Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to SM. Wishes are mine. And theirs.
A/N: Thank you for the love for this little story. It warms my heart.
...
Chapter Two
"He's here!" Lily shouts as the sound of the doorbell chimes through the house.
"I'm coming, sweetheart," her mother calls from the bathroom, where she's been trying to get her hair to cooperate with trembling fingers caused by the butterflies in her stomach.
"I don't want to wait! Can I open it?" she calls back, running down the stairs to the front door.
"Look through the window and make sure it's Edward first!" Bella calls again to her daughter, who she hasn't heard this excited for a very long time. Before eight days ago, anyway.
"Mom, he rang the bell four times! You know that's our code! And I can see him!"
"Then yes, you can open the door," she says, making her way nervously down the steps.
It's been over a week since Bella Swan-O'Brien first looked into the deep sea of green of Edward Cullen's eyes at the bookshop and felt the ground shift beneath her feet. Over a week since her heart began to beat again, for anything but her precious little girl. Over a week since the butterflies arrived, as if by invitation, at the mere sound of her name on his lips. It's a pleasure to meet you, Bella...
Over a week since she first saw that crooked smile that greets her now as she enters the living room. "Hi."
His crooked smile that gets wider as their eyes meet and the rest of the world disappears. "Hi."
The rest of the world, that is, except for one vibrant child whose observation now rings into the air. "Edward, you think Mommy is beautiful."
"Yes, I do," he admits, turning his smile to bright blue eyes. "You really do see everything."
"Yes, I do," she giggles. "You make Mommy's face pink. She thinks you're beautiful too."
...
CFoW
...
"Come to turn yourself in?" Chief Swan asks his granddaughter as Bella, Lilly, and a visibly smitten Dr. Edward Cullen walk into his office hand in hand in hand.
"Only guilty people turn themselves in, Grandpa. I'm innocent. Why would I turn myself in?"
"For selling cups full of wishes without a permit," he says in his Police Chief, not Grandpa, voice.
Her eyes go wide for a second and then flash to her mother, who only smiles at her.
"Aunt Angela has a big mouth," the child declares with a scowl, and then turns her attention to Edward. "What's a permit?"
"Well, it's a piece of paper that says you can sell cups full of wishes in the town. I think. Do you have that?"
She thinks about this for a moment, wanting to say yes, but wanting her yes to be the truth. She knows she can't and crosses her arms while she thinks. She decides she doesn't want to answer before she has more information.
She looks back to her grandfather, "Do I have to have one?"
"Yep," he answers, trying to keep the smile threatening to erupt on his face at bay.
"What if I don't?" she asks as matter-of-factly as she can.
He allows a frown to accompany his answer this time. "I'll have to lock you up."
Her eyes go wide a second time and she looks to her mother again and finds that the expression she wears mirrors her own. This isn't good.
Edward asks the next question, "What happens to a person who bought cups full of wishes from a girl without a permit?"
"I'd have to lock them up, too," he answers firmly.
Lily's wide eyes are now joined on her face by an equally wide open mouth. This really isn't good.
But if a piece of paper is all she needs...
"I'll be right back!" she exclaims as she runs hurriedly from the office.
"You wouldn't be trying to escape, would you?" Chief Swan calls after her.
She turns around, her chin held high. "No. I just want to tell Mrs. Cope Merry Christmas, because she wasn't at her desk when we came. Christmas is tomorrow, you know."
He nods his head at the slight pout that now forms on her mouth, thinking it's time to stop teasing her, but knowing his granddaughter well enough to know that she'll find a way out of her predicament.
"Go ahead," he tells her with a guilty heart.
He peeks through the window of his office, joined by his daughter and Dr. Cullen, and they all smile as they watch her run to Mrs. Cope's desk and wish her a purposefully boisterous Merry Christmas - so as not to lie, which she never does and won't start doing now - before acquiring a piece of paper and a pen from her.
She crosses the room to a small table in the waiting area, and removes her mittens, but stares perplexed at the blank paper she lays in front of her. She looks up at Mrs. Cope and then back to her paper in frustration. She doesn't want to ask for her help. The three pairs of watchful eyes dart away from the window as she turns around and a few seconds later she's in the doorway of the office.
"Edward?"
He smiles at her with raised brows and she beckons him with a tiny finger. He walks to where she stands and crouches down in front of her.
She leans close to whisper in his ear, "How do you spell permit?"
He whispers back to her, cupping his hands around her ear, "P e r m i t."
She runs away quickly, before she can forget, and immediately begins writing on her paper. After a few moments, she returns to her grandfather's office and extends the paper to him with hopeful eyes.
"What's this?" he asks, taking it from her little hand.
"It's a permit," she replies confidently.
He clears his throat and reads the paper aloud, beginning with the large letters across the top...
PERMIT
Lily O'Brien can sell cups full of wishes in Forks, where her grandpa Charlie who loves her is the BOSS. And Doctor Edward Cullen can buy as many cups full of wishes as he wants. This permit is for him too.
He beams as he looks down at the light of his life, her fingers crossed at her sides, and then walks to his desk. "Well, everything seems to be in order here. This is exactly what I needed. No one's getting locked up today." He picks up a pen and scrawls his signature across the bottom of the permit and tacks it on the wall beside him, next to a drawing of a horse. "Now that we've cleared up all of the official business, who's ready for lunch?"
"Me!" they all yell at once, and Lily takes Edward's hand and leads the way out to freedom.
No way she was letting him get locked up.
...
CFoW
...
"Are you going to be here when Santa comes?" Lily asks Edward as she places the plate of cookies and glass of milk on the coffee table, with a note that says for Santa.
He eyes the green and red sugar-covered stars that he helped make and smiles. "No, I'll be sleeping in my bed when Santa comes, just like you."
"Have you ever seen Santa?"
"No, never. Well, except for at the mall. I always fall asleep before he comes. Have you ever seen him?"
"No. I try to stay awake but I always fall asleep, too. Santa waits for us to fall asleep. And the Santa at the mall isn't real. He's just a man in a suit. I never tell that Santa what I want. I write a letter to the real Santa at the North Pole and tell him, and that I've been a good girl, and then Mommy takes me to the post office to mail it. He's too busy to write back, but he always brings me what I asked for, so I know he gets my letters. And believes that I've been good."
"Of course he believes. I know I do, and I've only just met you."
"You met me eight days ago, Edward. That's a long time. You know I'm good. Do you think Santa will make a wish?"
He laughs at her correction and devious little angel smile, thinking how right she is about eight days. It does feel like a long time. Before he can get lost in thoughts of why that is, he gives her the answer she's waiting for. "Yes I do, and I'm sure Santa knows that stars are for wishing on. And you're leaving him a whole plate full of wishes, so I think he'll make many. And eat lots of cookies."
"Do reindeers want to make wishes? There's no stars for them, only carrots."
"They have the whole sky full of stars to wish on. I think they make their wishes when they fly. And I think they wish for carrots."
"You do?"
"Absolutely."
She smiles proudly at the thought of making reindeer wishes come true and gives Edward a hug. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?"
"Of course you will. You invited me for Christmas breakfast, and I wouldn't miss that for anything."
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow morning! Good night! And thank you for helping us make cookies for Santa. And don't forget, it's your job to put the carrots outside for the reindeer!"
"I promise I won't forget. And you're very welcome. I liked helping. Good night, Lily. I'll see you tomorrow morning. Sweet dreams."
"Sweet dreams, Edward!" she calls as she takes her mother's hand and heads off to bed.
Tears prick Edward's eyes as he watches them disappear up the stairs. Tears for the joy their beautiful faces have brought to his - until eight days ago - sad and lonely life.
Tears for why it was sad. For the Christmas Eves he will never again spend with his wife and daughter, and tears for the man who can't be here to spend them with his. Tears for being here in his place. His home that he was welcomed into by the angels he was forced to leave alone. Tears that roll down his cheeks as he looks at the plate full of wishes. A child's wishes. A hopeful, happy child that made one that he knows has changed his life.
Her mother's heart wasn't the only one that was broken. And it's not the only one her wish will make new.
He knew it the moment he saw her. The little girl... the little red-haired angel with determined blue eyes that he couldn't take his off of. He knew. He didn't know how, but somewhere inside he knew...
And when he looked into the deep, soulful brown eyes of her mother, he knew with a little more clarity. The eyes that instantly stole his soul...
The eyes that meet his tear-filled ones now as she comes back down the stairs, making his heart flip flop in his chest. His heart that he thought had died with his family. His heart that eight days ago told him he was wrong. His heart...
That knows.
She stops when she sees him wipe away the tears from his cheeks. "If it's too hard for you... " Stops. Her words. Her steps. Her heart. Her hope... "I can tell her... something. I-"
"No... " The word gets stuck in his throat and he shakes his head.
"I don't want to cause you pain, Edward. For her to." Her own tears fall and she bites her trembling lip, suddenly overcome with emotions.
He holds out his hand to her, unable to get his legs to move to go to her. She takes the last few steps and places her hand in his, letting him pull her down beside him on the couch. He reaches up to brush the tears from her beautiful face. "Neither of you could ever cause me pain, unless you wanted me to go. I think her wishes are clear, but if it's too hard for you, I could tell her... something. I-"
"No... " She shakes her head emphatically. "We don't want you to go. Neither of us."
"I'm glad you don't."
"I'm glad you're glad."
"It would be so much harder if I wasn't here, Bella."
"For me too, if you weren't here. Last year was... "
"Hopeless," he finishes her sentence, knowing well what she would have said. "And the one before... "
"For me too. But this year... "
"Your little angel upstairs made a wish."
Her eyes flit to the empty stairway. "She adores you, Edward."
"I adore her too."
"I'm glad you do," she whispers softly, meeting his gaze once again, and seeing the truth in it.
"I'm glad you're glad."
"I'm glad you're here."
Her generous words have a tremendous effect on him. Give him a sense of belonging, in this place where hope lives, where wishes are made.
Green eyes look into brown, but deeper. Beyond their glimmering surfaces...
Healing heart into healing heart. His thumps in his chest like a nervous young boy. He doesn't know about the butterflies in her stomach. But he hopes they're there.
A hint of pink touches her pale cheeks and he knows they are. There. Dancing. To the beat of his no longer silent heart.
Her lip begins to tremble. He wants to feel it. He's wanted to feel those lips for eight long days.
Eight days that he's resisted. Waited.
Eight days that he's been careful. Patient.
Eight days that felt like an eternity...
Eight eternities.
Spent wanting to feel. Her. But not wanting to push her, pressure her, rush her. But now...
He thinks...
Maybe...
"Bella... "
"Yes."
"Can I-"
"It wasn't a question, Edward."
"I'm glad it wasn't."
"I'm glad you're glad."
"Yes?" he asks, just to be sure.
"Kiss me, Edward."
A shy smile touches his lips. He's met with the same, but wrapped in a delicate pink package. Waiting to be opened.
He leans closer. Slowly. Mere inches.
She does the same. Inches. Her lips parted slightly. For him. Waiting.
He moves again, mere inches again, maybe less. Closer, but not quite. Still their lips don't meet.
Nervous and anxious mix. Calm and chaos. Desperation and peace.
Closer...
Seconds pass.
Closer...
Time dissolves.
Closer...
Space.
Gone.
Replaced with...
Touch. Soft lips to soft lips. Warm breath to warm breath. Need to need.
His. Hers. Theirs.
He feels no guilt. No betrayal of the past. He'd wondered if he would...
But no. He only feels...
Her hands in his hair. Soft. Gentle. Free.
Her sweet mouth a wish come true.
She's glad he's here.
And she's not the only one.
He couldn't be happier in this moment, but still there's someone else...
A shower of giggles rains down upon them from above. A beautiful, joyful song that they now join in.
He leans his head against hers. "Your little angel isn't upstairs anymore."
"Well, not in her bed... " she laughs.
They both look up at their adorable spy. The smile on her face says it all. Everything they feel, summed up in the simplicity of an innocent child's happiness. There's no guilt in that little face. Or the tiny feet that come barreling down the stairs towards them.
She climbs between them with another fit of giggles. "Did you forget how observant I am?"
"Yes," Bella says, tickling her sides, "I think I did. And sneaky."
"I am not!" she says between squeals. "You forgot to turn on my night light. I was coming to tell you." She looks to Edward, to explain the rules he doesn't know about. She doesn't want him to think she was being bad. "I'm not allowed to plug things in. And we never go to sleep without my night light. The horses are afraid of the dark."
He gives her a knowing smile, and Bella gasps at her mistake. "Oh! I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I'll go turn it on right now... "
"It's okay, Mommy. You were distracted."
"Distracted, huh? Where do you get these words?"
"I got that one from Aunt Angela. It means you're thinking about something else. And you were distracted thinking about coming back downstairs so Edward could kiss you."
Bella's eyes go wide and her mouth drops open. Lily pokes at her cheeks. "See, Edward? Pink. She was never that color before I made my wish and you came."
"I do see." He chuckles as Bella closes her eyes in embarrassment. "And I think your mommy is beautiful when she's pink."
"Me too. But she's always beautiful."
"Yes, she is."
"And so are you," Bella says to her sees everything daughter. "And up past your bedtime. Let's go get that night light turned on and you tucked back in."
"Okay. Is Edward going to kiss you again?"
Edward chuckles again as the blush returns instantly to her cheeks, brighter than ever. "I might. If that's okay?"
"It is. With me and Mommy. And I promise I won't get back out of bed until after Santa comes. So you can have privacy."
"Say goodnight, Lily," Bella says with an exasperated laugh.
"Actually... " Edward interjects, "Would it be alright if she opened one present before she goes back to bed?"
Lily's eyes light up and she looks to her mother, "Can I?"
Bella looks to Edward, who gives her a trust me smile, and relents. "Ummm... well, I guess that would be okay."
Lily runs to the tree and looks at the many gifts with her name on them. "Any one?"
"No," Edward replies. "The one from me with the big green bow."
She knows exactly the one he means, since she's looked at it many times since he arrived with his arms full of presents just a few hours ago. She grabs it and comes back to sit between them, anticipation gleaming in her bright blue eyes.
"I like the bow," she says sweetly. "It's like the ribbon Mommy puts in my hair sometimes."
"I know. You were wearing it in your hair the day I met you. That's why I told Alice to put a green bow on it."
"Alice wrapped my present?"
"Yes, she wrapped all of them. She wanted them to be pretty for you. I tried, but she said mine were messier than my hair."
She eyes the tousled bronze locks and giggles. "Mommy made it messier when you kissed her."
He gazes at a very pink Bella and back to Lily with a wink. "You are definitely observant. And I think you should open that before Mommy's face turns as red as Santa's suit."
She pokes her mother's cheeks a second time, with yet another giggle, and then carefully unties the big green bow before tearing off the wrapping. She studies the image on the box with fascination and looks up excitedly. "It makes stars?"
"It does. You'll have your very own starry sky to make wishes on. I don't know if you have a special night light, but I thought maybe we could plug this in and-"
"Yes! Come on!" She jumps up, holding the box out to Edward. "I'll show you where my room is!"
Bella clears her throat and raises her brows at her daughter. "That's a wonderful present, and I know you're excited, but are you forgetting something?"
Lily purses her lips in thought. After a few seconds, she understands. "I'm sorry. I did forget. Thank you, Edward."
"You're very welcome. And it's okay, I'm happy that you're excited."
"Now can we go, Mom?"
"Yes, now we can go. I'm excited to see your stars, too, if Edward will show us how it works."
"I would love to. If you lovely ladies would just lead the way, we'll have stars in no time."
Lily giggles at lovely and takes Edward's hand, the box held in his other, and leads him up the stairs to her room, while Bella follows behind, a smile on her face and joy in her heart that her daughter is so adored by this kind and generous man.
"Wow," Edward gasps as they enter the room and Bella turns on the light.
The little girl's bedroom is painted a soft yellow, with curtains and fluffy bedspread of the same delicate hue. Her sleigh bed and dressers are a deep mahogany, with matching shelves hung along the walls that hold every kind of horse imaginable. There is also a large bookcase full of children's books and beloved classics, and a few horses, that takes up nearly one whole wall. In one corner of the room, where you might expect to find a toy box or dollhouse, is a miniature version of a horse stable, complete with two stuffed horses as big as she is, and is large enough for the child to play in. And the pillow and blanket and open book left on the floor within is proof that she does.
"Do you like my room?" Lily asks with hopeful eyes.
"Absolutely. It's the best room in the whole world. I've never seen so many pretty horses. Or books, except in your mommy's shop."
"There's big stores that have more books than Mommy's shop, but Mommy's shop is special. It has dreams in it. And wishes."
"It is very special, and so is your room. And you."
"And Mommy. And you."
Three pairs of eyes do a dance, green and blue and brown, taking in the special around them with smiles on their faces. Lily watches with held breath as Edward opens the box and pulls out the magical star-maker. She smiles as he sets it on her bed and pulls the directions from the box and begins to read them.
"Grandpa never reads the directions first."
"He doesn't? Well, maybe your grandpa is much smarter than me. I always read the directions."
"You're a doctor. Doctors are the smartest because they know how to fix people and that's hard because people don't come with directions."
"You're right, they don't. You have to pay close attention and listen very carefully and see everything."
"Do you think I could be a doctor? I see everything."
"Absolutely. I think you would be a wonderful doctor."
"I already have a kit!" She runs across the room and pulls a brown leather bag from a low shelf of her bookcase and brings it back and lays it on the bed. She opens it and pushes it towards Edward for inspection.
He sets down the directions and examines its contents, most of which are real, with obvious approval. "That's quite a kit you have there, Dr. O'Brien. And quite a secret you've kept. I had no idea you were a doctor."
"I'm not a real one like you. I just pretend. But maybe I will be when I'm older. But not for people."
"Not for people?" he asks, "Well, what kind of doctor might you be?"
"Guess."
He pretends to think for a moment and shrugs. "I don't know. I'm not very good at guessing."
"You have to pay close attention and see everything. Then guess."
He looks back at her kit, as if the answer lies there. She clears her throat purposefully, bringing his eyes back to her, and shakes her head. Knowing she has his attention, she moves her eyes slowly around the room and then back to him expectantly.
"Oh... I think I know now. A horse doctor?"
"Yes. Very good. Can we turn on my stars now, or did I distract you too much while you were reading the directions?"
"Not at all. I finished the directions. Just tell me where to put it and we'll be all set."
"Are the stars going to be up there?" she asks, pointing to the ceiling.
"Yes."
"Can we put it here, Mommy?" she asks, pointing now to her bedside table, where she has a photograph of her father holding a much younger her in his lap, reading a book to her. A book that clearly lost their attention when the person holding the camera caught their love-filled upward gazes. "I want Daddy to see the stars too."
Bella looks from Lily's face to Edward's, his eyes on the photograph, and speaks quietly. "I think so. There's an outlet just behind there... "
He gives them both a smile, trying to conceal the sadness he feels, and picks up the magical machine from the bed. He sets it carefully behind the photograph and crouches down to plug it in, as Bella quickly puts Lily's doctor kit back in its place and Lily climbs under the covers. He waits for her to tuck her in, his hand on the switch that will light up her private sky.
"Ready?"
Bella rushes to turn off the light and then back to the bed. "Ready!" mother and daughter exclaim together.
Lily stares in awe as Edward flips the switch and her ceiling is transformed into a twinkling star-lit universe. The look on her sweet face is like a thousand wishes come true. The look on Bella's as she gazes at her daughter with more love than he thinks he's ever seen is like a thousand more.
His eyes flit again to the photograph and his heart clenches in his chest for all of them, himself included. This beautiful family was struck by life-altering tragedy, much like his own, but they didn't let it consume them. They kept living, kept loving, and went on. And as he looks away from the past and into this gift of the present, he knows that that tragedy isn't here in this room now. It isn't on their faces or in their eyes. It isn't in their smiles.
It isn't in the tiny hand that reaches up to grasp his.
It isn't in the quiet voice of the woman whose soft lips he felt against his own a short eternity of moments ago. "Thank you, Edward. Thank you so much for this."
And it isn't in his as he answers her, giving the tiny hand a gentle squeeze. "You're very welcome. Little angels that make beautiful wishes should always have endless stars to wish on."
"You gave them to her."
"It's nothing compared to what she gave to me."