Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. They belong to Stephenie Meyers.
A/N: I want to give a shout out to AnEmotionalVampire and XtwilightXobsessedXx for their help in clarifying a few details for me in this chapter. I really appreciate it! Hope you all enjoy this chapter!
Chapter Six: London Calling
Bella felt a gentle nudge on her shoulder and blinked her eyes open to find Edward trying to wake her. They'd been in the air for most of the day and she had fallen asleep halfway across the Atlantic. Edward let her sleep, knowing she'd had a busy weekend in New York City and would need all her energy for the coming weeks in England, but now that they were near the end of the flight he didn't want her to miss her first view of the city.
"Bella, love, we're going to be flying into Heathrow shortly. I thought you might like to get your first look at the city."
Edward watched as Bella nodded eagerly and stretched her sore muscles. "How much longer before we're in view of the city?"
Edward looked over at Alice in the row behind them. "Alice, can you give us a time frame?"
Alice closed her eyes, before they popped back open and she said in her bell-like voice, "We'll be there in 9 minutes and 23 seconds."
Bella glanced out the window, noticing the gray skies. "It looks like perfect weather…" she said as she smiled at Edward, before whispering under her breath, "for vampires…"
"Yes, love, perfect weather. There will be no sparkling Cullens today," he teased as he nodded towards the window. "We're just outside the city limits. The plane will be turning shortly and then you'll be able to make out some of the most recognizable landmarks."
The plane started its gentle arc above the city and suddenly parts of the city came into view. Suddenly the Thames River came into view, the famous river winding through the heart of London.
"Edward, look! It's the Thames! I can't believe I'm actually seeing this!" Bella whispered excitedly. "Is that the Tower Bridge?" she asked Edward, pointing towards a bridge in the distance.
Edward leaned over Bella's shoulder to look out the window. "Yes, it is. And across the Thames is the Tower of London."
Alice was peering out her own window. "Look, Bella, there's the London Eye! We are definitely visiting that attraction! According to the website you can see around 25 miles from the top as far as Windsor on a clear day. Or maybe I should say 40 km since Europe is on the metric system! Yes, we are definitely going to check out the London Eye!"
Jasper had leaned over Alice's shoulder to look at the London Eye. "Bella, if you look a little further you can see the Houses of Parliament as well."
Emmett called out from his seat, "Who cares about old buildings and guys with wigs, Jasper! I'm looking for the football stadiums! Now those are attractions!"
Rosalie rolled her eyes, but had a fond smile nonetheless for her husband. "Did you catch sight of Big Ben?"
Emmett looked at Rosalie, waggling his eyebrows. "Aw, Rosie, why would you want to see Big Ben when you can see "Big Emmett" right here?" Rosalie let out an unladylike snort while the rest of the Cullens scrunched their faces in disgust.
Bella turned in her seat to glare at Emmett. "Ew! Too much information, Emmett!"
"Hey, can I help it if I'm a stone cold…"
Esme interrupted before Emmett could finish the last word. "Emmett Cullen, if you know what's good for you, you will not finish that sentence."
Emmett ducked his head like a good little boy. "Geez, Mom, I was only going to say "stone cold...good little Emmett…"
"Oh, sure you were, Emmett…" Alice said in a sarcastic tone, tapping her head to remind him she knew precisely what he was going to say.
Edward drew Bella's attention back towards the window, pointing towards the airport which was now visible from their side of the plane. "There's Heathrow. We'll be landing shortly."
At that moment a voice came over the intercom asking all passengers to put on their seatbelts for the landing. Ten minutes later they were on the ground, coming to a stop at the British Airways gate and everyone started to rise from their seats, getting their things together as they started making their way out of the plane.
Bella took one last look out the window, noticing a slight drizzle had begun to fall. She wondered how much rain there would be while they were in England, as always worried about anything that might affect the Cullens. What if the weather was sunny the whole time? How would they be able to move about easily if the sun was out during the day? "Carlisle, there are gray skies and drizzle right now, but isn't it generally sunny during the summers? Will it be a problem?"
Carlisle glanced quickly out the window, taking note of sky. "London weather is unpredictable, Bella, even in the summer. While we'll definitely see some sunny and warm days, it's not unusual for rain to start falling when you least expect it."
"Don't worry, Bella. I've already looked ahead and it's going to be mostly gray skies and light rain for the next 10 days, with a few afternoons of sunshine. It's not going to be a problem for us. If the sun comes out we'll just pop into a museum or spend the afternoon inside and wait for the clouds to come back!" Alice whispered to Bella as she and Jasper made their way down the aisle towards the exit.
They made their way through customs and were now waiting for the limousine that Alice had arranged to take them to where they were going to be staying while in London. Edward and Bella were standing slightly apart from the other Cullens, talking quietly about the attractions Bella wanted to see when Edward suddenly let out a low groan and began pinching the bridge of his nose.
"What's wrong?" Bella whispered.
"Emmett…" Edward sighed. "Bella, I think there's something you should know about your future brother-in-law. For some unknown reason Emmett can't help but break out into song whenever he's on vacation. Anytime, anyplace, wherever the urge strikes."
"Are you kidding me? Anytime?" Bella asked, giggling as she remembered Emmett singing Frank Sinatra's 'New York, New York' while they were in New York, complete with Rockettes-style high kicks.
Jasper sauntered over to where Bella and Edward were standing. "I'm sorry to say he's not, Bella. You've never vacationed with us before, but it's exactly as Edward says. The guy cannot control himself. If we're lucky he'll just confine himself to singing and leave the dancing out of it."
"It's true, Bella." Alice had joined them. "You should have seen Emmett the last time we visited Disneyland. It was in the early 80's and we were in L.A. because Carlisle was attending a seminar. We thought it would be fun to spend the day at Disneyland. It's not called the 'Happiest Place on the Earth' for nothing because Emmett was happy, alright; he was like a kid in a candy shop! He insisted on buying a Goofy hat to wear around the park, and he made us go on the 'It's A Small World' ride. The entire time he was singing "It's A Small World" at the top of his lungs. We were hunched down in our seats, trying to pretend he wasn't one of our party when suddenly all the little kids in the surrounding boats started singing along with Emmett!" Alice paused as she relived the scene in her mind. "Then he insisted on us all getting on the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' ride. Well, after sitting in the same boat with him during the 'Small World' ride, there was no way Edward, Jasper and I were going to share a boat with him, so we made Emmett and Rosalie get on the boat in front of ours. As the boats started moving and came to the first drop Emmett turned around in his seat and mouthed, "Watch me sing," and when his boat disappeared down the drop and people were screaming, Emmett's voice could be heard singing "Yo-Ho, Yo-Ho, a pirate's life for me" all the way down!"
Bella was laughing uncontrollably at this point, drawing Emmett's attention.
"What? So I like to sing. I can't help if I break out into song when I'm feeling happy," Emmett said with a big grin on his face. "And I feel a song coming on right now!"
Everyone slapped a hand to their face and started groaning as Emmett began singing 'London Calling' by The Clash:
London calling to the faraway towns
Now war is declared - and battle come down…
The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin
Engines stop running, but I have no fear
Cause London is drowning and I, live by the river…
London calling at the top of the dial
And after all this, won't you give me a smile?
London Calling
Jasper looked at Edward. "At least this time he didn't start playing on an imaginary set of drums…"
Suddenly Alice was standing in front of Emmett, poking him in the chest.
"I knew it! You stole my 'What a Girl Wants' DVD! I was going to watch that movie with Bella before we left Forks! That's where you heard this song!"
"Ow, Alice, quit poking me! And I only borrowed it," Emmett replied, not even trying to deny he had taken the movie. "It's a good song… I liked the movie too!"
Alice only shook her head. "Whatever, Emmett, but I want that DVD back!" She walked away from Emmett as the limousine pulled up to the curb. Everyone got in while the driver loaded the bags into the trunk.
"So, where are we staying?" Bella asked Edward as everyone took a seat.
"Didn't Edward tell you?" asked Alice from where she was sitting with Jasper. "Carlisle and Esme own a house in Knightsbridge. We'll be staying there while we're in London. Oh my god, Bella, the house is fantastic and do you want to know what I consider one of the best things about it? It's near Harrods!!!" Alice squealed as she thought about all the shopping opportunities in the near future.
Bella cringed at the mention of "Harrods", not wanting to know what Alice had in store for her during this trip. Instead she turned to Edward, putting a small pout on her face. "You didn't tell me the Cullens owned a house in the city. What else have you been keeping from me, Mr. Cullen?"
"Don't be upset, love. It never came up in conversation," he teased as he put his arm around her. "Besides, it was bad enough when you found out we had homes in Alaska and New York!" He didn't mention that Esme owned a small, private island as well. Bella was unaware that Esme was going to let Edward and Bella honeymoon on her island. Edward wanted it to be a surprise.
Carlisle was smiling as he watched the interaction between Bella and Edward. For so many years he had felt a small amount of guilt for having changed Edward, watching Edward struggle to accept his new existence, and knowing that Edward felt a tremendous amount of self-loathing and hopelessness by becoming a vampire. Edward couldn't see the goodness in his soul that Carlisle and Esme saw every day. Carlisle had faith that Edward would in time find the peace he had found in his own life, especially after he'd found Esme, but the decades passed and Edward expressed no interest in finding a mate to share his existence. That is, not until one spring day when a young human girl named Bella Swan tripped her way into Edward's life, and into his heart. If Bella was still feeling insecure of her place with the Cullens after the debacle of last fall, Carlisle was determined to prove to his new daughter that they had no intention of ever again letting her out of their lives, or their hearts.
"Bella, Esme and I bought our London home about 20 years ago. We'd decided it would be a good idea to own a house in the city, for those occasions when we visit or when our European friends need a place to stay. Not to mention Esme needed another project to keep her busy, isn't that so, sweetheart?"
"Yes, Carlisle, you know I can't resist a decorating opportunity!" said Esme with a smile.
Edward turned to Bella, wanting to explain further. "At first Alice was going to book rooms at The Savoy or The Connaught, just so you could enjoy the experience of staying in one of London's grand hotels, but I thought you would be more comfortable staying at the house on this trip."
"Okay, Mr. Cullen, you're off the hook," said Bella with a smile before her jaw dropped open as the limo pulled up to a stunning 4 story white stucco house in a garden square. "Is this your house?" she said to Esme and Carlisle.
Esme smiled as she watched Bella's reaction. "Yes, it is. Do you like it?"
Bella tore her eyes away from the house to look at Esme. "Do I like it? I love it. It's…it's beautiful, Esme."
"Thank you, Bella. We're pretty fond of it as well. And it's not just my home or Carlisle's for that matter. It's your home, too. You're a member of this family now and it's just as much yours as it is ours," Esme answered as she reached over to squeeze Bella's hand.
Bella was speechless, not knowing what to say, and her eyes starting watering as she heard the underlying message in Esme's words, the very words Edward had said to her that night she'd had the nightmare: You are a Cullen; you belong to us and we belong to you.
Edward stepped out onto the sidewalk and offered his hand to Bella to help her out of the limo. Noticing the tears running down Bella's check, Edward pulled her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her as he bent down to whisper in her ear, "Welcome home, love."
A/N: Let me know what you think, just click on the button below. Thanks!