Chapter 37
The next few days until Christmas went by quickly and well for everyone.
Matt had taken the time to go over the file that Bella had gotten him and, after reading it, decided not to think too much about it. His mother had left him and even if she was a supernatural creature, she could have found a way to take care of him from afar. She could have sent him some money or let someone else take care of him and his sister. She could have made different choices, she didn't deserve him spending any more time worrying about her whereabouts. It was time for him to move on, to concentrate on his future instead of his past.
Thinking about his future, Matt thought that Charlie's offer looked very interesting and the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to take the offer and leave with the man as soon as possible. He spoke about it with his friends, on the phone or face to face, and they all agreed that, if he wanted to do it, he shouldn't feel guilty and he should do it. They'd keep in touch with him and they'd be able to visit each other whenever they wanted.
Wanting to take the right decision, Matt decided to wait until christmas day to tell Charlie and everyone what he had decided.
When Christmas Eve arrived, Matt, Bella and Charlie went to the Mickealson's house with an overnight bag so they could spend the night in the large house and wouldn't have to drive back in the middle of the night. Bella also had another bag, much larger, with her Christmas presents she had gotten for everyone.
Charlie had had reservations about coming over to the Mickealson's, mainly because he didn't want to have to spend the holidays with Carlisle Cullen and his wife, especially after learning what they were but Bella reassured him that they went back to Alaska to celebrate Christmas and that they wouldn't be back until January the 10th, unless Bella and the babies had a problem.
"Thank God you're finally here Bella! You can break the debate." Sage exclaimed when she opened the door to let them in.
"What debate?" Bella asked, hearing arguing in the living room.
She was relieved to hear that it wasn't a hostile argument, it wasn't one that would end in a fight, it was a normal brotherly argument.
"They're arguing about what to place on top of the Christmas Tree. A Star, an Angel, nothing or a picture of the family in a special glass bubble." Sage explained while they all made their way to the beautifully decorated living room.
"So Bella, what do you choose?" Kol asked her as soon as she entered the room while Klaus and Finn presented her with the propositions.
"They're all very pretty but given the rest of the tree, I guess I'd choose the golden star. You can always save the others for next year and place the picture over there." Bella replied with a blush, unwilling to disappoint anyone.
"See, I told you!" Elijah told Finn.
"Fine, I guess the star isn't that bad. I'll save the angel for next year." Finn accepted.
"And how are you and the babies doing?" Klaus asked her, coming over to kiss her and to take her in his arms.
"I'm fine but they are very excited. They've spent the entire day moving around." Bella replied.
"They want to open their presents." Kol guessed.
"Next year, it's still a bit early for now." Bella nodded.
She was about to bend down in order to place her presents under the tree, where a bunch of others already were, when Matt offered to do it for her so she didn't have to over work herself.
Charlie quickly got into a discussion about the supernatural world with Finn. Now that they were all aware that he knew, they wanted him to know as much as possible in case he needed the information later on. Finn even offered to come and visit Charlie later on, with Sage. It would allow them to spend some time away from Mystic Fall's just to two of them and in the same time, they would be able to help Charlie learn to fight, just in case.
Bella was sitting in a very large and comfortable antique armchair that used to belong to a Queen. The last thing she wanted was to stand up and she was happy that she didn't have to. All she had to do was mention that she wanted something and someone would go and get it for her, mainly Klaus who wanted her holidays to be as perfect as possible.
They all had fun, playing funny games, eating great food and telling each other Christmas stories and memories.
"I have to say that I like this tradition of yours." Charlie replied after Elijah explained that they used to write down wishes for the people they loved and burn them in a bonfire at the end of the night.
« It's my favorite tradition. » Kol added nostalgically.
"Why don't we do it then?" Bella asked.
"We thought you'd want a normal Christmas." Klaus replied.
"We're far from being a normal family though, so why the normal holidays?" Bella reminded him.
"Let's do it then. Where are we setting this bonfire?" Charlie asked enthusiastically.
"I know the perfect place in the yard." Finn nodded and soon, he was followed out by Matt, Charlie, Kol and Elijah.
"I'll prepare the papers and pens for our wishes." Klaus told them before he rushed upstairs.
Bella smiled, watching her family work together so they'd have great holidays and, for the rest of the night, her smile didn't leave her face. They exchanged wishes, jokes and memories before finally going to bed, planning on opening presents in the morning.
"Did you have a good evening Bella?" Elijah asked her before he went to bed.
Bella was downstairs still, waiting on Klaus to come back from his little visit to his pack. He had presents to drop off for them, especially for the kids of the pack.
"I did, yes. Thank you. I know that you all worked very hard to make sure I had a good time. I'm grateful." She replied with a tired smile, her hands on her belly, trying to convince her babies that it was time to sleep.
"The babies moving too much?" He asked her when he realized how tired she looked and where her hands were.
"Yes, I think they're waiting for their father to wish them a good night." She replied.
"He should be back soon."
"I know. It's sweet that he wants to drop their gifts off in the middle of the night to make sure it's here when they wake up." Bella nodded.
"Will you be alright until he gets here?" Elijah asked her.
"Yes, don't worry, you can go ahead and go to bed now. I know you've had a long day. Did you even get some sleep last night?" She asked him.
"Not really, Klaus, Finn, Kol and I spent all night wrapping gifts Rebekah and Sage bought and dropping them off in poor kid's homes."
"That was kind of you, but I think Rebekah asking Klaus to do it meant that you didn't have much of a choice. She can be very persuasive." Bella chuckled.
"True. Good night Bella." Elijah told her before he kissed her forehead like he would have done Rebekah.
"Good night."
"You're sure you'll be fine until Klaus comes back?" Elijah asked her before he went up the stairs.
"I'm sure." She nodded.
Her father and Matt were already in bed and Bella was now alone, waiting for Klaus to come back because she knew that her babies wouldn't let her sleep until he had spoken to them. It was something she found cute, that her unborn children waited to hear their father's voice before calming down in her belly. They wanted to hear both of their voices and Bella loved it.
It had started last week and it had happened every evening since. She just hoped that he didn't take much longer because she, too, needed some sleep and she really wated to be in his arms when she fell asleep. Her nights in his arms were always better, more peaceful, than the ones out of them.
"Sorry Love, I lost track of time. How are the little ones?" Klaus asked her, rushing to take her in his arms and carrying her up to their bedroom, even though she could have walked.
"Your little ones are restless. I can't wait for them to fall asleep so I can fall asleep too." Bella smiled.
"Well, fear not Sweet Bella, I'm here, to your rescue." Klaus replied, a large smile on his face, as he bowed down.
He had rushed her in their room and she was ow sitting on their bed.
"I wish there was a way for you to carry them, just for a day. I bet you'd lose that smile of yours." She teased him.
"Oh come on Bells, you can't blame me for being happy, can you? I'm in love, you happen to love me back, my family is united, soon our children will be completely safe. I'm happy and it's mostly thanks to you, my lovely girlfriend, who's agreed to move in with me in a couple of weeks." He replied, still smiling while he put both of his hands over her round belly.
"I know, don't worry. Come on now, tell your children to go to sleep or mummy will ground them until they're old enough to vote." Bella told him with a smile.
"And I thought I was supposed to be the hard parent." He chuckled before softly speaking to the babies, wishing them a Merry Christmas and a good night.
After a few minutes, the babies were calm and Bella was able to lie down in bed, fall asleep and enjoy a complete night of rest in the arms of the man she loved.
.
The next morning, Bella was the last one to wake up and when she arrived in the living room, everyone was already sitting around the breakfast table.
"Ha, Bella, come, sit down next between Elijah and me, everything is already prepared." Klaus exclaimed when she appeared.
She smiled and sat down, loving that they had served her all of her favorites. She was happy to learn that they knew her that well already. She also smiled when she realized how at ease her father was with the Mickealson's.
"So, is it present time yet?" Kol asked as soon as Bella took her last bite.
"Why are you looking at me?" Bella asked him.
"Because Klaus decided that we'd wait for you to want to open the presents to open ours." Rebekah explained.
"Oh, well, you didn't have to. Let's go. I want to see what you all got for me and the babies." She smiled.
"Before you come in and see all the presents we got for you Bella, you need to keep in mind that we did try to hold back and to be reasonable…" Klaus started to say, blocking Bella's way.
"…but we do love you a lot and we had a hard time not spending too much money on you." Rebekah added.
"You really should take this the right way, I mean, we love you, and that's why it was hard not to go overboard." Kol added.
"Come on guys, it can't be that bad! I saw the tree yesterday when we arrived, there wasn't that many presents underneath it." Bella rolled her eyes.
"You haven't seen it this morning, have you?" Charlie chuckled.
By that time, Bella had managed to make her way into the living room and realized that the pile of presents had tripled over night.
"They've reproduced." Bella whispered, making them all chuckle.
"I assure you Bella, most of it is for the babies." Elijah told her.
"It better be."
"Well, let's get to it then." Kol exclaimed, going straight to the pile of perfectly wrapped gifts.
Bella sat down once more while her father and everyone else brought her her presents and went to get theirs. She had gotten for Matt a map of Forks, symbol of his new start, and he loved that she knew that he'd agree to the proposition.
In the end, Bella had received a lot of things for the babies, including 2 very pretty paintings from Klaus along with a very pretty (and expensive looking) necklace with the Mickealson coat of harms and a lapis lazuli stone (just in case) with, inside, a small picture of him and his siblings (and Sage) and on the other side an empty space to put in a picture of her and the babies. She was very touched by this gesture and so she didn't complain as much as she would have when she realized that they had also given her a castle in France and a house in Louisiana.
They all had presents they loved but the one Bella loved most was this moment, seeing them all happy around her and knowing that it was because of her that they were together and at peace. She finally had the large family she had always wanted. She had 2 sisters, brothers, babies on the way and a boyfriend she loved and who loved her back.
.
The next day, once all the presents were put away, Charlie and Bella ate lunch together, in her apartment, before he went back to helping her pack her things for her move in with Klaus.
"I know that I've said it before Bells, but I'm proud of you." Charlie told his daughter.
"Thanks dad." She replied with a blush.
"I invited Matt to come to Forks either this summer or even now to finish the school year." He informed her.
"I knew you would. You feel a connection with him too, don't you?" She asked him.
"I do. I don't know why, I'm not one to worry about things like this but I like the kid. If I can help him have a better life, I will." Charlie told her.
"I knew you would like him." Bella nodded.
"Who knows, maybe we have common ancestors or something like that." He shrugged his shoulders.
« Did he tell you if he'd do it ? » She asked her father.
« He did. This morning I ran into him, or he ran into me because he was looking for me. Anyway, he told me that he was going to tell his friends over the next few days, he'll probably come over later to tell you himself. He wants to come back to Forks with me when I leave to go back home. » Her father told her.
« I'm glad. It's going to be good for him, and for you. You always wanted a son, now you can have one. Sort of. » Bella smiled.
« I'm sure he's going to be fine in town. I've already called a few people and the Newton's are hiring again, he'll have a shot at your old position. Mark, my deputy, is going to take a lot of time off and eventually go part time, so if, after his graduation, Matt wants to, I'll help him get the position. Whatever he needs, he'll be happy there, I can feel it. » Charlie told his daughter.
« Did he tell you about his results ? He thinks he'll have to redo his year, but I believe that with a little hard work, he can graduate, though if he wants to go to College and try to have a scholarship, he probably should skip this year, maybe just work and put money aside for College, and redo senior year next september. » Bella suggested and Charlie nodded.
« We'll see. »
After that, they finished eating and Charlie helped his daughter pack everything she wanted to take to Klaus when she moved in with him, knowing that they wouldn't have to carry it since Klaus, Elijah, Finn and Sage would come to carry it all later.
Review please?
Thank you for all those who keep on reading and reviewing this story.
I hope you're not too sad that it's almost over. Chapter 42 will be the very last one, but it'll be really 43 chapters because there's a chapter 38 bis ;-) .
Lorelei Candice Black