Stay with me, always.

Chapter 56. Songbirds & Snakes

We could live down here I think. In the cellar.

We certainly have been spending a lot of time down here as of late, tearing a page out of Mother's book and drowning our sorrows in wine. It could be worse, it could be cheap wine.

The wine in these barrels has to be older than Father, and that's old .

Soarynn truly can fall asleep anywhere because right now she's curled up on the cold floor, her head in my lap, sleeping through the worries of today. It's been exactly one week since my birthday, since the wedding date was announced.

We were either fucking, showering, or sleeping when Mother announced it at the party. It apparently caused quite the stir, people were screaming and crying and passing out.

That wasn't the part that upset people. The citizens of the Capitol loved me and Soarynn, we were seen as their own son and daughter. However, the exclusive guest list for the engagement party caused quite a few arguments.

I personally was not sad to see a smaller guest list, the past few parties had been pushing capacity. This one would be in the afternoon, granted it would probably end at midnight, but that was fine with me.

As long as there weren't any acrobats.

The party was five days away and planning was in full swing.

Again.

Eudora has to be the perfect example of " do what you love, and love what you do ," because that woman hasn't dropped a beat since the Tour ended.

Mother seems to have brushed over the family room fight entirely, not mentioning it at all since it happened. But that's what our family is good at, forgetting things that are so blatantly obvious and will probably come back to haunt us when the time is right.

Soarynn's had a lot of fittings since my birthday party, for her wedding dress. I won't lie, I'm really excited to see what she chooses. While her dad isn't allowed to come, Soarynn put her foot down when it came to her wedding dress. She would be the one to choose it, no one else.

I expected nothing less from my girl.

She looks so angelic right now, her breaths deep and calm, no more night terrors plaguing her sleep. The night of my birthday I was a bit worried she might have a bad dream, that I might be the bad guy in it. But she slept like a rock, we both did, waking up around three in the afternoon.

Which might seem bad but our sleep schedule was nothing in comparison to Mother's. She waltzed into the dining room at a crisp six-thirty that evening, still wearing her robe and eye mask, not a recollection of what had happened the night before.

Like I've said before, it's the nights we don't remember.

Eudora had gotten enough rest for the entire city because she was already jumping on all of us about how important this engagement party was. Like we needed to be reminded. I knew she'd come tromping down here eventually, dragging us back upstairs for some more fittings and consultations.

The interviews have been held off until after the party, thank goodness. I honestly don't think I'd be able to answer one more stupid question without killing somebody.

And I'd be killing a lot of people once I became President, so I had to pace myself.

Sure enough, I heard Eudora precariously making her way down the cellar steps. There wasn't a railing for her to hold onto but it was amusing to watch as she held her hands out for balance.