?
Last year they didn’t do much to celebrate, but this year Lachlan encourages Mimi, Jules and Vasily to decorate however they like.
The East Wing is full of cloudy rainbows from the coloured fairy lights threaded along the ceilings and banisters, brightening the dark, polished wood.Mimi hangs oversized paper stars from the upper walkways, some a little wonky because she made half of them herself, while Vasily wraps real pine garlands around the railings to bring the scent of outdoors inside.A huge tree in the central hall is overloaded with ribbons, dried orange slices, brass bells, messy, colourful handmade ornaments and plush red velvet bows tied by Jules.Blaire makes walnut and cinnamon decorations with Mimi, pretty dangling delights.It feels like the firstrealChristmas of Lachlan’s whole life.
Lachlan finds himself grudgingly impressed by the three new additions.They’ve been thoroughly vetted, checked and monitored without trace of any discrepancy, but more than that, they adapt quickly to his way of doing things, his way of thinking.
He’d asked Sorrenko for people who werehis,and that’s exactly how it feels.
Lachlan brings Belova and Zaitsev into full-time security and starts training Danya as his second, who he introduces to Mimi, Jules and Vasily after discussing it with Blaire.Danya shakes hands with all of them, including Mimi, who narrows her eyes at him, clearly suspicious.
‘You talk like she did,’ Mimi murmurs.
Danya cocks his head.‘Vy imeyete v vidu vot tak, printsessa?Like that?’
Mimi nods.‘Like that.Daddy killed her.She was abadMorning Momma.’
Sometimes Lachlan thinks Mimi has forgotten Belkin entirely, and then she says something like this, and he’s reminded of the strange, stubborn nature of memory, especially in children.
She was three years old when she saw someone die.
‘Well, if I am bad,’ Danya says with a smile, ‘then he’ll kill me too.’
‘He will.’
Throughout the introductions, Jules is sullen and quiet, though politely civil when spoken to.Lachlan knows he has to talk to him about that night, but he can’t bring himself to.
He’s so ashamed for too many reasons.
Sadly, Christmas Day is, in fact, a high-risk day for attacks, so Lachlan can’t ease security by a single inch.He did spend a frankly stupid amount of money on gifts for everyone, though.He took his time choosing things that they’d actually love instead of expensive filler.
Nothing especially flashy, but meaningful.
Like the shoes with the gleaming silver buckles he got for Mimi.She’s been drawing them repeatedly on every portrait of herself.Those tookhoursto find because they had to be just as she imagined them.
Like the first edition Trixie Belden series he found for Vasily, who he knows loves those books despite putting his one worn copy inside a grand tome whenever he reads outside of his room.
Like the air-gapped, no-frills phone he gets for Jules, still in the box.Not tracked, not supervised.It’s the best thing he can give Jules.Freedom and trust, both in small quantities, but still.
Admittedly, for Blaire, he went a little wild.
There’s a jeweller in downtown Varrow City, a tiny little place tucked into the back alleys calledStarlings.Lachlan only ends up there after striking out at several other shops, each one eventually directing him to try it instead.
It’s a trapiche emerald necklace, the stone raw on the outside but frontally cut with glassy precision to show the strange hexagonal shape within.A dark star birthed into the green that matches her eyes almost perfectly.The stone is set in custom blackened platinum, and the chain is made of the same.
It’s the stone she found and lost in Colombia.
And yes, it cost eighty thousand, but money means nothing and when Blaire opens it, holds it in her hand, he’s smiling just to see the look on her face.How lovely it feels to give someone a gift they’ll treasure.
Lachlan can’t stay long in that glorious mess of paper and gifts, Christmassy music playing while Vasily reads Mimi one of his new books and Jules sits in the corner chair, setting up his new phone.He has to get back but as he heads for the door, Mimi runs over.‘Daddy,wait!We got presents for you.’
‘For me?’
‘Yeah, come on.’She determinedly leads him back to the big tree in the den, fishing out three small gifts from the back.‘Here.’
Lachlan can’t remember the last time someone gave him a gift.
The first is lightweight and beautifully wrapped with a small red bow in the corner.‘This one’s from me!’Mimi says, beaming, watching him open it.
