Final part: new year festivities :)
Part Four
On the morning of the 27th, Gold surprised Belle with a trip to the highlands for a few days.
She was astonished. 'But your mothers?'
'It was their idea,' he said with a grin. 'Ye cannae come tae Scotland and not see the highlands, lassie,' he said, imitating his mothers and making her laugh. 'Aggie and Elsie are practically pushing us out the door, so what do you say? I'll show you one of the most beautiful places in the world: we can take walks in the fresh air, and we'll be alone.' He said this last with a smile, leaning closer.
Belle cupped his cheek. 'I cannot resist you,' she said, smiling. 'They're really alright with it?'
He nodded. 'It'll give them some alone time too,' he told her, 'and we'll be back on the 30th. Wouldn't dream of missing the New Year's celebration at home.'
'No, I'm looking forward to that,' she agreed. Tristan had told her that it was lots of fun, with neighbours and friends coming in and out, and lots of singing and merriment.
'Alright,' she said, 'let's pack a bag.'
So they went. He drove out of the city and Belle was delighted as she began to see the country take over.
'Where exactly are you taking me?' she demanded jovially, turning in her seat to look at him.
'A little village called Dun Broch,' he said. 'It's got a cosy old inn, a loch, and some nice walks.'
'Sounds like heaven,' Belle said, and sighed.
She was not disappointed. The village was lovely, nestled between the mountains and a pleasant lake, the loch Tristan had told her about. The inn was warm and cosy, and their room had a fire blazing in the grate.
'Isn't this grand?' Gold said, smiling.
Belle smiled. 'It's lovely. You know, you sound more Scottish than ever.' She'd noticed it over the last few days: his brogue was thicker, and she definitely wasn't complaining.
He grinned. 'Must be the effect of being back on the auld sod,' he said. 'Let me know if you can't understand me.'
'I understand you fine,' she said. 'I like it, you know: your brogue.'
'Do ye now?' he asked, smiling.
'Aye,' she returned playfully, smiling back.
His smile turned tender. 'Oh, Belle, I love that you're here with me,' he said quietly.
'I do too,' she agreed, reaching for him as he was reaching for her.
He picked her up, just holding her in his arms as he stood by the bed. Belle was holding her breath at the look on his face.
'I'll never be able to show you just how much I love you, Belle,' he said, full of emotion, 'but, damn it all, I can try.' He kissed her then, and then lay her down on the bed, and it was quite a while before there was anything like intelligible conversation between them.
0
They had dinner that evening in their room, enjoying each other's company and the fire and the quiet. To prove how much she liked Tristan's brogue, Belle had brought the book of Scots poetry that Aggie and Elsie had given her for Christmas with her, and asked him to read to her from it.
He happily obliged, reading verse after verse in Scots, loving Belle's kisses and soft touches as he read. In the end, he had her in his arms again, reciting snatches of verse and speaking in Scots as they made love.
Belle had never been so happy, and she knew she'd never forget this holiday as long as she lived.
0
They spent two blissful days wandering the village and the mountains round about. Belle thought it was the perfect way to end this extraordinary year.
It was strange and wonderful how much more connected she felt to Tristan now. She had always felt drawn to him, but she felt it more so now. Perhaps it was the unequivocal acceptance of his mothers, or perhaps it was being here with him in his home country: perhaps it was both, but she knew with perfect clarity that there would never be anyone else for her but him.
She was thinking all of this as they walked together on the second day and Gold noticed her thoughtfulness.
'You're very quiet,' he murmured, leaning close as he walked along beside her: 'what are you thinking?'
She looked up at him with a smile. 'I'm thinking of how much I love you, and how happy I am. I've never felt so close to anyone before, and I know I've never been so happy.'
He just looked at her, unable to speak. Belle's honesty and openness both stunned and delighted him. They had come such a long way. It had taken him months to get close to her and now he was, and it was everything he dreamed it would be, and more.
'You are, without a doubt, the best thing that's ever happened to me, Belle,' he said. 'I know everything in my life has been leading me to you, and I never want anyone else.'
'Neither do I,' she breathed, delighted that he shared her feeling. 'I was just thinking that,' she said, smiling.
She hugged him then and breathed him in. He was everything she'd ever wanted, and this moment, on this mountain walk, in the cold fresh air, with the lovely snow-capped mountains around them, and the green and grey and brown colours of nature, and the quiet, was just perfect.
Gold held her tight. God, he loved her. As he looked over the landscape, with the loch and the sky the same colour as Belle's eyes meeting in the distance, and the mountain heather growing in tufts all over the place, he knew that he was going to spend the rest of his life with this woman.
'Come on,' Belle said softly, taking his hand as she stepped back: 'come,' she said urgently, tugging on his hand.
'Babe?' he asked, but a look from her that he recognised sent his heart racing and his blood rushing south. 'Oh, God, Belle,' he breathed, following her obediently down a slope where a large rock and some bushes blocked the view from the path. There was a thick blanket of grass growing there, enough for them to lie on comfortably for a little while.
'Tristan?' she asked, wondering what he thought, if he was amenable.
He kissed her. 'Yes,' he said: 'God, yes.' And he kissed her again, thinking how she never stopped surprising him, and hoping she never would.
They were lucky that no one happened along the path while they were there, because, even though they couldn't be seen, their cries could be heard, and no one could mistake them for the cries of birds.
0
'Such a beautiful place,' Belle said, as they took a last walk before they left on the 30th.
'We'll come back some day,' Gold replied, holding her by the waist as she leaned against him.
She looked up at him. 'Promise?'
'Promise,' he replied, and kissed her.
And they drove back to the city feeling closer than before, both cherishing the memory of their highland adventure.
0
Aggie and Elsie were busy with preparations for the Hogmanay celebration the following night when they arrived home.
'Ah, you're back!' Elsie cried, seeing them come in.
'Welcome home, dears!' Aggie called from the kitchen.
'Come in and have some tea.'
'Did you have a good time?'
'We had a lovely time,' Belle said, smiling as Aggie and then Elsie hugged and kissed her. 'It's so beautiful and peaceful up there: I can't wait to go back.'
'Ah, it's the mountain air,' Elsie said.
'And the company,' Aggie added, shooting the younger couple a knowing look.
'Both, definitely,' Gold agreed, smiling.
'Yes,' Belle agreed, 'but how are you both?' she asked eagerly.
Gold smiled, touched by her fondness for and interest in his mothers. They both noticed it too and smiled in a way that let him know, if he hadn't already known it, that they considered Belle family.
0
New Year's Eve was busy, first with preparations for the festivities later on, and then with the comings and goings of friends and neighbours in the traditional Hogmanay round of visiting.
Once again, Belle helped Aggie and Elsie with cooking, various kinds of party food this time, and Gold occupied himself with making the house look presentable.
Occasionally, Belle or his mothers would ask him to taste something and he especially liked it when Belle asked him. He loved seeing her with flour in her hair or on her cheek, and he always chased whatever she asked him to taste with a kiss, and always pronounced it delicious.
'The sauce or the kiss?' she asked at one point.
'Both,' he told her with a satisfied smile, making her laugh.
With party food on platters ready to serve and glasses washed and various bottles of alcohol waiting to be opened, dinner was cooked and eaten, and then each member of the family took a turn in the shower.
No sooner was everyone ready than the doorbell rang, signalling the arrival of the first of their New Year visitors. Soon, it felt like there was a revolving door with all the comings and goings. Aggie and Elsie were in their element, offering a New Year toast and some party nibbles to everyone who called, handing out New Year gifts - usually of a bottle of something and a fruit cake, and, of course, introducing Belle and singing her and Tristan's praises.
Belle found the guests warm and friendly, and interested in her and in Tristan's success. They were very nice to her, and even when anyone wondered what had brought them together, they were polite about it, curious rather than unkind.
She was walking up the stairs to go to the toilet when she overheard a man ask Tristan about her. She knew they hadn't seen her from where they were standing in the hall, so she paused at the top of the stairs to listen.
'How'd you meet her?' the man, whose name she thought was George, asked Tristan.
'She came to one of my gigs,' Tristan said, and Belle knew he was smiling. 'A friend of hers in the business brought her along. I was gone the moment I laid eyes on her.'
'Well, you've got yourself a beauty there,' George said.
'I know,' Tristan agreed, sounding content, which made Belle smile.
'But why an older woman?' George asked, curious: 'is that just what you're into?'
'I honestly don't give a shite about that,' Tristan said emphatically, 'and neither does she. The age thing never really bothered us, not once we came to understand each other anyway. I fell in love with her and she fell in love with me: simple as that.'
'Yeah, but what does she see in you?' George teased.
'Fucked if I know!' Tristan returned good naturally, and George laughed.
'What do you see in her, then?' he asked.
'She's smart, kind, elegant, refined, sweet, fucking gorgeous… I mean, just look at her,' Tristan enthused. 'There are so many reasons I love her,' he went on. 'I'm one lucky bastard, I'm telling you.'
Belle went on to the toilet, smiling to herself, and when Tristan came to meet her as she came down the stairs, she kissed him sweetly.
'What was that for?' he asked.
'Because I love you,' she said, and he smiled.
0
Visitors came and went, and eventually, the festivities centred around the piano in the living room, where either Aggie or Elsie would play a popular old song and people would sing along.
Several people had asked Gold for one of his, and he'd obliged with a couple, having picked up and tuned an old guitar, but his songs weren't really the kind to be sung at a New Year's Eve party, so, instead, he accompanied the piano and sang along with everyone.
He was thoroughly enjoying himself. Of course, he did squirm a little as neighbours and friends told stories about him, but he was happy to see everyone, and delighted by their reception of Belle. She was sweet and beautiful and sophisticated, and all the old friends who came around saw it too. He knew he was a lucky man, and he nodded in fervent agreement whenever people told him so.
Belle was enjoying herself immensely. She loved the atmosphere and the camaraderie, and, though she wouldn't call herself a singer, she sang along. The songs were mostly old classics, the kinds her mother had loved and sang to her when she was little, so it was lovely to be reminded of her tonight, and she felt she was with her, smiling at the fun she was having.
Tristan was wonderful, singing along with the old songs, and Belle smiled at seeing him and his mothers singing together. She remembered that he had told her that Aggie and Elsie taught him all he knew about music. He could see that that bond, that love the three of them shared, was what brought out Tristan's confidence and made him the man he was. She felt a deep surge of love for Aggie and Elsie for giving this wonderful gift to Tristan.
Gold had been watching her as she stood by the fireplace. She was only a short distance away, but it had been far too long since he'd held her, so he handed off the guitar to someone and tilted his head, beckoning her over. She came and sat in his lap as he sat on the arm of the armchair.
'Having fun?' he murmured.
'Yes,' she said: 'it's wonderful.'
'You can really sing, you know,' he told her.
She shook her head. 'Only for fun. My mother used to sing some of these old songs to me.'
'Yeah?'
'Mhm. She liked Nat and Dusty, a bit of Motown, and a few of those old crooners.'
'I'd like to have met her,' he said, smiling.
'She'd like you,' she said unreservedly.
'You think?'
'I know she would. My mother liked honest, loving people: she was a good judge of character. She'd like you: she'd approve.'
'I'm glad to know that,' he said softly, and kissed her cheek. 'It's almost midnight,' he said then, smiling at her: 'I think it's going to be an amazing year, babe.'
'So do I,' she agreed, smiling. 'I think every year with you will be amazing.'
'I'll make them amazing for you, Belle.'
'And so will I for you,' she murmured, and kissed him.
'…Three, two, one: Happy New Year!'
Belle and Gold parted as the clock chimed midnight, and everyone else was already launching into the strains of "Auld Lang Syne" as they smiled at each other.
'Happy New Year, Tristan.'
'Happy New Year, Belle.'
And, as they joined in with the old New Year song, they both knew that the coming year had wonderful things in store.
The end
Thank you for reading. I'm so happy to finally be able to post this story! I've been working on it on and off for ages, so I'm so pleased to have it finished, not least because now I can post the other stories from the Tempted 'verse I've been working on :) Next up will be a fic called "Midnight Caller", featuring another face from Tristan's past and an unpleasant confrontation. I need to polish it up and finish it off, but it should be up soon :) Thanks again for reading!