Before I begin this story, I would like to let you know the other stories ARE still going ahead!
My laptop is refusing to charge and died!
It is being repaired as we speak…or as I write, but they said it is something to do with the input not being connected properly to the hard drive or some shit like that!
I got the itch to write yet I need my other chapters so I'm starting this story on my Mother's laptop! :P
When I get access to the next chapters they will be on here quicker than you can say Oh My Carlisle!
Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot and the character you don't recognise! The rest belong to the fab SM!
Translations will be at the end!
Now…on with the story!
This story is called Claws of a Wild Cat! I hope you like it! Here we go!
I feel the intense heat of the burning sun, streaming through my bedroom window and caressing my face. The light illuminating my room as I slowly open my eyes. I blink a few times to let my pupils adjust. I sigh contently and snuggle into my pillow, pushing my quilt off of my body. No matter how hot the September sun becomes, the nights are still bitter cold at times. Luckily the wet season is nearly hear, bringing with it hotter daylight hours and warmer nights. I sigh again, knowing I have to get ready for the day ahead. I swing my legs over the side of my bed and heave myself up into a sitting position. Yawning and stretching, I make my way to my bathroom. After making myself a bit more presentable and getting dressed for my day ahead, I stroll through the house towards the kitchen, and towards the mouth-watering smells coming from that direction. I step into the kitchen to find my dad, Charlie, cooking up a storm. Who knew my father would have so much energy at 6:45 in the morning. Dad and I aren't people to sleep in or spend all of our time indoors. We want to be outside soaking up the Mediterranean rays. Whether it is taking the visitor around the Reserve or just spending time with the locals, neighbouring villagers and animals, alike. We normally alternate who makes what meal; so if Charlie's making breakfast then I'll make dinner but that just when it's the two of us. When we have guests then we tend to prepare all meals together.
"Môre, Dad," I said as I hopped up onto the corner counter surface, watching my dad rummage around the refrigerator. He looked back around the door and shot me a smile.
"Môre, dogter," he replied.
This is a normal occurrence; us talking in another language. We both speak Afrikaans fluently as well as English, obviously, and we can both understand the Zulu language and speak it slightly. Charlie speaks it better than me as he's been here since he was born. It's fairly easy to pick up on phrases and accents when you're around them every day.
"So what ya making?" I ask hopping down from the counter and walk over to the big mixing bowl full of different ingredients.
"Banana and honey pancakes," he smirked as I actually moan in response. He knows me well.
"Now that is how to start a day!" I exclaim as I stick a finger into the batter and quickly popping it into my mouth. Charlie didn't even try to stop me. Like I said he knows me well; one way or another I'd find a way to eat some of the raw batter. When I was younger he would actually try to berate me, claiming I was filling myself up with the raw stuff before I even got to the cooked stuff …then I hit puberty and he learnt not to argue back.
I hummed in appreciation to the pancake mix. Charlie has always been confused as to when I like raw eggs, flour and milk…to be honest I have no idea either, all I know is that when the banana and honey are added…heaven!
Once I finished my pre-breakfast treat, I turned to Charlie as he started pouring the mixture into the heated pan. "So, what's goin' on today?" Our last guests left two days ago. Even though our maximum capacity is 40 people, a group of 14 here for a family holiday is a handful. My dad owns Wild Cat Safari Reserve; he inherited it from his parents when they did a few years ago and I help him run it. For our latest tour group we had four generations with the great-grandmother really worrying me when she would nap in the 26 seat Safari Truck when out in the Bush. I don't know how long I sat there seeing if I could see tell-tale signs that she is still breathing. They stayed for two weeks and I have to say it was one of the longest 2 weeks of my life. Don't get me wrong, I love meeting new people ad I love kids, but being woken up because the younger kids thought it would be hilarious to spray me with ice water at 2 o'clock in the morning is not fun.
"Well, we've got that doctor guy arrivin' this evening…" Charlie said as he shuffled the cooked pancake onto a plate before pouring more batter into the pan. Oh, yeah.
There was a doctor coming to stay with us for a while. Apparently he was from America, coming over here to do paid volunteer work or something like that. Maybe I can talk to him about America. You see, I was born in America. My dad was born and bred on this land by my grandparents. My mother was an American staying here with her parents to catch a glimpse of the South African wildlife when she met my father. Long story short they did some things that no child wants to think their parents did and my mother ended up pregnant with me after knowing my father for less than a month. My father followed her back to America to support her. I was born and the rest is history. Here I am, sixteen years later. The one slightly weird this is I do have a slight American accent on some words, but day said that just because I've watched American movies and met the guests here and picked up on it. My Dad and me have always had a close relationship, we've never really had an argument…well, if you cunt the time when I told him I started my period and he told me to make it stop because he said he wasn't ready for me to grow up. I rolled my eyes at him.
"So, are you goin; pick him up from the airport?" I asked as I sat in front of a plate of freshly chopped bananas and pancakes with honey drizzled everywhere; topped off with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of sugar.
"I'm gonna drive to the airport and guide him back as he's pickin' up a complimentary car or somethin'…" Charlie trailed off as he dug in. I nodded in acknowledgement to what he had just said and took a bite of my breakfast.
"Mmm, God, I love piesang!" I mumbled, as I got my next bite ready as I chewed.
"I'm gonna warn ya now, you better be on your best behaviour when he get here, you trouble maker!" Charlie glared at me with a slight smirk on his face, showing me he was joking.
I gasped, in mock horror, "When have I been anything but an angel, Dad?"
"Don't even start, you and Kayla are always up to no good, then there's you and your furry family…" he stated with a raised eyebrow and an amused
I giggled, crossed my heart with my finger, "I swear, I won't purposely do anything to permanently scare this doctor!" I swore. Charlie huffed and pushed my head to the side while shook his head. I smiled at him as he smiled back. Yeah, Charlie knows I can't guarantee anything.
"So, you see I need some advice…we have this doctor coming to stay this afternoon and he's from America…it's not like he will be the first American coming to stay here, but he's the first that will be basically living here until he goes home…he won't be a tourist that will go in a few weeks and if they got on your nerves you could just show 'em a few elephants or something—"
I got cut off by a loud trumpet in my left ear. I roll over on Kayla's back until I was straddling her shoulders.
"Sorry, I meant that in a good way…you know I love you…" I said as I leant forward kissing her rough head, watching her ears flap back and forward out of excitement and humour.
"But do ya know what I mean? If he ends up being a pain in the ass, then he's gonna be here for, what? Like another—"
"Two years," said a smooth voice from my right. I jerked up to find a man. He had his blonde hair professionally cropped and was dressed casually. He had a rucksack over his shoulder and two large duffel bags by his feet. I continued to stare at him.
"May I…er, help you?" I asked, cautiously, still staring at him. He smiled slightly and took a step forward, holding out his hand.
"I'm Carlisle Cullen, potential pain in the ass and here for the next two years…" He trailed off as I sat on top of an elephant, feeling like a right bitch and mortified, with the tell-tale blush making an appearance.
He walked all the way up to the side of Kayla with his hand still out stretched. I took his hand but he shook it. I was still to horrified to move.
"I…I'm…I'm so…so sorry! I don't know what to say!" I Quickly jumped off of Kayla's back and stood in front of this stranger who I just insulted by calling him a pain in the ass!
He laughed and shook his head. "Don't worry about it; I've been called worse things…" He chuckled. I shook my head quickly.
"No, that was wrong of me to assume! I don't usually insult people before knowing their name! Oh, this wasn't how I wanted this to go!" I sighed. I half turned back to Kayla, still half facing Carlisle. I suddenly saw Kayla's ears flapping and her trunk from into an 'S' while touching her forehead. "Did you know he was there?" I asked her, putting my hands on my hips. She seemed to become even more excited as she nodded her head, widely; waving her trunk around. I gasped, turning to her to grab both her ears. She stopped her movements to stare at me. I could see the humour in her eyes. "You did, didn't you?" I accused. She nodded again, obviously finding this very amusing. I turned so my back was to her and crossed my arms over my chest. I felt her heavy trunk rest on my shoulder. Her rough, grey skin scratching against my pale, smooth, bare skin; the contrast always amazes me. It amazes me even more that even living in South Africa, I don't get more than a slight bronzing to my ghostly complection. Kayla moved the end of her trunk to my cheek, inhaling to suction it to my skin; it was her way of giving me a "kiss". I squirmed, trying to get her to let go. Once she does she wraps her trunk around my waist, picking me up completely off of the ground, flipping me over so I was hanging upside down. "Yeah, ok, alright, I forgive you!" She sat me back right side up.
"I take it you guys are close," Carlisle said as he took a few steps closer. He had set is rucksack with his other bags.
I smiled at him. "Yeah, she's one of my best friends…she's only four years older than me…her sisters are very different personalities and her brother is only a few months old and their mother is a sweetheart…" I trail off. Carlisle stood next to me. I smiled. "You can touch her if you want…"
He looked at me. "Oh, no, it's OK…"
"No, I insist; she may be a pain but she couldn't hurt a fly!" I took his hand and held it out to Kayla. She looked at it and then at me. I smiled and that gave her the confidence. She stepped towards his outstretched hand and she wrapped her trunk around his hand and wrist and shook it gentle.
"Ha, well…hello," he said with a smile. I smirked.
"See?"
"Yeah, she's very gentle…" he stated as she let go of his hand. I stepped closer to her and kissed her trunk just under her mouth.
"Good girl! I'll bring you a treat out when I come out later, yeah?" Her ears flapped and her front feet skipped slightly. I giggled. "What would you like? Erm…a suurlemoen? Or a waatlemoen? Oh, I know! How about a pynappel!" She trumpeted, while skipping on her stump like legs. I giggled. "Go on, you go find your siblings and I'll come and find you later, OK?" She nodded and moved her trunk to "kiss" my cheek. "I love you, Kayla." I said as she blinked a few times in recognition, before turning and walking to go and find her family. I smiled after her before turning back to Carlisle. He was already going back to grab his bags. I walked over to him to help, but he insisted he was OK. We walked through the front door toward the kitchen.
As we walked down the hall and looked at the clock on the wall. I caught sight that it was just after midday and something dawned on me. I spun around quickly, shocking Carlisle into stopping. "My Dad said he would be escorting you back from the airport this evening…"
"Oh, I was offered an earlier connecting flight from London-Heathrow to Tambo International so I took it, rather than waiting for another seven hours for the next flight…" He explained. I nodded as we made it into the kitchen. "So…I never did catch your name…" He prompted.
"Oh! Sorry! My full name is Isabella but please, call me Bella," I said as I held my hand out again. He shook it with a small grin. "So, are you hungry?" I asked, walking around the counter.
"Yeah, plane food really isn't that appetising," he said as he took a seat at the counter.
"So, what do you fancy?" I asked looking around the refrigerator.
"Erm, something sweet…I have a particularly sweet tooth," he said, from his seat.
Carlisle seemed like a genuinely nice guy, so not a pain in the ass. I caught sight of the leftover pancake mix from this morning. I smiled and turned back to him. "How do pancakes sound…?"
"Man, those where some good pancakes…" Carlisle sat there rubbing his stomach. I smiled as I picked up his empty plate. "I've never had pancakes with bananas and honey, but that was delicious!" He exclaimed. "My kids normally prefer just chocolate chip or blueberry…"
"You have kids?" I asked, curiously.
"Yeah, I…er…have a few…" He chuckles. He sees my confused expression and chuckles again. "Yeah I have seven…"
"Seven? Wow…no offence but how early did you start?" I questioned. He just laughed again.
"Well, four are biologically mine. Two are dating my children and then the last on is the sister of the boy dating my daughter."
He must have seen my confused expression as he pulled out his wallet and flipped to a picture and continued to explain, while pointing out each member of his family. "Well, I met my wife when we started middle school. I was a year ahead of her but I'm six month older than her. I asked her out when she was freshman year and we've been together ever since. When I was 18 and she was 17, she fell pregnant with our eldest son, Emmett. We married 4 months later; we went on a three week honeymoon and Esme conceived again…with twins, Alice and Edward…"
"Wow."
"Yeah, wow indeed. Raising three children under the age of two would be difficult for a normally couple but Esme had literally just turned 19 and we had three screaming children and no money. Well, long story short, we focused on our careers to provide for our children and then a few years ago Esme conceived our fourth child, little Alexander; he just turn three. Then you have Rosalie, she's dating my eldest Emmett and Jasper is dating my Alice and that is little Anastasia, but she prefers Annie, who is Jaspers little sister. They all have their own stories but that's for another time but they all feel like my own."
I smile at the adoration on his face and evident in his voice as he spoke of all his "children". I frowned as a thought crossed my mind.
"Won't you miss them…" I asked quite quietly. He sighed and pursed his lips.
"Yes, I will defiantly miss them; heck I miss them now and I saw them two days ago, but I felt this is the right thing to do. I've always wanted to help hospitals that are struggling. This was the only opportunity in my stable position at my current hospital in Chicago to do this while still being guaranteed my job when return home but to get paid - from the Chicago hospital - for work that is normally unpaid. With that many mouths to feed, we may be financially stable but I do my kids to inherit something. I get to go home every four months, for five days so I'll be home for chirstmas and then a few day in April next year and so on so…I hope my kids were OK with it.
"They sound amazing; maybe I'll get to meet them some time…"
I got my wish less than 10 months later…
So…what do ya think?
Translations: Afrikaans
Môre - Morning
Môre, dogter – Morning, daughter
Piesang - Banana
Suurlemoen - Lemon
Waatlemoen - Watermelon/Melon
Pynappel - Pineapple
Wow…over 3,000 words!
So leave me a review and let me know what you think! I would really appreciate it and I will try and get next chapter (Which is EdPOV!) out ASAP!
I'm also going to put picture links on my profile for things like the Safari Trucks and amazing sights and the animals!
I hope you liked it!
Smiley2011xxx