Author's note: I am so sorry for the lack of updates! Every time I tried to add this chapter it kept coming up with an error message, so I have waited patiently to have it fixed. Hope you all enjoy Edward and Bella's first Christmas together.
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, sigh. But the wonderful SM does.
Chapter songs: Let it Snow, We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Late the next morning Edward and I drove towards the coast, to the La Push reservation.
"Did you spend a lot of time there when you lived in Forks?" Edward asked me, keeping his eyes on the slippery road. There had been a fresh dumping of snow last night.
"Umm yeah quite a bit, Charlie's best friend lives there so I used to come along with him sometimes to visit Jake" I told him.
"Is Jake the Jacob I met at your birthday?" he asked me.
"The one and only, Jacob Black, along with Allie and Rosie he was one of my first friends here" I answered.
"He seemed like a pretty cool guy" he replied.
About ten minutes later we pulled up outside the Black's house, it looked exactly as it always had I thought happily. Nothing had changed since the first time I had come here as a child spending my Christmas breaks in Forks with Charlie.
The wooden boards of the house were still the same weather beaten red colour, the garden filled with wildflowers and Jake's workshop, which was two tin sheds joint together, out the back.
We got out of the car and the front door of the house opened immediately.
"Bells!" cried Jacob happily striding across the small front yard to give me a bone crushing hug.
"Hey Jake!" I replied happily, "Hey do you remember Edward?" I asked him taking a step back to stand beside Edward.
Jacob's smile quickly disappeared. "Yeah, hey man how are you?" Jake asked coldly holding out his hand for Edward to shake.
"Good thanks, it's nice to meet you again" he said shaking Jake's hand.
I frowned at Jake's reaction, maybe I should have told him that Edward was coming with me today. I was puzzled I really didn't think it would have been a problem.
Jake grinned at me "Come on inside, I know Billy will be dying to see you again Bells" he said ignoring Edward and leading us up the porch steps and into the house.
I wonder what's wrong with him, I thought frowning again.
"Hey Dad, look who it is" Jake called out.
Billy wheeled himself out of the kitchen and into the small living room. "Bella, it's good to see you again" he said smiling.
"And you Billy" I said grinning, "Billy I'd like you to meet Edward Cullen."
"Nice to meet you Mr Black" said Edward shaking Billy's hand.
"Call me Billy" he said with a crinkle eyed smile.
Edward took a step back to stand beside me and enveloped my hand in his.
Both Jacob and Billy glanced at our intertwined hands, well more like Jake glared "Got some news for us huh Bells?" asked Billy with a grin.
I laughed; Billy seemed genuinely thrilled at the news where as Jacob smiled a tight, fake smile at me.
After a catch up with Billy we headed over to Sam and Emily's where Jake said the rest of the gang were hanging out.
We spent the rest of the day hanging out with my La Push friends, Sam, Emily, Jared, Kim, Paul, Quil, Embry and of course Jacob. Luckily for me Edward got along well with all of them, this was something Jake didn't seem thrilled about.
I soon forgot about Jake's weird reaction this morning and his coldness towards Edward as the day wore on.
"We were planning on having a bonfire down at the beach on Boxing Day night, can we count on you two being there?" Paul asked us.
"Definitely" I nodded, "Do you want to come?" I asked Edward.
"Sounds great" he replied smiling.
"Okay so count us both in" I told Paul, "Would you mind if Rose, Alice, Emmett and Jasper came along too?" I asked.
"Sure the more the merrier" Quil butted in, "Leah and Seth are going to be there too" he informed me.
"Ah it'll be just like the old days, the whole gang together again" sighed Paul.
"The old days?" snorted Quil, "You sound like an old man Paul! We did the same thing last year, don't you remember?" he teased.
"Shut up you idiot" replied Paul throwing one of Emily's couch cushions at Quil's head.
That night Edward stayed and had dinner with Charlie, Sue, Leah, Seth and I. Sue had cooked up some fish that Charlie had caught on his latest fishing expedition.
"Did you have fun visiting Jake and the gang?" asked Charlie looking up from his dinner.
"Yeah it was great, they invited us to the bonfire on Boxing Day evening" I replied before taking another bite of my dinner. The mention of Jake got me thinking again about how he had acted today. It was pretty unlike Jake, normally he was a perpetually happy person who got along well with everyone.
"Awesome!" exclaimed Seth interrupting my thoughts, "I was hoping you were gonna be there" he told us.
"Wouldn't miss it" I replied with a smile.
In the morning I woke early, it was Christmas Eve already! I headed downstairs to help Sue finish off the preparations for tomorrow before getting showered and changed to head to the airport to pick up Renee and Phil.
I grabbed the keys to my truck off the hook beside the phone hoping that it would still start. I climbed up into the cab inhaling the familiar scent of peppermint, gasoline and tobacco that even after all these years still hadn't faded.
I stuck the key in the ignition and turned it slowly. To my delight it started on my first attempt, the roar of the engine just as loud as I remembered.
It felt so good to be driving my truck again, it may be old but I still loved it. I chugged down the highway towards the airport thankful that Charlie had put chains on the wheels for me last night.
I reached the airport a lot slower than I would have if I had driven my ford but that didn't matter. I sat down in the arrivals lounge and waited for the connecting flight from Seattle to land.
When I saw their flight had landed and passengers were making their way through the gates I jumped up to search for Renee and Phil.
I spotted them easily "Hey honey!" cried Renee as she reached me, she hugged me and kissed my cheek.
"Hey Mom, hey Phil" I answered, "How was the flight?"
"It was good, but we are glad to be here now!" she said excitedly.
We found their bags and headed to the car park where my truck was waiting.
"Does that thing still drive?" Renee asked in amazement. When I sent her photos of when I first moved here she couldn't believe the car Charlie had gotten me, I remember her saying it was far too old for me to be driving.
"Yes" I said proudly, "And it's not a thing!" I retorted throwing their bags in the back and pulling the cover over the flat bed. Good old Charlie, he always thought of everything.
As we drove the familiar road home to Forks Renee and Phil took in the scenery "Wow I forgot how green it was" remarked Renee.
I laughed "Hasn't changed much has it?" I replied.
"It sure hasn't" she said shaking her head.
We drove straight to the Bed and Breakfast they were staying at and unloaded their luggage and then we made our way through town to Charlie and Sue's.
"Renee! Phil!" exclaimed Sue as we walked into the kitchen where she was baking cookies for tomorrow. "It's wonderful to see you both again" she said warmly.
"And you!" Renee replied excitedly. "Thank you so much for having us this year" she added.
"It's no problem at all, it's just nice to have the whole family together" she smiled.
Charlie came into the kitchen and greeted them and then he and Phil disappeared into the living room to watch whatever game was playing.
As soon as the men had left the room Renee's questioning began. She was beyond delighted about Edward and I getting together.
"So where is Edward today Bella honey?" she asked.
"Oh he's spending a bit of time with his family this morning but he'll be here later" I told her.
The rest of the morning was spent getting reacquainted and of course being endlessly questioned by Renee. Edward still wasn't here and I was getting impatient.
I missed him much more than I could ever have imagined when he wasn't around. I was fairly certain I knew what the feelings I was having meant but it was too early in our relationship to start with those kinds of declarations.
As I pondered this I must have been so deep in thought that I didn't hear the knock at the front door.
"Bella?" called Sue as she walked up the stairs to my room, "Edward's here."
I jumped off my bed and hurried down stairs. I found him being smothered by Renee.
When he saw me walk into the room his eyes lit up and my favourite smile crossed his face.
"Hey beautiful" he said embracing me, "I missed you" he added whispering in my ear.
My face flushed with pleasure "I missed you too" I replied.
As we pulled apart I heard Sue and Renee sigh, "Ah young love" Renee said smiling wistfully.
Internally I panicked a little when she said the L word around Edward, to my intense relief he just chuckled and kissed the top of my head.
"So my Bella what did you want to do today?" he asked me.
I paused for moment, I had no idea. All I knew was that I wanted to spend the whole day with him preferably alone. I really didn't care what we did.
We ended up hanging out in my room for a while. It was a good thing Charlie was so absorbed in the game on TV today otherwise he probably would have pitched a fit. In some ways he was so old fashioned and I had to remind him frequently that I wasn't a child anymore.
"You and Jacob seem to be pretty good friends huh?" Edward asked as we both lay on the bed, him drawing patterns on the palm of my hand.
"Yeah, he's one of my best friends" I replied honestly, "He's like a brother to me really" I added.
"Hmmmmm" he replied thoughtful.
"Why do you ask?" I asked curiously.
"You two never dated?" he asked frowning.
"No way!" I replied a little louder than before, "Ew like I said, he's like a brother to me" I said shaking my head. I couldn't imagine a world where Jake and I would date; he was so much like the big brother I never had, like Emmett. It would be beyond wrong.
"The only reason I ask is because I think Jacob's feelings for you extend beyond friendship" he finished ignoring my little outburst.
I stared at him wide eyed and confused "What are you talking about?" I asked slowly trying to understand what he was getting at.
"Well he didn't look exactly happy when you told him and Billy about us" he said, "We got along so well at your party because he didn't see me as a threat then, but now" he trailed off.
I continued to stare at him; it would explain why he was so cold towards Edward this afternoon and why he looked so unhappy when I told him the news. He couldn't think that could he? I thought horrified; Jake has always known it was just friendship on my side hadn't he?
"I've also seen the way he looks at you Bella. You can't tell me you haven't noticed" he continued.
That was the thing, I hadn't ever noticed. I shook my head "No that can't be it, Jake doesn't have those kind of feelings for me" I replied.
Later that night after Edward had left I lay in bed pondering what we had talked about earlier. He was wrong; Jake didn't have those kind of feelings for me, I mean we had been friends for years and he had never given me any indication that he had feelings for me. But what if he does? What would that mean for our friendship? I pushed these thoughts aside; I decided there was no point over thinking something that probably wasn't even true.
When I woke the next morning it was cloudy as usual but over night there had been another big snowfall covering every inch of the ground and the forest surrounding the house in white.
I checked my phone on my night stand to already find messages from Edward, Emmett, Alice, Rose and Jasper wishing me a Merry Christmas and that we would all see each other later.
After showering and getting dressed in jeans and a long sleeved top I headed downstairs to where I could already hear a chatter of excited voices.
A chorus of Merry Christmas greeted me as I entered the room and sat down at the crowed dining table. Sue had once again outdone herself with a full cooked breakfast, Charlie's favourite.
"Right" said Sue as the last plate had been cleared, "Time for presents" she announced ushering us all into the living room.
We all took turns at giving out our gifts, Charlie and Sue went first. They gave me some bath and beauty products and some CD's and books I had wanted for a while.
Next was Renee and Phil, they got me a new watch, some clothes that looked far too expensive and a brand new Ipod. Leah and Seth had pooled their funds and bought me this really cool family tree sculpture with little frames with family photos and a foot spa that I had been wanting for ages.
The rest of the day went by quickly and before I knew it two o'clock rolled around. I ran upstairs to quickly get changed into something a little dressier and went to help pack up the cars to head to Port Angeles for dinner with the Cullen's, Brandon's, Whitlock's and the Hale's.
I drove my truck accompanied by Leah and Seth while the rest all drove in Charlie's cruiser.
An hour or so later we pulled up outside the Cullen's house. "Wow, their house is amazing" commented Leah as I parked the truck.
I laughed remembering I had had the same reaction, "I know!" I replied.
Esme and Carlisle were at the door to greet us, "Merry Christmas dear" she said hugging me tightly.
"Merry Christmas Esme" I replied smiling.
"Merry Christmas Bella" smiled Carlisle who also stepped forward to hug me "It's wonderful to have you here" he told me.
I stepped back and introduced my family to Esme and Carlisle. "Esme, Carlisle, this is my Mom Renee and her husband Phil, my Dad Charlie and his wife Sue and Leah and Seth" I said gesturing to each person in turn.
"It's wonderful to finally meet you all" gushed Esme as they all got acquainted.
"Please come in" said Carlisle warmly ushering us towards the living room, "Now the Hale's and Brandon's are on their way so they should be here soon" he told me walking beside me. "I'll warn you now, Emmett is pretty excited as you can imagine" he laughed.
I joined in his laughter "Of course he is."
We walked into the living room and Edward jumped up immediately making his way over to me. "Merry Christmas beautiful" he said before kissing me.
"Merry Christmas" I replied happily.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS BELLSY!" yelled Emmett launching himself towards me and pulling me into a huge bear hug.
"Merry Christmas Em!" I replied enthusiastically as he set me back down on the ground.
"Hey Bells, Merry Christmas!" cried Jasper hugging me far more gently than Emmett had.
"Hey Jazz, same to you!" I smiled. I turned and saw Renee smiling happily at the exchanges between my friends and me.
Jasper went on to introduce me to his parents Lyall and Elizabeth Whitlock. Elizabeth looked a lot like Esme with the same beautiful shade of bronze hair and Lyall was a typical southern gentleman.
Twenty or so minutes later Alice and Rose announced their arrival "Bella!" squealed Alice pulling an Emmett like manoeuvre and running at me full speed and tackling me in a hug.
"Merry Christmas Allie!" I laughed, "Merry Christmas Rose!"
"It feels like ages since we have all hung out" Rose said as we hugged.
"I know I've missed you guys!" I exclaimed.
Next in line to greet were Alice's parents Darryl and Jennifer and her younger sister Cynthia who could almost pass as Alice's twin followed by Ian, Lillian and Henry Hale.
"Have you had a good day so far?" Edward asked me kissing my hair and pulling me into his arms when I had managed to break away from the crowd.
"I have, but it just got a whole lot better" I sighed happily snuggling close to him.
He captured my face between his hands and bent down to kiss me.
"Save it for later!" shouted Emmett loudly making me blush.
"Way to ruin the moment Em, thanks" said Edward sarcastically.
Emmett just laughed punching Edward in the arm "That's what I'm here for little brother" he replied. "Now I reckon we should introduce little Bella here to a Cullen/Whitlock family tradition" he said putting an arm around me.
"Should I be worried?" I asked Edward.
"It depends, what are you talking about Emmett?" he asked exasperated.
"The traditional Cullen/Whitlock snowball fight you idiot!" exclaimed Emmett excitedly.
We all got bundled up and headed outside. "Since we have even numbers this year what do you think about girls versus guys?" he asked Jasper.
Jasper paused "Good plan" he said with a knowing look and a glint in his eye.
They both grinned at each other "This is going to be awesome" Emmett exclaimed.
Leah, Rose, Alice and I stood together with identical apprehensive looks on our faces. "Good thing I knew this would happen and came prepared" Alice remarked. Obviously Jasper had pre-warned her about a Christmas Day snow ball fight so she bought a warm set of clothes for each of us girls to wear so we could change back into our dry dressy clothes afterwards.
"Nice job on that Allie" remarked Rose watching the guys debating the rules of today's game with narrowed eyes.
"Okay" announced Emmett breaking away from the others. "So the teams are Rosie, Bella, Alice and Leah versus me, Jasper, Ed and Seth obviously. The object is to take down the enemy and no snow balls to the face" he said "Back of the head is fine though" he added with a grin.
Great, knowing my luck I would almost certainly be the only one to get hit in the back of the head I thought.
"Now teams assemble and discuss strategies" he ordered huddling the others together.
Rose looked at him with one eyebrow raised "I bet he's up to no good" she said.
"Of course he is" Alice agreed. "We will just have to outsmart them" she said with a glint in her eye. "I know of a few places we can hide and prepare a stash of snow balls to attack them with" she said lowering her voice.
"Alright" yelled Emmett after a few minutes "Girls get to go and into position, you have two minutes" he boomed.
Alice and Leah took off in one direction while Rose and I headed the other way. We found the spot Alice told us about and frantically began making a stock pile of snow balls.
"Trust me they will not find us here" Rose told me with a smirk, I giggled.
"Here they come" whispered Rose ducking down so she was hidden and grabbing a huge snow ball. "This one has Emmett's name written all over it" she said grinned evilly.
I grabbed another and we got into position so we could see them but they couldn't see us.
"On three" Rose told me. We both launched our snow balls at Em and Jazz. By some miracle I actually hit my target, I got Jasper right in the back and Rose got Emmett in the back of the head.
"What the fuck!" exclaimed Emmett loudly "Where did that come from?" he asked Jasper whirling around trying to spot us. Maybe this would be more fun than I initially thought.
"Man I have no idea" said Jasper quickly rolling up a snow ball and looking around.
I bit my lip to prevent myself from bursting into laughter. "That'll teach him for saying back of the head is fine" she grinned and launched another snow ball hitting Emmett on the leg.
"That way!" he cried pointing in the opposite direction and charging off firing random snowballs.
"Idiots" laughed Rose, "Come on Bells let's sneak around to where Alice and Leah are and ambush Em and Jazz again."
As we sneakily made our way towards Alice and Leah's hiding spot. "There you are!" Alice whispered excitedly.
"Quick here come Jazz and Edward" she said grabbing a snowball. She jumped up and launched it at Jasper hitting him on the top of his head.
Edward threw a few snow balls our way hitting Alice and she shrieked giving us all away.
From there it was all out war and half an hour later we were all freezing cold and Emmett was covered in melting snow.
"I think it's safe to say you girls won" Jasper puffed trying to catch his breath in the cold air "Next time I am definitely on your team" he added.
"You Jasper Whitlock are a traitor!" exclaimed Emmett "We wouldn't have lost if you didn't turn on me after I accidently hit you with that snow ball."
Jasper winced "You hit me in the nuts Em!" he retorted clearly still not over it, "It was a low blow" he added.
"Literally" laughed Rose and we all joined in making our way inside.
After getting changed and warming up Esme announced that dinner was ready, so we all made our way into the huge dining room where she had set their huge table to fit all of us.
Dinner was delicious, Esme had outdone herself. There were several huge turkeys, with stuffing, plate after plate of roast vegetables, peas, corn cobs and carrots and all the other usual trimmings.
When dinner was over, which was not surprisingly a rather long occasion considering Emmett had about four helpings of everything, we made our way to their enormous sitting room for coffee, desert and present opening.
They had a huge Christmas tree which dominated a corner of the room, Esme I presumed had decorated it to perfection in red and gold with twinkling lights.
"Open mine and Rosie's first Bells" Emmett demanded shoving a package into my hands. I tore off the paper; it was a new car stereo.
"Thanks guys, this is really great" I told them enthusiastically.
"Well little Bells your stereo does suck" Emmett told me laughing.
Rose had also gotten me some cool jewellery to go with it. Alice and Jasper handed out their gifts next.
I un-wrapped the perfectly wrapped gift, which was no doubt Alice's handiwork. "Man Allie this is kinda heavy" I commented struggling with the box while ripping at the paper.
Once I had torn off the paper I read the label on the box. "You got me a margarita machine?" I asked excitedly.
Alice nodded looking pleased with herself "I saw it a few months ago and thought it was perfect, I'm glad you like it." To go with it her and Jasper had got some cocktail mixers and a few bottle or two of tequila.
Esme and Carlisle got me a few trinkets as did the Brandon's and the Hale's. Next was Edward's turn.
He handed me the first gift and I ripped off the paper, inside was a square box. I opened it with nervous anticipation. Inside was a silver charm bracelet with a crystal heart charm on it.
"Oh Edward it's so pretty!" I cried, "Thank you". He smiled widely and helped me fasten it around my wrist.
"So you like it?" he asked anxiously
I turned my wrist watching the light reflect off the charm, "Its perfect" I said happily. He also got me a few other little gifts to go with it.
"Bella this is great!" he said hugging me after opening the CD's and concert tickets for his favourite band I had managed to get hold. Along with that I had gotten him a few shirts and other bits and pieces.
Later on that evening we were sitting wrapped up in a blanket on a swinging seat on the Cullen's back porch which was decorated in fairly lights and it was snowing lightly.
"Thank you Edward, this was the perfect Christmas" I sighed snuggling closer to him.
He chuckled "I second that. I'm just glad I got to spend it with you" he replied kissing my hair.