Green Eyed Girl
Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight. I just have my own take on things. Please read and review. Story is told from Bella POV. Takes place in the future after Breaking Dawn. Reneesme is an adult in this story.
I really used to enjoy this time of year. When I was human, Charlie and I would decorate the house and trim the tree. I would bake cookies and make eggnog and sometimes we would go caroling with some of the other neighborhood families. I still look forward to the holidays, but for an entirely different reason. Sure Christmas is the one time a year when our entire vampire family gets together. Esme insists on it. Even if we haven't heard from each other in months, we all trek back to our house in Forks to celebrate. That's still not the reason I'm so enamored with the month of December. It's because it's the one month of the year that I am guaranteed to see him.
He's still just as handsome as I remember and he still takes my breath away. I'm lucky that my heart no longer beats or it would be wildly thumping against my chest. He smiles and I am transported to a place I haven't visited in a while. Where long afternoons were spent rebuilding motorcycles and eating junk food and falling in love. Yes, I can admit that I am in love with him. It's just too late. He makes a beeline for Reneesme, looking at her like she is the only woman in the room. I suppose to him she is. I've known her entire life that this would happen. The imprint denotes that he be whatever she needs him to be. When she was little, he was a playmate. As she grew older, he was more a partner in mischief. And now, now he has come to mean something more. I see it in the way her face lights up when she notices he's there. She dashes toward him and he smiles at her. My smile. Or it used to be anyway. Now it, like his heart, belongs to her.
Edward wraps his arms around my waist and I lean into his embrace trying to shake off the melancholy feelings. He had been my choice all those years ago. I had never wanted another man more than I wanted Edward Cullen. Why couldn't I be satisfied with that? My long cold body longs for another's touch and I am glad Edward can't read my thoughts. How would he feel if he knew that I pictured another face when we kissed? He nuzzles my neck and I try not to pull away. I don't want Jake to see him touching me even though that makes no sense. We could go at it right here in front of everybody and he still wouldn't notice. He only has eyes for her.
Esme calls everyone together to open presents and we gather around the brightly decorated tree. We all ooh and ahh appropriately as gifts are exchanged. I get a sweater from Alice and Jasper and a beautiful piece of African art from Emmett and Rosalie and tickets to Paris from Carlisle and Esme. Edward has already given me my gift earlier in private. It was a first edition book of poetry that I loved. There is only one more gift for me to open. I always save his for last. This year it is a double frame that holds two pictures of us. One had been taken when we were children, playing in the surf on First Beach. The second had been taken during the time that Edward was away. It was also on the beach. We were sitting on a piece of driftwood, laughing hysterically. I remember the exact afternoon it was taken. Jared and Quil had been wrestling in the surf and Quil had lost his board shorts in the scuffle. Watching him run naked down the beach as they floated off had sent all of us into gales of laughter. I can't remember who snapped the picture, but I am grateful for the memory. I hug Jake in thanks for my gift, but it is far too brief. Has he always been so warm?
I watch him fiddle with a package in his hands before handing it to Reneesme. She opens it to find an empty ring box. By the time she looks up in question he is already on one knee. Everything seems to move in slow motion. His mouth is moving but I don't hear a word. I watch him put the ring on her finger and pick her up into a bone crushing hug. She is suddenly surrounded by the women in the room admiring the ring and the men are congratulating him on the engagement. I stand rooted to the spot, wondering if vampires can faint, or throw up because right now I feel like doing both. Edward is talking to me and I force myself to focus on his handsome face.
"Bella," he says excitedly, "our little girl is getting married!"
I should be happy for them. Everybody else is. Wolves and vampires usually don't get along, but Jake is so easy to love. I should know. He has earned his place in our family. I am about to excuse myself when my daughter bounds over to me.
"Look, Mom! Can you believe it?" She holds out her hand and she is wearing a flawless princess cut diamond. She wraps her arms around me, and whispers to me.
"I love him so much, Mom! He's so loving and warm. He's like my own sun." Her words cause my stomach to clench. I can't say anything, but she does not notice. He's pulling her away for a private moment. My eyes unwillingly follow them to the patio and I see him pull her close and kiss her soundly. I am colder now than I've ever been. Tears that cannot be shed sting at my eyes. I am willing this not to be true. Suddenly, I am hit with the gravity of just how long an eternity is. It is a long time to live with a mistake. It's a long time to deal with the consequences of making the wrong choice, and most of all it's a long time to watch the one you love lavish his love on someone else.
I think from now on, I kind of hate Christmas.
A/N: A story with no sex. A first for me. Let me know what you thought. Please review!!!!