The Gift

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns all Twilight and the Characters

Chapter 17 How did you and mommy meet?

BPOV

The ride over to his house was quiet. I just wanted to get to Carly to make sure that she was alright. As soon as he parked the car I bolted right out of it and headed to the house.

"Carly," I yelled as I entered the house.

"Mommy," she said running to me. She jumped up into my arms and I hugged her tight. When she pulled away from me I noticed that something fishy was going on.

"Are you alright," I asked her. Her face wasn't blotchy and wasn't red at all. It was as if she hadn't been crying hard at all. "Grammy called and said that you woke up crying."

"Where's daddy," she asked instead of answering my question. There was definitely something up and I had somewhat of an idea who the mastermind was.

"There's my sweet girl," Edward said walking in and coming up behind me.

"Daddy," she said reaching over my shoulder for him.

"Are you okay," he asked taking her.

"Yep," she said smiling.

"It seems that this was a set up," I said walking towards the kitchen.

"You can't be serious," he said as I continued on my way. When I got to the kitchen door I stopped when I heard voices in a serious discussion.

"Emmett," I heard Esme say sternly. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Not really," Emmett answered her. What were they talking about? What did Emmett do this time?

"Bella is probably worried to death," Esme went on saying. Was Emmett the mastermind? This would be something that Alice would think of not Emmett.

"She needs to be here," he said as I stood at the doorway. "I'm sorry that I pulled that on you. I also know that I shouldn't have involved Carly."

"No you shouldn't have," Esme pointed out to him. So he was the mastermind behind getting me back over here. But why would he do that?

"I needed to fix it," he said and with that I made myself known.

"You don't need to fix anything," I said. When they heard my voice they both turned around to see me standing in the kitchen. "It's my mess and I'll fix it myself."

"Bella," Esme spoke looking at me and then back at Emmett. "I had no idea about the stunt that they were pulling. All I heard was Carly crying for both you and Edward."

"Esme," I said walking towards her. "It's okay."

"Bells," Emmett said speaking up. "I just wanted you here with the family."

"I know," I told him. "Sometimes we can't always get what we want."

"I never should have let Edward do that for me," Emmett said looking down at the ground. "The three of you could have been a real family from the start."

"We can't change the past," I told him.

He walked over and hugged me before heading out of the kitchen. I put on an apron and went over to the counter to start helping. I heard Esme take a deep breath and I looked over at her.

"Bella," she said and I stopped what I was doing. "You don't need to be doing this."

"I want to be doing this," I answered her pointing to the counter with all the items that still needed to be cooked.

"You should be out there spending time with Edward and Carly," she told me.

"I know," I answered her before going back to work. "It needs to be just the two of them right now."

"That's the Bella I know," she said to me. "You are always thinking about other people's needs before yours."

"Why don't I finish up the cooking," I told her. "Go spend time with Carly."

"I couldn't," she answered me. "I couldn't let you do this."

"I want to do this," I said reassuring her. "You spend every Christmas in this kitchen cooking all day long. Please go and enjoy the afternoon with everyone. I will call when everything is ready."

"Okay," she finally told me. She took her apron off and walked over to hug me and kissed my cheek. "Thank you."

When she left the kitchen I looked over everything to see what needed to be finished. There wasn't that much left to be finished cooking, it just needed to be put together. Esme didn't need to be in here all day. Especially since Carly was here and they knew everything now. Before I started to put the final things together, I made my way to the dinning room. The table wasn't set yet. So I did that quickly so that I could start bringing the food in. As I was moving between the two rooms I could hear the laughter coming from the living room. I was glad that they were having a great time together. That still doesn't change how he reacted when he found out. I wasn't expecting a happy reaction but he still didn't have to storm out like that.

I also now that Carly was overjoyed to be calling him daddy. There was something different in his eyes when he came over this morning. It was if they were overcome with joy and happiness. I had thought about the two of them for so long that I didn't even realize what I had done. I stepped back and looked to see that I had everything ready and set. Heading into the living I stopped at the doorway to see the sight that was in front of me. Carly and Edward were in the floor playing tea party. There was Carlisle and Esme sitting on the couch overseeing the tea party.

"Esme," I finally said. When I spoke everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to see me. "It's ready."

"Okay," she said and I started my way back down the hall.

"Bella," I heard Edward say behind me and I kept walking. "Can you stop for just a minute."

"What," I said when I stopped. I didn't turn around because I didn't want to face him.

"Why are you doing this," he asked me. What in the hell did he mean with that?

"Doing what," I said still facing the other way.

"Finishing the cooking," he said grabbing my arm and turning me around. "Letting mom enjoy the afternoon with us."

"I wanted to," I told him when he pulled me closer to him. "She should be given a chance to spend time with Carly as well."

"Bella," he said in a whisper. I looked up to meet his eyes and he started to lean down closer to my face.

"Daddy," Carly said coming into the hallway. When I heard her voice I moved back away from him.

"Yes sweet girl," he said picking her up.

"Grammy said that it's time to eat," she said as I looked at them.

"Okay," he said before looking at me. "Bella would you like to join us."

"Not this time," I answered him. When he heard my answer he put Carly back down on the ground. "This is your day with just the two of you."

"What will you do," he asked.

"I'm sure that I can find something," I answered him and walked into the kitchen. I still hadn't decided what to tell him. If Carly wouldn't have come into the hallway I'm sure that he would have kissed me. There was no denial in bond that we shared, or the fact that I was still attracted to him.

I filled the sink with water and started to wash the pots that were used for cooking.

EPOV

"Come on daddy," Carly said jerking my hand in the direction of the dinning room. I had just watched Bella walk back to the kitchen.

"Okay okay," I said following her to the dinning room.

Walking into the dining room I could see mom and dad already sitting at the table waiting for everyone else. Bella really did outdo herself with decorating the table and placing all the food in here. It looked like a winter wonderland, very beautiful, and everything looking perfect. I walked Carly over to the table and we both sat down. I started to fix her plate before everyone else entered so that she could have some food.

"Wow mom," I heard Alice say as she and Jasper made there way in.

"You went out of your way this year," Emmett said following them and dragging Rosalie behind him.

"Actually," mom started to say as the rest of the family had a seat at the table. "Bella helped me this afternoon. In fact she was the one to finish the cooking and set the table."

"Where is she," Rosalie asked noting that all the chairs at the table were full.

"She's already eaten," I said speaking up. I didn't know if she had already, but I had to come up with something to say.

"I hear that we have some excellent news," mom said changing the subject. I looked over at her and smiled knowing that she did this for me. "Alice do you and Jasper have something to share."

"Yes," Alice said glowing. "When we went to the doctor earlier this week and found out."

"Twins," Jasper said jumping in before Alice could finish speaking. "We're having twins."

"Congrats," I said looking over at them. I looked back down at Carly and knew then that I was truly blessed. I kind of felt sorry for Jasper now. I don't know what he would do if he had two little Alice's running around.

"Emmett," Rosalie said nudging him.

"Rose and I," Emmett said standing up. "Well we're expecting a little one of our own."

"Wow," dad said sitting back. "We go from having one grandchild this Christmas to having four next Christmas."

"This is indeed a night to celebrate," mom said raising her glass.

The rest of dinner went rather well. Of course Emmett tried to get Carly to open her mouth when it was full of food. She just sat there and laughed at him. Then of course the rest of us joined in the laughter when Rosalie smacked him upside the back of his head. As I sat there I wondered what kind of child the two of them would have together. Would the child be a jokester like Emmett or a strong independent person like Rosalie? Who knew what the child would as long as it was healthy.

"I believe that it is someone's bedtime," dad said pointing over at Carly. When I looked down I noticed that she had snuggled up close to me.

"No it's not," she said yawning at the end.

"Come on sweet girl," I said standing up and picking her up.

"Night Carlybug," everyone said as we walked out of the dinning room. She laid her head on my shoulder and held me tight. I couldn't help but smile knowing that my life had a reason again. After I hurt Bella I didn't do anything for myself that made me happy. I didn't have a reason to come home every evening. Bella has given me a reason to smile, a reason to be happy, and a reason not to look for an exit.

Before going up the stairs I stopped and glanced inside the kitchen. Bella wasn't in there when I looked. I shrugged it off thinking that maybe she had gone into the dinning room to help clean up some. I carried Carly up the stairs to my room to put her to bed.

"Daddy," she said as we stood at the sink in my bathroom brushing our teeth. "How did you meet mommy?"

"She was about five years old," I said without thinking. I smiled remembering that day when we were little. We finished brushing our teeth and headed back into the bedroom. As I tucked her in I told her how we met. "It was a nice fall day at the park. Emmett and I were playing hid and seek while Alice went to the swing set to swing. I went to hid underneath the tower on the playground while Emmett counted and that's where I found her. She was under there as well reading her books. You look so much like her, sweet girl. You have her long brown hair, and the sweet shape of her face. From that day on we became the best of friends our parents could hardly separate us."

"Can you make mommy happy again," she asked taking her stuffed animal and snuggling up with it. How did we go from talking about how I met her to can I make her happy again?

"I hope I can," I answered her honestly kissing the top of head. "Goodnight my sweet girl."

"What about mommy's gift," she said sitting up. "She didn't open it."

"She can open it tomorrow," I said laying her back down. "It will mean that Christmas will last a little bit longer. Trust me that's always a good thing."

"Okay," she said. "I love you daddy."

"I love you too," I said standing up as she turned over on her side. I turned the lamp on that was on the night stand and shut the door as I exited the room. Wow! That was the only thing that I could think of. This has been one of the best Christmas's ever. There was something or someone missing to make this day complete.

"I'm Edward," I told the girl who was hiding under the tower. "Whatcha reading?"

"Why," she asked not looking up from her book.

"I was just asking," I told her. All of a sudden I heard Emmett's voice come closer. "Don't tell him that I'm here."

"Come out Edward," Emmett said as he rounded around the tower. "Gotcha!"

"You don't have anyone," the girl said out loud. "There's no Edward in here."

"Sorry," Emmett said before running off somewhere else.

"Thank you," I said smiling at her coming from one of the corners.

"My name is Isabella," she said putting her book down. When she looked up at me that's when I saw her chocolate brown eyes for the first time. "I like to be called Bella instead."

"Bella," I said still amazed at her. "I think that we will be the best of friends."

"Okay," she said smiling back at me. "Do you want to read with me?"

"Sure," I answered her sitting down beside her. We stayed like that the rest of the afternoon. It took both our mothers to pry us apart. At that moment they both knew that we could never be separated. How many people can say that they found their soul mate at five years old?

When I made it back to kitchen I came back to reality. Mom and Rosalie were washing the dishes and Alice was drying them. I noticed that there wasn't that many dishes to be washed. Still there was no Bella to be found.

"Have you seen Bella," I asked getting there attention.

"No dear," mom said turning around. "I figured that she went upstairs with you."

"She didn't," I answered her trying to think where she would go.

"You know that she is here somewhere," mom said drying her hands off. "How was putting Carly to bed?"

"It was great," I answered her. "She asked me to tell her how we first met."

"I remember that day," she said laughing. "It took Renee and myself over twenty minutes to get you two apart."

"You all are really fast washing the dishes," I said changing the subject. I didn't need to have my own mother tell her version of the story.

"It was Bella," Alice said interjecting.

"She had washing everything while we ate," Rosalie said this time. "So the only things that needed to be washed were the dishes that we used in the dinning room."

"I'm going to go and try to find her," I said walking into the hallway.

"Edward," I heard mom say behind me. I turned around and she walked up to me in the hallway. "I can tell you this much. She's not in the house."

"What do you mean," I said worried. Had she left? Was she going to walk home? What was she thinking?

"She's still here," mom said touching my chest. "You know in your heart where she is at."

"I do," I said puzzled.

"Yes," she said patting my chest over my heart. "You need to think with your heart. Where would Bella go?"

"Okay," I said trying to figure out what she meant by that. She turned around and went back to the kitchen.

I walked into dad's study because that would probably be one of the quietest places to think right now. If I was Bella where would I go I thought. She would go somewhere that had a lot of meaning to her, or to the both of us. I paced the room back and forth thinking about what mom said. I needed to think with my heart like mom said. I closed my eyes and thought about all the places once again. When I opened my eyes I was standing in front of the windows that lead to the back yard. Looking out the window I realized where she was. The gazebo was one of the last places we were together before the whole Tanya mess. Why didn't I think of that? I grabbed the blanket off of dad's couch and went out the door in the study to the outside.

Walking up to the gazebo I could see her standing there looking out at the back yard. She didn't have a jacket on, so it was good that I brought the blanket. I walked up behind her and laid the blanket over he shoulders. She didn't move when I did this, she just stood there.

"Bella," I said wrapping my arms around her.

Sorry for the long wait it's been one crazy Christmas here. We had a lovely snow storm and so I was snowed in with my entire family for four days.