A/N: Edited 5/1/13

As Bella and I walked back to our apartment, I reflected back on how quickly we were able to get her moved out of her place. We had just dropped the key off with her landlord, and stopped for coffee on the way home. I squeezed her hand in mine, and as if she knew what I was thinking, she looked up at me with a bright smile on her face.

It was official. We were living together.

Of course, she hadn't told Charlie yet, but we planned to accomplish that next week when we went to visit him for Christmas. I had something else I needed to discuss with Charlie, but Bella didn't know about that. She also didn't know about the item my dad had given me when we went to Chicago for Thanksgiving. No, that little thing was safely hidden in the music room, nestled in the bottom of a guitar case that I didn't use.

"Dad, do you have a minute?" I asked him while mom and Bella were in the kitchen.

"Sure, Edward. What's on your mind?"

I started walking toward dad's office for some privacy, and thankfully he followed behind, closing the door after he walked in. We both took a seat on the sofa and I took a deep breath before getting right down to business.

"I want to propose to Bella soon," I told him in a confident voice.

He didn't look surprised at al. In fact, a small smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth. "You know your mother and I both love her and think she's wonderful, but are you sure this isn't too soon?"

"I've never been more sure of anything," I stated. "As soon as I met Bella, I felt like I found the missing piece of my life. I can't see myself living without her now that I've found her. I'm not planning to propose tomorrow, if that's what you're worried about, but I don't see waiting a year, either. I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with her, if she'll have me."

"You know your mother and I will be happy to welcome her to our family," he said. With a slap to my shoulder, he added, "I guess I better go get your great grandmother's ring, huh?"

When our flight from Chicago landed, Bella and I were both giddy with excitement. Even though we were exhausted from our trip, we went straight to her apartment and gathered as much of her clothes and things as we could before heading back to my place—our place.

We unpacked together, put our dirty laundry in the hamper together, and made love together for most of the night.

As I expected, Jasper and Alice were all too willing to help us with the move. Alice squealed on the phone in her knowing way when Bella called to tell her the news. Bella had once told me that Alice had some sort of precognition about the night we met, so she wasn't surprised when Alice already knew that we were moving in together before Bella even got the words out.

Our packing and unpacking became a party of sorts with Jasper and Alice. They would meet us at Bella's place, help load things up and bring them to my place. Then we would have dinner and drinks while we unpacked. I was so glad that Bella had such close friends in her life, and in my life by extension. They were both incredibly supportive, never once commenting that we were moving too fast or asking if we were sure that we knew what we were getting into. Considering that Alice was the one to convince Bella in the beginning, I shouldn't have been surprised by her support.

As of last night, the apartment was completely cleaned out, the remaining furniture either sold or given to Goodwill, and everything that came with Bella had found a home in our apartment. It was amazing how easily her belongings fit in with mine. I hadn't felt that the apartment was empty before she moved in, but contrarily, it also didn't feel cramped with all of her stuff. Now everything was just right, just as it was meant to be.

We finished our coffees as we made our way home, and I was intent on celebrating. It didn't take long for the door to close behind Bella before I had her pushed up against it with our lips attached and my hands in her hair. I guided her head back so I could deepen the kiss and she met me willingly, humming her agreement.

Her eyes were still closed as I pulled back from our heated kiss, and I waited until she looked at me before speaking. "Welcome home, baby."

The glint in her eyes told me she wanted to play just as much as I did. "Why, thank you, Mr. Cullen." She kissed me then, her hands digging into my waist as she pulled our bodies closer together. "I do believe we have a new home to christen," she mumbled against my mouth.

"I think you're right, Miss Swan." I grabbed her ass and lifted her up as her legs quickly wrapped around my waist and she squealed. Moving quickly, I deposited her on the kitchen table. She was still laughing as I unzipped her coat and removed it for her, tossing it somewhere over my shoulder. "I love you," I mumbled before kissing her again.

We kept our lips attached as much as possible while we removed the rest of each others' clothing. Once I had Bella naked before me on the edge of the table, I kissed my way down her body, stopping to worship some of my favorite places. One hand flattened in the middle of her back, supporting her upper body as I reclined her so I could have better access to her chest.

I took one nipple into my mouth and rolled my tongue over it, thoroughly enjoying Bella's moans of pleasure, while my hand worked over her other pink bud, teasing it into a matching stiff peak. After completely ravishing her chest, I continued my journey southward, stopping to swirl my tongue in her belly button and place wet kisses all over her abdomen.

"I think this celebration calls for a feast," I said, laying her back on the table and then sucking on her hipbone, causing her to squirm and moan some more. I loved every reaction she had to my touch, and I especially loved the bright, purple bruise that I left on her hip. It wasn't often that I marked Bella, but the possessive caveman in me did enjoy it.

I made my way to her heated, wet center and couldn't resist teasing her a little, letting my hot breath wash over her clit as I spoke. "What do you think, baby? Would you like it if I had a little feast … right here?" I licked her center very lightly and moaned at the taste, while her hips bucked and she whimpered.

"Please, Edward!" she yelled, trying to squirm closer to my face. Fuck, I loved when she was so desperate for me. I would do anything for her.

Getting down on my knees on the kitchen floor, I tossed her legs over my shoulders and put my whole mouth over her throbbing clit, hearing her gasp as her hips jerked at the sudden contact. I sucked and licked and nibbled just how I knew she liked it, while my hands kneaded the soft skin of her ass.

When I could tell she was getting close, I gently pushed two fingers into her wet pussy while my tongue continued to assault her clit. The feeling of her around my fingers, the taste of her in my mouth, and her scent all around me were going to be my undoing. My cock was leaking pre-cum and I was so hard, wanting to be inside of her.

My fingers thrust in and out of her a few times before I curled them to hit her g-spot and swirled them inside of her. It didn't take long before I felt her orgasm start, her pussy clenching around my fingers, her fingers tightening and tugging my hair, and her legs shaking over my shoulders.

I let her enjoy the sensations for a moment before I gave her what I knew she wanted. I stood quickly and grasped her hips, slamming my cock deep inside of her quivering pussy while I threw her slender legs around my waist. "Yes!" she moaned, as I thrust deep and hard into her repeatedly.

"Fuck, baby … you feel so good." I was nearly incoherent with the sensation of being buried inside of her, and looking at her beautiful body splayed out in front of me. "So beautiful."

"Oh god, Edward … fuck!" I felt my cock twitch inside of her as she swore. It wasn't often that she was overly verbal or dirty, but it turned me on so much when she was. "Touch me," she requested breathily. I complied immediately, swirling my thumb over her wet clit in time with my thrusts. I could feel the table inching forward each time I pushed back into her.

I leaned down over her body to suck on her neck just below her ear, and her moans grew in volume. Knowing I wouldn't last much longer, I kicked things up a notch and began to whisper my dirty words into her ear in between licks and sucks. "You like that, baby?" lick "You like when I fuck you hard?" kiss "I'm gonna cum so hard for you, Bella." suck "Are you gonna cum for me?"

"Aaahhh …" she screamed, as I sped up the movements of my thumb and her orgasm started squeezing me. It only took two more thrusts before I exploded deep inside of her with a groan, continuing to thrust irregularly while she milked every last drop out of me.

A moment later, I collapsed lazily on top of her while I tried to catch my breath. Her magic fingers were running through my hair and over my shoulders while her breathing evened out. "I love you," she whispered, kissing the top of my head.

"I love you, too," I told her, kissing her chest above her heart, before lifting my head to look in her eyes. I brushed some hair out of her face and gave her one more kiss, just because I couldn't resist. "Come on, let's go get cleaned up. This can't be comfortable."

She just chuckled and put her hand in my extended one so I could help her off the table.

*OLN*

A week later found us packing the last of the things we needed to take to Forks with us for Christmas. I was nervous about the trip, but for an entirely different reason than when Bella was nervous about going to Chicago. For one thing, I had already met Charlie and seemingly gained his approval. But on this trip, I was hoping to have his approval for even more.

I hadn't met Bella's mother and step-father yet, but unfortunately we wouldn't get to see them until sometime after the new year. Renee wasn't really interested in coming back to Washington, so Bella had promised her that we would visit after the holidays. At least Renee did know that we were living together. Bella spoke to her on the phone every once in a while, and she definitely had a more friend-like relationship with her mom than she did with her dad.

We were about an hour into the drive to Forks when I noticed Bella fidgeting with her hands, her tell that she was nervous about something. I reached over and took her left hand, rubbing my thumb soothingly across her knuckles. "What's the matter, sweetheart?"

"Nothing, really," she responded with hesitation. "It's just, I'm not sure if Charlie will be comfortable with you staying in my room. I mean, he doesn't even know that we live together yet. Ugh, I probably should have told him already."

I could see that she was battling with this so I figured I would ease her tension as much as I could. "Don't worry about it, baby. If Charlie wants me to sleep on the sofa, I will. Not that it will be easy to be away from you, but I can respect his wishes in his house." I lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles before resting our joined hands back on my thigh.

"I'll just have to talk to him," she said in her determined manner. "Because I don't want to be away from you, either."

"Whatever you want, sweetheart. I'll follow your lead." Trying to get her mind off of her upcoming uncomfortable conversation with her father, I changed the subject. "So, are you going to show me around this wonderful town that you grew up in?"

She laughed before reminding me that the tour would take all of fifteen minutes. We chatted easily for the rest of the drive, and before long I drove into the sleepy little town of Forks, WA. Bella pointed out a few things of interest on the way through, and then directed me to the driveway of a modest, white house set apart from the other houses, sitting right on the edge of the woods.

Charlie was out the door to greet us before I even cut the engine. I guess the lack of traffic in this area would immediately let you know when someone arrived at your house. He hugged Bella tight before meeting me at the trunk and shaking my hand. Helping me take the luggage out, we each carried some up the porch steps while Bella grabbed a few things from the back seat.

The interior of the house was incredibly cozy. As soon as I entered, I could see Charlie's favorite spot. The old recliner that faced the TV looked perfectly worn in. Next to it was a comfortable looking couch that I assumed would be my bed for the next few nights. The kitchen and dining room were on the other side of the foyer, also looking well loved and lived in.

Charlie's voice brought me back to the conversation. "I think I got everything on your list, Bells. Take a look in the kitchen after you've settled in and if anything is missing, I'll run out and get it."

"Ok, dad," Bella said as she hung up her coat on a hook near the door. I followed her lead and hung my coat as well. "What's your work schedule?" she asked him.

"I'm working the late shift tonight, and then I'm off for the next two days," Charlie informed us.

"That's good. We'll have plenty of time to catch up then," she said, taking my hand and leading me toward the couch. Charlie followed behind us and headed straight for the recliner. Bella kept a hold on my hand after we sat down and started rubbing my fingers, clearly building up the courage to talk to her dad. I rubbed her thigh gently in support. As I promised her, I was going to follow her lead.

"Dad, I have something to tell you, and I don't want you to be upset that I didn't tell you sooner but I thought I should tell you in person." She was starting to babble already. The nerves must have been getting the better of her so I squeezed her thigh in support.

Charlie eyed me suspiciously, and I could only guess what was going through his mind based on the way her words came out. "Go on," he urged with an edge to his voice.

Bella took a deep breath before continuing. "Edward and I are living together," she blurted out. I chuckled under my breath a bit as I watched Charlie's expression change from murderous to relief.

"Oh … um," Charlie stammered out. "Well, that's great!" he finally said. After Bella explained that she had moved into my apartment, he offered to come see the place the next time he had a few days off.

"Well, that went better than I expected," Bella said later that afternoon while we were lounging in her bedroom.

"Yeah, and I'm glad he's not opposed to letting me sleep in here with you," I added as I grabbed her by her belt loops and pulled her little body over to me on the bed.

"Me, too." She kissed me chastely before plopping down on my lap. "I'm not sure how well I'd even sleep without you next to me."

I agreed with her one hundred percent, knowing that I would feel like a part of me was missing if we weren't together.

We ate lunch with Charlie before Bella started going through the kitchen to make sure she had everything she needed for the next few days. Apparently, Charlie lived on take-out and diner food, so Bella had planned to cook a lot while we were here and freeze the leftovers for him.

I left Bella in the kitchen and went upstairs to take a shower. As I was rinsing off, Bella knocked on the door and poked her head into the bathroom to let me know she was running out to the store. I peeked my head out of the curtain and waved her over with one finger.

She tiptoed across the bathroom, and as soon as she was close enough, I reached out and grabbed her face in my wet hands and planted a searing kiss on her lips. She squeaked and then giggled, still smiling as I pulled back and said, "Ok, now you can go. I love you," I added with another quick kiss.

"I love you, too," she said before she disappeared out the door.

I knew this was my chance to get Charlie alone for a few minutes, so I didn't waste any time. I quickly finished in the shower, got dried off and threw on my clothes before digging into my toiletry bag to find what I needed.

When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I found Charlie exactly where I expected to see him—reclining in his chair with a soda in one hand and the remote in the other. He looked up from the TV as I entered the room.

"Bells just ran out to the grocery store for a few minutes. Seems I'm always missing something on her lists," he chuckled.

I nervously cleared my throat. "Uh, yeah … she told me she was going." I paused to gather my courage as I took a seat near him on the couch. "I actually wanted to talk to you for a few minutes if you have time."

His eyes penetrated me and I tried to stay strong under his glare. Finally, he pointed the remote at the TV and turned it off before giving me his full attention again. "What's on your mind, Edward?"

My hand ran through my hair a few times while I took a deep breath. "Charlie, I hope you know that Bella means the world to me. I love her very much."

He nodded and agreed. "I can see that. She seems to think that you hung the moon. I just hope you don't end up disappointing her."

"Believe me, Charlie … I will do whatever it takes to make her happy, always. She's changed my life for the better, and I really can't imagine a future without her in it." I took another deep breath before continuing. "Charlie, I'd like to have your blessing to ask Bella to marry me. I know we haven't known each other very long, but I've known for a while already that she's it for me. And, well, even though she already agreed to live together, I'd really like nothing more than to make her my wife." I pulled my great grandmother's ring out of my pocket and held it out for him to see.

I kept looking at Charlie with all of the sincerity I could muster, my hand still holding the velvet ring box in the air, until I noticed his mustache starting to twitch. It kept twitching until quiet laughter started to come from him. My face must have shown my confusion as Charlie let out his loud guffaws.

"I'm sorry, Edward," he finally choked out between bursts of laughter. "I'm not laughing at you, I swear." He started taking deep breaths, trying to calm down, while my hand landed in my lap with a defeated thud. "Really, I'm sorry … it's just, well I had to talk to Alice last week about a Christmas present for Bella."

Suddenly, a light went on in my head. I don't know how Alice did it, but she must have seen this coming and told Charlie what to expect.

"You know Alice, right?" he asked. I just nodded with a small smile on my lips. "Yeah, well, she kind of told me that you and Bells would be engaged by the end of the year."

"Gotta love Alice," I said with sarcasm. "That's funny though, because I haven't even decided when I want to propose yet. I just knew I wanted to talk to you while we were here."

"Well, I know better than to bet against Alice, so I'm just gonna say congratulations now," he said with a slap to my shoulder. "You've got my blessing, kid. Not that you really need it. I've never seen Bella as happy as she's been these past few months. Just take care of my girl, Edward."

"I will, Charlie. I promise." My ears perked up at the sound of a car approaching the house. "I'm just gonna …" I said, gesturing to the ring box and pointing to the stairs. Charlie waved me off and turned the TV back on.

By the time Bella made it into the house, I was back on the couch laughing at That 70's Show with Charlie. She waved me off when I offered to help with the groceries and disappeared into the kitchen.

The day of Christmas Eve was spent mostly in the house, with Bella in the kitchen cooking and baking up a storm, while Charlie and I had a few beers and played cards. Bella declined all of my offers to help her cook, saying that she was happy to see Charlie and me getting along so well.

After she finished baking six different kinds of cookies, Charlie and I helped her package them up so we could deliver them to the station. All three of us went over to the station to drop off the cookies for all of Charlie's deputies. Bella was enveloped in hug after hug from everyone who worked there. Both she and Charlie introduced me to their extended family, and we stayed to chat for a little while.

When we finally made it back to the house, Bella heated up a delicious dinner and we took our plates into the den to watch Christmas movies while we ate. Charlie didn't have many decorations up, just a small tree in the corner with a few lights and ornaments, but I was still enchanted with the spirit just by being close to my girl.

Charlie went to bed after we decided to watch A Christmas Story for the second time, and we were finally left alone on the couch cuddled up under a blanket.

"Do you want your presents now, or tomorrow morning?" I asked softly, stroking my girl's hair.

"Hmmm …" She cuddled closer, laying her head on my chest. "Let's wait until morning," she said sleepily.

"You ready for bed, beautiful?"

"Yeah, I think so. How about you?"

"Come on, let's go," I said, lifting her off of my lap. "The sooner I get you to bed, the sooner I can wake up with you on Christmas morning."

We walked quietly up the stairs to Bella's room and I closed the door behind us. Figuring that Bella was already tired, I started undressing to get ready for bed, but Bella had other plans.

Just as I had taken off my shirt, I felt her walk up behind me and snake her arms around to my stomach. "You know," she said against my back, "I've never had a boy in my bedroom either."

"Is that so?" I asked, turning to face her, and finding that she was already stripped down to just her bra and panties. "Well, I do believe we'll have to do something about that then," I said, wiggling my eyebrows at her. I lowered my mouth to her neck as my hands reached around to unclasp her bra, and she moaned as soon as my tongue hit her skin. "You'll have to keep quiet though, baby."

Merry Christmas, indeed!

*OLN*

Christmas morning was a relatively laid back affair in the Swan household. Bella woke me up with kisses on my neck and chest, and her fingers in my hair.

"Merry Christmas, baby," I said in a groggy morning voice as I tightened my grip on her tiny body.

"Merry Christmas," she said with a bright smile. "Charlie's already up, so I thought we should get downstairs soon."

I pouted. "You sure we can't stay here for a little longer?" She laughed at me so I relented. "Fine," I huffed. "I guess that part of your present will have to wait."

Laughing harder, she smacked my chest. "Come on, big guy. Let's get dressed."

Charlie had coffee ready and some Christmas music on the stereo by the time we got downstairs. The tree was lit up, and presents were scattered around underneath it. We said our good mornings and then started handing out gifts.

Bella had a tradition of purchasing a subscription to Charlie's favorite fishing magazine every year, so he wasn't surprised to open the card indicating that he would receive another twelve months of Sport Fishing Magazine. We also got him a new vest and boots, which he loved and admitted he would never buy for himself.

I was surprised at the pile of gifts in front of me, since it was just the three of us. The first presents that I opened were from Charlie. He had given me a Mariners baseball cap and a Seahawks hooded sweatshirt, proclaiming that I had better be rooting for the correct teams.

He gave Bella some clothes, which explained why he had been on the phone with Alice.

Bella directed me on the order that I had to open the gifts from her. The first package contained a few books with sheet music for piano—one contained classical music, one classic rock, and the last had current songs. I was a little confused considering she knew I didn't have a piano that I could play on, but thanked her with a soft kiss.

The next present that she handed me looked like a journal, almost similar to the one Charlie had given Bella for her birthday. Only, when I opened it, I realized that it was pages of blank sheet music. "Wow, sweetheart, this is great!" I told her, wrapping my arms around her for a hug. This would be put to use immediately.

Handing me an envelope, she told me that this was the last one. I opened it and pulled out a picture of what looked like an electronic keyboard. Bella explained that it was a digital piano, and that I'd be able to hook it up to my computer to record compositions. "It's a bit of a selfish gift," she told me. "I loved hearing you play when we were at your parents' house, so this way you can play for me, and you can record it so I can have it on my iPod."

"Bella, I love it," I said sincerely, hugging her tight again. "This is so awesome! I can't wait to be able to use it!"

She explained that it was at Alice and Jasper's apartment, so we could pick it up as soon as we got back to Seattle.

I finally got to give my presents to Bella. She squealed and bounced on the sofa when she opened the hardcover boxed set of her favorite vampire books. I knew she'd like that, since her paperbacks were pretty much falling apart from overuse.

Next I handed her an envelope, which she quickly tore into. Her eyes got wide and teary as she realized what she was holding. She gave me a big kiss and said, "This is going to be the best New Year's Eve ever!"

"Alice and Jasper are going to go also," I told her, referring to the tickets in her hand.

She was still shaking her head in disbelief. "I can't believe you got us tickets to see the BoDeans at Club Eclipse! This is going to be awesome!" She hugged me again, a little harder this time.

Although I was glad she appreciated the sentimentality of the gift, I still had one more present for her. I picked it up and nudged her side with the package. She looked down at the small wrapped box and looked back at me as if to ask "more?"

In my opinion, I couldn't do enough for my girl. She didn't like me spoiling her on a regular basis, so I was definitely going to take advantage of a holiday like Christmas. She took the small, flat box from my hand and started to carefully unwrap it.

"Edward," she admonished, when she saw the signature light blue box inside.

I saw Charlie eyeing us from his recliner, and I just shook my head to let him know that it wasn't time for that yet. "Just open it, sweetheart."

Bella slowly opened the box and gasped as she saw the silver bracelet and heart charm inside. "Edward, it's beautiful," she said with tears in her eyes. "Will you put it on for me?"

"Of course." I took the bracelet from the box and opened the clasp, placing it gently on the wrist she held out for me. Turning the bracelet around so the charm sat on the top of her wrist, I brought her hand up to me and placed a kiss on the back of her wrist. "I hope you like it."

"I love it, baby." She threw her arms around me again and I held her tightly.

"Merry Christmas, Bella. I love you," I said quietly into her ear.

"I love you, too … so much." She kissed the crook of my neck and squeezed her arms around me tighter. And I knew, neither one of us was ever going to let go.


A/N: I hope you enjoyed their first Christmas together. Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts.

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