26
The Hunk
"Um, Honey." Bella shakes Edward awake.
It feels like they just went to bed, and he's not ready for the day to begin just yet.
He burrows his head in his pillow and gives a mumbled "no".
"Honey, please wake up."
Her pleading voice has him blinking the sleep out of his eyes. He's confused to find her leaning over him, freshly showered, in a set of cotton pajamas and sporting a red face.
"Hmm. You look warm. Come cuddle with me." He rolls and opens his arms, but she doesn't move. "It's Christmas. We're allowed to sleep in, Sugar. Let's make it a tradition of our own. Come on."
"I can't." Her blush deepens. "We can't."
Edward sits up.
"What's going on?" he asks curiously.
"Istartedmyperiod," Bella rushes out, her hands covering her face.
"You what? I'm sorry. I'm still half asleep."
"I'm on my period. I started this morning," she mumbles.
"Why are you so embarrassed?"
Bella looks at him like he's grown a second head.
"Because I started my period this morning," she explains slowly as if she's talking to a child.
"And that means we can't cuddle and sleep for another hour because?"
Bella's scowls. "I wasn't expecting it, and I need to do things, so I need you to go sleep on the couch or you can take the daybed in the guest room. You can't stay here."
"Bella, I don't know what you were raised to believe. Hell, I wouldn't even try considering who your parents are. Just because you're on your period—a natural occurrence, by the way—doesn't mean we can't share a bed. It doesn't work that way."
"I know that, Edward. I'm not an idiot. Please, just trust me on this and get out of bed and go downstairs. I've already put some blankets out for you."
"No."
"No?"
"Nope. I'm not leaving unless it's to grab you some painkillers and a heating pad. Screw one hour, they can wait for two. I'll text everyone now."
Bella snatches his phone out of his hands and all but slams it onto the nightstand.
"Edward, get out of my bed and go downstairs. I'm not asking you."
"Fuck that, Sugar. You're acting irrationally."
"And you're acting dumb. I bled all over the bedding, okay! I need you to leave so I can clean everything up." Her blush returns ten-fold. "Please, just go downstairs."
She watches him roll off the side of the bed and tries to block him from looking until he reaches the door, but Edward has other plans. He sidesteps her and starts tearing the sheets off the corners of the bed.
"What are you doing?"
"Taking care of you, whether you like it or not. Pick out some new sheets and sit in that chair. Don't move." He points to the chair by the window. "I'm going to throw these in the wash. Don't argue."
Bella nods and moves to her closet.
Edward doesn't understand why this is such a big deal for Bella. He grew up with Rosalie and understands that this sort of thing happens about once a month. Bella acts as if he were going to run away screaming at the sight of a little, well, slightly more than a little blood.
Once he's got the laundry started, he takes the steps two at a time and finds Bella shaking out the fitted sheet.
"I told you to sit down," he scolds and moves to help her.
"You said you wanted to sleep for a little while longer, so I figured I'd help. I also texted your family. We have two hours." She grimaces in pain.
"Where's your kit?"
"My what?"
"Rosalie had a kit when we were growing up. Midol, tampons, pads, a heating pad."
"Oh. Well, I don't have a kit, but I keep everything in the bottom drawer in the bathroom."
Edward makes her lie down and grabs the essentials. Once the heating pad is plugged in and resting across her abdomen and she's swallowed a couple of pain relievers, he slides into bed facing her.
Bella scoots closer to him until the heating pad is sandwiched between them.
"I'm sorry for freaking out like that. This was the first time anything like this has ever happened to me before. I didn't know how you would react. Thank you for taking such good care of me."
"Anytime, Sugar. I'll always take care of you. Always." He kisses her nose and massages her lower back. "Please don't be embarrassed to talk to me about things like this. I love you."
"I love you too." She presses her mouth against his. "But you have to tell me what you thought my parents taught me about my period."
"I don't fucking know, to be honest, but everything seems to stem from their shitty parenting, so I just figured this fell under one of their abusive tendencies."
They doze in and out, flipping the heating pad back on a few times until Edward's phone goes off.
"The wolves will descend in twenty-five minutes," Bella whispers into his lips. "I told everyone that pajamas were the dress code. Let's just hope your sister doesn't show up in lingerie in an effort to win my heart."
Edward grimaces.
"Ugh, Sugar. Don't talk about my sister in lingerie while we're making out, ever, ever again."
Bella's giggles are cut off by his teeth finding the soft flesh of her shoulder.
"We're back to hickeys again?" She moans, pressing herself into his mouth.
"Yup. I know if they're out in the open, you'll be embarrassed around my parents, so I could always give them to you in secret spots if you prefer."
Edward unbuttons her pajama top slowly and is still leaving tiny love bruises along her silky skin when his family arrives.
o.O. .o.O.o
Luckily for Edward, his entire family shows up wearing pajamas similar to his and Bella's.
He's helping his mom mix rum into a bowl of eggnog when she brings up Bella's present.
"How did she like it, sweetheart?" she asks, stirring the concoction and lifting the spoon to taste it. "A little more."
"She loved it. We're trying to figure out how to keep it up indefinitely, but it was a big hit." Edward smiles. "I honestly have no idea how I'm going to be able to top this next year though. Definitely set the mark pretty high with this one."
Esme's eyes glisten. "You're serious when you talk about your future with her, aren't you?"
"Dead serious. I'm going to be here for every milestone and backslide she has whether she likes it or not. I'll be right next to her when she makes it to the end of the block. I'll be driving the car when we make our first trip around it, and I'll reap the benefits when I sneak her into the bakery to play in my kitchen."
Both Edward and his mother are surprised when Rosalie bursts into tears.
"Just ignore me. This baby has me all sorts of emotional." She sniffs, dropping a plate into the sink. "Joking aside, I think Bella is perfect for you, Ed. She's an amazingly strong woman, and I would love to call her my sister-in-law."
"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. If that's where you two are headed with this conversation, I have to stop you right there. Bella and I aren't even remotely close to that sort of thing. Yet."
Edward has a plan. It's going to take some time and even more determination, but like most things involving Bella, it's going to be spectacular.
"Honey! Alice and Jasper want to say hi!" Bella calls from the living room.
Esme presses a glass of eggnog into her son's hand and pushes him out of the kitchen.
He passes the cup to his father, parked on the couch, his focus on "A Christmas Story".
Edward ignores his brother-in-law's pout and helps Bella out of the small desk chair, pulling her to sit on his lap. Bella's hand finds its way into the hair on the back of his neck, and he lightly massages her sore stomach. A throat clearing reminds them that they are here for the webcam and turn their attention back to Alice.
Alice's smile is a mile wide as she takes in their totally in love state.
"We wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas and thank you for being there for Bella when we couldn't be."
"Don't mention it, Alice," he tells her, pressing his lips into Bella's soft hair. "I would do anything for her, all she has to do is name it. How's Jasper's grandfather?"
Alice's smile falls.
"Unfortunately, Grant passed early this morning surrounded by family and friends, and he went with a smile. He was ready to go home. Jasper's pretty torn up, but he knew it was coming. Grant only regained consciousness once after we got here, so they were able to say their goodbyes."
Edward apologizes for their loss, and Bella asks when they'll be coming home.
"It probably won't be before the New Year. The entire town wants to attend the service, so it's taking a while to plan." She smirks. "I'd worry, but it seems that Edward's got you taken care of. I can't wait to hear about the insane lengths he'll go to make your first New Year together memorable."
"He's taking the holiday off. We'll probably just stay in and watch the ball drop," Bella jokes.
"Next year, I'll be dragging the two of you to one of the fourteen parties my company hosts, and you'll wish you still had an excuse to stay in. You just wait and see," Alice threatens. "Get back to your Christmas. Love you guys. SAY BYE JASPER!"
"BYE, JASPER!"
"So I can't do anything special for New Year's?" Edward bounces Bella on his knee.
"Nope. We need a holiday off. You, me, some noisemakers, and Ryan Seacrest are about as wild as we're going to get." She stands up, but he pulls her back. "Honey, I need to help your mom and sister in the kitchen. What kind of host would I be if I made them do everything."
"I think you're missing something right here." He runs his fingers across her neck.
"If you think I'm going to sit here and let you give me a hickey with your entire family present, you are insanely wrong, mister." She tries to stand, but he holds her down.
"I'll give you hickeys later, but that's not what I was talking about."
He pulls a chain out of his shirt pocket and places it around Bella's neck before picking up the pendant to show her.
"You gave me the key to your house a long time ago, so I figured it was only fair if I gave you a key of my own. It would be pointless for you to have a key to my house, so what would you say about owning the key to my heart?"
He shows her the diamond-encrusted key, a small token of just how much he loves her.
"Honey," Bella breathes. "I would love to. I'll cherish and protect it for the rest of my life."
"Our life."
She nods, kissing him softly.
"All right." Edward smacks her on the ass. "Get in there and start cooking because they're only going to get more drunk as time goes on. We're going to need something to soak up all that rum."
He nods toward his father and brother-in-law.
"Sir, yes, sir." Bella clutches her new necklace and joins his mom and Rosalie.
There are squeals and ahs before he even takes a seat beside his dad.
It seems as though the girls approve of his gift.
When they aren't cooking, the girls pop in now and then while the guys sit and watch the endless loop of "A Christmas Story".
Everyone laughs because Bella knows all the lines and calls them from the kitchen frequently.
Edward is dating a dork.
He's in love with a dork.
And he wouldn't change one single thing about her.
