Why on earth am I nervous? I've never been nervous on a tour before. Maybe it's the hormones kicking in. Or maybe it's the fact that I've never been here before and I don't know what the audience is like. Or maybe it's the fact that when I left the sound check this morning the costumes still weren't there. Or maybe it's the fact that Edward (and everyone else for that matter) is getting more suspicious every hour.
Maybe I should tell Steve. And make him swear not to tell anyone. Or maybe he'll guess. He guessed that I was in love with Edward, so maybe he's exceptionally observant.
Anyway, I, and the rest of the crew, are in the limo on the way to the stadium. It's about 4 o 'clock, three hours before the actual show. We're here early for run throughs, more sound checks and the like. And of course it takes me an hour to get ready. The sun is still fully up, it feels like 12 noon rather than the afternoon. Summer is approaching here. I see people in shorts and t-shirts, although it can't be over 70 degrees.
Turns out I don't have much of a problem understanding people; they're accents are weird, but its still English. One person at the hotel saw us today and came up to us. At first we were apprehensive, worried about what this fan might do. But then he spoke.
"G'day! Are you Penny? Bet you are! I would recognise you from a mile away! What with the sunnies and the heels and all. And not to mention these brutes standing in my bloody way!" He pointed to my bodyguards. Some of the words I understood, like mile and my. But I suppose I'll get used to it.
We are now at the stadium, and people are already starting to arrive. Stan, the driver, pulls out his cell phone, speaks for less than a minute, and suddenly a picture comes up on a screen that is near the people. Everyone turns their heads towards it, to see what was playing. Now we can get in without people hassling us. Not that it was necessary, there weren't that many people. But apparently Steve didn't want to take any chances.
We go through the stage door, not one person noticing. When I get to the dressing room, I see a rack full of clothes. Ah, at last the costumes have arrived. Now the first one I wear is the tank top and jeans. Where is that…?
I was fumbling through the clothes (out of order… again), when I feel a mysterious pair of arms snake around my waist. There was only on person it could be.
"Hey," he breaths against my neck, making me shiver. "Do you want some coffee? I can get some…" Hmmm, coffee was not a good idea, according to the doctor. Too much caffeine… or so they tell me.
"Nah, I'm ok. Thanks anyway." I smile. He turns me around.
"That's unusual, even for you. You can't live without coffee," he frowns. He was right. I didn't go a day without it. He was piecing it together, that was certain. I smiled again. I was going to say something, but Elisa interrupted me.
"Bella? We need to start make up now," she states. I nod and sit down at the mirror. Edward hugs me from behind again, and kisses me on the cheek.
"I'll see you later then. Good luck, not that you'll need it." He smiles my favourite smile and walks out the door. I realise that I am staring after him when Elisa whacks me on the back of the head.
"Ow!" I hiss.
"Pay attention. We can't have you distracted now, can we?" She frowns at me. "You look a little pale. Are you sweating? Have you slept at all? Gosh Bella, you're making my job hard." She gets to work straight away.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls. Please welcome to Sydney… Penny!" That was my cue, granted by the announcer. I wait for the band to play (no lip syncing for me) the first song, and the lights go down. The first song is Sweetheart. I hear the violin track play and walk behind the set to my little platform. The doors will open soon, and I will be there in some form of pose. Haven't decided which one yet. I go with putting my hands on the frame of the 'door' and lay my head down on one of my out stretched arms. The guitars start to play now, and the doors open to a massive crowd. The lights are blinding, but I can still hear the noise they are making when they see me. I can hardly hear the band over all their screaming. But luckily they have this ear piece technology now. It's feeding the band playing into my ear. I start singing when my cue comes, and the crowd screams even louder.
Sweetheart
Aint she a sweetheart
When she starts
To talk
Sweetheart
Yeah she's such a sweetheart
Why don't you
Just walk?
When I finish the song I'm supposed to vanish in a puff of smoke (how original). It's quite tricky, because I have to run off as the smoke is going off. There is a timer on the smoke thing, so I know when it's going to go off. I can see it now.
3…2…1… The smoke goes off, and I'm outta there. I get off the stage successfully, and I think it looked good.
"Good job Bella. It looked good," I hear in my ear. The tech guys at the back thought it worked, so I'm happy. Now I have to change, and fast. A long dress is my next attire. Luckily it's not as tight as my others. The next song is Teenager, which is one of my favourites. No time to talk to anyone now, I have to get back. I lurch all of a sudden, dizzy to the point where I almost fall over. But I fight it back. The show must go on.
The show is going well, and I am performing my 12th song. 15 s my maximum. Anymore than that and it starts to stress out the vocal chords. I know this song so well that I can think of other things at the same time.
The nausea is getting me down, and I still feel dizzy, even though I've drank 3 bottles of water. But I'll get over it. Edward saw me a couple of times, looking worried as always, but that's normal when I'm on tour. He worries too much.
The crowd is going crazy as I get to the chorus. The dizziness is threatening to take over, but I won't let it—oh wow. Wow, ok. All I see is black now. I can't hear anything… Edward…
Hands were on my face. Cool hands. More were on my wrist, pressing into it. Voices were everywhere. I think I was lying on the ground, the floor was cool. It felt nice. Then I could hear him.
"Bella! Bella you've got to wake up! Can you hear me?" Edward. He was close, I could hear him. I wanted to open my eyes, but I couldn't. "Bella, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand," he instructed me. I think I could do that. I tried, and only exerted the smallest bit of pressure, despite my efforts. I heard a sigh of relief. I tried to open my eyes. I did a tiny bit, and light flooded my sight. Once they got used to it, I opened my eyes the whole way. I could see Edward's face; that would make anyone wake up. "Oh thank god. We were so worried!" He caressed my face, and kissed my forehead. I sat up. The dizziness was gone, thank goodness. But the look on Edward's face made me realise that I couldn't make up an excuse this time. I had to tell him.
I was helped up and taken into the limo, back into the hotel, and put to bed. But I wasn't going to sleep just yet. There were things left unsaid.
He was watching TV while I was changing, sitting on the bed. I sat next to him, facing him. He sensed my mood and faced me as well, turning the TV off. I put my hand on his face, not knowing where to begin.
"Edward I…" started to say, but I couldn't work out where to go from there. He stroked my cheek as well.
"Yes love?" he encouraged.
"What happened today… it was more than just a dizzy spell. And the tiredness, the no coffee, the nausea… these are not separate events…" I could see in his face that he was started to comprehend. His face was unreadable. I couldn't tell if he was overjoyed or murderous. Might as well confirm it for him. "I'm pregnant, Edward."
At first he was angry, but then his face lit up into a glorious smile. He started to laugh. I looked at him with a confused expression, but he kept on laughing. Then eh picked me up off the bed and swung me around in circles. I yelled at him to stop, but he just kept laughing. When he finally set me down, he grinned at me.
"I'm actually going to be a dad?" he beamed. I nodded. He laughed again, overjoyed by this news. I was still confused.
"You're not mad at me?" I asked.
"Of course not! This is amazing! We're going to have a baby! I am a little confused as to why you kept it from me though…"
"Well, I didn't want you to be worried and talk to Steve and he would cancel the tour and and and… I can't think of any more reasons…" I said in a blur. "I'm sorry," I said.
"It's okay. I understand. I'm just so happy though!" He laughed again.
"I can tell.." I managed to say before he whisked me off the bed again. His laughing must have been loud, because someone knocked on the door. Still holding me above the air, he opened the door. It was Steve.
"Can I ask what all the noise is? She's supposed to be resting," he asked, eyeing my position.
"Sorry, I was just celebrating," Edward answers. He smiled at me.
"Celebrating what?"
"Oh, nothing much… just the fact that WE'RE GOING TO BE PARENTS!" he shouts. Geez, I think my ear-drum just burst. Steve freezes. His face goes through a range of emotion. Happiness, anger, despair, hurt, overjoyment and more anger. When his colour returns to normal, he speaks.
"You're pregnant and you waited until we're in the middle of a tour to mention it?" I give him a sheepish look, but I nodded. He shakes his head and walks away. I hear screams in the other room as he tells everyone else.
Now everyone knows, Edward isn't mad at me (in fact quite the opposite), and I'm quite sure that I'll have a baby bump, a small one, by the time we get back to the U.S. What a great life I have.