The years had been good to him. He can't say that he ever thought ahead to being sixty-four when he was younger, but if he had, he's certain he would not have imagined himself in such a happy place. Both he and Annie were still in good health, and their children and grandchildren lived close enough for frequent visits. Finnick liked to think that he still looked pretty good as well, and judging by the thankfully infrequent but flattering advances by women several years younger than him, that wasn't all in his head. (Annie had more than a bit of an issue with those occurrences, particularly when the women involved were younger than their daughter, but she had no reason to worry. As far as he was concerned, none of them could even begin to compare to her.)
They had moved down to the main town a few years ago, as their house in the Victors Village felt lonely with only two people. Between the house and selling his fishing boat, they had enough money to retire comfortably, and had taken up a few hobbies here and there to stay active. The strawberry garden in the backyard had to be his favorite. (Though, as Annie would be quick to point out, she did most of the work involved in growing the berries, and he did most of the eating afterwards. Days like this one, where she had convinced him to go weed for her, were rare instances indeed.)
The children from next door were good helpers when bribed with a few of the sweet berries to take home with them. He wanted to say Shell was six and David was five, but he wasn't quite sure. (Annie had always been better about things like that than him. He'd have to ask her later.) In any case, they were at an age where they were very able to distinguish the white-flowered strawberry plants from the dandelions, and, apparently, have some very serious questions.
"Is it true that you killed people?" When Shell had first asked the question, Finnick hadn't believed his ears. Nobody brought up the Games or the war anymore. For nearly everyone, those memories were best left alone. The boy must have sensed his hesitation, because she added, "Did you?"
"That was a long time ago," he said, hoping that would be enough for them. Finnick looked towards their back door, a little piece of him hoping Annie would somehow sense his distress and come to rescue him. (A bigger part of him wanted her to stay away, so they couldn't ask any questions that might hurt her, but that part wasn't being as loud.)
Someday, he would learn that children rarely have the reactions one would expect. "Cool!" David shouted. Finnick looked towards him, half ready to scold him for thinking killing people was anything but terrible and half amused. "I told you Finnick could do it! How many people did you kill? How'd you do it?"
"Whoa there, slow down." There was no way that was going to stop the barrage of questions, but he did have to try.
David waited for an answer, but Shell jumped in. "Were you really in a contest to kill people? Daddy said you were, but he wouldn't tell me anything else."
So that's what had prompted this conversation. Interesting. "Yes, I was, but it was a very long time ago, and I never want to hurt anybody again."
"Neat," breathed David, and Finnick shook his head.
"No, it was more bad than neat. It was a terrible thing."
Shell's blue eyes were wide with curiosity. "You won, right? Is it true that Annie was in one of those contests too?"
"Yes and yes, but this is a conversation better left for another time." (Better yet, they could never bring the subject up again, but Finnick knew better than to think that was ever going to happen.) "Come on, let's finish weeding this section before noon. I don't want to get in trouble with Annie."
David and Shell knew that being in trouble with Annie was a dire predicament, and their faces turned serious. Immediately, they started weeding. He wasn't sure where they found energy like that, but if they were selling, he'd sure be interested. It took a few minutes for any of them to speak again. When they did, it was David who broke the silence. "Yeah, it'd be really bad if you got in trouble with Annie, because she knows how to kill people, and she's a lot tougher than you."
Finnick managed to stop himself from laughing, and for that, he could be proud of himself.