I woke up, well I wouldn't say that I woke up but rather my brain woke up and my body stayed asleep and quite immobile. I could tell that my head and my injured hand were lying on Edward's chest but the rest of me was numb.

"How is she?" I heard Carlisle's voice ask. "Did she sleep through the night?"

There was no reply. The only sound was the air filling and leaving Edward's lungs and his heartbeat.

"Edward?"

Still no reply.

Carlisle sighed. "I know that you are upset about this whole situation, but you can't shut down and close yourself off from everyone."

Edward's arms held me tighter. "She's fine." Edward forced out.

I could tell by his voice that he was not 'fine' nor did he believe that I was either.

"I want to take a look at her hand when she wakes up. Will you let me know?"

Edward must have nodded because I heard Carlisle's retreating steps down the stairs.

I forced my eyes open and lifted my head. "Ugh." I groaned.

"Don't sit up until you're ready." Edward said brushing my hair behind my ear. "That pain medication really did a number on you."

"I have a very low tolerance to medicine. A regular dose for most people is like a double dose for me." I tried to sit up again this time getting into an actual sitting position. Edward had his hands on both of my shoulders steadying me while he slid over to the edge of the bed.

"I have to go to the bathroom." I started to stand but wobbled a bit. Edward put his arm around my back under my arms.

He led me into the bathroom and over to the toilet. "I think I can handle it from here."

"Bella you can hardly sit up and-" I cut him off.

"You are not staying in here while I pee." I almost shouted. He reluctantly walked out the door. "And close the door!" I called after him.

Once I was finished I called him back and he walked me back to bed. He had propped up the pillows so that I could stay sitting.

Esme appeared at the top of the stairs bearing a tray filled with breakfast items. "Oh Esme, you are a life saver." I smiled. "I'm starving and I was afraid that I would only get Pop Tarts for breakfast." Edward frowned at me so I leaned over and kissed his cheek.

The house phone rang and I heard Carlisle answer it.

It was Emmett telling us that the police had contacted him wanting to know if I wanted to press charges on James and ID him in a line up this afternoon. We set the appointment and now I would have to face James again. They swore to me that he wouldn't see me. I agreed to do it.

We still had some time before we had to leave, so I was able to rest a little more. Carlisle checked my wrist and said that it looked better. The swelling had gone down and now it was just sore.

Emmett, Rose, Jasper and Alice left out shopping early this morning and were going to meet up with us after the police station. Emmett and Jasper had already given the police a statement last night while we were all at the hospital.

I was still in bed and Edward had not left my side. I leaned into his side and rested my head on his shoulder. "You're being awfully quiet." I told him.

"Bella, I am so mad at myself right now. It's my fault that you were hurt last night. James only did it because of me."

"Edward, please don't blame yourself. You didn't know that he was even in the restaurant."

"I know. I just…I felt so useless to you last night. You were hurt and I couldn't do anything. All I felt was anger. I wanted to rip his head off. If Emmett wouldn't have been there I would have fought him and left you sitting there in pain. What kind of person does that make me?"

"You're a natural protector Edward. You were taking away the danger to me. You would have helped me when the threat of James was gone and over."

He thought about that for a minute and slowly nodded his head. "Now you see? So stop being so dramatic and help me take a shower." He raised his eyebrow at me. "Edward don't be a dork, I can barely stand up."

Edward helped me through my shower with a protective arm around me at all times so that I wouldn't fall and crack open my head open on the marble tile.

The four of us caught a cab down to the police station. I had to make a formal complaint and press charges. They led me into a room where I would have to ID James through a one-way window. A police officer, James' lawyer, a lawyer that Carlisle had called in for my protection and me were put into the small observation room with the big window and we waited.

After a few minutes five men similar to James and James himself were ushered into the small room on the other side of the window. I felt like I was in a scene from the "Usual Suspects".

The police officer called through a microphone for each of the suspects to step forward. Once they got through all six I was asked to identify my assailant.

"Number 4." I stated without hesitation.

"Are you sure?" The police officer asked.

"Yes, positive." I responded ready to leave.

I sat with an officer and told him the whole story. Edward was with me and told the officer of his past with James and why he would act like this to me. The officer had me file a restraining order against James so that he couldn't come near me again. If he did he'd end up in jail. I didn't know what was going to happen to James. I didn't really care as long as he was away from Edward and me.

They led me back to my family and thanked me for my cooperation. On the way out I saw Victoria, Tanya and their parents in the waiting area of the police station. Edward noticed too and put his arm around me protectively and we walked out the door.

Three days later it was Christmas Eve and my hand was healing fine. I had to wear the brace for another month before it would be healed properly. Edward was at my beck and call 24/7. I think Esme was impressed with her son's attentiveness. I stopped taking the prescribed pain medication so that I could enjoy the company of the living. I suppressed the pain with regular ibuprofen, and only indulged the prescription at night so that I could sleep comfortably without waking in four hours to take more medication.

Emmett, Jasper, Carlisle and Edward had gotten us a Christmas tree while us girls went out and bought the tree trimmings and other festive decorations. The loft was turning into a Christmas masterpiece. That's what Alice had called it anyways.

It was almost eleven when we bid farewell to Carlisle and Esme for the night. I headed upstairs for bed while Edward helped clean up downstairs so that Jasper and Alice could pull out the sofa bed.

I walked into the room and into the closet to get my pajamas out of the dresser. I quickly changed and was on my way into the bathroom to brush my teeth when I saw something shiny out of the corner of my eye.

I turned my head and on the bed was a small oblong package wrapped in silver paper and topped with a silver bow. I cocked my head to the side and started at it.

I walked over to the bed and picked up the box and shook it a little next to my ear. "Open it." I turned to see Edward standing against the half-wall at the top of the stairs grinning with his arms folded across his chest.

"It's not Christmas yet."

"It's close enough." He said walking over to me.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled me into his lap.

I tore off the paper and held the long velvet box in my hand. I slowly cracked open the box on its hinges and gasped. Inside was a gorgeous necklace with a heart shaped diamond pendant.

"Edward this is too much!" He chuckled and removed the necklace from the box. "No really, this it too much."

"Nonsense Bella. It's just right. I knew it would be beautiful on you." He said while brushing my hair out of the way so he could fasten the necklace around my neck.

I placed my hand over the heart pendant and looked into his sparkling green eyes. "Thank you, it's beautiful. I love it."

"Merry Christmas Bella. I love you." He told me before he leaned in for a kiss.

My good hand went to the back of his neck and into his hair and the other remained between us resting lightly on his chest. He had one hand pressed into my back and the other on my hip.

We were both startled when Alice announced her arrival at the top of the stairs. "Bella do you have a nail file?" She said examining her hand. "I snagged my nail on something today." She finally looked up at us noticing our embrace. "Oops sorry."

"It's OK Alice; it's in the bathroom in the top drawer." She ran in and out really quickly and stumbled down the stairs. "I'm Ok!" She called from the bottom.

I smiled at him and reached over and clicked off the light. We slid into bed and I crawled on top of him and started kissing his face and neck. I reached his ear. "I really love the necklace." I whispered.

He rolled us over so that he was hovering over me and molded his lips over mine.

I tugged at his shirt. "Why are you wearing this?" I said against his lips. He smiled and helped me remove it and dropped his head into the crook of my neck and kissed along my collarbone and throat. He gave me one kiss to my lips and pulled away and flopped on his back groaning.

"What? Come back."

"Bella, we have a house full of guests and a bedroom without a door not to mention a partial wall."

I pouted but I was sure he couldn't tell because of the darkness of the room. I took his hand and placed it on my face so he could feel my expression. He laughed quietly. I swung my leg over his waist and wiggled against him. "Are you sure?"

His hands slid up my thighs and onto my hips to settle my movements. "You are making this very difficult." He sighed.

"Actually I'm making this very easy." He rolled us back over. "Did you change your mind?"

He didn't say anything he just helped me out of my nightshirt.

Christmas morning was bright, festive and really early. Alice had us up at the crack of dawn with breakfast and Emmett was sitting in front of the tree shaking presents.

"Let's get this show on the road!" He hollered at everyone. "Time's a wastin'!"

We all sat around the living room while Emmett handed out presents to everyone. We opened all of the presents and 'oohed' and 'awed' at everything. I showed them the necklace that Edward had given me the night before.

It was about an hour before we were to eat and I was feeling a little tired, so I headed upstairs to lie down for a while. I assured Edward that I was fine and for him to stay and play with the video game that Emmett had gotten for Christmas.

I laid down on the bed and covered myself with the comforter and closed my eyes. There was so much yelling from downstairs about the video game. Emmett didn't seem to agree with Edward's game playing skills and was sure that he was somehow cheating.

I opened my eyes to find Esme bringing up the clothes that Alice and Rose had gotten Edward and me. She had started putting them on hangers when she noticed that I was awake.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you." She said coming to sit next to me on the bed.

"It's OK; I can't sleep with all of that racket going on down there anyway." I sat up against the headboard.

She sighed and looked at me like she had something to say to me. "Bella…" She started. "I don't know how to thank you for all you have done for this family."

I shook my head. "Me? You all have done so much for us. This apartment, Edward's piano, everything."

"No Bella. I mean what you have done for Edward. He was…lost to us before you came along." She took my hand in hers. "You have brought him back to us and I don't know how we will ever be able to repay you."

I laughed. "Esme, you don't have to repay me for anything. I have Edward. I love him with all of my heart."

"He loves you too. I can see it when he looks at you." She smiled. "Carlisle and I love you too. We consider you part of our family."

I reached out and hugged her tight. "I don't know what to say. Thank you."

"What do you say? Let's go down and finish up cooking this dinner so that my eldest son doesn't starve to death." She laughed and shook her head.

"I'm right behind you." I told her as I climbed out of the bed.

I got to the bottom of the stairs and saw Rose kicking Emmett's butt at a racing game. He threw down the controller and pouted. "You are all cheaters!"

"Emmett we let you choose your controller, then we switched controllers, then we all let you practice for a while. You are just not good at this one." Rose tried to soothe Emmett's feelings.

Edward was lying back on the couch laughing with his head on the armrest and his knees bent and feet on the cushion. Alice and Jasper were on the other end; Alice in Jasper's lap, Carlisle was in the chair, and Emmett and Rose were sitting on the floor.

Emmett shot up from the floor and ran over to me. "Bella, play me!" He shouted pushing me towards the TV.

"Sorry Emmett." I held up my braced wrist. "Plus you wouldn't want me to beat you with a broken wrist would you? Wouldn't that knock your 'man points' down a couple of notches?"

"He's already in the negative with those 'man points'." Edward teased as Emmett jumped over the back of the couch onto Edward and knocked them both to the ground. "Hey! What are you doing?"

"Boys!" Esme scolded. "Play nice."

We all seated ourselves around the dinner table and we ate. I looked around the table at all of my family and I thought of Charlie. He had sent Edward and me plane tickets home for Spring Break as a Christmas present. I felt bad that he couldn't be here with us. I would be calling him later to wish him a Merry Christmas and to send my love.

I felt Edward's hand take mine. "What are you thinking about?" He whispered.

"I'm just thinking about how happy I am right now." I said squeezing his hand.

"I'm happy too." He said and kissed my cheek and my temple. "You have no idea."