It was the best time of my life

Chapter 28

It's summer vacation and Charlie is flying home to Wales. I'm going with her for a couple of weeks before flying back to help my mom with her house. She's got a few jobs that need doing that she's just not able to do by herself and wants it all decorated so I said I'd help.
Mike has offered to drop us at the airport and we're all packed and ready. I hold Charlie's hand as we sit and wait for him to collect us. I'm excited to finally meet her parents and see some of the area where she grew up. I hear my phone going off and it's a text off Mike telling me he's ready to take us. I pick up my bag and Charlie's case and carry them down to the car, Charlie right behind me.
We arrive at the airport with enough time to check in and get a drink at the bar. Charlie is glowing with anticipation at seeing her parents again. Her mom has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's but still has some good days, according to her dad. I hold her to me as we wait for our flight to be called and as we finish our drinks, we hear the announcement. Charlie takes my hand and drags me to the correct doorway and soon enough we are sitting together, waiting to take off on our 11 hour flight. She leans over and gently kisses me, before squeezing my hand and whispering "I love you." Her smile is more beautiful than ever and I feel my own smile grow quickly as a result.
Charlie's dad is picking us up from Manchester airport. It's about a 2 hour drive to her home and he wouldn't hear of us getting a cab. Far too expensive he insisted. So we're waiting for him outside in the sunshine. It's nowhere near as warm as California but Charlie says it's warmer than usual. I've put my hoody on while she's still wearing only shorts and a t shirt. I wrap my arms around her from behind and rest my chin on her shoulder. I'm so tired. It was 8pm when we left California and a 10 hour flight makes it 6am there now. It's 2pm here though. Confused. Charlie, as usual is as bubbly as a bottle of champagne, which makes me smile. Everything about her makes me smile though.
A big black car pulls up and a man gets out. Charlie runs over to him shouting and throws her arms around him as he pretends to fight her off. She motions with her hand for me to go over, so I pick up our luggage and do.
"Dad, this is Tony. My roommate and boyfriend. Tony, this is my dad, Geraint."
"Pleased to meet you, Tony. Charlie has told us so much about you. It's good to finally put a face to your name" he says, as he shakes my hand. He takes the bags from me and loads them into the car as Charlie pulls me into the back seat and quickly kisses me.
"My eyes" her dad calls out, seeing us in the mirror and Charlie starts giggling. I blush. He seems, so far anyway, as laid back as Charlie.
On the drive, she points out various landmarks to me. Having never been to the UK before, I'm stunned at how beautiful it is. I'd seen pictures of London and other big cities but this is a different world. Mountains everywhere, a beautiful coastline we can see for most of the journey, a couple of castles thrown in for good measure. I'm in love with here as much as I'm in love with Charlie. We cross a big bridge and Charlie points across the water to our right to another bridge a little way over.
"That's the original Menai Bridge built for cars and this one, Brittania Bridge, was for trains only but in the 1970's it was damaged in a fire and when they rebuilt it, they made it so cars could use it too" she says. She's already pointed out to me where Bangor is, where she went to uni and now I see that Anglesey is actually an island, joined to the mainland by these two bridges.
The most bizarre things I've seen so far are the road signs. There's a lot of Welsh place names which to me might as well be written in Klingon. She pronounces each perfectly and I sit there, too scared to attempt to say them.
Charlie squeezes my hand and it's not too much longer before we are turning off the road and up a driveway that seems to go on for miles. We pull up outside one of the biggest houses I've ever seen. It must have at least 6 or 7 bedrooms. The gardens are huge, there's a massive garage that looks like it might have been a stable block at some time, a huge summer house and there's an a amazing view of the beach. Charlie isn't fazed at all - she's used to it, but I've honestly never been to a house so big. I'm gonna get lost in there, I can see it.