Stay with me, always.

Chapter 65. President Snow

February

"I think you look rather handsome in the black sir, after all, this is a formal event."

I tried not to roll my eyes as Atley said that as if I didn't know how formal and important this event was. I become President in two days, and I'm having a major wardrobe crisis.

Soarynn has been no help on the matter, she's even reminded me several times that she already has her outfit all picked out. Well good for her.

I frowned as I looked at myself in the full-length mirror, we were at one of the most expensive stores in all of the Capitol when it came to men's clothing. I got most of my clothes from here already, so when they offered to shut the entire place down so I could shop at my own leisure, I could hardly decline.

"What do you think sweet thing?" I asked, finding Soarynn in the mirror's reflection, still perched on the sofa they had outside of the fitting rooms. The staff had gone nuts trying to provide us with every possible luxury we could possibly need while shopping, warm cashews, sparkling water, and a foot massage.

Soarynn looked up at me, taking in my reflection, "I think you look very handsome Coryo, but I feel like you keep going back to the red suit you tried on earlier." I felt my cheeks turning pink, she had been paying more attention than I thought. "Bring out the red one again," I said.

A staff member scurried off to find the suit I had been drawn to since we first arrived. "What do you think of this for the crib?" Soarynn asked, flipping through pages of the catalog.

The catalog.

I was beginning to loathe that thing, it made everything so much more complicated. Since we had gotten home Soarynn and Mother had busied themselves with preparing for the baby, even though Soarynn was only about three months along in her pregnancy. There were so many things to worry about when it came to a baby, the clothes, the shoes, the nursery, the theme of the nursery.

I had to put my foot down when Mother had suggested demolishing a few walls to give the nursery a more " open floor plan feel ." Still, Soarynn seems much happier now, and that was all that really mattered.

"Oh, I love that one you know, Coriolanus had a baby blue crib, and everyone made fun of me for it but wouldn't you know that all the mothers started painting their cribs blue or pink soon after," Mother said rather triumphantly. Soarynn gasped, "Oh Coryo we should do that, instead of a pink or blue nursery we can just do the crib."

I tried to nod but it was hard with Atley jamming pins and needles into the collar of my suit, "Why don't we just find out the gender of the baby first," I managed to get out. Soarynn slouched on the sofa, "I know, it's just so exciting to think about," she gushed, showing Mother more pages of the catalog. We'd be having a small, intimate gender reveal party on the last day of March, which gave us a little over a month after my inauguration.

It had been like pulling teeth to get my inauguration moved up this early, but it would take place tomorrow on the fifteenth of February.

The past month had been a blur of meetings and preparation. For once, the house didn't need to be completely redone. After my inauguration was a small dinner with important diplomats and Capitol elites. I had been very busy getting to know so many faces, some new and some hazy in my memory. They all seemed to know exactly who I was, which was refreshing.

The other week I had been taken to the war room which I quickly learned was where all the important decisions were made by all the important people. I met several officers and officials, all men who immediately earned my respect. I was headed there after today's little shopping trip, I had to tie up a few loose ends so to speak and I felt that I had found a few people I could count on.