Bethany had practically chewed her fingertips into bloody stumps by the time the plane landed in England. She hadn't slept a wink during the flight, which meant she'd been awake for more than twenty-four hours.
Of course, the six cups of coffee she'd dranken during the last couple hours had nothing to do with that. The flight attendants were starting to get annoyed, but hey, she was in first class and she was gonna take advantage of that. Having them add some liquor to the coffee had been tempting, but she figured showing up sloshed would probably give a bad impression.
Though it would have made the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach go away.
She let everyone on the plane leave before her, and when she was alone she made a half-hearted attempt to find a stray band-aid in her purse to cover up one of her chewed up fingernails. When all of her excuses were exhausted, she collected her carry-on and exited the plane.
She spotted Diane first. Seeing Mackie again after so long gave her quite a shock. Surely he couldn't be ten already? Bethany had never even met Zoe, which showed how long it had been since she had seen the family.
"Hello, Bethany,"Diane said warmly, making her nervousness fade away. Diane had always been like that, warm, friendly, and comforting.
While Diane introduced the kids, Bethany smiled thinking about the last time she'd seen her. Diane had been pregnent then too. Now, a shy Zoe was already six. Six years. So much had changed, and yet so much was the same.
"So, its just the three of you?"Bethany asked while smiling at Zoe.
Zoe blushed and turned her eyes to her sneakers while holding onto Diane's hand tightly.
Diane laughed."Of course not. My sons seem to think that I need a babysitter also. Isaac's in the bathroom. He drew the short straw." "I heard that."
Bethany smiled in relief when she saw Ike. At least not everything had changed. Isaac was still the same goofy, slightly gangly, poofy haired, older brother figure that he'd always seemed to her, even though she was only six months younger. The hair was shorter and he was less gangly, but he still exuded the same aura of safeness.
"Bethie!"Isaac exclaimed, hugging her tightly."It's been way too long."
"Well, we'd better get going,"Diane said."The rest of the family is waiting anxiously for you at the hotel."
Now Bethany was starting to feel nervous again."Who's everyone?"
"Dad, Jessi, Avie, Taylor, Zac, and Talia. She's Zac's girlfriend."Isaac smiled."Plus our bodyguards and our tour manager. Don't worry, everyone just wants to say hi."
That didn't make her feel much better, but again Diane smiled at her and again she felt the calming effect of Diane's presence.
* * **
Her bags had been collected, and while they waited for Bethany to move through Customs, Isaac thought back to the years when Bethie had watched his younger siblings.
Isaac had first met Bethany when they were eight at a mutual friends birthday party. She'd brought a gag-gift and he remembered thinking how cool she was for a girl.
She'd started baby-sitting when Hanson had gone into the studio to seriously begin recording. Eagar to spend some time away from her mother's new boyfriend, she'd spent six months in Hollywood with them. When they'd gone back to Tulsa, she been with them many a day.
Then one day she'd gone home and never come back. She declined whenever asked to come over, and slowly they'd lost track of her in the whirl surrounding their newfound fame. Until now.
* * **
Bethany had never in her life left North America, so just the drive through London to the hotel was exciting. The sights were amazing, and she'd never seen the stars look so beautiful as they looked though the rental car's window.
The hotel was huge, definately a far cry from her low-rent apartment. The entire foyer was done with varous shades of marble. The Hanson's suite was on the one hundred and thirty-second floor. It was terrifying to ride up that far in the elevator. The ride seemed to take forever. Finally, they reached the correct floor and Isaac unlocked the door.