Word Prompt: Getaway
To say I was sad to leave our vacation getaway would be an understatement. Being alone with Edward was always fun, and since we lacked any real responsibility, it was nice to just relax.
The drama with Elizabeth had already started to fade away by the next morning, and by that night, Edward was back to his normal happy self. There would be times where I'd catch him staring off into spare or watching the fireplace more intently than normal, but they became less frequent as our time away raced by.
We didn't talk much about New Years Ever beyond the fact that Edward still planned on attending the party hosted by his aunt and uncle. As far as we knew, the secret surrounding Edward's paternity was still kept between us and his aunt and uncle which begged the question of how to handle any awkwardness that popped up in front of Rosalie and Emmett. I was still considering possible solutions for that, but it wasn't something we discussed. In fact, most of what we talked about was the immediate future; including some events that I could expect in the coming months, plans Edward had for the ASP house as his time as President wore down, and even about the summer and what our plans were.
Edward and I agreed that a week or two in Forks was definitely a necessity, but probably something I would do alone. It wasn't that he didn't want to go, but he knew he'd have some obligations once he was accepted into medical school and some of that would be over the summer. However, as a way to make it up to me, he suggested we take a vacation somewhere and asked me where I wanted to go.
"You're serious?" I asked with a bemused look on my face as we laid on the floor of the cabin on our last night. The fireplace was warm and we had just finished dinner. I'd also be lying if I said I didn't have a glass of wine nearby,
"I'm being totally serious," Edward replied and moved to look at me. "It'll be fun to get away for a week or two. But we should probably pick a place now so we can make reservations."
"That would probably be a good idea, but you're sure you'll have time for it?" I asked just to clarify. I knew the few years following Edward's graduation would be hectic as he went through medical school and beyond, so I wanted to make sure we didn't plan for something that would conflict with what he had going on.
"Yeah, we'll just plan it for sometime in July since it'll be my last break," he answered and I nodded. "What are you thinking? Warm climate or cold climate?"
"If it's July, it should be warm. Don't you agree?" I turned the question back on him.
"It should be, but how warm or tropical do you want? Are we talking like southern California's Disneyland, Florida's beaches or somewhere tropical like the Bahamas?" Edward moved to sit up as I adjusted my own body off of his. I groaned slightly when my head hit the pillow he had been laying on. "Hey, what about a cruise?"
"A cruise?" I repeated.
"Yeah, we could do one of those seven or ten days ones to the different islands," he suggested as I nodded my head.
"Sounds like fun," I agreed with a small yawn.
"I'll book it when we get back to the city," he promised.
The only thing that brought me back to reality was Edward walking into the bathroom while buttoning up his shirt. I smiled as I thought of our time away at the cabin and the plans we had for the next few months. Though I was a little skeptical of trying to plan a summer vacation in the midst of all the chaos, but true to his word, the second we got home Edward got busy looking stuff up. We ultimately decided on a ten day cruise that ported out of Cape Canaveral, Florida so we'd have to fly in a day or two before we sailed off and then fly home after the ship docked. We'd be visiting five of the islands over the course of our trip and Edward made no secret of reserving a substantial sized suite with a balcony. He swore to me that it was the best part of the ship to stay in since it rocked the least and therefore, I was less likely to get sea sick but I had a feeling he would have booked that room regardless of the justification. I rolled my eyes at that one.
"What has you so smiley?" Edward asked from behind me as I caught his eyes in the mirror.
"Just thinking about the next few months," I answered him vaguely.
He didn't reply, instead choosing to walk up behind me and wrap his arms around my waist with my chest to his back. My I had just finished putting my hair up for the New Years Eve party and needed to put on my dress and grab my heels.
"You look gorgeous by the way," Edward said against my neck. I closed my eyes and relished in his touch before sighing as I pulled away. If I didn't pull away them there was no way we'd make it out of downtown quickly enough to avoid the traffic.
"I'm not even wearing my dress yet," I teased him a little bit.
"I realize and I can barely contain myself, I fear for your dress once you put it on," he goaded right back.
"The dress stays on," I chided and watching him pout was slightly adorable, though slightly frightening at the same time.
About thirty minutes later we were pulling out of the parking garage in Edward's Volvo. My parents set up a time for me to visit the Nissan dealership in two days and it would be sink or swim for me after that. Edward and Alice both offered to come with me, but I decided it was something I wanted and needed to do on my own if I had any hope of getting past my anxiety.
After talking to my mom and she teaching me a few calming techniques to use in the car, I actually found car trips to be less nerve wracking. It wasn't easy to always stay focused but I was pleasantly surprised to not have one nightmare after returning home to Seattle. Of course, that could have also been contributed to the fact that I was in Edward's arms every single night, but he told me I hadn't woken him up so that was progress.
The music filled the space as Edward navigated our trip to his aunt and uncle's place. From what I understood, Carlisle and Esme planned a small cocktail party for us and some of their closer friends. Esme told me not to expect anymore than maybe ten guests total including us, them and Rosalie and Emmett. With such a small number I wasn't too terribly concerned by how the night would go, but I was concerned about how Edward would interact with his uncle.
The new Edward received was startling to say the very least, but since he never offered to talk about it, I never pushed the subject. I figured he would talk to me about it when he needed to, but now as we approached the large gates I questioned if that was the smartest move.
"You okay?" he asked as he drove up the driveway. There were already a few cars parked in the large semicircle and the relief I felt that we weren't the first ones there was actually surprising.
"Perfect," I replied as I looked over at him to smile. "I'm really excited to ring a new year."
Little did we know that the surprise awaiting us behind that door was reason enough to celebrate.
