Chapter 38: Animal Kingdom
EPOV
I had never thought it was possible for a person to be so happy and so in love. We were on the bus on our way to Animal Kingdom to meet out friends, and I couldn't stop smiling. Since the bus was packed Bella and I were standing holding on to the silver pole.
"Did Alice and Rose know?" She asked me as her free hand held on to my torso.
I shook my head. "I told them I had something special planned, and that you needed some night clothes and clothes for the next day."
"So they didn't bother you enough for you to spill?" She questioned with a huge smile. I couldn't help, but laugh at how well she knew her friends. They had pestered me with questions trying to figure out what I had planned, but I had refused to crack. I knew they would probably keep the secret, I just wanted Bella to be the one to tell them. They were her best friends.
"I figured you wanted to tell them." I answered as her eyes lit up.
"You think of everything, Edward." She commented hugging me as the bus pulled into Animal Kingdom.
"Are you ready to see lions, and tigers, and bears?" I questioned helping her down the steps.
"Oh my!" She squealed as she ran towards our friends who were waiting near the entrance. Emmett and Jasper quickly moved away allowing the girls to scream and hug.
"I take it she said yes." Jasper said to me. I simply smiled and nodded. "Have you told your mom? She will be thrilled."
"No, I didn't want to tell her in case Bella didn't accept." I replied feeling foolish for believing she wouldn't accept.
"You are definitely full of it, Edward." Emmett finally said patting my back. "That girl is head over heals for you."
"Do you think it's safe to step in?" Jasper inquired with a laugh. Alice and Rose were admiring Bella's ring.
"I think it's safe." I responded as we walked towards them. "Can I reclaim my fiancée?" I inquired with a chuckle as Bella's arms wrapped around me.
"Congratulations!" Alice said hugging me tightly.
"You're so sneaky!" Rose commented hugging me right after Alice let go. From the corner of my eyes I could see that Bella was also receiving congratulations from Emmett and Jasper.
"How about we go see some animals!" Emmett said bouncing in place. "I really want to see the bears."
"You're such a child!" Bella said playfully to Emmett as he started chasing after her.
"Emmett stop it!" She cried as she ran away from him and hiding behind me.
"Emmett, leave my fiancée alone." I said as we finally made it into the park.
"You don't have to get territorial." He teased faking left before grabbing her by the right.
"Emmett, stop." She said laughing before breaking free and running towards me.
"Could you act like a normal adult for five minutes?" I finally asked Emmett. I felt Bella's entire body shake with laughter.
"Nope." He replied before chasing after Rose who was watching the flamingos with Alice and Jasper.
"Let's start with the dinosaur section." Bella's angelic voice said as she walked towards us with a map in her hand.
"I heard the Dinosaur ride should be fun." Jasper interjected before we all walked towards it.
"All those kiddy rides look gruesome." Emmett commented at Rose who was riding on his back.
"You're such a baby, Emmett." She responded as he placed her down once we got in line.
"I'm not sure about this ride, Edward." Bella said softly staring at the huge dinosaur bones in the lobby of the ride. "I don't want to get scared."
"I'll protect you, Love. I won't let the big scary dinosaurs touch a hair on your head." I reassured her with a laugh.
"Are you being sarcastic?" She asked placing her hands on her hips practically glaring at me.
"I'm not being sarcastic, Bella." I added as she turned her back to me. "I'm not."
"You're making fun of me." She pouted moving away from my touch before standing with Alice.
"Bella." I pleaded.
"What did you do?" Jasper asked with a chuckle.
"Nothing." I answered sighing when he looked at me knowingly.
"That usually means you did something." Jasper added as we finally started to descend the stairs to board the ride.
I purposely sat next to Bella who simply looked at me with a scowl. I knew Bella was scared the moment we plunged into total darkness. The car was moving all over the place, and it really seemed like we were back in prehistoric times. As the first dinosaur appeared Bella screamed loudly grabbing my arm and hiding her face in my chest. I held her tightly for the rest of the ride.
"The ride is over." I whispered once we had made it to the loading dock. I helped her off the ride smiling as she didn't release my hand as we explored the rest of the area.
"I'm sorry for getting mad." Bella finally said while we waited for everyone else to use the restroom.
"I shouldn't have been sarcastic. You were right." I answered feeling bad over my comment.
"It's just that part of me still doesn't believe all of this is true. I feel like it's all a practical joke, like I'm being Punk'd." She explained.
"Bella, it's all real. I love you, and we are going to spend the rest of our lives together. I may say a few jokes here and there, but I'm just playing." I assured her after kissing her softly.
"Come on, love birds." Alice said playfully ruining the moment. "The Lion King show starts in a half-hour."
"I love the Lion King." Jasper commented hugging Alice from behind causing everyone to laugh.
"The Lion King?" Rose asked curiously.
"What it's a manly Disney movie. Plus I love lions." He added everyone continuing to laugh.
"I think it's adorable, Jasper." Alice replied glaring at the rest of us. "It fits his personality."
"How so?" Bella innocently asked while we were waiting for the doors to the show to open.
"Jasper is a lion in the bedroom." She stated with a wide grin causing Emmett and me to start laughing hysterically.
"That's more information than I ever wanted to know about Jasper, Alice." I responded trying to remove the mental image she had created.
"What? It's the truth." She replied innocently as I led Bella in refusing to hear anything else. There was something I didn't want to know about my best friend.
The show proved to be quite the production. The acrobats, the music, and even the stage floats were incredible. I had a huge smile on my face as I heard Bella's melodic voice singing along to all the songs. It was obvious that she was enjoying it as much as I was.
"Can we meet the characters?" Bella asked as she took a bite off her ice cream Mickey. "They're right there." she said pointing to the huts were they were.
"I want to meet Minnie." Emmett said as an idea finally popped in my head.
"Emmett, I dare you to give Minnie your phone number." I said as he looked at me with a shocked face.
"You want me to flirt with a fictional character?" He questioned looking at Rosalie for protection.
"No you don't, Emmett. That's between you and Edward. Besides it'll be fun to see what happens." Rose interjected.
"But babe." He started.
"You shouldn't have gotten involved in the bet then" She scolded realizing it was almost our turn.
"Fine." Emmett conceded grabbing a piece of the map and a pen out of Rose's purse. "I'll prove to you I can. Just don't get jealous."
"Never." Rose added with a giggle while Jasper and Alice posed for their picture.
"It's your turn, Casanova." Bella urged with a small laugh.
Emmett glared at her before walking towards Minnie by himself. "I find mice to be very attractive." He said everyone around laughing as he placed his arm around the character whispering something.
It was extremely funny to watch since the character couldn't respond just simply move away. Right before he was about to leave he leaned over giving Minnie a kiss on the nose and dropping a paper into her safari bag with his telephone number. "Call me, sweetheart." He finished the entire crowd laughing hysterically.
"I don't see why you're with him." I commented to Rose after we had left.
"He's actually very kind and sweet. He's just a prankster." Rose defended before walking towards Emmett and kissing him passionately in the middle of the park.
"Get a room!" Jasper called.
"We have one!" Emmett called back as we continued our trek into Africa and the safari.
The line for the safari proved to be incredibly long. "We better see some animals." I heard Rose say even though my attention was focused on Bella who was leaning on my chest.
After standing in line for two hours we were finally able to board our Jeep. "Do you think we'll see lions?" Jasper asked playfully causing us to laugh.
"I already see one." Alice whispered, but I was unfortunate enough to hear her as well.
"Alice, please." I said as she giggled turning her attention back to the ride.
BPOV
The ride on the safari had been a lot of fun, but I was really starting to get sleepy. Edward and I had stayed awake practically the entire night and had met up with everyone pretty early. "We can go back to the room after this ride." Edward told me after he saw me yawn for the fifth time in two minutes.
"It's alright, Edward. I'm just a little worn out." I answered with a blush as he kissed me.
"I'm sorry." He said when we broke apart moving forward in the Everest line.
"Don't you ever apologize for wearing me out like that." I add watching the sparkle in his eyes.
"Well, I can always make it up to you." He whispered seductively in my ear sending chills down my spine.
"I just may take you up on that offer, Mr. Cullen." I said wrapping my arms around him.
"I hate lines." Alice complained in a huff sitting on one of the rocks.
"We all do." Rose added with a sigh.
"There should be less people in MGM tomorrow. Since most people are starting to head home." Edward explained as we finally made it to the front of the line.
Expedition Everest was the best ride in the entire park. It rivaled only Space Mountain, but I had my own selfish reason for ranking that one higher. The yeti proved to be extremely frightening and I was forced to once again bury my face into Edward. A defense mechanism I had found that Edward enjoyed.
"You look so cute when you're scared." Edward told me as we looked down at the souvenir picture we had purchased.
"I look terrified." I complained. I was holding onto Edward for dear life, my mouth was wide open, and my eyes looked like they were going to pop out.
"You're still beautiful, my love." He said as we left the park to the hotel. It had been a very long and exciting day and I couldn't wait for the next.
A/N: This story will have one more chapter, and then I'll be ending it to start a sequel. I'm going to post the last chapter of this story and the first of the next one at the same time. It will most likely be posted either Sunday or Monday.
I hope you all enjoyed Animal Kingdom, and I'm still open to suggestions as to what Jasper should do for his dare.
Thanks for reading and please keep the reviews coming! They make me happy!
Muggleinlove