A/N: Ok everybody, I know I promised that I would have chapters 1-10 posted prior to my cruise, but my domestic duties got in the way. (Blame my husband)
This will be my last installment until after Christmas, but I promise to have Chapter 9 Part 2, and Chapter 10 edited and up when we get back, so you can finish that part of the story before the New Year. Then I will start the year off with a bang, and start Jacob and the Cullen family's adventure in the lovely Victoria, BC. Yay! I finally get to write real dialogue!
Chapter Nine Part One: Denali and the World Tour
After graduation, we spent the summer in Hanover, and planned to make our visit to Tanya's family after Nessie's birthday. She wanted to spend some time with her friends before they left for college, and Carlisle needed to wrap up his time at the hospital.
For Nessie's birthday, the family members gave her side trips or tourist tickets to the places we would be visiting on our world monument trip, so she was excited. She received things like tickets to Madame Tusseaud's wax museum in London, a play at the Royal Shakespearian Theater in Stratford, for Versailles in France, the great pyramids of Giza, etc. Each family member seemed to pick their favorite destination and got her vouchers for all of the major tourist attractions. Carlisle had London, because we weren't going to Italy. Edward and Bella had France, Esme picked Ireland, Alice and Jasper had Spain, and Rosalie and Emmett had China and Egypt. I actually agreed to let Bella give me money to help with my gift, so I was in charge of Paris, more specifically, dinner at the Eiffel Tower.
The family had agreed that Nessie and I would go on tours or explore during the day, and after dusk, the family events would begin. I was thrilled that I would be able to spend so much time alone with her, doing normal touristy things, so the year we spent in Denali could not go fast enough.
The last week in September, we finally made the trip. Carlisle and Esme had gone ahead to make living arrangements for Nessie and I, because they weren't sure if Tanya would want us in their house. Due to her affinity for male human companions, she often had one-night visitors, but a human or half-breed for that matter had never lived in the house. In addition, Garrett had returned with them after leaving Forks, so we were unsure of how well his adaptation to the new 'diet' was going. Jasper had experienced trouble adjusting for the first few decades, so who knows how hard it would be for a vampire who had been 'alive' for twice as long.
Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie decided to drive, because they wanted to have the Jeep and the new Range Rover available to us when we were there. Edward and Bella purchased a six passenger Jeep, and had it delivered to what would be our new house, and decided to fly with Nessie and me. I laughed at the fleet of cars that the Cullen family had managed to acquire. It had doubled in the short amount of time I had spent with the family. I found it funny that whenever they moved, they seemed to just leave some of the old ones behind, and buy new ones. I had once speculated that they must have millions, but now I was beginning to think that it was even larger than that. I mean, Carlisle had hundreds of years to earn it all, and with Alice's uncanny ability to predict the future, they even made a killing during recessions.
When we got there, the Healy Lake Municipal Airport was tiny. We had taken a small prop plane, if you could call it that, from the Fairbanks Airport. Tanya and her family lived on the Northeast edge of Denali National Park. Apparently, 'vegetarian' vampires are good for wildlife population control. I found it funny that they were trying to control the population of animals that were on a protected preserve, but you have to eat something. At least they weren't preying on unsuspecting humans….well, to eat anyways.
Esme had found us a hunting lodge for rent that was a few miles away from Tanya's family compound. Tanya had agreed that she and parts of her family would come and visit Nessie, Bella, Edward and I at the lodge, because she didn't want to expose Garrett to me. Bella and Edward were skeptical about leaving Nessie and I alone so far from the family, luckily for safety reasons, so they decided to stay with us instead of at the house. I think Bella was actually relieved, because even though Edward had only eyes for her, Tanya still had eyes only for Edward, and Bella, as always, got self-conscious about it.
There were so many things about her that changed the day she died as a human, but she was still worried, was still insecure, and still believed that Edward would never be as much in love with her as she was with him. I had hoped, for her sake, which she would be able to accept things more easily as a vampire, but I guess there are some personality traits that you never lose.
Our time in Denali, which was just over 10 months, was pretty boring for me, but the rest of the family seemed to have fun. Bella was constantly talking about how Kate was working with her on extending her shield to try to maintain protection of people over a distance. Edward wasn't so thrilled though, because he, yet again had to be the guinea pig. Nessie had volunteered to help her mother, but Bella refused. She was afraid that Kate would accidentally hurt her. Eventually, Bella was able to shield people over a distance of fifty or so miles, and I was impressed.
The only downfall was that she couldn't shield multiple people who were not together. Her shield seemed to only work if it was focused on her direct surroundings and one specific target.
Another interesting development was that she was able to mold her shield to their body directly, she described it as if someone was standing inside a bubble, and then walked against it to leave, it would create another bubble directly around that person's body as they moved. Needless to say, Bella's talent was remarkable, and I was glad that Aro hadn't tried to come after us, because she would have been a threatening foe.
For the most part, Nessie and I would spend time with the various other family members, with the exception of Garrett, who only visited once, for about an hour. He didn't want to kill me, but he didn't want to smell me either. I guess I had taken my proximity to the Cullen family for granted, because we now seemed impervious to each other's scents. I likened their smell to one of apple juice that had spoiled, a sickly sweet smell, but it was bearable with time.
I was invited hunting with the family whenever they went, but Nessie and I tended to stay around the area of the lodge, because Bella didn't want Nessie to be left alone with people who were not family members. She trusted them, but because vampires let down their defenses to hunt, she refused to take any chances.
By the time that the ten months was up, I was glad to leave, because I hated feeling so isolated. I mean we had lived in secrecy, but never far from human interaction, and I was beginning to grow antsy being stuck in a lodge most of the time. I empathized with Nessie completely because she too had been this isolated during the first five years of her childhood. It's a wonder she didn't lose her mind during that time. I always thought that she was a little dramatic during her early teens, but I understood why then.
Once June hit, Nessie, Bella and I returned to Forks for a few weeks at Charlie's request. He was moving in with Sue Clearwater, and they were building a new house between town and the reservation for them and Seth and Leah. They had decided not to get married, because although Sue's marriage with Harry had been happy, she knew she would never replace him, and Charlie didn't want anything to do with marriage. I respected this, because they were choosing to be together, but on their own terms.
Edward had given Bella money to help with the house, and Charlie was hesitant at first, but he knew that he could not build the house he wanted to on his salary alone. He had become adjusted to the generosity of the Cullen family, and he respected the fact that his son in law wanted to be a part of his life. Bella was worried about leaving Edward in Alaska with Tanya around, but Rosalie assured her that she had her back, and that she would intervene as needed. Even though she had a tough, bitchy exterior, Rosalie would do anything for her family, and Bella was family.
We spent the first few days packing up both old houses, and I spent a lot of time with Leah when Nessie and her mother were at Charlie's house. She was still somewhat bitter about how her life had turned out. She was one of the few people in the pack that still had yet to imprint, and she was constantly reminded of how happy everyone was, especially Sam and Emily who were now on child number 4.
She wished that she could leave, but Sam wouldn't allow it. After awhile, she didn't try to fight it, and after I left, she became completely resigned to the fact she would spend her life alone. I felt so bad for her, I had once felt the same way, before Nessie was born, and I wished I could help her. However, instinct and nature were something I couldn't do anything about.
She told me that she had gone to phasing more frequently, because the guys with families didn't want to do patrols. So, she opted to concentrate her life on protecting the pack and tribe. She knew that even though she wouldn't age, that maybe her imprint would come along eventually, and then her pain would be worthwhile. Even though she didn't want to have anything to do with Bella, she knew that Edward had been alone for over 100 years waiting for her, and she decided that if her life was supposed to turn out like that, she would wait.
I tried not to talk about Nessie, because I think it made Leah jealous, or sad, which one I didn't know. I had once thought that maybe I would spend my life with Leah, after we broke off from the pack, we had initially hated each other, but then we became kindred spirits because we were both in so much pain.
I hated to think about that time in my life, because I really felt no reason to live. Now I was so happy and sure of myself, looking forward to the future blindly, as I had once been before this supernatural world had ever come into focus. Bells once called me her 'Sun', and I hoped that I had become that for Nessie.
By the end of the week, they were all situated in their new house, and it was time to leave. Charlie was sad, but he didn't say anything, and so was Billy. We assured them that we were in fact intending to come back and settle in Victoria by Nessie's birthday the next year, so they sucked it up and let us go.
Instead of returning to Alaska to rejoin the family, we were instructed to fly straight to London. Apparently, Alice had packed for us and shipped everything we would need for our trip to our first living quarters. I had gotten use to my new athletic gear over the last few years, and I wasn't sure that I would like the new 'travel' attire. However, Alice scared me, so I agreed to go along with it.
When we were in London, we were staying at a place called the Athenaeum Apartments, which were basically two bedroom luxury suites next to a hotel. We had three, two bedroom apartments. Nessie and I shared one, which was connected to the one that Edward and Bella shared with Esme and Carlisle. Alice and Jasper shared one that was a few doors down from ours with Emmett and Rosalie. They basically looked like brick townhouses, but instead of renting and maintaining them, you just lived in them on your vacation, and left.
They were located in the Mayfair district of London, between Hyde Park, and St. James Park. I had never lived anywhere that fancy, and I really liked it. We were planning to stay in England for six weeks before we headed to Ireland to visit Siobhan's coven.
The city was amazing, and I could see why Carlisle liked to visit, although it had changed drastically since he first lived here, you could tell it was still his home. During the first few days, Nessie and I would explore Hyde Park and Piccadilly during daylight, and the family would go on excursions after sundown. The first place we went was Madame Tusseaud's wax museum, and while very cool, it freaked me out; especially when we went into the Chamber of Horrors.
I am not ashamed to say that even though I was living with a coven of Vampires, a dark, creepy basement filled with horrible murderers and gruesome scenes was not my favorite place to be. I think it kinda freaked Nessie out too, because she clung to my arm with one hand, so hard her nails almost broke the skin, and held my hand tightly with the other. Emmett seemed to be enjoying himself, laughing and making fun of things while Rose whispered god knows what into his ear.
I had decided that after the first two weeks of attempting to ride the tube; that I was not cut out for mass transportation. I hit my head numerous times, and dropped things into the gap they were always announcing to mind. Therefore, for the rest of our stay, I either took a cab, which had a lot of headroom, or walked. I don't think that Nessie really enjoyed it either, because she had never been in such tight quarters with that many people. We tended to travel in small airplanes, but they usually didn't have more than a few hundred people on them. She said that her thirst was under control, but I wasn't so sure she was comfortable.
Carlisle also wouldn't let the two of us travel alone after sundown, because the London vampiric community was the epitome of what I use to call 'bloodsuckers' and 'leeches'. While they were not the barbarians that had changed Carlisle, they were still not safe, and traveled as solitary killers. He also didn't think that they would be attracted to Nessie or me because of our scents, but thirsty vampires were unpredictable, so he couldn't make any guarantees.
We also made several trips out of the city while we were there. We visited Stratford during our first weekend, where the Royal Shakespeare Theater was, and we got to see a production of Hamlet. Even though I respect the fact that many people love the works of Shakespeare, I was not a fan of Hamlet. The main character was whiny, and then everyone ended up dead in the end, what the hell kind of story is that. I spent most of the play watching Nessie, who seemed captivated, and trying not to think dirty thoughts when she decided to hold my hand.
We made another trip outside the city, alone, to see Stonehenge. At first, I thought that going to visit a grouping of rocks out in the middle of nowhere was going to be boring, but it was actually quite amazing. Nessie even forced me to listen to the audio headset during the tour, and I learned more than I thought I would have.
Even though I was spending a lot of time alone with Nessie, it actually wasn't awkward at all. We still talked and joked as we always had. It even felt very natural to hold her hand all day when we were alone. I was happy that we were able to enjoy each other's company without having to push the boundaries of our relationship. I still had fleeting thoughts when she did something sexy, but I didn't want to act on them, I just wanted to enjoy the time I spent with her.
Before we knew it, our trip was at an end, and we had visited every major monument and museum we could find.
I originally thought about asking to stay behind when they went to Ireland, but after Carlisle filled me in on the 'night life' and feeding habits of the London underground, I decided against it.
While in Ireland, I was to stay at the inn where we were staying whenever the family visited Siobhan, Liam and Maggie. Apparently, while they traveled as a coven, they were relatively nomadic in a specific area in Ireland. They moved around the area to feed, because they didn't want to draw attention to themselves, which made sense. Livestock going missing was one thing, but people were another.
We only spent two and a half weeks with them, but we moved around to visit the major landmarks, including the castle at Kilkenny, Meath, Athlone Castle, and we spent four days exploring Dublin.
Next, we traveled to Spain. The first place we went was to San Sebastian for the beaches at La Concha. They were beautiful, and since it was fall, the weather was actually quite nice. The water was cold, but due to our elevated body temperatures, it wasn't bad. Nessie and I would spend hours in the water during the day, and the family would go out dancing at night. The only time that we really didn't have fun was when Nessie and I accidentally stumbled onto a nude beach, and the old men walking around naked terrified her.
We would spend five weeks in Spain, and the beach trip to San Sebastian was the first. The next four weeks would be spent in Madrid, Seville, Valencia, and Barcelona. We stayed in luxury hotels whenever we moved, and I often had my own room. Although when Edward thought that we were spending too much time together, he banned Nessie from my room, so I went to hers instead.
In Madrid, we attended an opera at the Teatro Royal our first night, which was a present from Alice. During the day, Nessie and I visited several museums. Her favorite was the Museo del Prado, because the paintings were amazing, mine was the Thyssen-Bornemisza, which had some really detailed sculptures.
Our trip to Seville was relaxing. We toured more museums, my personal favorite being the archaeological museum, and spent the afternoon exploring the parks around the city. Alice decided to take Nessie shopping while we were there, and they made me join them. Alice attempted to 'refine' my style, but I refused to become metro sexual like her husband. She eventually relented and reverted to using Nessie as her personal mannequin. One afternoon, Esme travelled with us to a nearby town called Castilleja, and we explored a ceramics market.
Valencia was next. Here, we explored a botanical garden complex that was just outside the city. We also toured more museums, but the Modern Art museum was actually somewhat interesting. I was tired of staring at paintings from the Renaissance, so it was nice to see things like large installations and interactive pieces. We also rented a house for two days and spent time on our own private stretch of Mediterranean beach.
Barcelona was interesting. Nessie and I toured the parks in the area, they ranged from sprawling gardens, so modern sculpture gardens, and I even chased her around the Labyrinth Park for an afternoon. She tried to be sneaky, but eventually I found her and she tried to steal a kiss. Since we were alone, I let her linger longer than she should have, but it was still very intense. I was beginning to wonder if my strength would hold out another year and a half.
While in Barcelona, Jasper decided that the family needed to 'let loose', so we spent several nights out in clubs ranging from loud thumping discotheques to high class VIP bars. It was then that I was glad that Alice was able to convince me that I needed to get some trendier designer clothes, because I already drew a lot of attention because of my size. Alice also cut off all of my hair again, so I would look more 'contemporary'. Nessie seemed to enjoy my change in appearance, and she began to stay very close to me whenever we ventured to the dance floor.
It was already the second week of December by the time that we left Spain, so we would be spending Christmas in France. We were to spend three weeks there, and then we would spend a few days after New Years in the Swiss Alps.
The first three days were spent in Bordeaux, touring wineries and the French countryside.
Then we travelled to Nice and spent a few days on the beach. We stopped in Monaco next, spending three days in Monte Carlo, enjoying some quality gambling. It was definitely interesting to watch Jasper play high stakes poker, because he could read all of his opponents perfectly, and he made them nervous, because he rarely talked. Alice was a pro at black jack, although a pit boss asked her to leave the table when she made $1,000,000 on her fifth hand. She quickly agreed, and we spent the rest of that night enjoying a complementary suite, and all that it entailed. Nessie and I tried our hand at poker the second day, but I guess I was too easy of a read, and I was knocked out in the fourth hand when I went all in on a royal flush.
We moved to Paris by four days until Christmas, and we intended to spend our time there until New Years Day.
We spent our first five days outside of the city, touring Versailles first, which had amazing grounds. Then we moved to Giverny and spent few days touring Monet's gardens and studio. This was Bella's favorite part of the trip, because she had come to love nature, and the area was entrancing. We spent the last two days exploring Disneyland Paris, and Nessie developed an affinity for roller coasters. We split our time between both parks, spending Christmas in Disneyland Park, enjoying the decorations and parades.
The day after Christmas, we moved into a restored 17th century townhouse inside the city. It had three bedrooms, and this was where Bella, Edward, Nessie and I stayed. It was decorated with historic antique furniture and furnishings, and had wooden beams on the ceiling in every room. The rest of the family stayed in a more modern apartment that was down the street.
It was within ten minutes walking distance to the Louvre, and was a block from the Seine. The first place that we toured was the Louvre, and even though we spent an entire day there, we only made it through one wing. It was not very crowded, because of the holidays, but it was vast and we tried to see as much as possible.
The second day, we decided to do a bus tour of the city. We stopped at several major landmarks, including all of the war memorial archways. It was interesting to tour the city, because each area of the city seemed to have a different type of architecture. It was also cool because we were able to see the city lit up at night, because it was still decorated for the holidays.
The third and fourth days, we stayed close to home and wandered through the area around the town house. On the fifth day, we toured more of the Louvre, and then we went to a production of Les Miserables downtown.
The sixth day was New Years Eve, so this was the day that was my present to Nessie. In the morning, we travelled to Montmartre, and wandered through the shops and cafes. This was apparently the nightclub district, and it was where Rosalie and Emmett had visited every night we were there.
By late afternoon, I took her back to the townhouse, and told her to get ready in her room. Alice had helped me pick out a formal evening gown for my surprise, which I surprised Nessie with. It was long and sequined, it was a shade of sage green, and fell off one shoulder. She looked amazing in it, although she kept insisting that she felt over dressed because she wanted me to cave and tell her the secret. She was even more confused when I emerged from my room wearing a tuxedo.
I led her from the townhouse down to the river, blindfolded, and I uncovered her eyes when we reached a loading platform where a small yacht was waiting covered with lights. At this point, the sun had begun to set, and it threw the most beautiful pale pink and orange cast down the river. She was absolutely stunned that I had planned a romantic night out for New Years Eve, and she was even more surprise that Edward had agreed to it.
Even though I had vowed to delay a romantic relationship until she turned ten, I had gone to Edward to ask permission to do something nice for her while we were in Paris. He knew that I was serious about my plans, and I promised not to let us get caught up in the moment and do something crazy, so he finally gave up and let me plan something. I had recruited Alice to help me, because she was the queen of planning magic moments, so I knew that the night would be perfect.
As we made the loop around the city on the Seine, we were able to enjoy the lovely sunset and see many tourist destinations we had visited that week such as Notre Dame Cathedral. I tried to get her to sit down on the deck with me and enjoy the scenery, but every time she saw something interesting, she jumped up and peered off the end of the boat.
Once the sun went down completely, we just sat back in the cushions in the front seating area of the boat and enjoyed seeing the buildings along the water that were covered with millions of twinkling lights. By ten o'clock, we had come within sight of the Eiffel Tower, and Nessie began to beg me to stop the boat so she could see it lit up at night.
Before I could do anything, the boat came to a stop at a private dock that led up to the park that surrounded the tower. She looked at me with a shocked look on her face as I began to climb out of the boat, extending my hand for her to join me. I lifted her out of the boat, giving her a kiss on the cheek and led her up the steps. She was completely silent as I led her towards the tower, and she gripped my hand tightly.
Soon we had reached the base of the tower, and Nessie began to move towards the line where normal tourists would get tickets to ascend the tower. I began to laugh at her playfully and she looked at me as if I was insane. I moved behind her, placed my hand at the small of her back and led her towards the private elevator that was covered with a gold awning reading Le Jules Verne.
I had made reservations for us to dine at the restaurant that was on the second level of the tower, overlooking the illuminated city. On the elevator ride up, Nessie stared at me intently, looking for a response, but I just shook my head and smiled. She had never expected something like this, and I was happy to have done it for her.
When we reached the restaurant, I told them we had a reservation for Black, and we were escorted to a private table for two, up against the window, overlooking the Seine. It had an amazing view, and the city was beautifully lit beneath us. Until the waiter interrupted us asking if we wanted champagne, she intently stared out the window, admiring the city at night.
We ate from a traditional French menu, Alice had picked our entrees when we made the reservations, and the food was amazing. Nessie didn't talk while we ate, but she kept eye contact with me as much as she possibly could, and a smile never left her lips. After we had dessert, she began to talk, thanking me for the evening I had arranged, and asking me how I had gotten her father to agree to take me on such a romantic outing without any supervision. I simply responded that he trusted us, and she told me that maybe he shouldn't anymore. After I paid the check, I took her hand and led her back to the private elevator, where we would make our ride to the top to ring in the New Year.
Alice was somehow able to get us two tickets to a New Year's Celebration at the top. When we arrived, the entire floor was draped in rich, white, flowing fabrics and twinkling with lights. We surveyed the whole area, moving through the crowd, and found an opening up along the railing. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen in my life, and with her by my side, I was completely, absolutely, blissfully happy.
After a half hour, it was nearing midnight, so we began to count down with the rest of the group, in French, which I had managed to at least master the numbers of that language. When the last number was counted down, and everyone was cheering, Nessie held her hand to my neck, and showed me and image of us embracing and kissing passionately. I figured that then was as good a time as any, so I grabbed her by the waist, pulled her up into my arms, and kissed her with such passion, that I thought her heart and mine would literally stop.
I had been patient long enough, and I could honestly say at that point that I had no intention of following the rules anymore. I would try my best to behave in front of the family after that, but when we were alone, I would no longer hold back.
After we both recovered from the kiss, we headed back down the tower in the private elevator, barely coming up for breath, and walked back to the boat, which was waiting for us where we had left it. We told the captain to take the long way around, since the townhouse was only six minutes from the tower, and we thoroughly enjoyed our trip back, wrapped in blankets, in each other's arms not caring what went on around us.
Update: There is now a picture up of her dress on my profile.
