Red Dawn - Book 6

Chapter 14

The second we hit the water, Sophia was ripped from my arms by the force. I screamed, the sound being muffled by the water. I opened my eyes and watched as my daughter began slowly sinking away from me.

"Sophia!" I screamed as I dove for her.

I caught her just as a shark passed by. As quickly as I could I surface. Sophia sucked in a deep breath of air before she began wailing at the top of her lungs.

"Shhh. Shhh, darling, its going to be okay. Momma is here." I cooed to her as I began treading water.

I looked around and saw nothing but water, a sinking boat and darkness. We were alone. Nic was gone and-

Then I heard the sound of a motor starting and watched as the a jet ski exited the yacht just before it was completely submerged by water.

"Nic." I breathed as he reached down and pulled me up onto the jet ski. "I thought you were gone." I panted.

I wrapped my arms around Nic, sandwiching Sophia between us to keep her warm. Then we were off. The only sounds in the darkness was the wind, whistling past us, the sound of the waves, the rain and the engine of the jet ski.

We rode for nearly 2 1/2 hours before I felt the engine begin to sputter. Suddenly it cut out and we were drifting.

"Dammit!" Nic swore, hitting the handle bars. "Gas is empty."

That familiar heart sinking feeling hit me. We were doomed.... We were doomed. I know it was impossible for us to die but still. How in the heck were we going to get out of this mess. Were we going to wind up swimming the way to shore?

"We have about 75 miles to the nearest land source. It is going to take us at least 24 hours, maybe longer, to drift that far. Even then, that is if the waves push us in the right direction." Nic said. "We can't do this, not with Sophia."

"Then what are we going to do, Nic!" I snapped. "We can't live like this. Not with Sophia. We need to fix this."

"Don't you think I am trying to." He replied through gritted teeth.

"You aren't trying hard enough!" I shouted back. "This was your stupid idea, coming here and doing this cruise as a honeymoon. I would've been fine just camping from my back yard or sailing through Puget Sound."

"Sailing the world has always been a dream of mine. A dream that I've held off because I wanted to share the experience with someone special, Renesmee. That is why we are here in this mess. Yes, things are screwed up but they will get better. I promise."

"Nic. Listen. Look around. Look where we are!" I shouted.

Nic turned to look over his shoulder. His mouth was wide open as if he was going to say something but then he froze and his eyes grew to the size of saucers.

"What... Nic?"

I turned to look at what had frightenen him and my jaw dropped. I tighened my grip on Sophia just as a giant wave overtook us. As best as I could I propelled Sophia and I to the surface. Then we were hit by another wave. Water was forced into my lungs as I was pushed under. But I fought back. I needed to get to the surface so Sophia could breath.

I kicked as hard and fast as I could, propelling myself upwards. I could feel my muscles straining as I pushed my body as hard as it could go. Then finally, I managed to break through.

I heard Sophia gasped and my heart was relieved. She was breathing. After a few more gasps and small coughs she began crying.

"That's it, baby girl. That's it." I said to her.

I was so exhausted, I couldn't keep treading the harsh waters like this. I moved to float on my back, holding Sophia tight against my chest. When I felt comfortable and sure that I would remain floating I let myself mentally relax.

"Nic." I gasped... "NIC! I screamed as loud as I could.

I made sure Sophia wouldn't fall off of my chest and then reached around for my satchel. Opening it I carefully searched for the flare and the flare gun. I quickly lit the flare and held it up, waving it around incase Nic was close by.

It felt like ages had past before something grabbed me. I almost screamed until I heard Nic's voice.

"Is Sophia alright?" he asked as he pulled us to him. He was wearing a life jacket. "Here." Nic said as he fitted me with a life jacket.

"Where did you get that from?" I asked as he snapped the buckles.

To be safe, Sophia was sharing my life jacket. Both her and I managed to fit as long as the buckles were slightly loosened. Now she was snug against my chest without any danger of her floating away.

"Compartment under the seat." He said. "That's where everyone keeps them. Are you wearing Jeans?" he asked me.

"Yes, why?"

"Are you wearing a belt?"

"Yes, why?

"Take it off, I'm going to tie us together so we don't drift apart if one or both of us were to fall asleep." He responded.

I quickly took off my belt and he looped it through both of our life jackets before securing it. Now we wouldn't drift apart. We would float to wherever the waves were going to take us.

"Do you have anymore of those flares?" He asked me.

I reached into my bag carefully and pulled out the other 8 flares I had and handed them to him. His plan was to light one every couple hours incase an airplane or boat passed by.

I watched Nic light two flares before I fell asleep.

Sometime the next day I awaken by Sophia, wriggling around against my chest. When I opened my eyes I gasped. She was slightly bigger than yesterday. Her face was slightly better proportioned, her eyes now more fitting to her face. Her hair was slightly longer by at least a few inches and the color was a few shades darker. From where her legs hung, she was at least another three inches longer in height.

"Good morning, sweetheart." I cooed to her.

She gave me a weak smile before nuzzling against my chest. She was hungry. I adjusted myself so I could feed her and let her feed extra since I was unable to feed her last night. After she finished I made sure she was tightened back to my chest.

"When do you think we will reach land?" I asked Nic.

"I don't know, but don't worry. The gps locator on the life jackets activate when it is submerged in water for longer than 20 minutes. Our parents should be on their way to rescue us."

"Is the gps coordinately accurate?" Nic nodded his head.

"Just hold on. Everything is going to be alright, I promise, Sophia." I said gently.

"How long do you think we will be stranded out here?"

"Two or three days. They have to fly from Washington and then charter a boat or a helicopter to come rescue us."

"Our parents must be freaking out right now."

"Especially my parents. They have the transmitter recievers. When the signal goes off, they will be the first to know. Imagine your son and very pregnant daughter in-law being ship wrecked in the middle of the ocean." Nic said in a lifeless tone.

"If my mom wasn't immortal, I am sure she would drop dead."

Nic adjusted his balance, so he was able to see Sophia and myself. Slowly, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine and then gave her a kiss.

"How is she doing?" He asked as he moved some strands of her hair out of her face to get a better look.

When I looked down, her eyes were closed. She was sleeping. "I don't know. But she seems sad."

"That is understandable. We will be safe soon and she will have nothing to be sad or scared about any more."

"But, there is something else, Nic. If she keeps growing at the rate she is, she will be too big to share this life jacket with me before our parents even get here."

His eyebrows came together, creating crease in the center. "If that happens, I will give her mine." As long as you both are safe.

"Nic, you can't swim indefiniately. You will get washed away."

"But, I can swim, Renesmee. Sophia can't. I will be fine."

He was right. Sophia couldn't swim but he could. After I fed Sophia, again, I took out some of the emergency food I packed in my satchel and shared it with Nic. We devoured an MRE, some crackers and beef jerky.

Once we had finished eating we did the only thing that seemed reasonable. We slept. Sleeping when we weren't even tired was hard to do but we managed. This was our routine for the next three days.

By then I had lost all hope that we would be found anytime soon. I had stopped eating, and only woke to feed Sophia who slept just as much. I made sure to feed her five times a day to try and keep up with her growth.

She was now the size of a six year old child. Just like I thought, she looked just like her father. Her skin came into its color and she now had a sun-kissed color to her, exactly like Nic. The same with her eyes and her hair.

She was perfect, but slim for her size. This came at an advatange, as she was skinny enough to still fit inside my life jacket, as long as it was loosened all the way. This meant Nic got to keep his life jacket, for now.

It had began to storm again, by the end of the third night. To keep Sophia out of the downpour Nic removed his shirt and put it on us. Because he was so tall, it was like wearing a dress. I kept my head tucked in at the neck hole, like a turtle, while Sophia stayed inside. Though she still got wet, it wasn't as bothersome.

It took me a while to fall asleep that night, because of the thunder, wind and rain. Suprisingly I slept like a baby. Though, it felt like I had just closed my eyes when I heard voices. When I opened my eyes I saw a boat. It looked like a speed boat only it was about the size of a commercial fishing boat.

"Nic, look." I breathed. I reached over and shook him awake.

"Renesmee, what..." He froze when he saw the boat. "Oh, finally!"

"Renesmee!" My mother called as she leaned over the edge. "Give me your hands, sweetheart."

I waited for Nic to unfasten my best from our life jackets and then held up my hands. My mother effortlessly pulled me from the water and onto the dry deck. Then a towel was quickly put around me.

"Wait." I said as I removed Nic's shirt from around Sophia and I before taking off life jacket. "Here, Sophia." I said as I wrapped the towel around her and lifted her into my arms.

Then Nic was at our side with a second towel that he put around me. "Lets go down stairs and get warm." He said before leading me away.

We had just changed out of our wet clothes when we were joined by our parents.

"Who?" That was the only thing my father could say.

"The night the storm him I fell and went into labor. This is Sophia, our daughter." Sophia was dressed in a tshirt that belonged to my mother. It fit her like a nightgown.

"She looks just like you, my son." Charles said.

"I can't believe I have a grand daughter!" Anne said delightfully. "This is a spectacular blessing that came out of a tragedy."

Anne knelt in front of Sophia and took her tiny hands between her own. "Hello, Sophia. I'm your grandma." Anne kissed Sophia's little hands and smiled.

The look Sophia gave her was an expression of sadness. She didn't even bother looking Anne in the eyes. She just glanced in her direction before looking down.

"What is wrong with her?" Anne asked.

"Mom, she has been through a lot these past couple days. She is probably in a great deal of shock. It won't be easy to get over." Nic replied.

Sophia turned to look at her father and rose her arms. Nic lifted her into his arms and kissed her forehead. I smiled when Sophia wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his chest before closing her eyes.

"Everything is going to be alright now, baby girl." He said to her.

That's right. Everything was fine now. We were safe and she would never have to be scared ever again.

AUTHORS NOTE: Picture to the right is Sophia. Let me know what you think about her look in comparison to Nic and Ness.