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Chapter 203
Chicago
Bella
Day two in Chicago! Or was it strictly speaking only day one? We could have been in Timbuktu yesterday without even realizing it. Where was Timbuktu, anyway? Never mind.
After a pleasant breakfast in bed and a refreshing shower, we now took the elevator down to conquer Chicago.
Edward pushed me through the revolving door and already I didn't know where to look.
I spun around myself, looking into the air.
Our hotel was incredibly high. Sure. At least forty-eight floors. That's where our room was. Suite, I corrected myself.
Directly opposite seemed to be a church. A dim masonry with high windows, three pointed roofs, each with crosses on the gable. Next to it was a huge modern skyscraper that I already knew from our window. As Edward said, in front of me was a Presbyterian Church and the small skyscraper next to it was the 'John Hancock' Center.
One hundred floors at 355 meters, the fourth tallest building in the city. The building of our hotel had 'only' sixty-six floors, the eighth tallest building in the city, which I gulped to note, but it housed not only the Four Seasons. The first six floors were a shopping center with stores and restaurants. 'Bloomingdales' and 'Gucci', for example, had stores in this building. Above that were offices for different companies. Only above that began the residential areas, which not only belonged to the hotel, but also consisted of many condominiums. However, my angel did not know exactly what the layout looked like there.
I was impressed by that. Well, that my spouse for once did not know something.
We went by cab.
Where we were going was less than a mile and a half away, but I would be on my feet long enough today.
I marveled while Edward explained. We drove along the Magnificent Mile.
Theoretically, one would not even need to leave this street during a short vacation. Stores, restaurants, theaters, museums, and hotels bordered here in one skyscraper to the next. Park Tower, Tribune Tower, Allerton Hotel, Wrigley Building. And the 'Trump Tower'.
The name was emblazoned on the building in oversized silver letters. And this one had once been our president! Unbelievable! Fortunately, this episode was behind us.
We reached the Millennium Park, our current destination. A public park between skyscrapers and a picturesque lake, which had other things to offer besides the famous Cloud Gate - a bean-shaped sculpture with a reflective surface measuring 10x20x13 yards.
We walked through the beautifully landscaped park. Past the Wrigley Square, at which an ice-skating rink was laid out. Asked another couple to photograph us at the Cloud Gate after I had examined the oversized bean from all sides.
In the amphitheater there was a children's performance, where we lingered for a moment. We looked at the beautiful garden and wondered what it would look like in the summer. We looked around in the gallery. Admired ice sculptures that stretched through the park and still stood here from a competition.
We crossed a meandering bridge to 'Maggie Daley' park. Actually, there was an extensive landscape for skating here, where Jake and Daniel would have felt very comfortable. Now - in winter - it had been converted into an ice-skating rink.
"Do you trust me?", Edward asked me.
"We've had this topic before," I reflected.
Smiling wryly, he pulled me to the ice rink.
With Edward, I wasn't afraid that I could fall.
But we didn't ride for long. Only three laps over the entire parcourse, which I completed safely in my husband's arms.
Then we continued walking, passing climbing walls that were closed because of the winter.
A huge playground where Ced would certainly have had a lot of fun.
The Buckingham Fountain was impressively large and operating despite the cool temperatures. Luckily it wasn't windy today, otherwise we would have still gotten wet from the water games.
We walked along the lakeshore arm in arm until we reached the Shedd Aquarium around noon. We were offered an audio guide to tell us about the many aquariums and their inhabitants, but Edward declined the offer with thanks.
I had my personal audio guide.
The wonder world under water. There was a lot to see. Rays, beautiful colorful fish and jellyfish, corals, a show with seals and beluga whales. And Edward provided me with all the background information. Where these animals had their natural habitat, how big or old they grew, what they fed on, who fed on them ...
"How do you actually know so much about pretty much everything?", I took the opportunity to dig deeper.
"Before I met you, I had a lot of time on my hands. Studying, reading, documentaries," he said casually.
"But surely you didn't study marine biology!", I wanted to state.
Instead of an answer, I got a kiss.
"I guess that means yes!", I interpreted his remarkably unobtrusive smile. "With a doctorate?", I then wanted to know exactly and raised an eyebrow.
"I had time."
"So, doctor. Tell me something about starfish," I asked my husband when we arrived at a basin.
You were even allowed to touch the starfish, which I immediately tried.
Felt strange.
Meanwhile, my angel told me, "Starfish - Asteroidea; derived from Greek ἀστήρ astḗr 'star' and εἶδος eídos 'form, shape' - are a class of Eleutherozoa within the phylum Echinoderms. About 1,600 recent species of sea stars are known worldwide, making them the second largest group of animals within the echinoderms (Echinodermata) after the brittle stars (Ophiuroida) ..."
We walked on and I listened with great interest to all that my husband had to say about the various basins.
I had married a walking encyclopedia.
A penguin ran across our path all alone and quacked at me, grumbling.
"Skittles. Will you come here!" came an animal keeper from behind.
"Sorry. I hope Skittles didn't offend her," he laughed as he recaptured the little guy.
"I don't think so, no," I speculated. I was not sure of that. After all, I hadn't necessarily understood him. Skittles was apparently a professional escapee who knew exactly where the cafeteria was.
Without Skittles, we went there.
I felt like a coffee and a bite to eat. A few minutes sitting also did my feet quite good.
Edward noticed, of course, how much I enjoyed this little break lying half in his arms. We were meanwhile five hours continuously on our legs and after this I still wanted to go to the observatory.
"I warned you this might be too much," said the know-it-all.
Yes, he had. Extensively, when yesterday I proposed this plan for today.
"Oh nonsense. I'm fine," I lied. "Come, my husband. The movie is about to start," I therefore said emphatically elated, when I had finished my coffee and pastries and placed a kiss on the tip of his nose.
A 4D film about sharks. Was very worth seeing. And exciting. Three times I had clung to Edward in fright, who commented on it with a grin each time, but also protected me death-defyingly from the evil sharks each time.
We strolled to the exit, I even found Nemo on the way .
By the way, nothing worked in the U.S. without an associated souvenir store. We had to go through it to leave the building. Between countless stuffed animals and T-shirts we found something for Ced.
A colorful mechanical fish. You could wind it up and then it swam through the water.
Then we walked along the waterfront again.
To the Adler Planetarium.
The view of the skyline was great from this bank. The Willis Tower stood out, of course. Soldier Field was also easy to see from here. The home of the 'Chicago Bears' football team.
"Do you want us to maybe bring your dad a jersey from them? Or does he prefer basketball and we'll take one from the 'Chicago Bulls'," Edward asked.
"Since you're bulletproof, you're welcome to do that!" was all I replied. My dad would definitely be totally 'thrilled' by jerseys of his teams' opponents.
We entered the planetarium.
What was there not everything to see?! Moon and Mars rocks. Parts of the 'Apollo' and 'Gemini' projects. The history of astronomy and the constantly improved binoculars. Once only applied by means of sextants to determine location at sea, it was now an outstanding field of science. The cosmos was so infinitely far, and we humans only had the know-how to scratch its surface. What lay beyond was simply unimaginable. Black holes, exploding stars, distant galaxies. Perhaps extraterrestrial life forms? Parallel universes? Interactive information panels showed our planetary system. Again, I had my personal audio guide that explained everything.
"Rose studied astronomy. I picked up a little bit there," Edward played down the issue.
"Picked up on it? A little bit? Yeah, nah. That's clear," I rolled my eyes.
We watched a presentation about the 'Cosmic Wonders' and stayed in the exhibition rooms until the planetarium closed its doors at 6 p.m.
In the souvenir store we had taken something for Daniel this time, who was very interested in astronomy.
A lamp that projected the stars of the northern hemisphere. We also took one with us for our home,. Who knows what Ced will be interested in one day. Besides, it looked really nice.
I had to have a drink, so we sat down in the restaurant. The sun had already set an hour ago and darkness slowly settled over the city.
Well. Let's say the earthly darkness, because little by little the lights were turned on in the city. In the skyscrapers, many windows were illuminated, the buildings themselves shone and the waterfront lay before us worth seeing. I could sit here forever, feel Edward's arms around me and just let the view take effect on me.
"How long do we have until our kids call?" it occurred to me to ask, though. I was a little confused with the one-hour time difference. Nine o'clock or ten o'clock? Their time zone or ours?
"About two and a half hours. Enough time for you to have dinner in peace," he looked at his watch. "Can you manage to walk to the aquarium, or should I call us a cab?" he asked teasingly.
"Of course I can do it," I said stubbornly. That was just five hundred yards ...
And my feet made me feel every single yard clearly.
I wish I had let him call the cab.
But we arrived at the cab stand at the aquarium without me letting Edward notice my feet.
At least I hoped so.
We drove back to the hotel and went to an Italian restaurant in the shopping center there.
Italian was always good. The first thing on the menu was mushroom ravioli, which reminded me of an evening very long ago.
Smiling, I ordered it, but unlike then, today I took a glass of red wine with it.
I could also still roughly remember the conversation at that time. I still knew many small fragments, but without context. Only individual sentence fragments were still there. But I still knew one sentence and his answer to it completely.
"I just feel very safe with you," I told him. I don't know why this actually quite unimportant sentence was still completely stuck in my mind.
Edward looked at me and frowned.
Like back then.
"This is getting more and more complicated," he muttered, shaking his head.
That was the answer. That had even been the right gesture to it.
"And then what happened next?", I asked.
"You stunned me by being much more observant than I had previously assumed. You made the comparison between the color of my eyes and my mood."
"And that's still related. When you get thirsty, you get offended faster!", I noted.
"Really? Still?" he asked.
I nodded.
He ran a hand through his hair and smiled wryly.
"It may have started out complicated then, but how do you feel about us now," I put my hand on his.
"It's even more complicated than I ever would have guessed!" he noted.
"Huh ...?", I jerked back involuntarily.
"I have a wife whose thoughts I still can't hear after all these years and who voluntarily wants to be like me. I have a son who can handle any dangers out in the woods, always has the best judgement of himself and is never too daring, but at home in bed he listens to children's radio plays. My daughter's thoughts are often too high for me. On top of that, there's a baby who really shouldn't even exist and whose thoughts I also only hear when he allows it," he fussed artificially here.
"And what are you trying to tell me?", I dug deeper.
"Absolutely none of this I would have even seen coming at the time. In that respect, my life is much more complicated today than it was in that restaurant back then."
"And that bothers you?"
"When did I say that?!" he grinned mischievously, leaning toward me. "I'm exactly where I want to be. Married to you, at home our children are waiting for us. My life is perfect!" he breathed and kissed me.
I sighed comfortably, but the waitress unfortunately interrupted us.
"What do you think how things went with our hypothetical Joe and Jane from back in the day?", I asked, spearing the first ravioli.
We chatted and speculated about it, but we were pretty much in agreement.
Jane would have had to pretend to her parents that she had died, but they would also be happy together today. They would have no children, no best friend with his family and the visual age difference would be less. No cottage in Saco and no glass palace on the Saco River. But they wouldn't have known it any other way and probably wouldn't miss all those things.
We commiserated the two of them.
Edward then carried me to our room, after I had not been able to fool him anymore because of my feet. Out of the restaurant I had still fought bravely, but then I had reached the end of my self-respect.
We got to the room just in time to skype.
Edward dropped me off at the dining room table, he booted up the laptop and the video request came in. Today Becky was also there, and she was standing in the background with Jake making out.
Ced went swimming today with Becky, Alice, Rose, Jazz and Emmett. Very important information! There didn't seem to be anything interesting to talk about at school, but we told a lot today. For tomorrow we arranged to Skype earlier.
No idea why. I had set the destinations today, tomorrow it was Edward's turn.
Then I was already sitting in a hot bathtub and my feet got a wonderful massage.
I was getting sleepy and didn't know how to get to bed. But I had a sneaking suspicion.
In the arms of this suspiscion I also woke up. Very pleasantly awoke. The 'good morning' kiss dragged on until about after our shower.
After breakfast, which I took today for a change on the sofa of our suite and with the current news on TV to me, it went out again into the city.
I was flabbergasted when Edward held the door of a car open for me.
A beautiful car. A very old car. A convertible. Beginning of February.
"We do want to spare your tender little feet," he murmured to me, but also handed me a fluffy blanket from the back seat after I got in.
Edward showed me his city.
He drove across the streets. At least that's how it seemed to me. He told a lot and stopped briefly at some places. The Chicago theater, the Riverwalk, the Merchandise Mart, the Willis Tower - formerly Sears Tower. He drove through Greektown and Little Italy. Showed me particularly beautiful or old houses or small parks that no tourist maps showed.
Then we drove south along the lake shore for a while.
A magnificent building awaited us.
The Museum of Science & Industry.
I had read about it with great interest, but I had thought it was too far from the city proper. It was exciting to explore these great halls. You could walk through the model of a human heart, real airplanes hung down from the ceilings, you learned the history of the telephone and so much more.
"How did they get that submarine in here?", I asked, standing in front of one. Not a replica for museum visitors. A real one! From World War II. Full size!
"For almost fifty years it stood in the open area of the museum. This building was then built in 2005 solely for the submarine. It was moved in the middle of the construction work and then continued to be built around it," my know-it-all explained to me.
Wow ..., was pretty much my only thought on this.
It was afternoon when we left the museum.
We had been in there for over four hours, but I had now seen everything.
"You must be hungry, right?" my angel asked me as we leaned against the beautiful old convertible.
Meanwhile, with the top closed. Yes, I was. And thirsty.
We drove off, but not very far. Down from the parking lot and under an underpass.
Edward parked and asked me to wait in the car.
Curious, I looked after him.
He entered a café. He came back with a cake box, a bottle of water and a coffee 'to go'. He pressed everything into my hands.
"And am I supposed to eat and burn my tongue while you drive?", I echoed. Or how had my husband imagined that.
"No. I'll invite you to afternoon coffee ... At my place," he said and drove on.
In the meantime, I kept silent and made up my mind about what would now await me.
The second street to the right, then maybe another hundred meters before he parked again. He came around, took my things off my lap, and held out a hand as usual. He nodded toward a building.
That looked different from what I had imagined. But completely different. It was, for the time, quite an imposing building. On the right, it was angular, as befits a house. On the left it was round. From the lawn up to a balcony. Round.
"You expected something else," Edward noted with a smirk.
"Yeah. Kind of."
"A friend of my father's was an architect and designed it. He must have experimented a bit at the time," Edward admitted.
We passed through a wrought-iron gate suspended in two man-high brick turrets. Behind it followed a very well-kept lawn, the paved path was lined with trimmed bushes, a rose bush next to the stairs to the front door.
Edward opened the front door and I wanted to go right through a door behind it.
"The first floor is for staff," Edward held me back and pushed me up a flight of stairs.
What I already noticed was the very old dark wooden floor, which seemed to lie and creak everywhere. Doors and moldings, on the other hand, were white.
"To the right," he led me upstairs and then pushed me left into a room. "The dining room," he said, sweeping away a large white sheet that covered two chairs and a table in the center of the room.
Looking around in amazement, I walked toward the chair Edward had ready for me. I let myself fall rather than sit down.
Up to chest height, the room was covered with dark wood, above which the brickwork could be seen. The floor was covered with colorful tiles around the edges, but in the middle there was a wooden floor that did not match the rest of the wood. An open fireplace, shelves and cabinets built into the wood paneling, and somehow quite a few doors. There also seemed to be a balcony behind me.
"So this is where you used to eat? With your parents? At the beginning of the twentieth century?", I asked.
He nodded and began to tell that there had once been a long table here. There were also pictures on the walls at that time and his mother had always attached importance to fresh flowers.
Meanwhile, I drank and ate the muffin and donut Edward had gotten me. I asked a lot.
I just couldn't imagine how Edward had actually lived in this house.
"And so you had staff?"
"Yes. My father was a lawyer and quite successful at it. We had a married couple and a maid. Mrs. Brown was in charge of the housekeeping. Cooking, keeping the house in order, lady's companion for my mother. Mr. Brown's duties can probably best be compared to those of a butler. Serving, assisting with my father's dressing, ordering and supervising handymen, chauffeur. He also took care of the garden. The maid, Patty - she came from Ireland - was girl for everything. Cleaning, washing, errands. All three of them lived on the first floor, with their own living room, dining room, and kitchen."
Edward showed me around his house.
In the other rooms, the wood was not quite so oppressive. A small winter garden, where his mother had always sat. Either reading or busy with needlework. His parents' bedroom with three windows arranged into a bay window. Towards the street, the living room with windows matching the curve of the corner of the house and an open fireplace.
"Here stood the grand piano where my mother taught me to play," he said, but then looked very melancholy at a scuff in the stalls and knelt down to it.
I squatted down to him.
"When I told my father I wanted to join the Army, he slapped me so hard I flew into the grand piano, and it slid across the floor."
"Did you have a difficult childhood and adolescence?"
"No, not really. He was not a violent man. Because of his professional success, I grew up in well-off circumstances and with some privileges that many others didn't have. I went to a private school, had music and even dance lessons here at the house. I was able to spend my time reading books instead of looking for work - like other boys my age - to support their families. The only thing - what I didn't understand about my father for a long time - was ... He was away on business a lot, and when he was around, he was quite distant the older I got. Carlisle explained it to me later. It was simply the usual upbringing at the time in our affluence. I was being prepared to be a family man who had to look at everything soberly and not let emotions get in the way."
"So you should have gotten married at seventeen in the near future?"
"From the point of view of principle ... Yes. My mother had offered me some ladies from appropriate circles. Mostly young girls of just fourteen or fifteen years. In those days, the reasons for marriage were different from those of today. The pursuit of money, power, influence or to bring a strong name into the family. But World War I was going on and I wanted to be a soldier. I had read a lot about the army and many of my friends were already going to war. I didn't have any thoughts for girls then. And then the 'Spanish flu' reached the city. My father was the first of us to die. How my mother died, I already didn't catch in my fever ... and you know the rest."
"And what happened to your employees?"
"The Brown couple survived. They left the city when the first rumors of an epidemic began and retreated to relatives in the country. Carlisle found Patty here in the house ... She died. Lonely and alone."
Edward ran his hands through his hair in agitation.
I hugged him and gently kissed his lips, his hands falling to my waist.
"That's not your responsibility," I whispered.
He smiled gently.
"It took me some time to realize that ... She was only three years older than me and even though we were all in the hospital, she continued to take care of this house. Unsure if even one of us would come back. She was a good girl. Loyal, friendly, occasionally sassy. I often sat with her in the kitchen, where I really had no business being the son of the master of the house, and talked with her. She often told me about Ireland."
"So she was like your first girlfriend?"
"No. She had a thing with the servant across the street. I covered for her a couple of times so they could see each other."
It continued through the house.
Everything was still in the condition in which Edward had lived here. Even the bathrooms and the kitchens. Everything very rustic.
We climbed another flight of stairs.
"Since I remained an only child, contrary to what I wanted, I had three rooms to myself," he said with a smirk.
In the first one we entered; he had been studying for school. One shelf was still there, but the books were in Carlisle's library. The second had been his closet.
"And this is really where I lived," he pushed me into the last room that went out the front. "I even owned a bed back then," he chuckled, alluding to his room in Forks.
I had wondered then that there was no bed. A pretty little room.
"And the young gentleman even had a balcony," I noted.
"Yep ..." it said, opening the door.
A cold breeze immediately flowed in. The round balcony that ran even with the front of the house at this house 'corner'.
Edward went around the bend and fumbled with a floorboard. He pulled it away.
"The balcony was very convenient," he grinned.
Over his shoulder, I looked into the exposed cavity.
"Edward ... Anthony ... Black ... You smoked?!", I asked in shock.
"Nobody is perfect. Not even me," he said with a grin and kissed me bribingly.
We went to the first floor, and I got to see the 'Servants Rooms' as he titled it.
But it didn't seem that way to me at all. They were quite spacious and bright.
"And what are you going to do with this house? ... I'm surprised, by the way, how clean it is. I was expecting cobwebs and a lot of dust."
"First of all, it's OUR house, not mine. It is regularly cleaned and seen that everything is okay by a company. Whether the windows are intact, the roof, the garden and the like. So that it survives the years. For us vampires it is big enough that we could use it temporarily. However, we are in the middle of a residential area here, which would limit our privacy quite a bit. In sunny weather, we would be forced to stay in the house. I can't bring myself to sell it. Maybe our children would enjoy the little house. At least they could use it for vacation purposes when Esmé is finally allowed to renovate it. After all, she regularly asks me if she can let off some steam here."
"She's got her work cut out for her. Is there actually running water here yet?"
"Well hello there! We were the owners of flush toilets. And on every floor!", Edward clarified quite haughtily.
Well, what you could be so proud of in the past.
We drove back to the hotel, but he showed me a few places along the way that he had been to in the past.
His old school, for example, but today a tax consultant ran his office in the building. A park where he had always been with his mother when he was little.
Arriving at our suite, Edward teasingly told me to put my feet up before we set off again later.
"My feet are doing great!", I hit him with my scarf. "Besides, I'm only human!", I mumbled afterwards.
We cuddled up on the sofa, the laptop was ready for our children, and we almost didn't hear the call tone under the kissing. However, we bristled.
We only saw Ced on the monitor, no twins.
"Marcus has a game and the whole group went to cheer on his opponents," Carlisle commented, who had Ced sitting on his lap.
"Then I guess Jake's team is starting to get cold feet, because it's looking more and more likely that they'll play each other in the finals," I reflected with a smirk. I was probably right about that.
Ced then babbled away, which Carlisle translated to us.
Sonya was there. With Emma, who was swimming with him.
"You can't go swimming every day, can you?!", I marveled at this.
Ced looked at me in confusion.
"You must get bored of that at some point, right?" wondered Edward as well.
Ced shook his head, uncomprehending.
"He doesn't understand your problem," Carlisle explained dryly.
We said our goodbyes and then got ready to go out again.
In the meantime it had become dark.
The car was again parked right in front of the hotel entrance and Edward extended his rustling hand to a bellboy.
Tip. I had seen this handshake a few times in the last few days.
We drove for just a few minutes and something I had been seeing everyday was getting closer.
A ferris wheel.
Edward parked.
We had reached the Navy Pier.
A pier that extended about a thousand yards into the lake and had various attractions to offer. A Ferris wheel, for example. But it also offered a chain carousel and an antique horse carousel. Numerous small restaurants or snack bars, historical boats were anchored, among other things a Viking boat, over the area scattered artistic light installations, a children's museum, the 'Shakespeare' theater, and a botanical garden. However, we could not visit the botanical garden. It was closed to tourists that evening because of a wedding party. There was also a large exhibition hall, but it was empty that week. They were preparing a sports competition that would take place here on the weekend. But that didn't matter.
Instead, a 'Street Food' festival was held on the grounds.
Countless carts offered small treats. They thought of everything. The portions were in tasting size, so you could try as much as possible.
So I ate my way across the pier and back again.
We rode the carousel and strolled through the pavilion, which had many small interesting shops.
One store carried spices from all over the world. Another store had things that had to do with seafaring. There was even a store where you could make teddy bears.
"I want that one!", I laughed, pointing to a teddy bear that was in the shop window.
Edward somehow didn't find it as funny as I did. The teddy had vampire teeth. Even though Edward couldn't laugh about it until the second try, I got it.
We enlivened it together.
The outer shell was chosen. Just the little vampire, but as a girl. We filled it together on the machine so that it had the right fluff-level for me. Or whatever it was called. We blew over a red cloth heart together. That would make the heart start beating, the saleswoman said. Well, her usual customers must have been kids. I put the heart inside it in about the right place before the lady sewed up the opening. Then she got another black cape and a birth certificate.
"What's the little one's name supposed to be?" the lady asked.
"Edwina," I replied while I heard someone growl softly behind me.
She entered the name, stamped and signed the document – everything had to be in order legally – and handed over the teddy bear and certificate to me.
"Did you have to do that? Edwina, of all people?" Edward asked me as we had left the store.
He was so offended by the name.
"You should be happy. Now we have a daughter after all," I said.
"You'll forgive me if I don't include them in my will!" he casually stated.
"You have a will?" however, I bristled.
"Of course."
"And do I want to know what's in it?"
"You better not, or you'll kill me," he smirked teasingly and kissed me in a forbidden manner.
In a candy store, I then really hit. For our children! I only checked the quality! ...
A little later, we went back for more supplies.
A street artist offered his services and we let him paint us.
We took a boat across the lake and could admire the Chicago skyline in all its glory.
I warmed up a bit over tea in a bar with 'Stand-up' comedians.
There stood - or sat - some bronze statues around the pier, with which we took pictures of each other.
I joined a horde of bronze children; Edward helped a bronze captain hold the wheel.
At the original anchor of the 'U.S.S. Chicago' we had our picture taken together.
We got stuck in a large hall where they were imitating the Vienna Opera Ball.
"It's really beautiful here. All the lights everywhere," I mused over a glass of wine.
"It's especially nice that I will be able to show you this in the dark. There's a very different atmosphere here at night than during the day. Normally, the pier closes at eight in the evening on weekdays. Because of Valentine's Day on Friday and the 'Street Food' festival, it's staying open until midnight this week."
"Have you been here as a human, too?"
"Yes, but back then it was nowhere near as equipped as it is today. The pier was built in 1916, but at that time served mainly as a cargo transfer point for trade across the lake. This hall existed then, as did two restaurants, but otherwise only a playground, for which I was too old. You could also take a boat across the lake. We once came here for a Sunday picnic, which was quite an experience for those days."
We danced a little bit.
Waltz, as it should be at the Viennese Opera Ball.
Around eleven o'clock we made our way back to the car after I had yawned.
The day had been beautiful, also less exhausting than yesterday, but just as long.
"The highlight of the pier is still waiting for us," Edward murmured to me, pulling me toward the Ferris wheel.
There wasn't much going on anymore, so we got a booth to ourselves. I sat Edwina down opposite us on the seat. So she could enjoy the view. I, on the other hand, enjoyed something completely different. Edward's amorous look, his gentle fingertips, and his velvety lips on mine.
Someone clearing their throats interrupted us much too quickly.
The guy who had just assigned us this cabin. Was the ten-minute ride already over? It must have been.
At the hotel, I immediately got ready for bed and put on my top half of pajamas.
Edward was already waiting for me in his lower half, invitingly holding up the covers so I could crawl to him.
"So what are we doing today?", I asked the next morning.
I had seen everything I really wanted to see. But since Edward knew his way around here better than any tourist information did, I didn't know what else he had planned.
I sat in bed eating breakfast with Edwina in my arms.
Edward, on the other hand, leaned jealously against the windowsill and glared at my little vampire Teddy. As he said, I had muttered Edwina to myself several times tonight instead of Edward.
"Who's all going? Just the two of us? Or do we have to take her?" he nodded snidely to Edwina.
"Just us," I said, setting Edwina down on the nightstand.
Then my husband came back to bed.
Now in a better mood again.
"We're going shopping," he smiled overly charmingly.
I, on the other hand, scrunched up my face.
"Shopping?!"
"It wasn't two weeks ago when you said your enthusiasm for it would depend solely on your companion."
"That's right. That's what I said," I sighed theatrically and hung my head.
Gentle fingers lifted my gaze.
"Hey ... A little more enthusiasm, if you please. All I want to do is spoil my wife any way I can!"
"But I just don't care about overpriced clothes that are only so expensive because there's some special name on them. And I didn't really need anything," I explained.
"And that's perfectly fine, Bella. I really appreciate the fact that you're not the kind of lady who has to follow every trend and have every new designer hanging in her closet. No matter what nasty ideas these so-called designers come up with. You know how to appreciate things and I have a lot of respect for the fact that you have also taught this understanding to our children. I hope I don't spoil it with my own luxury addiction with Ced. But even you are allowed to get carried away with new clothes once in a while, even if you don't necessarily need them. The same goes for shoes, jewelry, or whatever else you might secretly desire, of course. I would give you anything, no matter what and no matter what it would cost. And if such a nice opportunity arises that we can stroll through the stores of a foreign city, then please allow me to fulfill the wishes that you would not allow yourself," he whispered velvety soft and breathed a kiss on my lips.
With a loving look, he gazed at me while I was a little dizzy. He looked like he was waiting for an answer, which made me blink.
"What was the question?", I mumbled.
"I love you, Bella!" he shook his head with a smirk and kissed me.
Was there no question at all?
So less than an hour later, we were on the road with no immediate destination.
At the end of the street of the hotel I wanted to orient myself to the right.
Down south was the Magnificent Mile, the shopping street I had already marveled at from the cab the day before yesterday.
But Edward pulled me to the left.
I didn't think it was so bad to roam the stores with Edward, but I also felt cheated. Down south yesterday, I had seen stores that existed in pretty much every town. The usual. H & M, Starbucks, Macy's, Forever 21 and the like - for the normal earning crowd. But in the area where Edward had now drawn me to were the branches of Gucci, Prada, Armani, Dior, Versace, Jimmy Choo. I didn't care for such names, but I was well aware that these synonyms stood for expensive. And yet, with Edward, it was comfortable. He didn't push or coax me to try anything on or look closer. Just strolling ...
At least until I stood wide-eyed in front of a shop window.
The abstract mannequin wore a floor-length beige wool coat.
It was fantastically beautiful. I had seen one like it a few years ago. At that time, I was faced with the choice of whether my children got new winter shoes, or I got a new coat. My children had always had priority, so I had renounced the coat.
Silently I entered the store and silently Edward followed me.
However, I clearly felt his grin on the back of my neck.
I put it on and looked at myself in the mirror.
Somehow the picture disappointed me.
"Do you carry it maybe two shades darker?" asked Edward of the saleswoman.
"Not in beige ... but how do you like this shade?" she held out another coat to me.
It was more saffron and different in cut.
I took off one, handed it to the lady and Edward gallantly helped me into the other.
"Adorable," he whispered in my ear.
Then the picture in the mirror also looked quite different. The shade made me not quite so pale, and the cut made me look taller. And how the fabric felt. So soft.
"This model is made of cashmere, which I think is more comfortable to wear," the lady plucked two fluffs from the shoulders. "To match this, we would also have a scarf that picks up the color tone," a scarf then lay over my shoulder.
Timeless plaid and really matched perfectly with the coat.
Edward put it on me and looked at me.
"And would my angel like to keep it on right away?" he inquired.
I nodded.
A little embarrassed that I had now chosen something. After all, we were at 'Dolce & Gabana'.
The price tags were removed, my jacket was bagged, and on the step-in front of the store, I hugged my husband.
This coat had then somehow broken my inner resistance. No idea how that could happen. More and more shopping bags came. Body lotion, shoes, pants, sweaters, shirts, blouses. This vampire had even convinced me into a new handbag . Without that he had said something. But there were not only things for me in the many bags! Edward had a new wristwatch, I had picked out boxer shorts for him, and there was a lot of other stuff from him, too. On him, however, just about everything looked good. So I always brought him something to the dressing room. Or he to me.
We paused at a bistro after Edward had our previous acquisitions brought to the hotel at the last store.
With tips, a lot was possible.
"You seem to be really enjoying this after all!" he teased as I sipped my iced coffee.
"But you too!", I countered.
"Yes, I am enjoying it immensely. I've told you before that I'd lay the world at your feet if only you'd let me. And today you finally let me, even if it's only a fairly small part of the world," he kissed my hand with a smile.
"Well. The bags weren't exactly that small. I don't know what got into me," I said, looking a little embarrassed at my hands. I didn't even want to imagine what all this might have cost.
Gentle fingers lifted my gaze again.
"It doesn't matter at all, my darling. I enjoy your smile and your bright eyes when you see something you like. The only thing that matters to me is that you are happy," he almost purred and kissed me.
After a sandwich, we moved on through the streets. In the course of the hours we had strolled around a whole block and now came back to the John Hancock Center.
This cute 'hundred floors' house, which you could almost overlook.
There was a Lego store where we bought the kit of the building for Jake.
He had always enjoyed playing with Lego bricks. Even today, Deacon and Luces had to watch their bricks when Jake was around.
For Leah we found a really great picture.
The skyline, with the skyscrapers shining silver and the city lights glowing in bright colors. Leah wasn't necessarily interested in art, but she could quickly get excited about such modern, abstract images.
For all of them we took Chicago T-shirts from a souvenir store. Blue for Jake, yellow for Becky, pink for Leah, black for Marcus, colorful for Ced. We packed the respective souvenirs for everyone in a separate Chicago bag.
After all, in our room there was candy that we would divide fairly and the mechanical fish for Ced.
As a reminder for myself, I took an umbrella with Chicago lettering on it.
Quite unspectacular, but practical. I misplaced my umbrellas constantly.
"What do you actually intend to wear tomorrow night?" asked Edward in the meantime, somehow taking me completely by surprise with this question.
"Uh ...", I therefore made.
"Yeah, I thought so," he chuckled, pulling me into a store.
'Alexander McSomething' had been discreetly written over the top.
A man of perhaps just over thirty came to us immediately as we came through the entrance.
"Good afternoon. My name is Ted. How can I help you?" he addressed us in a friendly manner.
A man in suit pants and vest, rolled-up shirt, tie, tattoos on his forearms and a rather cheeky-looking, but actually quite old-fashioned hat. I liked him immediately.
Edward explained tomorrow's destination to him in more detail, without me hearing anything of his explanations.
The vampires had made a big secret about the 'Jezebel', where we would celebrate the birthday of the children tomorrow. They only ever said that it was not a dodgy dive.
"We will surely find something here ... for such a pretty woman!" smiled the salesman.
He led us to an area in the back where there were sprawling leather chairs. In front of me was a small catwalk that came out of a dressing room, and there were mirrors everywhere, somewhat shielding this area from the actual sales floor. He took my coat, hung it on a wardrobe behind me, took Edward's jacket as well, and offered us drinks.
I gratefully took a 'Latte Macchiato'.
Ted handed me my glass and apologized.
"Will you tell me what the average cost of a piece here is?", I asked, fluttering my eyelashes at the handsome man in the armchair next to me. Pure curiosity. I had never been served like this in a store before. Nothing like introducing yourself by name first and offering a coffee before I got to see a piece of clothing.
"Absolutely not!" replied Edward.
"You said earlier that you've never really been shopping before. Then how do you know stores like this?"
"From my sisters. As you know, they both go shopping very often. They usually choose well-known stores, where you are served accordingly courteous."
Ted came back after a few minutes with a rolling clothes rack. And a colleague of his.
Beautiful dresses hung on the bar.
The colleague threw furtive glances at my husband.
Ted pulled out dress after dress, telling about the fabrics, the cuts, the colors, the advantages and so on.
His colleague continued to seek my husband's gaze and did a lot to get his attention. Played with her hair strands, smiled coquettishly, stood offering herself to the bar.
Edward held out a hand to me as usual and placed one in the small of my back as we walked to the dresses for a closer look.
So close to my husband, the young lady now touched him at every opportunity. Leaned unseemly close to him, put a hand on his arm. Edward hardly noticed her, but I noticed her all the more.
"I like this one," Edward said of one dress.
I should have guessed. The dress was made of dark blue velvet.
"Vicky will help you dress," Ted nodded elatedly, gallantly leading me by one hand into the dressing room and hanging the hanger on a hook. "Vicky!" said Ted emphatically.
The girl came after only unwillingly.
I put my things down and Vicky helped me into what was definitely an expensive piece, which was probably why I was being helped into it. I heard how the men were talking outside in the meantime.
"You have a really nice son. Accompanies his mom for shopping and does not look bored. And he's really handsome," Vicky then said to me.
I focused on the expensive fabric before I said anything back.
"Yes, he looks incredibly hot," I said, to which Vicky looked at me, gobsmacked. "But he's not my son ... He's my husband!" I added casually.
Vicky did not move, and I pulled open the curtain of the dressing room.
Edward immediately approached the little catwalk, but I could already see in his eyes that this would not be the right dress. He smiled adorably, but his eyes twitched in dissatisfaction. And he said nothing.
A statement before I had seen myself.
So I raised my eyes to one of the many mirrors that were around me.
Well. That looked ... nice.
"If you'll permit me a comment," Ted cleared his throat politely in the background.
Edward made a prompting gesture.
"The dress doesn't do your wife justice," he then stated.
He looked at me and stepped closer.
"While this shade flatters your distinguished pallor, the heavy fabric looks oppressive. It doesn't suit your youthful charm."
"I couldn't have put it better myself," Edward acknowledged.
"I'd like to see this model on you," Ted pulled out another.
"Isn't that too pale?" echoed Edward.
I found it too. It was beige-pink.
"We'll see," Ted smiled.
Vicky helped me again, but was quite silent this time, which made me grin a tiny bit mockingly.
I had changed, but this time I immediately looked for my reflection in the mirror.
That looked better. Much better. Although there was hardly any difference from my skin.
I watched the sweep of the fabric as I took the few steps down the runway. Through every mirror that I could make out. Hanging from two slender black straps was the beige-pink, figure shaping dress. It had to be meant as a corsage, so to speak. It was made of a soft stretch material, which is why it didn't feel too tight on me, even though it was snug. From the low waist followed the slightly flared skirt to below my knees, which swayed playfully in my movements. It was modeled after a multi-layer hoop skirt, with the rings alternating between translucent tulle and contrasting embroidery. The zipper sat in the front and visually extended through a black zigzag stitch to the bottom hem. There was the same detail under the black straps, as well as on the back of the dress.
I liked it. Very much so.
Now that I had formed my opinion, I looked at Edward.
And he was beaming.
"You look gorgeous, darling!" he murmured, taking my hand, and blowing a kiss over it.
"And what cost ...", I wanted to ask, trying to reach the tag dangling in my back.
Edward was faster, jumped up the step onto my pedestal and hugged me so tightly that I couldn't reach anywhere.
"Don't you dare look at it!" he threatened me.
"Allow me?", Ted immediately stood by us with a small pair of scissors in his hand.
"I'm asking for it!" Edward made clear.
That's when the price tag disappeared out of my reach into Ted's vest pocket.
"May I pick out something appropriate for you as well?" inquired Ted.
"I'd love that," Edward nodded.
Vicky was told to put the clothes rail away, which she did.
A bit grumpy, in my opinion.
Meanwhile, my husband still held me in his arms. His fingertips ran stimulatingly over my upper back, which the dress left free. Humming to himself, he began to move gently back and forth, pulling me into a dance movement. We pranced like this on the little catwalk until Ted returned with a new rack of clothes.
He smiled.
We looked over the selection of suits for Edward.
A plain one in black, a sporty light beige, for the rest I could only think of one term in summary. English. Old England. Sherlock Holmes went through my mind, with his 'Deerstalker' and the checkered coat of the same color.
Edward took one of these into the dressing room.
In dark brown.
Ted was helpful to him, as with me probably worried about the expensive clothes.
Very confidently, Edward stepped out of the booth.
I, on the other hand, chuckled.
"You look like your own grandfather," I remarked.
Edward looked disappointed.
He must have liked that one.
"May I advise this execution," Ted held one out to him. Also plaid, but lighter.
Edward nodded and changed his clothes.
"That might be a little too much. One moment please," I heard Ted, who immediately came out of the cubicle and fetched the black suit trousers from the clothes rail.
Meanwhile, I sipped a glass of water that Vicky had reluctantly offered me in the meantime. Then my husband stepped forward.
He looked great. As he usually did. And he seemed to like himself, too. The jacket was gray and black, white and red stripes formed the checkered pattern, with a black shirt underneath.
"It's not quite the shade of your wife's dress, but it's not noticeable because of this 'Prince of Wales' pattern," Ted noted, apologizing.
I was still staring at my husband.
With one hand, he pulled me to his podium as someone turned on soft music.
"I feel like I'm in my confirmation suit," Edward chuckled as we danced a little.
Both in socks.
"I took the liberty of picking out some accessories for you," Ted returned far too quickly.
He brought us shoes, for Edward a pocket square for the breast pocket and a belt that matched the jacket. For me, a small selection of jewelry and handbags.
We put on what Ted thought were the best fitting shoes.
I got black lace-up boots with a subtle block heel, which went slightly above the ankle.
Ted eyed me before holding out a jewelry box to Edward.
A choker. A piece of jewelry that fits tightly around the neck. In this case, a ribbon of black velvet with a small beige-pink flower on it.
Edward put it on me. He himself put on another black slider cap.
"Um...are we going to time travel?", I asked as I looked at us in the mirror. Because the couple in the mirror looked altogether as if they had come from the thirties or forties.
"Something like that," Edward smiled and kissed me.
"And do Leah and Jake know how to dress up, so to speak, for tomorrow night?", I dug deeper. I wasn't sure if our kids had appropriate clothing.
"They don't know it, but as long as Alice and Rose are within easy reach and know the destinations, our children will never have the embarrassment of being inappropriately dressed."
We took everything we had on and strolled back to the hotel.
On the way, I remembered that all of our shopping certainly didn't fit into our suitcase.
So we took the path through 'Bloomingdales'.
A department store that had everything. An exclusive department store.
There we were just looking for a suitcase. But then I had also taken bedding, a spice rack for the kitchen, decorative butterflies for Edward's living room and stopper socks for Ced, since he could now walk. Edward then fetched another suitcase.
In our room I put my legs up again.
Edward had said that it would be our last evening in Chicago. We had to celebrate it properly. So he wanted to take me out for a fancy dinner.
I even dozed off again on the sofa while we read a book snuggled up together.
We skyped with our kids one last time.
They were all there, but the twins wanted to leave and were practically leaving. They had only waited for the time to Skype, since they had not been there yesterday. So our conversation was quite short, but tomorrow we would be home again. Already very early. When Ced would open his eyes, we would be there. In that respect, our baby wanted to go to bed right away.
I went for another shower afterwards – alone – to shake off the little afternoon nap and got ready for our dinner.
Alice had packed my fancy pantsuit for me. She really thought of everything. She had even thought of something else that I had mentioned to her once and I put the small inconspicuous bag in the bathroom as a precaution.
I chose the boots that we had just bought earlier to get comfortable with for tomorrow night.
The pearl necklace, the earrings, our family bracelet, my two engagement rings, my wedding ring. Done. An examining look in the mirror. Yep, so one could go away with me.
I stepped out of the bedroom and Edward was already standing in front of me ready.
Charmingly smiling. In a casual dark blue suit. Also with family bracelet and wedding ring. And his new watch. That was clear.
We went on foot.
We strolled toward the John Hancock center again, which surprised me. But he gave nothing away.
There were still people eager to shop, roaming the stores.
However, Edward led me to an elevator, and we rode for a damn long time. A soft ding announced that we had reached our floor.
A '95' lit up on the display above the door.
I swallowed instinctively.
I had probably never been that high before. Except on board an airplane.
We were undoubtedly in one of the most beautiful and highest restaurants in the city.
Edward had made reservations; I was surprised to discover.
We were led to our table.
At the southeast corner of the tower. A fantastic view over Chicago at night. Over the rooftops of the city. I saw the lighted pier we had been on last night, the boardwalk, and the skyline.
I sat down rather mechanically, continuing to look through the window façade.
With perfect style, a bottle of champagne was opened for us by the waiter.
We toasted.
Here's to the last night of our honeymoon.
The food was refined and excellent. From the aperitif to the greeting from the kitchen, the appetizer, intermediate course, main course, and dessert.
A varied perfect menu.
Edward, as usual, was very charming company, inquisitively asked a lot about the meal, poured the last of the champagne into my glass, and excused himself.
"Where are you going?", I inquired irritably.
"I just need to release myself shortly," the vampire tried to make me believe.
"I want to see that!" I said, chuckling. Um ... yeah, I was a little bit tipsy.
He gave me a kiss on the forehead and disappeared.
In fact, in the direction of the washrooms, but whether he really went there, I could not see.
I meanwhile enjoyed the phenomenal view.
After a few minutes he came back.
"Sorry to leave you alone for a moment," he said formally, kissing my hands across the table.
"I leave you alone for a short while often enough," I replied. After all, I really did have to go to the bathroom frequently.
"And that's a good thing, too. It gives me a chance to get things done," he said cryptically.
"For example?"
"For example, reserving a table at a restaurant. To organize a rental car for a day, or that we are not disturbed by the cleaning staff. Or to surprise you with a small gift," he smiled and put a box in front of me.
"Oh Edward," I sighed. I was actually uncomfortable with what our shopping trip today might have cost, assuming that my estimates were far below reality. And now he was coming around the corner with a gift. My vampire was undoubtedly prone to exaggeration! After one hundred and twenty-three years, however, I would probably be a little late with a possible re-education.
"Why don't you look at it before you bitch!" he teased me, chuckling.
I snorted disdainfully, but lifted the lid of the small box.
I smiled.
A snow globe. Inside, the skyscrapers of Chicago. Even our hotel was there. That wasn't the case with the globes I saw in the various souvenir stores. Chicago was written on them in a beautifully curved font and underneath was an engraved label. Bella & Edward. Two rings attached to each other. Honeymoon. 02/09 – 02/14/2025. And a little heart at the bottom right.
"As a little reminder of our honeymoon," Edward said.
I spun the globe and while the snow thundered through the canyons of houses in my little city replica, I kissed my husband.
"It's beautiful. Thank you, Edward!"
"I wish this snow globe to be the beginning of our collection. There are so many beautiful places in this world that I want to show you. That I want to experience all alone with you. Hiking through the Rocky Mountains. A lonely mountain cabin in Alaska. Climbing the Eiffel Tower in Paris with you. Sailing around Europe in a boat. To be on the beach with you on Isle Esmé. Driving through Ireland in a car ..." he explained.
"When do we leave?", I interrupted his very quaint enumeration.
"When our kids let us get away alone again for a few days. Or we could just take them with us. I certainly don't want to deprive them of the beauty of the earth," Edward reflected.
I nodded in agreement.
In love and with the snow globe in our hands, we left the restaurant and walked back to our hotel.
It took a while, although it was not two hundred yards. It had begun to snow, and we kissed every few yards.
In our room, however, I evaded the very seductive lips and fingers of my husband and fled to the bathroom.
Cutely shocked Edward had looked after me when I pushed the door shut.
I stripped down to my underwear.
I knew how much Edward actually liked to do that, but today he would unwrap me a little differently. Only the underwear I granted him for that. Before Christmas I had ordered a bow for myself, but had never put it on until now. I had told Alice about it, and she had actually packed it for me.
Circumstantially, I put this thing on.
It was made of soft fabric, but it took me a moment to get comfortable with the bow. The actual bow was supposed to go across my bust. The gift ribbons over my shoulders, through between my legs and along my sides they were to meet again at the back.
I looked at the donning instructions several times and the desired result pictured.
"Bella? Is everything all right?" asked Edward for the second time.
I chuckled.
It took me a few more tries, but then the loop sat like in the picture.
I took a bathrobe to cover myself for a moment more.
Edward stood at the window looking out, but promptly turned to me.
"Sorry to leave you alone briefly," I meant.
"Briefly? You were in there for over fifteen minutes!" he said anxiously.
"I still had to wrap the wedding present for my husband," I smiled, and he contorted his face uncomprehendingly.
Then I dropped the bathrobe.
And I was unwrapped. Very slowly, very sensually, very long, very romantically. But then I seduced my husband. With all the means at my disposal. Our last night in Chicago should remain unforgotten. Unforgettable like the first.
I dug the handcuffs out of the drawer.
"Do you think it's a good idea to try to tie up the vampire between the two of us?" he inquired.
"Just think they're little bells," I demanded a kiss, jingling the metal.
He also promptly slid his hands to my cheeks and kissed me, whereby I closed the cuffs around his joints. He smiled, a little suspiciously.
In the drawer there was also a blindfold from the hotel. I also took it.
"You're walking on very thin ice!" he opined.
"I know. See you later, my darling!", I smiled, gave him a kiss on the tip of his nose and pulled the blindfold properly.
I pressed his arms over his head.
My husband was at my mercy! Only rarely did I get the chance to really just spoil Edward. Most of the time he couldn't take it anymore at some point and interfered with my devotion. Maybe these little accessories gave me a better chance.
And I took a lot of time with it.
I caressed, kissed, cuddled, nibbled, stroked, and licked over my angel, who lay there so laid out. As if laid out for me. It excited me to be able to follow his excitement without being drowned in my own by his affections. To see how he trembled and shook. To loll under me with a moan. To hear him growl and how his whole body vibrated along with it. Again and again his bound hands wanted to fall over me, but each time I pushed them back gently and kissing up to his lips. It turned me on how he hoarsely whispered my name, but I didn't give him what he was asking for.
Not yet. As long as I wasn't craving fulfillment myself, I would just continue to pleasure and tease him. Until I couldn't stand it anymore myself and just had to feel Edward ...
Exhausted, I let myself fall forward.
Exhausted, but also completely stirred up with happiness.
I pushed the blindfold away, wanting to see Edward's eyes, which were usually covered with a dark veil when he was aroused.
They were coal black, which was not conducive to the subsiding of my ecstasy. Rather on the contrary. It did not let my passion burn out for some time yet.
Thanks for reading!
