Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed the last chapter! Edward & Bella needed a good laugh, don't even get me started on that ass stick. I appreciate everyone's kind words and constructive criticism so much!
After our laughter had subsided for the most part, I happily sat snuggled back up in Edward's lap. He was rubbing my cheeks and I was playing with his hair. "Your hair in my locket. That's never going to grow back, is it?" I asked.
"No. Our hair and fingernails don't grow like yours do. I know I'm old fashioned, but I wanted to prove the truth of my words by giving you a physical part of me that I couldn't replace. I needed you to know how much you mean to me."
"I love it. I know I've been difficult in the past about accepting gifts and surprises, but I realize now that they are how you show your love. I've just always felt like we're so uneven. You could do so much for me that I couldn't do for you. You're stunningly sexy, smart, you can outrun anyone…I have never understood why you picked me."
"Bella, I didn't just pick you. From the moment I saw you, your blood sang to me. Then, I was in love with you from the second I saw your face, no matter how much I tried to deny it because you are human. Every single thing I've done since then has been out of love, no matter how bad and stupid. You don't see yourself clearly. You are the light to my darkness. You're beautiful, smart, funny and your soul speaks to mine in ways no other has."
"Your soul?" I asked, shocked.
"Yes, thanks to some letters from Esme, Carlisle and a rather scathing one from Alice, plus the time I spent away from you, I've come to the realization that I do have a soul. I still think that deep down, I'm a monster, but you call up parts of me that couldn't exist if I didn't have a soul. I've accepted that I do."
"Oh Edward! Finally!" I exclaimed, pulling him into a passionate kiss. "Does this mean you'll change me?" I couldn't help but ask, fully expecting him to say no.
"We'll have to work out some specifics another day, like when, where, how to best do it without raising suspicion, but yes, I'll do as you wish. I can't live without you, Bella. I'm sorry it took so much hurt for both of us to realize that. You, yourself are the best gift I've ever had. I'll do anything you ask of me from now on. We'll make decisions together. I won't put the stick back in my butt." He said with a big smile. I couldn't stop kissing him.
"Thank you! It's about time! I love you so much. I've missed you. I finally feel like I can breathe again. I feel like I've been a zombie for a few months and suddenly I'm the most alive I've ever felt. Before I met you, I was happy, but once I met you and saw how amazing you make me feel, I just couldn't cope without you. I felt like I was missing a big part of myself. I knew that eventually I could be happy, but I'd never be fully complete and carefree. But now..."
Edward pulled me close to him and I snuggled up to his chest again, feeling complete. Feeling happy. After a while, I asked "Do you think Charlie is awake yet? He must be wondering where I've gone to. I don't want to scare him."
"It's alright, love. He knows exactly where you are and how to find you if he needs to. He's fine."
"He – what?"
"I arrived in Forks yesterday. Alice told me that your dad wouldn't be so accepting of my return unless I talked to him first and let him know why I left and why I was back. Some of her visions included him getting sick with worry, or shooting me, that would have been fun to try to explain, bullets just bounce off of us. So, I went to the police station and asked his permission to leave an apology for you and allow you to find me if you wanted. He wasn't easy to convince. He was fuming, actually. But he just wants you to be happy, so eventually, he consented. He thinks I left it on your doorstep though for you to find. He doesn't know I was in your room."
"You were here yesterday?!" I asked, getting a little upset, but it was hard to stay too upset with Edward back with me after missing him for so long.
"I wanted to come see you so badly. It was physically hurting me to be apart from you. But Alice texted me, insisting that I needed to let you come to me if you wanted to. She said if I would have showed up in your room like I wanted to the second I got back, that you would have thought I was a hallucination or a nightmare and not believed me. Then, Charlie would have maybe shot me or at least tried to punch me when he found out I was back, and it would have drawn attention to our entire family. I'm sorry, Bella. It was so hard for me to leave your room after setting the gift on your desk. I couldn't resist placing a kiss on your face before I did. I distracted myself with Christmas shopping and decorating and spent the whole night praying you'd choose to come back to me. And you did. And I can never thank you or the fates enough."
"She's right of course. I wouldn't have believed you. I remembered having one pleasant dream last night, which was really unusual. Usually, I've had nightmares of you leaving me. But in that dream, you told me that you loved me. You really did that, didn't you?"
"I couldn't resist."
And I couldn't be mad at Edward. We snuggled a while longer, enjoying each other's company. Edward gently lifted me from his lap and sat me on the couch beside him. "Charlie will be waking up soon. I'd like to make you both a nice Christmas Eve dinner if you'll let me. We can take him a plate at work. I'm sure he'd love seeing you."
"I'd love that. Can I help?"
"You aren't allowed to lift a finger. But you can keep me company. I've bought all kinds of snacks for you." I followed Edward into the kitchen and watched him start to cook. I felt so spoiled and loved. "So, does this mean you'll accept my gifts now?" He asked.
"Yes, but nothing extravagant. I don't want to feel like I can't possibly make it up to you."
"It gives me joy to take care of you. I need nothing in return but your love. But speaking of gifts, have you happened to notice what you're wearing today?" He asked with a mischievous smile.
I looked down and had to laugh. I had boots on my feet earlier, which were now sitting by the couch where Edward had taken them off when I fell asleep, and they were fine, but currently I had on one white sock and one red sock. My jeans were fine and normal. My tee shirt was on inside out. "I was in a hurry to get here to you." I said.
Edward stepped into the living room and brought two small packages with him, smiling. "When I was shopping last night, something told me to get you these. And it wasn't Alice. I just knew."
I opened the smaller package to find a pair of red fuzzy socks. I laughed and gladly changed into them and enjoyed the warmth and softness. The second package was a simple blue sweater. "I washed them for you last night along with the blanket I bought for the couch. I wanted to make sure that you were as comfortable as possible if you chose to spend today with me."
"Thank you. They're perfect. I guess even your subconscious realized that I would be a mess today." I smiled and stood up, kissed him quickly, and went into the bathroom to change my shirt. I took a moment to freshen up as well, splashing some water on my face and using the toilet.
When I walked back into the kitchen, he had the oven preheating for a spiral ham and was peeling potatoes at superhuman speed. I took my seat at the counter and watched him, fascinated, with my head resting in my hands. I'm not sure how long I watched him, but it was better than any cooking show. He placed the easily 10-pound ham into the oven one handed, had a pound of potatoes peeled in seconds and chopped herbs with ease and way more precision than I could possess if I tried.
He made ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, mac and cheese, a vegetable casserole of Esme's recipe and stuffing. He showed me the candy cane shaped cake he had bought for dessert. He truly thought of everything. It was a lot of fun watching him cook and multitask. He kept pausing to give me a kiss or playfully try to feed me samples of his cooking and bites of fudge.
"You're going to have to roll me out of this house like that scene in Willie Wonka & The Chocolate Factory if you keep this up."
"I look forward to it."
When dinner was ready to Edward's satisfaction, he made me a huge plate with some of everything and fixed another for us to take to Charlie. "You've really outdone yourself. This is delicious. Thank you." I said, enjoying not only the meal, but the time with Edward and the care and love put into it.
"Esme helped a lot. She talked me through it last night. But I'm really happy you like it."
"Edward, as much as I don't want you out of my sight, would you be willing to go for a quick hunt and let me take Charlie his plate by myself? You look so thirsty. I'm sure it's uncomfortable for you." I asked, taking another bite of the delicious ham.
"I'm ok, Bella. I don't want to take off, even for a minute, when I just got you back."
"I know. I don't want you away from me either, but I really want to see your eyes golden again. Maybe I could sit with Charlie for an hour or two and you could hunt kind of close to home?" I said. I was still a little scared to let him out of my sight, but I needed him to take care of himself too. The purple bags under his eyes and his slightly tired expression wasn't going to get better until he hunted. Spending some time with Charlie wouldn't hurt either. I know he had been upset with me lately.
"For you, I will. But a few things first. Will you hand me your phone?" I reached in my pocket and gave it to him. He made sure I saw him adding his name and his new phone number to it and sat it back on the table in front of me. "I will never, ever, leave you without a way to get in touch with me again. I also bought a gift for Charlie, kind of a continuation of my apology, would you take it to him for me?"
"Sure. I can do that." I said as I continued eating.
"And if anything happens or you feel even the slightest bit scared or anxious, you'll call me? I may not have reception in the woods, but I'll come to your side as soon as I possibly can."
"Of course. I trust that you will come back to me this time, but I still don't want to be without you too long. It's a holiday and I'm sure there's nothing going on at the police station, so Charlie would be happy for me to sit with him an hour or two and then I won't feel like I'm neglecting him for spending the entire holiday away from him." I said.
Edward's head turned a little and he started looking outside. "What's wrong?" I asked him.
"Nothing. Everything is totally fine. But I think we are about to have company."
