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Chapter 11

"Merry Christmas to you! Merry Christmas to you!" I sang loudly, in my most annoying voice, to the tune of 'Happy Birthday.' "Merry Christmas, dear Jared... merry Christmas to you!"

Jared flashed his white teeth at me, throwing me that gorgeous grin at me. "You know, when you said your family goes all out for Christmas, I didn't take you seriously enough."

I grinned and nodded. "I tried to warn you. Never underestimated what my family does with the holidays," I said winking at him.

He smirked and looked up, motioning his head towards the ceiling. I glanced up and saw that my mom had hung up her mistletoe and rolled my eyes, grinning at Jared. He wrapped his arms around me and leaned down to place a soft kiss on my lips. I sighed happily.

"I've always wanted to do that," Jared said proudly, kissing me again.

I laughed and tossed him a jacket. "Here, put this on, we are putting up more lights outside."

Jared's eyes widened. "More lights? Where could you possibly fit more lights on this house?" He glanced at the jacket and rolled his eyes. "I don't need to wear this."

"On the railing going up the stairs to get to the porch," I said as I pulled another string of multi-colored lights out of the plastic tub we kept all out Christmas lights in. "And I put the jacket back into Jared's hands. "And my dad will get suspicious if he comes home from the restaurant and your out in the freezing cold with a t-shirt on."

Jared groaned. "Fine. I'll wear the jacket, but I think we already put lights on that rail."

Grinning, I zipped up the coat for him. "There, toasty warm. And we didn't put any at the bottom of the rail."

"Oh, God!" Jared said, mocking me playfully. "Not the bottom of the rail! Not the part that the little bit of snow we get covers!"

I frowned, pretending to be mad. "Fine. I'll do it by myself. Let's hope I don't slip on the ice and fall."

His head snapped up. Ever since the break-in and my stitches, Jared was even more protective than before. "I was just kidding. Let's put up some more lights." Jared grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door open for me. The brisk wind hit my face, causing my eyes to water. "Now where do you want these?"

I pointed at the railing that led up my steps and kneeled down on the wet stairs. "Will you grab that extension cord from the bench?" He nodded and jogged over to the bench, bringing the cord back to me. "Thanks." He smiled and leaning down, kissing me lightly on the forehead. I winded the string of lights around the rail carefully before plugging it into the socket.

"Looks great," Jared said happily. "Your house officially looks like the north pole. Santa would be proud. Let me tell you, you're the cutest elf I've ever seen."

"Ha. ha. You are so funny," I said poking him in the side. "Now we just have to wait for my dad to come home with the tree."

"I wish he would have let me come with him..." Jared said quietly, staring at the ground.

"Why? I think he's capable," I said giggling and grabbing his hand.

Jared shook his head. "No, I know he is. I just never got to pick out a tree before. My mom always said it was a waste of money."

My jaw dropped. I know my family went a little overboard for the holidays, but it this was shocking. "You've never had a Christmas tree?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess it's not that big of a deal. My family wasn't as close as you guys are, we didn't do things like this together."

"It is a big deal, and this year, you're gonna have the best Christmas ever," I said loudly, still surprised by Jared's past Christmas's. "When do you have to leave for work?"

"Eleven," Jared said groaning.

"Alright, it's six now. My dad should be back with the tree for us all to decorate in a half hour, which means my mom is putting the cookies in the oven right now for us to put frosting on when we're done with the tree."

Jared grinned at me. "You guys have a schedule for all of this?"

"Of course we do. My mom would go crazy otherwise," I said nodding. "She looks at it as a way to organize the chaos, I guess." I sighed. "I cannot believe you didn't have a Christmas tree."

Jared's head turned towards the road. "You're dad is home. I hear his car."

I clapped my gloved hands together. "Good! We can get this party started!" Sure enough, minutes later, my dad's car pulled in the driveway with a huge pine tree strapped to the top of it. Jared ran over to the car to help my dad carry it into the house.

"I know it's a little small this year, but since we waited so long, it's the biggest one I could get." My dad and I studied the tree. It was a bit smaller than usual, but it was wide, green, and smelled like a Christmas tree should smell like. "I hope your mother doesn't mind."

"You usually get a bigger one?" Jared asked in awe. My dad and I both nodded. "Wow. Okay, where do you want me to take it?" he asked my dad.

"You can't carry it by yourself, son. You might be strong, but you'll need help with this one," My dad said grabbing onto the other end of the tree. Jared grinned at me as he lifted it easily. My dad's eyes widened. "Well then, I guess you can go put it between the couch and the television. Carol should have a spot open for it." Jared nodded and moved the tree carefully into the house as my dad and I held the door open and pushed any branches towards the truck making it easier for him to get it through the frame.

"That one is a bit smaller than last years, Dale," Mom said as she glanced in from the kitchen.

"I know, dear, it was the biggest one there," Dad rolled his eyes at my mother. He moved to the box of lights to start dressing the tree.

I grinned. "Let's go downstairs and get the ornaments while my dad is putting the lights on." Jared nodded and followed me down the stairs. "I think he put them over-"

"I love you, Kim," Jared said as he pulled me into a hug. "I love you so much, and I love your family too. I'm so thankful for everything you all have done for me."

Leaning up, I kissed him lightly on the cheek. "We love you too Jared, so much."

He nodded and kissed me on the forehead. "I hated Christmas before I met you, now it's pretty awesome."

I smiled. "Good. Now let's find those ornaments."

Jared carried the boxes up the stairs and placed them next to the tree. "It looks good already," he commented as my dad finished putting lights on it.

I handed Jared a small box of glass blown ornaments. "Here, be careful with these once, they break easily, right Dad?" I said grinning.

My dad shook his head. "Don't say that too loud, your mother will hear."

I grinned and turned to Jared. "Last year, he dropped the box and broke all of the decorations. He spent hours looking for the exact same ones so that my mom wouldn't find out." Jared smiled and gently started hanging them onto the tree.

Two short hours later, we stepped back to admire the beautiful tree before us. I jumped when a light flashed in my eyes.

"Geez, Mom, warn us before you take pictures," I said, rubbing my watering eyes.

My mom snapped another picture. "It wouldn't be candid if I did that, Kim. Now who wants to frost some gingerbread men?"

My dad and Jared ran into the kitchen after my mom, and I smiled as I followed them in.

"Carol makes the best gingerbread cookies," my dad said, kissing my mom on the cheek.

My mom rolled her eyes. "Let's frost these. We can't have naked gingermen running around the house, right Kim?" Jared laughed and glanced at me questioningly.

"When I was little, I would always rush to frost the cookies because I didn't want any of them to be naked."

Jared started laughing harder. "You are too cute, Kim."

"Well I'm glad someone thinks so," I said as I smeared red frosting onto one of the cookies.

Jared glanced at the hundred or so cookies we were decorating, "are you guys going to eat all of these?"

My mom shook her head. "No, we sell most of them at the diner. They are a favorite among our regulars."

"I can see why," Jared said, biting the head off one off the cookies he finished frosting.

My mom laughed. "I'm glad you agree, Jared. Do you have to work tonight, dear?" She asked as she took a small bite from the cookie she was holding.

Jared nodded. "I work at eleven until four," he answered quickly.

My parents shook their head. "What does Uley have you doing that late at night on the night before Christmas Eve?" my dad asked.

Jared glanced at me quickly and shrugged. "Just making sure everything is going well, no one's getting in trouble. The usual."

"He should give you kids some time off for the holidays," my mom added as she started to place the gingerbread men into a plastic container to take to the restaurant. Jared shrugged again and began to concentrate very hard on the cookie he was eating in order to dodge further questions.

"Well, we're heading to bed. Have a good shift, Jared. Be careful." My mom leaned down to kiss my forehead and she kissed Jared's too, causing him to smile. "Good night, you two." My dad followed her down the hal into their room and waved before shutting the door.

"Did I mention that I loved your family?" Jared said, still smiling.

I grinned. "I think so, once or twice."

"Your dad called me 'son' today. When I was getting the tree from his car." Jared said as he brought my hand to his lips, kissing my fingertips lightly. "My own dad doesn't even call me that. He barely talks to me." He sighed. "I cannot stop thanking you for giving me a family that loves me, Kim. Someday, we will have a family like this."

"Promise?" I said, smiling up at him.

"Promise." Jared said happily. "I should get going, I've got to run across town to meet Paul at Sam's." He leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips. I ran my hands through his shaggy hair, pulling him closer to me, feeling his smile in the kiss. "I love you, Kim."

"And I love you. Don't get hurt, and let me know when you get home," I said as I grinned and leaned back in my chair, still smiling at Jared. "Merry Christmas, Jared."

"You too, Kim," Jared kissed my temple again before heading out of my house and into the night. I smiled when the joyful howl of a wolf pierced the silent air outside the house.

Here's the Christmas chapter.

Did the last chapter, like, suck? I got very few reviews for it. But thank you for those of you who did review!

Please let me know what you think. I know they chapters are short, and maybe a little rushed. I don't think this one was all that rushed but you guys are the readers, so let me know!

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Maddi3