Sweet Like Honey

31.

"It's so good to be back," Lennen says, stepping out of Heathrow Airport and into the busy city of London. They were here with the Petty's, as usual, but were only staying for four days, which Lennen wished was longer. This was her third time in London and each time she came, she found it harder to leave. 

"You can say that again," Duke agrees. Duke had been to London a few more times than Lennen, and has completely fallen in love with city. He's even started making plans to live here after he finishes at Yale. "Everything here is just so...fascinating." 

"Yeah, yeah. We get it, you guys are both completely in love with this city," Kiana laughs, as the two families wait for their cars to take them to the hotel. Unlike the older siblings who were totally awake, Kiana was completely exhausted from the flight, wanting nothing more than to sleep for a few hours, seeing as it was nearing 5:30am. 

"Okay kids, you'll be able to get a few hours of sleep, and then we have to get our day started. There is a lot we have planned," Elizabeth tells them. While the dads were going to be hard at work for the next four days, the moms always liked to plan fun things that they knew the kids would enjoy. 

"Why don't you check out the view from your room," Joyce says, and her kids run to the window, opening the curtain. The sun was starting to rise, and to the right they could see the London Eye, and straight ahead, across the Westminster Bridge was Big Ben. 

"This is insane," Oliver breathes out. Despite being in London twice before he and his sister had never seen Big Ben or the London Eye, as they were staying on the opposite side of London. He took out his phone and took a picture of his current view, everything looking better with the sunrise. 

"Your father and I are right across the hall, and Duke and Kiana are in the room to your left. We are meeting in the lobby at 11:00, don't be late," Joyce tells her kids, as they lay down in their beds, needing a few more hours of sleep. 

"We'll be there, mom," Lennen reassures her and watches as she leaves their room, heading to her own. 

"Oliver, wake up! We have to be in the lobby in fifteen minutes," Lennen throws a pillow at her brother, trying to wake him up. She had been already up for fifteen minutes, getting ready for the day. It wasn't that cold for being London, 62 degrees. Lennen had thrown on a grey sweater, blue ripped jeans, and black converse high tops. 

Oliver groaned and rolled out of bed, despite in desperate need of more sleep. He opened his suitcase and pulled out whatever was on top and went into the bathroom to start getting ready. "Oliver, hurry up. I need to brush my teeth," Lennen bangs on the bathroom door, her brother being in there for the past ten minutes. He opened the door, toothbrush in his mouth. 

"Took you long enough," Duke laughs when Oliver and Lennen finally arrive in the lobby, a minute before 11:00. Lennen just rolled her eyes and lightly pushed him. He was like an annoying brother most of the time. 

"I can't believe this is your third time in London and it's your first time seeing Big Ben," Kiana says to Lennen and Oliver. They had just came from the London Eye and their next stop was Buckingham Palace. 

"We were just never on this side," Oliver defends. He had begged his parents the last two times to take them here, but they never had the time, since the last two trips had only been for two days. Kiana rolls her eyes at Oliver's response, thinking his excuse wasn't credible. Big Ben was an iconic landmark. 

"You kids are going to love this," Elizabeth smiles along with Joyce. It was day two of their four days in London and today was probably going to be one of their favorite days. They had just taken a two hour trainride and were standing in front of one of the most well known universities in the world. 

"Holy...crap..." Lennen had always dreamed of visiting Oxford and now she was finally getting her chance. It was even more beautiful than all the pictures she had saved and pinned onto her wall. 

"It's amazing," Kiana agrees, knowing what Lennen was trying to get out, but couldn't, too in shock to process what was actually happening. 

"We signed you guys up for a tour. We should be meeting the person any second now," Joyce tells them and their jaws drop. They were getting a tour of one of the most presitgious universities in the world, and no one knew how to react.

After almost a four hour train ride they ended up at yet another prestigious world university, University of Cambridge. "Okay, I think I can officially die happily now," Lennen says. She couldn't believe that she got to visit two universities that she thought would only happen in her dreams. 

The third day they took a trip down to Brighton, one of England's most famous seaside towns. It was a beautiful day and only an hour and a half train ride down to the sea. "Oh, look. It's like a miniture version of the London Eye," Kiana points at the Brighton Wheel. The six were walking along the pier, enjoying the sunshine and relatively warm weather. It was normally cold and rainy for most of the year in England, so they knew they lucked out in this trip. 

"This place is amazing," Lennen says as they walk into a restaurant to get some lunch. She wished that this wasn't her first time visiting Brighton because everything about this seaside town left her in awe. She could stay here everyday for the rest of her life and be perfectly content. 

"And don't forget you need to do the homework you missed on the train ride back to London," Joyce reminds Lennen and Oliver. Every time they went on a trip that was during school days they made a promise to their parents that they would get all of their school work done, and if they didn't then they wouldn't be able to travel during school anymore. 

"You two as well," Elizabeth chimes in, talking to her kids. It was a deal they had made, and so far they had yet to break it, allowing them to keep traveling. "Especially with the school year being almost over, you can't fall behind."

"We know, mom. We get this talk every time we travel, and we never fall behind. Duke is already valedictorian, so is Lennen. Oliver and I still have our 4.0, I don't think we're planning on losing that, especially with how difficult it has become to get into a good college," Kiana responds. Despite her and Oliver only being freshmen, they both knew how hard they had to work, especially with being in two of the best private high schools in the Newport Beach/Costa Mesa area. The two schools were highly competitive and if you couldn't keep up with the standards then your spot would be replaced with someone else. 

"I can't believe we're raising geniuses," Elizabeth laughs with Joyce. The two mothers were incredibly proud of all the hard work their children had put into school, knowing that their two youngest were also going to be doing great things after they graduate from high school. 

"Must be in the genes," Lennen smiles. It was no secret that her mom was incredibly smart, being a nurse wasn't an easy task. The men of the family weren't the only intelligent ones, knowing how to run a succesful business, more like an empire. Elizabeth had worked on Wall Street for many years before she moved out to California; however, once the kids came, she decided to be a stay at home mom. Though, she had decided that once Kiana graduates she was going to go back to work.

"Thank you for another amazing trip," Lennen says to her parents as they walk into Heathrow Airport. She had become addicted to traveling, and she could never thank her parents enough for everywhere they have gone. There was still so much more of the planet she wanted to see, but that would come in time. She was determined to see almost everything before she dies.

"We're glad you had a good time," Joyce's smile is as wide as her daughters. Traveling with family was something that would leave memories for the rest of your life, and Joyce was going to look back at the memories they had created on this trip, knowing that it would probably be one of their greatest trips.