I woke up in Alice's bed by myself. I was feeling a lot better about my relationship with Edward after the great time we had the night before, but I was still a little scared at not being able to see him beside me. I tried to stay calm as I went into the bathroom for a few human minutes. I debated changing clothes, but when I remembered it was Christmas morning, I decided my nice, comfortable pajamas were still appropriate attire.

As I started walking down the stairs, I saw exactly where Edward had been. He was sitting at his piano and started playing Carol of the Bells when he heard my approach. He had a huge smile on his face. His hands danced over the keys and played the song in a happy, harmonious way. He was putting his own twist on one of the few Christmas songs that I really liked. I wasn't sure how he knew about my enjoyment of this one, but I loved his playing, nonetheless.

Esme walked towards me from the kitchen with a huge tray of food in front of her and a smile matching Edward's. She had outdone herself, as usual. She had been baking for most of the night and made croissants and cream cheese danishes. There was also sausage links, scrambled eggs, fruit cut into the shape of little stars and snowflakes, and orange juice. I smiled back at her as she sat the tray down on the coffee table in front of me, kissed my head and went to stand beside Edward, admiring his piano playing.

Carol of the Bells turned into The Little Drummer Boy, White Christmas and then Here Comes Santa Clause. I knew he had to be joking with the last one. Esme was all smiles and watched him with glee. I finished my breakfast and happily went to stand beside them, putting my hand on his shoulder. "Merry Christmas, Bella, Esme." Edward said, grinning up at us.

"Merry Christmas. That was beautiful." I said as I heard Esme also say "Merry Christmas."

"Not nearly as beautiful as you." Edward stood up and pulled me into his arms for a hug and a kiss. "Now time for presents! I wasn't kidding with the Here Comes Santa Clause."

Edward sat me down in a chair by the fireplace, which was still burning for my benefit, and handed me a large package. "You already gave me my gift. I feel bad, I didn't know to get anything for you all."

"You gave me the gift I wanted the most, Bella." Esme started, "You have made my son so happy and our family is finally getting back together. They will be in tomorrow night." I returned her smile and looked at Edward.

"You have not only given me yourself, but you gave me your forgiveness and better yet, something I was starting to think impossible. I got a little glimpse of your mind last night and it was amazing, beyond anything I've ever experienced. There is no one like you."

"Even with my potty mouth and the nasty song lyrics I accidentally remembered when I tried to block you?" I asked as Esme giggled.

"Even more with those things because I know you weren't holding back. Now open it!"

I tore off the paper and started laughing. Edward knew me too well. It was a box of large sets of the collected works of several of my favorite authors including Shakespeare, Emily Bronte, and Jane Austen. "It's perfect, thank you." He continued to hand me presents until I was almost exhausted from unwrapping. There were warm blankets (to put around the Cullen house so I'd never be cold), handwritten letters in his beautiful cursive talking about some of his favorite memories with me and plenty of candy and festive items.

"Just curious since you're clearly trying to fatten me up still," I asked, "If someone gets like really fat and then gets turned into a vampire, do they stay fat? I've never seen a fat vampire."

Edward and Esme both laughed until they were holding their sides, even though there was no way they were hurting or needing to breathe, being vampires. A habit carried over from their time as a human, I guessed.

"Silly, Bella. The fat is melted away during the transformation. And I would never, ever consider you fat no matter how many sweets you eat. I might use words more from my time like plump or rotund."

I threw a pillow at him and he dodged it, still laughing. He threw it back and I did the same. Esme was the one to break us up "Not in the house kids! I think it's starting to snow, go play outside!" she yelled, still clearly very amused.

Edward ran upstairs and was draping a warm jacket over me within seconds. "You heard mom, let's go play in the snow." Edward and I had a snowball fight. He was holding out and still being gentle with his throws, I was not.

When I hit him square in the face with one, knowing it wouldn't hurt him, I had to steady myself on a tree from laughing at his reaction. He called a truce and came over to me, wrapping his arms around me and pinning me against the tree. "I heard you, you know. I never knew you were so violent in there, but you enjoyed hitting me in the face with that snowball. Take that, asshole?" He asked laughing and raising an eyebrow at me. "Edward, I don't think you're an asshole. It's just something people say."

"I know love, but it was funny. You called me an asshole." He laughed. "I definitely deserve way worse."

He leaned in for a kiss, but I had a question first. "Edward, why do you think you can hear me now, and only sometimes?"

"I called Carlisle last night after you had gone to sleep. He thinks that I can hear your thoughts when you are completely relaxed. He said maybe the reason I couldn't before is that you always had some anxiety or fear of me, and you can let go of that sometimes now and then I can hear you. He's going to call some old friends with experience in this type of thing and ask them about it."

"I was never afraid of you, Edward. I am sometimes afraid that I won't be enough to hold you though or that you'll leave again or shut down on me."

"Your hold is permanent and unbreakable," he whispered. "Never doubt that." (Stephanie Meyer, New Moon, Google Play Edition, pages 394-395.) "And I will never leave you again, and I will involve you in all decisions that involve both of us from now on, you have my word. And I love you more than anything." He leaned into me, capturing my lips in a passionate kiss to prove his point. I held on to his face, tracing his cheek as he ran his fingers through my hair. As our kiss grew more passionate, I felt myself relaxing. How could I not believe him when he was kissing me like this?

"Exactly!" he said, pulling away with a smile before placing one more kiss on my lips. "Now, let's get you inside and get warmed up. Esme wanted us to help her make dinner for Carlisle's former co-workers and for you and Charlie if that's alright with you. She is loving the opportunity to do all of this cooking."