"We loved with a love that was more than love." - Edgar Allen Poe
I stood in the foyer, beaming at the maids and butlers bustling about the palace as they prepared for the festivities that night. Silvia came running down the steps toward me and I smiled knowingly at her, waiting for her to approach me. "Your Majesty, we have the food prepared to taste for your final approval," she approved. Of all of the perks from being queen, this was by far my favorite. It was definitely my favorite part of preparing for parties and balls.
I followed her down to the kitchen and stood before her and the cooks. I caught Paige's eye from where she stood and winked subtly before turning to the food. I surveyed the drinks first. "Well I'm going to have to leave the wine and champagne for you all to approve seeing as I can't drink any," I joked. The food, as always, was magnificent. A combination of my favorites and Maxon's favorites along with some other food that was complementary. "You did a superb job, Delilah. I trust the rest of it will be ready for tonight?"
"Yes, ma'am. We just wanted your final approval," she said from her position by the stove.
"Well, you have it now so you can get back to work." I turned and walked out of the kitchen and went back upstairs. Silvia and Paige followed me, waiting for instructions. "You ladies are dismissed for now. I am sure that you can handle the rest?"
They both nodded and curtsied. I watched them go before heading upstairs to the third floor to hopefully find Maxon. I heard it before I even came to the third floor landing. The loud squealing that belonged to only one pair of infant lungs. They got progressively louder as I kept walking down the hallway toward the nursery. I recognized them as my daughter's because if I was being honest with myself, Shalom never cried.
I opened the door and was greeted by one of the sights I loved most: Maxon, rocking Amber around the nursery. He was trying his best to placate her but his efforts were to no avail. He saw me and looked relieved, a smiled stretching over his face. "She's hungry. Once again, your breasts win out," he teased. "Not that I can argue with that philosophy."
I rolled my eyes but smiled at the joke anyway. "Right on schedule, as always." I took Amber from his arms and walked to the rocking chair by the windows. Shalom was wide-awake in his crib and giggled when Maxon leaned over to pick him up. "I should probably feed him as well. Then they could at least sleep for a few more hours. I hope you weren't pulled away from a meeting because of her."
Maxon shook his head, sitting in a chair opposite me and staring down at his son. "Not an important one, anyway. Just more bickering over who should be heir," he said. I sighed and rested my head against the back of the chair. Amber has been so fussy lately that I've been spending the majority of my nights in the nursery trying to get her to sleep. Of course, her crying then wakes up Shalom and so I have two babies to put to sleep. Maxon does what he can but I know that his sleep is important to him. With me taking time away from being queen it's even more important that he is on top of his work. "It's ridiculous that you're still working today. You have enough to handle with Amber and Shay."
"It's fine. Can you burp her so I can feed him?" I asked, holding Amber out to him. We traded babies easily, this being almost a ritual for us. "It feels good to be back at work. And I wouldn't want to come back for anything but our anniversary ball."
He rolled his eyes. "An anniversary ball. What a ridiculous idea. As if our spring isn't busy enough. Do you realize that next year we are going to have your birthday, the kids' birthday, Kota and Daphne's wedding, and then our anniversary?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if May gets engaged some time in there as well with the way her relationship with Beckner is."
"Yeah, well, I hope they date another few years before they get engaged."
I smiled fondly at him. "Coming from the man who proposed to me after how long, five months?"
"No," he argued. "You know I tried my best to make it two months." I laughed and shifted so Shalom would rest more comfortably in my arms. Feeding two babies was so exhausting. I really had to look into bottle-feeding them so that Maxon could help.
"In any case, Beckner is a great guy for May. And one of us Singers has to marry a Leger," I teased though I regretted it when I saw the shadow of grief pass over Maxon's face. Sometimes he could take jokes concerning my relationship with Aspen but other times he was more sensitive. There was no way of knowing and I really should just stop making jokes about it at all. "Sorry," I mumbled, not wanting to disagree with him today.
He shrugged and was about to say something when Amber spit up, completely missing the cloth on his shoulder and dripping down his back. "My tailors are going to need a triple bypass within years if I tell them that one of the twins spit up on my coat again."
"Maybe Amber is just trying to tell you to go back to dressing more casually around the palace," I teased.
"If I'm going to tell the advisors that we don't have an heir, I at least want to look professional," he said. He sighed and shook his head as he rocked Amber. "I don't know America. Maybe we should just let her be queen."
My shoulders sagged. "Maxon, we've talked about this. We agreed that when they're old enough, they'll decide."
"I know that but what if, heaven forbid, something does happen to us? What then?" he asked me.
"Then it's their responsibility to step up." I leaned my head to one side. "Please, I don't want to argue about this today. Today of all days."
He nodded, a small smile tugging at his lips. Amber was falling into a satisfied sleep so he laid her down gently in her crib. He took Shalom from me to burp him for me. I pulled my legs up underneath me to curl up in the chair and watch him. Right now, with both babies only being a few months old, it seemed ridiculous to decide which one would be the heir. Their personalities were only just starting to emerge. What if we make the wrong choice?
"You should sleep before the ball tonight," Maxon said. Shalom burped loudly, making us both smile. I stood up and peeked over Maxon's shoulder at Shalom. He was a bit smaller than Amber and I sometimes worried about his placidity.
I walked over to the changing table to organize the stacks of diapers there. "I'm fine. I slept in this morning."
"Twenty minutes doesn't count as sleeping in," Maxon told me. He put Shalom in his crib and walked up to me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and pulling me into his arms. "You need to sleep at some point. Not even you are invincible and capable of living with no rest."
I smiled and breathed in a full breath of his cologne. "I guess I could spare a couple hours."
"Take a nap for a couple hours. Then you can wake up and get the kids asleep enough so that we can enjoy tonight with as few interruptions as possible."
I raised my eyebrows and looked at him. "Big plans for tonight?"
He shrugged and looked at me with a smirk. "We haven't made love since before the twins were born. And, seeing as it's our third anniversary…"
"Well we'll just have to see, won't we?" I teased, squeezing his hand and walking to my room to take a nap.
The ball turned out to be fantastic, as always. I hadn't expected anything less from my staff. It was nice to have a party celebrating Maxon and I because it gave us the excuse to spend the night attached at the hip. Birthday parties were full of friends and family and it would be bedtime by the time we could spare a moment. Our birthdays were starting to get monotonous anyway so we were ready to faze them out. Maxon really just wanted to make sure I had a nineteenth birthday party but since then neither of us has seen a big need for a grand celebration. Especially now when the twins' birthday would no doubt overshadow mine.
Still, it was late in the party by the time we got a dance to ourselves. Forgoing rules of propriety, Maxon pulled me close, one of his hands much lower on my back than what was considered socially acceptable for the king and queen. I could feel desire pouring out of him everywhere we touched.
He smiled at me as we slowly spun in a circle to the music. "Thank you," he said to me suddenly.
"For what?" I asked. The world had faded away, as it always did whenever he and I got to share a dance.
"For this life," he answered simply. "I chose you at the beginning of the Selection; I just had to wait for you to choose me. If you hadn't chosen me, I would have had none of this. I wouldn't have a wonderful wife whom I adore, I probably wouldn't have this strong country…I wouldn't have the two beautiful babies sleeping upstairs. I am out of my mind in love with you and I plan on staying that way."
I blushed, so flattered that I had to look away. When I looked back at him, I had tears in my eyes. "Is it too early for us to skip out?" I asked.
"It is our party," he pointed out.
I nodded, smiling evilly. "Let's go."
We snuck out one of the service entrances to the Great Room and ran up the passageway to our room, giggling like children the whole way. It wasn't possible to love someone this much. Not at my age, not after being a Five for seventeen years. I was lucky to love Aspen. Love wasn't something that Fives could really afford. To think that I had found true love in a One…it was remarkable.
Our clothes were shed in record time with the exception of my heels. For some reason, Maxon had an obsession with my feet. He always took special care in removing them, kissing a path around my ankles. His lips tickled my sensitive skin, drawing a hysterical giggle out of me. He looked up from my leg to meet my eyes and our faces grew serious. I moved forward so I could kiss him, his lips smelling like my foot lotion, and so I could show him just how much he meant to me.
So obviously I decided to stick with my own storyline. It seemed to be unanimous!
Man, I apologize because this is a super short, super awkward filler chapter. I just didn't want to skip ahead a year or so right after the birth of the babies. Plus, the end of this chapter is a good place to leave off of before visiting our favorite couple again in a year. I do say in the summary that this isn't a legit story in that there is a clear sequence of events; this story will skip ahead a bit.
Anyway, I know that a chapter that's under 2,000 words sucks, especially seeing as it's been 11 days since I last updated. Golly, y'all don't know, I feel awful and I do not have an excuse. I've been fangirling over the Mockingjay trailers, working a bit on a Hunger Games fic, it was Halloweekend in State, and working on my current novel in addition to, you know, real life. Which, might i just say, can really suck sometimes.
*takes deep breath* I promise that the next chapter will be over 3,000 words. probably a lot more than that but i don't know for sure.
Abby Queen of the Lab: thank you! i cried a little bit when i was writing it! it was so interesting to get into Maxon's head and also surprisingly easy. though i don't know him as well as Kiera Cass does, i have a feeling that his emotions regarding America's life would be similar if she were to write that scene in his point of view.
Guest: I'm not focusing a lot on Aspen and Lucy. I know you want to know more about them but in all honesty, as much as i've read the trilogy, i still just can't get a read on their relationship and i don't feel comfortable writing about them. whatever you get about them is through America. sorry!
winterprincess: aw, thanks for coming here though! long reviews are great. it's like we're best friends but not! haha. if that makes sense. i'm still excited for the Heir. as much as i wish we were getting more Maxerica we don't know that there won't be any! we may get some bits and pieces about their life together! plus, it's Kiera Cass. how could us true Selectioners not love anything she writes? all i know is that i'm not readying any Maxerica-baby-fanfiction until May!
Weatherbug02: dance party! thanks for coming here for the celebration! i was fangirling quite a bit in my dorm. my roommate probably thought i was insane! (more insane than she already thinks i am) I was Katniss for Halloween and i bought this plastic bow and arrow toy from WalMart and had target practice in our dorm room. so if she didn't think i was crazy before...oh and i knew that his birthday was toward the end of August i just didn't know the exact date!
Someone the World Forgot: YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH TROUBLE AMBER IS GOING TO GET INTO. BE EXCITED. AND BE READY FOR OVERPROTECTIVE, OVERBEARING, DISAPPOINTED DADDY MAXON.
The One Forever: me too! so cool that the twins are finally here but the hard part for me will be dealing with two more characters now!
Guest: just wanna let you know, my sister and i both have red hair and brown eyes and look extremely similar (look at my prof pic if you don't believe me). and i did say in their descriptions that they have different facial features. their hair and eye color are the only two similarities. but i'm obviously not as smart as you are in the world of twins, despite the fact that i had a twin brother and we both had red hair and brown eyes as well. wow, three siblings with red hair and brown eyes? how rare! we should be on the National Geographic channel!
Mac: glad you liked it! i will always continue! i really don't seen an end to this fic and that scares me a bit, haha!
Prnamber3909: if i could smuggle you free books, i would. but, i can't even smuggle myself free books so there's that!
Lady Unimportant: it's reviews like yours that make me feel awful for posting a chapter that - at this point - is shorter than the author's note at the end! haha!
thank you again for the continued love and support! until next update, Selectioners!