SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it, I just take my cold medicine and write insane stuff from out of far left field. Yeah.
Chapter 14 – Send In the Clowns
I took my drunken girl home along with her buzzed father who was giving me the stink eye. Bella had sobered up a little, but was still a little unsteady on her feet and seemed to start slurring her words more now that the alcohol had worked its way through her system. She hung heavily off of me, singing off and on. Never anything I understood, but when we reached the apartment, Charlie joined in singing with her. They both burst into tears and I wasn't sure what had happened.
I took the crying drunks into the apartment and led Charlie to his room. He stumbled in and then turned and pointed a stern finger at me. "You better not touch my little girl. She's a virgin!"
Bella burst out giggling, "Daddy, I have a daughter."
His brow furrowed and then he waved his hand at me, "Then never mind," he mumbled and shut the door, leaving me baffled and highly amused.
I carried my girl to our bed, taking off her shoes and helping her out of her dress, then slipping her into one of my t-shirts before tucking her in. She stretched and snuggled down into the pillows and I quickly readied myself for bed and climbed in next to her, kissing her shoulder and neck as I slid into place, spooning in behind her.
She held my arm tightly against her and I felt her heave. I thought she might be getting ready to puke, but it turned out she was crying. I think I would have preferred puking. I could handle puking, but my girl crying was upsetting. I didn't know what to do.
"What's wrong, are you hurt?" I asked worried.
She rolled so she could look up at me, "She's gone."
I was confused, but I guessed she was talking about Arabella. "Kate is going to bring Ara home in the morning."
She shook her head and sobbed harder, "No, Edward, my mommy, my mommy is gone. She's going to miss this wedding, too."
Bella had never spoken of her mother. I didn't know why I hadn't thought to ask about her. Now I just felt like a jerk for not trying harder at getting to know my girl better. I kissed her forehead and wiped her tears. "Do you want to tell me about your mother?" I asked.
She shook her head no, but then she started talking. "She sang to me, a lot. I miss her."
"Were you and Charlie singing one of her songs?"
"Yes," she sobbed loudly.
Charlie came bursting into my room moments later wielding a hairbrush. "Get your hands off my little girl!"
Bella jumped out of bed and threw her arms around her dad. "I miss her, Daddy," she cried.
Charlie looked a little stunned at first, but when Bella started singing loudly off-key, he just squeezed her, sounding broken himself. "I miss her, too, baby."
I stood stunned, wondering what had happened to her mother. I had never thought to ask and now I felt too ashamed. I guess Charlie could see the questions in my eyes as he looked over at me. "She's in the family business," he said making me wonder if she was the daughter of a mob boss.
I looked to Bella who wiped her tears and went over to my bedpost. "Remember when she used to rock me upside down?" she asked her father, leaning against it smiling, lost in a happy memory.
"Upside down?" I asked.
Bella nodded yes, "My mother is a circus performer."
I was sure I had misheard. I looked over at Charlie and then back to Bella, "What?"
"She's a contortionist and acrobat in the family circus."
I must have looked confused because Charlie came up and patted my shoulder. "I know it's a bit much to take in, but it's true."
"How much have you both had to drink?" I asked sure they were crazy drunk.
Bella stumbled into my arms. "It's true, they travel all the time, all over the country. They were snowed in when I married Mike. And since we're getting married on such short notice, there would be no way to track them down and get them all here in time for the wedding."
"If you want to wait until your mom can come…" I offered, but she shook her head no.
"It's all set and ready. I don't want to wait. I just miss her," she sniffled.
I kissed the top of her head, holding her tightly. "What was the name of her circus?" I asked curious.
"The Vaulting Volturi Family Circus," she said with a bow and a flourish.
I smiled, "Sounds exciting."
"It is. They were so close to getting that Vegas gig and settling down when that dang Cirque du Soleil cut in," she said shaking her head disdainfully.
"Don't worry, honey, they'll get settled down eventually," Charlie said squeezing his daughter's shoulder. "Now it's time for bed. We have a wedding to go to tomorrow."
Once Charlie left, I tucked my girl into bed and pulled out my laptop. I just had to see if this was a drunken rant or if it was real. Sure enough, the Vaulting Volturi Family Circus had their own website. They had a number to call to request venues, but I wasn't sure if I could get them to show up in time for the wedding.
I moved to the kitchen and dialed the number and let it ring a good ten times before hanging up and trying again. I tried five times before a gruff voice finally answered. "What the hell do you want? It's the middle of the night!"
I was startled and silent for a moment.
"Well? Hello? Are you there?" the upset voice growled.
"Yes," I squeaked.
"Who is this?"
"Edward Cullen."
"Well, Edward Cullen, are you going to tell me why you felt the need to call me at all hours of the night?"
"Yes," I said but stayed silent.
"Spit it out already, boy! I'm losing shut-eye here."
"I'm getting married."
"Married, huh, and you called me why?"
"My wife wants you at our wedding."
"What?" I could hear his confusion. "Do you have the wrong number? You do realize we're a circus, right?"
"I called the Vaulting Volturi Family, correct?" I asked.
"Yeah, that's us," he said.
I heard a feminine voice speak in the background, "Honey, who's calling at this time of night?"
"Some guy wants us at his wedding, says his wife asked him."
"Wedding? We've never done a wedding before. How much time do we have to prepare?" the woman asked.
"Okay, buddy, if this is for real, when did you want us there?"
"Tomorrow, or um, later today, we're getting married today."
"Today? I'm sorry, buddy, but there's no way to come up with a new routine for a wedding so fast."
"No, no routine, I just need you here in Chicago to attend as guests."
"He wants us as guests for his wedding," he said to the woman. "Is this some kind of practical joke?"
"No, I just need you in Illinois later today."
"Chicago, Illinois? I'm sorry, but there's no way we can get all the way over there in a day. We're all the way over on the west coast right now."
"What if I get you a private jet?" I asked.
"What?"
"I'll rent you a private jet to bring you all here."
"Are you serious?" the man asked shocked.
"Yes, my Bella wanted you here so I'm going to get you here."
"Bella? Isabella Swan? Renee's little girl?"
"Yes, we're getting married tomorrow and she wanted you to attend."
"Bella's getting married!" the man shouted.
"Little Bell?" the woman asked excited.
"Yeah, I got her man on the phone now wanting to fly us all out for it."
"Well, say yes and get everyone up! We have to get packing!" the woman shouted.
"Alright, we'll be there."
"Wonderful, I just need to know the closest airport so I can get you a plane out."
As he gave me the airport information, I could hear shouting and squealing. It sounded like a whole lot of people. I decided I should rent the biggest jet there was. Thankfully, everything I overheard was joyous excitement. Apparently, they couldn't wait to see their Little Bell again.
It cost a small fortune, but I was able to arrange for their transport and stay for the weekend in town. I had to dip into my savings, but I hoped that Bella would believe it was worth it.
Once everything was settled, I finally made it to bed only to hear the alarm go off moments later. I groaned along with Bella who turned it off and then stumbled to the bathroom. I fell back asleep listening to her shower. The next time I woke up, the sun was high in the sky and I started to panic, hoping I hadn't missed the arrival of the Volturi family.
I ran stumbling from my room still half asleep, pulling my shirt over my head and crashed into a body. Once I had my shirt pulled down, I saw it was Charlie. "Don't worry, Son, you didn't miss the wedding. You're not late yet."
"What time is it?" I asked still not settled.
"It's a little after two o'clock. The wedding isn't until five," he reminded me.
The Volturi's would be in town at three. "I have to go!" I said running back to my room and slamming into the door frame.
"You're not going to skip out on my girl are you?" Charlie growled.
"NO! I just have to…to…to…" Charlie narrowed his eyes. "The guests!"
"What guests?" he asked.
I looked around and realized the house was completely silent. "Where's Bella?" I asked.
"The hotel, your family was here this morning to take her to get ready."
I nodded my head. "I have to make sure the busses and trucks showed up."
"Busses and trucks? Boy, what are you getting into?"
"The circus," I said with a grin.
"The circus?" he gasped. "Don't you tease about…"
"I'm not. I was up all night and was able to get a hold of them. I have to go!"
"I'm coming with," he said excitedly, darting into his room to get dressed as well.
We stood on the private plane tarmac, waiting for the door to open. The jet had arrived just minutes before. I guess it took some time to gather up their things to exit. What happened next was shocking and amazing. The door opened and the first passengers slid down the stair railings. They then moved the stairs and the rest of the people formed a human ladder. There were chimpanzees in the mix and when the last of the humans and chimps exited, the stairs were pushed back into place. A woman ridding a zebra descended the stairs, followed by a man walking a lion on a leash.
"Charlie!" a heard a woman cry out with joy. Suddenly she was up in the air, stepping on heads, shoulders, and palms as they helped her move closer to us. She did a graceful twist and flipped in the air, landing gracefully in Charlie's arms.
"Renee," he breathed out and deeply kissed her immediate. I stood awkwardly as usual, wondering what I should do next. A pair of chimpanzees ran toward me, the smaller one wearing a dress. She climbed up my body while the larger male plopped down next to me and wrapped an arm around my leg. I held on to the little female, worried she would fall as a very large man approached me. "I'm Aro and this is my wife, Diddy. We're Renee's parents. You must be Edward Cullen."
I nodded yes and shook his hand, "Nice to meet you. I'm so glad you could come."
"Anything for our Little Bell," he said sincerely and then turned his attention to Charlie, as he had just released Renee's lips. Aro pulled him into a hug. "So, is this one alright?" he asked Charlie pointing to me.
"I'd never met a fool more lovesick than myself before, but I think I may have the day I met him." I blushed and then felt a pinch on my backside, causing me to jump forward a little.
"Aunty," Diddy scolded the chimp, "He's taken, stop being fresh," she said and reached a hand out to the primate. She went smoothly, causing me to sigh in relief. The male chimp was busy running his hand up and down the inside of my thigh, making me very nervous
"Chester, I'm sure he appreciates the sentiment, but you should probably get to know him better first," Diddy smirked at my expression. I wasn't sure I even wanted to know.
"We're loaded!" a young man shouted towards us. I could see the truck I had rented driving away.
"Well, let's get going!" Aro said patting my back, nearly knocking me over. "Sorry, I don't know my own strength," he said with a booming laugh and everyone rolled their eyes.
I felt like I was missing something when Renee chimed in. "Daddy's the strong man," she shook her head. "'He's been making that joke for decades."
As I watched the costumed parade of little people, clowns, jugglers, sword swallowers, and every other type of circus performer float by, I couldn't help but wonder how this whole surprise was going to play out. I laughed to myself at the idea of our wedding being a three-ring circus. I doubted there would be much objection from my family, but there was one person who I was certain would not find this colorful and unpredictable addition to the guest list amusing.
Alice.
B/N: Savanna is a bit under the weather today so please leave her some love and make her feel better. Also, if you aren't already fans of LoveRob and Mathisson, please head over and check them out. They're great writers and are sadly under-appreciated. Thanks for stopping by!