Bella's POV
We'd come over to Forks earlier in the day and had spent the afternoon doing various things around town. Edward and I had gone to La Push to visit with Jacob, Seth, and the other guys from the rez that we knew. They'd heard about the break-in from Charlie and Sue shortly after it happened, so I hadn't had to tell them the story of what happened. We'd spent some time there, just hanging out and snacking on all the delicious things Emily, the wife of one of the leaders on the reservation, had made for all the people dropping by for a visit.
We'd just gotten back to the house when Edward insisted that he had something he wanted to show me.
"Come hiking with me. You'll love it, I swear."
"You want me to what?" I asked, slightly confused. He knew how much I disliked hiking in the forests around here. I'd gotten over most of my clumsiness, but out in the woods, there were no guarantees.
"Change into your hiking boots, which I packed in my bag, and bundle up," he answered with a smirk.
"Hiking? Really?" I shook my head, raising an eyebrow.
"I promise, love," he murmured, kissing me softly, "it'll be worth the hike."
~*~CIBD~*~
That was how, almost forty-five minutes later, I found myself in the middle of the forest, ankle deep in snow.
The trees were all covered in ice and snow, looking like they'd been sprayed with beautiful white paint. The snow covering the ground was pure and untouched, aside from the two trails of prints Edward and I had left coming into the clearing. It was so quiet—I couldn't even hear any birds or other animals—that it felt like we were the only ones left in the world.
"What is this place?" I asked softly. There was something about this scene that just called for me to whisper.
Edward chuckled quietly. "You might not believe it, but in the spring, this entire field is covered in flowers. Lots of blue and purple, green, and yellow," he described in an equally soft voice. Continuing, he explained, "I found this place years ago, and I've never seen anyone else here. It's always been my quiet place—somewhere I can come and just...be. The first time a girl broke up with me, I came out here and cried. When my grandfather died, I felt free to let it all out here. All my sadness and anger came out in screams that were heard by no one but myself. It's been my safe haven for almost ten years."
I took a deep, shuddering breath in and let it out slowly, thinking of the young boy who hid his tears and emotions, sharing them with only the trees and whatever animals dared to come close to the human intruding on their space.
"Why share it with me now?" I asked, looking around the large, snowy meadow.
He picked up my hand and brought it to his lips, kissing my engagement ring through my glove, before pulling me into his arms. "Because," he murmured against my cheek, his warm breath caressing my ear as he spoke, "you, my love, are now my safe haven. This place?" He shook his head slightly. "This place will always be special to me. I couldn't think of a better way to combine my past with my future."
My heart, which had been thudding hard, began racing as he skimmed his nose along my jaw, until he brushed his lips across mine in a soft, reverent kiss. There was no rushing, no expectations of this leading anywhere. There was only the gentle touches of our lips, our kisses saying the words our voices could not.
We'd been standing still so long that the cold finally began to seep through my coat and into my body, and I gave a hard shiver.
"Time to go," Edward breathed against my lips, rubbing his hands briskly up and down my back through my coat.
I nodded and kissed him once more before stepping away and offering him my hand.
"Thank you," I said as we made our way back out of the clearing, staying within our first set of foot prints so as not to disturb the smooth finish of the snow any more than we had to.
"For what, love?" he asked, pulling me closer to him and wrapping his arm around my waist as we walked.
"For showing me such a private, personal space," I answered, smiling up at him.
He smiled softly in return. "Thank you for letting me."
~*~CIBD~*~
We got back to the house and found the rest of the family home and dinner just about ready to be served. Edward and I quickly changed clothes and warmed up in front of the fire before sitting down to eat a casual dinner of chili with jalapeno cornbread.
"Where were you guys?" Emmett asked around a mouthful of food.
I smiled at Edward as he answered, "Just showing Bella the woods around the house."
"What were yo—" Emmett started to ask something else, but Esme interrupted him.
"What did everyone do this afternoon?" She winked as Edward flashed her a smile of thanks.
"Emmett and I went to look at a part for the car we're gonna be restoring," Rose answered.
"Yep, that was our Christmas present to each other this year. A 1969 Mustang," Emmett explained, grinning when Edward and Jasper whistled enviously.
"Speaking of Christmas presents," Alice said, looking pointedly at me and then down to my hand.
I gulped at having been found out. It wasn't that I hadn't wanted anyone to know. I just wasn't sure how his family would react, considering how quickly Edward and I were moving with our relationship.
"Is there something you wanna tell us?" she continued teasingly.
Edward looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
I shrugged, knowing the cat was out of the bag.
He turned back to his family and said with a grin, "I asked Bella to marry me, and she said yes."
He was smiling so hard that he was damn near beaming, and I thought he'd never looked more adorable than he did at that moment. So proud of himself and so happy that he was almost bursting with it.
The girls, including Esme, squealed and immediately leaned in to look at the ring. Carlisle reached over from beside Edward and patted him on the shoulder, congratulating him, and then Emmett and Jasper gave him a fist bump.
"Welcome to the family, sis," Emmett called loudly from across the table. "Not sure what you see in this kid, but congratulations all the same." He gave me a wink and a grin.
We received congratulations from everyone else, and then Alice said, "That ring is gorgeous, Edward! Where did you get it?"
It really was a beautiful ring. I didn't know much about diamonds, but this was fairly large, without being ostentatious, which was good, since too flashy just wasn't my style. There were two smaller diamonds on either side of the round center stone. It was set in white gold and had smooth, rounded edges, making it really feel good on my finger.
"I got it at a small, privately owned jewelry store in Seattle the last time I was there. Mom recommended it to me," Edward explained, smiling at his mother.
"Have you told Charlie?" Alice asked, looking over at me.
"Not yet," I answered, shrugging. "I figured we'd tell everyone tomorrow. Your eagle eye beat me to it."
The rest of dinner was spent chatting about everyday things and plans for the rest of the evening and the next day. Once dinner was finished, the girls and I hustled Esme and Carlisle out of the kitchen.
"You cooked, Mom," Alice insisted. "Take Dad and go relax. We've got this."
Esme smiled gratefully and let her husband guide her out of the room.
While Edward and his brothers washed and put away the few dishes we'd used, Alice directed Rose and me in putting the leftover food in containers and then into the fridge.
"I'm gonna get started making the hot chocolate for the movie," Alice said as she began pulling ingredients from the cabinets.
To a big plastic baggie, she added powdered sugar, cocoa, powdered milk, a little bit of salt, cornstarch, and a few pinches of cayenne pepper. She sealed the bag and then shook it several times to combine everything.
"There!" she said with a grin. "Now all we have to do is heat the milk."
Once the guys were finished with the dishes, Edward took my hand, and we followed the rest of them into the living room, where Carlisle and Esme were sitting together on the couch in front of the fire. There was a group of Christmas gift bags sitting on the table in front of them.
"Oh goodie!" Alice said, clapping her hands. "Presents!"
Esme laughed and nodded. "One for each couple. Would someone hand them out, please?"
We all settled around the couch and table on the floor, and then Jasper, who was closest, picked up the first bag. "Rose and Emmett," he said, reading the names off the attached tag. He handed Rose the bag before picking up the second.
Once each couple was holding their gift bag, Esme said, "Well, go ahead. Open them."
Edward held the bag while I began moving pretty red tissue paper so I could get at the two packages inside. I pulled them out, checked the tags, and handed one to Edward, keeping the smaller of the two for myself.
Esme and Carlisle had given everyone Christmas pajamas. Looking around, I could see that we'd all gotten the same red and green plaid pajama bottoms, but as everyone held up their T-shirts, I noticed that they were all different.
I couldn't help but giggle at mine. The joke about three wise women instead of three wise men wasn't new, but I loved it, and I'd never had it on a T-shirt before. Edward's was really cute, too. A reindeer, looking up at another reindeer's head, which had been mounted on the wall, asking, "Dasher? Is that you?"
"You know me so well," Rose said, unrolling her own set, which said all she wanted for Christmas was parts for her rat rod.
"Really, Mom?" Edward groaned, looking over at Emmett, who was holding his up with glee all over his face. "You know he's gonna be saying that for weeks now..."
Emmett grinned. "C'mon, Edward. Don't get your tinsel in a tangle!"
Edward sighed, shaking his head, but he shot me a wink, making me snicker.
"Shoes!" Alice cried, holding up her own long-sleeved white t-shirt, which had a Christmas tree made out of shoes.
I had to laugh at her enthusiasm, as she held the shirt up to her chest and smiled down at the image.
"What about yours?" I asked Jasper.
"Global warming's a terrible, terrible thing," he said, his tone serious. When we all looked askance at him, he cracked a grin and turned his shirt around, showing us a melting Frosty the snowman.
We all laughed and turned to Carlisle and Esme when Edward spoke.
"Show us yours," Edward said to his parents.
Carlisle chuckled and held the bag out to Esme.
"Why wrap your own?" Emmett asked, shrugging. "Makes no sense."
"Because it's part of the fun," Esme answered primly. "Got a problem with that?" Then, to the amusement of everyone in the room, she stuck her tongue out like a five-year-old and grinned at him.
When everyone had calmed down again, she pulled out the shirts for herself and Carlisle, holding hers up so we could all see. Their set was also long-sleeved, but black instead of white, like most of them. Esme's had a silhouette image of the little boy from her favorite movie and a gun, with the phrase "You'll shoot your eye out" written on the front. She beamed with pride as she handed Carlisle's to him.
Edward, Alice, and Emmett gagged when Carlisle's Santa Claus asked "Who's Your Santa?" and Esme actually giggled. Rose, Jasper, and I smirked at their reactions to their parents, who I thought were absolutely adorable.
Once Carlisle had set his shirt down, everyone cheered when he pulled two DVD cases out from beside him on the couch. Apparently, everyone else enjoyed A Christmas Story and It's a Wonderful Life as much Esme and I did.
"Everyone go get changed and meet back here in half an hour for movie night," Esme said above the din of chatter from the rest of her family and me.
"C'mon, love," Edward said, pulling me up from my seat beside the couch.
~*~CIBD~*~
Twenty minutes later, everyone was back in the living room, all dressed in our new pajama sets. Each couple had brought a blanket, and Edward and I had brought a few pillows, as well. Carlisle and Esme were back on the couch, in their previous seats. Rose sat beside Esme, curling up with the blanket over her lap, and Emmett sat on the floor in front of her, leaning back between her legs. Jasper sat down in one of the chairs to the side of the couch and pulled Alice down onto his lap. She spread a dark purple fuzzy blanket across her lap, covering both their legs.
Edward looked over at me. "Chair or floor?" he asked, holding up the pillows he was carrying.
"Floor," I answered, grinning.
He spread the thicker of our two blankets out in front of the coffee table and then moved the pillows into place before motioning me down in front of him. He was on his side, leaning back against the front of the table, with his head propped up in his hand and his other arm curled around my waist, holding me to him. My head was on a pillow near his elbow, and our legs were tangled together under the blanket I'd spread over us before lying down.
"Everyone ready?" Carlisle asked, chuckling when we all echoed Emmett's cry in the affirmative. He hit a button on one remote, and the lights in the room dimmed to almost nothing. With the click of another button on the DVD player remote, the movie began to play.
As the big bell started chiming, signaling the beginning of It's a Wonderful Life, we all settled in to watch the classic black-and-white film. Edward's hand was keeping me snug against him, and with the blanket and the fire crackling in the fireplace, I was toasty warm and comfortable, and I knew there was nowhere else I'd rather be than there with him at that perfect moment.