A/N- Sorry guys, you have to wait until next chapter for the retreat.

Twilight is not mine.

Please review, I got some great reviews from last chapter.

Chapter 10

Carlisle and my first Christmas was somewhat awkward. I had yet to tell either of my parents who I had been seeing for the last few months. We decided to spend Christmas eve with each other as there was no way I was getting out of Christmas dinner with my dad.

Looking back now I feel guilty, I didn't once think of how it must have felt for Carlisle to be home alone at Christmas because of my inability to come clean to Charlie.

I arrived at Carlisle's house around four in the afternoon. I would have to leave by nine to get home before curfew so we wanted to get as much time together as we could.

"Hi sweetheart," he said answering his door.

"Hi," I said still a little shy with the term of endearment.

He ushered me in and took my coat. My cheeks were pink from the cold outside. I threw my gloves and scarf along with my gift for Carlisle on the table by the door before initiating my hug. Carlisle's warm body next to my cold one felt heavenly.

He prepared some appetizers to get us through the night. Carlisle was never much of a cook outside of his muffins. I could see the boxes of premade appetizers sitting on the kitchen counter as we walked towards the living room.

The living room was decorated modestly for Christmas. There was a small pre-lit tree in the corner and a few knick knacks floating around on the shelves.

We sat down on the couch neither of us speaking. It took a while for us to iron out the uncomfortable silences between us. I knew that he was always thinking about our age gap. He had told me many times that it made him feel wrong. I would then beg him to reconsider and we would spend time rediscovering our commonalities.

"Oh," Carlisle said clearing his throat, "I got something for you."

I smiled. Christmas had always been my favorite time of the year. My family never having much extra cash would always make things for each other for Christmas. One year my dad whittled me an entire chess set. It took him six months, but it was my favorite present I have ever received. If we ever bought things for each other, they would be small and there would be a lot of thought behind them.

Carlisle handed me the small box and I smiled again in anticipation. I tore open the wrapping paper, because that is the only way to open a gift. I opened the box and my smiled dropped. In my hands was a tennis bracelet. And upon further investigation I realized that the diamonds were real.

"Do you like it?" he asked with hope in his voice.

"I can't accept this," I said handing him back the box, twisting my hair in between my fingers.

"What do you mean, you can't accept this?" he asked curtly.

"It's too much," I said trying not to hurt his feelings.

"Nonsense," he said and handed me back the box as if to end the discussion.

"I don't have anywhere to wear something like this. I would feel uncomfortable wearing anything that pricey," I said hoping he would see my point.

"Bella," he sighed, "I want to take you all sorts of places. Places that you can wear things like this bracelet."

My mind left the bracelet for a moment and focused on what he said. This was the first time he made any kind of mention of future plans. I was so ecstatic that I threw my arms around him and gave him a big kiss. He took this as my thank you for the bracelet and I was done fighting it so I just took it. I wish I would have held onto my ideals as he has only ever given me things like that since.

I pulled back from his kiss and jumped up.

"I have something for you too," I said running back to the entryway to retrieve his gift.

I brought my present back into the room for him hoping that he would like what I had done, his eyebrow quirked up before carefully removing the tape from the gift. He unfolded the paper carefully and looked down at the gift and smiled politely.

"It's lovely," he said holding up the frame, looking at it for a moment and then putting it down on the coffee table.

I had spent three weeks cutting and filing and painting to make that frame. I put in a picture of us on one of our first dates in it and then carved the date on the frame. I felt a little disheartened with his reaction. However I was done fighting about gifts. I guess I could say that I wasn't so gracious accepting his gift either. I vowed I would be more grateful of these things in the future and maybe he would become more aware of the types of things I appreciated receiving.

The week leading up to the camping trip caused me a lot of stress, the first being that I could see no way around Edward and I sharing a tent. The company had allotted only one space per family and they were not big enough to hold two tents. That week I went out and bought a new tent with a centre divider. Giving Edward some privacy was the least I could do considering that he was making the sacrifice of coming with me.

The second problem I faced was Jessica. Once she caught word I was bringing Edward and not Carlisle she started in on the gossip. The last I had heard when I left the office that Friday was that Edward and I were trying to have a baby together because Carlisle's sperm count was too low. Looking back, I guess it could have been worse.

I e-mailed Edward a few times as well, making sure he had all the necessities. Carlisle had offered to pay for anything he may need. I ended up only needing to buy him a sleeping bag as he had everything else he needed.

Meals were going to be provided for us so we didn't need to take any cooking equipment. I did decide on taking a small cooler so that we could have a few snacks and drinks at the campsite.

I pulled out the itinerary to go over it one more time. I had made the damn thing and had it committed to memory, so I wasn't sure why I kept a death grip on it for the entire week leading up to the trip.

"Hey honey, Edward will be here soon do you want me to take your bags down," Carlisle asked entering our bedroom.

"Sure, I think I have everything we will need," I replied not looking up from the itinerary.

There was going to be very little down time, I was a little thankful of that fact. I was a nervous of the alone time with Edward. What if he hated me? He said he didn't blame me for anything but that could change once he got to know me.

I heard the doorbell ring just as I finished re-packing my purse. I wasn't going to need my Costco card out in the bushes. I headed down stairs a little slower than normal. By the time I had gotten downstairs there was no one there. My luggage was gone. I peeked out the window and saw the boys loading up my bags.

We were taking Edward's car as my truck was in the shop, again. Carlisle begged me to get rid of that thing but I loved it too much.

I watched them interact through the window. They had come a long way in just a few short weeks, the tension in their bodies gone as they joked around. I watched as Carlisle ran his hands through Edward's messy head of hair. I felt a strange tinge but shook it off as more nerves about the weekend. Edward then ran his own fingers through his hair trying to tame the untamable mess. I giggled softly at their exchange.

Carlisle's noticeably happier mood at home was something I was very grateful for. Our marriage felt like we had finally put in the last missing piece.

I walked outside and met them at the car. They were still laughing about something. When Edward's eyes met mine he stopped.

"You ready to go?" he asked me, the laughter in his voice gone.

"Yup," I said.

Edward walked over to the driver's side of the car while I said goodbye to Carlisle.

"I'll miss you," I said pulling him into a hug.

"Me too," he said giving me a chaste kiss on the lips. Carlisle hated public displays of affection. I was just as happy; the thought of being passionate in front of Edward left me with a funny feeling.

I looked back over to Edward; he had still not gotten into the car. His face had a pained expression on it and I was happy that Carlisle and I had said our goodbyes properly this morning. I shot Edward a sympathetic smile and got into the car. I knew he was uncomfortable with a new love in his Dad's life.

Edward got in and pulled away giving a small wave out the window to Carlisle.

Neither of us said a word for the first fifteen minutes. The silence was comfortable, not awkward like I would have imagined it being. Edward pulled out his IPod and handed it to me.

"Here, you pick something," he said.

I looked through his music selection and saw that it was very diverse. There was a lot of music that I had in my own personal collection. I picked something out of his classical selection thinking that something without words would help a conversation along.

"Debussy?" he said in a surprised tone.

"I like classical music while driving, it calms my road rage," I told him only half joking. I really did suffer from bad road rage and I found classical music did help, a little.

He chuckled at me and tapped the steering wheel with his fingers. I noticed then how long and delicate they were. I remember that Carlisle told me he played the piano. With fingers like those he must be very good. I had a little shiver at the thought.

"You play the piano, right?" I asked hoping to start a conversation.

"Yes, ever since I can remember. I love it very much. Do you play?" he asked.

"No, musical instruments take much too much coordination for someone like me," I chuckled.

"How do you mean?"

"I'm very clumsy," I said blushing.

"I could teach you," he said humbly.

"Maybe, but I might find it too hard."

The next thing that came out of Edward's mouth was so quiet I almost didn't hear it, "That's what she said."

I burst out laughing at The Office reference. It was my favorite show and I was always quoting that exact line. Carlisle had become so sick of that joke that he literally forbade me from ever saying it again.

Edward blushed at being caught. The way the blood rushed to his cheeks was very inviting. I felt the urge to touch his cheek, but I resisted. That was not something that you could do with your step-son. I felt guilty for the urge.

The rest of the car ride was filled with light conversation. I told him a little bit about my parents. He asked about what they thought about my marriage to Carlisle. I said that they were happy that I was happy. It was mostly the truth; I didn't feel the need to tell him about Charlie's rant.

He told me a little bit about his childhood, his love of piano and the same tree story Carlisle had told me the other night. I vowed silently to get him up a tree this weekend.

We arrived at the campsite just after lunch time. I was lucky enough to get out of the check in duty. Jessica sat there with a disgusted look on her face as we entered the hall. This was a girl who did not do the outdoors.

When she finally looked up at us she stopped scowling. She looked Edward up and down slowly like she was scanning his body into her tiny brain computer.

"Well, hello handsome," she said openly flirting.

Edward shifted back and forth on his feet, visibly uncomfortable.

"Jessica, just give us our campsite assignment," I said trying to move things along.

She shot me a dirty look and handed me a piece of paper with our campsite number on it.

"Thanks," I said, "say hi to Tyler for me."

If looks could kill, I would be ten feet under. Edward chuckled under his breath and followed me back outside.