FYH Chapter 12

FYH Chapter 12

Passion

BPOV:
Our time in South Dakota went pretty quickly. Really there wasn't much to do there so we only spent a couple of days at the monument before heading south to St. Louis. It was going to take us a couple of days to get there so we had plans to stop in Omaha for a night and then in Branson for a couple of days. Neither of us was into country music at all but there was supposed to be a great amusement park in town that we wanted to try out.
Edward was still worried about me being on my ankle too much and risking hurting it again but I promised him that it was fine and if it hurt too much I would find a place to sit down for a bit.
We got into Omaha late on Wednesday evening. We found a Hampton inn right off of the interstate that had a McDonalds basically right outside the parking lot. But what was most interesting that we found there was the Henry Doorly Zoo. I googled it after we got settled into the room. It was no where as big as the San Diego Zoo but was supposed to be one of the top ten in the United States. It was actually listed as number eight. San Diego was number one on the list.
So we decided to extend our stay in Omaha so that we could tour the zoo. It was actually pretty cool and very innovative. There was a two floor rainforest that you walked through on dirt paths with very little barriers between you and the animals. Then there was the desert dome. It was set up the same way as the jungle was.
One of the best parts was the orangutan habitat. We were told it was only about a year or two old, it boasted to be a habitat where the humans were caged and the animals were free. It was odd to be inside a building watching gorillas playing outdoors. The scariest part was in the aquarium. There was this tunnel, exactly like the one in Jaws 3, that we had to walk through and yes there were sharks swimming around in there. We didn't stay in there long.
We were so exhausted by the time that we left the zoo we were glad that our hotel was basically right across the street from the zoo. We crashed into bed after a not so quick joint shower and were ready to get back on the road again in the morning.
We figured on it being about an eight hour drive from Omaha to Branson so we spent the time talking about where we saw our futures together. He had mentioned before that he wanted us to choose to live somewhere that we had visited and liked a lot, but we hadn't found anything yet. I loved Vail, but there was no way I wanted to live there. But today he told me that he had no way he was going to return to Phoenix to live. What ever his mother had said to him on the phone had cemented that decision for him.
I asked him about visiting Phoenix and he said he'd visit his family but he just didn't have any desire to live that close to them again. I know he meant that he had no desire to live that close to his mother again. She had seemed so nice and repentant on the phone when I talked to her and I wanted to say that to Edward but I held my tongue. It was not me that she had wronged to terribly.
The rest of the drive after that conversation was relatively peaceful and quiet. Pulling into Branson was a pure shock to the system. We had become accustomed to open roads and hardly any traffic. And now we were stuck in a traffic jam from hell. We were positive that there had to have been some type of fatal accident or something for the traffic to be so backed up at seven at night.
We were hungry so we pulled into a fast food joint called Steak n'shake for supper. We overheard some people complaining about the traffic and we inquired if they knew why it was so backed up and they looked at us as though we were insane.
"It's your first time here isn't it?" One of them asked. When we answered that it was they started out right laughing at us. One lady took pity on us and told us that after the shows start at eight the traffic will die down a little—but not much. Then they pulled out this map and started on about red routes and blue routes and asking where we had reservations at. When we told them we didn't have reservations they laughed at us again.
A gentleman in the crowd asked how long we were in town for, we told them that we were only stopping for a couple days on our way to St. Louis and he told us that he did maintenance for one of the cabin resorts and that a customer had cancelled last minute and he could get us in.
Accepting that offer started another round of colored route options and one heated debate on which one would be the best for us to take. I made the mistake of asking where the closest Wal-Mart with a photo lab was and got pointed in four different directions. Why the fuck would a town of 7000 need four damn Wal-Mart's! But we just thanked everyone for their immense kindness and departed to find these cabins.
They were right on this lake and we had the most amazing view of the lake right from our porch. Since it was still rather early we went to a Wal-Mart that was in the other direction from the town that we just came from. We picked up some food, some wine, and had some pictures developed.
From my research on the amusement park that we were going to, Silver Dollar City, there was a post office in the park so we were going to mail the pictures to Angela and his family from there. While at Wal-Mart I picked up a throw blanket to cover with in the car during these long drives. We spent the rest of the evening on our little porch, drinking wine, and cuddling in the cool October night air. And that was when he told me what his mother had done to him.
EPOV:
My conversation with my mother was days ago but I was still as livid as I was that night. How could she? Why would she hurt me like that? It was taking all the resolve that I could muster to not call her back and tell her to go to hell. But that would hurt everyone and I had resolved to find a way to forgive her but if she dropped another bombshell like that I may just have to cut ties for my sanity.
Our arrival in Branson was a real lesson in humility and planning. We had no idea that there would be that many tourists here in October. There were families here for Christ's sake. Why weren't these kids in school? After a trip to Wal-mart that included picking up some liquor we sat on the porch swing and I enjoyed holding her in my arms. I finally told Bella what my mother had told me on the phone. I knew that Bella wanted to know what had made me so upset but she knew me well enough to know that I would talk about when I was ready.
Now Bella was back to being angry with my mother. She had started liking her a little but now not so much. But she understood now why I was resolved not to live in the same town as my mother again. I don't think that I could handle that, at least not at this time. But I was determined that to keeping reminding both of us that my mother had been mentally ill at the time and like I told mom, if anything had been different I may not have found my Bella. That thought and Bella herself was the only thing was keeping me from cutting all ties with my family and just disappearing into the world.
The next day we went to the amusement park and it really was a lot of fun. There were several roller coasters and this really fun train ride where they staged a train robbery. And then there was the saloon show. The guy in my really liked that and I even bought a garter belt for Bella. The amount of handmade crafts was amazing as well. We spent a good deal of time watching these ladies make fudge from scratch and then they packaged it to sell in the shop.
We actually ended up buying a lot of souvenirs. It was actually a good thing that we had a SUV at this point. We ate neat little restaurant in the park called Dine in the Mine. It was literally underground with pewter plates and cups and was served beans and franks and stew and lemonade. Just like real miners.
By the end of the day we were exhausted and went back to the cabin and collapsed in bed. The next day we spent sightseeing through town and even decided to take in a show that evening. It was these brothers and their sister, all seven of them, were musically trained and performed together. They actually ended being quite a talented group. They were really a close group that really loved and respected each other and I found myself wishing that my family was more like that.
"You're sulking about something. What's wrong?" Bella was so attuned to my moods that she just knew that something was bothering me. I told it I was just lamenting that my family was as dysfunctional as it was and how I had always thought that we were a normal family and now I am seeing how disturbed the situation really was.
The next morning we embarked on our three hour journey to St. Louis to meet up with Meg, David, and Carolyn. They were going to meet us at our hotel that afternoon. We had decided to stay at the Adams Mark that was downtown across from the arch. We were definitely heading up there.
Meg brought her new girlfriend, Dana, along with her to meet us that afternoon. It was so wonderful to meet up with David and Meg again and to meet Dana and Carolyn. The first thing that Meg noticed was the ring on Bella hand.
"Holy shit! You weren't sporting that set of rocks in the wilderness." We told them all about our wedding in Reno and I showed them the picture of us that Ben had taken with Bella's camera that I now had a copy of on my new phone. That evening the six of us decided to go out to dinner and then dancing at a local club.
Bella was incredibly sexy in the dress that she chose to wear. It was low cut in the front and back and really short, we're talking there was barely any dress there to describe. And you can bet that she didn't leave my sight all night except when she went to the bathroom, when I insisted that she go with one of the other girls for safety. We were in a very large strange town in a bar. It just wasn't a safe idea for any of the girls to wander off alone. I'm not trying to be sexist or anything it was just a fact of life.
She tried to argue with us, saying that she'd be fine, but I was from a large town and I've been out partying in clubs where she was from a life where she was a bit naïve about these things. Everyone in town knew she was the chief of police's daughter and no one was going to be stupid enough to attack her. I may have never met the man but I know that he carried a gun as it's a given that if anyone idiot had dared to hurt his little girl there was no way that he wasn't going to go after them and not in a way that would cost the taxpayers the money for a trial. She finally relented when Meg told her that two women had been attacked in the area in the last few months and they hadn't caught the guy. After they left the table David told me it wasn't true. Meg likes to use scare tactics to keeps her friends from doing foolish things like wandering off alone in a club like that.
When we finally made it back to the room I had that dress that barely was, gone in seconds and I had my sexy wife naked in our bed. We slept in late the next morning which wasn't a real problem as we were going to spend the day alone. We weren't going to meet up with the others until dinner and then we were going to head out to some haunted houses.
After a late breakfast we walked over to the arch and made our way to the top. I was glad that it was a weekday and basically empty today because there was something that I wanted to do and I just hoped that I wasn't going to get in trouble for violating her no excessive PDA rules. It wasn't that naughty of an act, I just wanted to very passionately kiss my wife on top of the arch. I also wanted to do it again when we got to New York, at the top of the Empire State Building.
As we stood there with her in my arms as we looked out the windows overlooking St. Louis I grabbed her arm and spun her around and kissed her putting every once of the love that I feel for in the kiss. I was so thrilled that she reacted positively to the kiss and threw herself into the kiss just much as I had. Then she pulled away whispered in my ear that we should go back to the room and finish thist in private for the next few hours. And that is exactly what we did.
A/N:
Ok. I just took on a new responsibility in my life. If you follow me on twitter you know that I am now in charge of my brother's finances and he can't be trusted to do it. I have spent the last two days not only preparing for an exam of my own, and ensuring that my son is doing what he is supposed to but, figuring out how to get my brother out of the red hole he was in that end up totally around $2000. NEVER go to payday advance places. It's legalized loan sharking! Angry accountant in me coming out now. I mean I picked up his checkbook and asked where the register was and he said he never thought that he needed one. He's 44 years old by the way. Banging the head on the desk right now. Well, enough venting about that. I really just wanted to say it may be another thing to push back updates. I got a request in the reviews to do Carlisle and Esme's talk after she got off the phone with Bella. I am going to write it, it just may take a couple of weeks. Next week is the haunted houses and then the Halloween party. Oh, I also wanted to say that the zoo in Omaha is exactly as I described it, I should know, it's literally in my backyard! I am telling you, it is so close I find peacocks on my lawn quite frequently. And as you can tell from my screen name, Branson is my second home. I go every summer for a week at the cabins and sometimes in the fall. I have vacationed there for every 34 years of my life. Have a great week and y'all know where to find me in the meantime.