FYH Chapter 18

FYH Chapter 18

New Traditions…Old Traditions

EPOV:
I could not believe that my brother was going to be a father. I was going to be an uncle. Bella was so excited to become an aunt as well. Emmett said that Rose was three months along now and was actually due on the 4th of July. Emmett was joking that if it was a girl he wanted to name it Americus Nation after a little girl in this sappy chick flick that Rose loved and forced him to watch all the time. "Like Hell!" was the response I heard from Rose in the background and I laughed so hard that I nearly cried. But this brought on a new resolve in my mind and it was a subject that I talked to Bella about at dinner.
"When the baby is born I need to, no I want to be there soon after to meet my niece or nephew." I would have to be ready to face my parents in six months time. So that was going to really put a time limit on our travels.
"Of course, honey, we'll get there as soon as we get word we'll get the first flight to Arizona."
I was in no way being naïve about the prospect of seeing my mother again but deep down I knew that she was trying to change and wasn't going to cause a problem anymore. I loved that her and Bella got on so well. I think that part of it was being able to relate to the loss of loved one, especially the loss of ones parents and how it truly affects you and changes you to no longer have them with you.
The next day I tried to help Bella with the dinner but I guess spraying the whip cream down her shirt and asking her to let me lick it off was a bad idea because she just got angry and shooed me out of the kitchen and told me to go watch the parade or something but to just stay out of her hair. I was just trying to have some fun.
She was an amazing cook and the dinner was one of the best I'd ever had. She even completely nailed the cranberry sauce. She confessed that she'd had to call my mom to get some help on it the day before. Apparently she called Mom a couple of times because she wanted it to be perfect for me. I told her that while I appreciated it greatly, I was just happy that she was here with me as my life and that I was ever so thankful that she had saved me from the nightmare that had been my life.
I did call my family when I knew that everyone was going to be there for dinner. Emmett and I had decided to keep the webcam idea a surprise for now. He was convinced that it would be her favorite present of all. The only thing that she would want more was to have me there in person. But that wasn't going to happen and Emmett must have known that because he hinted at that vaguely but never came out and suggested it to me. I think that it was going to be a start of a new tradition, so that no matter where any of us ended up, we'd be able to be together, in some fashion, for Christmas.
We ended up spending a good hour on the phone talking to everyone and enjoying a relaxed conversation for once. Of course Dad had to remind me of the therapy session that we had that week and to let us know if it something came up to prevent us from being available.
We were planning to move on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and for the first time we actually sat down and started looking at the map and planning some things. I really wanted to spend Christmas in New York. So the plan was to bypass New York as we headed north and explore the rest of New England for the next month as we made our way back to New York. There was a winter festival there called Annual Christmas by the Sea Celebration in Ogunquit that we were interested in. It was being held the first two weekends in December so we were heading up there as directly as possible as the first weekend was actually next weekend.
There was a lot of old history on the path that we were going to take up the coast from the times of the colonization of America to the civil war. I was very eager to get to see Mount Vernon which would be our next destination. After that we were going to go up to Williamsburg before completing our journey to Maine. I was just praying that the weather would hold up and we wouldn't end up getting stranded somewhere. What I was most looking for to was the 18th Century dancing that they offered and dancing with my wife I that way.
BPOV:
I had no idea my husband was such a history nut. I was literally laughing at him as we lay in bed on Thanksgiving night and he went nuts researching all that he could about the thirteen original colonies and any and all winter festivals that we being held in New England.
I was happy that he was so excited about this. I was too, but if I wasn't careful with all the chocolate demos that were being held a festivals that he wanted to go to I would end up looking like a beach whale.
But what I was more interested in at this point was where we were going to go after we finished with New England. I was eager to leave the US and travel abroad. I had never been out of the US, obviously and neither had my parents. It was this leg of the journey that was going to be the most significant to me. My parents, with their limited income, would never have had the opportunity to travel abroad. It was a luxury that they would never have been able to afford.
So Saturday morning we loaded up the car and took off for Mount Vernon. It would take us over eight hours to get there from Myrtle Beach. So we weren't planning on doing much when we got there besides check in. We would get to spend two days there, then take the two hour drive up to Williamsburg, spending two days there as well before we completed our expedition to Maine.
The morning after we checked into the inn that we were staying at close to Mount Vernon we got up and made our way down to breakfast before heading over to the plantation to take the tour. It was so amazingly beautiful. The work that they must put into the constant upkeep of the place was staggering to consider.
The mansion itself was spectacular. There were wood walls and the beautiful wooden banisters. The crib however, that was used by Martha Washington's granddaughter was the most breathtaking that I had ever seen in my life.
The grounds were a bit more interesting if not unusual. There was a building called the "necessary house". I guess that was the gentile way of wording it because where I come from it was just the outhouse.
I think that hardest building of all to see was the slave's quarters. The guide told us that at the time that George Washington died he own over 300 hundred slaves. It was hard to believe that the father of our great nation based on freedom from oppression kept people as pieces of property.
Edward and I had a nice, early supper at Mount Vernon before heading back to the Inn. We had foods that you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else. We started by sharing the Peanut and Chestnut soup and the Hoe Cakes and for our entrée we both had the venison mixed grill.
We headed back to the Inn for a quiet night alone with the Jacuzzi in our suite and then we had planned on a movie but never got that far before we ended up in bed. Not that we went to sleep early at all.
The next morning we made our way back to the plantation to take in more of the activities that were planned. Today we were spending the whole day participating in the festival. Edward and I spent the morning making chocolates and other arts and crafts then after lunch at the food court we spent the majority of the afternoon learning 18th century dances and loving every minute of it, even if we were completely exhausted by the time that it was over. That night after a dinner of delivery pizza and ibuprofen in the Jacuzzi we slept well.
The next morning we set off for Williamsburg. I have to admit that I had always wanted to see this town for myself so I was thrilled when Edward had suggested the slight detour. And my God was the room at the inn we were staying at gorgeous. It had this amazing sleigh bed made from cherry wood. It was still quite early in the day so Edward and I went exploring the town.
We spent the next couple of days learning more about colonial life. It wasn't much different than Mount Vernon, but Mount Vernon was infinitely much better. Williamsburg had the history still but had gone a little too much to the modern side with outlet malls and a Busch Gardens amusement park. We were both a little more than disappointed with our stay there and were eager to move onto Maine.
A couple of days later we found ourselves pulling into Ogunquit, Maine. I was so beautiful and reminded so much of Port Angeles. It was a small town and a bit of a tourist destination. Edward and I checked into the Inn where we were staying at then we decided to do some sightseeing until dinner. I had asked the woman that checked us in about a good place to get dinner and she suggested Bessie's. She said that they had the best Italian food in town. But it was while driving around town that we found what we didn't know we were actually looking for here.
A/N:
I know that is short and that I took a long time but really all four of my classes have work to turn in weekly. It is not going to get any better for the few weeks either but I'll try harder, I promise.
Some of you may know that there is an aid effort going on to help the people of Australia that have been hit by the floods. The link will be on my profile. I have written a future outtake for this story to submit. So if you want to know where these two are at several years in the future buy the compilation. There are a lot of great authors that are contributing so it is a worthwhile investment. I chose this one out of the many that are going on right now because I have a sister that lives in Australia, not the part that got flooded, thankfully. But they are her fellow countrymen all the same.
Also check out pictease on Monday because you will get to see a picture of what they found although I am sure you have all guessed already. Thanks for sticking with me and happy reading.