Chapter 12

Get your money for nothing and your chicks for free.

Alec rolled over in bed, stretching lazily and rubbing his eyes. The sunlight poured into his room, he didn't bother to close the curtains last night when he and Kim – or was it Kate? - crashed into bed. A smirk tugged on the corner of his lips as he remembered the feisty red head from last night. He had her out of her dress in the car already without even knowing her name. He supposed the name didn't matter, she was already long gone. He told her she had to be gone before anyone woke up; he didn't want to have to explain her to his parents. They had gone out to one of the clubs last night, and keeping up with his reputation he just had to bring a girl home. She caught his eye on the dance floor; he had only seen one other person move like she could. In fact he almost mistook Kim/Kate for Renesmee, but he knew it was impossible. She was in Forks with her family and that thing she called her boyfriend. He would have to wait until they got to Seattle. That's where his plan would start, it was genius. They would never see it coming, but it would take time. He was going to destroy her from the inside, ever so carefully. He was going to do exactly what he once told Renesmee he would do.

"Do not fall in love with people like me. I will take you to museums and parks and kiss you in every beautiful place, so that you can never go back to those places without tasting me like blood in your mouth. I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible. And when I leave you finally understand why hurricanes are named after people."

The only little imperfect snag in his plan was Riley. He had to drive a wedge between them somehow, and getting her friends to trust him would take weeks. He wished he thought of this sooner, but it was the best plan he could come up with. It was the one that would hurt the most. Make her fall in love with him all over again; take her friends and her current boyfriend away from her before leaving her with nothing. That's what he had, why should she be happy when he couldn't be?

But first he had to focus on Christmas. He pushed the covers off, smirking when he found that Kim/Kate had left him a little present. Merry Christmas indeed.

An hour later Alec was sitting at the breakfast table on the pool deck, stuffing his face with bacon. Jane glared at him with disgust while Felix just encouraged his behavior, his own mouth full of bacon. Sometimes she thought she was living with baboons instead of boys, it irritated her even more that no matter what she did these baboons were still her brothers. Heidi and Demitri just smiled at their siblings, they had missed them.

"Alright boys, here comes more bacon," Aro announced as he strolled out of the house towards them, carrying a large plate of bacon.

"Bacon, bacon, bacon!" Alec and Felix chanted as they hopped around in their seats, anxious to get more bacon. Jane jus rolled her eyes and pushed her shades up her nose, the sun was intense in the mornings, but it felt good being outside. New York was cold and over crowded, their house in Arizona was large, warm and spacious enough for her. It had once been her dream to live in New York, the lights and the nightlife had enticed and hypnotized her. She had to admit that she had over romanticized New York City, the picture she had of it in her head were not reality and she only discovered that when it was too late. She was now in her second year, only one more year to go until she completed her degree. After that she was taking Felix and they were going to live somewhere with wide open spaces and fresh air.

Aro sat the plate of bacon down seconds before Alec and Felix pounced, each of them trying to grab more than the other. Aro just sighed and took his seat at the head of the table, waiting for his wife to join them on the deck once she was finished in the kitchen. He looked at his children, Jane, scowling at her brothers, Alec and Felix behaving like they've only just discovered bacon and Heidi and Demitri, looking fondly at their younger brothers and sister. Aro was reluctant at first when his wife suggested they adopt. He was not particularly fond of children, being the oldest of four siblings by 8 years he never had much time for his kid brothers. Caius and Carlisle were twins and 8 years younger than he was and little Marcus was 12 years younger. He did not keep in touch with them; every now and then he would make a call to Carlisle and see how things were going but only because their families were so close. Marcus he sees once a year on business trips to Italy and Caius…well nobody knew where he was except Carlisle and the two of them rarely spoke. Their family was broken and distant and he was afraid that when he had kids they would be broken and distant too. He was right, but not in the way he thought he would be. His children grew very close to Carlisle's when Alec started dating one of his daughters. Of course then the horrible accident happened and that all changed. However their relationship with the Cullens never mattered to them, he was only concerned about their bonds with each other. After they adopted the first child he couldn't stop. Jane and Alec were gems, unique in every way. They excelled in everything they did and Aro knew he needed more. So they adopted Felix and Demitri, who turned about to be all star football players, with brains to match. Then came Heidi, sweetest little thing with a voice like an angel. Aro was proud of his children and always encouraged them to try new things and excel at those things.

"Don't you dare touch my bacon Alec," Jane snapped as she caught Alec trying to steal the bacon from her plate. "Next time you try something I will jam my fork into your hand." Aro couldn't help but smile, Jane may be they Ice Queen but she could also be a fire breathing dragon when she wanted to. He knew she cared immensely for her younger twin and her being mean to him was just her way of showing it.

"Boys please; you'll ruin your appetite for tonight." Sulpicia said as she made her way to her usual seat next to Aro.

It was Christmas Eve and Sulpicia always cooked up the best meals. The last Christmas they had as a family she cooked up a delicious Oxtail with rice and carrots. Everyone ate until they were full and then they ate some more just because it tasted good. Alec looked forward to tonight, but before that he had some Christmas shopping to do.

"Sorry mom," both of them apologized before continuing to eat like normal people.

"Alec honey, hang on for a second." Alec turned around as he heard his mother's voice from behind him. He was just about to walk out the door to pick up some last minute Christmas things when she stopped him.

"Yeah mom, what is it?" His mother smiled at him before reaching out and taking his arm, pulling him toward the kitchen.

"I have a surprise for you." Alec followed her into the kitchen, wondering what he surprise was. His mother enjoyed spoiling them, as if they weren't already spoiled enough, and she always had something for one of them. His mother was a good person. Sulpicia loved her children as if they were her own, and in her eyes they were. She wanted to put a smile on their faces, especially Alec's. He so rarely smiled; he just always wore that trademark smirk of his. Things had been hard for him since the accident with Alice and then Renesmee too, they weren't exactly supportive parents but they were trying to do the right thing.

Alec stopped short as they entered the kitchen, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"I can't believe it," he managed, still in shock.

"You better believe it Gummy Bear," Luce grinned at him before launching himself into his arms. He happily caught the petite raven haired girl, a real smile forming on his lips for only a second before it turned into a grin.

"What are you doing here Jelly Bean?" He hugged his best friend tightly, only now realising how much he actually missed her.

"Your mom called and asked if I wanted to spend Christmas with you. How could I say no?" She squeezed him before stepping back so he could get a better look. She had changed but only in appearance. He knew because she still had the same devious glint in her eyes that Luce King always had. Her raven hair was longer now, hanging past her shoulders and she got rid of most of her facial piercings. He had to admit, she was a beautiful girl. She was fair skinned and small, and without all the black leather she always wore she looked beautiful and sexy at the same time.

"I'm so glad you're here," Alec pulled her back in for another hug and she laughed, kissing his cheek.

"I never left Alec, I've always been here." Alec felt a small pang of guilt. When he left Forks he also left behind his best friend. They stayed in touch this time, but it wasn't the same as having her right next to him. He had been a bad friend to her, but he was going to make it up to her, starting now. He made a note to get his mother something special for Christmas to thank her. "Alright, enough with the chick flick moments, let's go shopping."

Three hours later both of them were sitting in Starbucks, dead on their feet. They practically ran from shop to shop, trying to avoid the other last minute Christmas shoppers. Alec had gotten everything he needed and he couldn't wait to see the faces of his family as they opened his gifts. They did things a little differently; they opened their gifts on Christmas Eve and not Christmas Morning. It was an old family tradition, when they were little they used to stay up all night waiting for Santa to come, which of course didn't give their parents a chance to put the gifts under the tree. So their mother would take them outside to look for Santa while their father would hide the presents. When they got back they opened the presents immediately and so a tradition was born. It was the one thing he loved most about this holiday, giving presents. He didn't care so much for getting them, he just liked giving. He enjoyed the feeling he got from making someone else happy, especially the people closest to him. He allowed himself to have that feeling only once a year before he crawled back into his bad boy shell.

"So, Renesmee." Alec could tell that Luce had been burning to ask him about her all day. "Want to tell me what is going on?"

Alec shrugged, taking a sip of his coffee before launching into the story. He told her everything, how things were after he left her, what he had to do to get her out of his mind, how he saw her again in NYC, their kiss in the elevator and the months after that. He also told her about his plan, but he wasn't sure how to execute it. After he was finished Luce just looked at him.

"That's your plan? Take her down from the inside? What is wrong with you boy?" She leaned over the table, slapping him over the head. "You still love her, why would you do that?"

"I don't love her," Alec said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Liar," Luce snapped, resisting the urge to slap him again. "For someone so smart you're pretty stupid."

"Look, I don't love her. I hate her. Now are you going to help me with my plan or not?"

Luce sat back, contemplating this. She missed scheming with Alec and when he told her about his plan a few ideas already popped into her head. She smirked and Alec knew she was in.

"Alright, first things first, we need to clean your act up."

The family dinner went off without a hitch. All of them over stuffed their faces and talked and laughed. Everything was exactly how it should be at a Christmas dinner. After dinner all of them moved into the living room. They were going to let their food digest a little first before tackling the giant fruit cake Sulpicia had made for desert and open presents.

"Alright, Heidi and Jane get to hand out the presents this year." They also took turns handing out the presents every year so things don't get too crowded around the tree. Alec and Luce settled onto one of the love seats as Jane and Heidi started to hand out presents to all of them. Each of them had a sizeable amount of presents once Jane and Heidi were finished, it was always nice to get lots of presents. Each year they also took turns opening their gifts one at a time, usually they went from youngest to oldest but when they got older they started pulling numbers out of a hat. Alec pulled the highest one this year, which means he would go last. Luce could go first because she was a guest this year.

Alec had gotten her a very expensive bottle of Jack Daniels and her parents got her a new apartment. She never got much in the way of gifts from her parents, they gave her money and that was it. She was grateful for the gift from Alec, now she had something to drink in her new apartment.

Aro picked the lowest number this year, which means he got to go next. It was hard shopping for him, what do you give a man who has everything? Sulpicia got him a new watch, Felix and Jane combined their present and got him some aftershave and cologne. Heidi got him some new cufflinks, Demitri got him a new case for his iPad and Alec got him a case to put all his watches in.

Heidi got to go next. She was slightly easier to shop for, just buy her clothes and she would be happy. Aro and Sulpicia bought her a new pair of heels, Jane and Felix got her a new handbag, Demitri got her an all expenses paid trip to Milan for Fashion Week and Alec got her a nice scarf, well Luce picked it out, but it's the thought that counts.

Jane was next; Alec smirked as she went straight for his gift. He hoped she liked it. She frowned as she tore the paper off the small gift, holding a key in her hand. "A key?"

"Yeah, the key to your new cabin, I know you like wide open spaces, so I got you and Felix a cabin for when you finish next year. It's just outside of Arizona in the mountains, so you can stay close to home." Jane's jaw dropped and she blinked before jumping up and running over to her brother, hugging him tight.

"Thank you so much."

After Jane it was Felix and Demitri, who both quickly tore of the wrapping paper of their gifts. Alec got them season tickets to all of the NFA games, since they loved football so much. He got his mother a new pair of diamond earrings to say thank you for bringing Luce over and when the others finally quieted down he opened his gifts.

"Another key?" He asked his parents as he opened their gift.

"Well we couldn't exactly gift wrap it," Aro chuckled as Alec stood up and walked outside. It was a car key, and the car waiting for him outside was a brand new Lamborghini.

"This is perfect," he smirked.