Finnick's here, and she can't breathe. Her heart stopped the instant she opened the door, and it's only just started beating again.
He can't understand how long it's been, how many restless nights she's gone through where all she wanted was to reach over to the side of the bed that, twenty years later, is still his and feel something there besides cool sheets. "Hey, Mom." The illusion dissipates as he steps inside.
Gracious, had Finnick really been that tall? Ronan has towered over her for years, but the height difference has never seemed quite as drastic as it does now, when she pulls him down and cranes up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. He has shaved the full beard he has sported since he was a teenager, and for the first time, Annie can see Finnick's jaw and cheeks on their child. "So, what caused all this?" she asks as they walk together into the kitchen.
"This?" He strokes his chin and gestures to his newly short hair, and she nods. "Well, you see, there's this girl, and, um…"
A girl he's serious about? He's twenty-one years old, and though she's hardly the most unbiased judge, he's as smart and kind as they come, so she supposes it shouldn't really be a surprise, but oh dear, she's never even considered it before. That in and of itself was a bit silly, as she and Finnick had been, what, nineteen when they had started dating? These days, sometimes it felt that she had never been that age.
Now isn't the time for those musings. "And I suppose she isn't a fan of the wild look?"
"No, I guess she prefers something a bit more clean-cut." He ran his hands through his hair, still unused to its new shorter length. "You've got to meet her, Mom. She's really something."
She's smiling, and there are tears in her eyes that she's keeping there through force of will alone. "That's lovely, dear. You'll have to tell me all about her. Your classes as well – I hope you haven't been neglecting those to chase after her." She guides him into the kitchen and sits him down at the table as she hasn't since he was a child, content, even if it's just for a little while, to have her baby back again.