Note: Hello! This is a short continuation of the Christmas scene in Midnight Sun, in which Carlisle surprises Edward with a tree. I adore it so much I had to write this.

Please know that I initially wrote this story in German, as it's easier for me to deliver emotion through my mother tongue. I translated it into English afterwards, so I apologize if something doesn't sound right! Sometimes it's not easy to translate something from German to English. Hope you enjoy!

The Miracle of Giving: A Christmas Story

Carlisle felt his heart grow a little wider as he watched the boy sitting not too far from him on the floor. He had crossed his legs and a branch of the tall fir tree, which occupied most of the room, bore itself into his back. It didn't bother him. Nor did it bother him that he was still wearing the same clothes he had walked through the icy streets of the harbor in a while ago, or that a lock of his unusual hair, unusual because of its bronze colour, had fallen into his eyes. No, the boy was busy pulling piece after piece of popcorn onto a thin thread that was tied to a sewing needle. The chain that had come out of it had already reached an impressive length. Like an exotic snake it wound its way across the dark wooden floor, and it wouldn't be long until they could wrap up the whole tree in it.

Carlisle smiled as he looked down at his own garland lying in his lap. This simple task, of course, presented no difficulty to him, and yet it was not half as long as Edward's. He wouldn't have to contribute much to get the project done, and Carlisle was in no hurry anyways. He was too proud of his young companion, who, in the year they had known each other now, had made such great progress and accepted the life he had been given, albeit unasked for, seemingly with so much ease that it was enough for him today to simply glance at Edward every once in a while. Edward didn't seem to notice and if he did, he didn't show it.

Carlisle abandoned his sewing supplies and gazed at this watch. The considerably larger smile that appeared on his lips now was audible in his voice.

„You were right." He said and broke the silence between them. „This really didn't take long. It's not even midnight yet."

Edward's hands didn't stop what they were doing, but for a split second he looked up and his amber eyes met Carlisle's. Even more briefly they moved down to Carlisle's garland, and although he made sure to look away as quickly as possible, he could't quite hide the glint that flashed in his eyes.

"I know." Carlisle laughed. "You're better at this than I am, huh?"

Edward gave no reply, quite the level-headed and polite boy he had been ever since they met.

„Well." Carlisle sighed. „In my defense, for most of my human life the celebration of Christmas, among many other things, was banned by Cromwell's regime. I didn't have a choice in the matter, and when I was alone-" He paused briefly when he saw the fluid movement of Edward's hands coming to a halt. "I didn't really have a reason to do these things by myself, you know?"

Carlisle had indeed resigned from the things that made an ordinary human life worth living for a very long time. He'd held on to them as much as he could, yearned for the company of the humans around him and tried to help them however he could thanks to his special abilities, but it never came close to what they got to experience in their ever-changing lives. Family, friends, traditions, none of it is particularly easy to obtain when you're an unchanging mythical creature.

Edward had now stopped what he was doing. While he had listened to Carlisle's words, he too had abandoned his sewing supplies and shifted his gaze onto the older man. He tilted his head and frowned as he tried to decipher the image that had briefly flashed through Carlisle's mind.

„Who was that?" He asked in his clear, soft voice, hoping Carlisle would bring up the image again. For only the fraction of a second he'd seen the little girl in Carlisle's mind, a young face with rosy cheeks and a wide grin, and dark, long hair.

Carlisle laughed softly and leaned back into the old armchair he was sitting in. He hadn't even noticed that she had crossed his mind, and he then realized that he had never mentioned her around Edward. Well, why should he? It was still his top priority to properly include Edward into his unusual lifestyle, and though he did well, the task didn't leave much room for anything else. And this time last year, nothing on earth could have had distracted Edward from the gruesome thirst that controlled his every thought.

„Her name was Helena." Carlisle mused after a moment. He brushed a strand of his blonde hair from his face and watched Edward's reaction closely, while a long gone, irretrievable memory reflected in his eyes that he hadn't thought of in years.

„It was just after the Civil War. I was living in the Northwest at the time, assisting an elderly doctor who had his hands full with the wounded in a small village a few hours from Indianapolis. Life didn't treat this family, Helena's family, very kindly."

The blissful expression in the elder's eyes darkened and Edward had to suppress a shiver as images of bloody wounds and severed limbs shot through his head. The all too familiar burning sensation flared in his throat, and even though he had learned not let it control him anymore, it was still rather unpleasant when a person came too close, or memories like this attacked him from Carlisle's usually so gentle mind. He should probably welcome them, he supposed. For this reason only they had decided to spend this unusual Christmas Eve in the old inn to begin with, where they would be surrounded by people constantly, exposed to their tempting scent. Nevertheless, Edward was grateful when Carlisle banned these images from his thoughts and returned to the story he meant to tell.

„I treated the father who'd lost a leg in the war." Carlisle said and laughed as the man's face crossed his mind, so vividly as if it had happened just yesterday. Not yet forty winters old and already grumpy like an old man. „He was far from happy to be treated by a young lad like me. Well, I lived in a dwelling similar to this one at the time, where I hid when the sun came up. The afternoon on Christmas Eve, it was almost dark out and snowing continuously, there was a knock on my door."

Through Carlisle's sharp memories, Edward watched him getting up from his seat at a wobbly desk in a small room, half expecting that there had been some Christmas accident in the village that he would have to take care of, perhaps someone had pulled a saw through their leg as the last fir trees were being cut, but when he opened the door his eyes went nowhere at first. Carlisle frowned and looked down, only to find the little girl in front of him whom he had met several times before during his house calls at the battered family. She was wearing a long coat, which already showed some blemishes, and her cheeks were reddened by the icy cold. She clung to a small basket and looked like she should find a warm spot in front of the fireplace as soon as possible, but her eyes were shining. Her heart was beating just a little bit faster as she looked at the strangely beautiful doctor, she couldn't know that she was instinctively afraid of him, and she hurried to state her case.

„M-Merry Christmas, Dr. Cullen." She stammered, whether it was just from the cold or some other reason she could not judge. „My parents told me to bring this over to you and thank you again for taking such good care of Father over the past few months."

Her little hand reached into the half empty basket, perhaps she had been told to stop at every door in the village, and brought out a small gingerbread man. He had a face made of sugar frosting and a raisin stuck to his body.

Carlisle bent down to the child to gift her with a thankful smile. He made sure not to touch her hand with his when he accepted the gift. She was not wearing gloves.

„Thank you, Helena. Please tell your parents that I wish them a wonderful Christmas and that they can always come to me should they need anything."

The girl nodded and memorized the doctor's gentle words as best as she could. And while she was doing that, she could not prevent herself from peering past him. Her parents had probably taught her that it was impolite to stare into the houses of strangers without being asked, but she could not so easily ignore what she saw.

„Are you all alone?" She asked incredulously, almost shocked.

Carlisle's smile remained where it was. „Yes, my child. I am traveling alone at the moment. But please don't concern yourself with that."

Helena averted her gaze, her blue eyes resting on the basket in her arms for a moment without seeing anything. „Christmas all alone…" She whispered to herself, but Carlisle of course still heard. He hurried to carefully place a hand on Helena's small shoulder, knowing that she wouldn't be able to feel his body temperature through the thick fabric of her coat, before repeating: „Don't worry. Go home now, you don't want to freeze right here on my threshold, huh?"

Carlisle only received a curt nod in response and the girl turned away, but the expression on her young face had now lost some of its former joy. She looked at him once more before turning away to hurriedly make her way through the snow.

It was not long before Carlisle was separated from the book on his desk for the second time that day. There was another knock on his door just after sunset, a little more forceful this time, and Carlisle was now truly convinced that there must have to be some kind of emergency. After all, who would come to knock on other people's doors at this time of night, and on Christmas Eve, in this weather? And if Carlisle had been surprised by his first unusual visit that day, he surely hadn't been prepared for this. His brows furrowed worriedly when he looked at the two children in front of him, their young faces suspiciously serious.

„Hello there." Carlisle said to Helena and her older brother, who was about a head taller than her and had one arm wrapped around her small body. „Is something wrong with your father?"

Carlisle quickly went over the possible complications that could arise at this point after the amputation of the man's leg, but before he was through with the task Helena shook her head. She looked up at her brother and waited for him to speak first, and the boy replied tentatively: „No, Father is fine." Then he spoke faster, the words coming from his mouth at an impressive pace. „We, I mean our parents, would like to invite you over to our house, Dr. Cullen. Helena told us that you don't have any family here."

Carlisle couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. Why would they do that? Just because he didn't have anyone to spend this Christmas with, which didn't even seem to hold much meaning at the time anyway? He looked at the girl whose face no longer showed any of the careless joy it had shown this afternoon. She looked too serious for her age, nibbling her lip, and there was almost something pleading in her eyes.

„I don't know, you two." Carlisle said after a while. He tried to give the children an encouraging smile, but their eyes grew sad immediately. „Are you sure your parents won't mind?"

The boy shook his head and Helena followed his example even more passionately.

„Please?" She said, reaching out to Carlisle against all her incomprehensible instincts. Carlisle pondered for only a second. He had no idea why he felt the way he felt at this moment. Why this boy and his sister, who so trustfully reached out to him, made him feel something he thought had been long forgotten. Maybe it was the time of year, or maybe the snow falling around them, but more likely it was the innocent faces of these children, illuminated by the warm light of the candles shimmering behind every window in this village, that he had no choice but to raise his hand briefly and turn away. It didn't take him long to blow out the candles in his small room, to put on a coat and a pair of gloves for show and return to the waiting children.

Helena smiled widely now as she stretched out her naked hand once more, and this time, his cold skin safely hidden under the fabric of the glove, Carlisle did not hesitate to take it.

Together they walked through the darkness, wading through the high blanket of snow that was almost down to little Helena's knees, before they got to the family's small home. From the outside it seemed modest, at best, in some places the icy wind must already find a way inside, but the inside undoubtedly promised warmth and safety. The door was opened by the mother, a young woman, burly albeit their obvious poverty, with thick, dark blond braids. She had an apron tied around her waist and a few drops of sweat ran down her temple, which she hurriedly wiped away.

„Dr. Cullen." She exclaimed in her accent-rich voice, offering her hand to Carlisle as her children pushed their way past her into the warm house. „I'm so glad they could convince you to come. I'm sorry, I didn't have time to come over myself."

Carlisle returned her smile, but not without a hint of doubt making itself heard in his head. „Thank you very much. I hope it's no trouble at all."

The mother laughed and shook her head. „Oh no, not at all. It's the least we can do after you got our Johann back to his feet so quickly." She then put her hand on his shoulder and her expression softened. „Helena told me that you have no family here, and for that I am very sorry. A young man like you shouldn't have to be alone on Christmas Eve. But do come in, it's so cold out."

Carlisle allowed her to push him into the family's small living room, where the father was sitting in his armchair, the wooden cane he needed to help him walk next to him, where a tall fir tree stood, it's highest branch almost reaching the wooden ceiling, and the youngest child of the family was playing with a worn-out doll. The mother immediately disappeared back into the kitchen, where she was busy preparing what was probably their only feast all year, and Carlisle quietly joined in the hustle and bustle. Although he tried to politely avoid most of the food served at dinner, as he thought it was a gruesome waste considering the family didn't have much to begin with, he couldn't avoid it completely. He didn't want to offend the mother and her generous hospitality.

After dinner, as the tradition of their homeland wanted, the children were called to the fir tree and each received a small gift. Carlisle was strangely saddened by the thought that they probably had to save for this all year round, but the children looked as if the stars and the whole sky had come down just for them.

More than satisfied, Helena sat on the floor, her youngest sibling, a boy of not quite a year, next to her, and softly whispered into his ear: „Ihr Kinderlein, kommet, o kommet doch all. Zur Krippe her kommet, in Bethlehems Stall. Und seht was in dieser hochheiligen Nacht der Vater im Himmel für Freude uns macht.*"

It took Edward almost longer than Carlisle to return to the present. Silently he had listened to Carlisle's story, like an anonymous bystander in his memory, and a strange glow had entered his eyes that Carlisle had never seen on him before.

„You probably know that it took a few more years after that before Christmas was recognized as a real holiday here." Carlisle finally whispered after they had been silent for a few minutes. „But this family... Oh, I had to become almost three hundred years old to experience my first real Christmas, but I have no regrets whatsoever that it happened the way it did."

Edward nodded, for he had no doubt that Carlisle was telling the truth. This particular memory of his had something so comforting to it, so secure, that it was difficult to put into words. Edward finally managed to turn his gaze away from Carlisle, back to the garland lying on the floor. He picked it up gently, turning it over in his hands, and Carlisle could see how he struggled to put his feelings into words. He saw how he pondered about them, attempted to speak aloud, and swallowed them again. But this little story seemed to have made some sort of difference in Edward. He didn't know why, but once he'd found the right thing to say he couldn't hold it back any longer.

„We... used to do this at home, too." Edward said hesitantly, as if he was about to make a difficult confession. „Mother didn't want the housekeeper to take care of the tree, and on Christmas Eve she would always get me out of bed early so that we could finish in time." A timid smile fell on his face. „She always said that no matter how beautiful, if you don't want to decorate the tree yourself, you shouldn't get to put your presents under it either."

Unlike Edward, Carlisle had known Elizabeth only briefly. And yet he felt he could understand exactly what Edward meant. This attitude seemed to suit the woman who had managed to make a vampire promise something.

„I'm sure she did." Carlisle laughed softly, but the expression on Edward's face had changed yet again. His eyes were still shining but now had something sad in them, and he looked at the garland in his hands without looking up.

„Do you miss her?" Carlisle asked when Edward didn't say anything. He knew he was walking on thin ice here. Edward didn't talk much about his mother, who had undoubtedly been the most important person in his life. In the very beginning, when he had been so shocked and traumatized by what had been done to him, Carlisle had managed to get a few things out of him. But the better he had learned to deal with this life, the more his desperation had given way to control, the rarer the subject became. And the more surprised Carlisle was now when Edward actually nodded. He still didn't look up, said nothing, and Carlisle had no intention of pressuring him. Instead, he rose from his chair, carefully placing his short garland on the small table he had pushed against the wall before reaching for Edward's. He immediately got up to his feet and silently helped Carlisle wrap it around the tree. It didn't take long before it looked truly festive, and they both looked at it for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts, before Carlisle turned to Edward. He smiled, a comforting smile that expected nothing in return, and reached for the thick scarf that was still wrapped around Edward's neck, as if to remind him that he was still fully dressed. Edward quickly let the coat slip off his shoulders and threw it on the nearest bed.

„There is no shame in missing someone, Edward, especially today. If there was someone I was so devoted to, I wouldn't be any different."

Edward's gaze met Carlisle's kind eyes. It was strange to think of it that way. How long had it been since he'd seriously thought of his long lost human life? Although he would never let Carlisle know this, it didn't matter to him whether they were celebrating Christmas or not, whether there was a fir tree in the room or not, or whether small children were singing old poems on this day or not. But the image of his mother that had been forced into his head, an image from a seemingly completely different life, was something else. Edward wasn't sure if he was ready to face it yet. He forced a tight smile onto his face, because he was still grateful for Carlisle's gentle encouragement, as always. Could he ever be so confident about this life like the man who had brought him into it?

Encouragingly Carlisle squeezed Edward's shoulder before he turned away. „Come on." He said. „We're not done here yet."

Edward crooked an eyebrow. „What are you talking about?"

Carlisle grinned and crossed the small room. He pulled out a paper bag from under his bed Edward had never seen before. As usual, he rummaged through his brain for an answer, and quickly scanned Carlisle's thoughts, but even there he found nothing that would fit the visual. Whatever Carlisle was up to, he had somehow hidden it well.

Carlisle gave him a hint and let himself sink to the floor in front of tree. Edward did the same, hesitantly, and he groaned softly as Carlisle retrieved a small package from inside the paper bag.

„Carlisle-" He began, but the other man raised his hand and interrupted his lamentations.

„Please." He said, still smiling. „ I liked it so much, and I'm sure you could use it."

Quickly, Edward surrendered to Carlisle's obvious joy. He reached for the package and carefully removed the shiny paper that was wrapped around it. A simple wooden box came out of it, and Edward felt strangely embarrassed sitting there taking presents like a small child. But once again he saw how important this was to Carlisle. When he lifted the lid of the box, his breath caught in his throat and his eyes went wide. In it was a slim, golden watch on a leather wristband.

Edward swallowed tightly as he carefully lifted the exaggerated gift. It was glowing in the soft light of the candlelit room, and Edward could only wonder how much Carlisle had paid for this.

„Carlisle, you really shouldn't have…" He muttered, unsure of what to say that wouldn't offend Carlisle.

„Oh, I think it's just right." Replied Carlisle softly, taking the watch from him and carefully putting it around Edward's slim wrist, just to see if the leather wristband was of the right size. „After all, you'll go out alone more often now, won't you?"

Edward laughed, unable to contain himself. Of course Carlisle had come up with a suitable answer to avoid his complaints. But did he even have the right to complain? He owed Carlisle so much more than this. He owed him everything.

„Thank you, Carlisle. It means a lot to me."

„You're welcome." Now Carlisle's smile was so wide, he looked about ready to burst from happiness. Once more, he put his hand on Edward's arm and squeezed gently.

„Merry Christmas, son."

*"Ihr Kinderlein kommet" - An old German Christmas song written around 1808 by Christoph von Schmid that each and every child, to this day, grew up singing during Christmas time. Translated: „Oh, come, little children, oh, come, one and all, to Bethlehem's stable, in Bethlehem's stall. And see with rejoicing this glorious sight, our Father in heaven has sent us this night."