Pray for the Thunder // [Maverick&Topaz's Son]

life is bigger
it's bigger than you
and you are not me
the lengths that i will go to

Maverick Miles knew better than the average citizen how to tell a star’s power had begun to fade. It was subtle, at first just a little less interest in his social media postings, a slow down in the number of followers he or Topaz received. Then came fewer media requests, and more work, because his boss’ believed he had the time. There would still be flares of activity, especially around his daughters’ birthday and the Reaping. But those were an illusion of true power; the interest in their love story had been filed into an archive, replaced by younger, more unstable victors.

He hated it, even as he resigned himself to it.

Unlike the birth of the twins – which had been closely watched and blissfully heralded – no one even tried to photograph the birth of their son. Maverick glanced out the window of Topaz’s room at the hospital, expecting – hoping – to see a single camera lens. But there was none. They were utterly alone, with him trying to entertain his eight year old daughters while Topaz labored.

When he was born, pink and screaming, Maverick was the first to hold him. He unbuttoned his shirt and put the grasping infant to his chest. “Hello, my boy,” he said, and surprised even himself when tears lined his eyes. He’d wanted a girl and had dreamt of the doctors being wrong after the anatomy scan. But here he was, his very own son, and he couldn’t imagine wanting him to be any different.

After he gave him to Topaz and sent the girls home with their nanny, Maverick sat at the same window and admired the night sky. The stars burned, whether or not he acknowledged them. Instead of being like a star, he had to become one, to be bright and important, even if he became completely anonymous. But he would do everything in his power to keep that from happening.

The next day, he filmed the birth announcement of their son at home, and posted it to the Miles family site. He arranged Topaz, Media and March on the couch, waited for the perfect slant of light. He stood behind the girls, holding the blue swaddled baby, and right on cue spoke to Panem, “we’d like you to meet our son – Ross Miles. He was born yesterday at 10:52 p.m., and weighted over eight pounds. As you can see, Topaz is as strong as she’s ever been. From our family to yours, be well.”

The girls waved as the camera faded out.