Chapter 20: Happy Christmas

Delilah arrived back in her own living room. It was barely past midnight.

The witching hour, Delilah thought, slipping back into her old school superstitions.

Delilah walked back to her daughter's room and found that she had already kicked off her covers and was curled into a tight ball next to an unmoved Ebony.

How does that cat manage it? she thought. Whenever the familiar would sleep with her or Bella, she would remain in the exact same spot, even when they kicked off their blankets and sheets.

Delilah carefully pulled the blankets around her daughter before kissing her forehead again.

"Merry Christmas Bells," she whispered. In response, Bella moved her head a little and smiled at what she saw in her dreams.

. . . . .

Bella awoke early the next morning. The sun hadn't even begun to rise yet. She lied in bed for nearly an hour, waiting for either her mother to wake up or for the sun to rise. This always happened: she'd wake up extremely early on Christmas and then wait for her mother to wake up too. Only once had she slept in on Christmas.

Two year before, she had gotten pneumonia a few days before Christmas. She had almost slept until noon on Christmas but her mother said it was alright. They had spent the entire day on the couch, playing board games and making each other laugh with funny faces. Eventually Bella had drifted back to sleep from exhaustion. She barely remembered her mother carrying her back to her room and letting her sleep away the rest of the day and the following night.

That Christmas was still one of Bella's favorite Christmases, even though she had been sick.

While Bella thought about that Christmas, her door was slowly opened by Delilah. She had barely been able to get any sleep after coming home, but she had managed to sleep for about three hours before it became a lost cause. She had lain awake for a long time before falling into a fitful sleep about the other voice she had heard in her memory. A few minutes ago she had woken up in a cold sweat as the voice materialized into a young man but something had been off about him. He had had cold calculating eyes that betrayed the madness behind his gaze. Delilah had decided sleeping was going to be impossible so she went to see if her daughter was awake early just as she was every year.

"Bells?" she whispered so as not to startle the raven haired girl. Bella immediately sat up and looked towards her mother with a happy grin on her face.

"You're up!" she exclaimed happily. She jumped off her bed and hugged Delilah. "You're up, you're up!"

Delilah managed to smile. "Yes, I'm up. Now, how about we make some breakfast?" she asked.

Bella eagerly nodded her head as she took her mother's hand and started pulling her to the kitchen. They ended up making honey almond pancakes again with hot chocolate and milk for Ebony. Afterwards they turned on the tree and played a game until they could see the sun through the window with ease.

"Okay, present time," Delilah said as they finished their round of gin.

Bella nodded and went to the tree to start handing out the presents.

"Here're the ones from Grandma and Grandpa," she said as she pulled out three presents, all wrapped in matching wrapping paper. "Here're Nana's," she pulled out two misshapen but well wrapped presents, "Auntie Gail's," she pulled out one box with a huge bow on top, "And one from you and one from me," she smiled as she handed her mother her present and she held onto her own.

Delilah looked under the tree from the couch. "What's that one in the back?" she asked her daughter, trying not to smile and ruin the surprise.

Bella looked under the tree and found a green and silver wrapped present. When she pulled it out, it seemed to be warm to the touch, even through the paper. One a small tag in unfamiliar handwriting was her name.

"Mum?" she asked hesitantly. Delilah smiled encouragingly as she began opening her presents.

Bella carefully tore the paper and when it was all finally removed, she was holding a beautiful blanket. It was covered in greens and silvers that swirled around and around, like snow in the movies. It didn't hurt to look at it but it was breath taking.

"Mum, who gave me this?" Bella asked quietly.

Delilah paused in looking at the clothing her aunt had sent her. She looked at Bella. She looked bewildered but happy and Delilah decided she wouldn't tell her yet. She would be safer if she didn't.

"My friend, Martha-Ann, you're god-mother. She sent it. She'd been working on it for a while now and she wanted you to have it," she answered, looking out the window and away from Bella's gaze. The young girl had always been able to tell when she was lying.

But Bella would not have noticed. She was too enthralled with her new blanket to think about her mother's answer too much. "I love it! I absolutely love it!" Bella told Delilah. She carefully placed it on the couch so that she could finish opening her presents. By the end of opening all the presents, both Bella and Delilah had gained new pants and shirts from Delilah's aunt and uncle, who Bella called Grandma and Grandpa, matching, home-stitched teddy bears with personal inscriptions on them from Delilah's mother, Bella's Nana, a new board game that they had never heard of from Delilah's sister, Auntie Gail, and Delilah had received a small painting of a wolf and her pup looking at the moon made by Bella.

The last present to be opened was Bella's gift from her mother. She carefully pulled off the wrapping paper and looked at the book her mother had gotten her. The Unfair Segregation of Werewolves by N. A. Rosenburg. Bella hugged the book and looked at her mother happily.

They spent the rest of the day experimenting with different foods that they found in one of the cookbooks and playing their new board game. When they had cleaned up everything from their day inside, it was nearly ten o'clock at night.

"Mum?" Bella said as Delilah tucked her in.

"Yes?" she answered as she sat on the bed.

Bella traced the pattern on her blanket as she continued her question. "Do you think we could charm the paintings tomorrow?"

Delilah nodded. "I think we should so that we can make sure they work before your friends take them home after school's over."

Bella smiled sleepily. She laid down as Delilah stood and turned out the light.

"Happy Christmas Mum," she said as she slipped into her dreams.

"Merry Christmas Bells," her mother answered as she closed the door.

A/N: Hey everyone. Hope you liked the chapter and I know it's belated and I already said it, but Happy Christmas!