A/N: Merry Christmas!
Sorry for no update yesterday, the website wouldn't let me onto my account!
Edward:
"Mark stole my pick!"
"Where's my reed?"
"Mr Cullen I've lost my music!"
Yes, and I've aged about ten years in the space of ten minutes.
"Mark, give Stacey back her pick. George, there's a draw of spare reeds and Lucy, please, please tell me you're joking," I say, though the look on Lucy's face tells me she's not joking.
"It's alright, Mr Cullen, I have our music!" Lucy's friend tells me.
"Thank god," I blow out a loud breath.
"That's blasphemy, sir," Mark pipes up.
"I'm stressed. I could be saying a lot worse," I tell him.
"Like what?" Mark asks, grinning.
"Nice try," I tell him, glancing up to see Rose, Emmett, Bella and Arthur walk in. "Everyone, sort yourselves out," I say as I walk over to my friends.
I greet Bella with a chaste kiss, though my students still feel it's worthy of whistling. I roll my eyes as I greet Arthur with a ruffle of his hair, which makes Bella huff and glare at me.
"How's it going?" Emmett asks me.
"I think my hair is going grey," I reply.
"It doesn't look grey to me. It looks red," Arthur says, looking up at my hair.
They all get their seats, since I have to check up on my students. I see Arthur pointing over at the guitars, a look of excitement on his face. After he told me about wanting a guitar for Christmas, I suggested to Bella that a ukulele might be better due to the size. Plus, a ukulele is much cheaper than a full size guitar.
"I didn't know you had a wife and a son," Mark says as I walk over to him.
"We're not married," I tell him, holding up my ring finger. "Now, everyone get in your seats," I instruct them.
"Sir, you've got some lipstick on your lips," Lucy informs me, smirking.
I hastily wipe at my mouth while all my students snicker at me. To stop the laughing, I just threaten to give them extra homework. It works pretty well.
The school hall starts filling up rapidly, and some of the kids begin to get stage fright. I attempt to reassure them, but I'm not the best at reassuring people.
Finally, it's time to start the Christmas concert, and everything seems to be in order. No one is nervous, at least not excessively, and everyone has their correct instruments and music.
Time to start this thing.
At the end of night, after I've praised everyone who participated, I let Arthur on one of the guitars. Stacey's sat with him, showing him how to play some of the basic chords.
"Thank you for inviting us," Bella says, resting her head against my shoulder.
"My pleasure. Though, one of my students did ask if we were married," I tell her, kissing the side of her head.
"What?" Bella questions, looking up at me.
"He said he didn't realise I had a wife and a son," I say.
"And what did you tell him?" Bella asks.
"I told him we weren't married," I shrug, glancing around before stealing a quick kiss.
"You didn't say Arthur wasn't yours?" Bella asks me.
"Shit, sorry, should I have?" I fret.
"No, it's just…he really looks up to you, you know?" Bella says. "Which is slightly annoying. You have to make him fall in love with an expensive hobby, don't you?" Bella huffs, glancing over at Arthur, who's playing the D chord over and over again.
After lots of promises to buy him a guitar and let him play on mine, we finally pry Arthur away from guitar. Since Bella and Arthur came here with Emmett and Rose, I drive us all back to Bella's place.
"It'd probably be easier if I just brought some clothes over to your place," I tell Bella after we've put Arthur to bed. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. All the playing of guitar must've worn him out.
When Bella doesn't say anything, I glance over at her. She's just staring at me with her mouth slightly open.
What did I say? Did I say something wrong?
"Bella?" I question, gently raising her chin so that she's looking me in the eye.
"You don't realise what you just said, do you?" she asks, a couple of tears spilling over.
"I just suggested bringing some clothes over," I tell her, trying to work out why she's crying.
"You've been staying here an awful lot," Bella murmurs.
"Oh, shit," I mutter, taking a step back. "If you don't want me here so much, just tell me. Shit, I didn't even think. I should just, um, go, or something…" I take another step back and begin walking off, only to have Bella move in front of me and block my path.
"It would be easier if you had your clothes here. And your furniture and other belongings," Bella says, staring up at me.
"You mean…You want…here?" I ask, smooth as ever.
Bella giggles and starts placing light kisses along my jaw. "I love waking up next to you, and Arthur's confessed he loves having you tuck him in at night. So, yes, I do want you here," Bella tells me.
"Really? It's not too soon?" I confirm, backing her up against the wall.
"No. You're practically living here, anyway. We might as well just make it official," Bella says, biting her lip.
I gently pull her lip away from her teeth and then kiss her slowly, showing her how much I love her. Bella responds by fisting my hair as my hands move up and down the sides of her body.
Slowly we move over to her- our bed and begin undressing each other. I kiss all over her flawless body, briefly wondering how I got so lucky to be able to call her mine.
That night, for the first time, I understand what it feels like to make love. I feel like I can't get close enough to Bella, like I can't touch and feel enough of her skin. It's consuming and overwhelming and it makes me fall in love with her even more.
"I love you," I repeat over and over as I hold her close to me.
"The feeling's mutual," Bella replies, snuggling against me.
Just like her son, Bella falls asleep quickly, her breaths fanning against my chest. I lie next to her and for; I don't know how long, just watch her. She's so perfect and I can't wait to be living with her and Arthur.
They're definitely the best Christmas presents I could ask for.
A/N: Thoughts on the last chapter?
I'd just like to say thanks to everyone who has read and stuck with this story. Your reviews have been awesome, and I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!
Review please :)
See you all again on New Year's Eve for the epilogue :D