DISCLAIMER: THE STORY DOESN'T BELONG TO ME; THE CHARACTERS ARE PROPERTY OF S. MEYER AND THE PLOT BELONGS TO DANNYSK.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LETTING ME SHARE YOUR STORY IN ENGLISH!

¡GRACIAS DANNY, POR DARME ESTA OPORTUNIDAD!

0o0o0o0o0o0to0o0o0

The girls began chopping vegetables, and also brought out the turkey to defrost. The first hour was more than awkward with only Rosalie and his brother talking about things, but when Bella began to recount some rather curious ER cases, the atmosphere gradually lightened. Emmett also recounted the years where he and his brother had tried to cook anything and almost set the kitchen on fire, the children had clapped happily as Edward put out the flames on the curtains with a fire extinguisher. They ended up having pizza for dinner that Thanksgiving, just as they had at other disastrous events when they had tried to make something to eat.

Bella giggled, a light, happy tune that, if he could, he would keep for all those nights he spent alone in Emmett's house. He wanted to listen to it always, wanted to be the one to steal those happy sounds from her.

"Oh, my God." Bella was still smiling when she pushed her hair out of her eyes, there was some dough on her nose and her eyes were sparkling. She was beautiful. "Why the hell didn't you ever tell me that? I remember coming in and not understanding where the curtains were, and the smell?" she denied. "I don't know how I fell for all your lies."

"I didn't tell you because it was too stupid, the fire alarm went off, the whole thing was a mess; no man would want to tell his wife that he almost set the house on fire with the kids in it, believe me."

"How did you stop the kids from telling me that?"

Emmett laughed.

"We bribed them with candy."

"And... maybe presents for Christmas," he muttered in embarrassment at the horrified look on his wife's face.

"But what kind of family are you two?" Rosalie wrapped her arms around Emmett before pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

His brother gave her a warm smile, and Edward bit his tongue as a form of self-protection against the pain he felt. Deep down there was nothing he wanted more than the same thing his brother had, but hell would freeze over before Bella forgave him, wouldn't it? He sighed.

He wouldn't even allow himself to think about it anymore.

O~O~O~O

"Where did you put the kids' presents?" Rosalie asked Edward.

"I've got a couple in the car and some in the attic."

"Perfect, let's go wrap them," she clapped her hands too happily.

Bella smiled looking at her friend, remembering how the poor thing had had to cancel her trip to Washington, to her parents' house, because of work. She immediately felt bad that it hadn't crossed her mind first to invite her to spend Christmas at her house.

-Remember last year when we tried to staple the gift bags together and...? -Edward nudged his brother with his shoulder before he gave her a stern look of denial. Apparently, it was another disastrous anecdote that made her smile.

"I'll go to the car and get the rest of the presents," Edward commented, walking towards the entrance.

"It's raining quite a bit, better later, honey," Bella shut up immediately, blushing at his words.

Edward's gaze told her that he hadn't expected them either, or the awkward silence between them began to settle before he cleared his throat.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded still stunned, even more so when, without expecting it, he leaned down to kiss her cheek, his fingers gently squeezing her hip, sending a warm sensation that made her shiver.

"Help me better get those down from the attic," Rosalie asked interrupting the moment, Edward smiled at her one last time before following the blonde into the attic, beside her Emmett shook his head and smiled as he watched them cross the threshold.

"Edward has changed a lot." Bella shrugged, trying futilely to look nonchalant, she'd never been good at acting anyway.

"You think so?"

"Yeah, at least he seems like a normal guy now," he murmured, stealing a smile at her, "and his relationship with Rose is improving quite a bit, speaking of which, thank you so much for letting us stay at your house, you know how much I love watching the kids open my presents, it's like my own Christmas."

"Thank you for helping me every year with them, and I'm sorry for not suggesting Rosalie sooner, I've really... had a lot on my mind."

Emmett leaned with both elbows on the table and took a sip of the beer beside him, as if weighing his next words.

"Edward told me that you two haven't talked much."

"What do you mean?" She smiled incredulously, "He comes in absolutely every day." Emm just smiled.

"I mean, you haven't talked about your relationship."

Bella started clearing all the dirty dishes from the table as she tried to think of something to say.

"I guess things have changed, he's trying... But to be completely honest with you, Edward is who he is. And pretty soon, when the shock of leaving him wears off, which could be maybe by nightfall, maybe next week, maybe a month from now... I'm sure he'll go back to his blocking, to his 'look but don't touch', to his distant self," she sighed, nibbling on her lip. "And to top it off, I suppose you know about Irina?" Emmett's eyes darkened, flashes of anger dancing in them stealing her a chill.

"My brother's been a real jerk to you, I'm not going to defend him now as I've seen you battle with him over the years... However, I see for the first time a real change in him, it's stupid that he didn't do it until he lost you, but I assure you this is something more permanent, has he told you he's going to therapy yet?

"Yes, thank you very much for that, Emm." He nodded, taking a sip of his beer, "It's just that things have changed for me too, getting away from him made me realise that I don't have to go on living the life I was living, I can do it on my own, with the kids."

"Is that what you want?" He didn't ask in annoyance, he actually seemed curious. Bella sighed, wringing her hands slightly.

"I just feel like I have more to lose now than when we started," she whispered, feeling very tired.

"Well, if you want to go through with the divorce, go ahead, it might be the right thing to do." She shuddered at the thought.

"Don't think divorce is what I really want, I just..." she hugged herself, "I just need time."

"The problem is that with my brother you have to be patient too, you know?" He took another sip of his beer, as if searching for the right words. "Edward doesn't remember much about it because he was younger than me, but he was very close to our parents, and after we lost them, he was never the same again. While we were living from house to house, he could never recover, he missed mum so much, and when we came to my Aunt Esme, we finally started to feel better, I even thought that with Angela coming along he'd get over it all, but then..." he sighed, "you know the rest of it. It was hard for all of us, but Edward... he never tried to love anyone after that. He completely shut down, he never wanted to listen to me, he left every night, he drank too much, he drove like a maniac... well he still does that," he smiled before sighing. "I was surprised when he suddenly announced that you were getting married. What didn't surprise me was what happened after that between you; however I had hoped that in time he would change, you know, the way he acts when you're around, or the way he looks at you... You've always been special to him."

Bella sighed, not very convinced of those words, "being special" was a feeling that never crossed her mind around Edward, rather it was something that sounded similar to "feeling rejected".

Edward is no different from me either, I'm sure we're going to make even more mistakes. Like I told you, we grew up from one house to another, no parents, and a lot of lacks until we lived with Aunt Esme. I won't deny that I felt a little lost for a long time too, and I guess I screwed up by not forcing him to go to therapy with me, at least that helped me come to terms with the loss," he sighed again. "I know it's hard not to blame him for everything he's done to you, but if you really think there's hope, don't deny it to yourself or the kids. You're the only woman he's ever loved, apart from Mum. Edward still doesn't understand at this point, but Angela never got any of this that you have." Bella swallowed a painful lump of thorns in her throat and nodded, unable to reply. Emm rounded the table before hugging her gently, "I've never seen him smile like he does when he's with you and the kids."

"You think so?" She whispered hesitantly.

"Have you seen me with a girlfriend over the years?" Bella smiled and looked at him in confusion, not quite understanding his point. "I didn't feel the need to be with anyone, I was a bit like Edward but without the moodiness," he joked, "I've had a couple of girls over the years, but I never thought about taking anyone home, I didn't really think any of them were worth more of my time. However, she came along, Rosie," he smiled warmly. "I hope one day to marry her and raise a family like the one you have."

"Emm, I..."

"Just think about it, okay? Especially for my niece and nephew, they need to know what to expect from the two of you."

And then he released her, his footsteps muffled down the hallway as he walked in search of the kids; Bella held tightly to the edge of the table as she tried to catch her breath. She knew she was in a difficult situation, but she was nowhere near expecting her heart to break again.

Hello once again! How are you guys doing? Fine?

So, 9 chapters 'til the ending... What are your theories for that HEA? C'mon, I'm sure you have thought at least one ;)

Marymary123: thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Once again, I remind you that if you leave a review, you'll get a teaser of the next chapter (please, tell me that FanFiction is notifying you whenever I reply).

And since we're at the final chapters, let's start a challenge: whenever we get to 500 reviews, I'll publish a new chapter. Also yes, there's an epilogue ;)