It's going to be hard to say goodbye. To this place, this country. It's so beautiful.
I performed my last show in Australia last night, and I'm packing, to go home. It doesn't help that the baby kicks every time Edward comes into view. I don't think he's realised that yet, but he soon will. Surely my heart is so loud that he can hear it?
I put on my favourite shirt, only to realise that it doesn't quite fit. I sigh. So it's started then. Shopping here I come. I never imagined I would but something from the maternity section. The though made me shudder a bit.
I put on a dress instead. You can hide it in a dress. My hair is a mess, so I straighten it. I put it down to brush it, when Edward comes into the bathroom to get his stuff. I see him in the mirror and he sees me. I smile at him, picking up the straightner. A sharp pain in my hand informs me I have picked it up at the wrong end, burning my palm. I let out a yelp and immediately put it under cold water.
Edward rushes over, asking what happened. When I told him, he gives me a disapproving look.
"What am I going to do with you, Bella? Goodness, if you can't even take care of yourself, how are you going to take care of a baby?" he says jokingly.
"Hey, it's your fault," I say, defending myself.
"My fault?"
"Yeah, if the sight of you didn't make me so clumsy then I wouldn't have done that…" He laughs.
"Really? I make you clumsy?" he chuckles.
"Oh come on. You must know the effect you have on people. You dazzle them," I say, rolling my eyes.
"Do I dazzle you?"
"Frequently."
"Come on, Miss Clumsy. Time to finish packing," he tells me.
"But I don't want to leave. I like it here," he say, being reminiscent of a misbehaving child.
"I know, I don't want to either. But if we miss our flight, we'll have to wait for another one. Crowded airline lounges, only coffee as nutrition, apart from the candy in the vending machine…" He shudders.
"I'm staying. I'll never leave, ever!" I shout, keeping up my child regime.
"Oh really? What if I do this?" he starts to tickle me, at which I giggle profusely, but I'm not giving up. I stay glued to my spot. "Hmmm…" he wonders. "I'll have to try a more desperate measure…" he says, winking at me. In a movement that is so fast it is almost blurred, he picks me up and over his shoulder, and walks to the bedroom.
"Put me down you idiot!" I protest, hitting him several times in the back. He doesn't even flinch. I sigh. There was no getting out of it, he was too strong. Damn him.
He practically throws me on the bed, at which I frown at. He grins at me, before pinning me underneath him. I'm still frowning at him.
"Now, are you going home or not?" he asks.
"No," I say without hesitation.
"Even with the knowledge that I will carry you through the airport if you refuse again?" he sniggers.
I am about to retaliate, but then realise that him carrying me through the airport is probably not such a good look. Even though he would enjoy it. I sigh.
"Fine. I guess we can always come back," I negotiate.
"Exactly," he grins in victory. I roll my eyes. Then I realise how close his face is to mine, and my heart starts beating frantically as it always does.
I grab his face and continue to "pack".
I think that the press just hang out at the airport all the time… they are there outside as we drive up. I sigh, walking into the pack of cameras and voice recorders. I resist the urge to protect my belly, that would be too obvious. As with before, they are asking questions about the tour.
"Was the tour a success?"
"Is it true that this tour has saved you from bankruptcy?"
"Any truth to the rumour that you punched Jessica Stanley in the face?" Wow, ok. I am going to have to sort that one out when we get home. The bitch probably told the press that.
"Is that a baby bump or are you just getting fat?" How rude. That's not necessarily a question you ask people. Or do celebrities not count as people any more? I growl under my breath. I'm going to release that officially when I damn well feel like it, not answer yes or no to rumours.
Edward fends them off as we go to check in. I thought this dress hid my small, but defined, baby bump…
Of course, checking in to a flight is never as easy as you think it is. The attendant informed me that my bag was overweight, and told me I needed to pay a few extra hundred dollars for it. Well, needless to say, I let him have it. It was only a few hundred grams (according to their weird metric system) overweight. I was not going to pay it. Steve sorted it out. I never did find out how it turned out.
And of course, they took my nails scissors, my water bottle, my nail file, and my food away. And then I practically got felt up by the damn security guys.
This is one thing I will not miss about Australia; the airport. But to be fair, all airports are hell.
Our flight was delayed, so we had to sit in the lounge, with people coming up to me in five minute intervals, asking for an autograph. Edward bought me these things called Malteasers, which were yummy, and cured my boredom for all the of the ten minutes it took me to eat them.
Our plane finally got there, and we were the first ones on. I saw the flight attendants whisper amongst themselves as I got on. Yeah, I tend to have that effect on people. I'm used to it by now, but sometimes it makes me feel like a freak.
I believe they have learnt from last time, as the first thing the flight attendant says to me is:
"We have a couple of vegetarian options for the meal today. Uh, we have pumpkin soup or lentil curry…"
In some ways, I was looking forward to being home, but in other ways I was dreading it. Had the press forgotten me, or was my return to America going to be another reason for a story? Surely they would have died down by now. I mean, that was the whole point of the tour, wasn't it?
As we touch down on home soil (with a cheer from the passengers behind us), I get this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. Not because of the plane, and not because of the baby. I realised that people's careers had been destroyed by bad rumours. I start to shake a little, even when we're on the ground.
I wake Edward up; he has been sleeping the whole time. Lucky him. I find it impossible to sleep on planes.
I thought I was hiding it pretty well, but I guess Edward knows me very well. He holds my hand to try and soothe my agitation as we walk down the hallway to the baggage claim. Nothing yet. That must be a good sign.
I see a group of people in a crowd, and immediately feel nauseated. I see a flash of blonde hair in the middle of the crowd. Oh, Lady GaGa's here. My gosh, what is she wearing? Well, I won't get very much attention at all then. Thank goodness.
I see my bag and grab it. Or attempt to grab it; it's really heavy. Steve grabs it off me before it crushes me.
Someone must have noticed the commotion, because the reporters suddenly get bored with Lady GaGa's outfit, and rush over to me. Oh crap.
The shout numerous things at me, things I can't even understand. A lot of the questions were about Edward, I think. Apparently people didn't think very much of him. Or me, for dating him. Stupid rumours. But before they can get to the obvious question (I saw one guy staring at my stomach), I decide to give in.
"Before you ask, yes it's true. I'm pregnant. Get over it," I say with a roll of my eyes. I grab my bag and walk off. I have to get of this damn airport as soon as possible. I hear a lot of shouting behind me.
I want to get home. I want to sleep. I want to curl up in a ball and forget the world. I want to listen to music at full volume. I want to hug Edward. I want to be normal. I'm sick of it.
I cry the whole way home.
"It was all for nothing," I blubber.
We're back home, and I'm doing exactly what I said I would; hugging Edward. Being the wonderful and tolerant person he is, he is just sitting there, listening to my rants and letting me stain his shirt with tears. Occasionally he would put in a comment.
"It was not for nothing," he assures me.
"But the whole point was to get out of here while the press forgot me. And they didn't. They're worse than before. I hate them!" I cry. Edward strokes my cheek, catching the tears that fell there.
The shrill ring of my phone makes me jump. I can't remember where I put it… I get up to look for it, but Edward stops me, and takes it out of my purse. Oh yeah.
Edward answers it.
"Hello? Hey Steve, what's up? Uh huh. Umm… I'm not really sure about that… she's a bit… put out by today. Yes, I know. Well her wellbeing is my first priority, maybe you've forgotten? Fine." He hands me the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey Bella. Look we have a gig lined up for you," he informs me in a cold voice.
"Sure. What is it?"
"A benefit gig on the other side of town. A couple of songs, maybe a new one and we're out of there. No pay I'm afraid." Duh. It's a benefit.
"Sounds good. When?" I ask.
"Er, Wednesday. That ok with you?" Wednesday… I look at the calendar on my wall. That was two days from now. Bit late notice.
"Well, I'll need time to rehearse the new one, but I think I can manage it."
"Great," he says. Edward holds out his hand for the phone.
"Passing you back to Edward," I say, giving him the phone.
"Yeah, I wanted to ask you something… hang on." To my surprise, he walks out of the room. What did he want to talk about that he didn't want me to hear? That was odd. He comes back quickly though. He gives me my phone back, the call finished. I give him a glare.
"What was that about?" I ask, with as much suspicion in my voice as I can muster.
"Nothing," he answers with a smile. He sniggers a little. "Oh, and you're only doing two songs now. I managed to convince Steve that it was best for your health." I roll my eyes. Trust him to be worried about that.
My thoughts were still on before. What on earth was he planning?
Hmm…