Chapter 39 – Ho-Ho-OH!

Bella

I made it downstairs quickly to help with dinner preparations. Mom eyed me suspiciously, but she didn't ask any questions, for which I was grateful. Had she yelled the word "coming" up those stairs one more time, I was sure Edward would have needed oxygen to restore his respiration from laughing himself breathless.

I managed to talk her and my dad into going outside for a few minutes to help me gather some evergreen branches to decorate the dining room. That would give Edward a chance to make a quick dash for his apartment unobserved to shower and change. Him being in my bed, and bare-chested no less, already had my mom shooting me questioning looks. I made a mental note to take up some of Edward's clothes later, buried in my folded laundry. I was fairly sure mom knew, at least partly, why I had insisted on getting them outside. Again, she said nothing, just smiled and followed dad out the door, glancing toward the staircase as we went.

Thanksgiving dinner was planned for late afternoon, but everyone was invited earlier to enjoy drinks, snacks, and company. The storm last night had quickly turned to a light snow, leaving a white layer on the grass and trees. It sparkled beautifully, casting a shimmer on the windows that was stunning.

I smiled contentedly, as I watched Edward and my father take their places at the table. Dad, being the senior of the group and traditional head of the table in place of Poppa, directed Edward to the chair at the opposite end, the other place of honor. With everyone seated, dad asked us all to join hands for a prayer.

With a resounding amen from everyone, we began passing the food. Everything was incredibly delicious, especially Edward's mother's stuffing. I couldn't help but look around the table at the faces of all the people who meant the most in the world to me, and I could feel the loving presence of Grammy and Poppa stronger than ever. I was sure they were here, too, enjoying the love in the room as much as I was.

With dinner finished, my favorite part of Thanksgiving Day was at hand. Alice, Esme, and Rose helped me quickly gather and put away the fall decorations, and then we headed for the other side of the attic to start getting out the Christmas boxes. I went looking for Edward to ask him to pull down the old artificial Christmas tree box, but he put his arms around my waist and kissed my neck.

"Wait, I have a surprise for you," he whispered and slipped out the backdoor. It was dark now, so I couldn't see where he had gone, but a few minutes later, he came back towards the house, dragging a huge evergreen tree behind him. Emmett and Jasper helped him get it in the door and untied it. Edward went and retrieved a live tree stand from his apartment, and the guys set about getting it stabilized and placed in the spot I had prepared for the tree in the living room in front of the bay window.

"Oh, Edward, it's perfect," I said, standing back to look at the magnificent tree. Edward came to my side, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

"I wanted our first tree together to be special," he smiled at me, and then he pulled a small box out of his pocket and handed it to me. I opened it to reveal a beautiful silver heart ornament, with our names and the year engraved on the back. "Our first ornament, the first of many I hope to collect together to pass on to our kids," he whispered in my ear and kissed me gently. I threw my arms around his neck, getting lost in the kiss, forgetting we had an audience.

"Do you two think you could save that for later and let's get this decorating extravaganza underway?" Rose snickered. Emmett, Jasper, and Alice were all standing there watching us, grinning as well. We finally broke apart, and I breathlessly started looking for the box of lights for the tree.

I handed the guys the box of Christmas lights, and then I pulled Rose out of the room with me for a moment. Knowing that what was going to happen next would be worth seeing again and possibly be worthy of one of those home video shows, I handed Rose my phone and had her record the action.

The guys were digging through the box of lights, trying to decide what to do. My dad and Carlisle took that as their cue to go get more coffee and another piece of pie, so they slipped out of the room, leaving Emmett, Jasper, and Edward to string the lights on the tree. The older and more experienced men had obviously played this game before and knew it didn't always end well. My dad muttered, "Rookies," as he snickered and escaped to the kitchen.

As I expected, the scene that unfolded was like watching The Three Stooges do Christmas. To watch three capable, intelligent, and otherwise coordinated men become circus monkeys trying to string lights on a Christmas tree was worth the sore ribs. Edward had the most effective idea of working the lights into the tree vertically. However, Emmett was convinced the old-fashioned way of wrapping them around was best. He was wrong, because he caught Jasper off guard and almost tied him to the tree when he tossed a strand of lights over the top, trapping Jasper and pulling him into the branches. Alice and Renee were in stitches, and Esme was laughing and trying to hold the girls' ears, snapping at Emmett when he forgot they were there and let an expletive fly.

The guys eventually got the lights on, and even without the ornaments, the tree was spectacular. It was tall and stately, with just enough room at the top to get the angel on without it touching the high ceiling.

Alice, Esme, and the older girls set about hanging ornaments on the tree, while Rose and I pulled out the other decorations, handing them to the guys and directing their placement throughout the house. While everyone was busy decorating, Edward left the room for a minute, and then he came back with a florist box, handing it to me with a grin. I opened the box to discover fresh sprigs of mistletoe tied with red ribbons for hanging. Poppa would have genuinely loved Edward, being a man after his own heart.

The guys took great delight in hanging the mistletoe. They dangled it in all the usual places, plus a couple I wouldn't have thought of. Most of the old light fixtures in the house had pull chains, and there weren't many left without a mistletoe sprig hanging from them. Every time one of us girls got near a sprig, we were given the appropriate attention. Even my dad and Carlisle snuck in a couple of kisses on mom and Esme.

While we girls finished the tree, the guys drifted off into the family room, joining dad and Carlisle in front of a football game, otherwise known as the post-Thanksgiving-dinner coma. I grabbed my phone and captured the tranquil scene of all the men sleeping. Carlisle had fallen asleep on the couch, and Dorianne had climbed up on his chest and fallen asleep as well. Edward was asleep in the recliner, with Marisol curled up in his arms. I couldn't wait for that baby sleeping in his arms to be ours.