Chapter 50 – Gift Exchange

Bella

We finished breakfast and headed with our coffee into the living room to exchange gifts. When I walked into the room, I couldn't help but burst out laughing. From the fireplace to the tree, all over the gifts and across the coffee table, was a smattering of fine gold dust. I looked at mom, and she just turned her head, humming to herself. Like I said, some traditions just never died.

Edward loved the pajamas and funny scrub hats I had gotten him. Dad was excited with the new fishing gear I gave him, and Edward made a new best friend with a pair of tickets for a basketball game night together. Mom went crazy over the designer handbag and shoes Alice had helped me pick out for her. However, her jaw dropped when she opened Edward's gift. It was an exquisite antique silver pendant, inlaid with many multicolored gems, and there was a pair of matching earrings to go with it.

"Oh, Edward, this is too much…" she tried to protest, but Edward wrapped his arm around her shoulder, placing a sweet kiss on her cheek.

"Renee, you're going to be my mom now, too. These belonged to my mother and were amongst her most treasured possessions. I want you to have them and wear them often. She would've liked that."

She wrapped Edward into a huge hug, and then she proceeded to put on the earrings and then the necklace, showing us how stunning the pieces really were. Edward saved his gift to me for last, handing me a large, slightly heavy package. I pulled the lid off to reveal a jewelry box made of rosewood and alabaster, with inlaid mother of pearl and gold in the pattern of a pair of mermaids on the doors. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

"Edward, really, you didn't…" I gasped, but Edward gently placed his fingers over my lips.

"Bella, she would've wanted you to have this, too," he smiled, motioning for me to open it. "I gave Renee only one set, the rest is for you."

I opened Elizabeth Masen's jewelry box, overwhelmed by the extraordinary, breathtaking array of jewelry she had enjoyed in her lifetime. My eyes were immediately drawn to a beautiful diamond band that looked like it went with the engagement ring on my finger. I picked it up to get a better look, but Edward reached out and gently took it from me, placing it on my finger next to the engagement ring to show everyone, but then he slipped it back off again. "You'll have to wait about seven more weeks to get this one back," he grinned at me and dropped it into his shirt pocket, kissing me on the nose.

"Oh, my goodness, I almost forgot!" mom squealed, as she headed out to the apartment and came back carrying an armful of old photo albums. "Bella, I'm giving these to you. You're now keeper of the family albums."

We poured through the albums, sharing memories of our Christmases past, my early accomplishments and mishaps, and warning Edward of the crazy family he would be joining. He, in turn, brought out a stack of albums of his own he had inherited from his parents, and it was funny to see how much our lives had been alike in so many ways. As I went to put away the albums mom had given me, he added his own to the stack and lifted them all, putting them together in the same cabinet in the family room. Edward took me by the hand and led me into the parlor, where he sat down at his piano and pulled me beside him on the bench. Mom and dad came in as well, sitting on the settee to hear Edward play.

"I want to give you one more gift, if I may, Bella, and I hope you'll like it. I've been working on this since the day I saw you in the hospital the first time," Edward smiled, "and it wasn't the day in the OR prep room."

"What?" I asked, confused. I had never seen him before until that moment.

"I saw you once at Children's…before that day in the prep area. You were walking into the hospital with your head down, and I could only see part of your face, but something about you drew me in. I was intrigued by you, and if I hadn't been running to take care of an emergency, I probably would've followed you and tried to talk to you."

"But…I looked the way I always used to," I uttered, embarrassed. "It was just so…how could that have been intriguing to you?"

"All I saw was a beautiful woman who was focused on her work. I didn't see how you were dressed…well, I did, but…" he leaned in and whispered, "…discussion of my naughty librarian fantasy will need to wait until the night of February 14th, else I'll end up giving your parents a show right here on this bench," he smirked. "You looked so hot to me it was sinful."

"You're…a weirdo," I shook my head and started laughing.

"Maybe so, but I'm your weirdo," he chuckled, kissing me quickly. "Okay, woman, let me play for you."

What I heard next took my breath away. I had heard Edward play the piano and knew he was unbelievably talented, but I had never imagined he could sing and write lyrics so beautifully.

I sat speechless, overwhelmed, and humbled that he would do such a beautiful thing for me. I wrapped my arms around him tightly, and mom and dad both were applauding enthusiastically. Mom came up behind Edward and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him on the cheek. Then she whispered, "Make sure you teach that to our grandchildren."

Mom and dad spent the rest of the morning getting to know Edward better and enjoying his music. Mom was getting an impromptu piano lesson, while the three of them discussed baby names and how often the kids would be brought to visit the grandparents for the weekend to go fishing with grandpa. It was funny to listen to them, but most of all, it was comforting. I was so happy they loved him almost as much as I did.

Edward had to go into the hospital for a while to check on a few patients in the afternoon, so my mother thought it would be a good time to give me some advice.

"So, honey, you're going to be a newlywed soon!" she grinned, waggling her eyebrows at me. "I guess it's time we expand on that talk we had when you were a teenager. I'm sure there's some things I could tell you to help-"

I threw my hand up, stopping her quickly. "That's okay, Mom. I doubt there's anything you could tell me I haven't already gotten the gist of somewhere else. How about we talk wedding favors," I deflected, and mom was off, happy to discuss her latest ideas.

When Edward came back from the hospital a few hours later, he seemed preoccupied, but he passed it off as concern for one of his patients. I knew him better than that, but I also knew if it were something he needed to talk about, I would be the first one he would talk to.

After dinner, we were sitting around and watching old movies later that evening. Edward and I were cuddled up together when he whispered, "I'm so glad you're mine, Bella. Now, are you glad you chose me over little Laurant Dubois?" he teased. "He was a pretty fetching fellow without those teeth."

"I can't remember what I ever saw in him," I giggled. "He kind of grew up to be a weird kid, actually, now that I think back on it. As we got older, I used to catch him watching me from his bedroom window all the time. He gave me the creeps when we were teens, always trying to get me to come over and hang out in his room.

"Grammy and Poppa practically forbade me to go anywhere near him after we were in high school. Grammy always said, 'Something's not right about that boy.'" I rolled my eyes, remembering how overprotective they had been regarding Laurant. "He really was harmless, just lonely, I think."

I looked up to see a serious, thoughtful expression on Edward's face, as if he were thinking about something important. "Does his family still live next door?" Edward asked, half smiling, but still looking deep in thought.

"No, they moved away the summer after graduation, and I haven't seen him since," I replied. "Why, are you afraid you may have some competition from my first husband?" I teased.

"I'd have to say it's him I feel sorry for. He was a fool to let you get away so easily," Edward whispered to me. Mom was asleep on the sofa, and dad had fallen asleep in the recliner, so Edward and I quietly slipped upstairs. At least for tonight, we had peace on earth in our little corner of the world.