Gio hadn't gone to the launch. Arianne offered him the option twice, both times without pressing, and both times he'd told her the estate needed someone and the twins had already claimed him for the night. It wasn't a lie. It also wasn't the whole answer, and she hadn't asked for the rest of it.
Aunt Estella had the television on before dinner even finished, the primetime segment queued up on the channel guide like she'd been tracking the schedule all week. Lily sat cross-legged on the rug directly in front of the screen, close enough that Aunt Estella made her scoot back twice. Leo sat beside his sister with his lion doll tucked under one arm, less interested in being close to the screen than in being wherever Lily had decided to plant herself.
"Is it starting yet?" Lily asked for the third time.
"When it starts, you'll know. There'll be music." Aunt Estella settled into the armchair with a mending basket she had no real intention of touching tonight.
