Bella Cullen

Chapter 14 – Belated Gifts

Evalyn often complained if she had to go to bed before any of us other "kids" were even in our pajamas. Needless to say, we all were in nightwear by seven. We had all been forced to acquire this attire when Rosalie started having frequent slumber parties (the result of me asking everyone to be more social). The slumber parties had been pretty much eliminated now that we had Evalyn.

It felt normal; my first dose of normalcy in four years. Everyone preparing to sleep even though we couldn't.

Rosalie – of course dressed in a fitting, flashy silk night gown – escorted Evalyn to her room to tuck her in at 7:30, after letting her hug each of us goodnight. While she had still been healing, she had used our chilled skin to appease her bruises, so to her, it was a welcoming sense of comfort every time her skin came in contact with ours.

For that reason, Evalyn had no problem holding Rosalie's had all the way to her bedroom.

Emmett had challenged all of us to a little wii tournament when Rosalie came back downstairs. It was actually rather fun. All of the guys lost; they hadn't done much physical activity in their pajama pants. Being held up by elastic wasn't that great for jumping around, so they tripped a lot. Rosalie and I tied for first, due to her short gown and my cotton shorts. Alice landed an easy third. Her flannel pants had caused her a problem, too, but her dancer's step landed her above the boys.

When the tournament was over, we all retired to our bedrooms. I stayed behind for a few seconds to help Alice with some of the decorations that had fallen. But that's all it took: seconds. Not long enough to postpone the inevitable.

When I reached the bedroom, the bathroom light being on was yet another reminder. The toilet flushed and the sink ran. When I approached the doorway, Edward smiled.

Edward's smile still made my heart jump. That was the only moving it did nowadays, and despite the fact that toothpaste was foaming over his perfect teeth, his smile still would have left me lightheaded…if I had still been capable of that sensation.

I took a deep breath. Regurgitating was not fun. Luckily, we had no stomach acid, so our teeth were not compromised. We only brushed to catch the leftovers.

Edward held my hair back, as usual. Another sense of normalcy. It's what any loving husband would do if his wife was miserable vomiting up her entire day's consumption of food. Vomiting was the reason why I actually like days that we had school. I never had to fake lunch those days.

He always tried to, but I would never let him kiss me until after I brushed my teeth. I had never kissed anyone right after they threw up, but I was pretty sure that it wasn't that pleasant. After all that he continued to do fore me, I wouldn't let him experience that kind of misfortune.

I began to wonder what he was up to when I didn't feel him soothingly rub my back while I brushed, like he usually did. It didn't annoy me that he wasn't there, it was just unusual. I spat and rinsed before I turned to see where he was.

He was lying casually on the bed, twirling a small box in his hands.

"Couldn't give this to you in front of Evalyn," he explained.

"Why not?" I inquired, curious now.

"It has to do with the charade," he continued. "Open it."

I took the box of his hand and quickly pulled off the shiny gold wrapping. Inside the simple white box underneath was the most beautiful gold bracelet I had ever seen (and living with Rosalie, you see some pretty nice jewelry). It was one of those bracelet that didn't have a clasp, just one of those openings that you slip your wrist through. The gold wove around the bracelet in little swirls. I slid it onto my right wrist, my left still occupied by the charm bracelet that I always tried not to think about. Edward still hadn't left me take it off.

When I was done admiring the beautiful bracelet, the curiosity came back.

Edward didn't even have to dip into my mind (that part was due to me not letting him) to know one of my unspoken questions.

"Yes. This, too, was my mother's," he announced. Surprise, surprise. Every piece of jewelry I wore on regular basis had some sort of connection with his mother. The heart-shaped diamond on my bracelet, my engagement ring, we had even been married with his parent's wedding rings, and now this.

"And it fits into the charade how?" I wondered.

"It's how I'm going to 'ask' you to date me," he explained. He really hadn't like the idea of me skipping out on the dance, and we hadn't thought of something else in time, so as far as the school was concerned, we were still just really close siblings. "We'll say that all of the guys went to Chicago before Christmas and I brought this back for you, confessing to you how much you meant to me and asked if you wanted to follow our siblings' example. You say that you'll think about it, which gives us an excuse to at lease act a little more affectionate. Around Valentine's Day you accept. Then for Valentine's Day I give you a promise ring. That way you can wear at least your engagement ring to school. I see that look on your face each morning. How much you hate taking it off. This'll take care of that," he concluded. "It's a little late, but it'll work."

"Leave it to you…" I scoffed.

"What?" he asked playfully.

"Theatrical tendencies," I simply stated.

"Hey, it fits. You took a while to accept my proposal, and then it was a few days later when you started wearing your ring," he reminded me.

"True enough," I admitted.

Edward then rolled on top of me. He still treated me like I was made of glass most of the time. He hadn't let my physical enhancements change the way he handled me. So I barely felt any of his weight, not like it would have hurt me anyway. He brought his face to mine and kissed me, over and over, as gentle as a vampire could be while still being passionate at the same time.

For the past month we had all been really cautious to be caught with Evalyn around. Needless to say that this was physically the closest we had been in a while. I was more than eager to continue.

"Merry Christmas," Edward wished. I couldn't tell if he was intentionally being seductive or not.

I guessed not when he began to roll back over. I was so glad that I was now able to fold on to him with some force. I pulled him back on top of me and hugged him closer, kissing him with only half the gentleness that he had exercised.

"Christmas isn't over, yet," I reminded him with a grin.

Edward smiled back, and moment later, his mouth was back on mine.

I could see the outcome of my decision, the teasing looks the others would give us in the morning, especially the whooping from Emmett and the slight disappointment from Carlisle and Esme that we couldn't "control ourselves."

They can all mind their own damn business, I told myself, keeping Edward out, still. I didn't want his silent reply or need for explanation to postpone anything.

That familiar thrilling sensation washed through me as Edward pulled his shirt over his head. This was going to be a merry Christmas indeed.