"Edward, honey, I need to speak with you," Esme said.

"What is it mom because I really have to finish this paper today," Edward replied. "Or is this something we can talk about tomorrow."

"It has to be today and it can't be any later because your father and I have tickets to the theater."

Edward pushed his laptop away from himself and turned his attention to his mother who was sitting across from him.

"So what is it?" Edward asked.

"You need to stop it with the extravagant gifts for Bella."

"How did you know?" Edward asked.

"A mother always knows Edward and I saw the basket of products in your room the night your dad and I arrived," Esme replied. "I recognized it the moment I spotted it on her doormat yesterday morning."

"I can't stop. I've already got everything and there are twenty-five gifts."

"Well donate the gifts to someone who needs it and give something to Bella that comes from the heart," Esme said. "She told me herself just yesterday that she doesn't like having money spent on her when there is someone out there that could use it more than she could."

"So she didn't like what I gave her?"

"Oh, she loves the gifts dear she just doesn't like how much they cost," Esme replied. "Edward, honey Bella is like me before I married your father only she didn't grow up on a farm and her parents are divorced."

"She really liked them?" Edward asked.

"Yes," Esme said. "Now please stop sending her gifts."

"But I had twenty-five days of Christmas planned, that would be kind of hard to execute if I send everything else off to charity."

"Well, you could start by saying a donation was made to a charity in her name or you could just tell her who you are."

"I'm not ready."

"You may never truly be ready, you just have to do it sometimes," Esme said. "So as one of my creative writing classmates said 'do it you won't'. It doesn't make much sense but he was always saying it to his friends as a way to dare them to do something. I almost quit the class because of them."

"You took a creative writing class?"

"Yes, I took it last summer. Your father and I both pick a class available to everyone each summer and take it. This year happened to be creative writing next summer will be some style of cooking we don't do every day."

"Is that all you wanted?" Edward asked.

"Yes."

"Can I get back to my paper?"

"Of course," Esme said. "I should be getting back to your father. At least think about telling Bella how you feel. A girl like her will not wait around for you forever especially since she doesn't know how you feel."

"I know ma," Edward replied.

"Besides what is love without a little risk?"

Edward just stared blankly at his mother.

"Boring Edward because if there is no risk there is no reward," Esme replied. "I made the risk by choosing your father over who my parents wanted me to marry."

"Mom, I get it, so please stop lecturing me."

He pushed his chair back from the table and stood up.

"Come on we don't want you to be late for your theater date with dad."

"Oh, that isn't until eight."

"Are you going to attend the show wearing the outfit you have no now?"

"No."

"If Alice knew you were putting getting ready off…"

"No one is as high maintenance as your sister," Esme said. "I will love her to the ends of the earth and until the day I die but fashion is not everything she makes it out to be."

"Oh, I know, the first week she was in Paris I wore the same pair of jeans just because I could," Edward replied. "She would not have made in a time before showering every day and changing your clothes every day became a thing."

"I agree if your father doesn't have to work and I don't have to work and there is nothing that we have planned to do we don't change out of our night clothes," Esme said. "But with your father's line of work that is a very rare event."

"Does that disappoint you?" Edward asked.

"No, because your father and I both go absolutely mad if we have nothing to do for more than a day or two. It's why our family vacations are always packed with activities."

"I guess I never noticed."

"What kid does when they are young, outside of the rare few that is."

"Are we done now or do you need to talk my ear of some more?" Edward asked.

"We are," Esme said. "Let me know how it goes and good luck with your paper."

Edward then spent the next five minutes to escort his mom down to the lobby where her car for the day was waiting for her. He waved at her until he could no longer see her face. He entered back into the building just as Bella was leaving.

"Library?" Edward asked her.

"Yes," Bella replied before running off and slipping into a car.

Edward shook his head and headed back up to his apartment where his paper awaited his attention. The paper was ten pages long and he only had seven of them written. He had three more to go and he felt like it was pulling teeth to get the information to come out like he wanted them to. It also didn't help that Bella ran across his mind every couple of minutes.

Now that he knew Bella didn't like the money spent on her he had to change his plan but first he had to finish his paper. Once his paper was done he could focus on his feelings for Bella he just didn't know what to do at this moment since buying her gifts wasn't something she liked because of the money some of them cost. It was time he gave her something from the heart.

Whenever he was having as his mother like to put its troubles of the heart Edward played his piano. He could play it for hours and not realize how much time had actually passed by. And true to form that is exactly what happens as Edward didn't stop playing until Jasper arrived home for the night.

"Okay, What is going on with you?" Jasper asked. "It's been months since you have turned into a brooding composer from the Victorian era."

"I am not brooding, I am thinking," Edward said.

"How long have you thinking?" Jasper asked.

"A couple of hours I guess," Edward replied.

"It's eight o'clock."

"Crap I got to go. I'll be back in an hour," Edward said.

He rushed toward the front door and disappeared out the front door stuffing himself into his coat as he went. He left a very confused Jasper behind.

Bella was coming back into the building after studying a the library for a couple of hours and stopping by the local bodega to grab a few things the apartment needed, mainly cleaning supplies and that as something Jake never picked up. Although he at least he picked up food every now and then but that was takeout most of the time.

She was almost to her floor when Edward passed by barely missing her as he went. She almost turned around to ask him where he was going but he was already too far for her to see. She continued on to her apartment. Once she was inside she unpacked her shopping bags and put her school bag into her room before settling in for another Christmas movie marathon. She was halfway through a bowl of fresh popcorn when someone knocked on her door.

She paused the movie thanks to the DVR Alice had gotten her last year, set her popcorn down on the table and headed for the door. She opened it after seeing a delivery man carrying a large flower arrangement. It had several types of flowers that Bella thought were out of season and quite expensive. After she set the flowers down on a slide table the delivery man also gave her a book with the title relating to the language of flowers.

"It's kind of late for you to be delivering."

"Last minute order," the man said. "Guy paid a good chunk for us to deliver it tonight instead of tomorrow."

"Oh well, thank you for taking the time to deliver it."

"I get paid for each separate delivery I make so this is just more money in my pocket," The man replied.

"Do you need me to sign anything?" Bella asked.

"Nope," Then man replied. "Have a good Christmas."

"I'm sure I will," Bella replied as the man walked away.

Bella closed the door with her free hand and went back to watch her movie the book and flowers both kept drawing her attention away from the movie and she missed the last half of it. She would have to watch it again later.

Jake came home and quickly left just after she got the flowers. He made no comment on them as he quickly left again with a gym bag in hand after mumbling something about staying with Paul. He had said it so quickly that Bella wasn't able to catch what he said outside of him saying that he was staying with Paul.

She picked up the book and started to look at it. It was mostly a picture book but gave the names of several flowers and what the different colors of that flower meant if the flower came in more than one color. She saw that some if not all of the flowers in the arrangement sent. She was almost to the end of the book when a card slipped out of the pages and on to her table.

She picked up the card it was nearly blank on the front side with a shiny white 'E' on a matte white background. The other side held a short handwritten note.

I've learned from a reliable source that you don't like the amount of money I have spent on you. While I did have more gifts planned for you I am now starting from scratch except for the one gift but you will have to wait to learn what that one is. These flowers, book and this very card are the first hints at who I am. Each gift I get you from here on out will have a personal connection between the two of us and a single hint of who I might be but that is only if I don't break down first and tell you who I am outright like my mother thinks I should do.

Sincerely Your Secret Santa.

Bella smiled and looked closely at the flowers. She didn't see anything that told her who it was outside of the stylized 'E' on the front of the card but that could have been part of the company's logo and there were several that had names that started with an E.

She took the book, card, and flowers and carried them to her room. She set the flowers down on an open part of her desk and leaned the card up against the vase the flowers had come in. She took the book and put it on the shelf with the rest of her non-fiction books.

She went back to the living room and cleaned up her mess from the movie marathon and prepared her coffee for the next morning. Even though she didn't have anything to do in the morning she didn't like sleeping in too often. She felt that it made her lazy even if she really needs the rest. She went back to her bed and climbed under the covers. She sat up and read the book she had on her nightstand for the past couple of nights and only went to sleep after she finished the book. She fell asleep looking at the flowers mentally make a list of people that could have sent them to her along with everything else she had been given in the past few days.