Chapter 74

They managed to convince me to join in the fun. I’d never seen the movie but did my best to participate and to cover for Axel when he slunk away to call his sister. When the princesses got their happily ever after, Axel took Beatrice to bed while I stayed on the couch.

The room was sparsely decorated with old, worn-down furniture. The couch was lumpy, the coffee table rickety, and the only other thing in the room beside the TV was a plain bookcase filled with children’s books and Beatrice’s toys. Tucked away in the corner was a small Christmas tree decorated with twinkle lights and black ball ornaments. I hadn’t even known there was such a thing as black baubles, but I suspected Axel had had a hand in decorating it. Had he wrapped the presents in black paper, too?

That was all. No pictures from when Bea was a baby. No extravagances. Only the bare necessities.