small body. She is dainty and delicate like a child, but I know the rebel heart that beats in her chest. "Merry Christmas," I murmur in her ear.
She pulls back, tears glimmering in her eyes. Margot didn't exactly have an easy childhood. Looking at all the over the top decorations that the palace doesn’t usually have this time of year, it’s obvious that this Christmas is her way of living out her childhood fantasies.
"Here, here," she says. She ushers me over to the loveseat, pushing on my shoulder. "Sit down. Let me get you a mug of cocoa."
I pull a face but she isn't listening to me.
“Margot's too wrapped up in all the Christmas cheer, it seems.” Lars sits down beside me, taking up most of the room on the loveseat. I shoot him a look and he shrugs innocently.
Nika leans forward, looking elegant as always. "Hello, Pippa. Merry Christmas."
I cast a gaze over her. She and Erik are sitting with their hands clasped. I smile because three months ago, that would’ve been a really big deal.
"You too. How’s the charity work?"
She beams, excited. “It’s good. Remind me to catch you later and bend your ear about my latest project. It’s inspired, if I do say so myself.”
Margot has moved over to the buffet that is laid out for our gathering. Stellan shakes his head, calling over to her. "Margot, let Lars make Pippa I drink. You don't have to do everything for everybody, darling."
I notice Lars’s parents have been unusually quiet. On any normal day, I expect them to be making everyone pay attention to them and dote on them. That definitely seems like the commonality between his parents. But it seems that I have missed their antics today. His mother drains her glass of champagne while his father just looks extremely tired.
Lars’s mother and father stand up, his father yawning a little. She looks at him, putting her arm in his quite tenderly. "I think that we should say good night now. Your father isn't feeling too well. It was nice to see you all, though."
Margot carries my drink over to me as Stellan's parents exit. I take the mug from her thankfully, clutching it as I look around the room. Margot settles in where Lars’s mother just was and Stellan joins her, his arm going around her shoulders. I look at that small gesture of intimacy with no small amount of longing.
I want that. I have the familiarity with Lars part down, but I don't see how we will ever get to be as close as Margot and Stellan are. It's the only sort of limitation placed on my friendship with Lars.
We follow the unspoken rule that there is just absolutely no touching for any reason.
I clear my throat and swing my gaze over to Annika, only to find her whispering something in Erik's ear.
Ugh. This place is full of people who have fallen deeply and irrevocably in love with with each other… And it's really killing my buzz.
Lars must feel the same way, because he pipes up. "Could you guys please save it for the bedroom? Some of us are just trying to live our lives over here, you know?"
As my lips curl up, I notice that my knee brushes Lars’s. I shrink myself back from him a few inches, wishing like hell that we were sitting on anything but this loveseat. Lars doesn’t even seem to notice. He clears his throat.
"Stellan, now that our parents are gone, do you think that we could add some booze to this party?"
Stellan grins. "I thought you would never asked."
For the next couple of minutes, the room is a flurry of motion. Stellan gets a bottle of champagne and look pops it; champagne flutes are filled and handed out. I raise my eyebrow at Margot, making sure that she sees my expression.
She flushes just a little bit. I know her big secret… she is pregnant. I'm not even sure why Stellan would pour her a glass of champagne, honestly.
She holds up one finger, which I take to mean that I need to wait just a minute.
Anders raises his glass. "What should we toast to? Just Merry Christmas?”
Stellan's smile widens. He puts his free hand on Margot's me. "Actually, we have some news. We're not telling people yet, obviously. But we're expecting."
Margot looks slightly embarrassed, tucking her bright pink hair behind her ear. I beam as I look at her. She looks like she is truly, enviably happy. And she