Chapter 27: Gifts
B POV
When I saw Tanya with that stupid smirk on her face and Edward with the look of disgust on his, something came over me. I couldn't stand there and let Tanya think she was stealing Edward from me, so I decided it was time to mess with her. I didn't even have to do anything to Edward to get him to go along with me.
When we got to his room though, something different took over me. Him teasing me with kisses didn't help this new emotion. I felt feral and possessive. By the time his hand was at my hip playing with the thin material of the lace boy shorts I had on, I felt more helpless and needy.
When he finally gave in to my need, well let's just say I pretty much saw stars. He started out slow, letting his fingers explore a little, but within ten minutes he was letting my noises guide him and found exactly where I was most responseful to. It didn't take him long after that to make me lose control of my body, mind and voice. I felt nothing but his fingers and lips, smelled nothing but his body spray, saw nothing but his body looming and pressed to mine.
When I finally tipped over the edge he was there to catch me. He never stopped kissing me or touching me, his caresses prolonging the feeling of flight that was scorching through me.
As I calmed my breathing and heart rate and could see shapes again he insisted we go back downstairs, claiming that he didn't need any 'attention' as he had given himself some earlier. That made images flash through my mind and all of a sudden I was turned on again. But, he was right, we needed to go downstairs before Tanya rang the alarm and someone came looking for us.
As we descend the stairs the embarrassment takes seed in my head. Would anyone know what we just did? Would I be able to hide it? There was a knock on the door, Edward answers it. It's Aro and his family. Well, at least it wasn't James.
"Hello Aro." I say as he walks up to me.
"Hello Isabella." He answers. He never did call me Bella. Edward comes back to my side and wraps his arms around my waist. Aro's eyes snap from mine to Edward's and then back.
"Oh." He pipes. "No wonder we didn't see you the last couple of days before winter break. You and Mr. Cullen here are..." He trails off letting me fill in the blank.
"Dating again," I nod. Edward smiles at me and grips me a little tighter to him.
"Oh, well that's...splendid." He answers clapping his hands together. "Although, I had held hope that you and Marcus would get together. You would have made a very fine addition to our group. It would have made us appear more approachable, by women of your...stature." I squirm a little.
"Well," Edward interrupts. "Dinner should be soon, should we head into the main room with everyone else?"
"Sure!" Aro smiles and turns to head towards the direction where the laughs and chatter emanate from.
"Prick." Edward mumbles
"I'll say." I agree. "Why are Aro and his family here?"
"His dad owns the lumber mill that keeps most of this town supplied with jobs."
"Oh okay," I nod before changing the subject. "Um, I need to use the restroom."
He grins a smirky half grin. "I need to go wash up/ I'll see you at the dinner table. I'll save you a spot." He leaves me at the foot of the stairs with a small kiss.
I walk to the bathroom and try the door. It's locked. I wait silently outside when I hear what sounds like, crying. I listen intently as the small sobs and sniffs echo through the door. I reach out and knock quietly.
"Occupied." Tanya's sharp voice says through the door.
"Tanya?" I ask hesitantly. I get no answer. The door opens a minute later, Tanya's face is a little red, her eyes a little smudged. She looks me up and down, not in criticism, simply observing, like she's looking at me for the first time.
"Are you okay?" I quietly question.
"I don't get it," She admits, her eyes squint as if she's trying to see through a haze. "Why you?" I know what she's referring to and I can't help but feel elated that Tanya is actually jealous of me.
"Trust me," I scoff. "Sometimes I'm just as surprised and confused as you are. But I'm done feeling guilt and inadequacy, so whatever you have to say, you better say it while he's not here because otherwise you will face another bout of rejection and humiliation."
She unsquints her eyes, straightens her back and just when I think she's about to start in, she turns and walks away. I watch her walk away knowing I should feel either happy or scared; but I just feel numb. Numb because I'm indifferent to whatever she may be planning or thinking of saying behind my back. I shake my head and walk into the bathroom.
I return to the dining room table, Edward beckons me over to his side. I slide into the seat next to him just as Esme and Carlisle walk in with the two hams. Everyone 'oohs' and 'aahs' like good guests.
Dinner passes with amiable enough conversation, I catch Tanya looking at me a couple of times and I'm pretty sure Ms. Johnson was 'petting' Frank Hale for most of the dinner under the table. Edward would give me salacious looks and soft knee caresses.
"Well," Carlisle sighs. "Can I invite some of the gentlemen at this table to join me for a cigar out on the back deck?" With that the men retire to smoke cigars; Esme, Alice, Rose and I work on clearing the table.
"Thank you for the help girls." Esme says as we finish loading the last of the dishes in the dishwasher. "Bella will you go grab the boys and the men and tell them to join us for the gift exchange?"
"Sure." I perk as I finish rinsing my hands off. I walk out to the garage where Edward is leaned up against a counter talking with Emmett, Jasper and Aro.
"Boys," I announce, "Esme wants you inside, we're going to start the gift exchange." They nod, Edward's eyes light up and he's at my side in the blink of an eye.
"I've been waiting for this all night." He whispers as he grabs my waist and follows me back in the house.
We take the long way around through the pathways shoveled out around the back of the house. The men are sitting in fold away chairs around a small fire pit.
"Hey there!" I say as we near. "Esme wants us all inside, we're going to start the gift exchange."
"Oh good!" Carlisle claps his hands and rubs them together. "Shall we?" He offers as he stands.
We all head in, the parents taking most of the comfortable spots on the couches while us kids sit along the wall, in the dining chairs that have been moved into the sitting room and along the ledge in front of the fireplace.
"Okay," Esme starts as the room begins to die down in chat. "First of all I will pass out sheets of paper and pens, everyone will write their name on one and then we will take turns choosing a name out of the hat. Whoevers name you pull you will present a gift, then that person will pull another name and gift the present they have brought tonight."
A panicked look appears on a couple of faces, but none more so than Ms. Johnson. She leans over and whispers in Mr. Hale's ear. He nods his head and she sits back a bit more.
Edward leans over to me. "I'll write your name if you write mine." He whispers in my ear.
I look at him, one eyebrow raised, shrug and nod my head. He smirks and then writes my name on his paper.
Everyone puts their names in a Santa hat and then Esme mixes them up.
"Okay," She smiles, "Now that everyone has names in the hat, we will all take turns choosing names. If you pull your name you put it back and then grab another one. The person's name you choose will then pull a name until everyone has given and received a gift. Everyone get it?" We all nod and she holds the hat in front of Carlisle.
"Will you do us the honors dear husband?" She teases.
"I would love to start off the festivities." Carlisle smiles and reaches in.
Carlisle chooses Alice's name and awards her with a nice movie basket, filled with popcorn, five different movies and a few boxes of candy. Alice gets Mrs. Denali who recieves a bottle of wine and a selection of cheeses (I'm sure that Esme bought). Mrs. Denali gets Frank Hale, who pulls Charlie's name, who pulls Jasper's name, who pulls Mr. Francisco's name, and it continues until finally Tanya pulls Ms. Johnson's name.
The panicked look returns to her face and she stutters. "I wasn't able to wrap my gift." Esme assures her that it will be fine and to pick a name. Ms. Johnson chooses Esme's name. She then reaches into her purse and pulls out something fuzzy and pink.
An amused face turns into a face of embarrassment as Esme realizes that the gift she has just received from Ms. Johnson is a pair of fuzzy pink handcuffs.
"Oh these are...lovely." Esme struggles for the word. "Thank you."
Emmett guffaws loudly and Rose punches him in the arm, Edward next to me bites his knuckle to stop himself from laughing and a wave of sheepish smiles goes around the room.
As if it weren't humiliating enough Ms. Johnson then volunteers, "I've only used them once, they're brand new other than that."
Edward loses it at those words and leans behind me to splutter in laughter. Mr. Hale rubs his forehead in annoyance and Rose glares daggers between her father and Ms. Johnson.
"Classic," Emmett mumbles.
Esme quickly shifts gears and chooses a name. She picks out Edward and gifts him with a fifty dollar ITunes gift card. Edward reaches into the hat, and I'm watching close enough to see that before he puts his hand in there's already a sheet of paper in it. He pulls out a name and smiles.
"Bella," he looks at me. I blush, knowing that this was fixed. He reaches behind him and pulls out a small package and hands it to me.
"Thank you." I blush as I unwrap the small package. It's a little white box with gold lettering spelled out in loopy words. I pop the lid off and gasp. It's a charm bracelet. There's four charms on it. The first one is a silver number 22. The second one is a blue gemstone snowflake. The third one is a gold sunshine and the fourth one is a small red heart with the initials E+B etched in the center.
"Oh Edward." I sigh. "It's beautiful. Thank you." I lean in and kiss him on the cheek.
"You're welcome." He beams at me as he reaches for it and clips it onto my wrist.
"Show it off." Alice squeals. I raise it into the air and dangle it a little. Everyone claps, Charlie looks amused but also agitated, Tanya doesn't even look at it.
"Your turn Bella." Esme holds the hat up for me, I reach in and feel around, there's only a few pieces left. I pull the piece of paper out and unfold it. Scribbled on the sheet is Aro.