Edward

Bella and I play tourists for the second time on the day before Christmas Eve, visiting the Frank Lloyd Wright House and Studio. We went ice skating at Millennium Park yesterday, and Bella was very excited to see the Cloud Gate sculpture and other modern art pieces there. Over the week, we've visited the Art Institute, the planetarium, Navy Pier, and the aquarium. Mom and Dad took us to an extremely nice dinner last night, then on to the Redhead Piano Bar, where we drank and sang along with the crowd loudly and off-key to old favorites.

Bella was afraid I'd get bored with all the art-centric stuff, but I enjoy it and am happy to see her passion for it. I watch her smile in enthusiastic recognition of things she's seen in textbooks and on websites.

Now we're making our way back to Mom and Dad's for dinner, where my grandma will be joining us, having just gotten back from her quarterly vacation with "the girls." Bella, of course, is as nervous to meet her as she was about meeting my parents. As I drive in the direction of the condo, I rub her knee with my free hand, reassuring her that Gram will love her.

"So she does these trips four times a year?" Bella asks.

"Yep. She and three other ladies. They met in some support group."

"Where do they go?"

"Anywhere and everywhere. I think it was Barbados this time."

Bella's eyes light up. "I'd love to go to Barbados."

"Maybe we will one day," I reply, bringing her hand to my mouth and kissing it softly.

Mom calls out from the kitchen when we walk in the front door. "Is that you, kids?"

"Yeah, it's us," I call back as I help Bella out of her coat.

We enter the kitchen to find Mom preparing dinner.

"Can I help with anything?" Bella asks.

"Not at all. You two go rest and get cleaned up for dinner. I'm sure you're tired."

I shrug, and we retreat to my bedroom. Bella puts away the bag of souvenirs she bought, and I kick off my shoes and lounge on the bed, reaching my arm out for her.

She shakes her head. "I think I'll take a shower."

I raise an eyebrow at her as she comes to stand beside the bed.

"Alone, you fiend. I'm cold and a little sore from traipsing around the city all week."

"Are you sure you want to be all alone in that big shower?" I ask, trailing my hand up her leg to cup her butt.

She laughs and swats at my arm, then leans over to kiss my forehead. "I'm certain."

I watch her disappear into the bathroom, admiring her ass in those jeans that fit her so well. Great. I'm at half-mast and won't be getting help with that anytime soon. Baseball stats…chord progressions…Britney Spears during her super crazy years… Ah, there we go.

I get up from the bed before I can start thinking about Bella standing naked in my shower, and wander into the kitchen.

"Hey, Mom."

"Hi." She smiles up at me as she mixes something I hope will be a chocolate cake. "Where's Bella?"

"Shower." I pop a cucumber slice into my mouth. "When's Gram getting here?"

"Your dad's picking her up at the airport on his way home." She glances at the clock on the stove. "Half an hour?"

I shrug and sit on a barstool, pulling the cutting board and a large knife toward me to cut up another cucumber. "So, Mom…"

She puts the wooden spoon down and peers up at me with twinkling eyes. "You're going to ask Bella to marry you, aren't you?"

My back goes ramrod straight. "What?"

"I have a sixth sense about these things," she says, tapping her temple. "Are you asking Gram for the ring?"

"Mom—"

"Or will you be getting something new? You know, every girl loves to see that little blue box and white ribbon."

"Mom—"

"I could help you shop if it's a surprise. Or are you going to let her pick it out herself?"

"MOM!"

She startles and comes back to the present. "Sorry," she says sheepishly. "Did I assume wrong?"

I draw in a deep breath and glance behind me to make sure Bella's not there, then lower my voice. "You didn't assume wrong."

Mom covers her mouth and lets out a muted squeal.

"It won't be while we're here. I haven't decided when to do it yet. You know her background. I'm kind of nervous. I mean, she's been engaged before. Do you think she'll want to do it again? She's so self-conscious because of that…bastard."

"Language," she says, tapping me lightly on the wrist with her spoon.

I roll my eyes. "Barely."

She comes around to sit on the barstool next to me, taking my hands in hers. "Darling, the way you two look at each other leaves no question in my mind. Something tells me she won't shy away from a proposal, no matter what happened in her past." She lifts her hand to my cheek, and her eyes glisten with unshed tears. "She's wonderful, Edward. I'd be thrilled to call her my daughter-in-law."

"Knock knock!" a voice sings out through the previously quiet condo. "Anybody home?"

Dad and Gram appear around the corner and stop when they take in the scene in front of them. Gram's hand flies to her chest immediately.

"Who died?" she asks.

Mom laughs and dabs at her eyes with the corner of her apron, standing to embrace her mother. "No one died. We were just having a little heart-to-heart."

Dad raises an eyebrow at me, which I ignore.

"Gram!" I pull her into a hug, and her familiar scent brings me back to my childhood. "How was Barbados?"

"It was wonderful! You all simply must visit. So gorgeous. And how are you, favorite grandson?"

"Your only grandson is doing well," I say. "And Masen's is still in full swing, too."

She runs her thumb over my cheek. "Your granddad would be so proud."

I beam at her. It's one of the best compliments I could ever receive.

"When do I get to meet this lovely girl of yours?"

"Bella's in the shower." I pop a baby carrot into my mouth and get up from my seat. "Speaking of which, I should probably get cleaned up for dinner myself." I hug Gram tightly again and shoulder-check my dad on the way to my room.

Bella's just emerging from the steamy bathroom when I open the door. I go straight to her and put my face against her neck, inhaling her clean skin. "Hi."

"Well, hello yourself," she says with a giggle.

"I missed you."

"You're crazy. I took fiftenn minutes tops."

I pull my face back and stand as close as I can without touching her. "Do you know how much I love you?"

She nods and grins.

"I don't think you're quite clean enough," I tell her. "I think you need to join me in the shower so I can make sure you're spotless."

She hums and goes to the dresser, opening a drawer and taking out lacy things. "I don't think you want to get clean. I think you want to get dirty."

I say nothing, but reach for the knot in her towel, undoing it with a flick of my fingers and letting it fall to the floor.

"What's gotten into you?" she asks.

And who knew watching her put on a pair of panties would be almost as gripping as watching her take them off. "You. God, you're beautiful."

She grips my shirt as I grab her arm and back her toward the bathroom. "I want you," I whisper into her ear, nipping at the lobe gently, kicking the bathroom door closed behind me.

"Edward," she says in a breathy voice.

I pushed her up onto the countertop and trail kisses down her warm body.

"Edward," she says more forcefully. I cover her mouth with mine, but she laughs and pushes me back. "No."

I back away and try to pout at her amused face, but I can't hold back a grin. She hops down from the counter, and I smack her butt before she leaves me in the bathroom.

Bella

I'm tempted to join Edward in the shower, really I am, but I have other things on my mind. I want to make a good impression on his grandmother.

His grandmother. She and Edward's parents are just a few rooms away, and I'm too embarrassed to do anything when they might possibly hear me corrupting their son on the bathroom counter.

Edward emerges from the bathroom with a towel slung low around his hips as I'm putting on makeup. I bite my lip when I see him from my peripheral vision. He's the most beautiful man I've ever seen in my life, and having him parade around in nothing but a towel is like torture.

"You look nice," he says, kissing me on the cheek as he reaches into the closet to pull out his clothing.

I went with a black, curve-hugging sweater dress that stops right above my knees. "Is this too much? Or too casual? I just want to look good enough."

"It's better than good enough."

Edward scrambles into a pair of jeans and an untucked button-down, his standard. At home, his look is much more casual for dinner, but he says his grandmother expects more.

"Ready?" he asks as I slip on a pair of pink ballet flats.

I nod, and he offers me his arm as though we're about to make a grand entrance into a ballroom. I laugh and take it, and we leave the haven of his bedroom.

Seated on the living room sofa is a lovely woman with white hair and kind eyes. She wears an expensive-looking pantsuit, which I find charming since I know she came directly from the airport.

"Gram?" Edward says. "I'd like to introduce you to someone."

"This must be Bella!" she says, rising from her perch.

I step shyly from Edward's side, and she places her hands on my shoulders. "Well, you are even lovelier than Edward could ever describe."

I blush as she pulls me into an embrace.

"It's lovely to meet you," I say when she lets go. "I've heard so much about you. And thank you so much for the bracelet." I finger the ever-present rose gold chain around my wrist.

She laughs. "Isn't it perfect, though? You and Edward having the same initials as my Edward and me? When he told me your name, I immediately went home and dug this from my jewelry box."

"Thank you," I tell her again. "I love it. I never take it off."

"You're very welcome."

"Bella, you look very pretty," Esme says, coming from the kitchen with two glasses of wine.

"Thanks. So do you."

Esme personifies grace and beauty, and apparently she got that from her mother.

At some point during dinner I fall in love with Edward's grandmother—Betty, as she insists I call her. She's a lively woman, and she regales me with stories of her travels. This year, she and her friends visited Washington, DC, in the spring to see the cherry blossoms. In the summer they went to Rome. Lovely fall colors lured them to upstate New York. And the winter chill shooed them away to Barbados for two weeks.

"Have you ever been to the Caribbean?" she asks me.

"Once. On a cruise."

"Ah, a cruise!" Carlisle says. "We haven't done one of those in forever, Esme."

"The girls and I have been thinking of doing an Alaskan cruise," Betty interjects.

Edward chuckles. I know he gets a kick out of the way she throws that term around—the girls. His hand finds my knee, and I peek over at him with a smile.

"Will you look at these two?" Esme sighs.

"Mom, we're right here."

"Oh, let us have our fun," Betty says, swatting at him with her napkin and winking at me. "Edward's never brought a serious girlfriend home to meet us before."

"What about in high school?" I ask, eager to get to the embarrassing adolescent stories.

Esme shakes her head. "I don't think he had many girlfriends."

Edward raises an eyebrow at her and shrugs one shoulder. "I went on dates. I was just more interested in music."

"Edward is such a prodigy when it came to music," says Betty. "So much like his grandfather."

He snorts. "Hardly a prodigy."

"You weren't here during those evening practice hours." Carlisle chuckles.

Dinner with Edward's family isn't anything like I remember it being with Renee and Charlie. I've never had such an easygoing relationship with my parents. We'd talk a bit at dinner, but it was never over the dining room table. The three of us almost always ate in front of the television, with Charlie propped in his recliner and Mom and me curled up on the couch.

Sitting here with Edward's family makes me a little wistful. It strikes me that this is exactly what I want. If Edward and I get married and have a family one day, I want this easy conversation with our children over a home-cooked dinner in a pretty dining room. Edward squeezes my knee under the table again, and I know in that moment that there's nothing I want more.

Christmas Eve is a whirlwind of activity. I help Esme and Betty cook and bake for their annual drop-in, where all family, friends, and colleagues are invited to come and go as they please. Edward and Carlisle have been sent out with a to-do list to brave the last-minute crowds. I'm cutting Christmas shapes out of dough I just rolled out when Esme brings up a topic I don't expect whatsoever.

"When was the last time you spoke with your mother, Bella?"

I freeze. "Um…right before we left to come here."

"Oh, is she traveling, too?" asks Betty, having no idea of the nature of my relationship, or lack thereof, with my parents.

"No. She lives in Los Angeles."

"The girls and I just visited there last year! It's lovely…in some parts."

"I wouldn't know. I haven't actually been there."

"You haven't visited your mother? How long has she lived there?"

I gulp as I push the snowman cookie cutter into the soft dough. "Um…almost two years."

"Bella and Edward were thinking of going for a visit during the spring," Esme interjects. "Weren't you?"

I place the fragile little snowman on the cookie sheet. "Yeah."

"Why haven't you visited before?" Betty asked.

"Mother, this is kind of hard for Bella to talk about, I think—"

"It's okay," I tell her, clearing my throat. "Mom moved to L.A. right after she and my dad divorced. She met a man there and remarried. He has a teenage son. So she has this whole new family, and I just…" I trail off.

"Oh, honey," Betty says, wiping her hands on a towel, and wraps her arm around my shoulders. "Your mother is always your mother, no matter where she goes or who else comes into her life."

I nod and discretely swiped a tear from the corner of my eye. "I've been talking to her more since Dad had the heart attack. And we've been looking at plane tickets for spring."

"Good!" Betty says, giving me another squeeze before going back to chopping vegetables. "I've been a mother and a grandmother for a long time now. I just know your mom is missing you terribly, even if she has a stepson. Nothing can ever replace your own child. And speaking of children…"

Oh, no.

"When are you and Edward going to provide me with a great-grandchild?"

"Mother!" Esme exclaims.

"What? It's not like I'm getting any younger. I'd like to see great-grandchildren. I do so love babies."

Esme laughs. "Don't you think they should get married first?"

I stand wide-eyed and slack-jawed as this exchange takes place casually in Edward's mother's kitchen. Both women turn to me with matching inquisitive expressions.

"I—"

"It's okay," Esme says with a wink. "We're just teasing you."

I exhale loudly and turn back to the miniature snowmen and gingerbread men, enjoying their sugary silence as Esme and Betty chat away. Much to my delight, they've already moved on to another topic.

A few hours later I stand in the shower, letting the hot water ease my muscles, which are a little stiff from working in the kitchen all day.

I jump when I heard a loud wolf whistle carry through the bathroom. "Hey, gorgeous," Edward says with a laugh. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

I smile at him through the clear shower door as he leans back against the counter, legs crossed at the ankles.

"Comfortable?" I ask.

"Just thought I'd sit and enjoy the show."

My face grows warm, and it has nothing to do with the hot water. No matter how many times he sees me naked, I always feel vulnerable, exposed when his eyes rake up and down my body. When his eyes meet mine again, he smiles broadly and innocently. "What?"

"Are you really going to just watch me?"

"Well, I could join you if you want." He grabs the hem of his t-shirt and tears it over his head.

"As much as I'd love that, we don't have much time before the guests start to arrive."

He shrugs and resumes his position against the counter.

"How was your day?" I ask as I lift my right leg and lather it up to shave.

"Uh… It was good."

"Were the stores crowded?"

"Not too bad."

I turn to look at his distracted face and laugh. "Edward?"

"Sorry. How was your day?"

"Interesting. Lots of girl talk."

"Did they work you hard?"

"Yes, but it was fun. We got a lot done."

From the corner of my eye, I watch him bite his lip, and I almost wish there were enough time to really put on a show for him—get him all riled and ready. Instead, I finish up and step out onto the soft rug. Edward wraps me in a towel and kissed me.

"Hello," he says.

"Hi. What's with you lately?"

"I'm just really happy you're here with me. Having you here, spending Christmas with my family. It just means a lot to me. Plus, you know…my bed's finally seeing some action."

I laugh and shake my head at probably his tenth mention of us "breaking in" the same bed he spent his adolescent years in. "I'm glad you're happy. That's my number one priority."

"Mine, too. Making you happy, I mean. I love you."

"Love you, too," I say as our lips met again. "Now get in the shower before your mother comes looking for us."

Edward

I'm reluctant to let Bella leave the bathroom after watching her shower, but I don't want to push her into anything. She's already apprehensive about the crowd of people that will be here soon. I can't help myself—I feel particularly amorous lately, so incredibly lucky to have Bella in my life. Seeing her interact with my family seals the deal.

I'm going to ask Bella to marry me.

Dad and I had a long talk about it while running our long list of errands. He encouraged me to talk to Charlie first. That makes me more nervous than the thought of actually proposing. But since he's in her life again, I feel like it's the right thing to do, if only for propriety's sake. Dad regaled me with stories about asking Granddad for permission to marry my mom. I'm not too worried about what Charlie will say, given the fact that he's just reappeared in her life. It's more of a formality than anything else.

Bella's applying makeup at the mirror above my dresser when I step out of the shower. Her short, red dress creeps up a little in the back as she leans forward, and I admire a smooth expanse of thigh for the second time since I got home. I shake my head at myself and go into the walk-in closet to find something to wear.

"I laid your clothes out on the bed," says Bella.

"Since when do you lay out my clothes?"

"Since your mom told me what she wanted you to wear. She knows your preference for jeans and t-shirts."

"Everyone will be looking at you anyway. You're stunning, as always."

"Thank you. Which earrings should I wear?"

"None, so I can nibble on your ears whenever I want."

"You're silly."

"The diamond ones, then."

She snorts. "They're not diamonds."

I turn my back to hide a smirk from her. I'll just have to remedy that little issue.

"That's a foxy lady you've got there," Aro says as he claps me on the back. "It's good to see you attached for a change. You seem happy."

As my dad's best friend, Aro has been like an uncle to me for most of my life.

"Thanks," I say. "She's a good girl." I wink at her when she catches my eye from across the room.

"The happiness shows on both your faces. When's the wedding?"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, come on. You can't tell me you haven't thought about it."

"Did Dad tell you?"

Aro's face lights up. "No, but there's my answer. When are you going to ask her?"

I swallow the last of my wine. "I'm not really sure yet."

Dad unknowingly saves the day by coming over to introduce Aro to an associate. I thank him silently with a grin and a tip of my empty glass and leave to find Bella.

She's standing across the room next to my mom, who's chatting with her friend Carmen. I sneak up behind them and put one arm around Bella, the other around Mom.

"Edward!" Carmen exclaims. "Esme's just been telling me the most wonderful things about you and Bella here, who is most charming, I must say."

"Thanks. I like her a lot, too."

Mom and Carmen giggled, and Gram waltzes up to take Bella's hand. "I'm going to steal young Bella away for a moment, my dears."

With that, she's out of my arms, being pulled across the room and into the kitchen.

"Esme tells me your grandfather's music shop is doing exceptionally well," says Carmen, who happens to be a marketing consultant.

As we talk about the shop and everything I've done with it, I keep one eye out for Bella. My eyes and ears are always on the lookout for her, craving her presence. I excuse myself at a lull in the conversation and find her standing with my dad, his arm thrown around her shoulders, grinning as someone snaps a picture.

"There you are," I say, taking her hand and bringing her in close. "I've barely seen you all evening."

She leans against me. "I know. I've missed you today."

I kiss her forehead. The crowd in my parents' condo begins to thin out, leaving me extremely grateful. I'm anxious to get to bed. Not only for an excuse to hold Bella's warm body against mine without a roomful of eyes, but so we can wake up together tomorrow morning and celebrate our first Christmas together. I'm excited to share old traditions and start new ones with her.

My heart swells in my chest as I think to myself that this is just the first of many Christmases we'll be spending together.