Just a small holiday fic to show my appreciation for the fandom. Big thanks go out to my village. Ausha, May and Ashley, thank you so much for being the best prereaders a girl could ask for. Sally! Thank you for polishing everything up and making it legible. I love you all so much.

1

"Your father and I are so excited to see you, honey," Mom gushes the moment I answer the phone.

I grin despite the anxiety of what going home for the holiday entails even though I've been missing them like crazy. "I'm excited too. I can't wait to ring in the New Year with you guys."

The level of my procrastination has reached an all-time high, considering we're supposed to be leaving in less than an hour, and I'm pulling clothes out of the dryer that still need to be packed. I'm the queen of waiting until the very last minute to do things, and I happily wear the crown.

In my defense, I've had a lot going on lately. Between moving into a new place, work, and other things, I've been busier than usual. Not that that would change anything. I'm my own worst enemy with my stalling tactics.

Mom knows this and scolds me about being late. She's not telling me anything I haven't already heard. While I have a problem with time constraints, my mother is scatterbrained, and it doesn't take long for her to get distracted. While I work, she blathers on about her plans for the big party she and her best friend are hosting.

They've been organizing for months, wanting to make it extra special since I stayed home last Thanksgiving and Christmas so I could collect all the holiday pay the company I work for offered.

Sure, I missed my family, but I had just signed the lease for the new house that took a good chunk of my savings even with the help of my roommate. I needed to save as much money as possible before—

"Did you hear me, honey?" Mom interrupts.

Needing to get shit done, I tell her I need to go so I can get some last-minute things taken care of before we head out for the long drive, and she stops me before I can hang up.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?"

"I asked if you packed something nice to wear?"

I stare at the dry cleaner bag hanging on the closet door that contains the sequined wrap dress, confused because I sent her a picture from the dressing room when I bought it.

"Yeah. I bought the dress I showed you for the party," I remind her slowly.

"Make sure you pack something else. Just in case."

It's the tone in her voice that gets my attention. She's up to something. Something I'm not going to like.

"Just in case what?"

"Well, the new department store I was telling you about just opened up in town, and there's someone I'd like to introduce you to. Bring a nice outfit in case the two of you hit it off, and he wants to take you out to dinner or something."

I roll my eyes so hard it's painful. "Mom …"

"Don't 'Mom' me, Isabella. You've been single for ages, and you aren't getting any younger. I want grandbabies before I'm too old to run around after them. Mike has a steady job and a great head on his shoulders. Not to mention he's devastatingly handsome." She practically sings.

As if he can feel my desperation to get off the phone through the walls, my roommate comes in to save me from my mother's matchmaking scheme and hopefully help me finish packing.

"Aren't you ready to go yet?" he asks, taking in the pretty much empty suitcase on the floor.

I hold up my middle finger, and he sticks his tongue out at me. "Mom, that's Edward. We're leaving now. I'll call you when we're close."

"Okay, honey. Drive safe. Love you."

I return the sentiment, end the call, and toss my phone on the bed before turning to Edward with a pout.

He just laughs. "Is it bad?"

"Worse. She's trying to set me up with some guy who works at the sporting goods store. Told me to bring something nice to wear in case he asks me out on a date."

Something flashes in Edward's emerald green eyes, and I recognize it immediately. He's jealous. I shove clothes into the suitcase and ignore the heat from the burning stare he's giving me.

With a growl, he comes stalking over, tossing the pajamas I'm holding over his shoulder. "Over my dead fucking body, Bell."

He wraps his strong arms around me from behind, and I lean back into his warm embrace.

"It's not like I'm going to say yes, Edward. She's just desperate to change my relationship status."

He spins me around and captures my lips in a scintillating kiss that makes my knees weak. Makes me want to throw him down on all the clean laundry and do dirty things despite the time crunch I've put us in. Just as I'm about to give into temptation, he pulls back and looks me in the eye.

"We could just tell them, you know?"

I sigh. "Edward."

"I know. I know." He groans. "But someday soon, we won't be able to keep it a secret."

He caresses my still flat but hard stomach, and I cover his hand with my own.

To anyone who doesn't know or see me every day, it looks like I just put on a little weight or ate a large meal.

I'm not ready, quite yet, to let my family know that my boyfriend knocked me up. For multiple reasons.

When the moment is right, we'll tell them.

I just want a little more time to get used to the idea that by this time next year I'll be responsible for an entire human. They weren't planned but they will be loved. We'll make sure of that.

I don't want our mothers, who have been best friends since long before we were born, to know quite yet. They were practically planning our wedding before we could hold our heads up unassisted and constantly trying to force us together when we were kids. I'm not ready to let them know they were right all along.

Both of our families will be happy for us, probably ecstatic. We know this.

At first, we decided to wait to tell them about us getting together because we wanted to make sure it was going to stick. We worried that they'd get their hopes up and be disappointed if things didn't work out between us.

And then we waited because Edward went to Thanksgiving dinner alone while I worked.

We waited because we both stayed home for Christmas. We wanted to spend our first Christmas together, and I refused to give up the holiday pay because adding a baby to the mix is adding another expense to our lives.

We simply aren't ready to admit that they were right. That Edward is my better half, my soul mate and, in a few months, my baby daddy.

Until then, until we're ready, we need to convince them that we're just friends.