HAYMITCH
"Milly!" Leila's choked cry shook me.
"Leia" the little girl jumped into her sister's arms crying.
"Oh my sweet baby," sobbed Leila, spreading kisses on her face.
Grace, Prim and I left them alone enjoying this reunion. It was strange the lump in my throat I felt, like a mixture of happiness and nostalgia.
"This is a miracle," Prim said, wiping away a tear, as she smiled.
"It is. Hope is still alive" Grace whispered smiling "Haymitch, what you did…"
"I didn't do anything" I interrupted her shifting uncomfortably at the spotlight.
She just smiled at me, before letting out a sigh "I don't want to be the one to interrupt this moment but I'm supposed to change her bandages and start an IV"
I looked at her confused. "'why?"
"You know, protocol. Besides, seeing the state she's in it won't hurt, it's a multivitamin serum, to boost her immune system"
"You'll have to explain that to Leila, and I suspect the idea of pricking her little baby sister is not going to go down well with her."
"Good thing you're here to smooth things out," Prim laughed, "go and let us know when they're ready!" She shoved me in the back.
I peeked into the cubicle, they were still hugging while Leila whispered soothing words to the little one.
"Ahem" I cleared my throat. Leila turned her face in my direction. "I'm sorry to interrupt but Grace still has to look after your sister" she looked at me for a few moments confused and then took a step back taking a better look at Milly, especially her bandaged arm. I signaled Prim and her mother to come over.
"This burn, how...?" Leila asked in a strangled voice.
"It don't hurt" Milly cut her off at once.
"Let's go look at how it's healed, shall we?" interjected Grace. Under Leila's watchful eye, she removed Milly's bandage. Leila couldn't help but shudder at the sight of her sister's wound. The still reddish skin stretched across part of her shoulder until it almost reached her elbow. Poor thing, it had to have been very painful. Even though it looked like the skin was healing well, that didn't mean she wouldn't be left with a big scar for life. I watched as Leila's eyes filled with tears, I knew her too well to know that she was being consumed by guilt. I gently ran my hand down her back. "You know, whoever healed you did an excellent job."
"It was Delilah!"
"How clever she is."
"Uh-huh," nodded the little girl in agreement. "She used to put a cold gween stuff on us."
"Well here I'll give you something similar too, it's an ointment, it will help it continue to heal and I don't think the bandages will be necessary anymore"
"yay! That stung" she smirked looking at her sister who could barely return the smile.
"Leila, will you remember to apply this to her every morning and night?"
"Yes."
"Good. Now, I have to put her on a supplement to..."
"yes that's fine" Leila didn't let her continue and walked over to her sister "my love you're going to get a pinch, it's going to hurt just a little but it's necessary, okay?" with a pout the little girl nodded slowly. Grace's expert hands did a clean and quick job on the little girl.
"Well I think I'm done here for now" Grace winked at Milly. "Prim, will you join me?"
"I don't know how to thank you Grace and you too Prim."
"It was nothing, Leila. " Prim replied, smiling. Both Everdeen women left the cubicle.
"Milly, how did you get to District 11?" Leila asked her sister softly.
"Thwough a forest with mommy" she whispered.
"Mom was with you all this time?" the little girl avoided her sister's gaze and shrugged her shoulders nodding. "Tell me she..."
"we're going home later, Leia?" interrupted Milly. Something told me the little girl didn't want to talk about her mother.
"not for a while" the little girl sighed resignedly and hugged the rag in her hands. feeling like an intruder among the sisters I decided it was my time to leave.
"Leila, I have to go to command..." abruptly, she hugged me.
"Thank you Haymitch you have no idea what this means to me" yes, I could get an idea, it was a constant dream I kept tucked deep in my soul. I could have stayed for hours wrapped in her arms if it wasn't for the intense scowling look the little girl was giving me.
"I agree with Grace, it was nothing" I pulled away from Leila "well…I guess I'll come back later" I said awkwardly, waving goodbye.
I spent what was left of the afternoon wandering around thirteen, either commando or just being bored with Beetee. My thoughts were with Leila, I hoped all was well with her and Milly. By the end of the afternoon my curiosity was greater than my judgment and I decided to go back to the hospital. Great was my surprise when I bumped into Plutarch at the hospital, who was also going to see Leila.
"But what a wonderful day!" he exclaimed exaggeratedly "you see Leila, I was right, hope was not to be lost and now you are here with your sister. It can never be said that I didn't keep my word" Plutarch said, proud of himself. The nerve of him. This time if Leila attacked him I wouldn't lift a finger to get her off him. Maybe a beating was what Plutarch needed.
"Yes of course" Leila replied tensely shielding her sister from Plutarch's curious gaze "as I know you are such a busy man I wouldn't want you to waste any more time here" he laughed amused.
"I get it, I get it, I'm leaving but first I want you to take this as a gesture of peace between us. Now that you are both safe there is nothing to fear Leila and we have a common cause..."
"Mr. Heavensbee! I think this is not the time..."
"Come on Plutarch I think they're calling you in Command" I huffed irritably. Didn't this jerk understand when he wasn't welcome.
"Well, I guess duty calls but sweet Leila think about what I told you. It was nice to finally meet you Milly" Plutarch departed in stride.
"cretin" I muttered through my teeth.
"Who was dat fatty old man?" asked Milly, I let out a chuckle.
"a necessary evil baby; and don't call people that, it's not polite" Leila shot me a reprimanding look.
"And who awe you?"
"Haymitch," Leila answered for me.
"heyy Mish" she giggled.
"Haymitch" I corrected her but she ignored me.
"Is he your boyfriend Leila?"
"ehh yes" we both blushed. We had never established what kind of relationship we had, I guess boyfriend and girlfriend was what we were.
"Hey Mish, this morning he said you were his fwiend."
"Haymitch, Milly" Leila corrected her this time "I guess we're friends too" she let out a sigh.
"exactly that's what I meant this morning" I don't know why I was explaining myself to a 5 year old brat. The little girl's gut started to rumble and with that the awkward moment was broken.
"That's weird, normally by this time they should have already delivered dinner."
"Do I get to pick?"
"no love, but I know you'll like it's stew with carrots, you like that."
" Phew! what a wewief, at Delilah's house we just had potawtoes" Leila grimaced, probably apart from potatoes there must have also been days of scarcity, otherwise Milly wouldn't be in the bones like she is now.
"I'll go and see what's taking so long for the food" I suggested.
"yes it seems to me..."
"so all this fuss is because of her" Johanna's mocking voice startled us, we looked in her direction "I heard you were talking about food and I offered to deliver this order myself"
"You didn't have to Johanna" Leila half smiled, removing the tray from her hands and organizing its contents on the cart table.
"Well, I have to admit I was curious too. Prim gave us the scoop and I wanted to see the 'miracle' with my two little eyes. I have to admit..."
"you're the twee girl!" let out a little shriek Milly pointing at Johanna. "I saw you on TV" For a microsecond Johanna was stupefied and then grinned wickedly.
"Milly!" exclaimed Leila in horror.
"wow, wow I didn't know your sister was a fan of the games Leila."
"I love them! they look so funny" Johanna let out a laugh followed by the little girl.
"Well I'm glad you like them, the most important thing is to entertain"
Suddenly I felt as if I had gone back in time 8 years ago, right at that first meeting with Leila. Johanna's words were just an echo of Finnick's words to the exaggerated enthusiasm of a very young and naive Leila.
"Excuse her Johanna, she doesn't know..." Leila started to excuse herself but with a gesture from Johanna she shut her up. "Milly come, the food is ready."
"What happened to your hair?" the little girl interrupted.
"what? don't you know? this is the latest fashion".
"Oh, maybe that's why mom cut mine too".
"It looks pretty good, maybe you'll convince your sister to cut it too," Johanna teased.
"with Peeta she did a good job" I said without thinking
"ahhhhhhhhhh" I covered my ears at the brat's new scream "Peeta is HERE?!"
"and Katniss too"
"I wanna see them Leila, wet me see them" Milly shook Leila out of her blouse.
"no, Milly, they are busy and you still have to recover"
"pwease , pwetty pwease" the brat begged again.
"Come on Leila, it'll be fun. Don't be a pooper."
"Johanna, you're not helping" I snorted. Leila's embarrassment and discomfort at this awkward situation was evident. Who would have guessed that the little brat would be brainwashed, although well, sharing a home with people like Bob was perhaps not so far-fetched.
Leila also let her head fill up with all that propaganda.
"You know what, when you get out of this hole if your sister doesn't introduce you to them, I'll be in charge of bringing them in" Johanna laughed.
"wow you awe amazing"
"Milly, the food is getting cold" Leila gave Johanna one last serious look before focusing on Milly again.
"Ahem" we turned at the same time in the direction of whoever burst into the 'room'. The shrink. "Sorry to interrupt but, Leila, could we talk for a moment?"
"go, I'll take care of my little groupie" Johanna took her place.
"I don't think it's a good thing he came," I muttered. Maybe Plutarch or Coin were going to use Milly's presence to force Leila to participate in their plans.
"you overthink a lot Abernathy, maybe the shrink just wants to make sure she's doing well."
"you really think that?" I snort.
"You can't do that!" I heard Leila's shout in the distance. I immediately walked over to where Leila and Aurelius were standing.
"understand it's for the best" the shrink was saying in a conciliatory tone to a tearful Leila.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"He wants to take me away from my sister."
"Leila, that's not so. I repeat, my interest is the well being of all my patients and..."
"I'm not following, what is this all about?"
" In light of the new developments, there are certain measures I must take in order to ensure everyone's safety."
"I would never hurt Milly," Leila defended herself.
"I know Leila, I know you wouldn't want to intentionally hurt her but we've also talked about the possibility of you doing it."
"it's not fair to use what I said against me".
"come on Doc this whole thing is cruel, if not with Leila where will the little girl go? to her fucking father?" i scoffed
"the district will take her guardianship, there are designated people who take care of children without family, Leila will be able to visit her."
"Milly is not a child without a family, her sister is here, I don't think it's fair to Leila to put her in this situation. She has obeyed every damn thing you have asked of her and has made great efforts to be better, no..."
"I know that Haymitch, but Leila can't have guardianship of the child. Evidently she has no other suitable family member who can take care of her, so I have no choice but to leave her under someone else's guardianship."
"I will take good care of her, I will go to more sessions with you, but don't leave her with anyone else, please" Leila pleaded sobbing.
"This decision was also made with Milly in mind, Leila."
"Come on Aurelius, the little girl will be better off with her sister than with a stranger, a month ago she lost her mother and now she is going to be taken away from the only family she has left."
"I've taken that into account too, Milly needs stability and..."
"I am stable, you know that" replied Leila.
"you have made great progress that is evident but you have to start building a healthy relationship with your sister from your own well being" I didn't know what the doctor meant and from Leila's confused face she didn't either "tell me something Leila, if your sister is left in your care, what will a common day of the two of you be like?"
"Well, she will be with me all day."
"What about your work in the kitchens? You'll bring an infant to a place not appropriate for her? and school for Milly? don't you think she deserves to spend time with children her age?" I knew what Aurelius was getting at and Leila was falling right in where he wanted her to be.
"Then no, I'll walk her to school and quit the job."
"And what about you? Do you think that's fair? give up something you love to do to take care of her, I think you've already been in a similar situation or am I wrong? What about your relationship with Haymitch? Will you give that up too?" tears rolled down her cheeks, I ran my hand over her back comforting her. I didn't know what I could do to keep her from suffering but I knew the shrink was right to some extent.
"I just want to protect her," Leila whispered.
"I know that's why the best thing to do is..."
"I can be her guardian" I blurted out at the stunned look on both of their faces "I'm not saying that I'm going to be the best but, I think that even though you are right" I said looking at the psychiatrist "I also think that such an abrupt change will only cause more pain to Milly, she comes from a war zone, her safe place is Leila, taking that away from her for sporadic visits will not be fair to her, instead I can make sure that she goes to school, so Leila can continue with her daily activities."
"if I remember correctly you have a job here too" squinted the doctor.
"well, I'm not saying I'm going to spend all day watching the girl, and at Comando they don't need me 24/7" I scoffed, from Leila's expression that wasn't good enough for her, I was sure she wanted to have constant surveillance of her sister, but I couldn't tell the doctor that, it would only do the opposite effect to what I was looking for. I saw the doubt appear on Aurelius' face and I knew he was not entirely convinced of my idea "if I am to add anything else to this cause it is that you know Aurelius that I would not hesitate to say if something is wrong, for that you have my word" If the shrink had a good memory he would remember that it was me who sought him out when Leila made that confession to Peeta.
"we could give it a try under certain rules"
"Anything," Leila quickly replied.
"You will continue with your work without fail, I want to see you at least once more a day, you will continue with the training, you won't be able to see your sister until you have finished your work for the day";
and as for Milly, she will attend school on the same day as children her age, she will also have to attend after school sessions with her psychologist."
"But why?"
"As Haymitch has said, she comes from a district at war, she has lost her mother, it is necessary that she also receives help".
"Will I be able to accompany her at least to that?"
"No, Leila, I don't think it's convenient."
"I can't leave my sister alone locked in an office with a stranger" Leila said holding back her anger, Aurelius just gave her a sympathetic look.
"I know, that's what Haymitch is for, that's part of his tutoring job, unless you have some objection against him?" I don't know what I was getting myself into and why the shrink found this last funny.
"No, of course."
"Well then from tomorrow Milly will be able to start her classes, I will talk to the teacher in charge so she can give me daily reports.."
"She won't be discharged until the afternoon from what I heard from a doctor and I have to prepare her, at least a few days for her to get to know the district and "Aurelius shook his head.
"Come on doc, it's not unreasonable what Leila is asking, at least give her some time between sisters."
He considered it for a few minutes "well I think you will have today and tomorrow. from the day after tomorrow everything has to go back to its order. Just for tomorrow I will suspend your appointments with me but in two days I want to see you first thing" Without another word the psychiatrist left.
"Thank you Haymitch," Leila whispered.
"You're nothing to be thankful for. Don't be sad Leila, the doc knows why he makes these decisions and I promise that in your absence I will keep an eye on your sister" she nodded with tears still in her eyes. I ran my thumb across her wet cheeks wiping them "you know the hardest thing is not following the shrink's rules, I think there is something more dangerous that you have to face".
She wrinkled her brow worriedly "what thing?"
"Your sister's long awaited introduction to Peeta and Katniss" I pretended to shudder, making her laugh.
"I'm so sorry about that. She doesn't understand and I don't know how to explain it to her, sometimes it was just easier to let her go on believing a lie."
"don't even think about it, I think it was funny, like you but in a midget version" she let out a chuckle before getting serious
"I'll talk to her, I don't want her to keep repeating that kind of stuff, it will only get her in trouble" I agreed with her.
A few minutes later when Leila pulled herself together we went back to the room, the kid had finished eating and was bombarding Johanna with questions about fashion and the capitol. I had to admit that I didn't expect Johanna to be so patient and not take any question the wrong way. Poor Leila, she looked sick with that exchange of information. An hour later Johanna and I left the sisters in their cubicle, Leila would spend the night with Milly and tomorrow she would come when the little one was discharged.
I didn't sleep much at night, I missed Leila's presence. I wondered how things would be between us now that her sister would be sharing the same space with us, I wouldn't mind leaving the compartment for them, I didn't sleep much at night anyway, I could always come and sleep in the mornings, if that made things more comfortable for both of us. As the hours passed the more nervous and anxious I felt. I didn't know what to expect from the little girl, it had been more than twenty years since I had been near such a small child, I hoped she would like me, otherwise being her tutor was going to be complicated. I had to control my damn vocabulary and be a good example, that was going to be extremely difficult.
As I was finishing getting ready to go to the hospital, Leila surprised me by arriving earlier than expected. With one hand she came holding her sister's hand and with the other, what I assumed would be 'new' clothes for Milly.
"I thought I'd find you asleep," she said smiling.
"nah, there was no point in trying to sleep anymore today and as far as I can see neither did you" of course she hadn't slept a wink all night either. "All good Milly?"
"heyy Mishh "she said, nodding.
"Haymitch, Milly" Leila corrected her again 'do you mind if I make room in the closet?' she pointed to her sister's clothes, I shook my head. Milly just stood by the door watching us silently. Leila finished rearranging everything and took the child with her into the bathroom. I waited patiently, what seemed like hours, until they were both 'ready', as always the redhead was impeccable from head to toe. It was strange as a situation and I didn't know if I was tense or we all were. Leila arranged her sister's clothes better and then set about combing her hair, which no longer had that black hue.
"so it wasn't black but brown."
"Mom put a dye in it, unless you know how to dye it, you wouldn't know how to get it out," Leila explained.
"I thought you didn't know much about it" she smiled playfully.
"I only know a couple of things" all this time Milly was looking at me intensely from head to toe, sometimes frowning and sometimes looking confused, I don't know what she saw in me but I doubted it was anything good. Without realizing it I had adopted the same habit as Leila when she was nervous, smoothing out the wrinkles in my clothes. "Well pumpkin I'm done, do you want to look at yourself in the mirror?" the little girl shook her head without saying a word 'will you remember what we talked about at the hospital?' she nodded slowly. "So are we going to have lunch?"
"bunny?" asked the little girl
"He's still drying out, pumpkin. He'll be ready tonight, okay?"
"let's go" With curiosity hammering in my head we left the room only to be surprised by Chase.
"I didn't know you'd be waiting" Leila greeted him.
"yep, the doctor sent me, you know" replied the boy awkwardly.
"Whatever" Leila downplayed it 'this is my sister Milly, Milly this is Chase'.
"you're huge!"
"ha ha ha, repeat that in front of Johanna please" the murderous look Leila gave him prevented Chase from talking shit anymore
"you're not the smartest one" I mumbled
"but I am the strongest," the boy scoffed.
"Nuh uh, Leia is the stwongest of all, she always wins, wight Leila?" the girl defended her.
"Milly remember what we talked about" Leila repeated softly. Halfway to the dining room I approached Leila's ear and asked her about the conversation with her sister "I tried to explain to her that it's not ok here to talk or ask about the games or the capitol, combat, capitol fashion etc" she grimaced "I hope it worked. I promised her she'd see Peeta and Katniss if she didn't say anything."
"That's why she's been so quiet. Do you think it's going to last?" I chuckled.
"Well, yeah, I told her that if no one talked about those issues she had no right to. I highly doubt that Katniss or Finnick, with Annie by her side, would decide to reminisce about old times."
"Yeah that makes sense, but I think you're askin' a lot" I joked.
Once we got to the dining hall and picked up our trays Leila stopped us "would you mind taking mine and Milly's, I want to talk to her before we go to the table" Chase was confused but agreed taking the little girl's tray, I took Leila's and winked at her laughing. At the table were Finnick, Annie, Johanna and Katniss.
" till you finally arrive!, where are the Brightlocks?"
"Leila wanted to talk to her sister for a moment," Chase explained with a shrug.
"How wonderful, Leila must be so happy. You've already met her haven't you Jo?" Annie said.
Johanna let out a giggle nodding "yeah kind of".
"What's so funny?" asked Katniss.
"Finnick, do you remember the first time we met Leila?" Finnick thought about it for a few moments and then laughed softly
"How could I forget?"
"She also threatened you guys with a knife?" sarcastically said Katniss.
"No, something worse" Finnick scoffed. I just snorted half smiling at Finnick's absurd response. True she didn't threaten us but it was almost as annoying as if she had.
"Well hold on to your chair because her sister is a miniature version of 'that' Leila" the laugh Johanna let out was so infectious that without thinking we were all joining her and half of the people at this table didn't even know what Johanna was referring to.
"I don't believe you," Finnick said with a chuckle.
"just wait to see it" only a few minutes later Leila arrived next to Milly at the table.
"hi everyone, this is Milly, Milly this is Finnick, Katniss, Annie and Johanna if you remember" Leila spoke so fast and tense that she didn't wait for the little girl's answer 'well let's eat before it gets cold'.
"It's nice to meet you Milly," Annie said sweetly. The little girl barely gave her a glance in thanks and then her huge eyes landed on Katniss. I wasn't sure but I could have sworn the little girl would have a seizure at any moment, and the more the minutes passed the more uncomfortable the moment became. No one was talking, Johanna was just giving Leila, Milly and I strange looks, Finnick and Chase looked confused and poor Katniss if she kept slouching in place she would end up fused to the chair. I couldn't blame her, it was a bit terrifying the girl's piercing stare, she barely blinked and wouldn't take her eyes off Katniss. Worst of all, Leila trying to act like everything was so normal.
"So there will be training today then?" tried to make conversation Finnick.
"No, tomorrow we'll start as normal."
I felt the sidelong glance from Katniss "yeah sweetheart it's weird" I scoffed. Katniss was usually comfortable dealing with kids, well normal kids I guessed.
"Why do I sense something is not right here?" said Johanna looking accusingly at Leila.
"yeah, maybe they should have put some parsley in the puree" I chuckled softly. Johanna was expecting entertainment and she wasn't going to get it that easy, I felt her angry gaze on me for a few seconds before her face lit up.
"Johanna don't" I warned her.
"Hey Katniss, did I ever tell you how much I liked the dress you wore to the interview with Caesar?"
"No..." that's all the little brat needed before letting out a gasp and almost pouncing on Katniss, luckily the table was in the way. Johanna and Finnick laughed at what they were seeing.
"You were on fiwe!" Katniss startled in place "I saw you I saw you. You were gonna mawy Peeta and and and and "
"Milly calm down," Leila begged her.
"you pwomised you said if anyone talked about the games I could" the child reminded her whining.
"Are you a fan of the games?" asked Chase in dismay.
"of couwse I've seen them all!"
"No, you haven't," Leila refuted.
"yeah, I saw you fight the big monsta and Katniss shoot an awwow at the big guy and... whewe's the baby?" Milly asked Katniss
"That was a lie Milly, please sit down and finish your food" Leila replied.
"Can I see the dress, pwetty pwease?"
"I'm afraid it got burned from so many 'flames'"
"ohhh what a shame"
"it was my favorite as well" said Katniss gently
"and the bow and awwows burned too?" Katniss laughed, denying "can I see it? please" she begged looking at Leila.
"you're going to be disappointed, she's not even that good," Finnick joked. Milly looked at him blinking for a few moments.
"You were at the games too! You were the naked man" the little brat said accusingly.
"I wasn't naked" Finnick defended himself half smiling.
"Lidi said that you were indecent" the brat said haughtily
"He definitely is," Johanna agreed.
"How mean you are" Annie pouted interjecting. I don't know what Finnick would say next in her ear, making her laugh herself silly. I glanced at Leila, who seemed to be imitating Katniss a few minutes ago, slumped in her chair. I felt sympathy for her, maybe to others this was some sort of sordid entertainment but to Leila it was a reflection of herself, something she hated.
"But look who finally enlightens us with his presence..." The high-pitched scream the kid let out forced me to put my hands to my ears. She leapt at Leila and clung with her life to Peeta's cuffed arm, almost making him drop his tray.
"Milly let go!" mumbled Leila yanking the little girl up. "Sorry Peeta" he just looked at her confused and then at us.
"Relax lover boy, you just met your biggest fan" Johanna teased.
"Milly, right?" Peeta took a seat even with the child trying to pass over Leila again.
"Switch with me, Leila," Milly demanded.
"Come on, get off your ass and leave his side before she has a fit" Apologizing with a glare at Peeta, Leila gave up her place to her sister, the latter was almost prancing in her seat giving that creepy stare down to the poor boy.
"So are you happy to be here?" asked Peeta uncomfortably without looking at anyone. The rest of us just watched in silence.
"Mm hmm. you know I saw you on TV?"
"Must have been boring."
"Peeta, did you manage to get the ingredients you were missing yesterday?" interrupted Leila. She shot me a worried look.
"Just a few, Max is going to try"
"I wiked your paintings" the little girl tried again.
"Which ones?"
"The ones you showed on TV. I wanted to come and meet you when you came to my distwict but Bob forbade it."
"Bob?" asked Peeta quizzically, externalizing my own thoughts. Why was the little girl calling him by his name?
"Yes Bob, and..." the brat's face lit up "did you mawy Katniss?"
"no" his answer was dry and direct
"Awe you sure?" the brat gave Katniss a quick glance.
"I think I would remember," Peeta replied unsure.
"mmm and is she your giwlfwiend?"
"no" replied Katniss and the boy in unison.
"That's weird..."
"Why do you say that?" asked Annie
"'cause she washed his panties, did you see it? "I covered my mouth to stop myself from laughing.
"how to forget it" Finnick laughed, followed by Johanna. Katniss blushed and Peeta wrinkled his forehead.
"and and and in the cave, did you see it, Leila?"
"What thing?" the redhead asked resignedly. Better to let the brat get all her gibberish out now.
"they kissed and they made out A LOT" exaggerated the brat. In my memories there wasn't that much action "and Katniss almost lost when she went to get the medicine for Peeta, do you remember?" Peeta frowned even more denying slightly " and and and then they slept together and and and" the little girl pouted "Lidi coved my eyes, said it was inappwopwiate and sent me to slweep"
"hardly" Johanna scoffed 'otherwise it would have given a very very different and hot meaning to the games" the giggles around the table were not long to come
"What does dat mean?"
"that they would do the next games in a desert" replied Leila quickly throwing a sharp look at Johanna
"so...do you love each other or not?" snapped back the girl looking between Peeta and Katniss. For the first time Peeta fixed his gaze on Katniss without rancor or hatred but something else was there, confusion? frustration? pain?
"Milly those are personal questions and it's not okay to ask them" Leila interrupted before either of them could answer anything.
"mmm okay. but do you have another giwlfwiend?"
"no. for the moment "Peeta replied darkly. This was the problem, the tone never matched his words, was he joking? did he mean it? the only one that confirmed his joke was Leila's giggle, who stopped dead in her tracks at her sister's next question
"Do you want to be my boyfriend?" Milly asked with an expectant expression.
"How jealous I am of you Peeta" Chase let out a laugh. Peeta took a quick glance at Leila and then at Milly, he let out a sort of snort-laugh.
"Sure" I could have sworn I saw the old Peeta right then and there.
"Come on Milly it's been long enough and you haven't tasted hardly any of your food" the brat ignored her sister and let out a giggle looking at Peeta and his tray.
"Do you know what a boyfriend and girlfriend do?"
"No you DON'T know" said Leila in horror.
"I do want to know" Johanna interjected excitedly.
"I don't know," said Peeta uncomfortably. The little girl smiled wider and raised her eyebrows comically pointing to his tray with her gaze. "Do you want my dessert?"
"yay! I love trreats" giggled Milly, taking Peeta's pudding and disappearing under the table. She 'reappeared' next to Annie and Finnick.
"Come back Milly you haven't finished eating yet" complained Leila.
"Neither have you," the sassy little girl replied. Well, she was right Leila had eaten almost nothing.
"Pass it to me, I'll give it to her" Annie offered. Resigned, Leila slid the little girl's tray over to Annie.
"you know Milly, since you like dresses so much I thought you might want to see mine, it was Katniss's" with those magical words the little girl's attention was on Annie.
"She gave it to you?"
"mm hm, as a gift for my wedding"
"wow a wedding! Who are you mawying?"
"Finnick "Annie said with a big smile, the brat looked at him in disbelief.
"yeah I don't believe it either" Finnick joked.
"Will we be able to see the dwess now?"
"not until you eat something" the girl bargained sweetly. Milly pouted
"I puked once and it wooked just like this" the displeasure at her words was general around the table.
"Milly, don't say that, it's not polite".
"But it's true, why can't we eat veal or chicken bweast in twuffles?" she complained again
"truffles? veal?" asked Chase with his mouth hanging open.
"all the time whenever I wanted, right Leila?" The aforesaid was crestfallen looking at her plate.
"That's because you haven't tasted your sister's cooking, you'll see tomorrow" said Johanna.
"if you accompany the vomit with bread it doesn't taste so bad" Finnick playfully poked her cheek.
"I can't. Bob says that bwead is for poow and ugly people" explained Milly
"Well Bob talks a lot of shit and you don't have to believe anything he told you" Johanna spat.
"Johanna!" I growled. The girl stood static with her mouth open looking at her sister and then nervously around.
"Milly, Johanna is right you can eat the bread, just try not to get messy" said Leila with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"plus Peeta did it, and it's good," interjected Katniss quietly.
" Okay, but I eat if Leila eats," the child bargained. We didn't need to be very smart to understand the girl's strategy; she must have known that her sister didn't eat much and therefore she wouldn't have to eat either.
"Sounds like a fair deal to me" said Johanna looking smugly at Leila. The latter with parsimony took her cutlery, and without any sign of the unpleasant taste of food, began to eat.
The next few minutes passed in total 'calm'. Milly engaged in banal conversation with Finnick and Annie, from time to time Johanna and Chase participated with their double entendre. Leila on the other hand just ate in silence. I wondered what was going through her mind. She took her pudding and passed it to Peeta, as he was finishing his plate.
"I'm sorry Milly made you uncomfortable" she squeezed one of his hands. Beside me Katniss with a heavy sigh left the table.
"you don't have to apologize for anything, she's just a kid," he huffed. "I doubt her reality is any more distorted than mine."
"Now that the circumstances are different, I'll be able to explain it better..."
"Leila stop worrying about the others and seize the moment. Will you go to the kitchens later?"
"Yes, I want her to meet Sae and the others," she smiled.
After eating I said goodbye to Leila, I knew that for today she was going to be quite busy together with her sister. I wasn't worried about leaving her alone since Johanna just for fun was going to be following Leila and Milly everywhere, even to the 'boring kitchens'. For my part I decided to voluntarily go and waste my time in Command. District 11 was apparently more than happy with the deal we had struck and the troops promised by them were at the disposal of 13. Keeping my promise to Ash and Bay, I informed them that the girl was fine and had been reunited with her sister.
When everyone said goodbye to go to sleep, I had no choice but to go to my compartment. I assumed that by this time Leila and the girl would have to be asleep, and I didn't want to disturb. Perhaps I could discreetly go in for my book and come back out. To my great surprise neither of them were sleeping, indeed Milly was running around jumping from bed to bed as Leila tried to negotiate with her to go to sleep.
"Tomorrow you have to get up early for school."
"No, I'm not going," the brat laughed. Five more minutes of jumping, screaming and playing was enough to confirm what I already suspected, Leila had no authority over the brat, on the contrary, whatever Milly wanted, Leila gave her. Taking control by myself, I grabbed the little one in my arms before she could reach my bed again.
"Hey! put me down!"
"no, your sister told you it's bedtime and that's what you're going to do" I put her on her bed.
"You don't boss me around," she complained, hiding in the corner of the bed, arms crossed and sticking out her bottom lip in a reminded me of Leila when I used to get on her nerves. I had to hold back my urge to laugh or I would lose credibility. "Leila, say it."
"Leila, you go to bed too" I looked at her seriously. She looked between Milly and me deciding who to obey. Biting her lip and without looking at her sister she went straight to our bed.
"I'm not tiwed," the girl grumbled again. I took the book that was on the table and handed it to her.
"then read something until you fall asleep" I was sure a book on psychology would be soporific enough to put her to sleep in a few minutes. She angrily took it and began to skim through it. I took off my shoes and lay down next to Leila with my back to the girl, it would be best to ignore her until she was asleep. Leila sighed and shot me a look listening intently for any noise her sister made.
The minutes passed and silence reigned, I could feel the victory in my pocket. BAM! I heard the book fall on the table.
"Did you finish reading?" I asked without turning around.
"no, I just wemembewed I don't know how to wead" . On any other occasion I would have laughed but now I just felt stupid. Leila was shaking with giggles trying not to make a sound.
"so count sheep" I snarled
"I only know how to count to 10" I heard her voice behind me.
"Then count many times to 10" I huffed. Still behind me and loudly she started counting, by the third round I was going to freak out but I wasn't going to let myself be beaten by a little kid. More time passed and she stopped counting, instead I felt a tug on my arm and a deadweight roll down my body until it fell in between me and Leila. Milly and Leila let out chuckles.
"you don't slweep eithew"
"no, but it's late, you have to try to sleep," she replied softly. I tried to get up from the bed but Leila stopped me with her hand, she stuck her body almost against the wall to gain more space.
"Will you come with me to school?"
"I'll just drop you off there in the morning and then Haymitch will come get you in the afternoon" the brat shot me a look. "you have nothing to worry about, you'll see, you're going to make lots of friends tomorrow, okay?"
Milly nodded "I love you so much, Leia."
"I love you so much too, my sweet baby."
It was no wonder the little girl got her way, she could be incredibly sweet when she wanted to be.