Winter of Love by BelleDean
Rating: MCharacters: Edward/Bella
Summary: The Year is 1969. Change is in the air and, in rural Washington, love is in the air when small-town values collide with freewheeling teenagers. Cannon Couples, All Human, Drug Use & Lemons
Let's put on those bellbottoms, break out those records, and hop on the VW Mircobus because we're going back to the “Winter of Love.”
It was January 2nd, 1969. Changes it seemed were ahead, but the Vietnam War was still in full swing. In just over two weeks, Richard Milhous Nixon would be sworn in to replace Lyndon Baines Johnson as President of the United States. No good can come from a man whose middle name is Milhous, that much I knew, but it wasn't up to me. I wasn't allowed to vote in the last presidential election, and Renee, my mother, the only person legally allowed to vote in our household, had given up on the election process after the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. And what do you get when people give up? You get Dick Nixon.
Bella and Jasper are fraternal twins, and Rosalie is their older sister. The three siblings have been toted around the country by their free spirited mother Renee since she ran from dreary and cloud covered Forks, when they were small children.
When Renee decides to marry Phil, a roadie for the Grateful Dead, Rosalie decides that it is time for some stability for her and her siblings. She arranges for them to move back to Forks to with their estranged father, Charlie.
After cohabiting with easy going Rene for so long, Bella is concerned how much her freedoms and routines will have to change when they begin living with her father.
It wasn't like I ever took too many liberties, yet the weird feeling that you get when you don't know what to expect took over as we drove toward our new home. What would Charlie expect?
Bella, Jasper and Rosalie start high school each falling for their respective canon partners encountering differing types of problems with their developing relationships, mostly due to small town mentality and preconceived notions.
I knew I didn't fit in here. This was Ozzie and Harriet territory. I didn't belong to a normal family; my twin brother was a pothead, my sister the licentious girl who just could not keep her legs together, as this town would soon find out, and my mother traveled around with The Grateful Dead for crying out loud! I was just guilty by association.
Bella is a feminist, stoner type, and Edward is repressed, shy bookworm with some family issues. The two slowly develop a sweet relationship despite their personal hindrances and seemingly incompatible natures.
Bella's rundown of Rosemary's Baby on their first date and Edward's response:
"Yeah, scary shit. Unsuccessful husband sells his wife out to further his career, objectifies her and belittles her; all the while she is serving his every whim. Scary to watch, but I imagine things like that happen all the time, minus the devil worshipping of course." I shrugged my shoulders. He chuckled as I finished my short speech. "What?"
"Nothing, it's just… you know, that comment you made, makes you kind of sound like a feminist."
"Why would any human being with a double x-chromosome not be a feminist?" I countered.
"I guess you are right, except, probably only smart human beings with a double x-chromosome would have that conviction."
I blushed the minute the compliment left his mouth; except for the fact that he was so super uptight and stiff sometimes, he was really too perfect.
I immensely enjoyed the premise of this story. BelleDean integrates the pitfalls and wonderment of young romance, the events and social norms of the time period, along with the great music of the era.
“He looked at me as if I was some charity case that needed urgent help. I wanted to be annoyed with him, but I couldn't. Instead I stared into his eyes. They were a deep, dark green with little specks of black in them. Kaleidoscope Eyes.”
“I pulled out the Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,' carefully placed it on our record player, found the third ridge on the record and slowly placed the needle there to play 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.'
I had been listening to the song for a while, when Jas interrupted.
"Groovy tune, sis. Why that one?" he asked.
"I don't know." I lied.
'Picture your self in a boat on a river with . . . marmalade skies . . . kaleidoscope eyes.'”
The fact that Jasper says “groovy”, is more than enough reason to love this story.
I don't know how long I sat there, but by the time I tore my eyes away from the fire in front of me, the sky was pitch-black, the sea no longer visible, I could only hear the sound of the waves as they crashed onto the beach. Then the music become louder.
And you've just had some kind of mushroom
And your mind is moving slow
Go ask Alice
I think she'll know
"Alice," I whispered, as I started to get up.
These two incorporations were my favorite, but there are many others and all are really well done and pertinent to the story. Everything from Cream, to Jimi Hendrix, and the Rolling Stones make an appearance either lyrically or in passing, adding to the realism. Also, the appropriate vernacular and references to what was classified as “cool” are completely entertaining.
Far out, you have an eight-track-tape player!" I stared at the tapes in front of me and then looked at him, a smirk on the corner of his lips.”
Bella's response to Edward's “state of the art” eight track player was priceless. It made me laugh and really made me remember how far we've come in the last thirty years in terms of technology and expressions. Though, I still say “far out” on occasion.
It was an ingenious idea to place Edward and Bella against this pivotal time in American history, and I loved every minute of it. The moments of sweetness, angst and grass toking of twilight flower children, make this an exceptionally unique and endearing fic.
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