A cornucopia of thanks to anyone who nominated me for anything in the TwiFiction awards. It seems that you guys really love Emerson and Emmy...and EJ and Abby ("Battle Scars," if you haven't read it). If you want to see what all I have been nominated for, it's all on my profile. I'm quite overwhelmed.

Special thanks to TwilightNJonas4Ever for nominating "Play Dates" for a Best Story award. This chapter is for you!

Chapter Seventeen: "Christmas" Bella's POV

For some reason, I always loved Christmas Eve more than Christmas. There is something that hangs in the air on Christmas Eve-anticipation, eagerness, and a sort of magic. My mother used to have Christmas Eve traditions with me, but I never had the heart to honor her by passing them on to Emerson. So instead, I started my own traditions for me, Emerson, and Charlie.

I always cooked a nice festive holiday dinner-turkey, dressing, and the like. Afterward we always drank hot chocolate, made gingerbread men, and watched a movie of Emerson's choice by the Christmas tree. Charlie was somewhat clumsy with the baking, but he never had a problem with eating. He had started his own tradition by buying Emerson a new superhero ornament every year. Emerson would have to search his tree for the ornament. Christmas Eve was strange for me when I moved in with Charlie, but five years later, it was just as cozy as can be. We nearly went into food comas from the huge meal. Emerson found his ornament and loved it. This year, it was Spiderman. He looked like he was hanging from the tree by a web. Emerson picked an old Star Wars movie from Charlie's DVD collection, and we settled in for our last tradition of the night. Charlie sat in his recliner, as usual, and I laid on the couch with my baby.

"Mommy, when do we open presents?" he asked me, lying on top of me and pressing his warm little palms to my cheeks.

"Tomorrow morning. You know that, sweet pea," I said.

He gave me a pouty look.

Half an hour later, Charlie laughed softly as we realized Emerson was asleep, snuggled into my side. "He loves you so much, Bells. You're doing such a good job. It sucks for Renee that she's missing all of this."

I shrugged. "There's nothing I can do but be a good mommy."

"You want me to take him to bed so we can wrap presents?"

"You mean so that I can wrap presents?" I teased him.

He grinned sheepishly.

I knew that Charlie loved to tuck him in. "Go for it," I smiled at him. "Enjoy him while he's here."

He happily scooped Emerson up and took him upstairs. I hopped off the couch and went outside to my car, where Emerson's bicycle was still in the trunk. I had to sneak it there while he was asleep the night before we left. I clumsily carried it, along with his helmet and pads, into the house.

Charlie joined me in the living room with a bunch of shopping bags. "I don't think you can wrap that," he remarked, looking at the bike.

"Yeah. I think you're right. I'll put a bow on it. What did you get for him?"

He held up a Nintendo DSi box with a few other little boxes for the game cartridges.

"Thank you so much, Dad," I said, tears springing to my eyes. "You don't know how much this means."

He blushed, obviously uncomfortable. "Bells, I love to spoil him. It's my job as a grandpa. Don't worry about it. It's not like I spend my money on anything other than fishing tackle and pizza, anyway."

I laughed softly. "Well, thank you anyway," I said, hugging him and kissing his cheek.

He let out one of his signature humphs and held up something else. It was a Batman-themed accessory set for the DSi, with a cover, a carrying case, a stylus, earphones, and even a car charger for it.

"Seriously Dad, how much did all of this cost?" I asked him.

He waved me off. "Let's get to wrapping. I have to wrap something for you."

"Dad..."

"Bella, you're still my baby girl. Don't argue with me."

I sighed and started wrapping the gifts. Charlie had some festive-looking gift bags out and it took me a while to notice that he was slipping more gifts for Emerson into the bags. Finally, I grabbed a bag and looked inside, much to his displeasure. There were a few comic books. I grabbed another one and saw a toy lightsaber.

"Dad..." I repeated.

"Bella..." he smirked.

I sighed. "You're spoiling him."

"That's my job," he said again.

I groaned and started wrapping again.

Finally, we were all ready. The gifts were under the tree, and the bicycle was conspicuously standing next to it with a big red bow on the handlebars. I kissed Charlie good night and tried to nonchalantly grab a roll of wrapping paper. I still had to wrap his gifts.

Emerson and I couldn't give Charlie much, but we managed to find something. Edward printed multiple prints of Emerson and I in the snow. I bought a large picture frame with lots of slots for different pictures. (On sale fifty percent off-yes!) There were pictures of me, Emerson, and even some of us posing together. And Emerson had made him a clay bowl in his kindergarten class. It had fish on it, because Emerson loved to fish with his grandpa. I knew Charlie would love it-on his refrigerator, he still had some of my kindergarten drawings Renee had sent him!

I wrapped them carefully in the floor as Emerson slept on the bed. I could still hear Charlie moving around downstairs, so once the packages were wrapped, I just set them on my old desk and crawled into bed with my most valuable little treasure.

Instinctively, he rolled over and snuggled into me, resting his head on my shoulder. His body was so warm and his breathing was so steady, I quickly fell asleep, but not before whispering, "I love you, baby."

That didn't last long. The next thing I knew, I was being roused from my sleep by an excited squeal. "Wake up, Mommy!" Emerson shouted, jumping on the bed. "It's Christmas!"
I opened my sleepy eyes. "Hmm?"

"It's Christmas!" he said again. "I'm going to go wake up Grandpa!"

I smiled. "Quit jumping on the bed, sweetie. And don't go downstairs until I tell you to."

He ran to Charlie's room. I got out of bed, grabbed Charlie's gifts, and went downstairs. I stashed them under the tree, noticing a few more bags that weren't there last night, and went to make a pot of coffee. The two old ones would need caffeine.

"Can I come down, Mommy?" Emerson shouted, pulling a lethargic Charlie to the stairs.

"Yeah," I said.

The pair ran downstairs. As soon as Emerson saw all the gifts, his eyes widened. "Oh my gosh! That's for me?" he yelled excitedly.

I laughed, totally in love with the awe in his face. "Yes, sweetie. Come on, let's open."

He walked to the bicycle and gingerly touched it, his eyes alight. "A superhero bike!" he practically giggled. "It's so cool! Thanks, Mom!"

I smiled and kissed his cheek. "You're welcome, sweetheart." The look on his face was enough to bring me happiness for the rest of my life.

Christmas was so much better when you had a child to surprise.

"Did Grandpa buy the rest?" he asked me.

Charlie coughed. "Me and your mom bought them together while you were at school, son. They're from both of us."

"Cool!" Emerson exclaimed, totally satisfied with the lie. I threw Charlie a grateful glance, and he winked at me. "Sooo," my son said, "which one can I open first?"

"Whichever one you want," Charlie grinned.

It turned out to be the biggest Christmas Emerson had ever had. He loved his bike, his new video games, the comic books, and the various other toys Charlie bought him. Every time he unwrapped a new toy, his face would grow even brighter. He kept giving me and Charlie hugs and kisses, which of course I was relishing.

Finally, I gave Charlie his gifts. He loved them, especially the bowl. He gave Emerson a big hug and promised him he would put the bowl on his desk at the police station. He did the same to me, saying the pictures could hang on the wall in his office so he could show us off.

Emerson shyly gave me a gift before scrambling into my lap. "You have a present for me?" I asked in surprise, kissing his cheek.

"Yeah," he said. "I didn't spend any money on it, though."

I kissed him again and unwrapped it. Inside was a picture frame with a finger-paint portrait. He had painted a picture of us with Emmy and Edward. It looked like Edward's hair was one giant flame, which made me smile. There was even a dinosaur-looking thing in the corner.

"Wow, baby," I said, squeezing him tight. "It's beautiful. Thank you!"

"You like it?" he asked hopefully.

"I love it," I corrected him, kissing his face. "I'll put this in the living room. You're one talented artist, like Peter Parker."

He grinned and blushed. "Mrs. Milstead gave us the frames."

"I love it," I said again. "Thank you, baby. I love you."

"Love you too, Mommy."

"And these are for my girl," Charlie announced, pushing some packages toward me.

"Dad-"

"Bella, hush and open them!"

I gave him a small grin and started to unwrap. He gave me a few things: a really nice leather-bound Jane Austen book collection with ribbon bookmarks; a hat, scarf, and glove set I suspected his girlfriend picked out; and a gift card.

"That's good for the entire mall in your neighborhood," he told me. "Any store you want. I want you to go buy some clothes. Not for Emerson, but for you. You need it."

My eyes grew hot with tears. "Thank you, Dad," I choked. He really didn't know what a blessing this was.

"Don't cry, now," he said as I hugged him. He awkwardly patted my back.

I smiled and kissed his cheek. "I love you, Dad."

"Love you too, Bells."

Emerson, thankfully, distracted us from the awkwardness. "Grandpa, play with me."

"It's raining, so we can't take the bike out," Charlie replied. "But we can play with other things."

I cleaned up the wrapping paper and made breakfast while they played together. For some reason, I missed Edward a lot today. We had barely spoken since I had been in Forks because we were both so busy. I also wished I could see his and Emmy's faces light up as I gave them gifts, but he and I had agreed on no gifts. It was just easier.

I texted him:
Merry Christmas, baby. Was Santa good to you?

He replied with:
No, because he didn't bring you back to Seattle.

I laughed and sent:
Three more days.

A minute later I received:
Can't wait, beautiful girl.

Charlie's girlfriend Sue came over later that day and basically spent the next three days with us. I didn't want to leave Charlie, but I was eager to get back to Edward in Seattle. So Emerson and I loaded up the car, kissed Sue and Charlie goodbye, and we were on our way.

When we arrived home, it wasn't raining, so I walked around my apartment complex with Emerson while he rode his bike. He was thoroughly preoccupied with his bike, so I pulled my phone out and called Edward.

To my surprise, it went straight to voicemail. "Hi, you've reached the voicemail box of Edward Cullen, reporter for Parenting Magazine. I can't take your call right now, but please leave your name, number, and if you're calling for an interview, who you represent. Thanks and I'll get back to you ASAP."

I smiled as I thought of him working hard on an article. "Hey, it's me," I said after the beep. "I'm back in Seattle and I miss you. Can we get together soon? I'm thinking fettucine alfredo. Call me back!"

"Is Edward and Emmy coming over?" Emerson asked me, riding his bike in circles around me.

"Are Edward and Emmy, not is Edward and Emmy," I corrected him. "And I'm not sure. He didn't answer my call."

"Why not?

"He's probably with his family," I replied doubtfully. It was strange he wasn't answering his phone. He usually sneaked away from his family to call me just to say hello. I hadn't heard from him since Christmas day.

Two days passed, and my calls always went to voicemail. My text messages were ignored. And I definitely didn't hear from his side of the line.

I couldn't figure out why he was suddenly ignoring me. The last time we had talked, he called me beautiful, let me know he missed me, and he seemed to be overall happy. But now he would even respond to a text message.

I didn't have the faintest idea why he would be angry with me. We hadn't had a cross word between us. The night before New Year's Eve, I couldn't sleep at all. I just sat in the living room and stared at the picture Emerson had finger-painted of the four of us.

I missed Edward so much, and I was so hurt that he wasn't speaking to me. I just couldn't figure it out...

As I gazed at the stick figure in the pink dress and red curly-cue hair, I suddenly realized the problem.

Emmy didn't like the fact that I was dating her dad. And Edward was just as dedicated of a parent as I was, so he would get rid of anyone who made his child unhappy. Children always came first. That's what we had promised each other.

Tears streamed down my face. What Edward and I had seemed perfect. Little did I know...

I couldn't sleep that night. All I could think about was how my hopes for a lasting romance were dashed. Emerson wouldn't have a father, after all.

What's wrong with Edward? Leave a review and take a guess.

Two chapters left, maybe an epilogue.