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Chapter 14

Haymitch lingered near the door, watching Effie as she stood over the incubator. There was a gleam in her eyes. Her mouth had parted slightly when she saw the baby for the first time. It was Eirene who guided her hand through the opening in the incubator and from then, she had let instinct take over.

Effie ran her finger gently over the girl's cheek, marveling at the softness of her skin.

"She's beautiful," she said softly, her voice carried towards where he was. "Have you given her a name?"

"Marilla," Eirene answered, "what do you think of it?"

Effie nodded with a smile. "I like it."

While the two sisters bonded over the infant, Marius wandered over to Haymitch. He nodded towards the door and Haymitch followed him out of the NICU.

"I found something about Omana. You are not going to like it."

"Other than the fact that she's a bitch?" he retorted. "Tell me."

"It's tragic. Her story."

"Yeah, we all have tragic stories. We don't go around being a thorn in someone else's side. What happened?"

"She was from District Two. Did you know that? Lost her child to the Games," Marius said. "The boy volunteered but it didn't mean his lost hurt her any less."

He didn't lose the Games. He died, Haymitch wanted to correct him but held his tongue.

"So she doesn't like anyone involved with the Games?"

"You could say that. Effie's fall from grace was not enough to tide her over. She offered Effie this option of surrogacy not to help. I don't think her intention was ever to help. I have not spoken to Omana, there is no need to let her know I am in on her so I am merely assuming, making best guesses. She might want Effie to feel what it's like to lose a child. That could have been her main motivation."

"And your wife?"

"The fact that Effie was carrying our child might have just been coincidental. There is no way to know until I speak to Omana. Do you wish to -"

"No. I don't think I want to be anywhere near her."

"What will happen to Effie once she's been discharged?" Marius asked, changing the subject. "Where will she go?"

Haymitch shifted his weight to one foot and leaned against the wall. "We haven't discussed it."

"So you have no idea if she will remain here in the city? You were going to take her with you to the district when you were both caught, yes?"

"Yeah," Haymitch affirmed.

"It is over now. What is stopping you from taking her home with you?"

Haymitch felt the prickled on his skin. He rubbed the back of his neck absent-mindedly. The very thought of taking her home with him had felt more and more like the right thing to do as they days grew by. His home wasn't her home. She didn't have one here either and it wouldn't have been wrong to offer the extra room in his house to her but things were changing now.

"She might not want to anymore," Haymitch shrugged. "She's found her sister. The baby she thought she had to give up turned out to be her niece. There's a tie there, a family link. They ain't strangers no more – the baby and her."

He searched Marius eyes for any signs or flicker of objections, if the idea of Effie being a part of his family's life was intolerable and he found none.

"Effie's got no reason to come with me anymore. She's got everythin' she needs right here. She's got no apartment or anything like that yet but I don't think that's gonna be a problem for her. She might use the money from this surrogacy to build her life back up."

"If she decides to stay here, she will have nothing to worry about. My wife and I will help. We have room in our house for her should she need it. We can help her look around for a place to stay if she wants it or help out with other finances until she's stable. We owe her."

"Yeah," Haymitch nodded, his fist clenched at his side, "yeah, that's good. She'll appreciate it."

He turned to look at her through the glass window and she raised her head at the same time. Their eyes caught. She smiled at him and he forced one of his face, hoping it didn't look too much like a grimace.

She could be happy now. She would be free from contractual obligations and her life would be her own. He would return to District Twelve, his duty to her now over. He had seen her through this pregnancy just like he had told himself he would.

XxX

"Oh, Haymitch," she sighed contentedly, "she's truly the most beautiful person I've ever laid my eyes upon and all she does is sleep!"

He nodded without truly listening. Effie was talking rapidly as she was prone to do when she had so much to say and when she was excited about one thing or another.

"She has the softest skin! Have I told you her name? Marilla – that's her name."

"Effie, we need to -"

"I just love watching her. I can do it all day. The way her eyelids flutter as if she's dreaming, the way her chest rise and fall. She's so precious, Haymitch. You should have come in with me. Eirene would have allowed it."

He ran a hand over his face.

"Sweetheart," he grabbed her arms to ground her. "We need to talk."

Her smile faltered and her expression grew somber.

"We need to talk about comes after this," he spoke. "We need to talk about you. What are you gonna do? Most importantly, where are you gonna go?"

He wondered if she had thought that far or if her mind was only filled with the baby. She stared down at the space between them, worrying her lips between her teeth.

"My sister has offered me her home. She told me that I'm welcome to stay for as long as I want, for as long as I need. I do not intend for it to be a permanent solution. I would like a place of my own, and I would like the three of them to grow as a family. It is only fair. It was why Eirene sought a surrogate in the first place – to have a family. But you see it, don't you, Haymitch? I will be close to Marilla in the meantime. I will be with her every day."

Haymitch released a breath. A part of him had expected this and yet, the blow still left him reeling.

"Yeah," he nodded, letting his hand fall to his sides, "the baby, of course."

"You're unhappy," she frowned. "She's like my own child."

"She's not," he said with a hard edge to his voice. "She's your niece."

"She's as good as mine. She's family."

He moved to the window and stared down at the streets below. He didn't want to argue with her.

"Where else will I go? Where else can I go?" she asked him finally, and he wondered if she needed to hear it from him, to know if his offer still meant anything.

"With me," he turned around, "to Twelve. Nothing has changed."

For a long time, all she did was look at him, studying him. "Why?"

"What?"

"Why are you offering your home to me?"

He chuckled darkly. "Come on, Effie," he said.

She should know. She should know. He didn't just do any of this for anyone. He didn't offer his home to just any woman.

She took a step towards him, moving closer and closer. The space between them shrunk until all that he was aware of was the blue of her eyes staring up at him and her warm breath blowing against his chin each time she exhaled. She tilted her head up. Her fingers crept and eventually curled around his wrist.

Haymitch rested a hand on her hip, inhaling the smell of cheap hospital shampoo on her hair.

This stance felt familiar. This felt exactly like it had in her room a few days ago when he had asked her to come with him, like he was asking her now.

Don't kiss me when you're going to push me away.

He had said that. He remembered telling her that.

He didn't want her to push him away and the thought brought a dull ache in his chest. He tried to form the words, to let her know the truth but he couldn't. He was never one to express his feelings.

He splayed his fingers on the small of her back to bring her closer to him. Her breath hitched and as he leaned forward, he saw the way her pupils had blown wide in anticipation. She knew what he was about to do and she didn't stop him. Haymitch brushed his lips against hers.

If this was it, he might as well seize it. The kiss turned rough and insistent, and desperate. He clutched her to him. He never thought he could crave someone's touch or needed to be close to her this much until now. He leaned into her palm when she rested it against his cheek. If her intention was to drown him, he would willingly let go.

Effie was the one to break the kiss. She leaned her forehead against his chin, fighting to get her breathing under control.

"Are you saying goodbye?" he asked.

She said nothing. The side of his shirt was fisted in her hand.

"I can't go back and forth between Twelve and the Capitol, sweetheart. I can't do it just to spend a few days with you and then go back."

"You did it for months."

"Yeah, I wanted to make things right with you. I left you in the Capitol twice and you're... I told myself I had to make sure you ain't on your own till you give birth and sort it out. I don't know. I was lookin' for ways to make it right, to make things right with you. Penance, maybe. Things are falling into place for you now, right? Your family's here."

She bit her bottom lip and he wished she wouldn't do that because he wanted to kiss her again.

"Your sister's husband... He's gonna bring somethin' against this company and Omana," he told her. "Might be good if you're here… You might need to give a statement or – "

"I don't want to have anything to do with this company anymore," Effie simpered. "I want to put it behind me. He can do what he wants. I want no part of it. I'm tired, Haymitch. I'm so tired."

"Come with me," he insisted.

"You'll come back to the Capitol for the Avox Rehabilitation Programme."

That was true. He could see her then except…

"That's not what I want. I don't want to spend a few days with you. You think that's going to be enough? I want all of it or nothing."

"That's not fair."

"I know," he agreed. "I am a selfish man. I've never gotten what I want, Effie, hardly. All I ask for now is you."

She pulled away from him and he figured that he had already lost her. He was too insistent. He had pushed her too far.

"Marilla's their child," she said softly. "I will be imposing on them."

"Yes," he replied far too quickly and he felt disgusted with himself.

At the core of it, perhaps he wasn't that much different that this facility. Manipulative.

"They need to spend time together as a family. Eirene would need to bond with her daughter and I …"

Her eyes hardened and Haymitch knew that look. It meant she had decided upon something and would see it through. It was a look that she shouldn't be trifled with.

"You will bring me with you when you return to the Capitol each month. I helped you with the Avox Rehabilitation Programme so I am a part of it just as much as you. I will come back and we'll be here for days, I can spend it with Marilla."

His gaze snapped to her. Was he hearing her right?

She approached him then and wrapped her arms around his waist. He was aware of her in his embrace but he was still too stunned.

"I don't want to lose you, Haymitch. When Omana found out about you, I was certain I will never see you again. I want to keep you both – you and Marilla – but she's not truly mine the way you can be. She's family. But you…. This will work out, it has to. It will work out."

"It will," he echoed, pressing a kiss at the crown of her head and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight.

XxX

Effie carried a bag containing her little belongings and a photo of Marilla still in the incubator in the pocket of her blouse. Eirene had promised to call every other day with updates and when Marilla could be discharged once she could breathe and feed on her own, Effie promised to visit. Eirene made him promise to visit, too.

The last they saw of Omana was when she came to Effie's hospital room with a cheque for her fees. Haymich had jammed his hands in his pocket to stop himself from strangling the woman, knowing that she would have her own justice later. The moment they board a train, safe from the vicinity of the City, Marius would talk to her.

As they stood at the traffic junction where they had first crossed paths waiting for the lights to turn green, Effie brushed her hand against him.

"Hold my hand," she requested.

He glanced over at her and slid his hand into hers.

They went back to the diner one last time because Effie was sentimental. She drank tea and he had coffee laced with whiskey.

"I will miss this place," she lamented.

He rolled his eyes. "We can always come back and have greasy food."

"Oh, I'd rather not," she huffed.

He couldn't help the small smile. At that moment, Effie sounded like the one he knew. It was a slow progress, but it was there.

"Finish your coffee," she instructed. "We have to be at the train station in half an hour."

"We have time."

"I know. I – I want to sit in the train before I change my mind."

He blinked, blindsided by that confession.

"Effie... ," he released a breath. "Look, if you don't want to come back - "

"I want to. I want go with you. I want to meet Katniss and Peeta. It's just... I don't trust myself. I should let my sister, her husband and their … child... grow as a family but a part of me yearns to stay and another…. I want to be with you," she reached out and squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I will come. Just get me to the train station."

And she did.

She alternated between watching the sceneries out of the window and sleeping on his shoulder. When they stepped off the train at District Twelve, she was quiet. Haymitch did most of the talking. He pointed to this building and that, to that shop and this shop. He told her of the changes to District Twelve over the past six years and when they came upon a familiar rode, he could tell she was relieved to see something that she recognised.

At the entrance of Victor's Village, Effie stood quietly. She squinted against the sun's glare at the blue house not far in the distance.

"Your house," she said.

He stood next to her, waiting until she was ready to step forward.

"We'll make this your home."

The words were spoken softly and this time, it was she who reached out for him, threading their fingers together.

"Home," she nodded. "Yes, I'd like that."

THE END.

I hope you've enjoyed reading That's Not My Baby. I thought I'll never see this story complete but I did it! Thanks for all the reviews and your support. Please leave a review one last time for this chapter. And do check out my new hayffie AU - The Corner Shop!