(APOV)
Stay sharp, Cullen! I told myself sternly. You are the sole line of defense between a family of raucous vampires and magical Christmas surprises. I rolled my eyes. Jazz's war talk must be getting to me. Laughing to myself, I slapped the heavy bat I held into the palm of my hand, enjoying its weight. Suddenly, I flashed in and out of a vision – Emmett trying to take the stairs by force. "Don't even think about it, Emmett," I growled, and heard his whispered curse from his and Rose's room (whispered so as not to wake Bella).
Save Bella, none of the members of my adopted family could clearly remember having to try and sleep on Christmas Eve, so each Christmas one of us (usually me, Jasper, Edward or Esme) would sit at the top of the stairs and guard the tree and presents. A couple of hours passed and I thwarted another attempt by Emmett and another one by Carlisle, to my surprise. Apparently Jasper was bored and had made him a little overexcited, but I had to admit it was funny watching my father figure come barreling towards me, waving his hands and shrieking in vampire speed so Bella wouldn't hear.
At four in the morning, Jasper came out to join me, running his fingers through his hair in a way he knew made me crazy. "Hey darlin'," he drawled, slipping into his Texas accent as, in a flash, I was sitting on his lap. "How're you holding up?"
"I've been keeping the border secure from enemy forces; things should be quiet until morning," I joked. "Enemy combatant Emmett might try a surprise attack."
"Mmm," Jasper murmured, entwining our hands and playing with my fingers. "I love it when you use military lingo."
"Well, Major Whitlock," I whispered, "the troops won't be reconvening until 0800. Perhaps we could…discuss tactics." I wound my fingers through his hair and nibbled his earlobe and, like clockwork, he stiffened, shivered, and kissed me forcefully. I found myself sprawled across the chair on my back and giggled, not planning on moving until Emmett came out and found us.
***
(BPOV)
The sun filtered through the ice on the windowpane, bounced off Edward's mirror in prisms, and gently rested on my face. It definitely isn't the worst way to wake up, I pondered, remembering an incident involving Emmett, shaving cream, and an air horn. "Merry Christmas, love," Edward murmured, kissing my neck and wrapping his arms around my waist, spooning me.
"Merry Christmas," I whispered. "What time is it?"
Edward opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a loud thump and the sound of Emmett shrieking, "Dammit, Alice!" Edward burst into laughter, and I could hear Alice and Jasper join him in the hall.
Noticing my look of confusion, Edward filled me in, still chuckling. "Emmett was a bit overzealous about presents and he caught Alice and Jasper in a rather…compromising position."
My cheeks flamed, but before I could get too embarrassed over what had happened, Emmett pounded on the door. "Time to get up!" he bellowed. "It's Christmas!" Rolling my eyes, I got out of bed and stuck my feet into the yellow slippers someone had placed on my side of the bed again, tossed my hair into a tighter bun, and stepped into the hall.
I'd never seen the Cullens in sleepwear, but here they were, all decked out. Carlisle wore a simple pair of matching striped pajamas, Esme was wearing a pair of yoga pants and a green camisole, and Jasper wore a pair of plaid pajama bottoms. Gisele Bundchen would have wept if she'd seen Rosalie flaunting her figure in a short red satin slip accented with lace and a side slit, all the while staring daggers at Emmett who was gleefully sporting a pair of footie pajamas – pink fleece with a teddy bear pattern. Stifling my laughter, I turned to see Edward giving me my favorite half-smile in his cashmere pajama pants and white T-shirt, and was tackled in a hug by Alice who wore, despite her lavish tastes in fashion, a pair of Invader Zim boxer shorts and a white camisole. "Merry Christmas, Bella!" she squealed, lifting me onto her back. Before I had a chance to ask her what was happening, she screeched, "Go!" and seven sets of vampire feet thundered down the staircase at vampire speed, coming to a stop at the enormous Christmas tree.
The opening of presents was an extravagant event, and took several hours – Esme was in charge of distribution. "Here, Bella," she said, handing me a box that said to Bella, from Rosalie.
Inside was a silky-feeling nightgown, navy blue with a watercolor rose pattern and with light blue lace trim. "Thank you, Rosalie," I said with a smile, touched.
"There's more," she replied softly. "It might have gotten lost in the tissue paper." I pulled the tissue paper out of the box, shook it gently, and a necklace fell into my waiting hand. A silver pendant hung from a cable chain – a Mobius strip reading my sister, my friend twice over to complete the circle.
"I love it, Rosalie!" I exclaimed, tears forming in my eyes as I hugged her. I had been overjoyed when she accepted me as a sister, and now I had physical proof. Esme handed me the gift I'd picked out for Rosalie, and she exclaimed and raved over the chocolate brown bag, throwing her arms around my neck.
The next gift was for Esme from Carlisle, delivered in a signature Tiffany box – a double-strand of saltwater pearls bound by baguette diamonds in platinum. Esme's eyes shone and I smiled as she and Carlisle embraced – she seemed like a pearls kind of person, but then, I thought of all mothers as a good fit for pearls. Carlisle loved the pen I got him, Emmett and Jasper were pleased with their ball and book, respectively, and Esme broke into dry sobs when she received her cookbook. "Bella, honey!" she exclaimed, her voice cracking as she pulled me into a cold hug.
Carlisle and Esme gave me a large journal bound in gold leaf and a fountain pen, to write my thoughts in for Edward. Jasper bought me some very cheap perfume as a joke, and a book of vampire folklore. Emmett wouldn't stop snickering as I unwrapped his bulky package and when the object was finally in my hands, I stared at it for a few minutes before responding.
"A…a hockey helmet, Emmett?" I asked, and he, Rosalie, Alice and Jasper burst out laughing.
"Oh come on, Squirt!" he chortled. "I even had it personalized!" Sure enough, on the back of the helmet read Adoraklutz, a term coined, no doubt, by Alice. Edward was pretending to be angry, but his eyes were full of amusement. Finally, I started to giggle.
"I love it, Emmett," I said. "I'm sure it'll come in very handy." He crushed me in a hug, and I pulled my box for Alice out from under the tree.
"Ooh, what could this be?" she asked, gleefully tearing off the paper and opening the velvet box. "Bella, it's amazing!" she shrieked, lifting the necklace out of its box and turning it so the jewel caught the light. "I'm so glad you didn't change your mind!"
"Wait, what?" I asked, my smile faltering. After all my hard work keeping my future blocked from her, she still figured it out? Was there anything the pixie couldn't do?
Alice grinned. "No, I didn't peek into the future. I looked at it when you had me bring the bags into the house." She slapped a kiss onto my cheek. "Thank you, sweetie. It's gorgeous." In return, Alice had gotten me a sterling silver "Best Friends Forever" necklace – one of those elementary school fad necklaces with the two connecting pieces of a heart – and a $5000 gift card to Simon Malls. "It's good for any store in any Simon Mall," she schemed, smiling wickedly. "And you have to spend all of it!"
Emmett pulled two boxes out from under the tree. "Merry Christmas, Rosie," he cooed as she tore open the wrapping paper to reveal a naughty Santa's Helper costume. Giggling, she arched an eyebrow suggestively at Emmett, who licked his lips in return. I blushed furiously as he handed her the next box, but all thoughts of the unspeakable things they were going to do to each other were immediately lost as Rosalie opened the lid of the Tiffany jewelry case. The necklace was, in a word, insane: diamond after diamond connected to a large diamond pendant in the front, from which hung a double drop of more diamonds.
Rosalie's scream could have cut glass (I swear I saw the plate-glass window shake) as she leapt into Emmett's arms and kissed him with more force than I'd ever seen before. Emmett responded in kind and they might have ditched the presents and shut themselves in their room had Edward not cleared his throat very loudly and obviously. "Excuse me," he said. "But my fiancée needs to receive her gift!"
I opened my gift tentatively, as though the package would try to bite me. Knowing the Cullens and their penchant for splurging, my gift was bound to be incredibly extravagant, though hopefully not as extravagant as Rosalie's necklace. It probably cost what Charlie made in a month at the police station! Taking a deep, calming breath, I opened the jewelry box lid and nearly dropped it in shock.
A sapphire pendant was surrounded by tiny diamonds and hung from a silver chain. Inside the V shape the chain made, a pair of matching stud earrings glittered in the light from the sun and the Christmas tree. "I…um…wow," I faltered. Despite the fact that I hated for Edward to spend money on me, the jewelry was beautiful, and it was Christmas, so I allowed a smile to creep across my face. "I love it," I said, planting a kiss on my vampire's lips. "Thank you."
The last few gifts were distributed, and the rest of the day was spent in the snow or, in Emmett and Rosalie's case, in their bedroom. Esme insisted on making enough gingerbread men to feed the pack and then some, Carlisle wrote medical notes with his new pen, and Jasper finished his book within two hours.
At the end of the day, Edward was waiting for me in bed while I took my human minute. Taking a deep breath, I looked at myself wearing the nightgown I had gotten for Edward as a Christmas present and imagined Alice giving me a pep talk in her head. You're beautiful. You're sexy. He'll love it, go! Feeling as confident as I ever would be, I opened the door and stepped shyly into the room. "Merry Christmas, Edward," I murmured, blushing furiously. "Do – do you like it?"
Edward had tensed and his eyes grew wide. "Bella, love," he whispered reverently, "you look amazing. Damn," he added in tones I'm sure I wasn't meant to hear. Laughing softly, I made my way to the bed and sat on his waist over his prone figure, and leaned down to kiss his lips.
"I'll take that as a yes, then," I whispered as Edward growled his approval and flipped me onto my back.
***
And I heard Emmett boom, as I turned out the light, "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"
A/N: Haha, there we go! This chapter was slightly shorter but for my family, Christmas is kind of over after the presents are opened. I hope you enjoyed it and it kept you in the spirit! Happy Holidays!
