Edward Cullen's 12 Days of Christmas Chapter 11 – On the Eleventh Day of Christmas
Prompts (#21 Kid watching under the tree & #22 Baby It's Cold Outside by Lady Antebellum)
Day 11
Bella POV
It was December 23rd and Edward had me getting gussied up. While I didn't mind where we were going, I did mind the heels. Me and heels were not synonymous in any way, shape, or form. But, tonight was going to be fun. Edward had called upon the Santa that we assisted the second night of his twelve days of Christmas and he was coming to Miss Esme's House tonight to hand out a gift to each child. I had purchased two for every kid so one would go under the tree for Christmas morning too.
Then, after all the kids were settled, Miss Esme's House was hosting an evening for all the volunteers and employees, a holiday party of sorts. Edward insisted that I dressed up for the night and I just had to oblige him.
Edward had taken the gifts to Miss Esme's earlier in the day, including Jacob's with express instructions to keep it a secret from the kids. Then, he went to his place to get ready for the evening, leaving me to primp alone.
At five o'clock there was a knock on my door and I rushed to it, my heels clicking across the floor, and flung it open. My breath was knocked out of me at the sheer sight of the gloriously sexy man in front of me. Edward was wearing a charcoal gray suit with a white shirt and black tie. His hair was the usual disarray that I loved so much, and he was so freshly shaved that I wanted to lick his jaw… Down girl! If I kept thinking like that, we wouldn't be getting anywhere tonight and I wanted to see the kid's reactions to their gifts.
While I was checking Edward out, his eyes roamed the plains of my body. It appeared that he was enjoying my dress and heels. I was in an empire-waisted sleeveless dress that was red on the top, had a white belt, and was black to the hem. The shoes were black peep toed pumps with white accents and an exposed heel.
Edward broke apart our ogling fest and stepped towards me, enveloping me in his arms as he pulled me in for a kiss. I threw myself into it, not able to ever get enough of his mouth on mine, or anywhere else on my body for that matter. But, again, if I had continued kissing him like I was, we wouldn't be getting anywhere tonight.
I broke the kiss which caused Edward to pout and me to laugh. Then I had to untwine myself from his arms, which I did reluctantly, so I could go touch up my lipstick. I didn't wear makeup often, but when I did I wanted it to look good.
Edward followed me to the bathroom and leaned against the door frame watching me touch up my lips.
"You don't need any of that, you know? You're too beautiful as is," Edward said softly but his eyes burned intensely as he looked at me in the mirror. The look made my stomach jump and go all twitchy on me.
"Oh shut it. I know you're lying," I quipped back, trying to make light of the look he was giving me. It didn't work.
"I mean it, Bella. You don't see yourself very clearly. I've see how people look at you when we're out, how guys watch your movements. You seem to be totally unaware of it all, a quality I absolutely adore. It's almost as if you are naïve to your abilities to render a man to mush and drop him to his knees before you."
I didn't know what to say, so I just waved my hand at him and pretended to busy myself with a square of tissue, blotting my lipstick. Edward wasn't deterred by my dismissal of his comment.
"Bella," Edward said as he stepped forward and placed his hands on my shoulders before spinning me to face him. "Trust me when I say I'm telling the truth. You have this hold on people, me especially," Edward continued and I began to tremble slightly at the seriousness of his words.
"From the first day I saw you I knew you were something special and I waited two years before I found the way to approach you, to weave myself into your life. I don't care what role I take in your life, as long as I'm in it, mine will be complete. I have fallen so in love with you, Bella. I don't ever want to share you with anyone else. I want you as mine and no one else's. Bella…I love you."
And I froze. My breath was caught in my throat along with my voice. Edward had just told me that he loved me, that he wanted me as his and only his. And I couldn't say anything to him because I was too emotional to speak. I felt my eyes begin to moisten and a single tear escaped over the rim of my lashes and trailed slowly down my cheek. Edward cupped my face and wiped it away with his thumb before leaning in to kiss me softly, softer than he had ever kissed me before.
When he pulled away I whispered the only thing I could in the moment, the only truth I could say, "I love you too."
Edward's face exploded with the intensity of his smile and he kissed me eagerly, letting me feel his love for me. I gave it all back too, every ounce of emotion I could muster, every shred of feeling that he had let me feel, I gave it all back to show him how much I truly had fallen over the last few weeks.
We finally broke our heated lip lock and rested our foreheads together, both panting from the kiss. At this point I didn't care what my lipstick looked like; all that mattered was that I had Edward, that he wanted me, and that I was his.
"Say it again," Edward whispered to me.
"I love you," I whispered back.
"I love you too."
We kissed softly one more time before Edward finally decided to be the adult and get us out of the house. I was on cloud nine, my feet not even touching the ground, as we made our way to Miss Esme's House.
We got there and the party was in full swing. Santa hadn't arrived yet but the kids were buzzing with excitement over his arrival. Carl, Garrett, and Kate seemed to be just as wound up as the kids and it was interesting to see Old Ms. Tanya trying to settle everyone down. Carl introduced us to a few other couples that were there, they were all volunteers and donators to the house.
Finally, the moment arrived as Santa walked in the door. He carried a big red bag full of the gifts but I noticed a smaller red bag sitting by the chair he would occupy. That had to be Jacob's gift. Santa took his seat and the gift giving began.
Alice went first and she squealed with delight when Santa presented her with a ballet tutu and leggings. As she danced her way off his lap she twirled and leapt. Leah was next and smiled brightly when she was presented with a book about influential women in history. Carl had told me that she was very strong willed and loved reading nonfiction books. I had a good feeling that she would love it. A few other children took their turns and then Seth hopped up on Santa's lap. Santa dug around in his bag for a moment before producing a small acoustic guitar for Seth. I had never seen a child happier than that moment. But I was sure that I would be seeing an even bigger smile when it was Jacob's turn. I had asked Carl to place him at the end of the line.
Emmett was up next and I had been slightly worried at the gift I bought him. Emmett was a practical joker, trying to always get one up on everyone else, so I, being the bad influence I was, bought him a prankster's kit complete with whoopee cushion, ice cubes with bugs, fake vomit, and the works. The devilish look in Emmett's eyes had me making a mental note to keep an eye out for him in the future. Jay, aka Jasper, was next and he got a remote controlled motorcycle. He had a fascination with them, so I was told.
Finally, it was Jacob's turn. Santa made a show of digging through his bag but didn't find anything. Jacob looked sad but tried to keep it together. My heart broke at the expression on his face. But then Santa came to the rescue by 'seeing' the other bag beside him. Carl went over to help him and held the item steady for Santa to remove the bag.
When the cage was revealed, Jacob's jaw dropped for a moment before his face lit up with the first smile I had ever really seen him wear. The other kids were being held back by Kate and Garrett so Jacob could see his present. Carl opened the cage and picked up the animal and handed it to Jacob.
"What is it?" Jacob asked.
"It's a guinea pig and he's all yours," Carl told him as he showed him how to pet the guinea pig. It had short russet colored fur with the exception of a patch of longer white fir on the forehead that resembled a Mohawk.
"Does he have a name?" Jacob questioned.
"That's up to you. You get to pick since he's yours," Carl explained to him.
Jacob appeared to ponder this for a while then gently hugged the animal and said, "Wolf, his name is Wolf."
"I think that's a perfectly wonderful name. Would you like me to help you to your room with him? I can show you how to take care of him if you'd like," Carl asked as he picked up the cage. Jacob eagerly nodded and thanked Santa before carefully sliding off his lap, cradling Wolf in his arms, and walking behind Carl as they exited the room.
Edward pulled me against him and whispered in my ear. "You were right, he loves it."
I beamed at him and then rearranged my smile to a smirk as I said, "yes I was. Now remember that I'm always right and we'll get along just fine…" Edward laughed and kissed me then went to see each of the kids and their gifts.
About an hour later Kate and Garrett rounded up the kids for bed and got them settled in while everyone else mingled; even Santa was still there enjoying himself. I found out that Santa's real name was Felix and that he volunteered every year as an ambassador for Santa.
About thirty minutes after the kids were tucked in, the real party began. Music was started up, but not too loud, and everyone partook in some champagne. Santa, I mean Felix, surprised me by asking me to dance and I accepted, afraid of turning down Santa and getting on the naughty list.
While we were dancing I was shocked to discover a pair of feet sticking out from under the Christmas tree. I got Edward's attention, which wasn't hard considering the fact that he was staring at me, and pointed to my discovery.
Edward showed Carl my discovery and they split up and converged on the tree. I heard a squeal of surprise as the culprit was caught then laughed as Edward pulled Seth out from under the tree by his feet, letting him hang upside down for a moment.
Old Ms. Tanya came and took Seth and ushered him back to bed just as my dance with Santa was ending. The next song started, Baby It's Cold Outside by Lady Antebellum, and Edward came over to ask for the dance. I was more than happy to oblige him and placed myself in his waiting arms. We danced slowly, enjoying the moment with one another. As the song came to a close Edward asked me if I wanted to head home and I just nodded. I was getting sleepy and I wanted to cuddle up next to my love and relish in the fact that he was, in fact, mine.
We made a quick round of goodbyes and headed home. As we got inside of Edward's apartment he pulled me to him and kissed me passionately. This kiss was similar to the one after we declared our love for each other. We slowly began to strip one another until we reached the bed naked.
Edward picked me up and laid me out upon the comforter, told me he loved me once again, then he made love to me the rest of the night…solidifying his love for me.
