Mirrors

May 5th, Sunday

The room was quiet and empty. Rooms that once held furniture and our belongings were now vacant. I leaned against the island with my arms crossed tightly and close to my chest as I stared out the floor to ceiling windows. The morning sun shone over our buildings in its orange beams, illuminating the building across the street. It was nearing eight and our flight was at nine.

Distantly I could hear Hudson's voice, he was on the phone in the other room making some last minute calls, arranging something in London. His footsteps echoed in the hallway as he walked down it and into the dining area where I was.

He stood next to me and gazed out the window with me, he took my hand in his and brought it up to his lips, softly kissing it.

"Are you ready darling? The cab is waiting downstairs." He quietly asked. Taking a slow and inward sigh, I turned to him and softly smiled. My tired eyes gazed into his also tired but hungover eyes. "Yeah. Let's go."

He smiled back and kissed my hand once more before we walked toward the front door. I looked over my shoulder and took one last look at our now former home. We left the room and quietly shut the door after us.

The trunk of the cab was loaded with our luggage and we were taken to the airport where we were going to meet up with our friends, my family, and his dad.

Pushing the luggage cart through the airport, we went outside to the private runway where Charles' private jet awaited our arrival. We could already see everyone waiting for us, huddled in clusters since it was a chilly morning.

I smiled when I saw my parents standing there waiting for me. Eagerly I embraced them and hugged them tightly, not wanting to let them go. "My sweet girl." My mother cooed, stroking my hair.

"Take good care of our little girl, Hudson." My dad smiled, extending his hand to shake Hudson's. He smiled and shook his hand, "I will John, you know that. And John, Catherine, this is my father Charles." Hudson patted his father's shoulder and they exchanged a thoughtful glance. I smiled.

Charles approached my parents and gave a friendly smile, shaking each of their hands. I realized that this was the first time they were meeting. My mom smiled cheerfully, "It's nice to finally meet you Charles."

"We were wondering when we'd get to meet you." My dad chuckled.

"I apologize for the delay. But it's a pleasure to meet the parent's of such a lovely young woman. You've raised a great girl." He smiled, flashing a small smile at me, I smiled back.

I spotted the pilots boarding the jet and soon a flight attendant had approached us, letting us know that we were going to leave soon. I pulled Gemma into a tight hug, "I love you Gem. I'm gonna miss you, so much."

"We're gonna miss you too, babe. You need to keep in touch. With all of us, and when we have free time we'll come visit you, check out your fancy new digs." She smiled to keep herself from crying.

I smiled, "Good. I have a feeling I'm gonna be a bit lonely in London. But we'll be back before the wedding to help you get ready." I proceeded to embrace everyone else, exchanging sincere and somber goodbyes. I hugged Amelia and held her close for a long time, "Amelia." I sighed and smiled.

"I'll miss you like crazy, Ave." She had tears in her eyes, but she was trying to keep strong. I smiled back at her, and everyone else. "I'll miss you too. I'll miss all of you, and our girls nights, the marathons of Harry Potter, and Spice Girls karaoke. All of it."

She lightly laughed as she wiped away a fallen tear, she nodded, "This is so hard. We need to talk everyday, I'll go insane if we don't."

"We'll Skype, and call each other everyday and jack up our phone bills." I chuckled.

I stepped back and gazed at my friends who meant the world to me. Tears were welling up in my eyes and I took a deep breath and smiled, "I love you all. You're my crazy and amazing family."

The jet engines had started up and we knew that was our cue to go, so we quickly repeated our goodbyes and gave swift hugs to everyone. I gave my last hugs to my parents and brothers, Jonathan wrapped his arms tightly around me and kissed the top of my head, "Love you Ave, take care of yourself, 'kay?"

"I will. Love you Jon boy." I smiled as I was released from him, taking a step back I held hands with Hudson once again. "Bye everyone."

My mother, Gem, and Amelia were already in tears as Hudson and I walked away and made our way toward the jet. We climbed the stairs and I stopped at the top and took one last at my family and one last gaze at the city that never sleeps. as the sun was rising over it. My city. My home.

I bit my lip and entered into the luxury aircraft. Though it was small inside, the interior was brilliant. Tan leather seating, ivory carpet, soft lighting along the ceiling.

"Here, come and sit with me." He softly spoke, interrupting my distraction. I looked at him, he was sitting in one of the two-person seats. After sitting with him, the female flight attendant asked us to fasten our seat belts.

The engines were roaring and one of the pilots spoke through intercom just letting us know that we were leaving now, what heights we would reach and how long the flight would take. I couldn't bear to look out the window at my family. Hudson turned to me. "I'm excited that we're heading to London."

"Yeah, me too. I'm a little sad though, with leaving." I half-smiled.

"I know." He quietly spoke. He took in a breath and was quiet for a long time, I could tell he was contemplating saying something, and he struggled.

"What is it?" I asked softly.

"Ave, you've been emotional lately, and I know you're sad to leave, and it's been a roller coaster of everything lately, but I know the other reason why you've been upset."

My heart stilled and I waited for him.

"I know it's been about Christian." He watched me, and I was surprised by his calmness, so I nodded. "I'm sorry."

"What you had with him...I'll never understand. But Avery, while the jet is still on the ground, I have to ask you...is this what you want? To go to England with me?"

I watched him and slowly smiled, nodding. "Yes."

He smiled and gave a small sigh of relief, "You know I love you. I love you enough to forgive you, I love you enough to raise this child as my own. I love you just because, and that will never change. I need you to know this. Always. And I know that lately we've been distant, but we need to work at this, we need to try harder."

I nodded and my throat burned, but thankfully there were no more tears, I was all cried out. I held his hand tightly, "I love you Hudson, so much. I understand everything you're saying, and I'm sorry that I've been so emotional about...him. But you are my future. I want us to make this work. I love you."

He smiled again and held my hand as we sat in silence throughout that takeoff. This was the first step of my moving on.

When the jet steadied and we were able to unbuckle our seat belts, Hudson had reached up and pressed a few buttons above us, turning on music. The stewardess brought us each a pellegrino before disappearing again into the cockpit. When we were left to ourselves again with the music of Lana Del Rey softly playing in the background, we began to talk again.

"So we'll arrive in London around 10pm. Tomorrow I'll take you to the restaurant and show you around since it's finished. I've been on the phone recently with a mate of mine, Ben, he and a few other friends of mine are coming by the restaurant too to check it out, but to meet you too."

I sheepishly smiled, "Really? I'm kind of nervous to meet them. I mean, I guess if they're anything like Jules or Jack it'll be fine."

He hesitated, "Um...Ben is." He gave a laugh, "the others are great, but not as laid-back as Jules, Jack or Ben. But you'll like them, they're eager to meet you."

I swallowed and smiled, "Okay, I'm eager to meet them too."

"So then after tomorrow we'll have the week to get ready for our party on Thursday, then the restaurant opens on Friday and I'll be working like crazy and that'll give you time to write or whatever."

I furrowed by brow, "Party on Thursday?"

"Yeah, well, we have to have one. To sort of, introduce ourselves into the neighbourhood, and sort of for me to début my dear wife into the community. I was thinking of something lavish, expensive, Great Gatsby meets modern London. My friends will all come, the neighbours, everyone in London basically." He smiled eagerly.

"Wow," I chuckled, "Okay, that's soon, um, alright, I guess this is a good way to introduce me to everyone."

He leaned in and kissed my cheek, "Don't worry love, I'll be by your side the whole time."

I just smiled.

After the long flight, and falling asleep again halfway there, we arrived. I rubbed my eyes and struggled to wake up again and I dreaded the time difference between New York and London.

"Wake up darling, we're here." Hudson cooed, gently nudging me.

I covered my face and murmured into my hands, "I'm so tired, just leave me on the jet so I can sleep."

He laughed, "Come on, you can sleep at the house. Fix your hair a bit, and put your shades on if you want."

I blinked and took a deep breath, "My shades? It's dark out, why?"

"Well, there are a few photographers out there waiting, along with the car." He replied, placing the strap of his satchel on his shoulder and holding out his hand to me. I slipped my hand into his and stood up, "Photographers? Like, paparazzi?" My voice was dry and raspy.

"Of sorts." He shrugged his shoulder.

"Why?" I made a face.

He gave a small laugh, "Because all of London has been awaiting our arrival. They want to see my American wife."

"Oh." I gave a short and humourless laugh. I forgot that he's a household name over here, so I tucked back the loose strands of hair that fell from my topknot. When the door of the jet was opened and the stairs were in place, Hudson led me out of the aircraft and like flashes of lightning, I was blinded by the shutters.

I regretted not wearing my shades. The photographers were calling out our names as we were met by a young professional man. "Mr. Hudson, Mrs. Hudson, welcome. The car is waiting and ready to go." He spoke in a professional voice.

"Thank you." Hudson nodded. We followed the young man to the vehicle where a well-dressed chauffeur opened the door for us. Again the young man spoke, "Mr. Hudson, yours and your wife's belonging will be brought to your home right away."

"Thank you, Geoffrey." My husband replied before shutting the door. We were safely inside the backseat of a Rolls Royce, and shielded from the flashes by the dark tint.

He grinned and looked at me, chuckling, "So, how was your first taste of fame?"

"Fame?" I chuckled, "Uh, I wasn't expecting a greeting quite like that. I felt like a deer in the headlights."

"You'll get used to it, it'll die down eventually, they won't always follow us around."

I just smiled. The driver came into the vehicle and soon we left the airport, heading home. It was dark and I had forgotten where we lived exactly, but soon the driver turned into a neighbourhood of large and elaborate homes until he turned again into a private driveway that was surrounded by shrubs and trees and even had a gate that had a large H on the front.

Along the sides of the driveway were small lights, I gazed out the window at the neatly mowed and maintained lawn. We pulled up to the front of the magnificent home that was illuminated by lighting from below. He opened the door of the car and I followed him out, still in awe of this house. It's hard to believe I almost forgot how it looked.

We walked up to the front door and without even touching it, it was opened from the inside by someone else. I peeked around Hudson to see who it was.

"Good evening Mr. Hudson. Mrs. Hudson, welcome home." A soft-spoken older woman smiled warmly, holding the door open for us. She was dressed in a uniform. He smiled and leaned down to kiss her cheek. I looked around and saw that there we more people in the entryway, standing in a line all dressed in uniforms.

"Hello." I nodded at her and then the rest of them. Once the older woman, who looked like she was a grandma, joined the rest of them, Hudson cleared his throat. "Good evening everyone, we are delighted to be home finally and to have a lovely reception such as this. I would like to introduce to you all my dear and lovely wife, Avery. Avery, these people here are our staff. They are made up of maids, kitchen staff, servants, and this lovely woman here is Mrs. Davies, she will be your personal attendant."

My mouth was agape with...surprise. I wasn't expecting this either. I blinked and cleared my throat, "Um, hello everyone. This is very nice...surprising. Um...Mrs. Davies, it's nice to meet you. I'm sure I won't be very demanding."

She smiled, "Well dear, I am here to help."

"It's late, we are going to head to bed now, you are all dismissed. We will see you all tomorrow morning, goodnight." Hudson smiled and nodded to everyone. He led me up the stairs. I began to whisper, "We have servants?"

He looked over his shoulder at me as we climbed the stairs, "Yes." He laughed, "Well when I was a child, we had help around the house too. You'll get used to it. And Mrs. Davies is brilliant, she was my nanny when I was a child. I knew I wanted her to work for us, so as a personal gift I bought her and her husband an apartment not far from here. I always take care of my staff."

I gave a small smile and nodded, not wanting to talk anymore of it. The stairs were covered in a deep red carpet that continued down the halls. The framing around the doors and the trim along the edges of the ceiling and floor were a dark and rich wood. I remembered where our bedroom was, but realized that he was leading me into a different room. "I thought our bedroom was at the end of the hall?" I asked.

"I wanted to show you this. A surprise." He softly spoke. The room was dark until he turned on the lights. I gave a small and audible gasp when I saw that this room was a nursery. I smiled as I slowly walked around inside, lightly touching with my fingertips the detail woodwork on the crib and changing table. The rocking chair matched, and the walls were a sage green with hand paintings of the characters from the Peter Rabbit stories.

In one corner was a small bookcase that held different storybooks, and below was a play table with small chairs. There was even a toy chest that matched dark woodwork of everything else. Covering my mouth, I was overcome with emotion and tears escaped, but I started to laugh with joy. "Hudson, this is amazing. I can't believe you did this for me...everything is so beautiful."

"It's for us, for the baby. If you can recall the countless times I was shouting over the phone when we were in New York, this was what I was shouting about. I asked a friend of mine to do this for us, and I wanted it to be perfect. It is, this is my first time seeing it too. He did a good job." He smiled softly.

"Wow, this is incredible...thank you." I smiled, gazing at the room.

"Now come, I've been waiting for a very long time for us to come here. Let's go to the bedroom, I want to make love to my wife." He smiled, bending down and scooping me up into his arms. He softly kissed my lips, my arms were wrapped around his shoulders, and I smiled as he walked us out of the room.

In Amelia's Life

Lounging on the sofa in my home, I flipped through the channels on t.v till I found Sex and the City. I smiled and got comfortable, with my glass of wine and dressed in my favourite pyjamas ready to watch my favourite show. My phone then started to ring and I sighed, rolling my eyes and pausing the show with the remote.

I checked my phone and and saw that it was Christian. I frowned and answered his call, "Hey." I said nonchalantly.

"Amelia...hi."

"Hi, long time no...hear."

"I know, it has been long. I'm sorry about that." He cleared his throat.

"So...what? You thought it'd be okay to just take off, leave New York and not tell a soul?" I shook my head and took a sip of wine.

"I'm sorry if I upset you Amelia." He sighed.

"No Christian, honestly this isn't even about me being upset, you just left. Avery was shattered when she went to your place and you weren't there. Did you even know she called you? I mean, you both keep saying this is over, but I know it's not."

He sighed again, "I know, I know she called and that's why I'm calling you..."

I made a face and furrowed my brow, "Okay?"

He hesitated, "I...I wanna know how she is."

I gave an exasperated sigh, "Christian, why don't you just call her and ask her yourself."

"I can't." He stubbornly replied.

I protested, "Why not?"

He sighed loudly and I could tell he was dragging his hand through his hair, he always does that when he's stressed. "You wanna know why I haven't returned her calls? You wanna know I moved to L.A? You wanna know why I distanced myself from her?"

"Please Christian, please explain this to me." I retorted, waiting for him to continue.

He took in a deep breath.