Chapter Twelve

Gesture

December 2004 Forks, Washington

School had finished for the Christmas Holidays, thank goodness. Two weeks break from the monotony and torture of the infantile behaviour of the Juniors at Forks High School, especially the idiotic Jessica Stanley who seemed to have renewed her futile pursuit of me following a chance encounter at the fuel station a couple of weeks ago. I had thought I had managed to palm her off on Mike Newton. I knew she was interested in him and I had arranged for them to be paired off on a recent school trip, but he was dragging his heels, being a little unsure of himself and also, painfully aware of her infatuation with me.

We celebrated our freedom immediately with an impromptu hunting party in the Cascade Mountains, where the prey was plentiful, followed by a brief visit to Tanya and her sisters in Alaska. Tanya, as usual was most interested to hear that I was still single, and I found myself being grateful that I hadn't decided to take her as a mate. She was undoubtedly beautiful, and fun to be with, but she was far too flighty for me. No, she was not what I was looking for at all, not that I was really looking for anyone. Certainly I hadn't met anyone yet who I would want to spend the rest of my life with.

On returning to Forks we settled into the holiday season as any human would, buying gifts and hanging garlands to adorn the house. Alice decorated the entire driveway which was over three miles long, with fairy lights. The only exception to the norm was that obviously, there was no feast to organise, well not usually anyway.

This year however, Esme had decided to break with tradition and had arranged delivery of an enormous turkey, complete with all the trimmings. We were all at home when it arrived, two days before Christmas.

"What do you propose we do with a forty eight pound turkey?" I asked laughing, Esme has lost the plot! I thought to myself, but then I instantly saw her reasoning in her mind and approved of her action, even if it did present us with an enormous problem in the shape of a giant bird.

Esme explained the reason for her purchase to the rest of the family. "Well, I just wanted to help Mr Joseph out really. I was in his shop the other day, buying the customary props, and he told me no-one wanted large turkeys any more. He had this one ordered for someone else and they cancelled at the last minute. I know he has been struggling financially, what with losing most of his customers to the larger food markets, so I told him if he could have it delivered with all the trimmings I would pay him double for it." She shrugged and looked at us all apologetically.

"Oh Esme, you really are a sucker for a sob story," Carlisle said with a warm smile as he put his arm around her and kissed her on the top of her head.

"Nice one Esme!" Emmett teased. "What next? A case of champagne?"

"I agree with your sentiment Esme," I added, "But seriously, what are we going to do with it? And why did you ask for all the trimmings?"

"Well, I just wanted to appear to be doing the right thing. Isn't that what a human would have done? I don't want to raise any suspicions."

"Well, I'm not sure that humans normally have their turkeys delivered with all the trimmings, Esme, but no harm done. I guess they aren't all as fortunate as we are. Yes, it would seem perfectly natural for us to pay for the complete service I guess, and we are a large family so it would have to be a large turkey." Carlisle surmised.

"It's a good job we have a huge refrigerator," Emmett added. "I'll take it out for you." Emmett disappeared into the normally unused kitchen carrying the large bird effortlessly. "Ewww do humans really eat this garbage. It smells disgusting!"

"Yes Emmett, I believe they smell better when they are cooked," Esme offered, "Well, so I am told, anyway."

"Well, I think I will stick to grizzly bear," Emmett replied laughing.

"So that's it is it? That thing is going to sit in our refrigerator stinking our house out until it rots and becomes putrid?" Rosalie scoffed. "What then? We throw it out? Why not just dispose of it now?"

"Well, I don't know. It seems such a waste. There are families that would love to have such a feast for their Christmas." Esme said thoughtfully.

"And I know of exactly such a family," I added. I had already formed the idea in my mind as soon as I had been aware of Esme's rather unusual action.

"You do?" Esme asked, suddenly delighted with her purchase and the prospect of helping someone in need.

"Yes, one of the lads at school is having a hard time at the moment; yes, I do sometimes listen to their private thoughts, when there is something worth listening to. His father had an accident, fell of a ladder and now he can't work. He has had to give up his job at the mill and his mother has been ill too, as a result of all the stress. He has been worried lately about how they will cope. He has four younger siblings and they are really struggling. I don't think they will be having much of a Christmas this year."

Carlisle knew who I was talking about. I read it in his thoughts. Ah yes, Jamie Roberts. I remember treating his father at the hospital. It is unlikely he will walk again. He's doing really well with his physio, but with a broken back, who can tell what progress will be made?

Carlisle now spoke, for the benefit of everyone else, "What an excellent idea. I know the young lad that Edward mentioned. His name is Jamie Roberts. They are a nice family and would no doubt really benefit from receiving such a gift. I don't believe though they would accept it as a gift, so we would have to donate it anonymously. Edward, do you know where they live?"

Esme clapped her hands together with delight "Oh, excellent!" she said.

"Well, I am not exactly sure, but it wouldn't take me long to find out." I replied, to Carlisle's question. "I will just search the town until I can fix on Jamie's mind. From there I will be able to pin-point the correct house."

"Oh, no need for that Edward, I just wondered if you knew. The hospital will have records. I'll log in to their network in a moment."

"Ok, well I will drop it over to them later then. Do I ring the bell and leave it on the door step like we have done before?"

"Yes, I would think so. I want to decorate it first though," Esme replied. She disappeared off to the kitchen in a flash, stopping to pull some red ribbon from a draw in the sideboard. She was humming a Christmas tune, 'tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la la la la la. She returned a few moments later announcing that the turkey was ready to go.

"It's too early yet though," she told me, as if I didn't realise that. "Leave it until about ten o'clock. Most of the humans will be settled at home by then. It will be more discreet."

I nodded in agreement. She squeezed me hands and whispered, "Thank you Edward."

"They are going to be so thrilled," Alice confirmed. "I've already seen them opening the door and finding it. They haven't got a clue where it came from. Jamie thinks it's a gift from the Church. Apparently he went there to pray for a miracle last week."

"Oh, excellent," Esme said cheerily.

"Right, I'll find that address for you Edward," Carlisle told me as he disappeared in a flash, up to his office.

Later that evening I set off in my Volvo, a present Carlisle had bought me last year when I had become officially old enough to drive. Of course, I had the Aston Martin in the garage, but Carlisle had told me it was too flashy for everyday use and so I had been given the Volvo as my every day car, and we used it as a school bus. Naturally Rosalie had tuned the engine so that it ran faster than it was supposed to, but the unsuspecting humans would be unaware of this. They were never with me when I drove. Such close proximity would be ridiculously dangerous for them. It was one thing to mingle with humans at school and other public places, but none of them ever got close enough to put themselves in mortal danger. Being alone with a vampire was definitely not a sensible idea.

I found the address with ease. It was a in the middle of a row of modest looking houses, not far from the hospital. There were a group of rowdy young lads passing by after a night out on the town so I waited for them to pass. I parked on the opposite side of the street, just down from the Roberts' house and listened to the humans going about their normal bedtime preparations. Jamie's younger siblings were already in bed. Jamie himself was talking to his mother and father about them. He was worried they wouldn't have much of a Christmas this year. He feared their disappointment.

"Well, it can't be helped," Mr Roberts said. "What can we do? We have bought them a few small presents at least. We will have to make the best of it. I can't even walk at the moment so a return to work is out of the question."

"Things will get better soon Jamie," his mother comforted him.

Now would be an excellent time to deliver their Christmas dinner, I thought to myself. I checked to make sure that no-one was about and satisfying myself that I was alone, I held my breath as I took the enormous, but unpleasant smelling turkey out of the trunk, smiling at the elegant red ribbon that Esme had wrapped around it, and the card with Esme's perfect writing on it From a well-wisher. Happy Christmas, it read. Honestly, I was amazed that humans found this appetising. Emmett was right; it stunk!

I slid silently across the street and placed the gift on their doorstep. One more glance around to ensure the street was empty and then I rang the doorbell and ran swiftly back to my car. Any human watching would not have noticed me, moving at the speed that I was capable of. It would have been a complete blur. Within a couple of seconds my car had reached the end of the block, far enough away for them not to see me clearly in the dark.

I observed young Jamie, opening the door and looking around to see who had rung the bell. He looked annoyed, assuming it had been pranksters, and then as he was about to shut the door again, he noticed the giant bird on his doorstep, well he could hardly miss it really, and his expression changed, firstly to quizzical, and then to delight.

I laughed as he struggled to pick it up, almost dropping it several times. Eventually he got a good enough grip on it to be able to carry it inside, staggering under the sheer size and weight of it.

Even though I was half a block away I could hear the conversation inside the house.

"Who was it?" Mrs Roberts called out.

"Er, I don't know, but they left this behind," Jamie replied.

"What the...? From a well-wisher. Happy Christmas," Mrs Roberts read out the inscription on the card. "Who do you imagine would have done this?"

"Don't know," Jamie said. "Although I did pray for a miracle at the church the other day..."

"I'm not sure we should accept charity," Mr Roberts said a little stiffly.

"Well, we can't very well return it, can we? We don't know where it has come from. And it will make a wonderful Christmas meal. We haven't got anything else..."

"Yeah, I suppose, I just don't like not being able to provide for my own family, that's all. Yes, you're right Liz, it will make all the difference to the kids. Give them a decent meal for Christmas, and there will be enough to live on for a few days I should think!"

I sped home to report back to Esme. Her kind gesture had been well received, eventually.