Silver bells silver bells
Its Christmas time in the city
Ring a ling hear them sing
Soon it will be Christmas day

I loved that song. Even after listening it for the past four weeks on the radio, it still didn't get old. I loved Christmas so much. I had grown up with many festivities and love shown on that particular day of the year that I had carried my joy to my teen years.

This was the second year in a row in which I knew Edward, -and in this case loved him- and he couldn't be here. I had fantasies of him being here for the holidays, wrapping presents, helping Carlisle chop down a Christmas tree, lifting me to put the angel on top of it...I had to convince myself that those would happen some day, just not this year.

I hated thinking what he was doing right this moment. Normally I allowed my mind to wander in that direction. But right now, it was like 5 am in Iraq, and Edward would soon be waking up, Christmas morning. He deserved to be here with me. But then again, that was my annoying selfishness.

Fortunately for me, I had quite the distraction. Alice couldn't have picked a better time to get knocked up. I was discovering that holidays were the worst without your solider, by far. But with Alice and her constant freak outs...well, let's just say I was never bored.

After she told Jasper about their predicament, they had both panicked separately for awhile. Finally, Edward and I couldn't take it anymore and made them call each other. I practically had to hold her hand throughout their entire, hour long discussion. They had decided they would keep the baby and were coming more and more to terms with it everyday, but she still was extremely anxious.

"I'm 21 fucking years old. I should not need a damn maternity dress,"Alice griped as she looked at herself in the mirror.

Alice was past her first trimester of pregnancy already and that meant that she didn't look fat anymore, she actually looked pregnant. As it turns out, after she took the pee tests last month, Carlisle immediately scheduled her to meet with a gynecologist. She and Jasper actually conceived in September…and I got the specific details on that. Her pregnancy had passed by undetected by her because she hadn't had any of the regular symptoms of pregnancy, like the barfing, cracker eating, aches, and whatever else.

"Oh come on, you look adorable," I assured her, amused. Even though she hadn't had any of the other signs of pregnancy, her mood swings were definitely beginning to kick in.

And she did. Look adorable that is. Esme, her and I went on a shopping spree. Well not really. Alice didn't want to hobble around with two casts and a crutch through the mall. So she let Esme and I upgrade her wardrobe. Damn, there were some really fucking cute clothes. I wished Alice could have come with us, because I was getting really excited for her, seeing all the little baby stuff.

For Christmas Eve mass Alice grudgingly put on an adorable gray sweater dress. She looked super cute with the way it hugged her amazing bump. Alice was so petite, that she was just one those adorable pregnant women.

"I look like a whale. A giant, gray one," Alice grumbled. I watched as she ran her hands over her protruding belly slowly. Even though she was still scared, I could see that Alice was growing to love her baby more and more each day.

"You can wear my purple dress if you want," I offered, hiding my smirk. I was talking about the one I had worn to church last year. This year I was wearing a somewhat similar dress, a sweater, long sleeved white one.

"Great! So I'd look like a fucking sugar plum!" she all but snarled at me. I pressed my lips tightly together, fighting the laughter. I had so seen that response coming.

"We are going to be late. You look cute. Can we go? I don't want to have to sit in the front with Father Peter's glare." We still had to put up with that man. Though I had to admit, his Easter homily was almost close to making sense. I was optimistic that maybe, he would be getting even closer.

"Maybe it'll be like last week when he gave me and my belly the eye and then launched into how abstinence is key," she growled as we started to make our way down the stairs, "he was about four seconds away from being taken down army style."

"One can only hope. I'm sure the children would really enjoy that," I agreed with an eye roll.

Carlisle and Esme were both not so surreptitiously glancing down at the staggering amount of presents under the tree. I had wrapped mine damn good. There was no way they'd be getting a sneak peak. And with Alice's arm still banged up, I volunteered to wrap hers too. They snapped into focus when they saw us making our way down the stairs, totally innocent.

It had been a rough month for the two of them. They had done a hell of a job hiding it though. They were watching Alice get more and more pregnant and go through all of the experiences they so wished they could. It sucked ass to watch them try and hide it. Alice, bless her heart, guessed they had gone through some sort of ordeal and babies were a sore subject with them, so she didn't flaunt it in front of them. Esme really loved her though, so she insisted on becoming Alice's mother figure and Carlisle her sorta father.

I on the other hand had gotten the role of stand in boyfriend.

"You two clean up nice,"Carlisle smiled. He held out his arm, offering to take Alice. We both grinned back at him, and he looked snazzy himself. He was grinning at us like we were the two best daughters in the world.

"What are the chances of me getting these casts off sooner than three weeks?"Alice asked as I helped her with her coat, and Carlisle helped Esme with hers. Like I said; stand in boyfriend. I almost rolled my eyes.

"Slim to none," he answered apologetically, yet with a mocking exasperation in his voice. Alice had been asking often about that.

We were just about to try and go outside when Esme froze, her hands stopping us from moving. "Wait! Picture!" she exclaimed. And then she darted off to the kitchen to get her camera, her heels clicking loudly as she pranced. Carlisle's and my shoulders sagged as we looked at each other knowingly.

The four of us got through the picture painlessly and braved the glare ice road to go to church. There, we found a respectable spot in the crowded church, halfway up the aisle. Esme and I shared a cat-like grin and nod; we had successfully avoided the front portion of the church.

Then we all sat open mouthed, trying to understand where the hell Father Peter was going with his current homily. This time, I started out, thinking I'd understand it, because he was talking about the nativity scene. But then…he went to the topic of his grandparent's farm. I tried to stick with him, but when he somehow wound up talking about Mexicans and their pickles I was thoroughly confused.

I always felt guilty walking out of church baffled and irritated. But when the Lord giveth Father Peter to us…there's not much one could do. But it was amusing to see Alice trying to dissect what he had preached. Evidently the god ole priest made a comment about parrots too. I wasn't entirely sure where that fit in.

But Father Peter wasn't the only person who had me thinking. I could have sworn I saw the same man from the gas station last week at church. Maybe my paranoia was just beginning to push the edges of extreme, but I would be willing to put money that it was him. He wasn't sitting with anyone he looked to know, actually, he was sitting in the absolute back row, about 15 pews behind us.

I noticed him at the beginning of mass when I felt someone's eyes on the back of my head. I shivered when our eyes locked for a second, I was confident that it was the same guy. I just wasn't sure what he was doing. I couldn't very well say that he was following me, just because I saw him twice in my life. I mean, my theory about him just being in town for business still stood solidly. I was just having a little trouble convincing myself that he was harmless.

It was Christmas, for the night I was going with the mogul theory.

But that didn't mean I had forgotten about me and Edward's brush with death. Honestly, it had just slipped my mine. Edward never brought it up; ever. And with Alice and her pregnancy, I was too busy to try and think about why the hell there were people trying to kill Edward. I'm sure people would scoff at my sense of self preservation, or see me as a damsel in distress. But I was going to trust Edward because I loved him, and I hoped he knew what was best.

I had way too much other shit to deal with in my life. I wasn't resisting the urge to pester him because I felt I needed to be protected and I was helpless, no, I just had so much going on in life that I was trying to work through, that I figured delegating the whole gun thing to Edward would be more than fair. So what if I didn't really do the delegating and rather the decision was more like forced upon me…

Once we were home, we all dug into Esme's fantastic and traditional roast. Just like last year, she had stared that crock pot down, making sure it didn't dare do anything she didn't want it to. It paid off. Alice was not a self conscious eater I also discovered…though I did raise an eyebrow when she went in for thirds. Something told me she had always eaten like that, and it wasn't just the baby talking. But hey; all the more power to her.

We finished our meal off with my traditional Christmas sugar cookies. I ate four. Then Alice and I made our way back up the stairs to change into our more comfortable clothes for the watching of the Santa Claus movies. And this year, since Alice was clearly deprived, we were going to throw in Will Ferrel's Elf.

Within seconds of inspecting the tree surrounded by extravagantly wrapped presents, I knew which one I wanted to open. We only opened one Christmas Eve and the rest in the morning. Alice grabbed a box that I had given her and unwrapped the cutest onsies. They were both camouflage coloring, one of them said Pooper Trooper on it, and the other one had a picture of one of the army's tanks that read My Daddy's Got Your Back and proudly read U.S. Army below the picture. Her eyes teared up as she looked at the clothes, her hand subconsciously resting on her belly. She tackled me with a giant ass hug.

After Carlisle opened a new blender (evidently that's what I have to look forward to as an adult) and Esme opened a new shirt and necklace combination from me, I looked down at what I had in my lap. It was an envelope addressed from Edward to me that was his unmistakable handwriting. I didn't notice Esme had left the room; I was too excited to open the envelope, wondering what the hell Edward had in store for me.

Dear Bella,

Merry Christmas snicker doddle! I love you so much and wish I could be there in person right now.

Lately I just can't stop thinking about the summer we spent together. When I close my eyes, I see it so clearly. I feel the cool waves hit me in the face and I hear your laugh as we spin around on that jet ski and you crushed my rib cage. I can't stop remembering the words that came out of your mouth. I love you too.

That was the best 4th of July of my life, it burns so bright in my memories as one of the best days of my life. Love belonged solely to us, but I had to go, and you understood. But I'm coming home soon, just hang in there 'til summer comes around.

But, I got you the next best things. I'm not there for Christmas, and the week of Valentine's Day is out, so, you have a date to senior prom m' lady. I got the whole week off and it's been approved. Guess I'll have to find a tux…I'm counting down the days. But until then, I got you someone to take my place for the time being. Hope you like him. Merry Christmas darling.

Sincerely,
Sergeant Masen

I jumped in my seat on the coach when I heard a bark. It wasn't even a bark. It was more like a yelp, much higher than Ares. Beaming, I spun around to see Esme re-entering the living room, but a little puppy tucked in her arms.

Since I was a teenage girl; I did the teenage girl thing to do.

"Oh my God! He's so cute!" And with that, I shot out of my seat and rushed over to Esme. She grinned at my exuberance and gently passed the little pup to me. He was the size of a small loaf of bread (probably could fit in a coffee mug.) He was mixed colors of black and brown. "Hi buddy," I cooed excitedly, stroking his head softly.

I looked up and over at Carlisle and Esme who were both smiling watching me. "He didn't," I accused looked amused by my glee nodded and then laughed when I beamed.

"I can't believe Edward got me a puppy!" I looked down at the tiny bundle of fur in my arms and my heart just about melted. From the looks of it, he was a Yorkie and he was about the most fucking cute thing I had ever seen in my life.

I loved that man to death.

A few days later, the day of New Years Eve, I got a phone call from said loved to death man. I was sorta bummed out that I hadn't heard from him until then, I wanted to wish him a Merry Christmas by hearing his voice. But, I was totally distracted by the new puppy.

Esme informed me that Rosalie and Edward had been cahoots throughout the past couple of weeks. He had sent the letter to her to give to me after they had extensively emailed and formed a plan to get me a puppy. Apparently Edward sent her the money and she went to pick out a dog that I would like, the day before Christmas and she brought it over to the house. There Esme kept him curled on a pillow in her bathroom, therefore leaving me unknowing.

I wonder what Edward thought about Rose's dog choice.

Personally, I didn't think Yorkie really screamed army sergeant to me.

After only a few minutes of deliberation on my part, I had come up with the perfect name for such a puppy. I named him Sarge, after my soldier.

I loved the little guy to pieces. Alice and I were immensely entertained by him and we spent the few days after Christmas coddling him. Ares seemed very indignant about the whole thing at first. But slowly and surely the new puppy warmed its way into the golden retriever's heart.

Anyway; Edward's phone call. I had also gotten him something for Christmas. He had gotten me a puppy; I had gotten him a web cam. Mine was a much more selfish gift. I just wanted to see his face when I talked to him. The phone calls were quickly becoming not enough.

I got a text from Edward telling me to log onto my Skype. Excitedly I left Sarge in Alice's care and rushed to my bedroom to retrieve my laptop and sign into it. I waited impatiently while it connected me to Edward's receiver. Then I realized I looked like crap and quickly tried to pull my hair back into a pony so it didn't appear so sloppy.

Then I saw Edward's face peering straight through the screen at me and I wanted to cry. I burst into a giant smile when he grinned at me. He was wearing a white wife beater and his sexy as fucking hell glasses. He had a five o clock shadow gracing his jaw and tired, yet bright green eyes.

"Hi," he grinned boyishly. I beamed back at him, wanting to throw myself in his arms. It felt so good to seem him. It felt like it had been ages since I last saw his face.

"Hey," I said shyly. I tucked the loose strand of hair that had escaped my pony tail behind my ear.

"God, you look stunning," he breathed. I raised an eyebrow and looked down at myself. I wasn't wearing any make up. I had on a plain long sleeved navy cotton shirt and a pair of jeans. Stunning wouldn't exactly have been the word I would have used.

I couldn't think of anything to say, instead I just smiled nervously. I looked past his face and recognized his room from pictures he had shown me. It looked like a standard, boring, small room. But there was an American flag hung proudly on the wall and there were new pictures scattered above his bed which he appeared to be sitting on. I smiled to myself when I realized who was in those pictures.

"Did you like your present?" he asked after a moment, a knowing, crooked smile on his face. I brightened.

"A little bit," I admitted.

Edward chuckled. "I'm curious, what'd Rose pick? A Husky? A German shepherd? A Britney?"

I laughed as he continued to guess. He was guessing a bunch of hunting dogs that were hardly lap animals. Edward looked confused as to what I found funny. "Did she pick a Chiwawa?" he sighed, aggravated.

I giggled. "No, I now have a yorkie making friends with Ares."

Edward's head fell.

I laughed silently when he looked up, even more agitated. "Really? A yorkie? What the hell. She was supposed to pick out a dog that reminded you of me. Like a guard dog! Not a little fur ball that scratches your legs."

My shoulders shook as I continued to silently laugh. "I love him Edward. He's perfect," I assured him as soon as I could speak without giggling.

Edward sighed for good measure, having accepted my pleasure of the gift. "Where is the little runt anyway?"

"Keeping Alice entertained," I grinned.

Edward nodded. He didn't say anything but I watched as his face transformed to a serious expression. My smile slowly slid as well. "How's she doing?" he asked, concerned. It was a shame that Edward had been an only child; he would have made an amazing big brother.

"She's doing better. She misses you all like crazy and she was so overwhelmed for awhile," I sighed, but then decided to continue, "I think she's excited for the baby now. She's due May 15th." That was absolutely insane. In less than 5 months Alice would have a little baby. It felt like yesterday we were all first meeting on the 4th of July. Now this year's forth would include a baby.

Edward frowned. "Damn," he muttered. I watched as he ran his hand through his hair, frustrated.

"What?"

"Our deployment isn't over until mid June," he sighed unhappily. There were a few rare occasions when I forgot where Edward was. I mean, I knew he was in Iraq and he was gone, but, a couple of times (very fleeting occurrences) I didn't remember what exactly he was doing over there. I guess that was just my mind's way to try and block out the worry. This was one of those times, but now I was frowning with him.

"And you'll all miss the birth," I finished for him. Edward nodded, pursing his lips together. I hated how much of our lives they were all missing. I was insanely proud of Edward, and Emmett and Jasper for that matter. But I just wished that my boyfriend didn't have to be the one deployed.

I sighed. "How are things over there?" I repositioned myself so that I was no longer sitting cross legged but lying on my stomach on the bed. I rested my chin on my arms so that I was level with the screen.

"They're okay. Nothing much has been happening lately," he replied looking down at his lap. I raised an eyebrow as I took this in. Edward was lying. He wasn't meeting my eyes and the way he said it was a dead give away.

"'Kay," I started again persistently, "and what else?" I asked in a voice that let him know he was busted. Edward looked up at me sheepishly, but with a set of grave eyes that took away from his boyish look.

With caution he told me what was going on. "Emmett and I are going out on a mission tomorrow. There's a group of resistant civilians that have been causing terror in peaceful villages; killing the leaders, raping the women. We have to go and take them out with another sniper and other trained guys. Don't worry about it, it's an ambush, we'll be perfectly safe."

This was extremely rare. My brows furrowed. Edward never told me what he was really doing in Iraq. For the most part he just told me that he was safe and his squad said hi. I never got to hear what he was really doing, other than a mention of a patrol shift starting. The last time I had gotten this much detail was from the grenade that had broken Alice's leg.

I found that it was almost easy to remain calm in these situations. I trusted Edward and I knew he would be safe. From where I was, there wasn't much more for him that I could do other than offer support. And maybe not freaking out so he wouldn't get stressed would help a little too…

"How long are you going to be gone?" I asked, trying not to react exaggeratedly. Edward was taken aback by my light tone. Both his eyebrows shot up as he looked me over. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

"We are taking a Humvee to meet up with the other group of men that are more familiar with the area. Then we'll have to take a helicopter because it's kind of a remote village. It won't be more than a week at the most. It'll probably only be a few days. We just have to catch the bastards at the right time so fewer civilians are harmed," Edward informed me, the last part spat out with distaste.

Now it was my turn to raise the eyebrows. I was almost blown away that he was this forthcoming with information. I didn't think I was going to get anything out of the man. I wondered if maybe he was a little nervous about the mission. I wished I could be there to weasel it out of him and make him talk, because I knew that's what he needed right now.

Another concept that was hard to grasp was the fact that we had so totally different lives. I mean, who would have thought a 22 year old army sergeant could make it in a relationship with the 18 year old high school honor roll girl. This is the shit novelists make their millions on. It was just weird, but sorta cool to think about what each of us were doing when we were apart.

I was sitting in class thoroughly fucking confused with Trig and Edward was off ambushing enemies.

I felt slightly insignificant. And I was okay with it.

"And this is why I fell in love with you," I smiled softly. I wanted to kiss him so bad. I wanted to be next to him, or actually in his arms. But instead I just had to remember what it had been like.

"What?" he asked confused as to why I had changed the topic. I smiled adoringly at the camera as I gazed at the man who had flipped my entire life upside down.

"Because, you're the closest I'll get to Superman."

And then I close my eyes and one more time
We're spinnin around and you're holdin on tightly
The words came out, I kissed your mouth
No 4th of July has ever burned so brightly
You had to go, I understand
But you swore that you'd be back again
And so I'm frozen in this town
'Til summer comes around

Oh, and I close my eyes and you and I
Hand in hand we cried and laughed
Knowin that love belonged to us, girl,
If only for a moment
Baby, I'll be back again, you whispered in my ear
But now the winter wind is the only sound
And everything is closin down
'Til summer comes around
'Til Summer Comes Around, Keith Urban

-Next three chapters all have cliffy endings, just warning you now.
-I've decided that some people don't like the whole gun/Edward's past/creepy guys thing. I can respect that. With that being said, those who don't like that can look for warnings on top of chapters where the main point of the chapter is that. You can just skim over it and pretend it's not happening if you want. So, if you don't like it; don't read it. Don't tell me you don't like it, because I've written the entire story and I'm not changing a thing(:
-Thank you all for your kind support!
-Oh, and there is a chapter in Jasper's POV coming up...(I think it's like chapter 38.)