Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own! Song credit to Relient K
Thanks again for all of the reviews!
"Can't hold a candle to her
'cause all the moths get in the way.
And they'll begin to chew her,
entire attire until it frays.
For she outshines anyone whoever might
Dare to bask in the same candlelight."
Candlelight
"Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus lane-"
"If I have to listen to this song one more time I am going to impale myself on that clothes rack." Jamie muttered as the two of us stood and watched as Grams looked over the men's clothes. She was trying to find a burgundy shirt that she was sure would look wonderful on Paul; however it wasn't that easy considering the size needed to fit him.
"Oh it's not that bad, Jamie. This is only the fourth time it has played since we've been in here. At least it's not 'Holly Jolly Christmas' which I think has played at least six times."
I loved Christmas music, but there were only so many times a person could go hearing a song in one day and not end up hating it. The same thing had happened when I was a little kid to one of the Disney songs my sister had a tape of. She played that thing at least ten times a day…until I took the tape and destroyed it. To this day I don't think she knows what happened to her Hercules tape.
"Finally!" Grams shouted, causing both Jamie and I to sigh in relief.
With the burgundy shirt in hand, which I had to admit would look wonderful on Paul, the three of us made our way to one of the checkout counters with our purchases in hand. I was also getting Paul some clothes, but his real present was already taken care of and was something I didn't buy in the mall.
"I think Paul will appreciate the book I found him before I left campus." Jamie stated casually as the items I picked out for Paul were scanned. "It's a lovely book called 'When enough is enough: muscle obsession'."
I rolled my eyes and chuckled a bit, "He's not obsessed with his body, Jamie."
"How else did he get into that type of physical condition? For all we know he and his buddies could have a severe physiological issue that needs to be dealt with!"
Little did she know that it was more like a genetic issue, not psychological. But I couldn't tell her that their physical appearance was a side effect of them shifting into large vampire killing wolves, she probably wouldn't believe that anyway.
"Last time I checked you were getting your Masters in Communication, not Psychology."
"I took psychology classes in my undergrad, Mar."
"So did I doofus, and he doesn't have a psychological issue. He is just in good shape."
"Well, I'm still giving him the book." Jamie replied as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't worry; I got him something else as well."
"I'm almost afraid to ask what it is." I muttered.
"It better be something appropriate and thoughtful, Jamie." Grams warned as she poked a finger into Jamie's arm.
"Of course it is! Besides the book I got him a huge box of these amazing cookies from a bakery down the street from my apartment. They'll probably be gone in ten minutes, so you guys better sneak one before he inhales them tomorrow night."
When the three of us returned home from our shopping trip we went our separate ways. Grams went to wrap up the last of her presents, Jamie went to raid the fridge and I went into the garage to check on my present for Paul.
I was greeted by the sound of a small bark from the makeshift kennel I built with materials left over from when Buck and Grams had beagles for hunting. With a smile I kneeled down and opened the little door, holding out my arms to the German Shepherd Collie mix puppy I got Paul.
A week ago I had been sitting around reading the newspaper trying to figure out what to get Paul for Christmas while I read the comics. That was when an add on the opposite page caught my eye. 'Puppies!' Of course my heart had melted at the idea. Who could resist puppies? So the next day I drove down to Forks to the old man's house. His German Shepherd had given birth to five puppies and by the time I got there three were left. There were two boys that the guy informed me he had not named, but then there was the girl left. He called her Belle.
"Come here Belle." I smiled as the black and brown puppy ran into my arms with affectionate licks to my hands and chin. "Paul is going to love you isn't he? And I'm going to have to come over and see you every day."
"Mar! Paul is walking up the drive!" Jamie hissed through the side door of the garage.
I sprung into action immediately and pushed Belle back into the kennel before I jumped up and ran back into the house the back way. I skidded to a stop in the kitchen where Grams had started to make a soup, so to look natural I picked up the spoon and started stirring the pot, trying to calm my racing heart.
"Hey Mar! Something smells delicious!" Paul greeted as he walked into the kitchen to take a look at what was on the stove.
"Get that big nose out of here until dinner is ready."
Paul pouted before he grabbed a muffin from the bread basket beside me and darted out of the kitchen before I could stop him. Ha! Well at least he hadn't figured out that I was up to something.
Xxx
On Christmas Eve day I woke to the sight of a light dusting of snow on the ground. I smiled at the sight; happy to see that it would, in fact, be a white Christmas.
The three of us spent the day in the kitchen getting the food ready for tonight and after Jamie got caught stealing ingredients she was thrown out and put on present duty; wrapping the last of the presents and arranging them under the tree in the living room.
By the time five o clock rolled around Grams and I finally finished in the kitchen and went our separate ways to change for dinner. Before I changed my clothes though, I headed out to the garage to grab Belle. I brought her inside and after I tied a red ribbon around her neck I left her in the back porch until present time.
Just as I came down the stairs dressed in a pair of dark jeans and my very comfy red sweater, Paul walked through the front door looking very handsome in his leather jacket. In his hand he carried a bag full of presents which Jamie took from him to place under the tree.
"I've got another one out in my truck." Paul stated. "You guys go ahead and I'll be at the table in a minute."
While Paul went back out to his truck, Jamie and I joined Grams in putting the dishes full of food out on the dining room table. As I did so I couldn't help but remember what had happened a month ago in this same room. In February the divorce would be final and I'd still be left with no baby to show for it.
Paul came into the room a few minutes later with a wide smile on his face as he dramatically sniffed the air like a dog. Jamie quirked a brow before she threw her napkin at him and I just continued to pour some sparkling grape juice into our cups.
"It smells delicious, ladies." Paul grinned.
"You know me; I slaved over the hot stove all day for you." Jamie joked.
Paul laughed, "If you cooked this I don't think I want any."
"I am not that bad!" Jamie cried defensively.
"Yeah Paul." I agreed with a laugh. "Besides you eat anything, I've seen it."
"True; I'll give you that."
"Alright you three, let's say grace and start eating this meal Marilyn and I worked hard on." Grams interrupted our shenanigans with a small smile.
As usual, it didn't take very long for Paul to eat his way through both his first and second courses. By the time Paul was on his third helpings Jamie and I were both slumped back in our seats, our bellies full of yummy Christmas food and we hadn't even made it to the pies yet!
"Who wants pie?" Grams asked as she grabbed the pumpkin and chocolate pies off of the buffet.
"Me! One of each please." Paul grinned as he held out his dessert plate eagerly.
Jamie moaned, "I'll eat mine after gifts."
"I think I can get down a small piece of pumpkin, Grams." I replied as I held out my own dessert plate to her.
While Paul and I ate our pie Jamie and Grams started to clean up dinner and by the time we were done, most of the cleaning up had already been done by the two of them.
"Present time!" Jamie yelled excitedly, just like she did when she was eight years old. It was nice to see that some things never changed. Jamie had always been that kid that woke up the whole family at three in the morning to open presents. It got to the point where I finally shoved my dresser in front of my door before I went to bed on Christmas Eve so she couldn't barge into my room. I loved Christmas too, but seven was a much more appropriate present opening hour than three.
"How old are you?" Paul asked with a teasing smile.
"Shut up." Jamie called over her shoulder as she dove down onto the floor next to the Christmas tree.
"Well, since you're down there you can pass out the gifts, Jamie." Grams suggested.
It didn't take her long to pass out the presents and by the time she was done we each had a pile of about five. Jamie insisted on going first because she was the youngest and proceeded to open my gift to her which was the sweater I'd seen her admiring the other day at the store.
"Thanks Mar. How did you buy that without me knowing?"
"I have my ways." I replied. "Mostly I learned from Grams how to do that."
Grams smiled, "Yeah, I bought both of you a few presents the other day and you didn't even notice."
After a few rounds of present opening Paul was ripping the paper off of Jamie's present; the book we had had a conversation about at the mall. His face was priceless as he read the title and looked up at me with a quirked brow. He then turned his gaze to Jamie.
"Mar says you're just 'healthy', but I have my doubts." She stated calmly.
Paul started laughing, "Believe me, if I had a muscle obsession you would know. But thanks anyway Jamie."
Jamie huffed, "That's not your only gift, doofus."
Paul looked around his pile and found the box that contained the cookies Jamie had told us about. When Paul lifted off the lid I was hit with the delicious aroma of star shaped pecan sandies.
"Pecan sandies!" I yelled excitedly. "And you didn't get me any?"
Pecan sandies were my absolute favorite cookie and unfortunately people only seemed to make them around Christmas.
"I figured Paul would share with you." Jamie replied.
"You better share, Noels." I warned as Paul stuffed a cookie into his mouth.
He smiled, his lips and teeth coated in powdered sugar before he offered the box to me. I smiled back and took two of the delicious stars.
Once all of the presents from around the tree were gone I turned to Paul with a smile on my face just as he was turning to do the same.
"I have something else for you." I stated as he opened his mouth to say something too.
"So do I, for you."
"Alright then, I'm going to go get it and meet you back here." I said before I stood up and headed to the back porch where Belle was waiting.
I grabbed the box I had decorated and put strategic holes into and then opened the door to see Belle curled up on the old wicker chair on the porch. Her ears perked up as I walked out onto the porch and I smiled at how adorable she looked in her red ribbon. Paul was going to love her. After I got her settled into the box with minimal barking I hoped Paul's super hearing hadn't picked up on, I walked back into the living room where Paul was waiting with a large box by his feet.
He quirked a brow at the sight of me carrying a large green box and took it from me when I offered it out to him.
"Who is opening theirs first?" I asked.
"Same time." Jamie suggested with a knowing smile.
Paul and I both nodded before we turned to our boxes. Mine was decorated with cute penguin paper and as I pulled off the lid I noticed that there were holes punched into his box as well. When I finally looked down into the box it was to see a black lab puppy curled up with a green and red ribbon tied around his neck.
"Paul you didn't!" I gasped as I lifted my puppy, which I noticed was a boy as I pulled him out of the box and onto my lap.
"You did the same thing!" Paul laughed as he pulled Belle out onto his lap.
Both Grams and Jamie were laughing and smiling as the two of us took in the sight of our new puppies.
"What's her name?" Paul asked curiously as he stroked in between her ears. "I accidently named yours and was hoping you did the same."
"How do you accidentally name a dog?" Jamie snickered from the floor.
"She already had a name; it's Belle." I replied. "And yeah, how do you accidentally name a dog?"
Paul chuckled, "Well the first night I brought him home he immediately found our T-Rex and ripped off his tail. Somehow in that panic of fixing him I ended up calling the dog Rex and it stuck."
I laughed at that, "I like it."
"I can't believe you two had the same idea." Grams laughed as she got up to inspect both of our puppies.
I smirked, "Great minds think alike."
"Jeez, where's my puppy?"
"Shut up Jamie, you killed your pet fish." Paul laughed.
"Unfair! Moby Dick jumped out of the bowl."
I snorted, "I could make a comment about that, but I'll keep my mouth shut. Anyway, thanks Paul, I love Rex."
Paul smiled, "And I love Belle, thank you Mar."
