#<- just to be sure I know labor can be triggering or squeamish for some ppl | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ellanainthetardis · 7 years

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Wind in the east, mist coming in... Is today the day, my friends?

[FF] or [AO3]

32. Forty Weeks

Effie made a face but she forced the spoon to her lips nonetheless and then swallowed everything only to start coughing like a madwoman. The yellow walls of the kitchen briefly blurred when the spicy flavor exploded in her mouth. Her eyes watered, she started coughing… But she soldiered on and took another spoonful of her homemade soup.

“The fuck are you doing up so early?” Haymitch grumbled, stumbling into the room half awake.

He was naked – because, as always when the weather started getting warmer, he didn’t like to be constricted by clothes when he slept. She let her eyes roam appreciatively on his body as she rode off the coughing, even as annoyed as she was that he kept to this improper habit of walking around without at least some underwear on – there had been numerous incidents of the children finding him like that, although they didn’t even blink anymore.

How he could still be somehow in shape was a mystery to her. He didn’t do much exercising and the drinking had taken its toll on his body. There was a small pouch of fat around his waist and his butt wasn’t as firm as it used to be. Still, a few months of being forced to follow a healthy diet because of her pregnancy and the actual sobriety had done him some good. He had lost some weight, helping Peeta at the bakery had developed some muscles, and the sight of a naked him was still enough to give her ideas.

Even as she was coughing to death.

“Language.” she managed to croak, bringing the spoon to her lips for the third time.

He grabbed her wrist before she could put the thick red soup in her mouth.

“The fuck is that?” he frowned. His eyes were bright, the smell enough to make them itch.

“Language.” she insisted. “And, truly, how many times will I have to tell you to put on some pants when you get up, Haymitch?”

She tut-tutted but he wasn’t so easily distracted.

“Effie.” he snapped impatiently, now completely awake if not a bit wary.

“I read spicy food can trigger labor.” she admitted in a sigh.

“Larcher told you…” he started but she didn’t let him go very far. She knew that tune by heart, she had been hearing for days.

“Larcher told me to be patient, yes, I remember.” she hissed. “Well. I have been patient. But I am done. I want coffee. I want eggs. I want… I want not to feel like this anymore.” Tears burned her eyes for reasons that had nothing to do with the soup. “I am tired. I am so, so tired.”

She was well past her due date. She was supposed to have given birth on the third week of April and now May was about to start and there was still no baby. She felt huge and heavy and it was simply too much.

Besides, if Aidan still refused to come out by himself in a few days time, Larcher had warned her there would be no other choice but to bring her in at the clinic and medically induce labor. She really, really didn’t want to give birth at the clinic.

Haymitch pursed his lips but didn’t outright disapprove. He distractedly rubbed her shoulder, studying the red soup with doubt written all over his face.

“What’s in there?” he asked.

“Tomatoes and some cayenne pepper.” she explained.

“And where did you get that?” he snorted. “Sneaking behind my back, are you?”

“Eileen brought it.” she pouted. “She understands.”

He rolled his eyes but dragged back a chair to sit next to her. She almost told him not to sit on chairs that other people would use while naked but then thought better of it and dropped the matter. There were more urgent concerns.

“You’re sure it’s not dangerous?” he insisted.

She shook her head. “Not according to the books. There are different tricks but everyone seemed to agree it was the most efficient one.”

He looked more curious than worried now. He stirred the soup and brought the spoon to his lips, barely poking at it with his tongue only to immediately make a face and place it back in the bowl. “And that’s working?”

“If the desired result was to make me feel ill, it would certainly be working.” she huffed. “As far as triggering labor goes though…”

She pushed the bowl away with a disappointed pout.

He covered her hand on the table and squeezed her fingers. “It’s gonna be okay, sweetheart.”

“Easy for you to say.” she hissed, pushing herself to her feet. The strain on her back… And the size of her… She had already designed a program to get back in shape after the birth – not that he was aware. She groaned and placed both hands on her stomach when Aidan kicked her. “I want him out.”

“I know, Princess.” he winced. “Not long now.”

“You have been saying that for more than a week.” she accused before dismissing it with an angry wave of her hand. “I will go check everything is ready in the nursery.”

“You’ve checked that a million times already.” he scoffed but, faced with her glaring, he lifted both hands in front of him. “Fine, fine… Check away.”

“You should get dressed.” she advised, certain one of the children would wander in before long. They didn’t want to miss anything. Katniss was squeamish about the whole thing but she wanted to offer her support – which Effie appreciated. As for Peeta, he had made it clear he would sit the whole thing out in the living-room and intended to be the first to be introduced to their family’s new addition. “Where is Snowball?”

“No idea.” he shrugged. “Thought you had let him out.”

“No.” she frowned. “He must be around somewhere.”

“Yeah.” Haymitch answered distractedly, standing up to go straight to the coffee machine.

She left with a huff, irritated by his insensitivity. She loved coffee. He knew how much she loved coffee. And there he was, making himself a cup even though she couldn’t drink it because he had put a baby in her.

The stairs were hard to manage but she forced herself to go through with it. She had been pushing herself to go up and down a few times a day for two days because she had read exercise was another way to trigger labor. Walking around helped, apparently. Something to do with gravity.

It wasn’t helping her.

She had to stop three times during her climbing to catch her breath, leaning heavily on the banister. She didn’t have the smallest of contraction.

The nursery’s door was open when she was certain she had shut it the night before. She pursed her lips and pushed it wider, not at all surprised to find the puppy lying on the cream rug next to the crib. He hadn’t stolen another stuffed toy though, so she supposed they were making some progress.

“What are you doing here, my pretty baby?” she coaxed as the dog immediately jumped up and ran to her to properly greet her. She bent in two to pat his head, her free arm wrapped around her stomach because it felt as if she would either lose it or tilt over. “Are you impatient too? You are, aren’t you?” Snowball barked once, always joyful, pushing her hand with his head, eager for attention. It made her smile. “You want a friend to play with…”

“Maybe we should get another dog.” Haymitch snorted, leaning against the doorframe.

He was still naked and he was sipping from a mug full of coffee.

For both offenses, she shot him another glare.

“The house will be full enough as it is.” she declared. Snowball scampered off to Haymitch and she turned away to inspect the clothes she had left out on the white dresser. The blue romper embroidered with Aidan on the front was waiting next to the cat ragdoll Haymitch had brought with him to Four. There was a cute matching blue beanie and a soft baby blanket she had knitted herself especially for him to be wrapped in right after the birth… Everything was ready and… “I just want to hold him.” she whispered.

The mug of coffee was placed on the dresser – far enough from the clean clothes that she didn’t make a fuss – and arms were wrapped around her. She relaxed against his chest, resting her head against his when he propped his chin on her shoulder.

“Just think he’s got a good sense of irony already.” he teased. “Remember how scared you were of not carrying him to term?”

“It is not funny.” she complained.

“It’s a little bit funny.” he argued, pressing a kiss against the side of her neck.

She hummed but didn’t commit to anything. Perhaps there was an ironical twist to this but… She wasn’t about to admit it.

“Don’t you want to hold him?” she insisted.

He hadn’t been very vocal about his own impatience. Ever since what she had taken to dub the king of nightmares and their following conversation…. She had felt better about what would come. Haymitch would be there and they would be fine. They would be together. They would both make sure nothing – and neither of them – would harm the baby. It made her feel more at peace.

Haymitch though…

She was certain he was having quiet panic attacks every time she wasn’t around.

“Sure, I do.” he mumbled, his thumbs drawing random patterns on her stomach. “I just hope I don’t screw up, that’s all.”

“You won’t.” she promised.

He remained silent for a moment and then he pressed another kiss against her neck.

“All this waiting… It makes me crave a fucking drink.” he confessed. “I’m… Yeah. It’s been a bit of a problem for a week or so…”

“But you won’t relapse.” she declared. “I know you won’t.”

Her calm confidence seemed to do the trick. He relaxed.

“I don’t deserve you.” he muttered. “Or any of this.”

She nuzzled his cheek with her nose in rebuke. “We have to stop thinking like this. You and me both. It is not healthy and our child will need a healthy environment. Whatever we do, whatever happens, he has to come first now.”

“He already does.” he countered, turning his head to steal a kiss.

He had intended it to be sweet, she figured, but she deepened it. She reached behind her for his nape and urged him closer until she felt breathless.

“You know…” she grinned, pressing herself harder against his naked body. “Sex is another good way of getting things to move along…”

He snorted against her mouth but angled his hips away. “I’m so not going to fuck you when the kid could pop out any second.”

“Are you saying you do not want me?” she argued, a touch of steel in her voice. She captured his mouth again, using tongue and teeth and everything that usually made him cave to her wishes.

“I’m saying I ain’t risking it.” he grumbled.

“It has been weeks.” she snapped. “I want to have sex, Haymitch.”

She wanted sex almost as much as she wanted coffee.

“We couldn’t make it work even if we wanted to.” he countered. “Come on… Be reasonable.”

“Reasonable?” she growled, drawing back to glare at him.

He stepped back – and almost tripped over Snowball who had dutifully lied down at his feet – both hands up once more. He did that a lot. Trying to appease her by lifting his hands in the air…

“You’re all hormonal.” he accused.

“I am ready to burst.” she hissed.

“Yeah. Precisely.” he shrugged. “Look, once the shrimp is out…”

“You do realize it will be some time before we can actually have sex once the baby is born, yes?” she retorted. She narrowed her eyes at him with a huff. “If ever.” She eyed him up and down, her lips pursed. “Go get dressed then. And take your coffee with you. It is cruel to taunt me with things I cannot have.”

“So thirsty for me, Princess.” he mocked gently, snatching his mug back and disappearing in the corridor.

She dropped in the rocking-chair, feeling a bit dizzy. The baby was moving left and right, kicking her every organ. Snowball rested his head on her leg with a small whine, as if to commiserate, and she scratched his head. “Your owner is the worst husband.”

She stayed like that for a while, distractedly petting the puppy, lightly rocking… She must have fallen asleep because next thing she knew, she opened her eyes and the sky was a light grey. She watched the drops of water run down the windows for a few minutes, trying to figure how long she had been napping.

Her body was all stiff when she finally gathered the strength to get up. Snowball was nowhere to be found so she supposed he was downstairs, next to the fireplace where he liked to lounge around when the weather didn’t allow him to go out – and she hoped he hadn’t been allowed to go out because she wasn’t in any mood to wash mud off his fur.

The corridor to the stairs felt endless and she had to stop several times to take a breath because Aidan was kicking hard. The actual stairs took her ten minutes but she eventually made her way to the living-room.

As she had thought, Snowball was sprawled in front of the fire, munching on a chewing toy shaped like a bone. As for Haymitch, he was lying on the couch, an arm folded behind his head, watching a news channel on TV.

“Anything interesting?” she asked. He didn’t watch TV often, that was more her thing. He preferred books to movies and only humored her in watching when he wanted to do something nice for her – or with her. He occasionally checked news channels though.

He glanced behind him and immediately stood up to help her to the couch. She argued that she didn’t need it but she was relieved to be able to lean on him.

“Not really.” he eventually answered, fishing the remote from the coffee table for her. “Some new laws about mining regulations… Good stuff.”

“That is nice.” she approved and he nodded. He liked President Paylor, she knew, not only as a politician but as a person. It was a comfort to him to know they hadn’t gone through the whole thing in vain.

“I’m done though. You can have the TV.” he shrugged. “You missed the kids… You’ve been asleep a while.”

Her eyes immediately darted to the clock and her eyes widened when she realized it was past noon. She must have been more tired than she had thought. “Has it been raining long?”

She mindlessly surfed through channels until she found a show she liked but she lowered the volume so it would only be a background noise.

“It comes and it goes.” he offered. “You know how it is in April.”

“April showers.” she hummed. “Would you be a darling and fetch me some tea?”

His grey eyes, so similar to the sky at that moment, twinkled with amusement. “You know… When this pregnancy is over… I won’t be your personal slave anymore… Sure you want it to end already?”

She grinned and lifted her left hand to show him her wedding ring. “I am your wife, I do think that means you have to do whatever I say.”

He chuckled. “I knew I should have read the small prints.” He leaned in to peck her lips and stood up, immediately catching the dog’s attention. It made him roll his eyes. “Yeah, okay, time for you to eat.”

Snowball barked and bolted upright, scampering out of the room and to the kitchen faster than you could say food. It made her laugh.

“We really ought to watch him. It won’t be good for him to get fat.” she warned.

“I’ll let him out as soon as the rain clears again.” Haymitch offered. “He can burn out the calories playing with the geese.” He waved that away. “What do you want for lunch? I was waiting for you.”

“Oh… I don’t know.” she winced, rubbing her stomach. “I am not very hungry. He keeps kicking me… It makes me feel nauseous.”

He didn’t look pleased with that. “You should eat something anyway, sweetheart. The spicy shit can’t have fed you much. Tea and what? Toasts?”

She sighed but knew it was useless to argue. “Toasts with orange jam? Oh, and use the raspberry leaves for the tea, please. It is supposed to induce labor too.”

If he thought she didn’t see the slightly mocking smirk, he was mistaken. She chose not to call him out on it because she was tired and not quite refreshed by that nap. She settled as comfortably as she could on the couch, keeping her eyes on the TV but actually listening to the banging of cupboards in the kitchen. From time to time, she glanced through the window at the stormy sky. The rain, as Haymitch predicted, stopped after a few minutes and she heard him let the puppy out in the backyard.

She just hoped Snowball would have the good sense of not jumping in puddles of mud.

It didn’t take very long for Haymitch to come back with a tray loaded with tea, some orange juice – because he argued she needed the vitamins – and a pile of toasts with jam. She nibbled on the food and sipped the bitter tea but couldn’t quite shake the nausea. Perhaps the spicy soup hadn’t been the best idea after all.

It was a quiet afternoon.

Haymitch was reading, she was watching TV, the dog was very busy trying to snap his chew toy in half…

Haymitch kept tossing her glances though and, after a while, she couldn’t take it anymore. “What is it?”

“Just wondering… This tea… It’s working?” he half-asked, half-mocked.

“Oh, hush, will you.” she huffed.

She pointedly ignored him after that.

Around four, the rain started getting bad but Effie was warm and content in her cocoon. She had pulled a blanket on her lap and Snowball had curled up on her feet. She dozed off a little.

Only to spring awake when thunder boomed.

For a second, she thought it was the noise that had alarmed her but she soon realized she wasn’t the only one it had startled. Aidan was kicking like crazy and she groaned, almost doubling over in pain.

“Hey, you’re okay?” Haymitch immediately worried, crossing the room to reach for her.

“Well… Our son doesn’t like lightning storms.” she informed him, rubbing her stomach. “I think he is scared.”

“Breathe.” he ordered her. “You know… The way you hate.”

She rolled her eyes but followed his advice, taking in a deep breath only to let it out in small puffs. The kicking calmed down and she relaxed.

Lighting flashed in the room.

“Alright… Alright…” she hummed, still stroking her stomach. “There is nothing to be scared of now. It is just…”

Thunder boomed once more and, this time, she couldn’t help a short scream. The pain was…

“Effie…” Haymitch called, squeezing her hand, worry clear in his voice.

“I am fine.” she promised through clenched teeth. “I am fine. Help me up, would you? Perhaps if I walk around a little…”

The second he managed to haul her up, she felt something sticky and wet flood between her thighs. They both stared at the puddle on the floor with something akin to panic and disgust.

“Okay.” Haymitch said eventually. “Okay. Maybe that tea wasn’t such a joke after all.”

“Never mind the tea, it was the thunder.” she hissed. “We need to get the plastic sheets on the bed.”

“We need to call the midwife and Larcher and told them your water broke.” he corrected. “Sit back down, I will…”

“No! It will leave stains on the couch.” she argued. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking we’re having a fucking baby so who cares about the couch?” he spat and then his eyes widened and he turned so pale she was afraid he would faint. “We’re having a fucking baby.”

“Do you need to sit down?” she asked, a tad ironical.

She wasn’t expecting him to actually flop down on the couch.

“We’re having a fucking baby.” he repeated, sounding so lost it might have been funny in another setting.

“Would you stop…” she started chiding him only to be hit by a contraction. She groaned and clenched her jaw in pain, trying to breathe through it. It didn’t seem to disturb Haymitch who was completely frozen, staring at her as if he had never seen her before, still absolutely too pale. “For the record, I thought you were good in times of crisis.”

She waddled to the hall, helping herself on the furniture and the walls, aiming for the phone in the kitchen. He caught up with her as she was unhooking it.

“We’re having a baby.” he said again.

“Yes, we are.” she hissed. “Do snap out of it.”

The panic on his face slowly morphed into an ecstatic smile and she couldn’t help but smile back.

“We’re having a baby.” he whispered.

“We’re having a baby.” she echoed.

For a second, she was almost euphoric.

Then another contraction hit and all she felt was pain.

#hayffie #effie trinket #haymitch abernathy #april showers

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