. She hurried towards them, squeezing in between Haymitch and Felix to greet the newcomers. Effie enveloped Elias in a warm hug which he returned with much enthusiasm. Klaus kissed both her cheeks as was customary in the Capitol and Effie smiled up at him, her hand resting on his arm.
Her gaze flitted between the men in the group anxiously, especially between Haymitch and Klaus. Effie rocked on the balls of her feet, her hand went up to her earlobe as she tugged on it unconsciously, a sign Haymitch knew to mean that she was restless and was trying hard to hide it. His eyes narrowed suspiciously at Effie's behavior.
"I didn't know you were coming, Klaus," she laughed nervously. "Elias never mentioned anything!"
"I thought it would be a nice surprise, cousin," Elias joked.
"Well, it certainly is a surprise."
Once again, she glanced at Haymitch's direction nervously. "Haymitch, this is – "
"We've met," he cut her off.
"Oh. Well, come in, please, both of you."
XxX
He couldn't stand to be in Elias' presence but Haymitch made to follow the entourage until Felix grabbed a hold of his upper arm and steered him towards the kitchen.
"You don't want to be in that conversation, trust me," he said airily. "It will get very boring very fast and you look like you're set to murder my brother. On any other day, I would have no qualms with that but can't have bloodshed on my nephews' baby shower, can we?"
Peeta was the only person in the kitchen and he perked up at the word bloodshed, lifting his head briefly to look at Haymitch.
"Everything alright?" he asked.
"Eyes on the cake, boy," Haymitch answered instead. "Mess it up and Effie will have your head. Everything has to be fabulous."
"Very good! Your Capitol accent is commendable," Felix exclaimed delightedly.
While Felix's ill-timed joke made Peeta laugh, Haymitch had his attention focused elsewhere. He was leaning forward with his elbows resting on the table top, trying to get a good view of Effie, Elias and Klaus. He was only half listening when Peeta excused himself from the kitchen, informing Haymitch that he was going to bring the cake out. Haymitch nodded distractedly and in his state, had Peeta told him that he was going to sell all the geese, Haymitch would have agreed without really knowing what he was agreeing to.
The moment he realized that Peeta was gone, however, Haymitch rounded up on Felix.
"Did you know?"
"No," the young man shook his head. "I swear, Haymitch, I swear I didn't know Elias was going to bring him."
"He did it on purpose, that bastard."
Haymitch spied Plutarch walking towards the trio with Tristan in his arm – he knew it was Tristan because the boy was dressed in a darker shade of blue than his brother – before handing the infant over to his mother. Elias stood up, walking with Plutarch towards the other end of the room just as the man introduced him to Annie and Johanna.
Effie and Klaus were alone and even if Haymitch wanted to, he couldn't look away. Klaus was pointing towards Tristan, gesturing with his hands to hold the boy which Effie complied with. Haymitch was sure she wasn't doing it on purpose but he felt a spike of anger when Effie leaned in close to adjust Tristan so that he was comfortable in Klaus' arm. She must have sensed his gaze on her because Effie turned her head slightly and caught his eyes, giving her husband a smile. Klaus, on the other hand, seemed enchanted with Tristan, gazing down at the boy and stroking his cheek with the back of a finger. Haymitch's fingers gripped the edge of the counter, trying to stop himself from marching over to them.
"Do you want a drink?" Felix asked.
"Now's not the time," he snapped.
"That's probably a first."
It had become second nature to him to scan for Effie and his children whenever they were not together and to his relief, he saw Ethan with Katniss, Peeta, Finn and Prim with Finn trying to keep his toy car out of Prim's grip.
"Look at how natural he is," Elias piped in as he sauntered into the kitchen with a glass of champagne in his hand. "Klaus will be good for her, like, I've always said he would."
"Where's your wife? Why isn't she here with you? Finally realized you're so full of it, did she? I suggest you work on pleasing her royal highness and leave your nose out of other people's business, Eli."
"Is that the way to talk to your big brother, Felix?" Elias scowled, trying to assert his status in the family after the use of the nickname Felix often employed to aggravate him. Turning to Haymitch, the easy smile was once again back on Elias face as he asked, "now, what do you say about the deal we talked about?"
"Deal?" Haymitch scoffed. "For a deal to work, there has to be an exchange of benefits. I give you Effie and what would I get in return?"
"Like I've said, all the help you can get with the law which would guarantee you a faster way to have your life back. Isn't that what you desire the most? Solitude?"
"I can achieve that without your help or his money," Haymitch spat.
Elias laughed, his shoulder shaking with mirth while he helped himself to more champagne. "Sure," he sneered. "How many more appeals will it take the Council to reject before you finally come to your senses?"
Haymitch seethed in anger at the reminder of his failure. He turned his back on Elias but what he saw did not make him feel any better. Klaus was whispering something in Effie's ear with his free hand hovering dangerously close to her thigh. It was the last straw that broke the camel's back. Haymitch stormed out of the kitchen and marched towards them, scooping Tristan out of Klaus' arm. He saw the edge of a piece of paper sticking out of Effie's side pocket, something that wasn't there before.
Klaus was startled at the sudden intrusion.
"Excuse me," Haymitch started, voice strained as he tried to maintain his composure. "Isn't it time for his bottle, Effie?"
He looked at Effie pointedly and as if on cue, Tristan started to sniffle. Haymitch had never been glad that his son could at times be fussy and cranky. Effie mumbled an apology and hurried after Haymitch, fretfully wondering about the quiet rage in Haymitch's eyes.
XxX
Haymitch strode up to the nursery, leaving Effie behind him, knowing that she would follow in any case.
"Peeta, Tristan needs to be fed, could you please just make sure everything's alright for a while?" Effie requested.
Felix hurried out of the kitchen and intercepted Effie just before she disappeared into the corner.
"Are you going to be alright?"
It was an odd question that Effie couldn't help but give Felix a quizzical look.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
His eyes strayed towards Klaus and his brother, and shrugged. "You hate surprise visit and I don't think he RSVP'ed, did he?"
"I didn't even invite him, Felix!" Effie wrung her hands together. "Did… did Haymitch say anything to you?"
"Why would he?" Felix frowned. "He didn't know Klaus before today."
Of course he does, Effie thought. She had overheard them talking about Klaus Adler on the phone months ago.
"You're a terrible liar, you know that?"
XxX
"Took you long enough, sweetheart," he said when he heard the door to the nursery opened.
"Haymitch, we just fed Tristan two hours ago. This isn't about Tristan, though is it?" Effie huffed, noting that the boy was lying quietly in his crib as he stared up at his crib mobile that Haymitch had only recently installed. "What's the matter with you?"
"Send everyone home, Effie. This baby shower is over."
His back was to her as Haymitch fussed with the mobile, making sure the soft toys were not tangled together. Haymitch flicked a finger at one of the toys watching it sway but Tristan was too young to react to it though the multitude of colours did capture the boy's attention.
Effie was confused. "I don't understand. Haymitch, what's wrong?"
He rounded up on Effie, taking a step towards her and trailed his hand down her arm, to her sides, over her ribcage and the swell of her hip before his hand dipped into the side pocket of her dress.
"Why don't you tell me?" he whispered, arching a mocking eyebrow.
Her breath hitched when Haymitch pulled the envelope out of her pocket, holding it gingerly between his fingers.
"There's… nothing's wrong, Haymitch," she laughed and shook her head. "You're just imagining things. We should go back to the party. People must be wondering where we've been."
"No," he gripped her arm, pulling her back when Effie moved towards the crib. "What is this, Effie? He gave it to you, didn't he?"
"Who, Haymitch?" she snapped, the annoyance crept into her voice the longer Haymitch skittered around what was truly bothering him.
"You know who," he frowned.
"Haymitch – "
"Did he or did he not?"
"He did," she confirmed, letting out a breath. "I've no idea what it is, Haymitch."
"Don't lie to me," he hissed. "I saw the way you two were talking to each other. And you know what's bothering me, sweetheart?"
"No, Haymitch, I don't," she jutted her chin out stubbornly. "I can't read your mind."
"You didn't even look surprise when he slipped this into your pocket. This has happened before, hasn't it?"
Effie's brows furrowed, reaching out for the envelope but Haymitch pulled his hand back.
"Go on, sweetheart, tell me I'm wrong," he said, waiting for an answer that wasn't forthcoming. "It has happened before."
"No," Effie stammered at last. "No, it hasn't."
All throughout the time that they had known each other, Effie had always accused him of being rude and he was rude, to an extent, mostly to annoy her but Haymitch had never been disrespectful towards her by invading through her personal matters until today. He knew it was bad manners to open a letter addressed to someone else but he ignored the decorum expected from a decent man and tore open the top part of the envelope, extracting a piece of paper out.
I have a right to know, he tried to argue and validate his action. If it has anything to do with my family, I have a right to know.
"Haymitch, please," she rested her hand on top of the paper, stopping him from reading any further. "Please, I didn't know. I told him not to and that we should stop but …"
He batted her hand away and glanced through the paper, picking the gist of the contents. Effie took a step away from him but she didn't get far before her back hit the crib. Effie knew the exact moment when he finished reading because his eyes flickered up to her face and the way he was looking at her made Effie wished she could press herself against the wall and disappear.
And with that, I leave you to your speculations.
Reviews are as always appreciated.