Ugh, I'm the worst. I know, I'm sorry. The past couple of weeks have been awful and busy! New baby came, then Christmas planning, trying to clean out my father in law's house to sell, and then I got sick. I'm still sick. But I have not abandoned this story!

After New Years, I will continue to update daily. Between now and New Years, I will update once, give you guys a special Holiday chapter.

This chapter is not my best work (in my opinion). But Mr. NyQuil got me through it!

Merry Christmas Eve! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

xxx

DEC 2007: CHRISTMAS EVE-CARLISLE'S HOUSE

"Shh," Edward hisses as I shut the cabinet door too loud.

I cringe at his voice and the sound of the cabinet banging, and mouth 'Sorry' back to him. The microwave counts down to 3 seconds left on the timer and I quickly open it to avoid the blaring ring. Grabbing the two hot mugs, I place them on the counter before Edward pours in the hot cocoa mix.

"Go get the blankets," he says as he stirs the mix in. "I'll finish these."

I turn and get the blankets out of linen closet then walk out our back door and bundle up. Edward joins me quickly and hands me a mug before bundling up himself.

"I can't believe Christmas is tomorrow," I say with a sigh.

Edward nods and sits in the chair beside me.

"What do you normally do for Christmas at your house," he asks. "I don't think I've ever asked you that before."

My mind goes to Seth and Leah, stringing popcorn and eating our grandmother's divinity.

Well, considering you ruined Christmas for them, I highly doubt they're doing any of that now.

I look down as I grip my mug a little tighter.

"We usually watch A Charlie Brown's Christmas while stringing popcorn for the tree," I say. "But that was always something Leah, Seth and I did."

Edward grabs my hand.

"Bella, it's not your fault what happened," he begins sternly. "What Renee did," he pauses shakes his head. "She's the adult, not you. This is on her, and only on her."

But that's not quite true, you should have stayed for them. Selfish.

The conversation Rosalie and I had about Edward and Alec comes to mind and an uncomfortable knot ties into my belly.

"Edward," I begin hesitantly.

He looks at me with a smile on his smile.

"What Rosalie said about Alec," I continue and his smile falters.

Shit, I'm treading on thin ice here.

"I don't know him the way you do, and I know he can be volatile," I continue before looking down. "But I'd say he's probably angry at himself more than he is about anyone else. He's just taking it out on you."

Edward's eyes flash.

"He's angry about everything, blames everyone else but himself. I've seen him push our dad, then he gets made when our dad pushes back. He has absolutely zero excuse for his behavior," he finishes tightly.

I nearly laugh.

How can he look at me and my situation and still be so blind?

Guess people see what they want to see.

"I'm not defending his behavior-

"Well it sure sounds like you are," he interjects.

I roll my eyes.

"Don't get testy with me," I say. "Look, I'm sure that there were times when my mother backhanded the shit out of me that I had it coming too," I say with a bitter laugh. "My point is, Alec isn't angry without a reason, you've only seen the tip of the ice burg, so keep it in mind."

Edward's hand clenches at his side, his body rigid, tight.

"I know I'm not supposed to hate anyone Bella," he says firmly but quietly. "But I hate your mother."

His eyes are blazing as they look at me, a stare so direct and intense, I nearly cower under the heat. A small blush blossoms on my cheeks. I can't help but feel happy that someone hates her because of me, it's the most validated I ever felt in my whole life.

I place my mug on the floor beside me before climbing into his lap, facing him.

"It doesn't matter," I whisper before I place a soft kiss on his lips. "Not anymore."

His hand makes its way under all the blankets and rests on the small of my back as he pulls me flush against him, kissing me harder.

The kiss becomes desperate, frenzied, as I cling onto him, his hands fumbling, fingers tracing up and down my skin. His tongue sweep across my bottom lip before I let it inside, tasting him. He groans into my mouth and pulls me closer. The heat creeps up my spine, warmth tingling between my legs. I can feel him, all of him.

My hand creeps down to the waistband of his sweats, my fingers lightly sweeping against his skin, he jerks some at at my touch as he leans forward into me.

The chair topples over. I squeak as we land in a heap on the concrete, thankfully cushioned by the blankets. A giggle escapes my mouth, because this is just so us.

"Shhh," he says covering my mouth while he tries not laughs. "Real smooth Bella," he says with a grin.

I swat his arm. "Rude."

He just laughs under his breath before getting up and helping me stand. He picks up the chair and gets both of our mugs. We go back inside and he quickly rinses them out.

"Come on," he says wrapping his hand around mine and leading me to his room.

I go sit on the bed as he rummages through his closet. He turns back and hands me a poorly wrapped present.

"Kudos on the wrapping job," I say with a snicker.

"Hey, I can take that back," he says reaching for the package.

I stick out my tongue at him as I pull the present behind my back.

"Nope, too late," I say with a grin before ripping open the paper.

It's a book, leather bound, gold leafed, and sewn pages.

It's a really expensive book.

I suck in a breath as I hold it in my hands.

'Grimm's Fairy Tales'

"Holy hell, Edward," I breathe out. "This book is like," I splutter, unable to finish.

He sits down on the bed.

"Don't worry about it," he says before kissing my cheek.

There's nothing I can give him that would equal this.

How on earth could he even afford this?

I run my hands over the leather, relishing the texture. As I flip through the pages, I suck in a breath, all the original 1909 illustrations breathe life into the pages. It's grotesque, disturbing and beautiful images.

I love it.

"Merry Christmas Bella," he whispers in my ear.

I hope you guys have a wonderful Christmas! I'll be spending mine with Mr. NyQuil.

As always, I hope you guys enjoyed this one, sorry it took so long!