Midnight Safari

Chapter 2: Pit Stops

Edward had done the calculations, and it would be faster to go on foot than to take an airplane. Besides, we needed to get Renesmee in touch with her vampire half.

Whilst running, I had a buttload of time to think. I felt a pang of guilt when I remembered Jacob throwing his mini-fit about not coming on the trip. Then I brushed it off, Jacob would get forever with Ness, I deserved to have one week with just my family and no one else.

Nessie was clutched on to my back. I took in the moment, she would not be this small forever. Edward was running beside me, and I also took in that moment by running faster than him since I was still a newborn. Renesmee put her hand on my neck and signaled me to go even faster, she loved seeing her father being slower than someone, since he was the fastest out of the whole coven. I laughed with joy. After about half a minute, Ed was about as exhausted as a vampire could be. Ness wanted me to slow down, she felt some sympathy for him. She was too kind.

"No! My safari hat!" My husband shrilled behind me. I halted and waited for him to meet me. "That wasn't very nice," he pouted.

"Oh come on, Ted," I teased lightly. "I won't be this fast forever."

His face smoothed out again. "Okay." He said and grabbed my hand.

We started running again at full speed, and didn't slow down for a couple states. A couple hours had passed, and we wanted to start making plans. And I was curious as to where the heck we even were.

When I asked, Ted answered, "Just at the edge of Idaho. And since we're on a vacation, why don't we stop at Salt Lake City and get Nessie a snack?" He started cooing up at Renesmee and poking her still-pudgy arm. It was so adorable, my rock heart melted just a little.

In t-minus 15 minutes, we reached our little detour-destination. We grazed the side of the lake for a while, until eventually the beauty of nature just became too much for me and I made Edward and Renesmee pose so I could take a picture of them for my snapchat story. I wanted Mike Newton to see it and be jealous.
Almost instantly after I posted the first 2 pictures, I got a snapback. It was from Carlisle. I opened it; it was a simple selfie of Dr. Cullen giving us a thumbs up. "Looks great, kids!" It read. I screenshotted it.

I thought I would be nice and reply. I took a duck-face selfie of me and Ed. "Thanks Carl!!!" I wrote.

After a couple more minutes of admiring nature, Edward broke the silence. "Alright, Ness. What do you want to eat?"

She closed her eyes and smelled for some animal. "Is that deer?" She asked her father.

"Sure is!" He replied. "But listen to that," he picked her up in his arms. "You know what that sound is?"

Even I listened a little closer. What I heard was something tiny scittering across crunchy snow.

"No," Nessie replied. "What is it, Daddy?"

Edward smiled. "Fox."

***

By the time we were finished hunting, the sun was almost set for the day. If we ran full speed through the night, Edward had calculated, we'd be in Kansas City by morning. We started off immediately.

But, we were maybe about an hour behind schedule. Without my knowing, Ted had redirected us toward Branson. He wanted to watch all the performers and shop in antique malls. He was giddy, but I honestly just wanted to get to Africa. I allowed him to sit and watch some tap dancers perform.

Renesmee was awaken by the noise.
"Momma, is this Africa?"

"No, Ness. It's Missouri," I replied.

"Oh," her head fell right back down on my back and she fell back into a deep slumber.

After the show, I was getting impatient. "No more," I told him. "We're going straight for South Carolina now. No stops."

"Fine," he pouted.

And a couple hours later, we reached our destination of South Carolina. We were at the border of the country. It was all ocean from here. The beach was beautiful with the sunset on the water. There were tons of college kids, who were on Christmas vacation, sitting around bonfires on the sand.

"Oh, how fun," Edward stated. "You know, Bellaroo, if we go to college, we can go to frat parties and stuff like that."

"Actually," I replied, "that sounds perfect. I was thinking of joining a sorority."

Then we reached the beach's edge. We were standing in front of a pontoon boat that was tied up to a dock.

"Is this ours?" I asked.

"Yep. Sometimes the guys and I like to go fishing. Did you know I'm a professional? They call me the Catfish Whisperer." He gloated.

"Get out of town!" I smacked Edward's arm with fake enthusiasm. I honestly cared zero percent.

Edward hopped onto the boat, then helped me and Nessie up. I noticed it had nasty green carpet-like flooring.

I heard a loud whining noise, and realized Edward was starting the pontoon. He revved it a couple of times before he hit the gas. I sat down in the passenger seat with Ness on my lap. Edward sat there, hands on the steering wheel, foot on the gas. It took me a couple minutes before I realized we weren't going anywhere.

"Edward," I snapped a couple of times to bring him back to reality.

"Oh, right. I forgot to untie the boat."

He hopped out of his seat to do the obvious, and resumed his original position. This time, we moved forward. My phone then vibrated in my pocket.
The screen read: "Carlisle Cullen screenshotted your snap."