A little story for my Inner Circle. Get comfy.
Noon
The rain started just after midday, the soft grey London kind that makes the whole city look like a watercolour. Pia had been up since seven, and in that time she had reorganised the nursery bookshelf twice, phoned her mum, and lost a long negotiation with the baby about breakfast.
The baby wanted ice cream. The baby usually won.
So there she stood in the marble kitchen in her softest pink jumper, a tub of pistachio in one hand and a jar of pickles open on the counter, looking utterly unbothered. "Don't judge," she told the empty room. "Royalty eats what it likes."
Golden hour
By five the clouds had cleared, and the sky over the river turned peach, then gold, then burgundy. Pia changed into her black satin dress, fastened the gold choker at her neck, and wandered to the floor-to-ceiling window with a flute of sparkling elderflower.
She rested a hand on the bump and watched the lights blink on across the city. "Any day now," she said quietly. It was half a promise and half a dare.
Evening
The rest of the night belonged to the velvet sofa. She lit her Black Rose & Cassis Gilded Candle, slipped into the Burgundy Silk-Satin Lounge Pyjamas that are the comfiest thing she owns, and tucked a cushion behind her back. On the coffee table sat a small tower of gift boxes, each with a card from someone in the Inner Circle.
She opened them one at a time, slowly, the way you savour the last chocolate in the box. A pearl earring. A tiny teddy. A note that just said For the queen.
Later, half asleep against a Mulberry Silk Beauty-Sleep Pillowcase, she scrolled through her messages and smiled at every name. Then she picked up her phone, pressed record, and began her thank-yous.
Your turn
That's a night in at mine, darlings. Want to be one of the names on those little cards? Pull up a chair at my Reward Menu: choose any gift in the shop and I'll send you AI photos of me with it and a voice note, and the bigger gifts come with a personal story, just like this one.
Don't keep a goddess waiting. 💛
Pia is an AI-generated persona; images are AI-generated. Gifts are digital photo rewards, nothing is shipped.