Picture Perfect.
"Awwwww, come on, honey, don't be a spoilsport. It'll be cute. I bought us all matching ones, see..." Jacob grins at Bella excitedly (albeit with a slight pout) as he holds up five horrendously corny, knitted Christmas sweaters, each one exactly the same in design - a furry reindeer front and center, complete with a flashing red nose and 3D sparkly antlers - just different in size.
"Jaaaaacob," Bella whines, "why do we have to do this every year? You know the girls loathe this as much as I do, and there's no way Anna'll stay still long enough whilst we do this..."
"They'll appreciate it when they're older, honey, trust me. They're just camera shy like their mother." Jacob winks at her. "You know what I've been thinking?"
Bella raises an eyebrow. "I never know what you're thinking. If I did, I would have made myself scarce today..."
"I'm thinking that we need a boy to balance out this brood. I'm overrun with miniature Bella's..."
With that, said two miniature Bella's came toddling into the kitchen, rubbing their chocolate doe eyes sleepily. Jacob sweeps the two girls into his arms, handing over the sweaters to Bella. The twins smile up at Jacob, snuggling their rosy cheeks into each of his shoulders.
"Saying that...another mini-you would be amazing, too." Jacob smiled.
"Okay, that's enough baby talk," Bella says, rolling her eyes and suppressing a smile, before lifting the twins from Jacob's arms and into her own. "Let's go wake your sister and get this over and done with," Bella mumbles with a sigh as she pads off down the hallway.
...
"Come on, Bells. Smile. Set a good example for our children will ya?" Jacob yells at Bella as he starts the timer on his fancy, new camera with a huge smile (Bella should have known it was a bad idea to get Jacob an all-singing, all-dancing, state-of-the-art camera as a gift, but she loved his smile, and she loved being the cause of it even more, so she figured all the grief was worthwhile) and sets it down on the tripod that is buried in three feet of snow.
"I would gladly smile, Jacob, but my cheeks are numb, my lips are frozen, I'm literally knee deep in snow, and...yep, Anna's just spit up all down my sweater. That's what she thinks of Rudolph and his stupid, flashing, red nose..." Bella grumbles under her breath.
"Don't worry, I'm coming to warm you up." Jacob chuckles, jogging over to his family as the ten-second timer on the camera begins its countdown.
Beep. "Rudolph isn't the only one with a red nose." Jacob laughs, kissing Bella's nose; the heat of his breath radiates all over her face.
Beep. "We're not all one hundred and eighty degrees like you are." Bella sighs snuggling into his side.
Beep. "Dadda, icky." Maria squirms, pulling at her father's pant leg and scratching the skin of her neck where the outrageous sweater was itching her.
Beep. "Don't worry, kiddo. We're nearly done." Jacob chuckles, patting the toddler's head.
Beep. "You mean, you're not gonna make us stand here in the freezing cold like you did last year so you can take some 'scenic shots?'" Bella says, raising an eyebrow.
Beep. "Hey, it was the first year in our new house. Besides..."
Beep. "...photo's make memories. Yeah, I know."
Beep. "I just want to remember these moments, is all." Jacob sighs.
Beep. "I know, and I love you for that. Even if I do moan about it," Bella says, smiling up at Jacob as he squeezes her and Anna to his side, kissing their heads in turn.
Beeeeeeeeeeep. "Okay, everyone say smelly snowman..." Jacob yells, pulling a totally goofy face.
"Smelly snowman." Bella giggles as Jacob ruffles her hair.
"Swelly bowman," the twins squeal in sync.
Flash.
...
Later that evening, Jacob stares at the photograph - at his beautiful wife and their three equally beautiful children - in awe, and wonders how he ever got so lucky.
"Didn't your Dad ever tell you that if the wind changes, your face'll stay like that forever?" Bella giggles as she looks at the photo from over Jacob's shoulder.
Jacob laughs. "Yeah. It's lucky our girls look so much like their mother, huh." Jacob smiles, still staring at the photo. "Although...with those looks, they're gonna give us some grey hairs when they're older, that's for sure."
"I'm just waiting for one to come along that looks like you."
...
The next day, Bella got a surprise Christmas present in the form of a positive pregnancy test, and a year later, yet another mini-Bella was featured in the Blacks' annual festive photograph.
Jacob adored his five beautiful girls though, and wouldn't have it any other way.