It was Lyra Belacqua's thirteenth birthday and for the first time in her life she was spending it with her mother and father. She was just so excited to be able to see them in the same room and with her friends.
Her father, Lord Asriel, had organized a big party for Lyra at their new house in the North. Everyone she new was invited. People such as Lord Faa, Ma Costa, Billy Costa, Tony Costa and Farder Coram were all the Gyptians invited to her big bash. Roger the Kitchen Boy at Jordon College in Oxford, the Master of Jordon and Mrs Lonsdale were invited from her former home, Jordon College, Oxford. She had not seen anyone form Oxford in over a year as she was away travelling with her parents up in the North.
Lyra, who couldn't sleep, was dying to wake up her parents and her little brother, Michael who was one, so that she could open her presents. The only problem was that it was six thirty in the morning and she was under strict instructions from her mother, Mrs Coulter, not to wake her father who arrived home in the early hours of the morning after being caught in a snow storm.
She looked out of her window and so that the sun was coming up and the beautiful, white snow looked sensational. Pam, who was a sparrow at this time, was so excited and changed into a snow leopard to show Lyra that she wanted to go out and play in the snow. Lyra desperately wanted to go in the snow too but had decided earlier in the morning to be a good girl for her parents and waited in her room looking at her alethiometer and was asking questions about her friends in Oxford to it when her mother walked into her room with her golden monkey dæmon,Ozymandias.
It must have been time to open the presents and Lyra couldn't stop giggling and jumping up and down. Her father came in after hearing her giggling and looked angry but he smiled and even laughed when he so the loves of his life giggling together and spending mother-daughter time finally.
Lord Asriel heard Michael cry and quickly walked to get him from his bedroom. He came back a couple of minutes later, into Lyra's room and suddenly Michael stopped and joined in giggling with his mother and his older sister.
After spending an hour or so in Lyra's bedroom, the family went down the stairs, into their large living room where all of Lyra's birthday presents, lying neatly on the fur rug next to the fire which Mrs Coulter did last night while Lyra was in bed sleeping. Lyra was amazed with how many presents she got. She ran to the gifts and dtarted tearing the paper off them and telling her parents and baby brother what she received.
"Mother, a brand new watch with diamonds on it from Lord Faa," she said excitedly.
"Uncle…I mean father, a brand new dress from the witches. It's beautiful. Mother can I wear this to the party tonight?"
"Ofcourse you can darling," she responded calmly unlike Lyra.
"Look everyone. Ehm what is this father?" she said anxiosly and handed a golden ball over to her father waiting for his response.
"Sweatheart, I have no idea. See who it is from. Maybe they'll you what it is," he responded knowing perfectly well what the golden ball was.
"It says, "Have fun with this marvellous gift and make sure you use it wisely my cherub," she read it but not understanding what it meant and who it was from.
Marissa Coulter went a procelain colour on her face and left the room to go to the kitchen. She knew exactly what the golden ball was.