Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
It was almost nine before the boys woke up on Christmas morning. Jacob had stayed up with them half the night because they both had trouble falling asleep. He had let Bella sleep because he knew that she had to be up early that morning.
No one was coming but Leah and Clay and the kids. Neither family wanted to travel up the mountain or back down it in the snow that was scheduled to come that afternoon.
She dressed the boys before bringing them downstairs. She sat them in their high chairs as she made rice cereal for them. She fed them at the same time, something that had taken a lot of patience and practice.
She set up their playpen in the kitchen then closed off Angus in the laundry room. The last thing she needed was for him to be under her feet. The boys played quietly as she rubbed brown sugar into the ham. She placed cloves all over and was washing her hands when someone knocked on the door.
She dried her hands as she walked up the hall. She was at the door before the person could knock again. Sue was outside burrowed inside her jacket. Charlie and Seth were helping Billy out of his truck.
"Hi," Bella said as she opened the door wider.
"Hey Hon," Sue said as she pulled everything she had on off.
"We didn't want to miss the boys first Christmas. And Sue didn't want to either," Billy said once the guys were inside.
"Clay and Leah should be here soon," she said.
"Where is Jake?" Charlie asked.
"Still asleep, the boys were up late and he stayed up with them."
"You go upstairs with him. I'll handle everything," Sue said pushing her towards the stairs.
"Actually the only thing that needs to be cooked right now is the ham. I was getting ready to put it in the oven."
"Where are the boys?" Charlie asked.
"In the kitchen; you can let Angus out of the laundry room."
"I'll put the ham in. Go upstairs," Sue said.
Jacob was spread across the bed with his limbs going in every direction. Bella was able to climb in and hug the edge of the mattress. She brushed her fingers over his arm making him groan.
"Wake up, and move over while you're at it," she said as she shoved him playfully.
"Where are the boys?"
"Downstairs opening presents underneath the tree."
"Seriously, where are they?"
"Our dads have them."
"Our dads are here?" he asked opening one eye.
"So are Sue and Seth."
"What are they doing here?"
"They didn't want to miss out on the boys first Christmas. Same with Sue and you know that Seth is only here for the food and the dog."
"Merry Christmas," he mumbled.
"Merry Christmas," she said running her fingers through his hair.
"This time last year we had just gotten engaged."
"And now we're parents."
"It's funny how much can change in a year."
"Yeah, it's hilarious," she said as she rolled her eyes.
"You'll be done with school in March."
"I know what you're hinting at, and I'm already ahead of you."
"You are?"
"How does June fourth sound?"
"A month to the day before the boy's birthday?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"I need time to plan. I can't do that while I'm going to school and I'm working."
"June fourth sounds great," he said with a smile.
She leaned in, brushing his hair away from his forehead. Her lips were gentle while his were needy. He groaned in aggravation when she put a halt to his plans.
"We have a house full of people downstairs. Throw on some shorts and come downstairs. I'll make breakfast."
"One more," he said with pleading eyes.
"You had better not try anything."
He shook his head in reply and she wrapped her arms around his neck. She lay against him, letting him set the pace. They were in a heated dual for dominance when someone knocked on the door. Bella was the one to pull away.
"Yeah?" he asked with a sigh.
"The boys are trying to get under the tree. I wanted to k now if it would be alright to give them one present each to tide them over until you came down," Sue said.
"No, we'll be right down," Bella answered.
Jacob scowled at the door as Bella climbed off the bed. She grabbed him a pair of shorts before pulling on a t-shirt and jeans. They were downstairs a minute later.
Seth had John in his lap while Angus sat on the floor patiently waiting his turn. Billy had Josh and he had a teething ring from the freezer for Josh to chew on.
"He was fussy. I saw that he had a tooth coming in."
"Thank you," Bella said with a smile.
Angus jumped into Jacob's lap as he sat down in front of the tree. He scratched behind the dogs ears as he reached under the tree. He handed the present to Billy for him to open for Josh.
"Let's see what you've got youngin'."
Josh wouldn't touch the paper; Billy had to do it for him. He stared at the baby xylophone, patting the box.
"He knows what that is."
"They have one at the doctor's office. He loves it," Bella answered.
"Okay buddy, this one is yours," Jacob said setting a huge bone in front of Angus.
Angus immediately went to work on it. Jacob reached underneath the tree for another gift. He handed it to Seth for John to open. Seth got the paper started and John ripped it off the rest of the way. He grabbed the rings off the cylinder happily.
"You see that buddy? That's how it's done," Billy said to Josh.
"They're both hands on babies. Aren't they?" Sue asked.
"Absolutely, John is always putting things together and pulling them apart. Josh is more interested in how things work. He'll try something and once he realizes that he can do it he has to do it again," Bella said with a laugh.
"That's good, they're smart," Sue answered.
Once all the boys gifts were open blocks, a baby piano, clothes, a light up guitar, and push toy for when they learned to crawl that could be adjusted for when they were walking littered the floor.
"This one could start a band," Billy joked.
"He loves music, and things that light up."
"You two aren't going to open your gifts?" Charlie asked.
"We're going to wait until later," Bella said.
"We have gifts for you guys," Jacob said.
"Fork 'em over," Seth said.
Sue smacked him upside the head, not able to hold back her laughter. Seth got his first and found a wallet with a fifty in it.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome," Bella said.
"You shouldn't have put the money in it." Sue said.
"Whenever you give someone a wallet you should always put money in it," Bella said.
"You gave him too much."
"We wanted to," Jacob said.
Jacob handed Charlie his next and he was surprised to see his new jacket.
"You needed a new one. You're jacket is starting to unravel at the shoulders," Bella said.
"I've been telling him that for months. It's thread bare in places," Sue said.
"What, no money?" Charlie joked.
Bella laughed as she shook her head. Sue got hers next and was pleased with the cable knit sweater that Bella had picked out for her. Bella took Josh from Billy as Jacob pulled Billy's present from under the tree.
The present rested in Billy's lap while he stared down at it. It filled his entire lap; he had no clue what it could be. He opened it slowly and his eyes widened as he realized what it was. He looked down at the picture of Jacob, the girls, Sarah, and himself. It had been blown up and put in a wooden frame. The picture had been in the kid's room at home until Jacob had left. Rachel had given it to him to take with him when he left.
"Thank you," he said quietly.
"You're welcome Dad," Jacob said with a smile.
"What is it Billy?" Seth asked.
"It's the last picture that was taken of us as a family," he said as he turned it around for everyone to see.
He swiped at his eyes nonchalantly as Jacob took the picture from him.
"Are you okay?" Sue asked.
"Yeah, I just thought that I would never see it again."
"I wouldn't let that happen. That's the last tie that you have to Mom."
"It's your last tie too."
"I still have mine," he said as he pointed to the mantle.
"Did you get one done for your sisters too?"
"Yes sir."
"Good," Billy said with a nod.
Bella went to check on the ham while Jacob took the boys toys out of there boxes. Angus chewed on his bone greedily underneath the table. Jacob came to stand behind her once she had pulled the ham out of the oven.
"Will you get the potatoes out of the refrigerator?"
"Sure."
Bella grabbed a can of green beans and a can of yams from the pantry. Jacob grabbed the brown sugar from over the stove while she heated the beans, mashed potatoes, and yams. Once that was done she leaned against him with his arms wrapped loosely around her waist.
He kissed her temple as they heard someone let Clay, Leah, and their kids in. Bella turned to face him with a smile.
"That was a really nice thing that you did for your dad."
"I knew that he hadn't wanted Rachel to give it to me. But he would never say that he wanted it back."
"You didn't even tell me that you had done it."
He shrugged indifferently as she leaned up to kiss him.
"Can't you two keep your hands off of each other for a few more hours? You have a house full of people," Leah asked as she walked into the room.
"Too bad you don't. Then you would have me saying that."
"And you would get your lights knocked out."
"That's the difference between you and me. I don't resort to violence."
"Come on you two, knock it off," Bella said as she pulled away from Jacob.
Clay carried in containers of food and set them on the counter.
"We're they threatening each other again?"
"He started it," Leah scoffed.
"I did not. You barged in here and started running your mouth."
"I said stop it," Bella said in a raised voice.
"Leah!" Sue said.
"Jacob!" Billy bellowed.
"I'm a parent and I'm about to get lectured by my mother. Thank you!" she said sarcastically.
"Leah Alexandra," Sue warned.
"Yes ma'am?"
"Grow up. While you're at it stop blaming everything on Jacob."
"Ha!" Jacob said triumphantly.
"That goes for you too Jacob. You know better than that," Billy said.
"Yes sir," he grumbled.
Leah helped Bella heat everything while Jacob and Clay went back into the living room. They worked silently as Sue sat at the table with Catelynn.
"I want to apologize for earlier," Leah said.
"I'm not the person you should apologize to."
"I have to apologize to him?" she asked flatly.
"He has a name," Sue said.
"You did threaten him."
"Jacob?" Leah called.
Jacob came to stand in the doorway.
"I'm sorry for running my mouth and threatening you."
He nodded, his lips forming a tight line.
"You need to apologize too," Bella said.
"I didn't say one mean thing to her."
"You need to apologize to me Jacob. I had to raise my voice to get the two of you to stop."
"I'm sorry for keeping it going."
"Come with me," she said walking out the kitchen.
He followed her upstairs before she wrapped her arms around his neck in the hall.
"I forgive you," she said with a smile.
Jacob leaned down brushing his lips to hers. She threaded her fingers in his hair as she pulled him closer. Someone cleared their throat behind them and Bella pulled away to look around Jacob. Charlie held a baby in each arm.
"Josh needs to be changed and John spit up on himself."
"I'll take them," Bella said.
Jacob followed Bella into the boy's room holding Josh while she changed John's outfit. They traded and she changed Josh's wet diaper. She stopped Jacob before he could walk away. She leaned in to quickly kiss his cheek.
"What was that for?"
"Have you not noticed that every time we've kissed today that someone has interrupted us when things have gotten heated?"
"I had noticed that," he said with a nod.
"I say we kick them out after dinner."
"Now you're talking. I like the way you think," he said as he slung an arm over her shoulders.
They walked downstairs and almost ran into Sue.
"Oh! Sorry, I was coming to tell you that dinner was ready."
Jacob pulled Bella into the kitchen and they settled the boys in their chairs. Idle chatter filled the room while Angus begged for food from beneath the table. Seth reached underneath the table and Angus reached up on his hind legs to take the piece of ham from his hands. He looked up to see Bella watching him. He gave her an impish smile and she smiled back. She couldn't say anything to him. She had just fed the dog green beans.
When dinner was over Sue said that the guys should clean the kitchen. Seth whined for the first few minutes before Sue set him straight. The boys played on the floor quietly while Leah fed Catelynn.
"When did they start sitting up on their own?" Sue asked.
"Around Halloween, it was easy to teach them. Once they learned that they wouldn't fall over they wanted to do it all the time."
"It keeps you from holding them all time."
"I still hold them when they let me. They let Jacob hold them more than me."
"That's because he throws them around," Leah said.
"The airplane is pretty popular too."
"Harry used to do that with the kids," Sue said sadly.
"I can still remember the way Seth used to laugh," Leah said quietly.
"Me too," Sue said with a nod.
Bella wasn't looking forward to when she would talk about Jacob in the past tense. With Sue and Leah doing it she couldn't help but think about it. Sue looked over at Bella noticing the far off look that was etched on her face.
"Honey, I'm sorry. Think of it this way, you'll have someone on your side who's been through it and live to see better days."
"That's good to know," Bella said quietly.
"And you never know, maybe you'll find a guy that makes you as happy as your dad makes me; someone to help take the pain away."
Bella nodded, hoping that Sue was right.
XXXX
Bella and Jacob were on the floor with the boys after everyone had left. Bella got up to go to the bathroom and when she came back in she stopped to look out the window. It was snowing hard enough that there was a thin blanket of snow on the ground.
"Jake," she said.
"Yeah?" he asked, not looking away from the boys.
"Bring them here."
He brought the boys to the window and four pudgy hands touched the glass.
"What do you say we get them dressed and take them out?" Bella asked.
Jacob led the way up the stairs and the boys were dressed in their jackets, hats, and mittens within minutes.
Once outside Jacob and Bella stood in the front yard, a baby held close to each of them. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her to him. She looked up at him with a satisfied smile. He smiled down at her before looking at the boys. They were trying to catch snow on their mittens.
"Could this day be any better?" she asked.
"This is a good way to end the day. Just the four of us, you three are all that I need."
"Until I have more," she reminded him.
"Then it would be the eight of us."
"We're gonna need a bigger house," she said with a sigh.
"We'll worry about that when the time comes."
She leaned up to brush her lips to his. She gave him a questioning look when he pulled away.
"If either of you so much as make a peep, you're grounded."
"No playing with Daddy."
"Only Mom can."
"That's right," she said before kissing him again.
He brushed his fingers down her cheek as she kissed him tenderly. The kiss grew heated when his tongue swept over hers gently. She sighed, letting him take over. After a few minutes she pulled away.
"If we don't get them inside they'll freeze."
"Only Josh will."
"Let's go inside," she said taking his hand.
She undressed the boys while he started a fire. He stripped down to his boxers as the fire warmed the room. They sat on the couch with the boys in his lap. She leaned against him, letting his warmth warm her.
"It's a good thing it's only a small fire. It'll go out around the time we warm up. You won't have to suffer long."
"Do you hear me complaining?" he asked.
"I know that you're roasting, don't deny it."
"It's a small price to pay if it means that I can provide for my family."
"They're asleep," she said as she watched the boys.
"Good, then they won't see me do this," he said as he leaned in.
She smiled against his lips letting him kiss her lightly. She laid her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes with a smile. She was asleep seconds later. They would sleep that way all night as a family content on spending Christmas alone, finally.
