A/N: I'm glad everyone enjoyed the little Emmett comments in the last chapter. I thought the poker game could use a little comic relief. Is it wrong of me to want to photoshop a picture of Emmett in lingerie with a goat in the background? LOL. My photoshop skills aren't that awesome, but I do own it. And the Renee thing was a last minute decision, which I hope will work out nicely for the ending of the story, which should probably be in about 5-8 chapters. Keep the wonderful reviews coming and feel free to PM me. I love all the conversations with my readers and they spur me to write faster!
Thanks Everyone!
Bella POV
Christmas Eve was pretty quiet at our house. I finished wrapping all the remaining gifts after dinner, while Edward and my father watched a hockey game on TV featuring the Chicago Blackhawks. The fireplace was burning brightly and the Christmas tree was lit up and as I looked out to the living room, where the two men I loved most in the world were sitting, I couldn't help but think that my life was almost perfect. As I wrapped the shiny paper around the fish finder for Charlie, that Edward picked up at Bass Pro Shops earlier in the day, I couldn't help but turn my thoughts to Renee and how she was doing. Edward and I had discussed her for the past two nights before we went to bed, always with the exact same outcome, I was going to call her the day after tomorrow. Charlie was staying with us until the 27th, so he would be around when I made the call, which I was certain I would be thankful for.
A few minutes later, after I had finished wrapping the last gift, the timer on the oven went off signaling that my last batch of cookies was done. Charlie and Edward insisted on calling me Martha Stewart all day because of the sheer quantity of baking I had done. Esme had called a few days earlier and asked if I would bring some baked goods to their place for Christmas Day, and I had eagerly agreed. Anticipating that Emmett would probably be pretty hungry, I made twice as many as I would normally have made. I let the cookies cool for a bit before I brought a small plate to Edward and Charlie who were my official cookie tasters.
"What do we have this time?" asked Edward as I wandered over to the living room with the plate and nestled in beside him. They had already enjoyed my shortbread, macaroons, chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles.
"Gingerbread," I replied with a smile as I noticed Charlie grinning following his first bite.
"Grandma Swan's recipe, right Bells?" asked Charlie as I nodded in agreement. "You did good kid." It was eight thirty at night and I was officially exhausted. I grabbed the final gifts from the table and slipped them under the tree and the proceeded to get comfortable between Edward's legs on the couch and we cuddled while watching a 'Deadliest Catch' marathon with my father. I had no idea crab fishing could be so interesting. Even Edward was surprisingly fascinated by it. Once the episode was over though, Charlie announced he was heading off to bed. I think he just wanted to give Edward and me some private time, for which I was very appreciative.
Edward and I had agreed to exchange one gift tonight, and I was thoroughly excited. We had decided to only put 'safe' gifts under the tree, and if we bought each other anything that my father shouldn't see, we would wait until he was gone before we decided to open them. I knew Edward had a few gifts hidden in his office for this particular reason, but every time I tried to snoop; either he or Charlie caught me. My gift for Edward tonight was going to be me, in some scantily clad Christmas-esque lingerie. I was tired of his self-imposed rule and it was Christmas Eve. In the words of Turk from 'Scrubs', I want to hit that!
Once my father was asleep and we could hear his snoring throughout the house, Edward and I went upstairs to get ready for bed and exchange gifts. While he was undressing and apparently fetching my present, I headed into the bathroom and got changed into the red velvet teddy with feather trim across the bust. I even wrapped a big red bow around myself, eagerly hoping Edward would rip it off with his teeth. These past few days of Edward's imposed celibacy had really sucked and it was time I took charge of the matter. I wrapped my oversized bathrobe around myself and made sure he couldn't see anything before I headed out to the bedroom to join him. He was sitting cross legged in the bed, holding a small box. A small turquoise blue box.
"Where's my gift?" asked Edward impatiently as he fingered the bow on the box which he held in his lap.
"It's hidden. I think I should get mine first, because yours might take a while to unwrap," I said with a calculated laugh. Edward perked one eye brow at me and patted the bed for me to join him. I struggled a bit as I climbed up beside him as I attempted to hide what was under my bathrobe. Which in hindsight wasn't that much.
"What's with the robe?" he asked quizzically as I finally sat beside him.
"I'm cold. Don't worry about it, we'll be in bed soon and I'll be nice and warm then," I said with a smirk. Edward just kissed my hand and extended the box towards me. "Am I going to be mad because you spent too much?"
"Probably, but I don't care," sighed Edward as he watched me unwrap the box gently. I had never received anything from Tiffany's before and I was actually pretty excited. I was even more awestruck when I finally opened the box and found a beautiful pair of diamond earrings inside. I ran my fingers along them reverently and was almost crying I was so happy.
"They are stunning Edward," I said as I reached over and gave him a gentle kiss on his soft lips. I watched as he leaned back on his hands a bit, awaiting his gift. I put the jewelry box down on my nightstand and moved closer to him, kneeling in front of him, with my back straight. I slowly untied the belt around the bathrobe and let it slide off my shoulders and onto the bed behind me. I watched excitedly as Edward's eyes immediately grew lustful as he was taking in every inch of my body.
"No, you are stunning Bella," he said as he sat up on the bed and crawled closer to me. Edward reached up and pulled on the bow, smiling enthusiastically as it gradually fell from my waist. He gripped both it and the bathrobe and threw them off the bed quickly.
"I thought you had a rule about no sex this week?" I asked seductively as Edward starting running his hands up my thighs and nibbling my neck.
"Fuck the rules, I have a gift to appreciate," he said with a laugh as he wrapped his arms around my waist and threw me softly onto the bed. "Do you really like this sad excuse for lingerie Bella?" asked Edward as he pulled his head up from kissing my lips. I shook my head in disagreement and suddenly I felt his hands rip the fabric at the crotch of the teddy. His fingers were immediately all over my wetness as he pulled the top of the teddy down roughly to reveal my breasts, which he quickly latched his lips onto.
I moaned quietly in pleasure as his fingers ran circles around my engorged clit, and up and down my wet slit. It didn't take him too long to bring me to ecstasy because it had been over three days since we last had sex. I was practically dying over here and every time I had even suggested sex to him, he had rebuffed me.
I bit the pillow beside me to muffle my moans as I came hard on his talented fingers. The moment I had calmed myself, I looked up to see Edward peeling his shorts from his extremely eager body. Before I even had a chance to say anything sexy or dirty to Edward, he had grabbed my ankles held them high up in the air, and his hard cock was already buried inside me.
"No more self imposed sex exile?" I joked through my heavy breaths as he pumped his hardness inside of me. He shook his head from side to side and remained focused on the gift I was giving him. He let go of my ankles and my legs slid to his side as he ripped the front of the teddy down so that he had better access to my breasts. He started kneading them roughly at first, but then bent forward and began biting them. I had to pull the pillow back over my head to muffle the moans of pleasure that had overcome me.
Edward wasn't exactly gentle, but I didn't care. I might be walking odd for part of the day, but it was a small price to pay for the pleasure we were giving each other at that very moment. I wrapped my legs around his waist to force him into me deeper as I heard him call out my name quietly, signaling he was almost ready. His fingers found my clit and began pinching it gently as I bit down hard on my lip as I shook through another orgasm. I clenched my body tightly and felt him explode deep inside me, shivering slightly from his release.
I pulled him down to me and kissed him fiercely before he rolled free and lay down on his back, trying to relax his breathing. "Merry Christmas Edward," I said as I pulled the blankets up over his naked body before peeling myself out of the destroyed teddy. I tossed it across the room and slid back into bed beside him, placing my head on his chest. I felt him pull me closer to him and snake his arm around my waist.
"Merry Fucking Christmas Bella," he replied breathlessly.
Edward POV
I really, really didn't want to get out of bed the next morning, but when I heard Charlie down in the kitchen doing god knows what, both Bella and I were concerned. Bella had repeatedly told me that he had no culinary skills whatsoever and I envisioned him destroying some of our expensive cook ware so that he could try to make us pancakes or something equally stupid. I kissed Bella good morning and thanked her for the excellent Christmas gift before we tossed on some casual pajamas and went to the kitchen, finding Charlie trying to make a pot of coffee. All that noise for a damned pot of coffee I laughed to myself.
"It's okay Dad, I'll get it done," said Bella as she wandered towards him sleepily and rubbed her eyes slowly. "Merry Christmas Dad," she said as she gave him a hug and started to prepare the coffee.
"Merry Christmas Bella, Edward," said Charlie as he nodded towards me politely. I had tried my best last night to keep our noises to a minimum, which was difficult for both Bella and I as we tended to be extremely noisy when having sex, and I really prayed that Charlie hadn't heard anything. Bella had always insisted he was a heavy sleeper, but I didn't need him to hear me having sex with his daughter, even if he already knew it was happening.
We had a small breakfast of bacon and eggs before we opened the gifts that were under the tree. There actually wasn't that many, not only because we didn't see the need to spend so much money on each other, but also because all of the good gifts to be given between Bella and I were hidden somewhere in the house because we felt they weren't particularly appropriate to open with Charlie here. I know I didn't want him to see the several items of extremely tiny lingerie I had purchased for his daughter. Bella and I had gotten Charlie a fish finder, some books on fishing and hunting, as well as a nice set of poker chips for use at the station. He had given us some practical gifts that Bella had wanted for the house including some new towels, bake ware and an awesome mixer which I knew we would both get good use out of.
It was just after one in the afternoon when we were pulling into the snow covered driveway of my parents' house. For once, we were the first to arrive. Charlie and I hauled all the presents into the house and put them under the tree while Bella carried the five containers of cookies into the kitchen for Esme's approval.
"Bella, you didn't have to do so much," she said as I watched Bella put them down on the counter and give her a big hug. Charlie and I walked into the kitchen behind Bella and I introduced him to my mom. Esme actually gave Charlie a hug, which I think surprised even him. She had definitely become a lot less temperamental ever since Rose and Em's wedding, and everyone was pleased by the turn of events.
Only five minutes after we came into the house did Rosalie and Emmett show up with their dog, Lunchbox.
"Mr. Swan," yelled Rosalie as she saw him from across the room and ran to him for a hug. Charlie was practically a second father to Rose, so they were both excited to see one another.
"You're looking good Rosie, practically glowing. Married life must agree with you," said Charlie as he smiled at Emmett and glanced down at the dog. "You can call me Charlie now that you are a married woman, Rosie."
"That's Lunchbox," said Emmett with a smile as he introduced Charlie to the pug. Emmett took him off his leash and he immediately ran to his corner of the kitchen where Esme had set up a little dog bed and dishes for food and water.
"Interesting name," smiled Charlie as the front door opened and in walked Alice and Jasper. It made me laugh to see Jasper all dressed up again, after catching him in his hideous plaid pants and band shirt just two days earlier. Since my mother had a tendency to go over board during the holidays, we had all agreed to rule stating that we bought only one gift for each couple, and Charlie. Esme arranged Bella's cookies on a fancy tray and put them on the coffee table of the living room for us to enjoy while opening gifts. Before anyone had even touched a present, Emmett had already eaten half a dozen shortbread.
Alice volunteered to hand the gifts out, and before we knew it, everything was opened and everyone was very pleased. Esme and Carlisle had gone overboard as expected and gave everyone plane tickets to Jamaica for our wedding, even Charlie, who was pretty awestruck by their generosity. We were all about to clear out of the room and clean up the wrapping paper, when Rosalie and Emmett suddenly stood up, declaring they had a special gift for Esme and Carlisle.
Bella and I both looked under the tree and saw no gifts left to open, so we were a little confused. Emmett pulled a small envelope from his back pocket and handed it to Esme as we all waited around, eager to see what the hell was going on. I watched as Bella glanced up at Rosalie who was practically bursting with excitement. Inside the envelope was a small picture.
"Is this what I think it is?" asked Esme as she practically bounced nervously on the couch. She showed the picture to Carlisle who broke out in a huge smile.
"We're going to be grandparents?" he asked incredulously as he waved the tiny black and white sonogram in the air. Emmett and Rosalie both confirmed and were suddenly enveloped in a big hug from both my parents. I glanced down at Bella and she was actually starting to cry.
"Are you okay?" I asked sweetly as I wiped a small tear away from her cheek.
"Yeah, it's just awesome. We're going to be an aunt and uncle," she said with a huge smile. I pulled her close to me and kissed her gently on the forehead.
"Yeah, it's pretty awesome," I replied happily as we joined the rest of the family in offering congratulations to my brother and his wife. The rest of the evening was filled with conversations surrounding babies and weddings. Alice was a little too excited to start designing baby clothes for the future little Cullen.
"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl yet?" she asked, probably envisioning little outfits in blue or pink.
"Alice, it's the size of a peanut right now. We don't know too much about it. Just that it's there and it will be out in August," said Emmett with a hearty laugh. "And I promise everyone the name will be a lot more practical than Lunchbox." I glanced over at Esme and she breathed a sigh of relief at hearing that. I'm sure her head was swimming with peculiar names from the moment they announced the pregnancy. It was just after nine when everyone started to leave the party, including Bella, Charlie and myself, having celebrated one of the quietest Cullen family Christmases ever.
The next day around noon, Bella decided it was time to bite the bullet and call Renee. Charlie fetched her phone number from his cell phone and she wrote it down on a post-it note and laid it in front of her on the kitchen table as she stared at the phone.
"Take your time sweetie," I said as she started to nervously drum her fingers along the table. She suddenly grabbed the phone and started dialing. Apparently my words had spurred her on. Charlie paced around the living room almost as tense as Bella.
"Renee, it's Bella," she sighed quietly into the phone. I stood up from the table and gave them a bit of privacy. I went to the kitchen and helped myself to a Diet Pepsi and even though I tried not to, I could still hear parts of the conversation. They talked about the wedding and Bella even mentioned Rosalie's pregnancy. I thought I even heard Bella laugh once and when I looked over at Charlie, even he had a smile across his face.
The call didn't last nearly as long as I expected it to, but there was no animosity, which pleased us all. When she was done, Bella made plans to talk to Renee again next week, before hanging up the phone. I headed over to her and gave her a gentle hug. "That wasn't so bad was it?" I asked hopefully.
"Well, at least I got her on the phone. She had to leave for a doctor's appointment but we're gonna try to talk again next week. That was the most I had talked to her in almost five years," said Bella as she laid her head against my shoulder.
"I'm proud of you Bells," said Charlie as he walked into the room and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks Dad," she sighed quietly into my chest as I hugged her again. "I'm gonna take this thing one call at a time and see where it leads." Which was all any of us could ask of her.