Chapter Twenty-Four

I waited until Christmas Eve to spend time with my extended vampire family. I wanted to wait so I would have more excitement towards being in their company. Charlie left work earlier in the morning during the week so it wouldn't be too late in the night for him to come home. He didn't want to come home while I would be asleep, not even knowing that he had come home until the next morning.

It was the morning of Christmas Eve and the three Christmas presents underneath the old Christmas Tree reminded me of my small family, there was no extravagant pile. I wasn't one of those children growing up with an endless supply of toys, I got five total presents in the pile—and then a present each from my grandparents when they were still alive. Other children would receive more than five presents, and often came to school with their new toys in elementary school, showing off their presents they had received.

I was never bitter about it, at least I got presents. There were children out there that never could celebrate Christmas because they couldn't afford anything. I was better off than them and I had to remind myself this, especially when I would go to school and find the poverty children having longing in their tired eyes. They wanted to join in the show and tell, of showing off their new Christmas toys they were given just because they were kids, and it was Christmas time.

"Aren't you going to take something with you? Foodwise?" Charlie probed towards me when he came into the doorway between the kitchen and the living room.

I almost wanted to joke and tell him I was the food that would be there, if they wanted food all I had to do was show up—well that would be with the other vampires than them. Still, it would have been an inappropriate joke among humans.

"It's fine, Dad. Esme assured me I didn't need to bring anything. She'll have plenty for everyone," I told him, making him nod his head and absorb what I said before he decided I would be able to get away without bringing a meal for the Christmas Eve party I had been invited to.

"I need to get ready, probably send some pics off to Alice to see which outfit she thinks looks best. Otherwise I'm certain she'd be disappointed in my choice and that is the last thing we need."

Charlie nodded his head again but I knew it was going through one ear and out the other, he never was one who was good when it came to listening about girlish stuff—even the mention of it he would already be thinking of something else by the time I was done telling him.

Entering my bedroom, I pulled out three outfits. One of them being the green sweater that Esme had gotten me along with a pair of my nicer jeans. My second outfit consisted of a long sleeve V-necked crimson dress that stopped at my knees. My third outfit was a simple white turtle neck shirt, and another pair of my jeans. I sent the photos to Alice, expecting an answer almost as soon as I sent it.

I shouldn't have been surprised when I was welcomed with Alice telling me to wear the red dress. I grabbed the ironer and the ironing board, putting them into the living room before I began to iron out the winkles on my dress. Charlie was sitting on the worn-out couch watching one of his favorite shows, which ironically happened to be Cops, it was also one of my favorite shows to watch with him.

As soon as I finished ironing my dress, I went back upstairs and put the dress on a hanger, putting it on the hook that was behind my bedroom door.

Heading downstairs after I grabbed a pair of black heels—which had ribbons that tied around the back of my heels, I noted that Charlie had went into the kitchen to grab a beer from the fridge. He was wearing his comfortable sweats and an old school t-shirt from when he was in the academy. He went over to the couch and plopped down, the couch groaning from the extra weight due to its age.

I smiled at him, fondly shaking my head, before I went into the kitchen and grabbed a soda from the fridge. Entering the living room, I plopped down next to him—opening the can I heard the sizzling of the caffeination hitting the air. I took a sip and let my eyes flicker towards the television set.

I knew we were a sight to be seen, watching Cops instead of watching some silly Christmas film or television series. I knew that others would be watching A Christmas Story, but I had watched enough of the movie throughout the years. It wasn't something I felt I needed to watch every Christmas.

Before I knew it, I noted that it was around twelve, which meant that I needed to work on making dinner so that Charlie would have something to eat when I would be at the Cullens (and Hales). I went to get up only for Charlie to frown, "what are you doing? I thought we were hanging out."

"We are, Dad. I just was about to make food for dinner. We both know that you can't cook," I joked to him, which earned a huff from him—in amusement before he waved his hand, "don't worry about it. We already have enough left over from last week. I can eat some of that."

Others would be happy to not have to cook after all, but it and baking being my stress reliever, I shook my head, "no can do. I'm going to make you something for dinner. What about a green bean casserole? I know it's not some glamourous Christmas dish, but you said that I make a decent casserole."

Charlie sighed, knowing that complaining about me cooking wouldn't do any good anymore. He nodded his head, I beamed before I bent down and kissed him on the forehead. He smiled and shooed me away, I almost found myself skipping in the direction of where the kitchen was. It was silly but knowing that Jasper was staying for good meant I could be with him without worrying about the bloodlust as much as I did in the beginning of our relationship.

Entering the kitchen, I began to pull out the things I needed to make the meal, including some canned green beans, along with a can of Campbell's Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup. I grabbed the jug of milk, some soy sauce, and the black pepper. To finish off the casserole I grabbed some French's French-Fried Onions. I hummed as I did this, relaxing automatically.

In the living room I could hear the commercials begin to play, which in return made footsteps head into the kitchen. Charlie came wandering in, leaning against the kitchen counter near me.

"Billy was wondering if we wanted to come over to celebrate New Year's with him and the rest of the Reservation at the beach. Do you want to come? It's been a while since you've seen them."

It was true, I couldn't very well tell Charlie that the reason I didn't go over to the Reservation was because I was dealing with my boyfriend having a feud against the werewolf residents of the Reservation. Charlie would probably get aggravated with me; it was one thing that Charlie wouldn't put up with. Having others say something negative about the natives. Having me suddenly become negative against the natives would make him upset with me even more.

"That's fine," I remarked, which made Charlie smile at what I had told him. He didn't have me dismiss him, tell him that I had no interest.

I knew that it really had been a while since I had been at the Reservation. The last time I remembered being there was when I had started the beginning of my relationship with Jasper. Now months with him I was certain that the natives had realized I had decided that I would choose the vampires over them without any hesitation.

I focused my attention on making the casserole, knowing that when I was finished making it would be time for me to get ready for the Christmas Eve dinner, I would have with my extended vampire family. I couldn't help but grin the whole time, as soon as I finished, I went bounding up the stairs and into my bedroom.

Changing into the appropriate undergarments, I was careful putting the dress over my head. It was silk, soft and velvet to the touch. I smoothed down the dress once I had put it on, turning to investigate my mirror. My scars were still hidden, my dress I had bought what seemed a year ago for the dance but hadn't been was still in the back of the closet in its bag, I couldn't deal with the thought of heading back up to Port Angles and giving the dress back to the store—I was certain that I had passed the time where they would take the dress anyway.

By the time Edward came to pick me up, I was elated. If things were different, I would have been with Edward, which was odd to say the least. We naturally were in a sibling manner, we never felt drawn to each other. We were fine with our relationship as it was, there was no reason why I would ever think that both of us would be compatible, it was impossible due to the love we had for our mates.

Charlie was at the front door, opening it before I could come close enough to do so. Edward on the other side, not surprised in the least, instead gave Charlie a good-boy smile, a smile that made housewives giggle and blush. It didn't work on Charlie; he was more accustomed to Jasper's smile.

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Swan. I've come to pick up Bella for our Christmas Eve family dinner." Edward waited, earning a grunt from Charlie. He turned his head towards me, arching his eyebrow up while his mustache twitched. I gave him a humorous smile, rolling my eyes at him.

"I'll be fine, Dad. I know he's not Jasper but he's a good brother," I assured him, which in return made him nod his head, "fine. I'll be in bed by the time you come home. Don't stay out too late though, tomorrow is Christmas after all."

Kissing him on the cheek, I went through the front door, grabbing one of my coats to put on quickly, and shut the door behind me. Edward smiled down at me, "you look nice, sis."

I blushed; this was the first time that he referred me as his sister. It was affirmation I was officially a part of their family completely. I was his third sister (technically two in the vampire world), the only human, but still I was a sister to him. I looked up at him, shyly, and remarked, "you look good too, bro. You could break hearts."

We didn't say much after that, instead I slipped into the car and got buckled before Edward drove us away from the curb and in the direction of where the vampire house was.

If only people called it the vampire house, that would have been interesting to say the least. Thankfully, they just thought that the Cullens and Hales were the usual odd family, I would have called them the Addams Family, but it just didn't seem like there could be any true comparison between the two families.

There were Christmas lights strung throughout the entrance trees, all of them red and green and white. The closer we got to the house the more Christmas things I saw, cut out reindeer (they were plain wood, there wasn't nothing special about them). There were large decorative ornaments snuggled in the snow, three of them total. Lights were strung on the top of the roof; they were merely white. It was beautiful. You couldn't get this Christmas vibe down in Arizona.

"It's beautiful!" I gushed, as Edward parked the car. Alice was waiting in the driveway, wearing one of the deepest red sweaters I had ever seen. It was fuzzy material and was quite large, large enough that her black leggings fit smug and perfect on her. A pair of stylish black heeled boots finished off the look, the heels were thinner than I would ever dare to wear.

"I knew you would like it! Emmett made the reindeer; he finally get into the spirit of Christmas when Rose came home. She even was in the mood for Christmas too! If I hadn't seen it before it happened, I would have probably wondered if I was in the Twilight Zone myself!" Alice informed me, making me smile at what she was saying, I was happy that Emmett and Rosalie got into the Christmas spirit—then again being separate from each other since May, for seven months kind of did that for long distance couples.

"That's good, Alice. I'm happy for them but can we go inside? It's kind of freezing out here," I asked, a tremble going through me from the chill around me. Alice immediately rushed forward and wrapped one of her arms around me before ushering me through the garage, since it was the closest door into the house.

Edward trailed behind us, his hands into his pockets as he stared at his wife and me. He smiled at us, knowing that without Alice I wouldn't have been gently pulled into their life. I was too weary, too scared to even think about meeting any of them. I would have been staring at Jasper from a distance. I wouldn't know that I was his mate, and he would have continued his immortal life without me.

Alice had barely opened the front door before Esme was in front of me, grabbing me and wrapping her arms around me. She giggled as she held me, her perfume ticking me. It was pine, bringing in the scent of winter. I took as much as possible, finding comfort in her softness.

She pulled away from me, putting her hands up and placing them on my face. "Oh, it's so good to see you, Bella! With you our family is complete! We can finally celebrate Christmas truly with you here."

I blushed, then she pulled her hands away from my face and kissed me on the head. She took my hand and led me into the kitchen. My eyes widened at the assortment of food in front of me. I felt as though I was standing in front of the perfect Christmas Eve meal that you'd only find in old time family magazines or in movies.

"Wow. Is all of this for me?" I couldn't help but meekly probe, my eyes turning towards her. She smiled sheepishly at me, "I couldn't help it. I enjoyed cooking when I was human…" She drifted off, her mind trailing towards the past, she shook her head and pressed forward, "that is in the past though."

"Thank you, I'm sure that Charlie will be excited also at all the food." It was true, Charlie would be so excited when he would find out Esme had cooked food with him in mind.

My eyes wandered throughout the kitchen; I could see into the dining room. Every inch of the first floor was filled with Christmas themes. I felt at home peering at them, as though this was the kind of home life I was supposed to have. I was supposed to have this kind of family around me. I wasn't gifted with this family, I was gifted with divorced parents—one of them kind and caring, and the other trying to keep fighting for her youth. I wasn't given siblings, but those around me were my true siblings, even if they had the habit of eating animals for blood.

"Where is he?" I knew I sounded silly, as though I was waiting for my date to arrive for some fancy party or something.

One moment the doorway of the dining room was empty, and the next Jasper was in front of me—standing in the doorway. My heart skipped, this time it wasn't as bad as it used to be. He smiled at me, wearing a half rolled up sleeved forest green dress shirt that showed off his muscles, along with dark washed jeans and a trusty pair of his hiking boots. He came towards me, reaching his hands out he put my hands into his. He pulled my hands up and kissed me on my wrists in an intimate, loving manner.

"Merry Christmas, darling," Jasper whispered, the coven around us disappeared, allowing us to have some time together. I leant forward and let my head rest against the side of his throat, and the corner of my shoulder.

"Merry Christmas, love," I responded, before fitting smug against him. He kept his arms around me, holding me gently.

I took all that I was given, only pulling away a moment later. He took my hand and led me to where the fireplace was. We both sat down on the white furred rug—it was a wolf coat. I wouldn't be surprised if it were Rosalie who had found it, after all she loved to hunt with Emmett all the time. They would bring home the coats of animals they hunted.

The television was on, playing commercials on the movie channel. Alice and Edward went over to where the piano was together. I couldn't help but smile brightly when they both sat down next to each other, playing separately and then adding their music together so that they would be beautiful even more together. A few tears fell down my cheekbones, seeing how harmonious they were.

"It is beautiful, isn't it? He taught her how to play the piano when they were starting to get to know each other. She knows she's not as good as him, not that I don't think that, but she still has more talent than she thinks she does. They were falling for each other during that time period," Jasper told me, I nodded my head in agreement. I could see that happening.

"Didn't you say you used to play an instrument?" I faintly remembered this, him telling me this during our Skype sessions. He nodded his head, "I play the guitar, well I did when I was human. I never really felt the need to do so after I was changed."

"Do you think that you'll play for me sometime? I mean you don't need to give up playing anymore now that you have me. I'll always listen," I wondered, knowing that I would have continued doing Ballet if Renee didn't just immediately have me pulled from the class when I came home complaining about the routine we were currently practicing for a recital.

Jasper seemed a little stand-offish and before I knew it, I voiced my thoughts, "if you start playing the guitar again, I'll go back and try Ballet again. I loved it when I was a little girl, but Renee withdrew me."

Alice perked up, "I'll learn with you. I mean I've done other dance styles, and I've never done Ballet before, but it would be fine to practice with you."

I didn't want to tell her it was something I wanted to do for myself, luckily Jasper's gift came in at the right time, "I know you're excited, Alice but maybe Bella wants to do this by herself?"

Alice turned towards me, there wasn't any hurt in her eyes. She waited for me to respond, and I appreciated how patient she was with me. It must have come from decades of being a vampire, otherwise I knew any other human would be fidgeting and claiming that I would say it'd be fine if she joined me.

"Sorry, Alice but I kind of want to learn on my own…when I've gotten further in and have become better at it then I'd love if you'd join me."

It was true, but for once I wanted something for a while that didn't belong to someone else. I wanted something I enjoyed; I could do without having to worry about being in the company of someone else. I loved Alice but sometimes she jumped the gun on her enthusiasm.

The back doors opened, revealing Rosalie and Emmett coming through. Both were in stylish winter clothes—Emmett clad in navy blue and Rosalie clad in rose gold. They paused what they were doing, which was cleaning their boots on the rug, when they noticed me on the floor.

Emmett beamed and rushed towards me, picking me up and spinning me around, "Merry Christmas, baby sister! You'll love the present I got you!"

I blushed, as he told me this, having not expected that most of the Cullens would go through getting me presents. I knew Alice would get me something, along with Esme and Carlisle. Jasper would get me something, but I didn't know the others would get me something too.

Rosalie rolled her eyes at her mate before she turned towards me. Her features were lighter, more alive but still reserved. She gave me a gentle smile, one that was genuine, one that made my heart jump in my chest. She never looked at me with that kind of warmth, as though she had finally felt peace with me and her. I might become what she didn't want me to become but she appeared to be happy nonetheless—I still believed it was because I had lessened the risk of Jasper attacking a human.

Getting away from my burly vampire brother, I went up to Rosalie and hugged her, giving out some sisterly love. She stiffened for a moment, before she reached her hand up and lightly touched my head in a sisterly manner. She loosened some, before she spoke, "thank you, Bella."

"Of course, I love you, Rosalie," I whispered to her, making her widen her eyes before she let me loosen myself away from her. I turned my attention to the rest of the family, noting that there was surprise but happiness brimming in their eyes. I cleared my throat, "so can I eat? And presents, I heard that there would be presents for me?"

This stirred them from their places, Esme perked up and nodded her head. "I didn't know what flavors you liked so I got a few choices when it comes to sides. I know you said you're not a picky eater but still."

As it turned out I loved everything, just like I expected, and everyone was gathered around the dining room table. The others were talking freely with each other, Carlisle sat at the head of the table with his hand in his wife's, both looking at their coven as the monarchs of them.

I had barely finished my last bite when Emmett rushed into the living room and plopped a large box in front of me. I furled my eyebrows at him, not knowing what he would get me, "should I be concerned what you got me?"

"Nah, you'll love it. By the way it's from me and Rosalie," he responded, waving his hand as though I had asked an absurd question. I took it positive and opened the box, noting that it was a car radio—one of the best on the market right now. He quickly explained, "I was just thinking…hopefully you'll want to start driving lessons since you've gotten better and when you get a car, I can put it in for you."

I couldn't help but beam this time, hugging him and turning towards Rosalie. She nodded her head, having decided she was not wanting me to hug her again. I went to sit back in my seat, there were the last of the presents that they had gotten me. The table was clear other than with the presents, vampire speed came in handy.

The next present was from Alice and Edward. I opened it, noting that it was a Vinyl Record Player with some original records from different artists. "This looks used…" I trailed off, earning a small smile from them, "no way, you're giving me your record player? An actual one from the seventies?"

Alice giggled, "way to make me feel like an old woman, Bella. But yes, it's a record player we own, we have plenty more. Edward and I love our music."

I couldn't help but hug her hard, and then Edward. They both held me close for a moment before letting me go, Edward chuckling as he did so. I turned my attention away from them and towards Esme and Carlisle, they both had a small jewelry box, something that judging from the faces of the other Cullens meant something big was happening. This wasn't just any other present.

Slowly I took the present and opened it, almost dropping the box entirely when I saw there was a small black ribbon choker with the family crest upon it. The silver gleamed underneath the lighting, and I swallowed back tears as Esme stood up and pulled my hair out of the way before she placed the choker upon me—tying the back of it.

I hugged them both, letting them hold me the longest, quietly I whispered, "thank you, Mom, Dad." They stiffened, before they relaxed, together they said, "you're welcome, our precious daughter."

Once I pulled away from them, Jasper stood up and held his hand out towards me. I went over to him and allowed him to take my hand. He led me towards a box that was sitting on the coffee table (someone must have sat it there when I wasn't looking), I almost craned my head to the side in confusion. He took a deep breath, "I'm giving you something that I wore when I was still human. If you decide to stay human, then you may keep it even in death as a part of me…

"If you decide to become one of us then I'll be able to show that side of me through you. I understand if you don't want it but…"

I reached my hand out, placing it on his cheekbone, "don't worry, Jazz. I'll take it, whatever it is, because it is you and I take everything that you are. Without judgement at all."

Jasper took a deep breath and handed me the box. I carefully tore off the wrapping paper and opened the box, my eyes widening at the sight of one of Jasper's military jackets sitting smug within the box. Tears wielded up in my eyes as my fingers brushed against the material. It looked as though it must have been made yesterday, I turned my head towards Jasper.

"I'll treasure it always, Jazz."

And I was right, I always looked at his confederate jacket with pride whenever I would feel sad and open the box, knowing that Jasper gave me something so private and meaningful. It made my watch for him look meek in comparison, but it didn't matter. It was a perfect Christmas Eve, the perfect first one we had together.

twilight doesn't belong to me