Safe and Sound (Star Wars: The Bad Batch AU)

Chapter 2

Early the next day, they started packing the car. Omega struggled to give Hunter her blue suitcase. Hunter quickly caught it, putting it into the red Honda Civic.

It was currently 8:00, and Hunter wanted to get ready as quickly as possible. They have a big drive ahead of them. Usually, it would be a seven hour and nine minute drive from their place in Holly Springs, Mississippi, to Wrecker's place in Florida.
That's, of course, if they don't stop for gas or bathroom breaks. There's also traffic to consider, so they'll have to stay halfway and stop in Alabama to stay for one night.
"Do you have everything you need?" Hunter asked Omega.
"I got my suitcase, my pillow and blanket..." Omega listed them off, "Wait, I need my Lula! I'll be right back."

Omega got her favorite stuffed animal, Lula, from Uncle Wrecker. She stayed with him for six months while her parents got divorced. During that time, Wrecker gave her his favorite plush, Lula. He also helped Hunter with any financial problems he faced.

"I got it!" Omega ran across the snow covered lawn, waving Lula around before falling into the snow. Hunter rushed over to her and helped her up, dusting the snow off her as well.
"Are you okay, Omega?"
Omega's face was red and had a runny nose from the cold snow, "The snow hurt me."
"I'm sorry, Omega," Hunter wiped the snow away from her face, "Let's put Lula in the car, and head back inside for some hot chocolate. How does that sound?"
Omega nodded, Hunter picked her up, and she buried her cold face into his warm neck. Hunter carried the child to the car, tossed Lula into the seat, and headed back into the house with Omega.

Hunter sat Omega down at the table and gave her a warm washcloth and a dry washcloth for her face. He pulled out a small pan from a cupboard and prepared the cocoa.
"What kind of cocoa do you want?" Hunter examined the boxes of different hot cocoa flavors he kept in an organization shelf on the kitchen counter, "We have one with mini marshmallows-"
"Could I have that one with a candy cane in it?" Omega peeped.
"Of course," Hunter got the things. He made sure the water was warm, not hot. Omega likes it just warm enough to make you feel warm inside. Hunter gave Omega her cocoa as cleaned up his mess. He grabbed anything else that they forgot to pack into a backpack and put it into the car. By the time he was done with that, Omega had put away her cocoa cup and was brushing her teeth.
"Omega, you ready to go?" Hunter asked her.
Omega nodded, spiting out the toothpaste.

They hopped into the car, and drove off. Lula sat next to Omega as she colored in her Jurassic Park coloring book. Hunter turned on the radio and they listend to Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms. The snow has picked up, now visibly falling in large flakes. Omega looked up from her book and saw the snow falling down. She was kinda sad that she wasn't able to play in it for another week. She put her hand onto the fogged window. She pulled it away, the window being colder than she thought, and saw that it left a print. She smiled in fascination, and started to draw stick figures with her finger. She giggled at their silly faces.
Hunter on the other hand, was worried. The snow started to fall harder, which meant the roads would be slicker. And since it is now Winter Break, lots of people will be traveling. Slick roads plus lots of cars equals a recipe for disaster.

An hour later, traffic started to get worse. There were tons of cars on the roads, so now they were hardly moving.
"Dad, how much longer until we get there?"
Hunter sighed, "Because of the traffic, I had to book us a hotel a few hours away from here."
"So we're not going to get there until tomorrow?"
"That's right."
Omega grumbled.
"But hey, it still gives you an extra day to play in the snow."
"Yes! I can't wait to build a snowman!"

Once they got to the hotel and got their things put away, they went outside to the front of the hotel, where a large patch of snow covered the lawn.
"I want to build one here so it can say hi to whoever's  coming to the hotel!" Omega started to roll the base,  making it as big as she could as Hunter started with the middle.
Omega stopped, the ball of snow got too heavy for her to roll. Hunter placed the smaller ball of snow on  top and started with the head as Omega collected small rocks from the rock garden. She was also able to find sticks on the ground from nearby bushes. She ran over to her dad who just put the head onto the snowman. Omega stabbed the sticks into the sides of the middle, and handed her dad the rocks for him to create a face with them.
They stood back to look at their creation. It was almost as tall as Omega.
"Can I get a picture with it?" Omega asked.
"Sure. Go over and stand by it," Hunter pulled out his phone. He took a picture and showed it to her.
"Thanks!" Omega hugged him.

Early the next morning, Hunter was practically dragging Omega out the door.
"But I'm tired!" Omega protested.
"You can sleep in the car. Now hurry up. I want leave before traffic starts back up," Hunter dragged his suitcase out the door, closing it behind him. Omega trudged behind him.

Hunter got his and Omega's suitcases in the car, and took off. Thankfully, they were able to make it to Wrecker's place around 1pm.