#my dog. my little baby puppy. is having trouble with his bladder i guess

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

I'm going levels of insane that I never thought possible.

[ellanainthetardis]

I know ff.net isn’t sending alerts but I still get reviews so... Be kind people and come scream at me when you’re done reading, I look forward to hearing from all of you! :p With love - your cruel author.

[FF] or [AO3]

15. Twenty-two Weeks

“Fucking piece of shit.” Haymitch muttered between clenched teeth, kicking the twisted pieces of metal that were left from the bed frame. The guestroom hadn’t been difficult to empty but the bed was reluctant to go – Haymitch had been trying to put it apart for days. They had resorted to painting with the thing abandoned in the middle of the room – well, Peeta had painted while Haymitch had fought with the bed.

The nursery’s walls were a very pale yellow with a large white band in the middle for the cartoonish animals Peeta was planning on painting. Haymitch had seen the thing on paper and he thought it looked okay – Effie had exclaimed and bounced on her feet for ten minutes like an overexcited five years old though, so he supposed it must be that good.

Snowball, who had been lying in the corridor – not being allowed anywhere near fresh paint to prevent Effie from having an aneurism at the thought of his fur getting dirty – suddenly jumped upright and ran downstairs, barking.  

Unsurprisingly, two minutes later, Haymitch heard the door opening and closing and Effie’s voice greeting the puppy as if they had been separated for months instead of a couple of hours. He had wanted her to take the dog but she had claimed it wouldn’t be practical since she had an appointment with Larcher and the dog would have had to remain alone outside the clinic – the tragedy.

He still didn’t like the idea of her walking around the District by herself for now but Katniss had gotten her from their house to the Clarkes’, he didn’t think she was at risk in daylight in the middle of town, and, if everything had gone according to plan, she must accidentally have met Peeta after her appointment at the clinic and he must have walked her home. Plus, she sounded alright.

His peace of mind restored, he resumed wrestling with the metal pieces.

“Haymitch?” she called, her voice coming closer. She popped her head in the nursery, a smile on her face, and it was his turn to jump upright and to – carefully but firmly – push her outside the room.

“Paint fumes!” he rebuked only to frown when he realized she was carrying a huge box. He immediately relieved her from it. “You can’t carry heavy stuff!”

She pursed her lips and shot him a very irritated look. “It is not that heavy.”

“You’re almost six months pregnant.” he snapped. “You shouldn’t be carrying anything.”

She blinked, took a deep breath and sighed. “My feet are swollen, my legs hurt, and Doctor Larcher just forbade me from drinking more than one cup of tea a day. I am too exhausted to argue with you.”

She turned on her heels and headed back downstairs, leaving him to follow with the huge box.

“Why’s that?” he worried. “Everything’s okay?”

“Yes, he is just concerned about anemia given that my eating habits are not exactly up to spar.” she confessed. “We should also eat more fish if we can find it.” He made a face behind her back, because fish wasn’t exactly his favorite dish, but whatever she needed he would not only get but submit to. She went on, oblivious. “Other than that, he says everything is more than fine. He is very happy with us.” They were almost near the living-room when she suddenly spun around and grabbed his arm, taking him by surprise and almost making him drop the box. “Oh, I saw baby Fanny! She is so adorable, Haymitch, so adorable… Such tiny fingers and toes… I want one.”

“One what?” he grumbled, adjusting his grip on the box. He hoped she didn’t mean a girl because he wasn’t sure he could handle the whole pregnancy thing a second time. At least not for a very long time.

“A baby, of course!” she exclaimed.

He rolled his eyes at her antics but couldn’t help a smirk. She had been in good spirits lately and it was nice to see.

“Good thing we’re having one then, yeah?” he mocked, setting the box on the coffee table. “What’s this, then?”

Snowball was barking in the kitchen and Haymitch shouted at him to knock it off but to no avail. The puppy kept barking and barking…

“He wants to go out.” Effie pointed out, glancing at the clock. “We are nearing his usual walking time.”

Only her would have that clocked to the minute, he thought.

“I’ll go in a second.” he grumbled, guiding her to the couch and forcing her to sit down. “What’s in the box?”

“I do not know.” she grinned, leaning in to tug the package closer, a bit handicapped by her stomach. “Peeta – who, by the way, I happened to run in just outside the clinic, you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you? – needed to swing by the post office and they had this for me. It’s from Mother.”

“Oh, boy.” he winced. “I’m out of here.”

It was probably dresses or wigs or whatever Elindra thought her daughter needed.

“Sit down.” she ordered, outstretching her hand, palm up. “Knife, please. In a minute, Snowball!”

The puppy appeared on the threshold, still barking, and Haymitch handed her his old hunting knife without a second thought. “Down, Snowball.”

The dog whined but lied down, looking troubled. Haymitch gave him a frown but soon turned his attention back to Effie who had managed to open the box.

“Oh, how nice!” she beamed.

The box was packed to the brink with stuff. They found several white plastic thingies that Effie identified as necessary items to baby proof the house – apparently they were for electric sockets and such and she hadn’t been able to find any in Twelve. There were several catalogues, furniture as well as baby clothes. She picked up a plushy looking sunny yellow blanket that she gushed over for at least two minutes because it would go perfectly with the nursery’s colors – and Haymitch had to admit the blanket was soft and warm and it would look nice in that room. Next was a brown teddy bear. And, at last, she took out a blue romper with a train traced in red glitter on the front and he fished out two small bootees from the box.

They were so small…  

“It is the first pieces of clothing he owns.” she whispered with a soft smile, placing a hand on her stomach. “Mother will be pleased to know she bought him his first outfit.”

He could have done without the glitter but it could have been worse. Clearly, Elindra was still determined to make an effort if she kept her Capitol tendencies in check.

He covered the hand on her stomach, looking for the now regular kicking. She complained he kept hitting her bladder and she needed to use the bathroom every fifteen minutes. Their son was very active and they were both happy about it because it meant he was healthy.

He pressed a kiss on the side of her neck, just because he could. And, since he could never stop at that, he dropped more kisses up the line of her jaw. She giggled and angled her head to give him access, dropping the romper back into the box and pushing it away. His hand brushed against her breast but he didn’t squeeze and he didn’t try to sneak it inside her bra – her chest had been painful again lately – he let it trail downward instead, running over her stomach and then on her thigh. The fabric of her dress wasn’t hard to push up but the stripped woolen tights she wore underneath proved to be a challenge…

“I do not think we can do that on the couch anymore.” she teased.

“Wanna bet?” he chuckled against her skin. “We just have to be creative.”

“I am a small whale.” she countered. “You will have to be more than creative.”

“Guess it’s good for you I like challenges.” he snorted, dropping to his knees in front of her.

“Haymitch…” she hissed when he tugged on her tights.

It took some maneuvering that would once have been sexy but that was now, out of necessity, more careful and practical. She worried about that, he knew, about him not finding her hot anymore because she couldn’t put up shows like she used to. He couldn’t care less. She was hot to him, whatever the shape.

“Lean back.” he instructed because he couldn’t work with her pregnant stomach hitting him in the face – and he would rather not think about her pregnant stomach because when he thought that their kid was in there while he was doing that, it peeved him out a little. He waited until she was lying down on the couch before dropping kisses on the inside of her thighs, rubbing his stubble on the delicate skin just like she liked it, letting her desire rise…

They had been together for so long that they knew each other’s body intimately. She could play him like a violin but turnabout was fair – so could he. He knew when to lick and when to suck, when to use his fingers and when to leave her hanging…

He made her beg twice before he granted her her release. He watched her ride it out on his fingers, smug and pleased by how readily she still responded to him. Her eyes were closed and she was panting hard when he took his hand away, licking his fingers clean without thinking twice about it before burrowing between her body and the back of the couch. It was a tight fit but it allowed him to hold her and that was all he wanted.

Her eyelids opened and he couldn’t help but lick his lips at the dark lusty shade her blue eyes had taken. She looked thoroughly debauched with her woolen tights down to her ankles and her dress bundled around her big stomach.

He was hard and he knew she could feel it poking her in the side. He didn’t protest when she sneaked her hand between their bodies and popped the button of his pants open. He didn’t protest either when her fingers crept inside his underwear. Her hand wasn’t his favorite way for her to get him off but it worked well enough anyway.

She kept her strokes slow, almost lazy, squeezing just enough to get him hot and bothered. She was torturing him on purpose.

“You’re cruel.” he mumbled in her shoulder as she steadily rubbed him toward a release he was now desperate for. When he truly couldn’t take it anymore, she sped up the pace. He came in his pants like a teenager and he didn’t even care.

It made her chuckle.  

“You do realize we won’t be able to do that in every room when the baby is here?” she hummed, nuzzling his cheek with her cold nose.

“He’ll stay a baby for a bit.” he grumbled. “Pretty sure he won’t know the difference.”

However she had a point. Once their son would be bigger… He imagined having a toddler around and found he didn’t quite know what to expect. Aside for Hazelle and Annie, none of his close friends had kids. He hadn’t seen Hazelle in years – since Gale had packed up and left for Two – and he had no idea how life was on a day to day basis for Annie.

He wanted to learn though.

He wasn’t sure he would be a great father but he wanted to try. His own dad hadn’t exactly been father of the year material and if he was sure of one thing it was that he would do everything differently. He intended to be there every step of the way.  He didn’t want to miss anything.

They shifted without really discussing it because their position on the couch was precarious. He lied down on his back, his back propped on the armrest, and she lied down between his legs. It allowed him to wrap his arms around her stomach. He liked the idea of hugging them both.

“I am terrified out of my mind still.” she confessed. “But I am really impatient to hold him.”

“Don’t be too impatient.” he chided her, pressing a kiss on her head to soften his words. “The shrimp still needs to cook yet.”

With every new week she was breathing a little more easily though, he could tell. One more month and they would be entering the third trimester and, soon, the baby would be viable even if he was born early. Nobody wished that, naturally, but he knew she was still worried about losing him and the knowledge that it was less likely to happen now – and that if it did happen, the kid would at least have a fighting chance – was a comfort.

“Will you rub my feet tonight?” she hummed, almost pleading.

Her ankles were starting to swell. She was heavier than she used to be and walking around with the thick coat of snow was more difficult for her than for anyone else. She only went out when she couldn’t help it.

“If you’re nice to me.” he teased.

“Wasn’t I just nice to you?” she purred. “Should I be nicer?”

The prospect of her being nicer wasn’t one he would have dismissed easily. His mouth found hers despite the awkward angle and for the following minutes, the only sounds were their kissing and the logs popping in the fireplace. It was peaceful and perfect and he was lost in the moment. The living-room was like a bubble. A safe warm bubble in which nothing existed but the other and the puppy who was aimlessly roaming the house.  

“I love you.”

He was barely aware of the words that passed his lips between two kisses.

She tensed and he tensed in answer.

For a second, they stared at each other and he wasn’t sure who was the more lost. Then, she relaxed and the smile on her lips… It was so tender and loving that he couldn’t breathe.

“I love you more.” she declared.

He had been ready to bolt but her words were so ridiculous that he scoffed and relaxed. “Everything has to be a competition with you.”

He let her coax him back into kissing and, for a while, they did nothing but that. He was dimly aware Snowball was growling in the kitchen but he figured the puppy really wanted to go out. The dog became cranky if they didn’t allow him to run for an hour or two in the evening.

He would take him out to the meadow in a minute, he promised himself – after a quick trip upstairs to shower and change – as Effie settled her head back on his shoulder, her nails pleasantly scratching his forearms.

“Have you thought about names yet?” she hummed, derailing his train of thoughts.

He realized he had been drifting off only because he suddenly opened his eyes at the sound of her voice.

“You’ve been.” he snorted. The books about names and their meanings had been piling up on her nightstand with her notepad on top. “Let’s hear it.”

“You will hate half of them.” she warned.

“Probably.” he shrugged.

“Adalberto.” She rushed the syllables out as if it would sound shorter that way. “It means noble and bright.”

“Too long.” he commented. “Too ugly.”

“Cleto.” she suggested next. “It is short for Anacletus but we can forego that if you would rather go with the shortest version. It means invoked.”

“Big fat no.” he answered.

“Eustorgio.” she replied. “It means to love, to be content.”

“Euphemia…” he taunted. “Do you hate our child?”

She whacked his arm with a pout. “Lio?”

He considered it for a few seconds. “Not the worst but…”

“You don’t like it.” she sighed. “Well… Do you have ideas?”

He hesitated. He had thought about it but his choices were more District oriented. “Fergus?”

She was silent for the longest time and then she scoffed. “You are not serious.”

“What’s wrong with Fergus?” he asked. “It’s a good name. Means man of vigor, I’ll have you know. There’s worse. Like Cleto.”

“Haymitch, only men who are a hundred are called Fergus.” she retorted.

“Men who are a hundred were babies once.” he countered defensively. And there were worse things than living old, he bit back. She should know better.

She rolled her eyes. “We are not calling our baby Fergus. What else do you have?”

“Kyran.” he mumbled. “Or Kieran.”

She didn’t dismiss it at once like he was afraid of.

“It is a strong name.” she hummed. “I will add it to the list of maybes.”

“’Cause we have a list of maybes?” he asked, lifting his eyebrows.

“We do.” she informed him. “Do you have another one?”

“Not really.” he shrugged. “We could go with Theo, you know. You wanted to name him after your grandfather…”

“I told you, Lyssa…” she argued.

“Yeah, but she used the full name, right?” he cut her off. “We can use the short one.”

She hesitated and then sighed. “We don’t have to decide today.”

“Or we can just call him Shrimp.” he snorted.

She strained her neck to glare at him but before she could open her mouth, Snowball started barking again and she let out a deep sigh. “Please, take him out. He is driving me crazy.”

“Yeah.” he caved in easily with a peck on her mouth.

He disappeared upstairs while she went to call her mother. She was still on the phone when he came back down, showered and wearing clean underwear. He crouched to fasten the sparkly blue collar Effie insisted Snowball should wear outside – in case he got lost – and then opened the back door. Instead of rushing out like he expected him to, the puppy ran to Effie and jumped around her as if he wanted her attention.  

Haymitch had to whistle three times before Snowball finally consented to come to him and he struggled to get him out of the backyard. The geese were honking wildly too, probably alarmed by the racket.

The trip to the meadow wasn’t a happy one. The coat of snow was impractical and the puppy kept stopping dead in his tracks to run back in the direction of the Village until Haymitch whistled him back. Snowball’s behavior was odd and he was starting to get a jittery feeling of impending doom.

At the puppy’s fifth attempt to flee, Haymitch caved.

It was stupid maybe but he almost ran all the way back. The dog’s antics, the geese honking… The closer he got, the more anxious he was. How long had he been gone? Thirty … Thirty-five minutes?

Rationally he knew he was likely to come home to Effie huddled on the couch under a blanket with her sketching pad on her knees or the TV on. He knew she would probably tease him about his hovering over her like a mother hen, she would mock him for being overprotective… He knew chances were everything would be fine because the kids were only on the other side of the street and there were neighbors now and…

The geese were still honking and Snowball aggressively started scratching the front door as soon as he reached it, growling and barking in turn.

Haymitch broke out into a full run and almost knocked the door off its hinges in his hurry to get inside.

One step was all it took for him to know Effie wouldn’t be on the couch and there would be no teasing.

There was an odd atmosphere in the house.

He faltered.

Snowball didn’t.

The puppy rushed into the living-room and barked in earnest. There was no growling now though only whimpers and whines.

Haymitch followed because he didn’t feel he had a choice.

And all he could see was the blood.