FYH Chapter 28

FYH Chapter 28

Valentine’s Day

BPOV:

                       

            It was not easy trying to be sneaky when the person you are trying to surprise is around all the time. It was impossible to call Esme without Edward knowing so I did the only other thing that I could, I sent my mother-in-law a text message to email a certain recipe. I had not brought it with me because I honestly did not think that I would be cooking all that much while traveling through Europe. In fact, I left all of my recipes behind. Most I knew by heart by now, but this one I had only made one time.

            I made my decision that I wanted to cook a big dinner on Valentine’s when we found this amazing vegetable market. I was in a vegetable lover’s heaven. I started formulating the menu the second I spotted that one key ingredient.

Edward thought I was insane when I told him that I wanted to stay in and cook our Valentine’s dinner. I could see his point. Not many women would demand to stay in on that night, but honestly, I was getting tired of going out all the time and I had something special planned for dinner.

            We had gone out last night and were planning to sleep in but some fool was pounding on the door. I rolled over wake Edward and make him get up to get the door. When my hand hit the cool sheet, my eyes flew open; apparently I was the only one sleeping in. As I sat up, I heard the shower going and realized that I was going to have to get the door myself.

I yelled to whoever it was I was coming while I through my robe on to cover my naked body and went to the door. It was actually a good that the Edward was in the shower and I was the one to get the door because it was it happened to be the order that I had placed at the vegetable market. I thanked the concierge and swiftly went to the kitchen to hide the food before Edward came out of the shower.

He had promised not to snoop in the kitchen after I brought home the groceries yesterday, but there was going to be no keeping it all a secret from him once I started cooking.

I was ordering breakfast from room service when Edward came out of the bedroom wearing nothing but his pajama pants and still sporting wet hair. He came over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my neck and whispered in my ear to make sure that I ordered plenty of coffee. Then he went over to the sofa, collapsed on it, and started flipping through the channels.

I followed him over to the couch and lied down right on top of him. He sighed, wrapped his arms around me again, and held me tight to him. I reached up and started playing with his hair while we watched TV.

Before long there was another knock on the door and I got off of my husband to answer it. We had barely sat down at the table when there was yet another knock on the door.

“I think that is for you.” He gestured for me to get the door.

“What did you do?”

“Not enough. Not nearly enough for you.”

When I open the door, this time the concierge had a helper with him and they were each carrying a vase filled with the most beautiful flowers that I had ever seen.

“Tulips? You got me tulips for me!”

“You did say that they were your favorite right?”

I grabbed him and kissed him hard, not even that the concierge and his friend were still standing in the room, “you are the best husband ever!”

After the gentlemen left, I asked Edward to take one of the vases and put it on my nightstand by the bed. I took the other one to the kitchen so that I could look at them while I was cooking today.

As soon we finished our breakfast, I went into the kitchen to start our dinner. It was going to take all day to prepare. Once I had the chicken cleaned and prepped, I put it in the fridge to wait for the right time to put it in the oven. While I got to work cleaning the vegetables, I vaguely heard someone at the door again and then Edward was knocking on the kitchen saying that he had some thing that needed to be refrigerated and needed to bring it in. I knew that the second he came in the room he would know exactly what I was making, but I told him to come on in anyways.

EPOV:

            Of course I was extremely curious about what it was that Bella was cooking for us for dinner. But there was no way that I was going to go behind her back and snoop around the kitchen.

                        

            The second that the cake showed up I saw it as my chance to snoop in front of her back. Bella had been cooking a bit more than lately since we found that farmer’s market. Wait. Sorry. Bella keeps telling me that a farmer’s market is general vegetables being sold out of the back of a truck, what she found was a vegetable market. I guess the difference between the two is the difference in mobility and have four walls and a front door. Because from what I understand they both just selling fresh vegetables.          

            Anyway, she granted me access to the kitchen so that I could put the cake away. She was excited by the sight of it but could not come check it out as she was working with something in the sink. I walked over to kiss her and that when I saw exactly what it was that she had in the sink. It was fresh cranberries. She was making my mom’s cranberry sauce. I know that I have said this many times before but I will say it again, I have no idea what I did to deserve to have such an amazing woman to be my wife, but I thank God for putting her in my life.

            She all but shoved me out of the kitchen and back to the living room when I offered to help her cook. The only thing she said was, “Remember you trying to help at Thanksgiving, well, you are still banned from helping.” So I gave her a quick kiss and went to grab my journal and write while I caught a movie on Pay-Per-View.

            It wasn’t long before I heard singing coming from the kitchen. When I got up to investigate, I found Bella singing and dancing in the kitchen while she was cooking. I stood there for a long time watching her. I knew that she was so caught up in what she was and was completely oblivious to the fact that I was standing there because she would quite frequently stop at her vase of tulips, smell them, and sigh with a big smile on her face. This is what was so amazing about my wife. A simple vase of tulips made her so incredibly happy. Tanya would have found a flaw in any flowers I bought her, even if she had made it up.

            I sat back down and worked on my book some more. It was huge and I knew that I was going to have to edit it considerably if I ever intended to get it published. But this copy, the original, would stay unedited and be the definitive keepsake of our first year together and the changes that we had brought about in each other.

BPOV:

            Just seeing Edward’s smile from finding out that I was making the cranberry sauce was worth all the work it took to make it. My mom always said it was the little things that you did for some one that made all the difference. I remembered once, when I was ten, and I didn’t have the money to buy Christmas presents, my dad told me that the best presents were the one that were homemade because they were the only one that truly came from the heart. The older that I got the more I understood that he was right. Mom loved it more when he made her something rather than buy her a gift from the store. My parents did not have much money and lived simply, but I believe that even if they had all the money that Edward and I had right now, they still would have lived the same simple life. But most of all they were happy with the lives that they lived.

            I finished the cranberry sauce and put it in the fridge to chill, got the roasting chicken and vegetables in the oven to bake, and finished the salad, and then I was finished and had time to relax and spend some time with my special Valentine.

            I grabbed my vase of tulips and went back out to the living room and stopped in my tracks. Edward was sitting on the couch so engrossed in what he was writing it was like nothing else existed in the world.

            “Are you just going to stand there staring at me?”

            Ok. I was like almost nothing else existed in the world. Apparently he noticed me. I walked over to the couch and sat on his lap and leaned in to kiss him when I looked over and noticed that there was a cartoon on with this huge guy with a big nose and spindly legs, “what are you watching?”

            “Despicable Me. It’s quite funny.”

            “I’ll bet it is. I know that you already had a shower this morning but is there anyway that I could convince you to join me in mine or perhaps just some quality time in the bedroom?” I asked as I took off the robe that I had been wearing all day. And revealing that it was the only thing that I had been wearing all day

            “What about dinner?”

            “Eh…we have time before I have to check on it, besides, we can always order something in if we take too long.”

           

EPOV:

            I sat down to dinner a couple hours later completely blown away by the fact that she not only made the homemade cranberry sauce, but a sautéed vegetable medley, and Cornish game hens.

            After that huge dinner we decided to take a walk to work off the meal before we have dessert. As we walked around the dark streets of Paris it started snowing. There was already about a half foot of snow on the ground. We wandered into a nearby park and ended up running around chasing each other before Bella decided that we needed to make snow angels. By the time that we got back to the hotel we were both soaked to the bone. I stopped at the front desk and asked them to send some hot cocoa up to our room.

            After changing in some dry clothes we sat in front of the fireplace with our cocoa, chocolate cake, and the presents we had purchased each other. She gave me hers first. It was a gold and silver crucifix on a gold chain that I had seen and admired at the Basilica in Spain. It was beautiful and had really wanted but it had been sold before I could get back to the shop to get it. Now I know who bought it.

            I handed her the gift that I had ordered for her. It was a charm bracelet. I had specially ordered the charms to be each of the states and countries that we had visited on our trip. I had specifically requested a light weight metal be used for both the bracelet and the charms. That bracelet had the potential to get really heavy if the wrong materials were used. And I wanted her to be able to wear it all the time. After I put the bracelet on her, she tackled me to the floor and we spent the rest of the night there exploring each other.

            The last two weeks of our time in France flew by as did our week in Belgium, which was our next destination. However, it wasn’t the most fun we’d had as we both ended up in the emergency room with bronchitis. It seems that our idea to start taking nightly walks in Paris wasn’t such a bright idea and now we were both on antibiotics. However being stuck in bed with my wife did have its perks. We did manage to enjoy ourselves. Tomorrow we were off to our next destination, Ireland. We thought about extending our time in Belgium but we both we intent on spending St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin.

A/N:

We are moving ahead a little. The next chapter won’t take long to write and then I think there will be another smallish time jump. Thanks for reading and thanks to all that review! I get so giddy when the review alerts come in!

FYH Chapter 27

FYH Chapter 27

Sweet Paris

BPOV:
The actual flight from Madrid to Paris only took one hour. However, we ended up spending two hours in the airport in Madrid going through security checks and another two hours in the airport in Paris trying to get through the line at customs. UGH! How the hell does it make any sense that it took us five hours to get through a one hour flight. By the time that we got check in to the hotel and made it up to our room, we were both desperately in need of food, showers, and liquor. Yeah, I led the raid on the mini bar and I am not ashamed to admit it.
I was glad however that we would not be dealing with an airport again for a few weeks. When we sat down to decide what we wanted to see and do while we were here in Paris the list just kept growing and growing and growing and before we knew it we had made the decision that we were going to stay in Paris for the entire month of February.
After some more research with some horrifying results, where Edward and I learned the value of adding "five star hotels in…" to our hotel search we finally found one that we loved. Some of the listings were downright scary. We book the presidential suite at the Hotel De Vendome. Edward thought that it was a little expensive to book the suite for a month but I wanted to have a kitchen available in case we decided that we wanted to stay in some nights and cook for ourselves.
The first thing that either of us wanted to see was the Louvre. We were told that it was so huge that it could take a person over well a week to get through the whole thing so we were giving ourselves five days.
That is how we spent our first week in Paris. We would spend all day walking through the museum and then by the time that we walked the six blocks back to our hotel in the evening, we would collapse on our bed. The first night after we returned we made the mistake of collapsing on our bed for "just a minute" before we changed for dinner. Neither of us made it out of that bed. In fact, Edward was fast asleep within thirty minutes. We woke up starving the next morning and chalked it up to a lesson learned that we should eat on our way home from the museum instead of risking passing out again and not getting our supper.
But, oh, the week that we spent wandering around the Louvre looking at some of the most famous paintings in the world created by some of the most famous artist that had ever existed was beyond amazing. It was the opportunity of a lifetime and I am glad that we took our time to see everything that we could.
At the end of the fifth day of touring the museum we dragged ourselves into the room after deciding that we were too tired to stop at a restaurant for supper, I collapsed on the bed while Edward did not make it past the living room and ended up collapsing on the couch.
"What are you doing all the way in the living room?"
"One, I can't walk any further. My feet and furious with me and have staged a mutiny. And two, the room service menu and the phone are out here and I am hungry."
I told Edward all that I wanted was a sandwich, some fruit, and a large chocolate milk shake. While he ordered the food, I dragged my butt off the bed and made my way into the bathroom. There was something that I knew would make both of us feel better. I started the tub and ran us a nice hot bubble bath for us to share.
I started to strip off my clothes and grabbed for my robe to slip it on when I looked up at the mirror and noticed that Edward was in the doorway watching me. He walked up behind me and wrapped reached his arms around my waist, taking the sash from my hands, and giving me a kiss. Then he actually tied the robe shut. I raised my eyebrow at him. He merely laughed and responded with, "As much as I love seeing you naked, I think I prefer you covered up when we are expecting strangers to come to the door bearing food."
I leaned back into him, "I think that I could just sleep for the next week."
"As tempting as it is to consider keeping you in bed with me for a week we have plans for tomorrow."
"I thought that we were going to take a day to relax?"
"We are. I just called the front desk and scheduled us for a range of massages in the spa. That is going to take a few hours and then while you are having your hands and feet cherished and pampered I am going to go get a hair cut and stop by a store and we are going to cook for ourselves tomorrow."
"That sounds wonderful."
"First though tomorrow, we have a conference call at nine."
A little while later, we were both naked in the tub. We had eaten our ham sandwiches and fed each other fruit the fruit and now we were relaxing in each other arms. We had had to warm up the water a few times, as these old European hotels were quite drafty. I was lying back against Edward's chest and he had his arms wrapped around me. I knew that he had his head laid back against the wall and his eyes closed. It was a completely romantic way to spend an evening in Paris, even if we were both too exhausted to do anything sexual.
"What were you thinking about getting us to cook tomorrow?"
"I was just thinking simple. Something like frozen pizza and salad?"
"Um, no, I have a salmon dish that is great and easy. I'll make a list before you leave tomorrow of everything that I am going to need."
"Okay," he mumbled out. I knew that we were both going to need to get out of the water soon before we fell asleep and accidentally drowned ourselves. But for the life of me I just could not bring myself to extricate myself from my husband's arms. It was, after all, my favorite place in the world to be.
EPOV:
I woke up with a vague recollection of Bella urging me out of the tub and steering me towards the bed. I was still naked and so was she. Hmmm. This had potential. But one look at the clock told me that now was not the time to follow through with that thought. It was ten minutes to nine and my family's therapy session was going to start in ten minutes. I woke up Bella and made my way into the bathroom. By the time that I came back out Bella was no longer in bed. A quick search of the suite found her in the kitchen making a pot of coffee and looking at the room service menu. After calling in our order, she went back to our room to get dressed. The theme for the day was apparently 'warm comfort' because we both chose to wear sweat suits.
Room service knocked on the door at the same time that my phone went off. I went for the food while Bella answered my phone. This time I would not be the only one to attend via conference call. Alice had sold her place and she and Jasper were officially residents of New York City.
That is what today's session was going to be focusing on. How everyone felt now that Alice and Jasper were gone. We had had a similar session when Bella and I closed on the house and the bookstore.
Mom's response was the one that surprised me the most, "I have always been proud of my children, but I have never been prouder of them than I am right now. I have never seen them this happy before and I know that is my fault. I held them back. I kept them from chasing their dreams. I am so sorry that I hurt them."
We all made a point of telling her that, while her behavior in the past had been horrid and unacceptable, we all had to accept that as adults we could have put our proverbial feet down and stood up to her. Well, technically I did, and that is why we were participating in these therapy sessions at all and it was the reason that my family was about to be scattered across the United States. I could be worse. We could have ended up scattered around the world. But all three of us kids were going to live relatively close to each other and for that I was grateful.
Dad was the only one that had a problem with Alice and Jasper living in New York City. And that just stemmed from the high crime rates. After a fifteen minute debate on which was better; Alice taking a self defense class or carrying a taser in her purse. It was decided that she would enroll in some form of martial arts class, she would carry a taser, and carry pepper spray.
As soon as I could get off that call with my family, I went back to finalizing and acting on the plan that I had been considering when I woke up naked in bed with my equally naked wife. Needless to say, we were a few minutes late getting to our spa appointment.
I had scheduled us for four treatments. The first was a "satin skin scrub". All I really understood was the word exfoliating. Then there was this thing called "draining care" it was supposed to be good for the circulation in the legs and I added the "Foot reflexology" given the amount of time that we had spent on our feet lately and how badly mine still hurt. The last one was the "relaxing ritual" which was the body massage. Yes, I totally got my girl on today, but my feet and back felt a hell of a lot better by the time these girls were done with us. After all that was done, Bella was off to get a manicure and pedicure while I went for that haircut.
On my way out of the barbershop, I passed a little chocolate shop and decided to stop in. Sure enough, they had Bella's favorite truffles so I bought her some. I also took the opportunity to order us a cake to be delivered to the hotel for Valentine's Day, which was coming up fast. I also took the opportunity to stop by the florist and order her two dozen tulips to for Valentine's as well. Tulips were most definitely her favorite flower. She was already planning on planted a row of tulips outside our house in Maine. I know that roses are more traditional for Valentine's but really, wouldn't any girl prefer her favorite flower to the normal standby? I certainly hoped so. I had specially ordered her gift and that was going to be delivered to the hotel as well. I could not wait to see how it came out.
By the time that I got through the store and made my way to our room, Bella was already back and lying on the couch watching a movie and talking to Angela on the computer. Bella smiled when she saw me enter the suite and quickly ended her conversation with Angela.
She walked over to where I was standing and I leaned down and kissed her, "You could have kept talking to Angela. I don't mind putting these away myself."
She looked a little sad when she said with a sigh, "She had to go anyway. She and Ben were heading to a frat party tonight."
"Do you regret missing out on all of those college experiences with them?"
"No. I really don't. If I had gone to college with them I wouldn't have you and that is infinitely better than the frat party part of the college experience. I just miss them."
Hell, even I was missing Ben and Angela. They were good people. I did not need to vocalize, however, the truth that I saw in my wife's eyes. She and her best friend, a woman that she had considered her sister for most of her life, had new lives that were moving in vastly different directions in a rapid pace and it was hurting her. Even I could tell that the frequency of the calls between the two of them had dropped off at a considerable rate. I made it a goal to encourage her to call Angela more often. I knew that part of the reason was Angela's school schedule and the time zone differences. But I was not about to stand idly by and watch those two lose touch.
The next couple of days we spent casually wandering around some stores and boutiques near the hotel. We found some gorgeous cufflinks that we bought to give Dad for Father's Day. That was about all that we found that we thought that our family would like, but Bella did find a farmer's market. She had a great time buying out the place. I had a good feeling that we were going to be eating in a lot for a while and that was just fine by me. I would choose my wife's cooking over going out to a restaurant any day.
A/N:
Okay. I sat here for three days with this doc open and neither one of these two would talk to me then BAM we had cuddling in the bubble bath time. I intended to include the whole month into this chapter but scenes started getting away from me. The wait should be as long as it was for this one. The research is done and I know appr+
oximately what is going to happen. Valentine's Day! Any guesses on what Edward ordered for Bella. PS. I prefer tulips to roses any day.
Okay…disclaimer and citing now. SM owns it all except this plot and the current location of these two nutty love bunnies!
http:/www(.)hoteldevendome(.)#suite-presidentielle-ambiance(.)php
http:/www(.)lonelyplanet(.)com/france/paris/sights?affil=ask

FYH Chapter 26

FYH Chapter 26

Another Day

EPOV:
We spent a total of a week and a half in Portugal before we moved onto Madrid, Spain. I really had not even seen that much of Europe on a whole, but what I had seen so far was beautiful and enchanting. I had to go out and buy a new memory card for my camera because we were taking so many pictures of ourselves everywhere. Mom was going to be thrilled with the amount of pictures that we were going to be sending back.
I had not participated in the last family therapy session because of the time difference. It had not been intentional. The session was scheduled at four Phoenix time; which was midnight here. Bella and I had crashed hard that night and never heard the phone ringing. They agreed that while Bella and I were in Europe the sessions needed to be in the morning their time so that we were not trying to stay up to catch the calls. Although, I was really thinking that there was not much to say that had not been said already. I had really forgiven my parents for all that they had done to me and I really just wanted to move on with my life.
I still had no intentions of ever living near my parents again. That seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. When, I mentioned that to Bella she just pursed her lips and sighed.
"Edward, if you are waiting for it to happen again then maybe you are not as over it and you think you are."
And that is all that she had to say to get me really thinking again. I kept going back and forth over whether I wanted to continue with the sessions. Every time that I asked Bella what I should do she would only tell me that it had to be my decision. That I should do what my heart told me to do. A lot of help that was. My heart was saying one thing and my head was saying another.
So I told Bella that I wanted to take a walk to clear my head for a bit. She was absolutely fine with that as she wanted to soak in a hot tub and relax with a book that she picked up. Do not get me wrong, I love my wife dearly but as we really had not had any time apart lately, I took it as a good time for some "me time".
Our first day in Spain however, we were too tired to do anything but sleep half the day away and then go for massages at the hotel's spa and then a quiet night of wondering around near the hotel and enjoying a quiet supper and retiring back to our room quite early for some much needed "alone time". Not that we had not had plenty of "alone time" in the last week and a half. But, hey, I am a nineteen year old man and, well, that should be self explanatory does not require further explanation.
The next day we started visiting everything that we put on our list of thing that we absolutely must see while in Spain. We also needed to shop for dress clothes to wear to the opera later this week. I had secured tickets for us to see Tosca and we wanted to use the opportunity to dress up a bit and have an elegant night. Truth be told, I was really just looking forward to seeing my wife in a sexy as hell evening gown and heels.
We were afforded the opportunity to sleep in as for today we were going to spend the morning at the Parque del Buen Retiro. We opted for a quiet brunch at the hotel before continuing on to our destination for the day. It was Madrid's largest park that was not open to the public until the late nineteenth century. Prior to that, the park had belonged to the Spanish Monarchy.
We spent the rest of the morning leisurely strolling through the gardens looking at all of the sculptures and monuments hand in hand. At one point, Bella pulled her hand from mine and wrapped her arm around mine and sighed. When we got to the part of the lake where you could rent rowboats in the summer, I regretted that we were visiting in the winter and vowed that one day she and I would return in the summer. I had suddenly had the vision of her and me in of those rowboats. It was like what you would see in one of those old movies where the guy is rowing and the girl is sitting sweetly in pretty dress and holding a parasol over her head. It was as if she could read my mind because she brought my out my internal musings with the comment, "I bet it is even more beautiful in the summer."
As we walked away from our little spot by the lake, I steered her toward the horse drawn carriages, intent on us taking a ride. I do not believe that the could be many more romantic moments than riding through a garden as amazing as this one in carriage, with a beautiful woman, cuddled under a blanket to keep warm.
After a lunch at one of terrace cafes, we made our way to the Basilica de San Francisco El Grande. On the outside it merely looked like just another cathedral. But once I stepped foot inside and took in the beauty and grandeur, I realized that there was something special about the place. I realized that Bella felt the same way when I heard her softly gasp beside me.
We spent the next hour wandering around the cathedral in complete awe. Just as we were preparing to leave the main cathedral to tour the museum, an idea hit me. I felt in my heart that I really needed to make it happen.
"Bella, I want to come back here and renew our vows on our anniversary. This time, I want my family present, to be a part of it."
BPOV:
Edward's request literally knocked the breath out of me. He not only wanted for us to renew our commitment to each other but he wanted to include his family in the occasion. It was truly mind blowing how far they had come in such a short time.
"I want that too." Was all that I had to say before he grabbed in a fierce hug and kissed the top of my head and thanking me repeatedly. I told him that there was nothing really to thank me for, but he just said that the was no way that he could ever say thank you enough for merely loving him like I do. I could say the same for him and the way that he loves me. There really was no more that we really needed to say to each other about it, so silently, hand-in-hand, we made our way to the basilica's museum. When I started planning this trip so long ago, right after I lost my parents. I never dreamed that it would be this amazing.
Later that afternoon, we made our way to some shops to get some fancy clothes to wear to the opera. I was really excited to see Tosca at the Teatro Real. It was a play about Napoleon's invasion of Rome in the 1800's.
But that night for supper we were going to a different kind of opera. There was a restaurant called El Café de la Opera where the waiters are required to be opera singers and they sing every night during the dinner service.
Edward was in a strange mood all night. It seemed like he had to be touching me in some way at all times. Whether it was merely holding my hand, his arm around my waist, or playing with my hair. I was happy he was in such a great mood because I knew that the next therapy session was coming in the next afternoon and he still had not told me if he was going to answer the call. I really hoped that he would. I really do not think he is as over it and he needed to be.
The next morning I woke up first. That happened pretty often as Edward was usually up late writing. I ordered some coffee and breakfast from room service and went a laid down of the couch in the living area, closed my eyes, and waited for the food. My back was hurting and I knew that it could mean one thing. And thank God for that because it meant that I was definitely not pregnant. Not that I really thought that I could be. I just missed one pill after all. Although, I think that Edward wanted a baby more than he was admitting.
I was not on the couch long before Edward woke up and joined me. And by that I mean that he crawled on top of me and kept kissing my neck in the spot that he knew was ticklish just to get me giggling. He says that my giggles are one of his favorite sounds in the world. He was just getting even friskier when the waiter knocked on the door with our food. He groaned and tried to hold me to him but I pushed him off of me so that he landed on the floor and went to answer the door. I was starving and the man was trying to come between me and my food.
We spent the remainder of the morning taking a leisurely stroll around some shops close by the hotel. We did not want to end up stuck out somewhere on a bus or anywhere in public really, when our family called.
It was really a more subdued call that when had been having lately. Alice was not saying much this time. She did mention that she had met with a realtor and put her home up for sale. Jasper was already in New York and she was eager to get there. Esme herself sounded a bit off, but I really could not blame her. Everyone was now leaving Phoenix and soon it would just be her and Carlisle left there. I could tell in every comment that she made that she was attempting to bite her tongue and not cry. There was something off and I just could not put my finger on what it was. But I think that Edward knew what it was. After the very strained call ended, Edward and I walked to a local café for a quick supper and then we went back to the hotel to relax and watch a movie. There had been something bothering my husband since that phone call that afternoon.
When we got back to the hotel however, my back was really killing me and all I wanted to do was soak in a hot tub of water alone. Yes, I was cranky too. Edward was such a saint that he just kissed me on the forehead and with a wink and smirk told me to get lost and let him have some alone time. I smack him upside the head and put on my best fake angry face, stuck my tongue out at him, and stalked to the bathroom. I could not help but laugh myself, when I heard Edward laughing from the living room.
I turned on my IPOD and sank into the hot water and waited for the pain to go away. After about forty-five minutes of lying there in the tub I am feeling a lot better and a bit hungry. So I decided that it was time to get out of the tub and explore the dessert options on the room service menu.
When I came out of the bathroom I could hear Edward talking to someone. I could only hear his voice so I knew that he had to be on the phone with some one. I heard him tell whoever it was that we loved them and ended his call. He obviously had not noticed me standing in the doorway because he jumped when he looked up and saw me standing there.
"I was just talking to my Mom." I figured it had to be someone in his family with the look on his face.
"Today is anniversary of that forest fire. She was struggling to let go already of us already and today was just a bad reminder to her. She knows that it will be hard for her when it actually happens and Emmett, Rose, and Alice are really gone. Right now, it is still just an abstract concept. But she said that she just keeps worrying about what ifs and she's trying to be supportive and be "good", as she put it, by not voicing her opinions and concerns. I told her that it is not going to help any of us heal completely if she is not completely honest with us."
"All mom's worry about their kids, Edward. I think it is in the official job description."
"That is what I told her. That we expected her to be upset and sad that we were leaving but we also needed to support our choices and let us spread our wings and fly."
"That's really poetic" I said with a giggle.
"That's what Mom said" and then he wrapped his arms around me, "are you feeling any better?"
"Yes. I want dessert though."
Edward got up and pulled the raspberry white chocolate cheesecake he had ordered for us out of our fridge and we laid ourselves out on the living room floor on a blanket and fed each other the cheesecake.
Before we knew it, it was our last night here in Spain. Tomorrow we would head back to the airport to move on to our next destination of Paris. But tonight we were headed for the opera. It was a magical evening and a magical evening. There was nothing sexier than seeing Edward in a tux and he said the same about me and the evening gown and heels that I picked out to wears. That is heels that he had insisted that I wear to bed. Yeah, we could just sleep on the plane.
A/N:
Sorry for the delay, but like I said in my notes for Living Life these chapters are requiring a lot more research and fact checking so they take longer to write. Below is my sources and just add anything wiki to the list. I went there a lot!
http:/www(.)lonelyplanet(.)com/spain/madrid/entertainment-nightlife/cafe/cafe-opera
http:/www(.)/index(.)cfm
http:/en(.)wikipedia(.)org/wiki/Buen_Retiro_Park

FYH Chapter 25

FYH Chapter 25

Parting Ways Again

BPOV:
We woke up on New Year's Day hung over and sore. We were very sore from all the standing, walking, and dancing we had done the night before. We decided that it might not be a bad thing to just chill out at the hotel for the day. Luckily, we had thought ahead and had decided not to get show tickets for tonight, but to just play it by ear.
We did nothing but rent pay-per-view movies and order room service all day. It was like the slumber parties that Angela and I used to have when we were in high school. Although, unlike the slumber parties of our past this one was coed and there was sleep involved as most of us fell asleep at one point or another during the day. Except for Alice and Jasper, they were busy looking up condos for sale here in New York.
They had accepted the position and were going to have to move here quickly as they wanted Jasper here for the Spring Semester. The NYU wanted him to start as soon as possible. That meant moving across the country with only a couple of weeks notice. The current plan was for Jasper to come out first while Alice stayed behind, to pack and settle everything in Phoenix.
We spent the next few days going to various museums and shopping during the day and shows at night and making sure that we were ready to travel abroad. I made damn sure that I was stocked up on the birth control pills so that we wouldn't have anymore scares. And Edward, even though he rarely had any trouble, made sure that he had all his medications for his lungs and the proper forms from a doctor that the pills were prescribed for the customs people. Plus we had to make sure that the bank knew that we were traveling abroad so that we could use our bank cards and not have to worry about carrying or converting our cash. Plus we had to sort through all of our things and decide what we were going to take with us and what we were going to send on to Phoenix. Since we were going to be traveling by plane and trains, there was no way that we could take everything with us.
We were constantly on the go, moving from one destination to another and before we knew it, it was time to part ways again. I had really become attached to my new sister in law. She was fun and such a sweetheart and we had a lot in common. She and Edward had gone off on their own one afternoon in an attempt to tackle the remaining demons they had between each other. The following afternoon we had a family therapy session, which really centered on Edward and me surprising everyone by showing up for Christmas. Bethany was quite happy with Edward that he had made the decision, on his own, to come home for Christmas. She said that it was a major step in his healing. Edward and Alice talked about their relationship and the things that they had talked about and worked out together. Those two topics ended up taking up the whole hour we had to talk so the subject of Alice and Jasper moving was not even brought up.
We decided to spend that last night that we were all together with another quiet evening of dinner and then a movie in our suite. We were going to drop Ben and Angela off at the airport in the morning and while Edward and I would not fly out until later that night.
Angela, Alice, and I were completely sobbing by the time we made it to the airport. Even Angela and Alice had managed to become good friends in the short time since they had met. They had even exchanged email addresses and phone numbers so that they could keep in touch. That thrilled me to no end, that Edward's family accepted my "family". I had the hopes and dreams of us all becoming one big happy family one day in the future.
Since Alice and Jasper had meetings with the professor friend of Jaspers for the rest of the day, we were positive that we were not going to see them again before we left New York. So we were completely thrilled and surprised when they made it to the terminal in just enough time to say goodbye before we boarded the plane. When Alice hugged me she thanked me for saving her brother and her whole family and made me promise to take care of him. Then she turned to Edward. She made sure that he knew that she loved him before she would let us go. And then we turned and walked onto the plane that would take us to our next destination.
EPOV:
I sat on the plane with my arm wrapped around Bella as she slept. We had been in the air for two hours now, somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, and we would not be arriving at our final destination for another twelve hours. Yes, we had a total of fourteen hours of flying ahead of us. Since I could not sleep, I used the quiet time to write in my journal about how I felt when I said goodbye to my sister at the airport and how happy it made me that she made it to say goodbye before we boarded the plane. I ended up writing for a couple of hours before finally turning out the light over head and settling in for some sleep.
By the time I woke again the flight attendants were preparing we preparing to serve breakfast. It was eight in the morning, we were not going to land in London for almost another three hours, and then we would have a layover for a little over four hours before we took off again. We would be in flight to our final destination which was Lisbon, Portugal until well after five this evening.
I was really excited to be going to Portugal. We were going to be spending about two weeks here exploring. Once we started researching Lisbon we found out there was just so much to do here. There were numerous castles, museums, and cathedrals that we wanted to visit while were here. Since we did not have any time constraints we thought that we would stay for a while and do anything and everything that we desired.
The first thing that I was going to want to do, however, was take a nice, long, hot shower and sleep in a bed. I will admit that the first class chairs that we were sitting in were comfortable but not exactly the best for sleeping for a long time.
We were both completely exhausted by the time that we landed, collected our luggage, dealt with customs, and finally secured a cab to the Four Seasons/Ritz hotel where we were going to stay at. By the time that we got into our room and ordered some room service it was all either of us could do to just keep our eyes open. But there was one thing that I had to do before I could go to sleep. I had to call my mom. It was weird knowing that it was 7:30 in the evening here but it was only 11:30 in the morning in Phoenix.
"Hey Mom. We made it. We are in the hotel."
"How was the flight? Did you have any problems with customs?"
"Nope. We did not have a single problem, unless you count not being able to sleep well sitting up."
"You two must be exhausted. You two should just get some sleep."
"We are tired, mom. Bella's in the shower right now as soon as she get out, I'm going to take a quick shower and eat a quick room service supper and crash."
"Are you going sight seeing in the morning?" I briefly told Mom about all the locations that Bella and I wanted to see. She told me that I had better take lots of pictures because she had never been to Lisbon and wanted to see everything. I promised her a ton of pictures and then gave the phone to Bella, who had finished her shower and wanted to talk to mom about some of the boxes that we had left with Alice and Jasper. Mom and Dad were going to store the car for us but we did not want all of our things sitting in a garage for God knows how many months until we came home. Plus, we sent some packages of souvenirs back for the family. There were a couple of baby gifts included that we bought for Rose and Emmett's baby from FAO Schwartz.
When I woke up the next morning, I was surprised and quite unhappy to find myself alone in bed. I wandered out of the bedroom in search of my wife. I finally found her wrapped in a hotel robe, standing on our private balcony, and drinking a cup of coffee. It was two of the most beautiful views I had ever seen. One being my wife standing there and the other was the actual view of the city. The hotel was situated on top of a hill looking down on the city. The view was absolutely breathtaking.
After we managed to get dressed, we made our way downstairs to the Veranda Restaurant, and had breakfast before venturing out into Lisbon. We had the choice of either taking the underground or the tram system to get around. But once Bella caught sight of the "adorable yellow streetcars", in her words, she just had to get to ride on them.
Our destination for the morning was Jeronimo's Monastery. King Manuel I to remember and celebrate Vasco da Gama successful trip to India built it in 1502. Not only was Vasco da Gama entombed there but so are Kings Manuel and Sebastião, and poets Fernando Pessoa and Alexandre Herculano. Talk about breathtaking sites. Bella and I spent the whole morning touring and exploring the monastery, and marveling over the architecture. We made sure that we got pictures of everything that we could. The whole place was amazing, including the gardens, the chapel, and the fountain.
When we left the monastery, we continued on to Belam Tower, which is a fortress that was built in 1515 to guard the entrance to Lisbon Harbor. After spending the rest of the afternoon wandering around the fortress we were once again exhausted so we decided that the only thing that we really wanted to do was go to dinner and then spend the rest of the evening enjoying the peace and quiet and solitude of our suite. We really had not had much time alone together with everyone together in New York. The legal drinking age in Lisbon, and throughout the European Union was only eighteen so I did not have as many hassles when I ordered a bottle of Champagne for us and my wife as I did back in the States. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in bed together completely naked. Well, except for the point where we forced ourselves to get out of bed to soak in the tub together. Yeah, it was a real sacrifice to drag my ass out of bed for that.
The next morning, I woke up still wrapped around my Bella. This would always be my favorite way of waking up. I hated to wake her, but we had another busy day planned for today. We were going to the Oceanaruim this morning and this afternoon we were going to get to see a real bull fight! I was really excited to see that. Especially since they changed the way that the fight is conducted and it ends. The fights used to end with the bull being killed in the ring. Yeah, like I would take my wife to something like that. Now, the bull rarely dies, they are sold to rodeos instead. If the bull should need to be put down then a butcher does it behind the scenes where unsuspecting parents won't have children with nightmares. Or in my case a pissed off animal loving wife who would want to stab the bull fighter to death with his own sword.
Again, we were completely exhausted by the time that the day was over. This is the way that our days continued to go. We managed to visit numerous castles and museums and we did a lot of shopping. At this rate, we were going to end up needing a vacation to get over our vacation.
A/N:
This is going to be a long note as there is quite a bit I really need to say:
First of all, sorry this took so long to get out. But when I started researching Lisbon I found most of the websites were in Portuguese. I am not Edward Cullen and I do not speak Portuguese. In fact the only Spanish I know I learned when I worked at a restaurant from the guys that worked in the kitchen and quite frankly at the age of 35 the phrases they used still make me blush. I tried my best to understand what I was reading.
I am not sure when the next update will be. I am hoping to get it out next week because the following week I am going on vacation and internet access will be quite limited as I will be in the woods. In the meantime you can find me on twitter as branson101 (any guesses as to where I will be traveling)
Most of you have found it but if not I started a new story called "Living Life" It's going to be more angsty and not all fluffy like this. You can get to it through my profile. I'll put a link to it on my blog as soon as I can.
I also want to ask for your prayers for the people of Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa. The Corp of Engineers in the Dakotas keep releasing water to prevent flooding up there and have managed to flood us. Many major interstates have been closed indefinitely, many people have lost their homes, and many farmers have lost their crops. I am personally safe, even though I live two blocks from the water. I live on top of a great big hill and there is no chance of the water getting up that high.
And lastly I need to add to websites that I used as sources for this chapter.
http:/www(.)golisbon(.)com/sight-seeing/top10(.)html
http:/www(.)lisbon-guide(.)info/about-portugal/bullfighting

FYH Outtake 10

Outtake 10

Life with Angela

She was always more than just my best friend. She was my sister in every way that counted. She was even before my parents took her in. Her parents' deaths were a tragedy that shook and angered the whole tiny town of Forks. Not only was the town angry that a teenage girl was left an orphan due to the stupidity of the whole Newton family, but the town really loved their chief of police and his wife. They were going to be missed for a very long time.
I will never forget the night they died. Bella was spending the night like she did quite frequently. It was their anniversary, Bella always stayed on their anniversary to give them some privacy. Only this time she never left. Mom and Dad immediately offered to take custody of her, even though just about the whole town was offering the same. Mom and Dad managed all her finances and settled the estate for her. They also agreed to help with the lawsuit against the Newton's. Mom and Dad were never the vindictive types, I mean; Dad is the town pastor and preaches forgiveness all the time. But this time, even he was having a hard time letting go. I think that part of it was that the Newton's just did not care. I remember clearly the day he came home from talking to Mr. and Mrs. Newton about helping out with the funeral expenses and Bella's other expenses. "I don't care what happens to that girl. Her parents should have been more careful and stayed out of our baby's way." That was the first time I ever heard my father swear too.
I was so glad that Bella had stayed late for a meeting at school and was not here to listen to this. Dad was on the phone to the lawyer that had been trying to contact Bella about suing the Newton's since the accident. Dad had just lost hope that there was an ounce decency left in that family and decided to take the path of revenge instead of forgiveness.
Before the accident, Bella and I had planned to go to college in Seattle together and share a dorm. But everything about our lives and our plans changed after her parents died. But so many things were still the same between her and I. We could always talk about anything with each other or say anything to each other and never get offended. We knew that we had the others best interest at heart.
I knew when she was considering having sex for the first time with Jacob. She knew when I was ready to take that step with Ben but he wasn't ready yet. She calmed me down considerably about the way that I was feeling rejected by reminding me that the door of not be pressured to have sex should always swing both ways and if both of us were not ready then it was not the right time.
She did end up sleeping with Jacob before I did with Ben. It may have been unladylike but she told me everything, and I mean everything, because I wanted to know from a first hand account. From then on, sex was a very open topic for the two of us. We even found a way to watch our first porno together. Yes, we compared, but we were never mean about it. Bella's relationship with Jacob ended a couple of months after that but that was because he was a big asshole who cheated on her.
It was nice to have someone to talk to about sex and not be embarrassed. We could never have discussed these things with our mothers and most of the other girls at school believed the stupidest shit. Like the time the guys started telling the girls that you can't pass a STD by having oral.
After the accident, Bella stopped talking about going to college. Even after she won the lawsuit. I knew that there was something bothering her and that bothered me. We could always and did always tell each other everything. If our fathers knew the things that their sweet "innocent" baby girls were discussing they would be appalled! Ok. So we weren't so innocent. We would have been sent off to convents never to be seen again. Even if we weren't Catholic. Bella used to tease me by saying that the pastors little angel was a devil in disguise. Maybe she was right because I still love to sin with my boyfriend quite often. And I do, too.
I have to say though, through all of that I was completely blindsided the night that Bella came to the dinner table the January before graduation and announced that she was not heading off to college in the fall with me but was headed out on her own for some big world tour. I have to admit that I did not take the news well. I ran out of the house and headed straight for Ben's house. He was out with Tyler but his mom let me cry on her shoulder and talk everything out. She managed to get me to see that if this was the path that Bella really felt that she needed to take then it was important as someone who loved her to support her and help her.
Later that night when Marsha drove me home, I sat down with Bella and my parents and discussed Bella's trip. Ever since she lost her parents Bella had felt this pull in her heart that told her that Seattle was not where she was supposed to be. There was something pulling her to the open road to experience life and to experience the world and find her true home. I knew that I was being selfish because I was going to miss my "sister" and best friend. So I let it go. I let her go.
Ben proposed to me at the graduation party that the town through every year. So many of the kids from town would leave after graduation and never look back. I was terrified that Bella was going to be one of them now. I was terrified that I was going to lose my best friend forever.
We all made sure that she had a brand new cell phone with an extra battery and an extra charger just in case. More than being afraid of losing her to a new life we were afraid of losing her in the same way that we lost her parents. She was going to be all alone out there in the world surrounded by strangers. She would be surrounded by dangerous strangers. I also made sure that she had plenty of mace on hand too.
Then, one night, not long after she left, she called from a hotel bar. She started telling me about a guy at the other end of the end of the bar that she said looked he was ready to cry. So I encouraged her to go over to him and talk to him. Ben was furious with me for encouraging her to talk to a strange man at a bar. "He could be a lunatic rapist for all you know Angela. You could have just encouraged her to her death!"
Luckily I was right and he was wrong. When we talked to him and got his whole story, Ben was sorry for having misjudged him. After a few phone calls with him we were happy that she was no longer alone on the road. Then the pictures started coming in and Bella, well she looked happier and healthier than I had seen her since her parents died. When I saw what this Edward looked like, I was stunned, she really hit the jackpot with that guy. She had agreed to send them to me so that I could live vicariously through her and then I would send them onto mom and dad how would show them to the town after the Sunday services.
I knew that Edward was perfect for her when he made sure that her family was there at their wedding. Although all of his issues did concern me quite a bit we bit my tongue and let it go. There was no way that I was going to ruin her wedding day. Besides, he seemed really nice and my father really liked him. And he loved her and she loved him and that was what was important. But I will admit that I was jealous of him. I knew then that she was never coming home, not that she had promised to anyway. Home for her now was wherever Edward was. Just like home for me was with Ben. We were studying business so that one day we could buy the sporting goods store from Bella. Neither Ben nor I were inclined to live anywhere but Forks. Our families were there and we loved it there. Still I cried for a whole two days after she told me that they found a house in Maine.
We still talked openly about her sex life and my sex life and everything in between. So, I wasn't a bit surprised when she whispered in my ear that she wanted some alone time with her husband. I totally got that and truth be told I wanted that with my man in our luxury suite too. So I dragged Ben from their room and down the hall to ours.
I really wanted to find a way to pay Bella back for everything that she has given us since she received that settlement. She's paid for clothes and trips and goodness knows what else she's done. She even threatened to start college funds for any children that Ben and I have. I had to stop her there, though. That would be our responsibility and there was only so much that I could willingly accept from her. There is a difference between accepting gifts and taking advantage and I did not ever want to cross that line.
A/N: Thanks to RandyWriter on Twi whose review to chapter 23 inspired me to write this.

FYH Chapter 24

FYH Chapter 24

New York State of Mind

BPOV:
I watched with laughter as Alice nearly tackled Edward to the ground. Then she turned on me and nearly squeezed the life out of me.
"ALICE!" Edward chastised her. "Let her go before you hurt her. Geez, we just saw you the other day you know."
"I know. But I missed you. So where are we going to first?"
"The hotel." I replied. "We thought that you two would want to drop your luggage and get freshened up."
"Sounds good to me." She answered as we watched Edward and Jasper go for the luggage. We had a hotel limo drive us here to make it easier in terms of the luggage and space in the car.
As Edward drove back to the hotel, I sat in the back and talked with my new sister in law. I was telling her about all the plans that we had for the week, from the shows that we had tickets for to the touristy things that we wanted to do. I told her that we had made reservations for all of us to go see the statue of Liberty.
"Wow. You have to make reservations to see the statue now?"
"Yes. Especially if you want to go up to the crown. It's reservation only and they only let 240 per day go up."
"What day are we going there?" She asked nervously looking at her husband who was quietly talking to Edward in the front seat.
"Actually, we made the reservations for the day after tomorrow."
"Oh, good!" She looked so relieved by that. I wondered what that was about.
Over dinner, Jasper and Alice told us the real reason that they came to New York. Wow. If it panned out the way that Jasper thought it would, it would be amazing for his career. But, I had to worry about Esme's reaction. Her last child was considering leaving her now. I did not fail to notice that since Edward met me, all three of her children had decided to leave Phoenix. Although, I had to admit that it would be rather nice to have more family near us after we complete our move to Maine.
Tonight, however, we were going forget everything and go hit a popular night club that the concierge told us about. The guys were adamant that no one was to wonder off alone. Even the guys were to follow that rule. It just wasn't considered safe and we were a little bit afraid of some getting mugged or attacked. We had a wonderful night of drinking and dancing and enjoying each others company.
The next morning we stumbled out of bed a little bit hung over. Edward ordered coffee and brought it to me in the shower. It these little things that he does that show me how much he loved me.
We met up with the others for a bit of breakfast. Jasper ate quickly and then with a kiss to his wife, he took off to meet up with his professor-friend. Since the weather was unseasonably warm today with near record a high 65 degrees, we all decided to take the opportunity to get some fresh air. We donned some light jackets and took off for quick shopping for some essentials before heading into the park. Apparently, we were not the only ones looking to take advantage of the nice weather. The park was crowded with other families.
We spread out the blankets that we just purchased and us girls sat around gossiping while Edward and Ben played with our new Frisbee. Jasper's meeting was only going to take a couple of hours so Alice texted him with our location so that he could join us when he was free. When Jasper finally joined us we ate the picnic lunch that we had picked up at a deli close to the hotel. After lunch we spent a couple of hours playing three on three football and then when we were tired we all sprawled out on the blankets and just talked about everything and nothing until the sun went over and the temperature started to drop and we were getting cold.
As we left the park, we all decided to go our separate ways until dinner. Edward and I wanted to stop by a one-hour photo shop and I knew that Alice and Jasper needed some time to talk before their dinner. They were going to meet with the department head of the professor that was attempting to entice Jasper into coming to NYU. So we really would not be seeing them for the rest of the evening. It was a good thing that our tickets to see Mary Poppins were not until tomorrow night. It was Alice's wish to see the show and Jasper would have been in the dog house big time if she missed her chance to see the live show on Broadway. The rest of us decided to just take in a quiet dinner and a movie.
If the goal of the evening was just to relax and unwind, I have to say we achieved it splendidly. After Edward and I retired to our room, we ran a hot bath in the oversized marble tub and relaxed together talking about everything that we wanted to see in Europe and discussing the issue of what we were going to do with our car. Neither of us thought it was safe to leave it in New York unattended for months. We finally decided to ask Alice and Jasper if they would drive it to Phoenix and we would fly there to pick it up after our overseas trip was over. Actually, that should make his family happy since that would bring the knowledge that they were guaranteed another visit after we returned to the states. Besides, we left our photo albums there because we couldn't bring them all onto the plane with us and it would give us the opportunity to retrieve them and any new ones that Esme made us with all the new pictures that I was hoping to send to her of us in New York, Europe, and Asia.
The next day we met up for an early breakfast before one of the hotel limos took to the dock to board the ferry that would first take us to Ellis Island and then off to the Liberty Island. Edward and I had arranged for us to take the rangers guided tour and then to see the movie on the history of Ellis Island. We still had plenty of time after all that before we were due at Liberty Island so we bummed around the gift shop for a little while. Edward bought me an Ellis Island snow globe and the official Ellis Island cookbook and I bought him a baseball cap and travel mug.
By then we were all getting hungry so we set off for the ferry knowing that that there was a snack shop on board. By the time that the ferry docked at Liberty Island, Edward and I were ready to attempt to find a way to throw Alice and Angela from the crown of the statue. They had decided that the ferry ride was the perfect time to tell any and every embarrassing story about us as we were growing up. It was not that Edward hadn't heard most of these stories already from me, it was that Alice and Angela were not even attempting to be discreet and several times I caught strangers at other table listening in and laughing at our expense. I knew I was not being paranoid because those people were looking right at us, not even trying to hide the fact that they were eavesdropping. I really do not think that either realized how loud they were being until Jasper noticed and told Alice to take it down a notch.
We probably should have been mad at them but we decided it would be more fun to get even instead. We also decided to be patient and bide our time until we could find the most opportune time for revenge.
By that time, we were at Liberty Island anyway. We checked in and we were put with the group that was about to be escorted to the crown. I will tell you that I am glad that I wore my sneakers because that was a hell of a lot of stairs to climb. By the time that we got to the top, Edward and I were laughing, it looked like we had gotten our revenge without even trying. Alice and Angela were so winded that they had to sit down immediately to catch their breath.
"Maybe if either of you had shut your mouths once at lunch you would not be so winded now. We all conserved our air and look at us. We are just fine. That woman over there looks about ninety years old and she's breathing just fine" Edward smirked at his older sister and pointed out and older woman who indeed looked to old to be about ninety and was currently looking over at Alice and Angela, who were still gasping for air, and was shaking her head and rolling her eyes.
"Oh fuck off." She wheezed back at him causing us to laugh harder. After the windy girls finally caught their breaths we rejoined the rest of the tour and got our first views from the crown. It was both breathtaking and scary at the same time. The view of Manhattan Island was amazing. For the rest of the afternoon, Edward and I filled up a whole memory card with pictures of the view and pictures of all of us inside the monument and outside of the monument as we made our way back down. We stopped that gift shop and picked up little Statue of Liberty figurine and we all got matching sweatshirts.
We made it back to the hotel that after with just enough time to shower and change. We did not really have a whole lot of time for dinner before the show so we decided on a quick meal of Thai food near the theater.
I had always loved the movie "Mary Poppins" growing up, of course, I am a Dick Van Dyke fan, but seeing it performed live, was an experience of a lifetime. After the show we stopped at the hotel bar for some drinks before we went to bed. I really wanted to make love to my husband tonight but I was so tired that I stole the t-shirt to Edward's pajamas when he turned his back for a moment, leaving him with only the bottoms. I just crawled under the covers and fell right sleep making myself the promise that I would jump him first thing in the morning.
EPOV:
All I did was turn my back to turn on the TV to find a movie for us to watch and the next thing I know half of my pajamas are gone and my wife is fast asleep in the bed. I sighed, I had wanted to snuggle just be alone with her for a bit, but I guess that was not happening tonight. So, I grabbed my journal and started writing. I was making a lot of headway in my book lately.
I was woken the next morning by my wife kissing me and running her fingers through my hair.
"There you are" she giggled, "I've been trying to wake you for almost ten minutes."
"Sorry, my love, late night last night"
"Well, then I am sorry for waking you so early, lover boy."
"Don't be sorry. I'm not." I that t-shirt of mine that she stole off her before those words were out of my mouth and needless to say, we didn't make it to breakfast this morning.
When we finally did manage to meet up with everyone else, we decided to head of to the Museum of Modern Art. We just spent the day casually walking around the museum. I had stopped to look at one painting when my sister came up to me, wrapped her arm around mine and laid her head on my shoulder. But it was the words that came out of her mouth that shocked me more than her little display of affection towards me.
"We decided that Jasper is going to accept the research position. We are moving to New York."
"Wow. I wonder what Mom is going to say."
"I don't know. That is all of us now. I am going to wait until we get home to tell her to her face though."
"Is that why you agreed so quickly to drive the car back to Phoenix for us? Putting of the inevitable a little bit?"
"Damn straight, little brother!"
"But, you will be closer to us and Em and Rose and the baby."
"I know. That is one of the reasons that I agreed to this Edward, I want all of our kids to be really close."
"I do too, Alice. I do too."
We ate lunch in the café at the museum before taking off to spend the rest of the afternoon resting at the hotel. It was New Year's Eve and we were going to ring in the New Year at Times Square. This would be the first new year that I could remember that I actually could look back on the year that past with fond memories and could actually had hope for an amazing new year.
A/N:
Look for the outtake that I am posting tonight. Thanks to a reviewer who inspired me to write a little outtake from Angela's POV. It's a little taste of Bella and Angela before she left Forks. I have a couple of new plot bunnies running through my head. I am hoping to get started on them soon. We will be leaving New York soon and heading off to Europe.

FYH Chapter 23

FYH Chapter 23

OOPS!

BPOV:
Edward looked completely panicked when we walked into the room and saw the birth control pills sitting on the dresser. How neither of us saw them laying there when we left the other day is beyond me. In all honesty, though, we were in quite a hurry to get to the airport to attempt to catch our flight the other day. Edward started apologizing profusely; he knew that I was not ready to have kids. We were only nineteen; we would have years ahead of us to have children. I don't mean to sound selfish but I really want to see Europe and finish our world tour before settling down that much. I explained to him that my OB had always told me that if I missed a pill to double up the next day and I should be fine.
"Should be? That doesn't sound like a guarantee, Bella." He said while pacing the room.
"Well, its not. But neither is taking the pill on time."
"That's true. What if you do get pregnant? Would it really be that bad? I mean I know that you are not ready, but what if it happens?"
"If it happens, then it happens, I guess." I sighed. And that was the end of that conversation as Angela and Ben knocked on our door wanting to go get something to eat. I also needed to try to convince Angela to let me take her shopping. Edward and I had purchased tickets to several Broadway plays and she and I were both going to need new outfits for the shows.
Since we all had wanted to do all the touristy things that we could manage to fit in, we decided to eat an early dinner at the Hard Rock Café. Convincing Angela to allow me to buy her the outfits was worse than pulling teeth. You would think that I was demanding indentured servitude in exchange for purchase of the clothes. She was adamant that it wasn't necessary to buy new clothes nor was she going to allow me to pay for them. After all, Edward and I did pay for their plane tickets and the hotel, especially at the prices that the Waldorf Astoria charges she had argued. But, we were finally able to negotiate that I would buy her only two outfits for the four shows that we had tickets for and both outfits had to be off the clearance rack, if possible. She would not allow me to pay hundreds of dollars for outfits that she may never use again. She seemed even more placated when I told her that I had found out that in winter a pant suit or slacks and a sweater was perfectly acceptable to wear due to the cold weather. Those were outfits that she would definitely get some use out of when she returned home.
The boys decided that they were going to follow us around and help us shop. Or should I say they were going to follow us and gossip and whine until finally we told them to go wait at the "40 Carrots", one of the stores restaurants and get some dessert while we finished shopping. Neither Angela nor I were really avid shoppers but it did take a few hours to find the right outfits that made us happy. But what took the most time was our gossiping and girl talk. I wanted have a chance to catch up on her wedding plans even though the wedding wasn't going to be for another year and a half. She had asked me to be her maid of honor and I giddily accepted. She told me that she was gathering things little by little so that they could spread out the cost and not be hit with huge bills from the wedding all at once. I offered to help her with the wedding, between Edward's and my money we could easily help out. She refused my offer but did relent in letting me pay for my own dress. Then we got to talking about the people back home.
"Oh my God, Bella, you will never believe who I ran into the other day!" Angela exclaimed giddily
"Who?" I said just as giddily.
"Lauren Newton. And she was working at the McDonalds."
"Really. Miss high and mighty 'I'd never allow that garbage in my body' is now selling it?"
"Actually she was cleaning the bathrooms when I saw her and the food isn't that only new thing in her body. She's very, very pregnant."
"NO WAY!" I exclaimed a little too loud and garnering some unwanted attention to us. "I wonder who the father is…no….I wonder if she is still wondering who the father is." At that we laughed again before moving on to find some new shoes for our new outfits.
I felt bad for the poor baby that was going to have Lauren for a mom. It also made me think about the forgotten pills again, I wanted to tell Angela and get her opinion and reassurance but I also really didn't want to make a big deal out of it. So I just kept my mouth shut.
We made our purchases and made our way up to the restaurant to meet up with the guys where we found that they had gone ahead and ordered dessert for us as well. When we finally made it back to the hotel we were exhausted but not too tired to have a drink and hang out for a bit.
After Ben and Angela retired to their room for the night, Edward and I got ready for bed ourselves. More than just being tired, there seemed to be an unspoken agreement not to have sex as a precaution. I was afraid that not wanting a baby with him right now was hurting his feelings but there were so many things that I wanted to do; that I wanted us to do. If I was being completely honest, a baby wouldn't stop me from traveling or going to college, but it would make it a lot more difficult.
The next morning we slept in late and joined Ben and Ang for brunch in the hotel restaurant called "Oscar Brasserie". Edward was in a strange mood all day. He wasn't mad or rude or anything like that, but more quiet and contemplative. I worried about what was going on in his head, but he said that he was fine and there was nothing wrong. So, I returned to enjoying the limited time that I had with Ben and Angela.
We decided to enjoy a leisurely stroll through Central Park and really not do much but talk and explore the park and the city. Alice and Jasper would be coming into town tomorrow and they would be hanging out with us and we were, again, going to enjoy doing all the touristy things that we could.
Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the hotel to get ready for an early dinner and the show. We had made reservations at the Russian Tea Room and then we were off to see "Jersey Boys" on Broadway. I was really as I had wanted to see that show since I first heard about it.
When we got back to the room, Edward told me to go ahead and take my shower first. There was something that he wanted to do first. As I stepped out of the bathroom twenty minutes later, I found Edward sitting at the table furiously writing in his journal. I just sighed and turned to get dressed.
EPOV:
When I heard my wife sigh I felt really bad. I was hurting her feelings. I was just trying to figure out why I was feeling so sad and disconnected today and writing was always the best way for me to that . It's not like I was really intent on being a father right now or anything. I totally understood her arguments against it. She wanted a college education and she felt that a baby would only hinder that. I was not ready to be a father any more than she was ready to be a mother, I agreed with her on that.
So, I thought that writing down my feelings in my journal would help me sort everything out. What I finally concluded was that it wasn't that I necessary wanted a baby right now, but I wanted to give her a family in the abstract. I was missing mine since we left Arizona yesterday. I sure as hell knew that Bella missed her parents terribly. But, a baby wasn't the answer to this question. It would not be fair to a child, to be brought into the world, to replace other people that their parents had lost.
With no concrete solution coming to my mind, I put down my journal, walked over to my wife, and put my arms around her waist; kissing her neck. She giggled, as I knew that she would. I was fully aware that she was ticklish in that one spot. I knew where all her ticklish spots were and I made myself a promise that I would visit each and everyone of those ticklish spots when we returned to the room later tonight. But for now, I was satisfied with a mere kiss and the smile on her face after I reached into my pocket and pulled out the new pearl necklace that I had bought her and fastened them around her neck.
The other surprise that I had for her that evening was that I had ordered a limo to drive us around. I really did not feel safe or comfortable taking the subway or trying to get a cab after we left the show later that night. My safety excuse was enough to stop Angela and Bens' little fits that we had already spent too much money on them and the limo was completely unnecessary. My wife, on the other hand, knew that it was really just another part of my plan to spoil her for the rest of our lives but wisely kept her smirking mouth shut and settled for glaring at me while shaking her head. Of course, the smirk did not help her appear serious at all.
The dinner at the Russian Tea Room was absolutely amazing. We all tried caviar for the first time. It was so funny because we were all excited to try it when we order it, then when the waiter actually put it on the table, none of us wanted to be the first to eat it. We all just kept looking at each other and saying things like "You first, you're our guest" and "Oh, no, I couldn't be so rude, you're paying, you should have the first bite." In the end it was Bella that was brave enough to take that first bite. I could tell right away that she didn't really care for it but she assured us that it wasn't all that bad.
"You'll never eat that again, will you?" I asked before I took my bite.
"Um. No. I guess my palate just isn't that sophisticated. But I really don't see us having the opportunity to get caviar much in Ogunquit, anyways." She laughed.
As soon as I took my bite I had to disagree with her, that stuff was absolutely disgusting. Ben agreed with me while Angela absolutely loved it.
"I always knew you were weird." Bella teased her.
"Says the gypsy woman!" Angela teased right back.
"I can't be considered a gypsy anymore, we bought a home."
"Yes, a home 3000 miles away from me." And that is when the conversation got heavy. "Mom cried when I told her."
"Angela, you all knew that I was never actually intending to return to Forks. There are nothing but memories, shadows, and ghosts for me there."
"That doesn't mean that we didn't harbor some hope that you would come home."
"Are you returning to Forks for sure, Angela?" I asked.
"I am planning on it, yes."
"And if Ben was offered a job in, let's say, Florida, would you still return to Forks or follow him to Florida."
"I get what you're saying, I do. I'm just going to miss you terribly."
"I'm going to miss all of you too. You and your parents will have to come see our home once we get settled in. okay?"
"Ok." Angela acquiesced.
Before we knew it our dinner was over and it was time to get back in the limo and head off to the theater. The show was completely worth the hype, and the cost of the tickets. We were having such a great time that we were singing some of the songs in the limo all the way back to the hotel. Even though we were probably annoying the driver to death, it was once of the best, most carefree nights that I had ever had.
Angela and Ben stopped by our room for a brief nightcap. A very brief night cap. Bella got up at one point and whispered something in Angela's ear. I saw Angela nod with a confused look on her face, and then Bella looked over at me briefly before turning back to Angela, kissing her on the cheek, and whispering something else. Angela started laughing and grabbed Ben's hand and announced that it was time for them to go to bed. As soon they were gone my wife literally jumped me, knocking me to the ground in the doorway as she growled something that sounded a little like "way too long".
By the next morning, we had finally made it too bed, even if we didn't get much sleep. We had to be at the airport by noon to meet Alice and Jasper. When I asked her what she said to Angela, she laughed
"First I asked Angela if she knew that I loved her and that I have missed her, a whole hell of a lot. Then I told her that I wasn't trying to be rude but, it had been too long since I had fucked my husband and unless she and Ben wanted to see their second live so for the evening… I never past that before she started laughing and dragged Ben out of here."
I was laughing hysterically at this point. "Rude or not, I am really glad that you did it. Two days is definitely way too long. But we need to get up and get going if we are going to make it to the airport on time."
A couple of hours later I was nearly pummeled to the ground again when my sister came barreling at me.
A/N: I am back and officially a college graduate. Now, I just need a job…anyone got a spare accounting job in their pocket? But I am not done yet. I am going on to get my masters and my doctorate. I am going to say that, no; Bella is not pregnant at this time. I just really needed a reason for the topic to come up for them to really talk about what they want family wise and when. A quick reminder that I did write a Future-take for fandom for tsunami that goes out this week. I am also going to get working on my new story at some point this week. It is going to be quite a bit different from this one. If anyone is interested in being a beta or pre-reader please let me know.

FYH Chapter 22

FYH Chapter 22

More Christmas

BPOV:
To say that I was shocked when I returned to the hotel after shopping and found Edward packing our bags, wanting to go home for the Christmas would be the understatement of the century. But, here we are in Phoenix. I don't know what shocked me more at arriving in Arizona, the intense heat on Christmas Day or the size of the house that Edward grew up in.
After shocking the hell out of everyone with our surprise arrival, I decided to follow Esme and Alice to the kitchen while Edward hung out with the guys in the sitting room. There was talk about finding a game on TV and that was definitely my cue to find something else to do. I offered to help Esme finish the brunch but she refused. Instead, she poured me a large glass of wine and started entertaining me with stories of Edward, Emmett, and Alice growing up. Note to self, never let Alice near my kitchen if she ever comes to visit.
I wasn't with the girls very long before Edward came to find me. He took me upstairs to his room so that we could clean up and I have to say that his room shocked me. Nothing in there represented the man that I have come to know and love. There were medical journals and old college textbooks, mostly medical and most likely had belonged to his father, but nothing that was personal or told me anything of who Edward was. There were only two posters on the wall; one of the table of elements and the other was a diagram of the human body. The whole room was just cold and impersonal.
"I really didn't spend much time in here. It was really just a place to sleep."
"So where did you spend your time?"
"I spent most of my free time at the library. It was the only place that I could really go to be alone and not have to delve into too much detail about where I was and what I had been doing."
It was then that an errant thought hit me and I realized that we had never really talked about our personal tastes in decorating and that we know had a house that we were going to need to furnish. Now was not the time to get into such a heavy topic, not when he made a big step by coming home. I decided that we could forego a talk interior decorating and instead talk about something more pertinent to when happening at the moment.
"How are you doing?"
"Honestly? I am a bit overwhelmed. No, I am a lot overwhelmed, but in a good way. I didn't really realize just how much I was missing all of them."
"Yeah, that will sneak up on you."
"How are you doing?" he asked me now.
"For me it's neither here nor there, you know. I miss my parents but there is nothing that I can do about it."
"Maybe sometime soon, we could fly to Washington, and visit their graves and put flowers out for them."
"I'd really like to do that. Thank you."
"I love you, Bella. I would do anything to ensure your happiness."
"I love you too, Edward."
"You know your parents are the reason that I decided to do this. The more I thought about how quickly and suddenly your parents were taken from you the more that I wanted to see mine again."
Esme was just putting the final touches on the meal as we made it downstairs after our showers. I was intent on staying in the background and observing my new family more than anything but they obviously had different plans and kept engaging me in conversations by asking me about my past and the town where I grew up.
We got into lengthy discussions about the pros and cons about living in a small town. I was really happy that we had chosen such a small place to live. Edward told his parents that he was excited to try small town life after living in such large cities all his life. I could understand their concern; I really could, because this was a huge lifestyle change. I had seriously considered moving to a large city like St. Louis, but I really could not see myself living like that. I would have, though, if Edward had really desired to. I would have given it a fair shot for him.
When they presented us with our wedding gift of the scrapbooks, I could not help but sob as I hugged my mother in law. Edward and I spent the better part of the afternoon going through the books with his family surrounding us while we told them more of the details of our trip. We especially concentrated on Reno and our wedding. I could see the looks of sadness in their eyes that they had not been invited to our wedding.
"Hey Edward, Jasper told me that you are headed to New York next. So how long are you going to be there?" Alice suddenly asked.
"Uh, we'll be there at least through New Years. We have friends meeting us there."
"Oh."
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, Jasper and I are going to be there for New Years, it was our gift to each other for Christmas, we've always wanted to do the whole Times Square thing and all, and I just thought that maybe…"
"We should definitely get together while we can. We're, uh, leaving the country after New York."
"Where are you going?" Esme asked genuinely intrigued.
"We're going everywhere, Mom." Edward laughed. "But we are starting with Portugal."
"We've actually been trying to plan out this portion of the trip. I don't want to end up lost or something in the middle of Europe." I shuddered.
"But, honey, I promised you that I would save you from any vampires if we should end up in Transylvania." Edward joked as he leaned over and bit my neck.
"Yeah, but who is going to save me from you." I replied giggling and playfully swatting him away. Edward just laughed. I excused myself to the bathroom.
When I came out, I found Edward waiting outside the room. He pushed my hair back and checked to see if he'd left a mark before pinning me against the wall and telling me that he loved me by kissing me deeply and passionately. After he pulled away he told me that he would be back in the sitting room in a minute and then he continued down the hall to the stairs that led up to his bedroom.
When I turned to return to the sitting room, I saw Carlisle there with an amused look on his face and I immediately blushed.
"I've never seen my son so happy. I cannot remember the last time I saw him smile or laugh as he has today. I was looking at old pictures not long after he left and I never realized how sad he was. And I have to own my part of the blame in that. You make him happy. No. You make him very happy, complete. Thank you, Bella. I think that you saved our family from certain destruction that we did not see coming when you came into our lives. I am honored to call you my daughter." Then he hugged me, kissed the top of my head, and said, "Welcome to our family, dear."
EPOV:
I came back downstairs from my room and found my dad and Bella in the hall talking. Dad turned and walked away before I could approach them. When I reached Bella I realized that she was on the verge of tears. I was immediately concerned with Dad could have possibly said to upset her. I thought that everything had been going well. So I asked her what was wrong and she just smiled up at me and told me that it just felt damn good to have a family again, she reached up and kissed me, and we left it at that.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening playing games and watching old Christmas movies. We were having so much fun that none of us wanted the night to end. My brothers and sisters were extremely reluctant to leave but by 2AM Bella and I needed to get some sleep as we got very little in our attempt to get to Phoenix. So we hugged everyone good night and retired to my room.
As soon as we got into bed Bella seemed to become very anxious. "Edward, did, uh, you and Tanya ever, um, fool around, in this bed?" That was not a question that you want your wife to ask you when you are exhausted and it is completely possible that the answer is going to upset her.
"Yes." I sighed.
"Oh. I see." Then she was quiet. I looked down at her face to see how upset but it looked more as if she was contemplating something.
"I'm sorry. I totally forgot all about it. We can move to the guest room if you want, if it would make you more comfortable. Please tell me what are you thinking?"
"I was thinking that it is time for you to make some new memories, hopefully some memories that you will actually remember." She replied as she turned to face me with a devilish grin on her face.
"Isabella Cullen, do you know that I remember every second of every touch of every time that I have that I have ever made love to you. Like, the first night we met, when I showed up to your room and kissed you I could still faintly taste the amoretto from the drink you had had at the bar. I remember the way the you felt in between the satin of the satin sheets in San Diego, the feel of your legs wrapped around me and my hands on your ass the first time we took a shower together, and how intoxicating your shampoo was when you leaned you head on my shoulder. I remember the way it felt the first time you were on top and how mesmerized I was with your breasts and how I just could not keep my hands off them. With that being said, we made quite a few new memories in my childhood bed for the next two hours. They were memories that neither one of us would ever forget.
Luckily we had thought to put our pajamas on before going to sleep because just as soon as I had fallen asleep someone came knocking at the door. My father poked his head cautiously in the door and asked if it was ok to enter. When I told him that it was, he came over and sat on bed beside me.
"I'm sorry to wake you but I got called into the hospital and I wanted to be able to say goodbye." He whispered now noticing that Bella was still sound asleep. "I love you, Edward, I know that I haven't always showed you that I did, but I do."
"I know, Dad, I love you too."
"She's a wonderful young lady, take good care of her Edward."
"I will. You and Mom will have to come visit us when we get settled in, in Maine."
"We will. I have to go. I know it will be hard once you hit Europe, but keep in touch as best you can. Both of you."
"We will Dad." Then he hugged me and left for the hospital. A few hours later both Bella and I groaned as the alarm went off and we needed to get up. I fully intended to get in a couple of naps during our flights.
I was pleasantly surprised to find Emmett, Rose, Alice, and Jasper waiting when we finally made it downstairs for breakfast. Sitting at the table eating was so surreal. It was as if everything had changed but was still the same. I sat back as everyone helped themselves to the food that was served family style and chatted about their day ahead and what was on their agendas. Rose was just mainly glad that her morning sickness was starting to subside and loading up her plate as even Emmett stared at her in awe. Alice and Rose were going shopping in hopes of finding things for the baby and the nursery. Emmett and Jasper were going to the driving range to relax. I asked Mom what she had planned for the day and she said that she was hoping that we would allow her to take us to the airport and wait with us for our flight, but only if it was alright with us, if not, she'd go shopping with Alice and Rose.
It was roughly an hour later as Bella, Mom, and I were in her car headed for the airport when I noticed that Bella had been especially quiet ever since breakfast.
"What wrong, Bella?"
"I just can't shake the feeling I've forgotten something."
"Don't worry about it. It can't be too important if you can't remember. Besides if Mom finds anything, she and Dad can ship it to us, we'll be in New York long enough."
"You're right."
After checking in and handing over our luggage, we got some coffee, sat down, and waited to board the plane. A short forty-five minutes later, our flight was called to board the plane. I promised mom that I'd call soon.
Mom grabbed me into a bone-crushing hug before I could walk away, "I love you, Edward, please never forget that."
"I love you too mom," and then she released me and moved onto Bella hugging her and telling her that she loved her too. She reminded me that we had a therapy session that week and then my wife and I turned to board the plane and I left my family behind once again. This time was different though. This time there was hope and a sincere promise and intent to return.
Our flight arrived in New York only an hour before Angela and Ben's was due in so we waited for them at the airport. There was another round of hugs and professions of love at the airport when Angela and Ben finally arrived at the baggage pickup.
We grabbed a cab and made our way to our hotel. It was upon entering our room that Bella suddenly remembered what it was that she had forgotten. The answer was staring right at her from the dresser in our room where her birth control pills were laying. I had forgotten to put them in her bag when I packed it. Oh, God, please don't let my wife kill me.
A/N:
A couple of things, first, we are pretending that airport security isn't as impossibly tight as it currently is in our post 9/11 world. Second, don't forget to don't the Tsunami Relief compilation. It is going to be great. The link is on my profile. I am still editing the outtake and am currently at 4100 words. Unfortunately, this will be the last update until mid May. We are running up to finals and I need to concentrate on them right now. So, Happy Easter (for those that celebrate) and enjoy!