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A year ish after the war had ended, it was July 4th again. Haymitch woke up and headed down the hall. He looked out the window, expecting to see Capitol hovercraft and the town setting up in the distance for the reaping. Only, he had to remind himself that…there was no more reaping anymore. That his birthday would be just that. His birthday., a day where he could just exist. Even then, he still had a bit of skepticism. If he learned anything through the years, nothing was ever just given to him without any consequence. Even so, he forced himself to shove those feelings down for today.
“This won’t ever stop being weird,”. He mumbled to himself.
When he heard a knock at the door, he saw Peeta walk in with a birthday cake.
“Happy birthday, Haymitch”. He had said.
Haymitch nodded in acknowledgement and went over to see what the cake had looked like. Chocolate. Something simple with the words “Happy birthday Haymitch” written in blue frosting. A few moments later, the door opened again and Katniss walked in with a basket.
“Goose eggs,”. She said
“Not for eating, for raising. I raided several nests so they would breed well…”
Haymitch raised his eyebrows,
“Is this supposed to be a joke, sweetheart?” He had told them about Lenore Dove and her geese, amongst other things that just started spilling out of him.
Katniss shook her head. “No? I thought it would be a good birthday present,”.
Haymitch rolled his eyes. “Thanks,” he finally said, taking the basket. “How are we supposed to incubate them anyway?”
“I could probably come up with something,”. Peeta shrugged, taking another plate that Haymitch hadn’t noticed.
“Corn bread?” He finally saw what it was. Peeta nodded and handed him a piece. “Here. It’s fresh.”
Haymitch sat in a chair at the table. He set the goose egg basket down and took a bite of the cornbread and nodded. It was good. He got a slice of cake and sat back.
—
Peeta managed to find a way to incubate the goose eggs. Around a month later and he was watching as five baby geese were waddling around near his feet. Haymitch sighed a bittersweet smile on his face, watching as they ran around. He could never have imagined a birthday without a reaping. A day where he would just be able to exist.