The presents had all been opened, the dinner had been eaten, and the out-of-state relatives had all been phoned. For better or worse, with all the mandatory Christmas activities completed, there was nothing left to do but drink all the alcohol in the house. Near midnight, only Amanda, Lucky and Alistair were still conscious. “These Americans,” they said to each other as they clinked their whiskey, “they just can’t hold their liquor.”
Merry Christmas, everybody.
Oh dear. The holiday season had only just begun, and already it seemed the stress had gotten to Annabella.
Elmo’s family lived across the country and he couldn’t afford the plane ticket this year, so he had expected that he would spend Thanksgiving alone. He was flattered when the Bears asked him to come over to spend the holiday with them, and was looking forward to the feast, which had been very much hyped. Helping himself to a glass of wine, he noticed that everyone was staring. “Pssst,” someone whispered. “The crystal is just for decoration… We don’t actually drink out of it!”
*For Katie
