~December 1968~
Time passed, Carlisle got even more attached to the kids and they got more attached to him - even when he went back to work they still spent as many evenings together as humanly possible. One afternoon in late November Carlisle came home from work with a stowaway - a Christmas tree on a blanket tied to the top of the Mercedes.
"Oh wow! A Christmas tree!" Emmet said. He took Alice from Edward so his brother could help Carlisle bring the tree inside.
Edward and Carlisle and Emmett dragged the tree inside the house to the living room and put it in its stand. "Whew." Carlisle said, "That thing was a heavy tree." - and that was no surprise - it was an 8 foot tall tree... "There are lots of decorations down in the basement we can bring up." Carlisle said. "I have a candy themed tree, a red and gold antique tree, and a white and blue ice/winter tree - you can pick which one you want to use this year."
Emmett went down stairs with Edward to get the decorations. "Dada...up...": Alice said, having learned a few more words in the last few months.
Carlisle chuckled and swung her into his arms to look at the tree. "It's pretty isn't it?"
Alice reached out to touch the tree. "Ree..."
Carlisle grinned. They played Christmas music and decorated the tree and talked about what they wanted for Christmas. "What do you want for Christmas?" Carlisle asked Edward- since he hadn't spoken.
"I don't really need anything..." Edward mumbled.
"But what would you like?" Carlisle asked, curious.
"I don't know...I mean I can't think of anything..."
"Well is there anything you've always wanted and just never had?"
Edward thought for a moment and shook his head. "Oh come on Edward...just tell him..." Emmet goaded.
Carlisle raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "Yes I'm listening?"
Edward stayed silent. "Edward always wanted a dog..." Emmett confessed, getting a look from his brother.
Carlisle chuckled, "What kind of Dogs do you like?" He asked, curious.
Edward looked up. "I've always liked Siberian Huskies....but you really don't have to worry about it...I have enough..."
Edward looked at Emmett accusingly. "Sorry..." his brother mouthed.
Carlisle watched the two of them with a slight smirk on his face. Carlisle loved animals - especially dogs and he'd had several in his growing up years but he'd never gotten one since he moved to the States. It hadn't seemed fair to have a dog when he was the only one home and had been working so much.. what about now.. what about when there were kids in the house responsible enough to help take care of a dog - and he did have a large back yard.. annnd he had heard huskies were very friendly and social.. and it would be fun to go mushing sometime. He chuckled inwardly at the last thought and looked over at Emmett giving him a wink.
Emmett smiled at Carlisle, understanding the meaning behind the wink.
A couple of days later Carlisle had an off day shift. He tended to work about three days in a row and then be off for the rest of the week or just on call. He shared on call rotations with the other doctors so he was lucky enough not to get called in every single night.
He was having a steaming cup of coffee in the break room and reading the newspaper that morning while the others talked. He had already delivered Edward and Emmett to school and Alice was in the hospital employees' daycare down in the basement. It had taken a long adjustment. She would scream every time he left, but Carlisle knew she couldn't be with him 24-7 and the workers in the day care were extremely devoted. He could also run down and check on her during his lunch break.. just to be sure she was okay.
"Do you guys know any husky breeders?" He asked his co-workers, taking a deep drink from his mug.
"I've heard of one around here...I'm not really sure where..." Jacklyn said.
"That helps a lot." Carlisle joked.
"Well...check the yellow pages!" she chuckled.
Carlisle grinned and went to the counter to get the phone book, sticking his tongue out at her. He searched through the yellow pages until he found a phone number and address and decided to go by the place on his lunch hour. He could only hope they had a litter at the current time.
"Getting a dog?" she asked.
"Hopefully." Carlisle said, tucking the paper into his white coat pocket.
"Well that's nice...I'm guessing its for the kids..."
Carlisle nodded "Yeah a Christmas surprise."
Jacklyn chuckled. "They've really gotten to you haven't they?"
"Yeah they sure have.." He admitted, smiling. "I can't imagine life without them really."
"Well, that's great Carlisle..."
He grinned, "Yeah I dunno I want them to just stay forever. I know it's a horrible thing to say as a doctor but I hope their parents never get cleaned up."
"Yes, well...from what people have said, chances of that are slim..." Jacklyn admitted.
"Anyway I should probably do my rounds - I'll see you guys later."
During his lunch hour he got in his Mercedes and headed to the address he'd written down. It was a house - a large one out of the way, a big similar to the way his was set up. He could hear barking from back behind the house and he walked up to the door and rang the bell.
After a minute, the door was answered by a very pretty and very tired looking woman. "Hello, how may I help you?"
"Hi there.. I'm Carlisle Cullen.. I saw an ad in the yellow pages that you breed Siberian huskies."
"Yes, are you interested in getting a dog?"
Carlisle nodded.
"Wonderful...follow me and we can talk and look through the kennels..."
Carlisle smiled, "Thanks." He said, following along behind her.
"Well, our Huskies are all purebred and AKC registered. Are you interested in and adult or a puppy?"
Carlisle smiled, this was impressive. "A puppy." He said. He hadn't asked Edward, but he could guess Edward might like to train his own puppy and give it a name and such.
"Alright, any particular color, you can choose from grey and white, brown and white, black and white, or solid white..."
"Well.. I like grey and whites the best but I'm more concerned with making sure it's a friendly puppy. I've got three kids."
The woman chuckled. "Alright, well I can show you our current puppies this way..."
Carlisle followed her through the house out back towards her kennels, a grin on his face the entire time.
"Here they are..." she said cheerfully as a group of puppies rushed forward.
"Oh my!" He said with a chuckle, "They're very small.. when are you expecting this litter to be able to go to homes?"
"Um...well I would say a week and a half to two weeks...this is our 'Christmas' litter..."
"Excellent." he said, that was what he'd been hoping for. He sat on the floor for a little while and looked each of the puppies over trying to make a decision - this was difficult.
After a minute one puppy managed to sneak its way into Carlisle's lap and snuggled close to him.
He grinned. It was a grey and white with brilliant blue eyes and soft markings. He stroked the puppy's head gently and stood up, holding onto the squirming ball of fluff. "I think this is the one." He said.
The puppy yipped happily and tried to stretch and lick his face.
Carlisle grinned at the breeder, "Would you like me to pay you for him now or later?"
"Um, now is fine, whichever is more convenient."
"Alright." He said. He went to the car after his checkbook and they settled the amount. "Would it be alright if I came back for him on Christmas Eve morning? - if I need to come sooner I can. I don't want to impose." He said.
"That's fine...actually for Christmas puppies, we have something special we do. We'll put a bow around his neck, and put him in a special carrier box that looks like a gift.:
Carlisle chuckled, "That's perfect." He said with a nod, "I'll see you in a couple of weeks."
"Thanks! Hope you enjoy the puppy..."
He grinned and waved, disappearing down the sidewalk.
The next two weeks passed very quickly. Carlisle went Christmas shopping for the kids and they all decorated the house and planned what they wanted to have for Christmas dinner, including plenty of candy. Christmas Eve Carlisle snuck out to get the puppy while the kids were involved in their breakfast preparations and on the way home it started to snow furiously. He counted himself lucky to get him, the puppy, and all the things he'd been hiding in his trunk from the pet store, home safely.
He put the Christmas carrier in his room and shut the door quietly knowing the puppy would probably spend the better part of the day sleeping.
Later that night Carlisle put a fire in the fireplace and they hung stockings and presents began to appear under the tree from where they'd been wrapping presents all day long, each of them hidden away in their own respective "workshops." Carlisle moved the puppy present downstairs carefully.
"You know back at home.. we always used to have a tradition that everyone should open one present on Christmas Eve." He said.
Emmett grinned. "I like that tradition..."
"You're the oldest. I think you should open that big box over there." Carlisle told Edward.
Edward looked up at him and hesitated, but soon made his way to the box. Carefully, he opened it and looked inside. All of a sudden his face lit up and he turned to look at Carlisle.
Carlisle grinned innocently, "It's not coal is it?" He smirked.
Edward just shook his head and looked back in the box. He slowly reached in and picked up the drowsy puppy and looked at him.
"You didn't say what color you wanted soo I had to guess."
"It's great...thanks Carlisle..." Edward looked up, his eyes glistening with the tears he was trying to hold back.
Carlisle couldn't help but smile. "You're welcome." He said. "Do you know what you're going to call him?"
"Um...." Edward thought for a minute and smirked. "Coal..."
Carlisle chuckled, "Very funny wise guy. But it suits him." he said, looking at the drowsy puppy who was half asleep in Edward's arms with a big red bow tied around his neck. Edward walked back over to his family. Alice looked at the puppy and smiled. "You have to be very gentle with the puppy." Carlisle told Alice, lifting her onto his lap so that she could see better. "You never want to pull his ears or his tail because that would hurt him." Alice looked up at him and then back at the puppy. She slowly reached her hand out and touched the fur on his back. She pulled her hand back and giggled. "That's a good girl." He said with an approving nod, "He has very soft fur doesn't he?" Alice smiled at Carlisle. "We'll fix it up so he can go in and out as he pleases." Carlisle said.
Edward just nodded, not taking his eyes off the puppy.
Carlisle nodded to Emmett and Alice who each opened a present too - though Alice had much more fun with the wrapping paper and empty box than the present inside and even though the presents were nice, nothing compared to Edward's puppy.
After a while all the kids started yawning. Eventually Carlisle sent them all upstairs, telling them that Santa wasn't going to come if they didn't get to sleep. After they had gone he put presents in the stockings, drank the milk and ate the cookies which Alice had left and put a few more presents under the tree and wrote back to Alice's letter which she had left on the kitchen table. After that he went upstairs to bed, dreaming of just how lucky he was.
Though the night wasn't any different from the others as far as Alice's night terrors, the next morning the house was filled with excitement. First thing in the morning, Emmett and Edward knocked on Carlisle's door to make sure they could come in.
Carlisle sat up and rubbed his eyes, "Morning." He said, which was his usual greeting.
"Merry Christmas Carlisle..." they both chimed.
He chuckled and motioned to them to join him on the bed. Alice wasn't up yet it appeared and Edward came bringing Coal who Carlisle figured had spent the entire night snuggled close to Edward, who probably wasn't going to let the puppy out of his sight anytime soon..
"So...when are we supposed to start getting everything ready for the day?" Edward asked.
"Whenever you guys prefer. I don't have to work - yay for seniority. So I'm all your guys' for the day."
"Great...well um...we have gifts and things, but we should probably wait until Alice is awake..."
"Gifts and things?" Carlisle asked, curious.
Emmett grinned big, "Did you really think we weren't going to get you something?"
Carlisle felt his face flush. "Well you didn't have to." He said, somewhat surprised.
"Well, it was the least we could do, you've done so much for us..." Edward muttered.
Carlisle leaned forward and pulled both of them into a tight hug. "You guys are my family now." He said simply.
Both boys smiled and hugged him back. After a few minutes a little voice could be heard from down the hall. "Dada...."
Carlisle looked up, "Be back in a minute." he said, getting up and going to Alice's room. "Merry Christmas." He said.
She smiled and reached for him. "Dada..."
He pulled her out of bed. "You're getting bigger every day I think." He said, placing her on his hip. Alice leaned forward and placed her lips on his cheek in a big baby kiss. Carlisle smiled at her and carried her back towards his room and tossed her playfully in the center of the bed before joining them. Alice laughed an smiled up at the others. "It's our first Christmas together." Carlisle said. "And I hope it's the first of many."
"Me too!" Emmett said cheerfully. "Me too..." Edward murmured. Alice looked around and cooed and smiled.
"So I think we should go downstairs and open presents." He smirked. "And then I'll fix pancakes."
Emmett and Edward climbed out of the bed and waited for Carlisle and Alice before making their way downstairs.
There were lots of presents piled under the tree- some wrapped not as neatly since the boys had done them and all with pretty bows on top.
Edward walked to the tree and helped pass out the gifts, leaving one for last.
They started tearing into the presents. Carlisle got Emmett a beginner's tool kit and he was anxious to see if he liked it. For Edward there were puppy supplies, and for Alice there was a huge (larger than her) stuffed Pooh Bear.
After a few more gifts, Alice was buried under a pile of wrapping paper she had collected, Emmett was looking over all his gifts and Edward had taught Coal to play with one of the toys Carlisle had gotten. Then Edward stood and went to get the last gift. "Um, Carlisle...this one is from all of us..." Inside the sloppily wrapped package was a oversized coffee mug with a picture of all three kids and on the other side were the words "World's Best Dad!"
Carlisle took the package and started undoing it- it took awhile because Emmett, who had wrapped it, didn't know the meaning of conservative taping. He finally finished getting the paper off and took the mug out of its little box and turned it around looking.
He felt the biggest lump rise in his throat and he silently leaned over and wrapped his arms around all three of them at once. A few tears escaped and he managed, "Thanks.. it's the best gift I got."
Both boys wrapped Carlisle in a hug and Alice giggled as they were all smushed together. "So are you..." Edward mumbled.
He smiled and thought he might never stop smiling. "This is the best Christmas ever." He murmured.
Edward and Emmett smiled at each other and nodded. "Definitely..."
