Emmett and the radar gun
Edward groaned beside me as Emmett walked into our cottage living room with a wide-grin on his face. "No Emmett."
"What's going on?" I asked as I sat up from my position on the couch and looked at Emmett curiously.
"I was just wondering about something," started Emmett while Edward rolled his eyes before going back to reading his book.
"What were you wondering?"
"Does Charlie have a radar gun?"
"Uh…I think so," I murmured as I looked at him in confusion. Why on earth would Emmett want a radar gun? With that thought in mind, I lifted my shield and asked it to Edward. Over the past few months since I had first shown Edward my thoughts, I was getting better and better at lifting my shield around him and keeping it in place for longer and longer periods of time.
"He'll tell you in a second Bella," chuckled Edward as he turned the page of his book. "Be patient."
Being patient isn't exactly my forte Edward, I thought as I rolled my eyes at him before returning my attention to Emmett, who was looking at me with a wide-eyed smile.
"Where would he keep it?"
"At work or in his cruiser," I answer reflexively, still unsure of where this is going and getting more and more curious, and nervous, as Emmett's smile continues to grow.
"What would you do if I told you that he keeps it in his cruiser and I have it back at the main house?"
"You what?!" I scream as I look at Edward, who is trying very hard not to laugh, to see if it is true.
"I might have come up with a brilliant idea and borrowed Chief Swan's radar gun for a contest of sorts," beams Emmett as he looks at me, a glint of an impending challenge evident in his eyes.
"Are you intending to give it back once you have fulfilled this contest?"
"Yes."
"What's the contest?"
"I want to see who can run faster."
"You've got to be kidding me," I mutter in shock as I shake my head at Emmett's antics. "Really? You want to see who can run faster? We all know that Edward is the fastest member in this family, next to me, but that's just because I am still a newborn."
"I'm still wondering if you really are a newborn or not," mutters Emmett under his breath before shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not talking about just us. I'm also talking about the wolves and Nessie."
"You, Emmett McCarty Cullen, are crazy," I mutter under my breath. "What has Alice seen?"
"Uh…nothing," answers Emmett like it is the most obvious thing in the world, then again it is the most obvious thing in the world – at least our world – considering the fact that Alice can't see the wolves or Nessie.
"Edward, what do you think of this?"
"I'm waiting to hear your opinion on the matter," answers Edward as he turns the page of his book and continues reading with a smug smile.
"How are we going to determine the winner? We'll only be able to find out how fast Nessie can run because there are not enough hybrids to perform an accurate test."
"Nessie just wants to find out how fast she can run anyways," answers Emmett, waving his hand off to the side. "We'll average out the speeds to determine the winner."
"I'm game," I answer as I stand up to go change into something better suited for running.
"YES!" shouts Edward as he jumps up, racing into our bedroom and tearing through our closet to change into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. "Thank you Bella," he adds excitedly as I walk into our bedroom to find him beaming down at me as he holds out my clothes. "Thank you so much!" He quickly plants a kiss on my lips before running out of the room and joining Emmett, who's laughing loudly, in the living room while I change into a pair of black yoga pants and a dark, royal blue, short-sleeved shirt.
"I can't believe we're actually doing something Emmett came up with," mutters Esme with a shocked expression on her face. "When did the world turn upside down?"
Rosalie, Carlisle, Alice, Nessie, and I laugh softly as we watch the boys mark the field for our competition. Nessie was going to go first - I'd be timing her, then once she we figured out her average time after three tries - then she'd time us. We were using it as her math and science lesson for the day.
"Okay," shouts Jake from across the field as he, Seth, Leah, Sam, Embry, Paul, Jared, and Quil walk into the clearing in their human forms. "I got a call from Nessie telling me to bring seven other wolves with me for a competition. Anyone care to tell me what is going on?"
Nessie laughs excitedly as she runs over to Jacob, jumping into his outstretched arms and wrapping her arms around his neck, before placing her hand on his cheek and showing him the contest.
"Now, that is wicked sweet!" exclaims Jacob as he turns to the rest of the wolves. "We're having a contest to see who the faster runners are. Wolves or vampires." Nessie places her hand on his cheek, causing Edward to laugh softly as he hears her thoughts while she tells them to Jacob. "Nessie would like to add that it was Emmett that came up with the idea."
"How are we going to tell who the fastest runner is?" asks Sam, his arms folded across his bare chest as he stands in a wide stance – feet shoulder-width apart.
"Emmett borrowed Charlie's radar gun," answers Edward with a snort. "He intends to give it back as soon as we are finished with it."
"Let's get this party started," shouts Emmett as he tosses me Charlie's radar gun.
"You're lucky I can catch now Emmett," I shout back as everyone around me laughs while I head to the opposite end of the field where I sit with a clipboard on my knee and the gun held up in the air. "Go Nessie!" I shout.
Nessie comes running down the track as fast as she can possibly go, skidding to a halt a few yards away from me. "How fast was I Momma?"
"117 miles per hour," I answer proudly with a bit of awe to my voice. "Good job sweetie."
With that, Nessie walks back to the starting line and waits for my signal before racing down the track as fast as she can. "How was that Momma?" she asks breathlessly, her heart racing faster than normal against her chest from her exertion.
"Take a break sweetie," I answer back as I show her speed on the radar gun.
"109," groans Nessie as she shakes her head sadly. "Being a hybrid bites."
Emmett snickers softly from across the field as Nessie walks back towards the starting line, waiting a full two minutes before raising her hand to signal that she's ready.
"113 miles per hour. Much better baby," I exclaim as she comes towards me looking drained. "Daddy said you could have a special treat if you'd like," I state as I hand her a bag of donated blood that we still had in storage, her eyes lighting up at the fact that her father was actually allowing her to drink donated blood – she preferred human blood over human food and animal blood any day, but Edward and I were trying to get her to eat human food and animal blood instead of the donated blood that we still had stored up from my days of being human… it came in handy on days where Nessie needed a quick boost but wasn't up for human food or animal blood. It was also a great bribing tool.
"Thank you Daddy," shouted Nessie as she took the bag from me and drained it instantly. "Who's next?!" she asks excitedly as I hand her the clipboard and radar gun.
We all watch as Jacob, Seth, Leah, Sam, Paul, Jared, Embry, Quil, Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper run down the track – all going the fastest speed they possibly can. I have to admit, the wolves can run pretty dang fast.
"Daddy," shouts Nessie from the opposite end of the field, where Jake is now sitting helping her track scores. "Your turn!"
A random thought runs through my head and Alice nods her head excitedly as I wrap my shield around her. Oh, this was going to be good.
I watch in awe as Edward runs his fastest two runs before looking at Alice who nods her head at me slightly. It was time to have some fun with my wonderful husband of mine.
"Go Daddy," shouts Nessie when she gives Edward the signal to run, silently giving me my own signal to open my mind to him and show him our times together, causing him to stumble slightly from the shock of being able to hear my mind.
"What did you do Bella?" barks Jacob as he shakes his head at Edward as he crosses the finish line. "Bells, he was doing over two hundred on the other two runs. Whatcha do?!"
"What'd he get?!" I shoot back, trying not to laugh too hard as Edward continues into the forest, clenching and unclenching his fists as he walks away.
"178 miles per hour," laughs Jacob as Nessie shakes her head, rolling her eyes slightly before shouting, "Momma, Daddy gets a redo because you showed him something that made him stumble!"
That does it; the howling laughter erupts from the wolves and is instantly followed by the tinkling laughter from my family.
"I agree with Nessie," states Edward as he returns to the clearing a few seconds after the laughter dies down. "I get a redo."
"Fine by me," I laugh as Edward returns to the starting line before giving him a peck on the cheek for good luck.
"216," whispers Edward as he walks next to my side. "Beat that Bella."
"Oh, I'll beat that and do way better than you," I exclaim with a challenging look, causing Emmett, Jacob, and Jasper to laugh softly at our playful banter.
With that I saunter towards the starting line, moving my hips a little too much, causing Edward to growl huskily as I signal Nessie that I'm ready. "Go Momma!" shouts Nessie at the top of her lungs, smiling widely as I reach the end of the track in less than a second. "213 miles per hour," beams Nessie as I skip back to the end of the track.
I push harder as I race down the track, coming in less than a second again and to a beaming Nessie as she shouts, "217 miles per hour! You beat Daddy!"
"Told you Edward," I shout as I jog back to the starting line.
Edward sends a warning growl towards me that sends shivers down my spine. This was not going to be pretty, and it doesn't help matters when Alice laughs like she is right now. "Go Momma," shouts Nessie and off I go down the track, stumbling slightly as I'm hit with a wave of lust from Jasper. Thankfully, it doesn't really do too much to me and I'm still able to not have that big of a drop as Edward did when it came to being distracted. "198 miles per hour," chuckles Nessie as she shakes her head at Jasper. "Uncle Jasper, that wasn't very nice."
"Your Daddy made me do it," laughs Jasper, his voice thick with his southern accent.
"Still," retorts Nessie as she sticks out her tongue playfully. "That wasn't nice! Momma gets a redo."
I quickly lift my shield as I take my place at the starting line, grateful that I'm able to have a one way communication with Edward at this moment. It wasn't as good as what I did, but great effort baby. With that I snap my shield back into place and wait for Nessie to tell me to run.
Edward and I sit quietly, drawing patterns on each other's arms, as we watch Alice complete her first two runs flawlessly. "Edward and Bella," shouts Alice halfway through her last and final run. "Stop making decisions subconsciously!"
"Uh…what happened?" I ask as I snap out of my Edward induced daze.
Edward chuckles next to me before waving Alice off. "Go do your redo Alice and stop being overdramatic."
"Nessie cover your ears," shouts Alice as she walks over to us, kneeling down in front of us and whispering, loud enough that the vampires and wolves can hear but not Nessie thankfully. "I love you both very much, but I'll be as overdramatic as I want when it involves getting my fastest time squashed because I see you two in the throes of passion by your subconscious thoughts of what you want to do tonight. By the way Bella," she adds as she stands up to walk away. "Go with the blue one."
"What the...?" I ask as I watch Alice motion to Jacob to uncover Nessie's ears.
"Go Aunt Alice," shouts Nessie as she observes our confused faces – mine and Edward's at least – before returning her attention to Alice as she races down the well-worn path.
"Okay Miss Nessie," beams Emmett as he walks over to where Nessie is sitting trying to figure out who the winner is. "Who's faster? Vamps? Or Wolves?"
"Wolves," answers Nessie softly as soon as she finishes up her calculations, double-checking them.
"Wolves are better than vamps," sings Jacob as he begins doing a victory dance. "Wolves are better than vamps!"
I shake my head as Carlisle and Sam begin discussing why the wolves are able to run faster, both of them deciding on the fact that they are the natural enemy to vampires and therefore able to run faster. As quietly as possible, which is really quiet and only catches the attention of Alice who winks in my direction before returning her attention to Jasper, I lift my shield and think I just figured out what Alice saw. Meet me back at the cottage in…eh…ten minutes. And with that I snap the shield back into place and run back to the cottage, leaving Edward in a daze while Nessie asks him where I went. I really hope that Emmett remembers to return my father's radar gun is the last thought I have before I'm tackled to the ground by Edward who kisses me with as much passion as he can muster at the present moment.