I don't own Twilight or its characters. Stephenie Meyer does.
Cheryl, Noles, and Gabby, thank you for pre-reading, and April, thank you for editing. Any mistakes left are my own.
Ch 14
EPOV
I sat in the chair next to the bed, cradling the small bundle swaddled in blankets. Everything about her was so tiny. I marveled over the tiny fingers and toes, especially the little knuckles and nails. She was so precious. She already reminded me so much of Bella.
Carlie Esme Cullen was born March 30, 2022, at 4:06 am.
I glanced at my wife sleeping in the hospital bed. After thirty hours of labor, Bella was exhausted. Carlie's lips parted and her deep gray eyes peeped open. I knew if she ended up having her mom's eyes I was going to be in trouble.
"How about a story from me this time?" I suggested.
Edward 8
"All right. Please hang up your jackets and take care of your bags. Homework must be done before electronics. Edward, piano too," Mom instructed as we came in after school.
Mom took our lunch bags from us and headed to the kitchen. Emmett hung his coat and rushed down the hall, following her. Bella jumped, trying to reach the hook but kept missing. She frowned when she landed on her butt.
"I got it." I took her jacket and hung it up next to mine.
"Thank you, Edward. Will you help me with my math?" she asked quietly.
"Sure," I agreed. "Let's go to the living room."
She skipped down the hallway and came to a sudden stop. Her eyes grew big and her mouth dropped open.
"Emmett…Emmett, come here quick!" she yelled.
"What's wrong?" I rushed to her side.
I looked around the room, but I couldn't see anything that would have scared her.
Emmett came running up, his mouth full of cookies. My mother wasn't far behind him, looking concerned. Emmett tried to pull Bella behind him, but she went around and went up to our Christmas tree.
"They have their own Christmas tree," Bella squealed excitedly.
"Don't you?" I questioned.
"Our mother said they were too expensive," Emmett grumbled. "We've only seen them on TV before."
"They're not—" I frowned.
"Edward." Mom stopped me and shook her head. She leaned down and whispered in my ear. "I can explain later."
"I'm willing to bet your dad will get a Christmas tree this year," Mom promised.
"Really?" Bella's eyes grew even bigger, then she froze. Her head whipped around to the fireplace. She spun back around and looked directly at me. "Does Santa come here?" she demanded to know.
"Santa…yeah, why wouldn't he?" I was so confused, but I stopped talking when my mother gave me another look.
Bella ran to the window, and she looked out. She bit her lip and looked disappointed. She glanced at my mom.
"Esme, does my dad have a chimney? I can't tell." Bella started to bite her lip.
"I think so, sweetie." Mom went over to the window to look.
"Do you think Santa will come for Emmett and me too? He never came before because we didn't have a chimney." Belle's lower lip wobbled.
Mom knelt down and gave her a hug. "I'm sure Santa will come for you this year. Even if your dad doesn't have a chimney then Santa will leave your presents for you under our tree, I promise. But I'm pretty sure he will come to your own house."
"But Santa…" Emmett trailed off.
"But Santa what, Emmett?" Mom asked with an eyebrow raised.
Emmett stared at her for a moment then at Bella. His shoulders slumped as he frowned. "Nutin'. I'm going to go start my homework."
"You know when you're done, you kids should write your letters to Santa. I'll help you mail them." Mom tugged on one of Bella's braids.
Bella nodded eagerly and rushed to the coffee table to do her work. Every once in a while, she would pause to stare at our tree. When she was done, my mom gave her a blank piece of paper.
"How do you spell basketball?" she asked me.
"B-a-s-k-e-t-b-a-double l. Why? I didn't know you liked it." I answered, then looked at her list.
"It's not for me, it's for Emmett. What do you want for Christmas?" she asked.
"You're supposed to write what you want. Not ask for other people," I explained to her.
"That doesn't sound very nice." She wrinkled her nose. "What if I want to give gifts to other people, rather than get things for myself?"
"I…I don't know?" I shrugged, bewildered by her.
"Bella, Emmett, your dad is here," Mom called.
Bella grinned and ran for the door. "Dad, guess what? They have a tree, and Esme said you might get one too. Can we get a tree, pretty please, Daddy?"
"Sure, sweetheart, we can go this weekend," he promised her.
H
On the weekend, Mom and I were at Walmart. She went to the Christmas section to look at cards. I trailed behind bored out of my mind. I spotted a bunch of ornaments and paused to look at them. I spotted a Scooby-Doo and picked it up.
"Hey, Mom, can we get this?" I asked.
"We already have so many they don't all fit on the tree," she told me.
"This one is for Bella. She doesn't have any and Scooby is her favorite." I held it up.
My mother paused for a moment then smiled at me. "That's a wonderful idea. We should pick one for Emmett too."
"He likes football." I pointed to one that was too high for me.
My mother grabbed it and put it in her cart.
"Is it later yet?" I asked.
Mom looked at me confused for a moment then seemed to know what I was asking. She pushed her cart off to the side and motioned for me to join her.
"What do you exactly want to know?" she asked.
"How come Bella and Emmett never had a Christmas tree? They're not just for rich people, are they?" I was confused.
"Well, no…however, they do cost money. So, if money is very tight then it may be hard for a family to afford one," Mom explained.
"Oh. What happened to their mom, they never talk about her?" I asked.
Mom's face looked sad. "First of all, I'm only telling you because I don't want you to ask them questions. So don't talk to them about it unless they say something first. Understand?"
"Okay." I nodded.
"Their mother wasn't very kind to them. Because of that, Chief Swan had to go get them and they live with him now," she explained.
"Not kind…does that mean she hit them?" I grew worried.
Mom frowned. "From what I know it was only Emmett. He did his best to protect Bella. But he never should've had to, since he's just a young boy himself."
"Emmett protected Bella? He's mean to her a lot," I pointed out.
Mom sighed. "I don't think he intends to be mean. I think he has a lot of hurt and scared feelings locked inside that he doesn't know how to deal with. I know he loves his sister and would never purposely hurt her."
"Is their mom going to take them away again?" I asked nervously.
"Never," Mom said firmly. "In fact, if you ever see their mother or a man named James, you must get an adult immediately. You don't approach them. Understand?"
"Yes. Are they in danger?" I asked nervously.
Mom frowned. "Perhaps I said too much. I don't mean to worry you. I'm sure nothing will happen." She ruffled my hair.
"Okay," I said uncertainly.
"How about we check out the toy section? Maybe we can also pick out something for Emmett and Bella. Maybe a Barbie for Bella and a game for Emmett," Mom said, giving me a big smile.
"I don't know if Bella likes Barbie, I think she'd prefer anything with Scooby or books," I pointed out.
"Hmmm, true," Mom agreed. "That might be harder to find. But we can certainly try."
H
After school on Monday, we were settled in the living room doing homework when my mother brought in two small, wrapped gifts.
"We have early Christmas presents for you two." She set one in front of Bella and the other in front of Emmett. They both excitedly opened their gifts. Bella squealed loudly when she held up Scooby by the ribbon.
"I love it. Thank you. Can I hang it on your tree until my dad gets here?" She hugged my mother.
"Yes, you may," Mom told her.
"Cool. Thanks," Emmett said to Mom.
"You're both welcome," she said before heading to the kitchen to start dinner.
I watched as Bella ran up to the tree. She circled it a few times before finding a spot to put it. She stood back and smiled bigger than I had ever seen. She then came back to the table and collected her schoolwork and went to go put it in her bag.
Emmett looked in the direction she left then went up to the tree. He took Scooby off the branch and was smirking.
"What are you doing?" I demanded, going up to him.
"I'm hiding it. Don't say anything," he whispered.
"She's going to be upset," I hissed.
"It's just a joke, I'll give it back." He rolled his eyes and stood on his tiptoes to place it high up, way out of her reach.
"If she starts to cry, I'm telling her," I warned.
"Whatever." Emmett scoffed. "It's a joke, it'll be funny."
Mom called me from the other room. "Edward…"
"Piano. I know." I finished for her.
I had just sat on the bench when I heard a noise behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see Bella, leaning against the doorframe. She gave me a shy smile.
"Want to turn the pages for me?" I asked.
She nodded eagerly and joined me on the bench. She had to sit on her knees to reach the music. As I played, she sang along to the songs she knew. Bella had a pretty voice. When Chief arrived, she ran from the room.
"Dad, come see what Esme and Edward gave me," she said excitedly.
I cringed and went into the living room. Bella was tugging on her dad's hand and pulling him to the tree. When she got there, she looked for her ornament and her smile dropped. Her eyes grew wide, and she started looking around frantically.
"Where is it? It's gone!" She dropped to her knees to look under the tree.
"Where is what, Bells? Tell me so I can help you look." Her dad frowned.
"My Scooby ornament. It was right here; I know it was." She pointed at the branch.
"All right, take a deep breath. It couldn't have gone far. Are you sure it was this branch?" Chief Swan asked calmly.
"Yes." Bella's eyes started to tear.
I had enough and went over to the tree. "It's up here, Bella." I pointed at it.
"How did it get way up there?" She frowned and tried to reach for it, but she was too short.
I searched the room and glared at Emmett, who was trying to sneak out of the room. Chief caught his movement and frowned at his son. He handed Bella her ornament first before turning toward him.
"Emmett, did you have something to do with it?" he asked.
"It was a joke. Ha ha." Emmett tried to force a laugh.
"You owe your sister an apology. You know Santa only comes to good little boys and girls," Chief Swan said sternly.
"But Santa…" Emmett looked at Bella and stopped speaking for a moment. He nodded his head. "Sorry, Bella."
Bella stuck her tongue out at him then went over to my mom, who had been watching the scene. "Esme, may I keep Scooby here, where he's safe?" She glared at Emmett.
"Of course, you may," Mom agreed.
Hero
"I wish I could tell you that was the last time your Uncle Emmett tried to prank your mommy. But instead, it became a yearly thing," I chuckled. "Your mom did get her revenge though a few times. One year, she wrapped a present full of coal and put on the tag it was from Santa."
I stroked Carlie's cheek with the back of my finger and wondered about what her first Christmas would be like. If her eyes would sparkle and radiate pure joy when she saw Santa came. I recalled Bella running over to house Christmas morning, carrying a Mystery Machine that had Scooby and Shaggy inside.
Carlie yawned and her little lips started to suckle. It was the sign the nurse mentioned to look for when she was hungry. She started to whimper and shifted in my arms.
"Hold on. I'll wake Mommy." I kissed her forehead.
"I'm already awake." Bella yawned and raised the bed to a sitting position.
Bella grabbed a pillow then held out her arms for the baby. She cradled Carlie in her arms and after a couple of tries got the baby to latch on. I sat on the edge of the bed and wrapped my arm around her shoulders, so I could be close to my girls.
"She looks like a tiny doll," Bella cooed.
"She's going to be beautiful just like her mommy. Good thing she has two cousins that can keep the boys away."
Bella snorted and rolled her eyes. "I think we have years before we need to worry about that. And Jared and Sam are not going to do to her what you two did to me."
"We protected you." I pouted.
"From Eric? The poor guy was afraid of his own shadow." Bella scoffed.
"Okay, so Eric was an overkill. But Mike wasn't," I insisted.
"Mike never asked me out." Bella looked confused.
"Exactly." I grinned.
"Overprotective fool." Bella shook her head in amusement. "You know you could've saved us both a lot of trouble and just admitted your feelings to me at Homecoming, instead of dating Tanya." Her nose wrinkled as she scowled.
"I don't know. I may regret Tanya. But then you wouldn't have had as many good stories to tell me," I told her.
"Our story does have a happy ending." She tilted her head up, and I leaned down to kiss her.
A/N: Edward's flashback occurs between ch1 and 2. So it is the Christmas before Renée tried to kidnap Bella. I thought this story was better told through Edward's mind. The story has come to an end. It was never meant to be a long story. I may add an outtake down the line.
Thank you for joining me for the journey.