Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Beta'd by melanieintn
EsPOV
Christmas morning was finally here! I hadn't looked forward to one like this in so long; one where I actually got to cook a meal. Bella came up to help me.
"Okay, so we should probably prepare the biscuits and fruit first; they will take the longest," I said, as I got the fruit out of the fridge.
"I will do the biscuits, while you cut up fruit," Bella told me smiling.
Edward was in the music room playing Christmas carols on the piano. Emmett and Rose were setting the table in the dining room. Alice, Jasper, and Carlisle were making sure everything else was ready for our guests. Renee and Phil soon made their way downstairs. Renee joined Bella and me in the kitchen, while Phil joined Carlisle and the others in the living room.
"Good morning, Esme and Bella; is there anything I can do to help?" she asked.
"Good morning, Renee; I hope you slept well," I replied.
"Good morning, mom; thanks, but no thanks. You just sit back and enjoy your visit; Esme and I have got everything in here covered," Bella said, as she hugged her mother and placed a kiss on her cheek.
Charlie and Cora arrived soon after that. Cora joined us in the kitchen, while Charlie stayed in the living room.
"Good morning, Esme, Bells, and Renee," Cora greeted.
I caught the note of surprise in Cora's voice upon seeing Renee; even though, we had told her Renee and Phil would be here. I could only imagine how I would feel, if I were in her shoes though.
"Cora, how are you this morning?" Bella asked, as she gave her a hug.
"I'm good, sweetie, thank you. Is there anything you ladies need me to do to help?" Cora replied.
"I already asked them that, but they said they have it under control," Renee stated.
Bella and I shared a look at the snappiness of Renee's tone. It was obvious she was not comfortable having Charlie's girlfriend here. We had given them both fair warning though that the other would be present. Renee had to keep in mind that Charlie had every right to be as happy with someone else, just as she was.
"Well, of course they do, but I like to be polite and at least offer to help," Cora replied with a kind smile.
Hmm, I had heard of the old saying "kill 'em with kindness," so I guessed that was what Cora was going to do. Finally, breakfast was ready; Bella and I did enlist Cora's and Renee's help in taking everything to the table.
Bella had made biscuits and pancakes, while I had made scrambled eggs with cheese. I had baked a ham, and Bella had fried some bacon and sausage. We had made hash browns, and I had cut up fresh fruit. We had coffee and orange juice to drink.
Soon, we were all gathered around the table together. Carlisle asked the blessing, and we began eating; well, the humans ate, and we pretended to eat. Cora didn't yet know that we are vampires, so we had to keep up appearances until it was decided that we would tell her the truth.
The meal was a lively affair I must say. Everyone talked and carried on together. Renee and Cora were the only ones who didn't get along quite so well. I supposed though that I would have a hard time too, if I were in their shoes.
Renee wanted to intimidate Cora by throwing up the fact that she had been married to Charlie and Bella was her child. We tried to ignore it as much as possible, but it was getting ridiculous.
"Bella sweetheart, would you care to pass your mother the hash browns please?" Renee asked Bella, even though Cora was closer.
"Renee," Charlie said in a warning tone, but Cora placed her hand over Charlie's; and he sighed and didn't say anything else.
"Renee, I have no idea what your problem is with me, but this is not the time or place. Now, I suggest we act our ages and not ruin the morning with petty bickering," Cora stated firmly.
This was one of the reasons I liked her; she wasn't letting Renee intimidate her or run all over her.
"Charlie!" Renee screamed, throwing down her napkin and standing up.
Phil tried to pull her back to her seat, but she ignored him. Poor Bella looked so embarrassed.
"Are you going to let this woman talk to me that way? I was your wife, the mother of your child. I deserve some respect," she ranted on.
"Mom," Bella started, but Cora stopped her.
"Renee, if you want respect from me, you are going to have to earn it. From what I understand, Charlie has never acted this way toward any of the men in your life and certainly never toward Phil. I understand what is going on, and I promise it won't happen," Cora said.
Bella had tears streaming down her cheeks, and Charlie was fuming.
"What are you talking about? What is going on?" Renee asked confused.
"You think I am here to take your place. You were the only woman in Charlie's life for a long time, and you are Bella's mother. You are afraid I am going to come in here and replace you. I care about both of them so much. I know you will always be in Charlie's life, as the mother of his daughter. As for Bella, I could never take your place in Bella's heart, even if I tried. So please lay aside all this animosity you feel toward me; I am not trying to replace you. I just want Charlie and Bella to be happy, and I think that is what you want too," Cora replied.
The whole table was quiet, except for Bella's quiet sniffles. Charlie put his arm around Cora and told her he was proud of her. Renee finally sat back down.
"I am so sorry everyone; I was letting my insecurities get the better of me. I almost ruined Christmas for everyone; and for that, I apologize," Renee said quietly.
She then turned to Carlisle and me.
"I should not have acted that way at your table toward a guest of yours, especially since I am a guest myself," she told us sweetly.
We were about to respond back when Emmett decided he couldn't wait another moment to open presents.
"Okay, everybody is sorry; everyone loves each other, and now is it time to open presents!" he said, and there was a loud resounding thwack. Then, everyone burst out laughing while Emmett rubbed the back of his head where Rose had just hit him.
Everyone then finished their meal talking and laughing. I noticed Cora and Renee still weren't talking, but Renee wasn't being immature anymore. It would take time, but hopefully they would be able to be amicable toward each other someday.
We eventually made our way into the living room and took our seats. All of us women were sitting on the couches, and our men were on the floor between our feet.
CarlislePOV
I was glad to see the drama end the way it did. I felt bad for all the women involved; it was plain that the animosity between Renee and Cora hurt Bella deeply and embarrassed Charlie.
"Well, now I believe it is my turn to pass out gifts this year," I said, going over to the tree.
I picked up an arm load of gifts and passed them to whomever they belonged to. When all the gifts were handed out, I took my place between Esme's feet on the floor.
No one had opened anything yet; we all waited until everything was handed out.
"Okay Bella, since you are essentially the newest member of our family, you get to go first," I said.
"Start with your smaller ones first though, and work up," Alice said with a smile.
"Alright, let me see what we have here," Bella said, picking up a tiny package wrapped in blue foil type paper and a fancy silver bow around it.
"To my wife, my angel, from Edward," Bella read the tag and smiled.
All the women awed.
"Little bro, you make the rest of us look really bad; you know that right?" Emmett asked with a snicker.
"And whose fault is that?" Edward replied smiling.
"Ohhh burn!" Jasper commented.
Everyone laughed, and Bella opened the package to reveal a beautiful gold heart-shaped locket with her name and designs engraved on the front.
"Honey, it's beautiful; thank you, I love it," Bella whispered, her voice breaking.
Bless the child; she was so emotional. She either laughed or cried about almost everything.
"I had it engraved on the back for you too," Edward told her.
"Take care of my heart, for I leave it with you for all the days of our lives. Love, Edward," she read the inscription aloud.
"Oh Edward, I can't tell you how much I love you, darling; there just aren't enough words," she told him.
"Look inside, and then afterward I will put it on you," he said.
She opened it up to find a picture of them at their wedding on one side, and on the other side was a small piece of paper that read "Ren's place." The damn broke, and then all the human women cried and the vampire women dry-sobbed.
"Man, you are a sap and a half, little brother; not to mention, you are one hell of a suck up," Emmett said, looking at Edward.
"Well, let's put it this way; we know he won't ever be sleeping on the couch because of him being an insensitive jerk," Rose said with a raised eyebrow.
All the men in the room burst out laughing.
"I have to admit; she's got you there, son," I said.
"Besides, I love him just the way he is, Em," Bella said, as she slid out of the chair and into Edward's lap.
Edward put the locket on her, and then gave her the next package. It was flat and wrapped in bright red foil paper with gold satin ribbon around it. She opened it and showed us it was a CD.
"What's on it?" she asked Edward.
"I played and recorded the classical versions of all your favorite Christmas carols. I know it's late this year for them, but you will have them next year," he told her.
"You are the sweetest and best husband in the whole world," she told him, and then they kissed.
As for the rest of her gifts, Esme and I gave her a bangle type bracelet with the Cullen Crest on it, which brought on the water works again. She hugged us tightly and told us she loved us very much. Charlie gave her a crystal Cinderella carriage that had "Paw-Paw's Princess" engraved in gold on it.
"Oh dad, it so sweet and gorgeous; I love it," she said, and the praise made Charlie blush.
Cora gave her a gift card for getting some electronic books. Alice and Jasper gave her a year's supply of spa trips for the works. Rose and Emmett gave her a romantic trip for two to NYC, for after Ren's birth.
"Oh my, I have never been to NYC, but I've always wanted to go!" Bella exclaimed.
"I thought you could let Emmett and I babysit while you two took time to reconnect. You can go on one those carriage rides around Central park and go ice skating at Rockefeller Center and stay at The Plaza Hotel," Rose explained.
"I will want to wait until Ren is a bit older though, but I can hardly wait," Bella said.
"You just wait, love; I have only begun to spoil you. I'm going to take you to all of the grandest places this world has to offer," Edward told her.
Renee and Phil gave her an organic vegetarian food recipe book. I could tell by the look on Bella's face that she was trying to not laugh. She didn't want to hurt her mother's feelings. She would actually be on an organic vegetarian diet, just not one that would require a cookbook. Somehow, she managed to thank her mother for the gift with a straight face. After all of her gifts were opened, we invited Renee to go next. Bella and Edward gave her and Phil an all-expense paid trip to South Africa.
"Oh Bella, thank you honey; this is wonderful, and I can hardly wait!" Renee exclaimed, as she went over and hugged her daughter.
"You're welcome, mom; we wanted you and Phil to have something you both will enjoy together, and I know how you love to explore and discover new places and things," Bella replied.
"Well, I am sure we will do plenty of that; thank you, guys," Phil said.
Esme and I gave them the gift of a wall mural. Alice and Jasper gave them a couple's spa treatment.
"Now you get to open the best present of all," Emmett said to Renee, as she opened the gift from him and Rose.
"Oh, and why is it the best, Emmett?" Renee asked with a giggle.
"Because it's from me, of course," he replied, grinning.
"Uh hello, doofus; I do believe I was in on that too," Rose said, smacking him on the head.
"Yeah, you know that's what I meant, Rosie," he said, rubbing the back of his head.
The whole room cracked up laughing. The package was finally open, and Renee read the card.
"This card is a gift certificate for an all-expense paid remodel of the basement in the home of Phil and Renee Dwyer, courtesy of Cullen Designs Inc.," she looked up when she finished.
"Something wrong, Renee?" I asked.
"No, not at all, I am just blown away that you would give us something like this. We have wanted the basement of our house finished for a long time now. Phil has wanted to make it into a space for all his baseball memorabilia and his office; we just haven't had the time to get it done because of him being gone so much. Thank you all so much," she said.
Once all the gifts had been opened and everyone had been thanked, I got Charlie to walk out to the garage with me. The family followed, but stayed quiet so he wouldn't notice.
We got to the garage and I opened it up to reveal the new truck, trailer, and bass fishing boat sitting there. Charlie let out a long appreciative whistle and then went over to check it out.
"Man, that is something else, Carlisle," he said.
I could hear the wistful tone in his voice and could see it in his eyes that he was in awe of it.
"I'm so glad you like it Charlie because this is your Christmas present to you from all of us Cullens. You already opened all the new fishing gear and clothes from Cora. Now, you see why you needed it," I told him.
"I'm blown away; I don't know enough words to say a proper thank you. You didn't have to do this, but I am more than pleased," he told me.
The family came in and joined us.
"You like it, dad?" Bella asked, coming up to hug him.
"Honey, it's more than I could have dreamed or wished for," he told her.
"You will have to wear your new t-shirt when you take it out for the first time," Bella said.
"You know it, kiddo," he replied, and then he went over to Cora and hugged her.
"Thank you, sweetheart; I don't think I thanked you earlier for my gifts," he told her softly, then placed a chaste kiss on her lips.
We all went back inside. Charlie and Cora gathered up their things and left after awhile, smiling widely as he pulled out of the garage in his new truck. I knew people criticized us because we had a lot of money, but I'm glad we did because I loved using it to help make my family happy and helping people less fortunate than myself. God had truly blessed me in so many ways; what was wrong with just simply passing those blessings onto someone else when I could?
The girls were given trips by Emmett and Jasper, as part of their presents. Alice and Jasper were going to our cabin in Colorado for some alone time and skiing. We had our own ski trails there, so we didn't have to worry about being outside. Jasper had also given her a trip to the Bahamas, but that wouldn't be until the summer. Emmett was taking Rose on a trip to all the states with car museums in them.
The house had quietened down a lot. Phil and Renee had went upstairs and were getting their bags packed; they had to return home tomorrow. Edward and Bella returned to their cottage. Now was a good time to have some alone time with Esme; I thought, as I went to search her out.
Charlie POV
I would never have imagined getting a new truck, boat, and trailer as a Christmas gift from my daughter's in-laws, who were also my friends; but I would always be eternally grateful to them. I was not one who showed much emotion, but I nearly cried when Carlisle told me it was mine.
When Cora and I left the Cullens, we went to her house; she wanted to put her gifts away. After she had put her things away, we watched TV. Some Christmas movie was on the Lifetime movie station.
Cora reached up and placed her hands on my face. I turned to look at her.
"Merry Christmas, Charlie; I just want to thank you again for that beautiful bowl and swan figurine and also tell you how blessed I am to have you in my life," she said.
I leaned down and kissed her. It started out sweet and chaste, but quickly turned passionate. I had not felt like this in such a long time. I was more than ready to put my all into this relationship and see where it would take me. I think Cora was too.
I pulled her into my lap, and we continued kissing.
"I want you so much; make love to me, Charlie," Cora whispered.
We got up off the couch and went to her room and continued what we'd started. This was by far the best Christmas that I'd had in a really long time.
A/N: Please leave us a review, and let us know what you think of our story. Check out our blog to see pictures and hear music at http:/ /coconspirators2011 .blogspot .com/.