Edward's POV
As soon as my alarm beeped, I grabbed my phone and turned it off. Bella didn't need to be up for another hour, and since we'd been up so late the night before, I wanted to let her sleep as long as possible. She barely stirred as I got out of bed and moved to the suitcase on the floor across the room.
I pulled on some heavy socks, my jeans, and long-sleeved Henley, throwing an unbuttoned flannel shirt over it before grabbing my wallet, phone, and keys on my way out of the bedroom. I also took my new pajama bottoms with me so I could change out of my jeans downstairs once we came back inside. If I came back upstairs to change, I would wake Bella, I was sure. I met Jasper and Emmett on the stairs, both yawning and looking as tired as I felt.
"Whose bright idea was it to get up early?" Emmett grumbled as we quietly traipsed down the stairs.
"Yours," Jasper sighed, rolling his eyes at me. "We tried to tell you we should've set up everything last night, but you said this morning would be better."
"Oh yeah," Emmett said with a smirk, nodding. "That's right, 'cause I was anxious to get Rosie upstairs and—"
"Emmett, man, enough," I groaned. "Neither of us wants to hear about your sex life again."
"What?" He shrugged, smiling innocently. "I was just gonna say go to bed."
Jasper and I chuckled and shook our heads.
"Anyway, you have Mom and Dad's gifts in the back of your Jeep, right?" I asked as we pulled on our coats.
"Yeah, still in the boxes," Emmett answered, opening the door and then closing it behind us.
It took us nearly an hour, but we finally had the old furniture stored in the garage and the new stuff all assembled and set up on the deck out back, like we thought Mom and Dad would like it. As a group, we'd gone in together—all six of us—and gotten them new patio furniture and a new fire pit. Their old furniture had needed replaced for a while, but they'd put it off while they were overseas. Alice had mentioned that Dad had eyed a fire pit while they were shopping on Black Friday.
The four-piece furniture set included two oversized club chairs, one loveseat, and one coffee table, in an all-weather design and dark bronze wicker. The white cushions were also weather-proof and looked great against the contrasting wicker. We hadn't picked up any throw pillows, figuring Mom would want to choose those herself. The fire pit was three feet tall and made of solid copper and wrought iron. We'd even thought to bring wood to fill it with so they would have something to use immediately if they wanted.
"God, it's cold out here," Jasper griped, rubbing his gloved hands together.
I laughed. "Well, it's the end of December at—" I pulled my phone from my pocket and checked the time "—nearly seven in the morning. What'd you expect?"
Chuckling, Jasper nodded. "I suppose it makes sense. We done out here?"
Looking around, Emmett said, "I think so. Let's go warm up. I need coffee."
"Definitely," I agreed. "Everyone else should be up soon, too."
We left our boots on the deck beside the door and traipsed inside in our sock feet.
"I'm gonna change," Emmett said. "Be right back."
"Me, too," Jasper echoed, hurrying up the stairs after my brother.
I hung my coat up in the hall and then grabbed my sleep pants, making use of the downstairs bathroom to shuck my jeans and flannel shirt, leaving on my Henley and socks. After getting changed, I headed to the kitchen. I'd just started adding coffee to the machine when Emmett and Jasper walked back in.
"Alice was sitting up in bed when I got in there," Jasper said, grinning. "She looked like she was sleeping with her eyes open."
Emmett laughed. "Rose, too. And I think I heard the parental units moving around."
"Good. Get out the eggs and bacon," I instructed them, "and I'll start cooking."
Ten minutes later, the rest of my family stumbled into the dining room, bleary eyed and yawning. I put a serving tray on the counter, set eight mugs on it, and filled each mug with coffee. After adding the sugar bowl and a container of half and half on the tray, I motioned to the food.
"You guys grab all that while I take this out to the table."
They made noises of agreement, so I carefully picked up the tray and made my way through the doorway of the kitchen.
"Good morning," I murmured, seeing glares before the smiles when they noticed the coffee.
"Oh, God, thank you," my Bella breathed, reaching for the mug I'd picked up for her.
Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, I chuckled. "Good morning, love."
"Morning," she mumbled, curling her fingers around the warmth of the mug.
I passed out the rest of the coffee, setting mugs in front of Emmett's and Jasper's chairs before sitting down in the seat beside Bella.
"Gooooooood morning, family!" Emmett's loud voice boomed.
Jasper hissed quietly, "Damn, man, you're gonna get yourself shot!"
"It's not too late to take back Christmas presents," my tired, grumpy mother grumbled from across the table, barely glancing up to glare at Emmett.
I didn't think I'd ever seen Emmett become quiet as fast as he did after that. He kept his mouth shut as he set down onto the table a bowl of breakfast fruit salad and a basket filled with warm, sliced banana bread. He and Jasper had cut up the cantaloupe, apples, strawberries, and bananas and tossed them with grapes, some yogurt, and orange juice concentrate for the fruit salad.
Jasper set down a large platter of scrambled eggs and a plate stacked with bacon before sliding into the seat next to Alice.
The table was quiet—very quiet—as everyone dug into the food and drank their coffee. It looked like the remains of a slumber party gone wrong. Everyone was exhausted and not happy to be awake this early after being up until long after midnight.
Finally, when almost half the food was gone and everyone was sipping their second cups of coffee, the zombies were showing signs of life.
"Thank you for breakfast, boys," my mom said, flashing a smile around the table at us.
"Did you like the fruit salad?" Emmett asked, grinning proudly. "I made that."
She laughed. "It was perfect, Emmett, thank you."
Alice was nearly vibrating in her seat next to Bella. "Is everyone finished?"
Rose looked around the table and then said, "C'mon, Alice. Bella, you, too. Let's do the dishes and let the guys get settled in the living room since they cooked."
Bella nodded and leaned into me, kissing me softly. "Merry Christmas," she murmured.
I smiled and kissed her again. "Merry Christmas to you, too."
"Mom, Dad, you go relax," Alice said. "We'll bring more coffee in when we come."
~*~*~CIBD~*~*~
Bella's POV
As soon as the food—what little there was left over—had been put away, I washed the dishes, Rose dried, and Alice put them in the cabinet. It took us all of about fifteen minutes, since there hadn't really been much to do.
"Bella, can you get the carafe down for the coffee?" Alice asked, reaching for the coffee pot, which was on its third full pot of the morning. "It's in that cabinet right there." She pointed at a door near where I was standing.
Everyone else had taken their mugs in with them to the living room, and ours were sitting around the kitchen.
Rose refilled the half and half container, adding it and the sugar bowl to the tray again. As soon as I set the carafe down, Alice carefully poured the coffee in before moving it to the tray, as well.
"I'll get this," Rose said. "Can someone grab my cup please?"
I nodded and carried Rose's coffee and my own into the living room, following behind Alice, who'd already taken hers ahead.
"Who needs coffee?" Rose asked, carefully setting the tray down on the table by the couch.
Immediately, five mugs shot out toward her, making us all laugh. She refilled them all and then took her seat next to Emmett on the floor near the Christmas tree. He was apparently going to play Santa—and was quite happy doing so, by the look on his face.
"This is his favorite part," Edward murmured softly in my ear as I sat down near him on the floor by the couch.
I chuckled and nodded, taking a sip of my coffee.
"Everyone ready?" Emmett called gleefully, rubbing his hands together.
"See that stack there?" Esme said to Emmett, pointing to six gifts that looked exactly the same next to the tree. "Those first. One to each of you."
Emmett began passing them around, until each of the "kids" was holding one.
We waited patiently until Esme finally laughed and said, "Go on, then. Open them up. You know you want to!"
I was just as excited as the others as I tore into the pretty silver wrapping. When I got to the box, I gasped. I'd been thinking about getting one of the first iPads, but Carlisle and Esme had gotten me the latest generation, with both WiFi and 3G, which had just come out recently. I ran my fingers lightly over the picture on the cover, tracing the outline, before realizing everyone else was quiet, too. I looked up and nearly laughed at the sight before me.
Esme and Carlisle had given each of us the same gift, and everyone was in various stages of opening the box. Emmett already had his open and was trying to figure out how to turn it on. Jasper and Edward both had theirs open, as well, but they were both reading through the instructions that came in the box. Rose and Alice were moving much more slowly, like I was.
Edward looked over at me and smiled. "Go ahead, love," he said quietly. "You can open it."
"This is too much," I murmured softly, shaking my head.
Apparently, Carlisle and Esme overheard, because he said, "Nonsense, Bella."
I turned to him and felt a blush heat my cheeks.
"You're family now, sweetheart," Esme agreed. "We wanted to give all our kids one of these, since I know none of you had them."
I swallowed hard around the lump in my throat, feeling like I would burst from all the emotion I was feeling. "Thank you," I told them both. "It's great. I've wanted one for a while, and I just hadn't decided if I should buy one or not."
Esme smiled. "Well, I'm glad you waited, then! I remembered you'd mentioned it at Thanksgiving, and that's what gave me the idea."
We were quiet for several minutes while everyone played with their new toys, until finally, Edward set his aside and said, "Okay, lots more stuff, so let's play later."
Emmett and Jasper both groaned, but reluctantly set them aside.
"Okay, I'll pass out gifts to everyone, and then we can open them," Emmett said, reaching under the tree to get the next stack of gifts. He passed them out, making sure both his parents had one first.
I got a small gift from Edward, and from the feel of it, I could tell it was a CD of some sort.
He then handed Edward the gift from me. "Nothing for you guys?" Emmett asked Alice and Jasper.
The two of them looked at each other and shrugged.
"Mine for Jazzy will be here later," Alice said.
"Same here, darlin'," Jasper said, pulling her closer to him.
Emmett shrugged. "Okay, then, looks like that's it. Eddie goes first."
"Don't call me Eddie," Edward grumbled, but he cracked a smile when everyone, including me, laughed.
Edward tore into the wrapping with gusto, tossing it to the floor before turning the record over in his hands.
"What is it?" Alice asked, trying to look over Jasper's shoulder.
"A Phineas Newborn album," Edward said, turning it over and over.
"Who?" his siblings all echoed.
I looked at Carlisle and Esme, who nodded, obviously recognizing the name of the musician.
"He was a great jazz pianist in the fifties," Edward explained. "I have another of his albums; it's quite enjoyable to listen to." He smiled down at me. "Thanks, baby."
I grinned. "You're welcome. I'm glad you like it."
"Who's next?" Emmett asked, sounding slightly impatient. Obviously, he had no interest in Edward's new record.
"Bella," Rose said, smiling at me and then winking at Edward, who grinned back at her.
Chuckling, I carefully opened the neatly wrapped gift—not wanting a paper cut to ruin the fun—and realized I'd been right. On the cover, in Edward's beautiful script, were the words:
Bella's Lullaby
All my love, Edward
Christmas 2010
I felt tears well up in my eyes and didn't realize I was biting my lower lip until Edward reached over and pulled it out from between my teeth with his thumb.
"You all right, love?" he asked softly.
I nodded. "Play it?" I held the CD out to him.
He smiled brilliantly and took the case from me, kissing me softly before standing and making his way to the stereo across the room.
Once he'd pressed play, he came back and took my hand, pulling me up and into his arms.
Laughing, I said, "What are you doing?"
"Dance with me," he murmured as the beautiful sounds of his piano began sounding over the speakers.
I looked around at the rest of the family, but Edward quickly pulled my attention back to him, wrapping his arms around my waist and holding me close.
We swayed together as the music wove around us, creating an almost magical spell, making us feel like we were the only ones in the room.
"I started writing this just after I saw you for the first time," Edward murmured into my ear. "I hadn't written anything real in a while, and that day, I sat down and started playing."
I trembled slightly in his arms, captivated by the music, his words, and his piercing green eyes staring down into mine.
"It's beautiful," I whispered, tangling my fingers in the hair at the base of his neck.
We danced until the music trailed off with a long, sweet note.
"That was beautiful," Esme sighed happily.
"So sweet!" Alice chimed in.
"Why don't you do anything sweet like that for me?" Rose asked, and I knew without looking that she was pouting at Emmett.
"Babe," he responded, sounding exasperated, "you know I don't play the piano!"
I sputtered a laugh, burying my face in Edward's neck at he shook with his own silent laughter.
"Yes, well, it was still romantic," she grumbled.
"You mean, like this?" Emmett asked quietly, drawing my attention as Edward led me back to our seats.
I watched as he pulled his hand out of his pocket, a pendant hanging from a silver chain.
Rose gasped and put one hand up to her mouth while reaching to the necklace with the other.
"It's beautiful," she whispered. "Put it on me?" She looked over at him and smiled tenderly.
Emmett nodded, and when Rose turned and lifted her hair, he slid the chain around her neck and fastened it behind her.
"Show us!" Alice said excitedly. There was no doubt about it: Alice loved jewelry, even on other people.
Rose sat still and let us all get a good look. The double teardrop design in silver cradled a good-sized round diamond. It was simple, but stunning—absolutely perfect for Rosalie, and Alice and I both told her so as she snuggled back against Emmett.
"Okay, now, Mom and Dad," Alice said cheerfully, pulling us back to reality.
Carlisle motioned for Esme to go ahead, and she opened the envelope she'd been holding and pulled out a card.
She was quiet as she read to herself, until everyone began calling for her to read it aloud.
"To my darling Esme," she began, pausing to smile over at Carlisle. "I know we talked about needing to update our family portrait, especially since our family has grown by one since we last had one taken. Therefore, in February, Sophie Cole will come here to take an updated set of family photos. In addition, you, Alice, Rose, and Bella will all spend the morning of the photo session at the spa. Any service they offer is yours." She cleared her throat then and looked up. "The rest is for me," she teased, winking at us before looking over at Carlisle again and smiling.
He leaned in and kissed her softly, and I looked away, wanting to give them some semblance of privacy. Alice and Rose chatted softly about what they wanted to get done at the spa, until finally, Emmett and Edward cleared their throats, making their parents break apart with huge grins.
"Now yours, Dad," Alice said, motioning toward the big gift leaning against his leg.
Carlisle pulled the gift onto his lap and quickly tore off the wrapping. "Oh! This is great," he said, looking over at his wife.
"You remember who took that, right?" she asked, laughing.
He nodded. "Sophie Cole."
"What is it?" Edward asked. It was obviously a photo, but none of us could see what it was a photo of.
Carlisle turned the frame around, and it showed him in doctor's scrubs, surrounded by a group of seven children—malnourished and dirty, in scraps and rags for clothes, but smiling and having a good time. It was obvious that the picture had been taken while they were in Haiti.
"For your office at work," Esme said, smiling. Turning back to us, she said, "The woman who's coming here to take our family photo is the one who took this. She's a freelance photographer who was in Haiti taking photos of some of the children and families. She took this one day when your father had taken a much-needed break from the clinic and gone outside to play soccer with some of the kids who'd gathered."
Carlisle took over the story then, telling us the children's names as best he could remember. He told us about the joy the children could express, even in the worst of circumstances. In the middle of a story about one of the little boys—about four years old—offering to share his meal, even though he'd clearly needed it more than Carlisle did, the doorbell rang.
"Oh!" I said, laughing. I'd forgotten my dad and Sue were stopping by to exchange gifts.
Edward stood and pulled me up, and together, we walked to the front door to let them in.
When I opened the door, I was greeted by the two of them, each cradling an adorable little puppy in their arms.
"What in the world?" I gasped softly.
"Merry Christmas, Bells," Charlie said. "Edward." He smiled and looked at the bundle in his arms. "Let us in so these little guys don't get too cold out here."
"Are those yours?" I asked, still really confused.
Sue shook her head. "Unbeknownst to the other, both Alice and Jasper asked us to watch their gift for their spouse yesterday."
I snorted into a quiet laughter, thinking it was just too funny they'd both gotten each other a puppy.
"Come in, please," Edward said, sounding as amused as I felt. They came in and handed the puppies to us while they took off their shoes.
"How are we gonna do this?" Charlie asked, looking at the puppy in Edward's arms.
"I've got an idea," Edward answered. "Here, take this little guy back." He handed the puppy back to Charlie.
Walking back to the doorway of the living room, he said, "Alice, Jasper, close your eyes. No peeking, or your gifts are going back."
They must've closed their eyes, because Edward motioned us toward him, his finger at his lips, signaling the rest of the family to stay quiet.
He took the puppy back from my dad and whispered to me, "Put yours in front of Alice on the floor the same time I put this one in front of Jasper. I know from Jasper's description that the little black and tan mixed breed one is from him to Alice. That means this little gray one must be for him from Alice."
I nodded, grinning, and moved carefully up to Alice. I watched him, and together, we bent down and put the puppies on the floor.
"Okay," Edward said, "open your your eyes."
"Oh my God!" Alice's high, excited voice startled both puppies, and the one in front of Jasper started shaking, while Alice's little one started a ferocious bark. Of course, at eight weeks old, it really wasn't very ferocious, but it was adorable and immediately quieted Alice down.
"You're so cute," she said quietly, gently scooping the puppy into her arms. She stroked the puppy's head and whispered to Jasper, "Is it a girl or boy?"
"She's a girl," he said, letting his puppy sniff his hand. "Mine? It's a Texas Blue Lacy, right?"
"A girl, too," Alice answered, nodding and reaching over to pet the puppy that was now resting in Jasper's lap. "What do you think about Coco for mine?" Alice lifted the puppy up and buried her nose in the fur, letting the puppy lick her hand.
"Because of her color?" Emmett asked, making silly faces at the puppy in Jasper's arms. "I guess she kinda looks like chocolate."
I couldn't help but laugh out loud when Alice replied, "No, silly. Because of Coco Chanel!"
Jasper simply nodded, looking down at his new little one, and suggested, "What about Diamond?"
Alice grinned. "Hello, Diamond." Looking up at Charlie and Sue, she asked, "Were they any trouble last night? If I'd had any idea you were gonna have two of them, I'd have tried to figure something else out."
Sue shook her head. "No, they weren't any trouble. They were both very good, although we did end up with them in the bed."
Charlie rolled his eyes. "I ended up right on the edge with no blanket all night."
Alice handed Coco to Jasper and jumped up, moving over to Charlie, who was sitting between me and Sue on the couch. Carlisle and Esme had quickly given up their spots when their new guests had arrived.
"Thank you, Chief," Alice said sincerely, surprising Charlie when she threw her arms around his neck and gave him a hug. "We really appreciate it."
He awkwardly patted her back, and said, "No problem, kiddo. It wasn't so bad."
Thirty minutes later, Edward's family bundled up to take the new puppies out to the backyard. Alice had made the excuse of the puppies "needing to potty," but really, it had been a way to give Edward and me a few minutes with Charlie and Sue to exchange gifts and to surprise Carlisle and Esme with their Christmas gift from all of us.
"Well," Charlie said as soon as the door closed behind Jasper, "Alice certainly was excited, wasn't she?"
We all laughed, but my ears were still ringing from her squeals.
"Edward, can you get the gift for my dad and Sue from under the tree, please?" I asked, completely forgetting until that moment that we'd gotten something for them, too.
Edward, who'd been sitting in one of the chairs beside the couch, moved over to the tree to grab the wrapped gift and handed it to my dad before sitting back in his seat.
Charlie handed me an envelope before giving the present from us to Sue to open.
"Wow, Charlie!" Sue gasped. "You'll love this!"
She pulled out two Seattle Mariners T-shirts and baseball caps, showing Charlie, before handing him the envelope inside the box. Charlie pulled out the papers with all the information they would need to claim their half-season tickets for the Mariners.
Both of his eyebrows raised, giving him a very un-Charlie-like expression. "Wow, Bells, Edward, I don't know what to say!"
"They're for the View Box, Dad," I explained. "I think they're pretty good seats."
Charlie nodded. "Thanks, Bells," he said, patting my shoulder with a big grin on his face. "You know how much Sue and I like going to see our team play!"
I laughed. "Yes, we know."
"Now open yours," he said, pointing to the envelope I was holding. "Seth actually gave us the idea, so, uh, I hope you like it."
I opened the envelope to see two VIP Supertickets to the next Sasquatch! Music Festival, which was held in a town about halfway between Seattle and Spokane.
"Woah! Seriously?" I knew my jaw had dropped, but I couldn't seem to close my mouth. Handing them to Edward, I gave my dad a hug. Those tickets were very expensive, and I knew he and Sue had to have saved a while to buy them. "Thank you, Dad," I said into his neck before releasing him and turning to Sue. She was surprised when I hugged her, as well, but I knew she'd played a big part in buying the tickets for us. "Thank you, too, Sue. We love them!"
Edward was quiet, eyes moving over and over the tickets, before he broke out into a huge grin. "Thank you, Chief Swan. Sue."
When he reached out to shake Charlie's hand, my dad said, "Remember, Edward? Call me Charlie." Giving me a pointed look, he said, "Especially since you seem to be engaged to my daughter."
"Oh!" In all the excitement of the puppies and gifts, I'd completely forgotten to tell him about Edward proposing.
"Edward asked me to marry him, and I said yes, obviously!" I told them with a laugh, holding my hand out for my dad and Sue to see the ring.
"It's beautiful, Edward," Sue said. "Congratulations, you two."
"Thanks." I smiled at her and said, "We're both very happy about it."
"Congratulations, Bells. You've got a good guy there. As long as you're happy, I'm happy," Charlie said quietly, nodding once.
"Thanks, Daddy," I said, my eyes misting over. My dad didn't show emotion very often, so that praise for Edward meant a lot.
Sue and I talked wedding while Charlie and Edward talked about the baseball games scheduled, until Edward's family came in from the backyard.
"Charlie, Sue," Esme started, "would you all like to stay for a quick lunch? Bella mentioned you were having dinner with your kids, Sue, or I'd ask you to stay for dinner with us later."
"Oh!" Charlie looked up at the clock. "Thanks for the invite, Esme, but we'd better go. We're doing an early dinner with Seth, Leah, her husband, Jacob, Billy, and a few others from the reservation, because I need to go in to work early to cover for one of the guys who has a family dinner tonight."
"Ah. Well, you'll have to come back and have dinner with us sometime so you can see the new patio furniture the kids got us for Christmas. There's even a fire pit outside that makes you feel nice and warm!" She smiled at Edward and me before continuing. "I'm sorry you have to go, but Merry Christmas, and thank you both for bringing over the puppies." She chuckled, watching Alice and Jasper cuddle the dogs on the floor by the fire. "They aren't a big hit at all."
After saying our goodbyes—I got hugs from both of them, while Edward exchanged handshakes with Charlie and a nod and smile with Sue—we shut the door behind them and made our way back to the living room to join the family for the rest of what was turning out to be the best Christmas I'd ever had.