A/N: Here's the next chapter. I just wanted you all to know that this chapter will also be split into two. This is just the first half. Enjoy!

My friend Anam asked me how many more chapters there were going to be for this story. I'm not sure how many more there will be. I was thinking maybe there might be about 5 or 6 more chapters, but there could end up being more. I'm not promising anything though.

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns Twilight.

Chapter 25. Christmas - Part 1

The next morning, everyone woke up and got to work getting things ready for tonight.

The first thing us women did, was to ban the men from the kitchen, and the men were forced to find things to do.

While Rosalie, Alice, and myself got to work baking and preparing the food for our dinner later, the guys busied themselves with putting up the last of the decorations and waiting until the last minute to finish wrapping gifts. They even let Riley help a little.

Keeping busy was a good thing. It kept our minds off of what happened the night before. We all did our best to enjoy the day and have some fun.

Even Carlisle seemed to be doing okay, despite not having Esme around. I did however, catch him trying to sneak a few shots of whiskey throughout the day, but I made sure to keep an eye on him so he wouldn't drink too much.

The other guys were doing a bit better also. I guess moving things around and attempting to wrap gifts was making them hungry. They kept trying to sneek into the kitchen to steal cookies while they thought we weren't looking. Eventually, they stopped trying, but that probably had something to with the fact that they kept getting their hand smacked with wooden spoons.

A few hours later, we all sat down to eat dinner. We all talked and chatted with each other and I learned more about what my friends had been up to in the last few years.

Emmett had pursued a career as a professional football player for the Seattle Seahawks, but he injured his knee and was unable to play anymore, at least on a professional level. He never even got a chance to make it to the playoffs. He now works as a physical therapist for injured athletes.

I found out that Rosalie owns a garage where she fixes up and restores vintage cars. She's even had a few celebrities bring their old cars in for her to restore.

Alice had her own fashion line and sold her clothes all over the world and Jasper was the youngest person to teach at the University of Washington in Seattle. He teaches American History.

Carlisle was still working at the hospital and had no plans to retire anytime soon.

I told them a bit more about my time in Chicago and about some of my friends there. We chatted a bit more about other things, and then we all helped to put our leftovers away.

When we were finished, we all made our way to the living room and began to hand out our gifts. Since nobody knew that Riley and I were going to be there for Christmas, we didn't get gifts from anyone besides Edward, but everyone said that they would have some for us tomorrow. We had gotten presents for everyone and we sat back and enjoyed watching them unwrap them.

Instead of everyone ripping open their presents at the same time, we each took a turn.

Emmett went first. The look on his face when he saw what we got him was priceless. "You got me tickets to see the Chicago Bears! This is so awesome. Thank you so much!"

"We thought you might like them. James was actually a huge Bears fan and he knew some of the players, so he always bought season tickets ahead of time. He never got a chance to use these, and I'm not much of a football person, so I didn't want to waste them and I figured you could enjoy them." I said.

"Wow. It doesn't bother you that you're giving something of his away?" asked Emmett.

"No. I have plenty of his things that I intend to keep, so it's okay."

Emmett got up and walked over to me to give me a hug. "This really means a lot to me. Thanks." he said quietly.

After he sat down, he opened up his other gifts. Alice got him some new football jerseys, Jasper gave him a book on the history of football, Carlisle had gotten him some video games, and Rosalie gave him tickets to see Pitbull in concert.

Next up was Rosalie. We had gotten her tickets to some auto shows. She loved them. "This is a wonderful gift. I've actually been meaning to get some of these, so they are perfect." She gave us a hug and said, "Thank you."

Jasper and Alice gave her a gift certificate for Victoria's Secret, and Carlisle gave her a gift certificate for a day at the spa.

Jasper had his turn after Rosalie. I knew he love our gifts. Edward and I had gone to an estate sale a week before we had returned to Forks. We came across some items from the Civil War. I got Jasper some journals that belonged to a young Major in the Confederate Army, and Edward got him the sword that went with the journals.

"Wow. These are absolutely amazing. I can't wait to read these and put this saber up on my office wall at home. I've been looking for things like this to add to my collection, but they aren't very easy to find. I'm really lucky. Thank you so much for these."

"You're welcome, but before we continue, I want you to go put those away so Riley doesn't get to them." I told him.

"Sure, I'll be right back." he said as he left the room.

He got back a minute later and then continued to open his presents. Emmett gave Jasper a book about the battles of the Civil War, Rosalie gave him some new clothes, Carlisle gave him a book on medical practices during the Civil War, and Alice got him a registration form for a Civil War reenactment.

"What's that?" asked Emmett.

"It's a form for me to fill out, so I can participate in a Civil War reenactment." replied Jasper. Emmett just looked at him in confusion, so Jasper had to explain it more. "You know how there are places where people dress up and act like people did in the past?" Emmett nodded at him. "Well, it's kind of like that, but I get to pretend to be a soldier and I have to live the way they did back then. I won't have any modern things like cell phones or electricity. I get to live like a real Civil War soldier for a week."

"Oh. Now I get it. Thanks for clearing that up." said Emmett.

"No problem." said Jasper. "Now it's Alice's turn."

We got Alice a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes that she absolutely loved. "These are the exact ones that I wanted! she exclaimed. "How did you know I wanted them?"

Edward and I looked at each other and then Edward replied, "We didn't know that you wanted them. It was just a very luck guess, I suppose."

"Well thank you so much. I tried to get some of these myself, but they were sold out. I didn't think I would ever get the chance to own a pair. You guys are life savers. Thank you." she said happily.

"You're welcome, Alice. Now hurry up and unwrap the rest of your presents. I want to see what else you got." I said.

So she did. Jasper bought her a Prada bag, Rosalie and Emmett gave her a dress by Vera Wang, and Carlisle gave her a pass for a two week long getaway with Jasper.

It was now Carlisle's turn, but as he went to reach for a gift to open, the doorbell rang.

"I wonder who that could be?" he asked.

Edward went to get up and answer it, but Carlisle told him to sit back down and to let him get it. We were all completely silent, so we could hear who it was. We were very surprised by what we heard.

"Hello, Chief Swan. What can I do for you this evening?"

A/N: I know I left you hanging again, but I felt this chapter would be better in two parts like the previous ones.

Thank you for reviewing, favoriting, and following.

See you soon! :)