A/N: Thank you all so much for the love you're giving this story. I appreciate it, even though I'm rubbish at responding to reviews. I need to give a huge thanks to my beta, Heather, for her awesome work. On with the story.

Oh, and since some of you asked their ages are this: Bella is 17 (16 at the beginning of the story. Alice and Edward are 17 and Emmett is 18).

The month of October was over before I even knew it, and I found it hard to believe that the holidays were right around the corner. Dad had sold his house in Phoenix and had bought a cute three bedroomed house in Forks that was surrounded by woods. He'd sent me tons of pictures of the area, and it was beautiful. I couldn't wait to go and visit him, but I'd been reluctant to broach the subject of spending Christmas with him to my mom.

"Is everything okay?" she asked me as we sat at the table, eating some strange tacos that she'd created. Mom's cooking was always interesting and sometimes incredibly disgusting. Thankfully, tonight's dinner was fairly decent.

"Actually, there's something I wanted to ask you," I told her and I put down my fork.

"What's that?"

"Um...woulditbeokayifIspentChrismtaswithdad?" I blurted out.

Mom gave me a smirk before asking me to repeat my question. So I did, slower this time so she could actually understand me.

"I know that I usually spend Christmas with you, but I'd really like to go see Dad's new place."

"Uh huh. I'm sure this has nothing to do with wanting to see Edward," she said a smile on her face, and I turned red.

"That would be a perk," I mumbled and then she laughed at me.

"I think that would be fine, but I want you to spend New Year's Eve back here. I was hoping we could hit up Disney World to ring in the New Year."

I eagerly agreed as I stood up from the table and threw my arms around her in a hug. I was so excited, and I could hardly finish my dinner before calling Dad. He was delighted that I was coming to visit. After I was done talking to him, I called Edward.

He didn't answer, so I left a voicemail and hoped he'd call back soon. Our relationship had taken on a flirty tone, and I wasn't quite sure what to make of it, not that I was complaining by any means, and he'd taken to sending me a postcard every week.

I had quite the collection of Washington postcards, and each one of them had a funny quote or a song lyric written on them. I found myself beyond charmed. Mom thought that it was romantic and incredibly sweet as did Alice. I agreed with them both, but it still left me feeling a bit confused.

Walking over to my desk, I picked up the latest postcard from Edward. It was a vintage post card of Port Angeles, and on the back, he'd written Maybe the Internet raised us … or maybe people are jerks. It was a song quote from Lorde's A World Alone, and he'd sent it to me after I'd had a bad day, dealing with Jacob the Jerk.

Smiling, I went to my closet and pulled out the keepsake box my dad had given me when I was twelve. I kept seashells and pressed leaves in it, and now it housed the postcards Edward had sent me. There were only seven of them at the moment, and I pulled them out to read them all.

Some of them were just silly and had been just what I'd needed.

He'd sent me a postcard that he'd found at a thrift store, and he'd written a few of the words from Macklemore's Thrift Shop on it which made me smile. The next postcard I picked up had a bunch of wildflowers on the front of it, and on the back, he'd written You belong among the wildflowers, a quote by Tom Petty.

The boy was really too sweet I thought as I put away all the postcards and put the box back on the top shelf of my closet.

By the time I'd finished all my homework and was curled up in bed, I still hadn't heard from Edward, but I wasn't too concerned.

When I woke up the next morning, I found a text waiting for me from Edward. He apologized for not getting back to me and told me to call him whenever I wanted. Seeing as how he was three hours behind me and I didn't want to wake him up, I decided to call him after school.

A little after six that evening, I gave Edward a call, and a smile crossed my face when he answered.

"So, I'll be seeing you in December," I told him, laughing when he let out a woot.

"That is so freaking awesome! I can't wait to see you!" he said, and I definitely shared his enthusiasm.

A month later, I was on an eight hour flight to Seattle where Dad would pick me up, and then we'd drive three and a half hours to Forks.

I was so freaking excited which only made the long flight seem that much longer … and by the time the pilot announced we were arriving in Seattle, I could barely take it.

Getting off the plane took forever since I was stuck in the back, and I was more than a bit disgruntled by the time I made it into the waiting area. However, my disgruntledness disappeared when I saw my dad.

"Bells!" he cried out before wrapping me up in a huge hug which I eagerly returned before he took my suitcase, and we walked toward the parking area.

The drive to Forks was long, but the scenery surrounding the road was amazing despite the muddy ground.

"So, how's the job going?" I asked him, and he shot me a smile.

"I love it," he said, and I could tell he meant it. It wasn't that he hadn't been happy in Arizona, but now, he seemed to radiate with happiness.

"I love the pace of small town life, and I enjoy knowing a majority of the people in town. I've even met someone," he said, and I watched as cheeks turned pink.

"No way," I commented. "What's her name?"

"Sue Clearwater. She actually lives on the La Push reservation which is about twenty-five minutes away."

"How did you meet her?" I asked, completely curious about the woman who could make Charlie Swan blush.

"At the local diner. Her son is working as a chef there, and she'd come into to town to pick him up after his shift was over. We got to talking while she was waiting for him, and that was that."

"How old is her son?" I asked, and he told me that Seth was eighteen and a senior in high school. He went on to tell me that Sue was a widow whose husband had passed away when Seth was in grade school, and she'd been raising him on her own.

"Do I get to meet them?"

Dad nodded. "I invited them to dinner tomorrow night. I figured I'd grill some fish—"

"Nope, I'll whip something up," I interrupted.

"Ah Bells, you don't have to do that."

I gave him a look, daring him to argue with me after confirming that he'd grilled Sue fish just last week. I was really going to have to teach the man how to cook something else.

"How about I make a lasagna?" I suggested, and Dad nodded his head and told me we'd stop at the grocery store before going to his house.

An hour later, we were driving past a sign welcoming us to Forks, and not long after that, Dad was pulling into an IGA parking lot. He'd told me they had a Wal-Mart nearby, but he preferred to shop at the local places. I didn't blame him.

As soon as we walked in the door, people began greeting Dad, whether it was with a greeting or a wave, and Dad introduced me to quite a few people. I probably wouldn't remember any of their names, but that was okay. I really enjoyed the friendliness of it all

"Good afternoon, Chief," the woman at the checkout said.

"Afternoon, Carol. How's your son?" Dad asked, and they kept a constant stream of chatter as she scanned our items.

I found it strange to see my dad so talkative. He tended to be a pretty quiet guy, but it seemed as if the small town of Forks was causing a few changes in him, and they were good changes.

"Well, this is us," Dad said about ten minutes later when he pulled into the driveway of a cute house with lots of shrubbery.

As we walked in the front door, I glanced around, surprised to see how pretty it was. Not that his house in Phoenix hadn't been nice, but this house certainly seemed like an upgrade, and the pictures that he'd sent me hadn't done it justice.

Dad set my suitcase down in the living room, and I made my way toward the kitchen with the grocery bags in my arms.

The second I set foot in it, I fell in love. It was gorgeous and it sort of saddened me to know that the space would go unused a lot of the time. It had beautiful dark wood cabinets and marbled flooring, and all the appliances were brand new.

"I'm in love," I told him as I began to unpack the groceries, and he let out a laugh.

"C'mon, I'll show you your room. I'll admit that I had some help decorating," he told me, grabbing my luggage and carrying it up the stairs after I'd put the groceries away.

I followed behind him and asked him if Sue had been the one to help him out with my room. He he told me that Esme Cullen had actually done most of it.

"This is your room," he told me, and I walked into the gasping when I saw it. It was gorgeous with a huge king size bed and tall windows that overlooked the woods.

Turning to Dad, I told him it was perfect and he grinned and told me to settle in, and that he'd order a pizza for dinner. I was cool with that and decided to unpack and then take a shower to wash off the plane ride.

Opening up my suitcase, I began to put my clothes away in the chest that was across from the bed, pulling out a pair of fleece pajama pants and a long sleeved shirt. Done with unpacking, I stowed my suitcase in the closet and made my way to the bathroom across the hall.

The bathroom was a pretty pale blue with matching bath mats and toothbrush holder. Esme Cullen had great taste, and I couldn't wait to thank her in person.

I opened the shower door and was relieved to see it was stocked with shampoo, conditioner, and soap. I hadn't wanted to take any with me on the plane, and I hated using Dad's stuff. It always made me feel like I smelled like a dude.

I took a nice long hot shower, and once I'd brushed my hair and put my warm pajamas on, I went downstairs to find Dad settled back in his recliner with a beer in his hand and ESPN on the T.V.

"Pizza should be here in about forty-five minutes," he told me as I curled up on the couch.

By the time we were done eating, I was exhausted and ready for bed even though it was barely eight o'clock. Dad told me to go ahead and get some sleep, and that he'd see me in the morning.

I'd left my phone up in my room when I'd come down for dinner, and I'd been so caught up in seeing my dad and being in Washington I'd forgotten to text Edward and let him know that I'd arrived safely.

And sure enough, I had a text from him making sure that I was okay, so I decided to give him a call.

"I am so sorry I forgot to text!" I apologized as soon as he answered, and he let out a chuckle.

"I figured that you were just excited to see your dad and forgot," he told me.

"I did. Forgive me?"

"Of course, sweet girl. So when do I get to see you?" he asked, and I sat down in the chair that was located near the windows.

"It'll probably be a couple of days. I know that Dad has the next two days off and he's introducing me to his girlfriend and her son tomorrow, so maybe Sunday or Monday."

"Let's meet up Monday. There will be more things open, and we can show you around our town," he suggested, and I eagerly agreed.

He offered to drive down to get me that I wouldn't have to inconvenience Charlie or attempt to find my way to Port Angeles on my own, and I told him that was fine. We agreed that he'd come get me around nine in the morning that way, we'd have the whole day to spend together so I was super excited.

"I can't wait to see you again," Edward said.

"I know! I'm so excited I can barely stand it," I told him.

"Well, I've got to go. Alice is dragging me to the salon tomorrow morning because apparently my hair is out of control."

I let out a giggle at hearing Edward use the word salon. For some reason, it struck me as funny.

"Well, don't let them cut too much of it. I like your crazy hair."

He let out what sounded like an embarrassed laugh and promised not to let them cut too much.

"Goodnight, Edward. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, sweet girl," he said, and I practically swooned at his words.

"What can I do to help?" Dad asked me the next night as I was getting ready to make the lasagna.

"Get out of the kitchen and go drink a beer," I told him, and he let out a snort. Dad was pretty much a disaster in the kitchen, and while I was willing to teach him some simple recipes, I wasn't about to try and teach him how to make lasagna.

A little after seven, the doorbell rang, and I watched in fascination as Dad smoothed his hair down and straightened his shirt. I'd never seen him act like that before, and I was highly amused.

"Are you going to get that or stand there primping all night?" I teased, and he reached over and swatted me on the shoulder.

"Behave," he told me as he walked toward the door. I found it funny that he was so nervous about me meeting them while I wasn't nearly as nervous as I thought I would be. I was actually really excited to meet the woman with whom my dad was smitten.

I wiped my hands off on a paper towel before untying the apron I'd donned for cooking and made my way into the living room just as Dad opened the door.

I leaned against the wall as I watched Dad greet them, and he gave Sue a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Bella, come meet Sue and Seth," Dad said, and I walked over to them.

Sue was very pretty with copper colored skin and long black hair in a braid down her back. She seemed to be a few years older than Dad's thirty-six, but that didn't bother me at all. Sue's son, Seth, was a giant. The guy towered over me, but he had a friendly face and a nice smile.

I shook hands with both of them, and I told them it was wonderful to meet them before letting them know dinner would be ready soon.

Dad was obviously nervous as we all sat down for dinner, but I wasn't. I'd liked Sue and Seth right away, and I loved the way Sue teased Dad about how she was so sure he was going to grill fish for them.

"Oh, he wanted to," I told her, "but I put a stop to that. I figured he'd already grilled you fish, so I told him I'd make something."

Sue let out a laugh before thanking me.

"We've got to teach your dad some new recipes," she said, and I grinned at her.

"Already working on it. I figure he can at least learn to make macaroni and cheese."

Dad let out a teasing growl and told us to back off and that there was nothing wrong with grilling fish.

Dinner ended up being a huge success, and I watched fascinated as Seth ate three helpings of lasagna and half a loaf of garlic bread.

"I'm a growing boy," he told me after he caught me looking at him.

"I see that," I commented, and he flashed me a grin.

We got along really well and had quite a bit in common, particularly our love of cooking. Seth wanted to go to culinary school after he graduated high school, and he had dreams of owning his own restaurant. I admired the fact that he already knew what he wanted to do with his life. I only had a year left of high school, and I didn't have any clue what I wanted to do. Oh, I figured I'd go to college, but I didn't have a clue what I wanted to major in.

"It was wonderful meeting you, Bella," Sue said a few hours later before giving me a hug.

After she and Seth left, I turned to Dad.

"I like them," I told him, and he let out a small sigh of relief, and a huge smile crossed his face.

"Yeah, me too."

a/n: As always let me know what you thought! I'll see you next week.