"Merry Christmas."

I pulled the edges of my blanket up underneath my chin and squeezed my eyes shut, trying sleep a couple more winks. My blanket was so warm and I was so comfy. I was in the in-between area where I could see the light streaming through my closed eyelids, but I still chased the last moments of unconsciousness. I could smell Edward's sweet, intoxicating breath in my face as he chuckled at me.

"Merry Christmas." I breathed and opened my brown eyes to face Edward's amber ones.

They brightened when they saw me. "Are you awake?" Edward asked with a hint of childlike impatience.

I groaned and sandwiched my head in my pillow. The sugar plums were not dancing in my head as they were in Edward's. "Barely." I mumbled.

"Good enough." He chuckled again. "I have a present for you."

I groaned, my mind flashing through all the lavish and extravagant things that Edward could've gotten me. "I thought we agreed we're not going to spend money on each other?" A promise I was holding him too. His idea of presents and my idea of presents were on two different planets with wide margins between the where the decimal point should go in terms of price.

"I didn't spend money." He assured.

My eyes popped opened and I rose an eyebrow.

"Much money." He corrected and grinned, his perfect row of teeth sparkling in the morning light.

I un-sandwiched my head and sat up on one elbow. "You're not going to make this morning very easy for me, are you?"

"Absolutely not." He said and rolled to his feet. "Although, this gift is more for me."

My mind went a completely different direction than cars and boats and other large, high-ticket items I thought Edward was planning on gifting me. It plunged right into the gutter as I thought about lacy lingerie. My face turned brick red. "What did you get?"

"Nothing inappropriate!" He laughed and bent down, fluidly picking up a pile of cloth. He held it up in front of his chest, his crooked grin growing wider.

It was the ugliest sweater I've ever seen. It was this off-blue color with a three-dimensional felt snowman protruding from the chest. Around him was a pompom snow scene. It looked like the poor sweatshop kids rebelled and created the monster of Christmas sweaters. The sweater that brainlessly eats other sweaters.

I felt my face twisted into a disgusted mask. "What is that?"

Edward moved the sweater over to the side to show me that he was wearing a matching one over his white button down shirt. As if only one sweater in that caliber of ugliness wasn't enough, there had to be two.

"Why would you even waste money on something like that?"

His beautiful face crumpled in disappointment. "You don't like it?"

"Edward," I said, sitting all the way up now. "That's looks like something that was pulled out of the back of Bill Cosby's closet."

"Well, its ugly on purpose." He smiled again and sat down on the edge of the bed. "We're having a competition against the others for ugliest couples' sweaters."

"We're having a competition against someone who can read the future?" I took the blue monstrosity from his hands. I noted that even in the ugliest of sweaters, Edward still managed to look like a god.

"Well, I can read minds, so I can see what she sees." He giggled, his eyes dancing. "The only couple at a real disadvantage is Emmett and Rose."

I couldn't say no to his face. He had the biggest, cheesiest grin and his honey-colored eyes flashed with mischief and humor. "Okay," I said. "I'll wear it."

"Wonderful," He said and picked up a Santa hat from the floor and tugging it over his messy bronze hair. "You better get dressed. You have presents to open."

I clapped my hand to my forehead and groaned at the thought of presents from the Cullens. "Edward…"

"Don't be a scrooge." He said.

"You're one of those overly festive types, aren't you?"

"Well," His cold fingers glided down the side of my face. "I haven't been excited for Christmas in about a century. But, you have breathed new life into me. You can say I'm a little intoxicated on Christmas spirit."

"And some spiked eggnog, it seems." I joked.

He giggled and planted a kiss on my lips. "I'll come get you like a normal person in a couple of minutes."

"Okay," I answered and watched him disappeared through the window.

I rose to my feet. If we were going to match, we might as well go all out. I never really notice what Edward was wearing. There was so much to look at when it came to him, that his clothes were the least interesting part. But, I noted his outfit today, so I could match him.

I pulled my own white button down from my closet and a pair of black jeans. Digging around the bottom of my sock drawer, I found a Santa hat that was given to me when I was in middle school choir for our Christmas show. I threw on my outfit, fixing up my collar and rolling up my sleeves – just like Edward - and my hat and made my way downstairs.

"Merry Christmas, Bells." Charlie said from the dining room table as he sipped his coffee in his uniform. His eyes bugged at the sight of my sweater. "That's an interesting outfit choice."

"Ugly sweater contest." I explained weakly.

Edward ran the doorbell at that moment and I skipped to the door to open it. My favorite crooked smile split across his face as he stepped inside Charlie's entryway. He had a wrapped present in his hands. "Good morning." He greeted and kissed me.

"Merry Christmas." I answered back.

Edward turned to my dad. "Good morning, Charlie." "I was hoping you could make an exception of the Edward-ban, so I could give you this."

Charlie looked surprised as he rose to his feet to accept his gift. "S-sure thing."

"It's from all of the Cullens." Edward explained.

We watched as my dad opened it and pulled out a kit of shiny, reflective lures for fishing. His eyes bugged again. "Wow. These are Livingston lures." He said with awe in his voice. They must've been nice lures. Or rather expensive lures.

"Merry Christmas, Charlie." Edward's smile widened as he took my hand and started guiding me out of the door, grabbing my jacket that hung on the hook in the process.

"Merry Christmas." He said, his eyes still on his lures. "Drive carefully!"

"Wow." I breathed as I took in the snow scene around me as I shrugged on my jacket. There had to be at least three to four inches of snow. The Harris' across the street had their Christmas lights on and the colors reflected on their white front lawn. It was like a Christmas card.

Perfect.

"Are you coming?" He asked, a frustrated pucker in his brow. "Or have you given into the scrooge inside of you."

I tore my eyes away from the snow. "I have to grab something from my truck." I said and carefully stepped down to make my way to my jalopy Chevy that dominated the back part of the driveway.

Edward beat me there. "I can grab it." He said. "If you want to get warm in the car."

"Okay," I said. "It's a box."

He pulled out the Budweiser twenty-four pack box. Instead of beer, the contents inside were wrapped presents. The box itself I took from Charlie. "This? Bella…" He said with a groan. "I thought we agreed that you weren't going to get us anything."

"But, you were going to get me something." I argued as I made my way to his car. "I'd feel bad if I showed up empty-handed."

He slid the box into the backseat of his silver Volvo and grabbed my hand before I could get into the passenger seat of his car. "You are my present." He said as he looked into my eyes with such ferocity that I thought I was going to blackout for a millisecond. "There is nothing more in this word that I want more than you."

"You'll like my present then." I managed to garble out as I still stared into his eyes. "I made it myself."

My favorite smile broke out across his face. He reminded me for a second of the sun baby from the Teletubbies. The joy that exuded from him was contagious. I found it hard to tear my eyes away from him.

I finally did though, just long enough to get into the car and let Edward slide in next to me in the driver's set. He pealed out of Charlie's driveway and onto the highway that lead out of Forks.

Edward sang along with 'O Come, All Ye Faithful' that played through his speakers as he moved incredibly fast down the icy road. It was comical, watching him in the ugliest sweater imaginable sing so velvety with Michael Buble on the radio. His eyes sparkled with the snow around us. The scene almost didn't work. I couldn't wrap my brain around it. It was like trying to hang a Picasso painting in a 7Eleven bathroom. I giggled as I tried imagining that.

"What is so funny?"

"You," I answered simply.

His fingers came over and squeezed mine. My hands were cold from the snow outside and it was like out temperature matched for a second. "Well, if you think I'm a little drunk on spiked eggnog, wait until you see Alice."

I went back to looking out the window, internally cringing at the stereotypical Christmas things that families did. "That bad?"

It wasn't like I completely disdained Christmas. I just grew up doing eclectic things with my mother on Christmas in the Phoenix heat. Such as seeing movies or eating Thai food on our back porch or hiking up Mummy Mountain. The traditional white Christmas thing never appealed to me. We didn't even decorate a tree half the time.

He shrugged as he sang the last couple of bars of the song, his eyebrows raising. "You'll see."

I did see.

I saw the interior of the Cullens' household changed from the last time I had been here. The gold and silver decorations had been replaced by green and red ones. Edward's piano had a Christmas town on it with a moving train that spun in circles. The tree was decorated with traditional green and red ornaments. The pillows were now in differing plaid patterns.

I also saw the sweaters got worse. It was going to be a tough competition for the ugliest. I honestly couldn't believe that any clothes maker would dare producing such evil. Emmett and Roses' sweaters were red with a clashing pattern of yellows and oranges. An elf with an obvious developmental disorder adorned the front and 'Let's Get Elfed Up' framed him. Alice's and Jasper's had a Christmas tree that dominated the sweater from their neckline to the hem. Actual glass ornaments hung from each corner of the tree.

It was Esme that got to me first. "Merry Christmas, Bella." She said and squeezed me against her granite body.

"Bella's here!" Alice sang in her high pitched voice, the ornaments clacking together on her sweater as she sped around the corner to greet us. "I'm so excited to open presents. Everyone's going to love what they get!"

"Stop it, Alice." Edward said. "I want to leave some of it to surprise."

She gave a sheepish look and Edward just rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll think of our snowball fight later."

"I'm gonna win!" Emmett called from the living room.

"No, you're not!" Alice turned back to us, a wicked grin crossing her face. "Your sweaters are atrocious."

"Yours is absolutely revolting." Edward swung his arm around my shoulder, his other hand balancing my box of presents like a waiter balancing a tray of drinks.

"You all…" I tried to think of a word that described gold dressed up as trash. "Look festive."

Emmett howled from the living room. "I told you we should've done extreme Pictionary."

Extreme Pictionary? I shook my head as I shrugged off my coat and placed it on the banister of the stairs before following the others into the living room.

Emmett was slung casually over the couch with Rose perched on his lap like a snoozing cat. Carlisle took a seat on the couch's armrest. Jasper hung near this piano, his calculating eyes taking everything in. I watched Esme take a seat on the raised hearth of the fireplace.

Alice came up behind me and took my shoulders. "Since Bella is the newest member of the family, she gets to open the first present."

"I'm not apart of the family yet." I argued, shooting a look at Edward, who just looked down at his feet.

"Of course you are." Esme said. "You have a stocking." Like the fact that I was still a fallible mortal human was trifling.

"I'm glad." Emmett said. "I was afraid we were going to have to watch Jasper open the first present for the rest of eternity."

Edward sat down cross-legged in front of the tree and I took a spot on the floor next to him. I watched as Alice handed out gifts to everyone, who took them and placed them on their laps. Alice handed the last present to me, a wide grin on her face.

I picked up the present. It was a small box wrapped in Santa-adorned wrapping paper. I sick feeling twisted my stomach. Part nausea of having everyone watch me open a present, part déjà vu from the last unfortunate gift-opening experience I had at the Cullen household.

I handed the present to Edward. "You should probably take care of the paper for me." I said sheepishly. "After last time…"

Everyone's faces grew two or three shades lighter as they all remembered my birthday from earlier this year. It was like a forgotten nightmare.

Edward's golden spirit couldn't be deterred though. He swiftly ripped open the paper in a fluid motion and then handed the box back to me. I popped the lid off and pulled out a small, black brick.

"A cellphone." I said as I held it in my hand. It was a newer one with a touch screen. I wasn't a big electronics person – my computer still ran on dial-up – but I was pretty sure this was an iPhone.

"That's from all of us." Carlisle said.

"We even put you on our family plan." Rosalie tittered. "Unlimited everything."

I clicked the phone on and saw that the background was a photo of Edward and I from school. I smiled, overcome with the generosity. I knew these things weren't cheap. "Thanks. This is really nice."

Everyone dug into their presents now. A flurry of paper and bows and ribbon exploding like a small nuclear bomb of Christmas.

"This is from me." Edward placed a shoebox-sized box in my lap and scooted closer so he could pull me into his cross-legged lap. His finger dug the edge of the wrapping paper to get it started.

"Edward," I said. "I thought we weren't going to spend money on each other."

"I didn't spend a dime." He smiled and placed a cool chin on my shoulder. "I promise."

I unwrapped the rest. It was a shoebox. A very elderly shoebox. I pulled the lid back, curious and unsure what I was going to expect to find inside.

They were framed photographs. A stack of them. They were old and yellowed. The black and white of the photograph graying or fading along the edges.

The first one was a family portrait. A woman and man dressed in simple, but elegant clothing, each of their hands on the shoulders of a boy who looked to be fifteen or maybe sixteen. None of them were smiling, except for the woman. Her smile was small and knowing, like the Mona Lisa.

I gasped as I eagerly pulled all the pictures out of the box. "Is this you, Edward?" I asked with pure astonishment.

Edward chuckled in response.

I examined the boy. His eyes were different and his face had the roundness of youth. Freckles splashed across his cheeks like constellations and his expression was of teenaged weariness. But it was definitely Edward.

I touched all the flaws. Freckles and acne and his jaw that didn't quite sit symmetrical with his face, causing his unenthused pout to sit crooked. All the things that made him human. All the things he lost when he turned into the godlike being he was now.

"You had a birth mark." I touched the spot on his neck in the photo and then twisted around to see if I could find a trace of it. Of course, Edward's throat now was smooth and white and perfectly flawless. I turned back to the photos, embarrassed I even tried to look.

I flipped to the next photo. He was boy in this one. Ten or eleven. His hair was a curly mass on his head and he squinted in the sun. He held a flat bat in one hand and a ball in the other and beamed for the camera. His smile's exactly the same. I noted. At least he didn't lose that.

"I was pretty good cricket player." He said, his eyes narrowing. "Or at least, I thought I was a good cricket player."

I laughed and flipped to the next one, my laugh dissolving into an unbelieving gasp. I picked up the photo, unable to even comprehend it. Edward just giggled above me.

It was Edward as a baby. He was dressed in what looked to be a christening gown and bonnet, his wavy hair rebellious sticking out of the edges. He held up a toy in one hand to a person off camera, his eyes squinting with his round cheeks as he smiled at them.

I melted in Edward's arms, overtaken with a million emotions. "You are the cutest." I squealed. "Look at you."

"Do you like your presents?" He giggled, his chest rising and falling with laughs as I leaned against it.

"I love them." I picked up the photo of him as a baby and held it against my chest. "They're perfect."

And they were. Edward didn't remember his human life. He described his human memories as a fuzzy blur, like a dream. He said most vampires couldn't remember, although there was an exceptional few. Alice couldn't remember anything except being a vampire.

I think trying to remember also pained him in some ways. Like, looking back on a life he never got to have. So, I never pressed it. I was thankful he became a vampire. If he didn't, we would've never met and I couldn't imagine my life without him now that he was in it.

"Do you remember taking these at all?" I asked and picked up the family portrait again to stare into the human eyes of the love of my life.

"I vaguely remember this one." He poked at the picture I was holding. "We took it right before the flu. I was in desperate need of braces."

I giggled and stacked the antique pictures neatly back in their box, knowing full well I was going to stare at them in the privacy of my bedroom later, trying to wonder what life was like for human Edward.

Without moving off of Edward's lap, I twisted around and pulled a small present from my Budweiser box and handed it to Edward. "Merry Christmas."

He pulled the paper wrapping off with one hand - the other cinched around my waist - and opened the small jewelry box inside.

It was a chunk of quartz. I had found it in the hills of Payson, Arizona one summer. When wracking my brain for a Christmas present for Edward, I had found it in a box of keepsakes from all the adventures I had gone on with my mother. Using the jewelry making skills I had learned in a class I had taken with Renee, I wrapped a piece of copper wire around it and hung it from a leather cord.

"The Chiricahuans of Southeastern Arizona have a tradition," I started to explain as Edward examined the small, glittering rock. "The women would find these quartz crystals and give them to their mates before they went off to war. They believed that no matter how long they were gone or what happened, that the people they loved wearing these would return to them."

There was silence as Edward scrutinized my handiwork. I felt a little cheesy now that I explained what it was. Like I was duped into buying a cheap souvenir. And then compared to what he gave me. It was kind of dumb…

"You made this?" He finally breathed. His eyebrows pinched together and his face twisted like it was going to cry.

I looked at my bandaged finger. "Yeah. I guess. Sort of."

"It's beautiful." He breathed and pressed a kiss to my lips. I gasped a little at his sudden movement, but very, very quickly recovered to kiss him back. "I love it."

He slipped it over his head and then went back to cupping my face. His eyes went as intense as they did outside my house. It was like watching golden melt in a smelter, the fire behind them lighting his whole face up. I felt weak and breathless. "I will never leave you, though. I promise."

I touched the white crystal that hung a little down his chest. "I know." I whispered back.

"'Ey! Get a room." Emmett called to us and then laughed at his own joke.

"How about some music?" Edward suggested while still looking into my eyes. I didn't want to detach from him, but there was a consensual agreement from everyone else that overruled me. I moved and stood up, Edward standing up with me.

He moved to his piano and uncovered the keys. With a couple of opening scales to get his fingers going, he started the first bars of 'White Christmas.' He smiled while his fingers artfully danced over the keys, filling the room with the instrumental of the Christmas classic.

"Thank you so much, Bella." Alice said and hugged my shoulders. "I love my present. This is the best Christmas ever."

I looked back at Edward, who was slowly looping in 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman' in with the melody of 'White Christmas.' His hair was sticking haphazardly out of his hat and the grin that had been on his face since the beginning of the morning was replaced by mild concentration as he listened to the music he created. "It is the best Christmas." I agreed wistfully.

We moved closer to the piano. Emmett and Carlisle leaned their elbows on the baby grand. Rosalie stayed on the couch. Esme joined at Carlisle's elbow and Alice and I hung out across from them.

Jasper appeared down the stairs holding an antique looking fiddle. "Mind if I join you?"

"Absolutely not." Edward's fingers danced and the music changed again, playing the first couple of notes of 'Carol of the Bells' with one hand.

With one foot on the piano bench, Jasper plucked along with him and then positioned his bow over his violin, assisting with the harmony on the chorus. I always enjoyed 'Carol of the Bells.' It had a passionate urgency to it. I was unlike the other feel-good Christmas tunes to it.

Played by the both of them, though, new life was brought into it. The speed picked up and Jasper and Edward's skills both shone as they played. Edward's eyebrows creased as his hands moved skillfully over the ivories and Jasper's shoulders swung as he worked his bow over his fiddle. I was entranced with their performance.

The rest of the Cullens were just as taken. Esme's eyes shone with adoration over her sons and Carlisle had his eyes closed and his mouth moved like he was praying. Alice gently swung with the music.

I looked out the window wall as the music built into a crescendo. The peaks of the mountains were blanketed with snow and the grass sparkled with the same iridescence as Edward's skin. The evergreen trees stood tall and proud against the stark white. It was beautiful and breathtaking and…

Clunk.

The music stopped with Edward's missed note. My head moved around so fast, that I thought it was going to snap off my neck. Edward had an expression of shock that quickly rearranged itself into embarrassment. Jasper frowned and took his foot off of the piano bench.

"Edward," Alice said that was half-question, half-scold.

"Sorry," He said, his eyes flashing down to the keys. "I missed a key."

My mind plunged me back to the other night when he dropped me. Back to his face of pain. Not once had he made a mistake playing the piano that I had witnessed. Obviously, his family hadn't witnessed errors either, since their expressions were all different flavors of shock.

"Are you okay?" Alice asked incredulously and stepped forward. Her eyes went distant as she looked into the futures, but then she closed them and shook her head.

Edward didn't speak or answer, he just stared down at the keys.

"Edward?" Carlisle started.

It was Emmett who spoke for him, rolling his eyes and snorting. "He's fine."

Edward's eyes were pitched down and unreadable. "I'm fine." He echoed. "Just missed a key."

"Let's go outside. That snow had been calling to me all morning." Emmett whined.

"I should probably get Bella home." Edward placed the cover down on the piano and stood up. I did a quick inventory of him. He wasn't in pain, like the other night. But, the cheer from earlier seemed to have blown out of him. "You have a dinner to get to."

I thought about Jacob and the La Push dinner and glanced at my new iPhone. 2:47. "Yeah," I agreed, my thoughts still on Edward. "When the white, ice projectiles start flying, Bella disappears."

"Aw man," Alice pouted. "I don't want you to leave. We can play something else. Extreme Pictionary?"

My eyebrows rose. "To be completely honest, I have no idea what that is and I'm a little afraid to ask at this point."

Alice pouted. "Wou-,"

"Alice," Edward snapped harshly. "She doesn't want to play."

Alice glared at him and he glared back, an unspoken conversation going on. I watched Alice's expression grow petulant. Edward shook his head at her and her eyes flashed.

Emmett snorted in frustration and with a quick "I'm going outside" he dashed out the kitchen door.

"Good job ruining the Christmas spirit, guys." Rosalie rolled her eyes and followed Emmett. Soon there was delighted shriek and a crash that sounded like a rock being thrown from outside.

"Fine." Alice finally snapped at Edward and then turned to me. "I'm so glad we got to spend Christmas together, Bella." She hugged me and then ran outside to join the others.

"Bella," Jasper nodded and put his fiddle down on the piano next to the miniature Christmas town. "Merry Christmas." He followed Alice.

Carlisle and Esme gave their goodbyes and soon I was back in Edward's silver Volvo, my shoebox on my lap and my new phone in my hand, speeding down the highway.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing." He said quietly.

"Edward," I groaned his name. "There's something going on that you aren't telling me."

"Nothing's going on." He insisted.

"Then why were you fighting with Alice?"

"She was irritating me." He said simply.

I fell silent, letting my attention go to my gifts and stealing glances at Edward out of the corner of my eye. His eyes were set on the road, but I could his jaw was tight. His knuckles of his right hand were tense around the top of the steering wheel. His left hand was relaxed on his lap.

We pulled into my driveway and I looked at the blanket of snow that replaced my front lawn. I was upset. Edward was hiding something from me. The memory of his twisted face made my stomach flip. But, it was more than that. I was upset that he felt that he had to hide something from me. That he knew he was being dishonest and hurting me and yet was doing it anyway

"Bella," Edward said quietly. I turned, half-expecting him to tell me whatever the hell was going on. His expression was changed though. A grimness making his golden eyes dark. "Be safe in La Push." He said.

I snorted with frustration and unbuckled my seatbelt. "They're not going to do anything. My father is going to be there. They're not savages and-,"

Edward kissed me suddenly, a small smile on his lips. "I know." He said. "I still worry."

"Well, I'm not helpless." I got out with my box and slammed the door shut, angry that he would even surmise that the wolves would hurt me on Christmas. I started to walk towards my house, but then stopped myself. I leaned down to look through the passenger window.

"Yes?" Edward asked when he got the window down.

"What's my phone number?" I asked. "So, I can give it to Charlie."

"It's in your contacts." He said an amused smile crossing his lips.

"Oh, okay." I said and looked at the black brick. "Thank you."

"Merry Christmas, Bella." He said. "I love you."

"I love you too." I tore my eyes away from his face to take stock of him before he left for the evening. He had pulled his hat off, but that god-awful Christmas sweater was still as loud as ever. His eyes shone again, the humor back in them.

My heart caught in my throat as I looked at his hand - his left one - the one that was relaxed on his lap only moments ago. It was clenched, like a fist. But, his fingers twisted around painfully in a spasm.

But, then I had to blink. And his hand was back to normal, resting exactly as it did on our ride over here.

I looked into his face, only one thought occurring to me.

What is going on?


cue cute Christmas scene. I told you I would shoehorn it in here. All opinions expressed over ugly sweaters are Bella's and are not endorsed by TheMetaBard or any of TheMetaBard's subsidiaries. Also, someone PLEASE tell me the rules for extreme pictionary in the reviews. Also review if you liked the chapter. And just review what you had for dinner you are my only friends and i am lonely k thx bye