AN: I'm back! I really should be studying right now, but I thought I'd get this chapter up for you guys first – hope you like it!

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

28 – A Family Holiday

Edward

I spent the next couple of days with Lily, since school was out for the holidays and Bella still had to work. Lily seemed perfectly fine with the fact that I was there when she woke up in the morning and when she went to bed at night. I was relieved, having feared that she would have difficulty adjusting to the new situation.

The only thing she had had an objection to was the fact that she would no longer get to sleep in her "other" room. We were able to fix this by promising that, after we got back from Forks, we would move some of the stuff from her room at my old apartment to her room at home.

I already thought of my apartment as my "old" place and Bella's apartment as "home". I would have to keep the apartment until we found a bigger place – not because I was thinking about keeping any of the furniture, really, but because I needed space for my piano. It definitely wouldn't fit in Bella's living room, and I needed somewhere to work.

Bella and I tried to keep our physical contact to a minimum in front of Lily, but the little that we did allow ourselves didn't seem to bother her. She loved when all three of us curled up on the couch to watch a movie.

Bella only had to work for a few hours on Wednesday morning, because of some project that she had to finish for her boss before the holidays. When she got home, we quickly packed the car and headed towards Forks. There wasn't much traffic, but since the roads were covered in snow and, quite possibly, ice, the drive still took almost an hour longer than usual.

I hadn't spoken to Alice since she and Jasper had driven up to Forks that Saturday, and I was pretty sure that she still thought that her little plan had failed. I couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she realized the truth. She would be furious that we had tricked her, but in the end, she would be thrilled. I knew the rest of my family would be happy for us, too.

The only cloud on the horizon was Charlie's reaction to mine and Bella's renewed relationship. I had no doubt that he would be less than happy about it. We'd had dinner with him and Sue when we were up looking at the renovated house in November, and he had been just as cold towards me then as he had been when we had visited a month before that. And at that point I had only been involved in Bella's life because of Lily. I could only imagine how he would feel about us being involved romantically again.

But I could deal with Charlie's resentment. As long as I had Bella by my side, I felt like I could deal with anything life threw at me. And I did actually understand where he was coming from, at least if I looked at the situation objectively. Even though he probably knew, on a logical level, that what had happened between Bella and me had been brought on by misunderstandings and unlucky circumstances, he must still remember how miserable she had been after I had left. She had told me a little about that first time, and I felt a stab of pain every time I thought about it. It would only be natural for Charlie to blame me for that; I partially blamed myself as well.

Lily fell asleep in the backseat almost before we had left Seattle, and the drive felt even longer than it should have, regardless the extra hour it did actually take. But eventually a sign welcomed us to Forks, Washington, population 3,192.

We continued through the town, heading straight to Carlisle and Esme's. We were invited to Charlie's for dinner later that night, but it was only four o'clock, so we had time to unpack and relax a little before we had to leave.

Esme and Rosalie came out to greet us, having heard when we pulled up outside the house.

"You're here." Esme exclaimed, opening the door to the backseat and pulling Lily from the car into a hug. She was still half asleep and blinked against the offending daylight.

"Tomorrow's Christmas, grandma." She mumbled happily, rubbing her eyes.

"It is, baby." Esme agreed, putting Lily down on the snow covered ground. The last remnants of sleepiness disappeared from her face and she looked up at me with an expectant smile on her face.

"And the next day I get to open my presents, finally, right daddy?"

"That's right." I agreed, giving Esme a hug. "Hi mom."

"Hello darling." She hugged me tightly before turning to greet Bella.

I grabbed the two bags full of Christmas presents that we had brought with us out of the trunk and headed into the house, Lily following closely behind me.

Carlisle, Emmett and Alice were gathered on the living room couch, Noah asleep in his bassinette next to it. In a corner, there was a huge, exquisitely decorated Christmas tree, and numerous other holiday decorations were scattered around the room. I looked around for Jasper, but he must be upstairs, because he was nowhere to be seen.

"Even more presents!" Lily exclaimed, spotting the large pile of colorful packages under the tree.

"They're not all for you." I told her, even though I suspected that the majority of them actually were. Where I had crossed the line and gotten her too many presents, Esme and Carlisle would have goon so far the line was no longer visible behind them.

"I know." She sighed and shot one last, wistful look at the pile of presents before she turned her attention to the people in the room. "Grandpa!" Carlisle extended his arms, and she jumped into his embrace. He hugged her tightly and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"Hello sweetheart." He looked up at me. "The drive went well?"

"Roads are a little slippery, but it was fine."

I put the two bags with presents down next to the tree, for someone to unpack. Behind me, I heard Bella, Esme and Rosalie enter the house. I turned to find that they had brought in the rest of our luggage from the car.

"Come on, I'll show you your rooms." Esme said excitedly, eager to show off the now furnished house, and Bella and I followed her up to the third floor with our bags. "We had one of the spare bedrooms decorated for Lily, I hope that's OK?"

"Of course it is, she'll need a room here for when we visit." Bella assured Esme, who smiled happily.

"Good." Esme opened the first door on the right, Emmett's old room. "We're all in our old rooms downstairs, so you'll have this floor to yourselves."

The room she went into was simply, but beautifully, decorated. White walls, pink curtains and rugs, wooden furniture.

"I hope she'll like it." Esme worried, putting down Lily's small suitcase on the bed.

"I'm sure she will." Bella assured her.

We went back into the hallway, and Esme pointed to the door next to Lily's.

"That's the library-slash-office, and the other two rooms are guest rooms." She opened the two doors on the left.

Both rooms were decorated in soft colors, one in blue and one in yellow.

"I'll leave you to make the sleeping arrangements." She smiled at us and headed back down the stairs.

"Any preference?" I asked, and Bella shook her head.

"Whichever is fine."

I dropped our bags on the bed in the blue room, and took Bella's hand as we headed back downstairs.

Emmett had apparently promised to go outside with Lily, because they were by the front door and he was helping her put her jacket back on when we came into the living room.

"Not for too long, Emm, we're leaving for Charlie's at six." Bella told him.

"Sure thing."

Emmett opened the door and Lily rushed down the porch steps, immediately scooping up an armful of snow and throwing it in Emmett's direction. We watched as Emmett picked Lily up and dropped her in the nearest snowdrift. I could see Lily shriek with laughter and throw snowballs at Emmett, who made a show of ducking.

"They should have fun." Rosalie noted from the couch where she was sitting with Noah. "They're pretty much on the same mental level."

Everyone laughed at that.

I had counted on Alice picking up on the physical contact between me and Bella, but she didn't seem to have noticed our joined hands. I decided to make it a little easier for her.

Leaning against the bar counter that divided the living area from the kitchen, I pulled Bella in front of me and wrapped my arms around her waist. She gave me a curious look over her shoulder, and I shrugged, glancing meaningfully at Alice who was, at the moment, busy talking to Esme. Bella laughed quietly.

Rosalie was the first one who noticed our new position. She raised an eyebrow at me, and when I smiled she nodded approvingly.

"I hope you have a good explanation for this, because Alice will be furious." Jasper noted quietly as he passed us, having just come downstairs.

"Maybe it'll teach her not to meddle." I muttered back, and he gave me an incredulous look. "Or, then again, maybe not."

Alice looked up as Jasper approached, and froze when she spotted Bella and me.

"What the…" The look on her face went from confused, to understanding, to furious. "You told me… you… you…"

"Having trouble finding the right words, Alice?" I asked, chuckling.

"You liar!" She accused. "You had me thinking that… that…" Again, she was unable to finish the sentence.

"We were just trying to teach you a lesson." Bella explained, slipping out of my embrace and sitting down next to Alice on the couch. As if she were a magnet that I was involuntarily drawn to, I followed.

"You were out of line, Ali." I pointed out.

"But it obviously worked!" She exclaimed. "So shouldn't you be thanking me?"

"Thank you." Bella said sincerely, giving Alice a tight hug.

"That's better." Alice glared at me over Bella's shoulder.

"You were asking for it, Alice." I muttered, and she stuck her tongue out at me.

"I'm not talking to you."

"That should make the holiday nice and quiet." I said teasingly, to which I got another deathly glare. If looks could kill…

I felt Esme's hand on my shoulder.

"I knew you two would work it out, somehow." She mumbled in my ear, and I gave her a grateful look.

"Thanks, mom."

Alice

I couldn't believe that they had tricked me like that! Those ungrateful little…

"I'm not talking to you." I grumbled at Edward.

"That should make the holiday nice and quiet." He replied in that teasing voice that always pushed my buttons, and I glared at him.

"I knew you two would work it out, somehow." Esme said, her hand on Edward's shoulder.

"Thanks, mom." He smiled at her

"Please don't be mad, Alice." Bella pleaded with me. I was still furious, and shot another evil glare at Edward. The smile on his face only got wider when he saw the frown on mine.

"Just ignore her, she'll get over it." He suggested, an amused undertone in his voice.

"I am sorry, OK." Bella really did look sorry.

I decided to forgive her. It was really my brother I was mad at, anyway.

"I forgive you." I said, glaring menacingly at Edward again. "You, on the other hand…"

"I thought you weren't speaking to me." He smirked.

I threw a pillow at him. Immature, I know, but it felt good.

"Will you at least admit that you never would have gotten here if it wasn't for me?" I demanded. I deserved at least that much.

"We do owe you, Ali." Edward admitted. "But it's still not nice being manipulated like that."

"OK, I guess I can apologize for that part." I had tricked them in the first place, after all.

"And I'm sorry I lied to you." Edward replied.

"Forgive and forget?" I suggested.

"Well, I am stuck with you anyway, might as well try to get along." Edward joked. It was tempting to throw another pillow at him, but this time I managed to control myself.

Bella

"Forgive and forget?" Alice suggested in response to Edward's apology.

"Well, I am stuck with you anyway, might as well try to get along." He joked.

Relieved that there were no hard feelings, I relaxed on the couch and leaned my head against Edward's shoulder, his arm around my waist.

An hour later, we heard Emmett and Lily come in through the front door. They appeared in the room a moment later, both with scarlet cheeks.

"How long were we out there?" Emmett wondered, taking in me and Edward close together on the couch. "Oh, I get it." He wagged his eyebrows suggestively.

The last thing I wanted was one of his sexual innuendos with Lily in the room, so I gave him a warning look.

"Don't worry, even I have a PG-13 filter." He grinned at me. "But I can wait."

I did not like the sound of that.

"We should probably go unpack and get ready for dinner." I suggested, and Edward nodded.

"So that's what they call it these days." Emmett mumbled when we passed him. I slapped him on the arm, but he just laughed.

"Come on, baby." I took Lily's hand and we all headed up the stairs.

I unpacked Lily's things and picked out clothes for her to wear before leaving her to get dressed. When I got into our room across the hall, Edward had already unpacked everything, so I just changed into the clothes I had been planning to wear.

"You ready to take on Charlie?" I asked in a teasing voice.

"Not even close, but might as well get it over with." Edward mumbled, and I realized that he really was worried about Charlie finding out about us being back together.

"Hey." I waited until he looked up at me before I continued. "It'll be fine. Charlie knows better than to say anything."

"But he won't like it." He stated.

"No, probably not." I admitted. There really was no point in pretending otherwise – Charlie would be furious. "But he'll just have to get used to it, because I don't plan on letting you go any time soon."

"I like the sound of that."

He pinned me against the dresser, one arm on either side of my body, and leaned in for a kiss. His lips were soft against mine, his breath hot on my skin. I wrapped my arms around his neck and was about to deepen the kiss when…

"Eew!"

We pulled apart to find Lily standing in the doorway.

"You were kissing!" She exclaimed, her nose wrinkled. "Gross!"

I couldn't help but laugh, even though Edward looked horrified that Lily had caught us.

"You think so?" I tilted my head to the side, pretending to ponder something for a moment. "What if I kiss you instead?"

I grabbed her and started planting wet kisses all over her face.

"Stop it, stop it!" She shrieked.

"See, isn't it better if I kiss daddy instead?"

"Uh-huh." She agreed, squirming to get free from my grip.

I checked my watch. It was almost six.

"OK, we've got to go, or we'll be late for dinner."

I let go of Lily and she quickly skipped into the hallway and down the stairs. I took Edwards's hand in mine and we followed at a more reasonable pace.

"See? Not a big deal." I told him. "As long as that's all she walks in on, she'll be fine."

"Did you have to put that out there?" He groaned.

"Good thing we have a lock on the bedroom door, don't you think?"

xxxxx

Charlie was about as understanding as Edward had feared. I hadn't exactly expected anything else, but a part of me had still hoped – in vain – that maybe, just maybe, he would understand and be happy for us.

"I'll help you in the kitchen, dad." I said pointedly when we had finished eating. The way he was glaring at Edward – like he was trying to figure out the best way to get rid of the body – was really starting to get on my nerves; and I wasn't even the one subjected to it. The fact that Lily hadn't noticed anything was practically a miracle. I had to do something before she caught on.

I walked ahead of my dad into the other room and turned on the water. I poured some dish soap in the sink and watched the bubbles start to form.

"What the hell are you thinking?" Charlie hissed, coming up behind me.

"This is none of your business." I warned him, grabbing a dish towel.

"Like hell it isn't! He left you completely devastated last time, don't think I don't remember." If he hadn't had a soapy dish brush in his hand, he might have looked frightening.

"Dad…" I tried to reason, but he cut me off.

"What do you want me to do, just wait around for a repeat? And what about Lily?"

"He would never leave Lily."

"And you? Do you think I could stand watching you go through that again?"

"It's not going to happen."

"That's what you think."

"Dad, this is really what it comes down to." I took a deep breath. "You're going to have to accept that Edward is an important part of my life now, and not just as Lily's dad, or you can't be a part of it."

He was silent for a moment, glaring at me.

"Are you giving me an ultimatum?" He finally managed to get out through gritted teeth.

"I guess I am." I nodded calmly, though I felt anything but. I really didn't want to do this, but I didn't have a choice. "Lily might not notice the way you act around Edward yet, but eventually, she will. And I don't want her to have to choose between her dad and her grandpa. I won't let you force her to take sides in your stupid vendetta."

He was quiet for a few minutes, the only sound coming from the television in the living room.

"If he hurts you again, I will not be responsible for my actions." He finally said.

"You don't have to worry about that."

I knew that I hadn't convinced him that Edward could be trusted, but Charlie knew that I wasn't kidding about my ultimatum.

"And I want you to be nicer to him, actually talk to him." I added.

"You're asking a lot." He grumbled.

"I know."

He looked at me through narrowed eyes for a moment.

"Fine."

And for the rest of the evening, he kept his word. What would happen in the future was impossible to say. Only time would tell.

Edward

"I'll help you in the kitchen, dad." Bella said with a meaningful look at Charlie when we had finished dinner.

I tried to hear what they were saying, but the water was running in the sink, and the volume on the TV was turned pretty high. Whatever it was that she told him, Charlie's attitude towards me had changed when they returned to the living room. At least on the surface; I could tell that he was still reluctant when he spoke to me.

"So, Edward, how's work?" He asked during a commercial. He didn't sound like he was actually interested in the answer, but at least he was making an effort. It was better than the silent, angry glaring.

"It's pretty good, actually." I replied. "I got a couple of great contracts just before the holidays, so I'll be busy for a while now."

"You write jingles for commercials, right?" Sue interjected.

"That's right." I confirmed.

"That sounds like fun." Seth said, joining the conversation.

"It's really just to pay the bills." I shrugged. "What I really want to do is play full time, or maybe compose, but right now, I wouldn't be able to survive on that."

"That's a shame." Sue noted.

"We should probably be getting back." Bella changed the subject, nodding at Lily, who was almost asleep on the couch.

"It is getting late." Charlie admitted reluctantly after a glance at the clock.

We all got to our feet, and I picked Lily up from the couch.

"Is it Christmas yet, daddy?" She mumbled sleepily, wrapping her little arms around my neck. I held her closer, the warmth from her body seeping through the fabric of my shirt.

"Not quite yet, baby. One more day to go."

"I want Christmas." Even though her voice was heavy with sleep, she managed to sound impatient.

We all laughed quietly, but she was already asleep again.

"Someone's eager for presents, I see." Charlie noted when he walked us out to the car.

"I made the mistake of not hiding them, so she's been begging to open them for over a week." I replied, and Charlie chuckled.

Maybe we would be able to get along eventually after all?

"Listen, why don't you come to dinner tomorrow night?" I suggested on a whim, closing the car door after having put Lily in her seat. Esme wouldn't mind four more people at the table; she loved cooking for guests.

"Are you sure? Isn't your parents' place crowded enough as it is?" He didn't sound like he was opposed to the idea, more like he was afraid of intruding. He had always gotten along fine with my parents, after all.

"The more the merrier, right? Esme would love it." I assured him.

That seemed to settle it for him.

"We would like that, thank you."

"Great. We'll see you tomorrow at six then."

The drive back to the house was a lot more pleasant than the drive in the opposite direction earlier that evening had been, now that I didn't have Charlie's disapproval hanging over me the same way as before. Granted, we would probably never be best friends, but I had a feeling he'd be less hostile towards me in the future.

"What did you say to your dad when you were in the kitchen, anyway?" I wondered after a while.

"I told him that he would just have to accept you and our relationship, because if he didn't, I wouldn't want him to be a part of our lives." Bella said, shrugging.

"Seriously?" I glanced at her in disbelief.

"I meant it." She replied. "He's my dad, and I love him, but I won't have him treat you like that, especially not around Lily. I don't want her in the middle of that."

"Thank you." I reached for her hand in the dark car.

"Don't mention it."

Bella

I was woken by Lily's footstep outside our bedroom door the next morning. I waited for her to come knocking on the door – we had locked it the previous night – but instead I heard her skip downstairs.

"Morning." Edward mumbled in my ear when he noticed I was awake.

"Good morning." I pushed myself up on one elbow and leaned down for a kiss.

"Lily went downstairs." He stated, pulling me down on top of him. "There are people who will feed her; she won't bother us for a while."

"I like the direction your mind's going." I breathed, pressing myself closer to him. His body immediately responded to my actions and he rolled us around, so he was on top, pinning me to the mattress.

My mind instantly stopped working when his lips trailed down my neck, to my collar bone, my chest, and lower. My head fell back against the pillows, my eyes closing as the wonderful feeling of his mouth on my skin overwhelmed me.

"Breakfast!" A cheery voice came from the other side of the door.

"And then there is Alice." I sighed. Edward groaned against my stomach.

"I guess we'd better get up, then." He pulled away, getting up from the bed. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I think some of us already are." He just glared at me, pulled on a pair of sweat pants and headed for the shower.

xxxxx

We spent the day playing with Lily in the snow. I suspected that Edward, Emmett and Jasper really only used her as an excuse to be able to act like kids, but they had fun. By the early afternoon, there were two large snowmen and one small igloo in the back yard, and we went inside for some much needed hot chocolate.

Esme had been thrilled that Edward had invited Charlie, Sue, Leah and Seth for dinner. She, Rosalie and Alice spent the main part of the afternoon in the kitchen, making all kinds of delicious Christmas dishes. The smell alone made my mouth water.

At six, the doorbell rang and Carlisle let the guests into the house. Sue was amazed; she had only seen the house from the outside before, and I offered to give her, Leah and Seth the grand tour while Carlisle entertained Charlie in the living room.

"I can't believe this place was empty for so long, it's incredible." Sue noted when we walked back down the stairs.

"Haven't you heard that it's haunted?" Seth said.

"Really, Seth, where did you get that?" Leah wondered dryly.

"Some kids in school." He shrugged. "They said that you could see a light moving through the house at night, that it's some woman who drowned herself in the river a hundred years ago."

"Well, I've spent the night here, and I can assure you that there's no ghost. A couple of werewolves in the forest, and some vampires in the attic, but definitely no ghost." I teased him.

"I didn't believe them." He huffed. "I'm just saying that some of the kids in town think that."

"They have a vivid imagination." Sue said as we walked down the last flight of stairs and into the living room.

"Who do?" Carlisle wondered from the couch, where he, Charlie and Emmett were watching a game of some sort.

"The kids in town think this place is haunted." I told him.

"I never told you that story?" Edward wondered, coming up behind me.

"What story?" I turned around, frowning at him.

"The one about The Grey Lady."

"There really is a ghost story?" How did I not know this? I had spent the night here dozens of times.

"Sure there is." He looked around the room.

"Lily's upstairs, Alice is braiding her hair." Carlisle told him.

"OK then." Edward started. "This house was built in 1901, by a wealthy shopkeeper from Seattle. He and his young wife came to live here, but she was very lonely, since the area wasn't very populated and her husband spent a lot of time in Seattle. One night, she jumped from a cliff into the river, and was never found. Her ghost is said to walk through the house, an oil lamp in her hand, waiting in vain for her husband to return."

"How do they know that she jumped in the river if her body was never found?" I objected. "She could have just taken off, sick of hanging around waiting for her no-good husband all the time."

"That's probably what happened." Carlisle agreed, chuckling. "But that wouldn't make a very good ghost story, would it?"

Even if I hadn't believed the story about The Grey Lady, I could tell that Seth had taken it seriously; he jumped at every sudden noise the whole evening. Leah of course took advantage of this, creeping up behind him more than once and scaring the crap out of him.

Esme had outdone herself in the kitchen; everything was delicious. When she served the desert, I was so full I didn't think I could eat another bite. But Esme's chocolate raspberry pie looked too mouthwatering to pass up.

"I think I might explode." Emmett complained from across the table, leaning back in his chair.

"Nobody forced you to eat that second piece of pie." Rosalie pointed out.

"But it looked so lonely sitting there all by itself on the plate." Emmett replied. "I was practically doing a good deed, finishing it off."

"It really was delicious, Esme, all of it." Sue complimented, and Esme beamed at her.

Charlie, Sue, Leah and Seth left at nine, and we started getting ready for Santa. Alice had helped Lily make chocolate chip cookies earlier, and these were put on a plate by the Christmas tree along with a glass of milk. We hung the stockings beneath the window next to the tree, since there was no fireplace.

When Lily was happy with the cookies and stockings, we took her upstairs for bed.

"I want to hear the Grinch!" She exclaimed as she crawled into bed.

Luckily, I had anticipated this and packed the book. I sat down on the edge of Lily's bed, Edward claiming the rocking chair in the corner.

"Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot
But the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did not
The Grinch hated Christmas, the whole Christmas season
Now, please don't ask why, no one quite knows the reason."

Snow started falling outside the window as I read the story, perfecting the Christmas spirit. Normally, Lily would fall asleep pretty quickly when someone read to her, but this time she was still awake when I finished.

"Why didn't the Grinch like Christmas?" She mumbled, sleepily.

"Nobody knew, remember?" I reminded her, putting the book aside.

"I think I hear Santa." Lily was fighting sleep.

"Then you'd better go to sleep, or he might not leave you any presents." I mumbled in her ear and pulled the cover up to her chin. I kissed her forehead before getting up; she was already asleep.

We stopped for a moment in the door, listening to Lily's breaths as they became deeper and more even. Edward wrapped his arms around me and leaned his chin against the top of my head.

"Thank you." He mumbled quietly.

"For what?"

"For letting me be a part of this."

xxxxx

The next morning brought with it a not so pleasant wake up call. I got the wind knocked out of me as Lily landed on my stomach – I knew it had been a mistake to not lock the door.

"Mommy, wake up, it's Christmas!" She exclaimed, bouncing up and down. A moment later, she was lifted off me and I gave Edward a grateful smile.

"Why don't you go wake up the others, and we'll be there in just a minute?" He suggested, putting Lily down on the floor. She happily skipped out of the room.

"That wasn't very nice, telling her to wake up the others." I glanced at the clock. It was a little after seven, at least.

"Why should we be the only ones up this early?" He grumbled.

"Uh-oh. Somebody needs coffee." I gave him a quick kiss before I got up, pulling on a pair of sweats and a long-sleeved t-shirt. "I'll get that going while you take a shower; you look like you could use it. But don't take too long, Lily won't wait for you." I winked at him and left the room.

On the floor below, I was met by a very grumpy looking Emmett.

"That devil child of yours woke me up!" He complained.

"Sorry, Emmett, she's just excited." I apologized. "But you might as well get used to it, right?" He kept mumbling incoherently to himself as he trudged off down the stairs.

Rosalie came out of their room with Noah, and a moment later, Esme and Carlisle joined us too.

"She didn't get to Alice and Jasper?" I looked over at their closed door.

"I think they're already downstairs." Rosalie said.

We all went down into the living room, and did find Alice and Jasper already up and dressed, for some reason.

"Merry Christmas!" Alice exclaimed as we entered the room. She had a Father Christmas cap on, and had somehow managed to get Jasper to put one on as well. The smell of coffee, toast and waffles was coming from the living room table, and I realized that Alice and Jasper had gotten up early to make breakfast for the rest of us.

"Look at my stocking, mommy!" Lily cried out, pulling me along to where the stockings were hanging. Of course, hers was completely full.

"Wow, Santa left a lot of presents for you." I marveled with her.

"Can I open them, can I open them?" She jumped up and down, too excited to stand still.

I looked up and saw Edward coming down the stairs. I knew he wanted to see when she opened the presents.

"Go ahead, baby."

She happily ripped the paper off the first present she could reach. The rest of us sat down on the couch, eating breakfast while we watched her open the gifts. Her eyes widened in amazement at everything she got.

"I told you not to get her too much stuff." I scolded Edward, but only halfheartedly. "And she'll get even more at Charlie's later."

"Most of that's not from me." He replied sheepishly. I knew how many presents he'd gotten her. "Besides, we've got five years worth of Christmases and birthdays to make up for."

Since I understood how he felt, I didn't argue.

When Lily had finally opened all her presents, and was playing with her new toys, the rest of us started opening our gifts as well.

I saved Edward's present until last. It was beautifully wrapped, and I could tell before opening it that it was a book. I hadn't expected it to be that book, though.

"You remembered." I mumbled, touching the letters on the leather covers spelling out Pride and Prejudice.

"Of course I did." He said, placing a kiss on my temple.

"I love it."

"I'm glad."

He insisted that he loved the CD with a compilation of jazz songs I had gotten for him, but it felt like nothing in comparison with my gift.

We went to Charlie's for lunch, and Edward went with us willingly. I was glad to see that he and Charlie might be able to get a long after all. Charlie didn't glare at Edward once, and even talked to him several times without me having to give him pointed looks.

Sue had cooked a wonderful lunch, and when we had finished eating we opened more presents. I was starting to wonder if all of Lily's new toys would even fit in the car.

Edward

The lunch at Charlie's went even better than the dinner the previous night had. He talked to me almost normally, and didn't glare at me once, which felt nice for a change. He had apparently taken Bella seriously.

Lily got even more Christmas presents, and we needed two bags to get them with us.

The afternoon was spent playing some of Lily's new games in the living room and building another snowman in the back yard. Carlisle took Lily down into the basement, and they found an abandoned hat and scarf that they put on him, since Lily didn't want him to be cold.

Lily crashed into bed by eight, completely exhausted after the long day, and Bella and I excused ourselves soon after to cuddle in bed.

"I've got something else for you." I said, reaching for the small box I had put in the bedside table.

"You already got me the most amazing present, I can't accept something else too!" She objected.

"Well, you really should have had this long ago, so stop arguing."

She took the flat, square velvet box and eyed it suspiciously.

"I got this for your seventeenth birthday, but then…" I shrugged, looking away for a moment. The memories were still a little painful.

"You kept it all these years?" She asked incredulously, her eyes wide.

"Of course I did. Will you open it already?"

She slowly opened the box, a gasp escaping her.

"It's so beautiful."

She pulled out the gold chain and handed it to me.

"Put it on?"

She lifted her hair up, and I clasped the necklace around her neck. When she turned around, I could see the heart shaped pendant glitter against the pale skin just beneath her collar bones.

"I love it." She said, giving me an intense kiss.

"I love you."

AN: I hope I didn't mess anything up when it comes to Christmas traditions - I've never celebrated an American Christmas, so I wasn't sure what exactly applies...