Hey loves! Sorry this is a day late, but yesterday was my 16th anniversary and spent the day with my hubs. Hope you enjoy this.

Beta'd by Brie and kitchmill

Chapter Seven

Confession #7: Tis the season for family and forgiveness, or so I've been told.

Once we knew that we were expecting a son, we decided to hold off on telling everyone until Christmas Eve. It'd been fast approaching anyway, and a couple of weeks didn't seem like too big of a deal to us. Besides, we had a house we needed to finish decorating.

Something I was thankful for was that Bella wasn't like my mother with her ever-changing Christmas decor, nor did she follow in her mother's footsteps with the overabundance of Victorian Santas. She stuck with the classic idea of Christmas: red and green. Every year since we moved into our house the number of decorations grew, but they continuously stayed red and green with pops of silver in the form of bells.

The staircase now had garland draped down the railing with twinkling white lights and red ribbon bows hanging from each peak. We'd started out with one huge tree the first year we were married, and now we had one in the entry, one in the corner of the dining room, another in the library, and lastly, one in our bedroom as well.

Large wreaths were covered in red and white glass ornaments and were placed on the outside gates, the front doors, and above each fireplace. Bella filled glass vases and crystal bowls with more of the glass ornaments and placed them everywhere, and I mean every-fucking-where.

Even with all the decorations and festive holiday cheer she spread, I couldn't complain: in the past four years she'd only spent two grand on all of it, and she stuck to her bargain hunting skills and added bits and pieces to our collection with each passing season. She'd made all the bows, strung all the lights, and created all the wreaths herself. Coffee girl spent hours manning ribbon reels and a hot glue gun to put them together. I'd had no idea she was so crafty when we got together, but each and every side of her that came out was one I adored. She used her coupons and went to the discount stores for everything.

It looked expensive and very professional, but Bella went online and got all of her ideas from many professional sites and an obsession she'd developed with a site called Pinterest. She took bits that she liked from them all and pieced them together in a way that blended everything perfectly. I was in awe of her creative genius. Our home was a spectacular masterpiece.

I'd even managed to keep her off ladders this year by enlisting Emmett's help with anything that required hanging. She'd threatened our balls if we broke anything, so we were both on our best behavior and followed all her cues as to where everything went. It helped keep my mind off of thoughts of Alice...for the most part.

When it didn't, though, I wondered if I was wrong for still holding a grudge. It'd been five years. Could she really have changed? Did I want to spend the rest of my life with unanswered questions?

I knew the only way I'd ever get the answers would be to ask them, so I came to the decision to let Bella know I was going to invite Alice over for Christmas Eve. It would be a chance to see if she really had changed or not. I still planned on keeping her as far away from Bella at all times though.

~o~o~o~

Christmas Eve was now spent at our house instead of Bella's parents' place. Charlie and Renee arrived while Bella was still in the kitchen working on dinner. I'd been kicked out after all the chopping of vegetables was complete.

"Renee, Charlie, it's great to see you. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Edward!" Renee exclaimed before pulling me into a tight hug.

Charlie's mustache twitched at his wife's antics. I squeaked when she pinched my ass; I'd known it was coming, but it still shocked me every single time.

"Let the boy go, Ren. Last thing you want is Bells kicking you out of her house before you know what happened at their last doctor's appointment." I was thankful Charlie knew exactly what to say to get her to let go.

"The baby! Bella!" she shouted, and I realized I would never understand how the woman could cycle through thoughts as fast as she did. "Where are you?"

Bella shouted back, "The kitchen!" And off ran Renee, her heels clacking on the marble floor before Bella yelled again, "Take off your heels, Mom!"

Charlie and I watched as she stopped, pulled her shoes off, and dropped them before resuming her run to the kitchen. When I looked back at Charlie, I noticed his arms were ladened with presents, so I reached out to help him.

"Renee went a little crazy this year."

I snorted at his reply. "Obviously."

"There was no reining her in, even if the baby isn't here yet."

"Bella hasn't even given any indication if she knows how she wants to decorate the nursery. I have a feeling that once the holidays are over, everything will morph into baby central."

Charlie nodded in agreement. "Even if she hasn't talked about it, I know my little girl has all her lists ready. Once she grasped onto the fact that the wedding was happening so fast, she had lists to keep her on task for everything. Your mother was a huge help, and I'm sure she will be helping out here, too."

I knew he was right. It relieved me to realize that Bella would always be more prepared for everything than I ever was. It's who she was and what she did, all while allowing me to think I was the one with all the answers. She was just supportive like that.

"Now that the women are busy, how 'bout some basketball and a beer?" With a chuckle, I led him to the theater room, grabbed him a beer from the bar, and turned on the first game I could find. We stayed in there until the doorbell chimed again; I went and answered it and this time it was Rose, Emmett, and the girls.

"Merry Kissmiss, Uncle Eddie!" the twins shouted simultaneously before launching themselves at my legs. Thankfully I was expecting it and had already braced myself for their impact.

"Merry Christmas to you as well, my little flowers." I ruffled their long corn silk curls, making them giggle and Rose groan as she made her way toward the kitchen. "Are you ready for Santa's visit tonight?"

"Yes!" Their little voices sounded like bells.

"I'm going to watch the game with Charlie, you okay with the girls?" I waved Emmett off. I was more than fine with my nieces.

"And you haven't been naughty, right?" I was teasing, but their response was priceless.

"Nope, we've been real good..." Lily started.

"But Daddy's been real bad. We saw Mama spanking him last night," Daisy added, and I was barely able to hold back my laughter.

"I don't think Santa will be leaving Daddy anything but a timeout chair. Mama doesn't like to give out spankings and he must have been really bad because she made him take his pants off and everything."

I couldn't hold back anymore, the laughter burst forth in loud guffaws. I was on the ground, curled up as tears ran down my face from my brother and sister-in-law's epic failure in obviously forgetting to lock their bedroom door before starting the adult time activities. It wasn't long before everyone came running to see what was wrong with me.

I couldn't even tell them what was so funny, so the girls repeated what they had told me just as my parents walked in the front door. Bella and I had long ago told them to just come in when they visited, especially since my mother and Bella were like best friends. Everyone, except Rose and Emmett, were in the same boat I was. Though the girls were clueless to the information they'd just shared, the rest of us knew it would have been blackmail material had I been able to control my laughter. It would be a holiday to remember on that note alone, for sure, however it wouldn't be the only one.

When the doorbell rang once more, I knew the time had arrived. A knot of anxiety settled deep in the pit of my stomach. I hoped it would disintegrate quickly because I wanted to enjoy the delicious meal I knew coffee girl had prepared.

"Merry Christmas, Edward," greeted my sprite of a sister, still my guard was up.

She'd changed so much, look-wise at least. Her short black hair now fell down her back in a wave of burnt caramel. She'd filled out some and looked more like a woman than an anorexic girl. Physically, she appeared healthy; now it would be a test to see if she was all there mentally.

"Merry Christmas, Alice." There was a part of me that still didn't want to invite her in, but I squashed it down. "Come on in."

The laughter that had encompassed all of us moments before had dulled into a thick and uncomfortable silence, the cheery holiday music Bella had on the only noise to carry through the entry until my wife sighed and settled next to me.

"Hello, Alice. Welcome to our home." Coffee girl truly was the epitome of class and grace after everything Alice had tried to do to her.

I could see a fire in Alice's eyes. The anger and hate were still there, which caused the tension I'd been holding onto to flare. She tapped it down, and it left me wondering what kind of tricks she was up to.

"Thanks for having me. I know I owe you both an apology and even saying I'm sorry for all the hurt I caused in the past doesn't come close to fixing the mistakes I've made, but I hope you will both give me the chance to make things right." If it hadn't been for the look she'd given Bella as she greeted her, I might have believed her. Might.

My wife was perfect in her reply, and I knew even she wouldn't let her guard down so easily either. "Time will tell how honest you're being, Alice. That, and if the information you learn tonight stays out of the press, we might be inclined to believe you...otherwise this is your absolute last chance. I will never give you the chance to use your brother or our child for monetary gain. I know you, Alice, and despite all the time you've been gone from our lives getting help, it does not mean I don't know exactly what you've been up to. We all have our ways of finding out information, don't we?"

Was it wrong for me to be utterly turned on by the fierceness of my wife or the fact that she owned my sister at her own game?

Alice nodded her head. I wouldn't say she was sporting a look of complete defeat, but the hate seemed to have left her eyes, and in its place was a look of awe. It was like she knew Bella could not only one up her, but beat her at every turn.

I was glad coffee girl had suggested we have Alice checked out before we ever give her the benefit of the doubt again. Yeah, my wife's intelligence was a huge turn on to me.

Charlie's gruff throat cleared and took a small amount of the tension in the room away. "Bells, I think I hear a beeping coming from the kitchen."

Bella nodded back at Alice and then darted into the kitchen.

"Heed her warning, Alice, because if you don't, it won't be Bella that you have to deal with, it'll be me." Rose really was an awesome sister-in-law, and with those words she ushered her girls into the kitchen with her.

Bella's parents also headed to the kitchen, which left my family and me to deal with Alice's arrival.

"Bella is absolutely correct. This will be the only chance you get from me. I won't speak for Em or our parents, but I swear you will not hurt my wife or child again. Lay one finger on her and I will make sure the law throws the book at you; her father will too." I was dead serious, but I had to make sure she knew it. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice and you're gone. Understand?"

"I do," Alice replied, looking me in the eyes.

I nodded, but couldn't let things go without a jab of my own. "How's Jasper, Alice?"

I hadn't kept up with Alice's life at all, so I was surprised to learn from our P.I. that once all of Alice's dirty little secrets had been revealed, Jasper had filed for divorce and was now seeing a gorgeous Latin singer by the name of Maria. He was moving on with his life while Alice was struggling to put hers back together. Odds were it was for the best, but I couldn't help but wonder if she would try to exact revenge on Bella for the fallout of her own marriage.

I didn't wait for a reply; instead, I ushered everyone into the dining room and took drink orders. I had to be a good host, after all.

~o~o~o~

Dinner was mostly a quiet affair, and if it wasn't for Renee, nothing would have been said. She asked my mother what theme she'd gone with this holiday and asked Rose and Em's girls if they were ready for Santa. Lily and Daisy then became the center of attention and allowed the rest of us to relax.

We went and settled into the living room after, while Bella sat at her piano with the girls. She was singing them Christmas carols and they were eating the attention up. I couldn't take my eyes off her. She would be a wonderful mother to our child; her patience and understand shone bright like the North Star.

My parents made small talk with Bella's while Em and Rose watched coffee girl with their girls. They knew how much Lily and Daisy adored their Auntie Bella. I chanced a glance at Alice, and she, too, was watching Bella.

I was shocked to see she didn't seem to be plotting, just staring in awe as Bella began singing "O Holy Night." It was a tradition that continued from the first holiday we ever spent together. Alice was experiencing everything we, the Cullens, did that every first Christmas Eve.

A lone tear dripped down Alice's cheek as Bella's voice drifted out on the last note, and she was quick to wipe it away.

At that moment I thought, 'Maybe, just maybe, there was hope for Alice yet...but I could be wrong as well.'

Cliffy… Do you think Malice has changed or not? Let me know.

Hope it was worth the wait. Leave me some love it you want and we'll see you next Friday! xx Dee