A/N: I thought Chapter Eight would be my last post before the holiday, but my Christmas was canceled at the last minute. So I figured I'd write y'all a short holiday chapter so our favorite couple could have a little bit of happiness before the drama resumes.

To anyone who celebrates Christmas, I hope you have a lovely holiday. For anyone who doesn't, I hope you have a lovely Monday. I'm trying to use this time to focus on the good things in my life instead of the yuck, so I want you all to know I'm grateful for you. I know the holiday season can be a difficult time for many of us so if that's true for any of you, know that there's someone in New York right this very second who is grateful for your kindness. Thank you:)

Take care, M. x

Holiday Cheer

Bella woke up the next morning tucked up in bed, and only slightly nauseous. She smiled to herself that she didn't have to make a mad dash to the bathroom for the first time in a handful of days.

When she was gently tugged into a cuddle with a cold body, she smiled. "You can talk to my stomach every night if it means I wake up without feeling the need to hurl out one of my vital organs," Bella laughed as she opened her eyes. "Hi," she said as she looked at her mate.

"Hi," Jasper smiled as he pulled her closer to give her a long kiss. "The little one and I had another talk a few hours ago and reached an understanding. I'll take care of you, you'll take care of the pea, and the pea will let you live a life without vomit. It's a win-win-win."

"That's definitely a plan I can get on board with," Bella laughed and cuddled a little closer, closing her eyes with a happy sigh when Jasper started gently running his fingers through her hair. "Where is everyone?" she asked.

"Peter's reading, Charlotte's making you some tea and toast, and the former Cullens went back to the suite they're staying in."

Bella hummed in acknowledgement. "Did Peter get his hands on a pregnancy book?" she smiled.

Jasper laughed. "Chelsea dropped a few off a couple hours ago. We've all been reading. Us Whitlocks are competitive as fuck."

"You're all crazy," she laughed.

Jasper just shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, us Whitlocks are that, too."

As Bella laid there in contented silence, she thought about everything that happened the night before. "Did Edward really tell them I'd turn them in to the Volturi if they tried to say goodbye or contact me?" she asked quietly.

"I wasn't there for that conversation, but going off their emotions, I'd say it's pretty fuckin' likely. It would explain the level of sadness and grief in them after we left," he said. "They all loved you. Still love you, actually. Emmett and Esme were particularly devastated. Esme told me last night when we were alone that Edward and Alice told her you hated her. That a mother should've been able to keep her daughter safe."

Bella huffed as she felt fury rise up inside her. "They really played to her insecurities, huh? That was how she felt about her human baby, right? That it was somehow her fault he died?"

Jasper nodded. "Yes. My guess is they did something similar with Emmett. A brother not protecting his little sister."

"What a bunch of conniving assholes," she said through gritted teeth. She'd been sitting in Washington thinking she'd been abandoned by most of the family who claimed to love her, while they were out in the world thinking their newest daughter and sister had turned her back on them. "How did you not know they did that? That they lied about me?"

"Remember, I left the family only a few months down the road from when we left Forks. And in that initial period, everyone was a little bit afraid to talk about you. Not only was the sadness and hurt intense inside the three Cullens who aren't insane, but if Carlisle, Alice, or Edward caught us talking about you, they'd go off on a tirade about how everything was my fault and what a disappointment and disgrace I was," Jasper said quietly, again shoving away those feelings of betrayal. "Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett knew it was taking a toll on me so they tried to process their grief when I wasn't around."

Bella cuddled just a little bit closer to Jasper. Because she was basically laying on top of him, she could feel how much he was still hurting from the way those lunatics had treated him.

"Do you celebrate Christmas?" she asked after a few minutes of silence.

Jasper smiled at her subject change. "Sometimes, although not in any religious sense. By the time I left the south I'd been a vampire for seventy-five years. And I had virtually no contact with the human world in that time. Things like Christmas and birthdays had no place in my life and I forgot they even existed. It wasn't until I was with Peter and Charlotte that any of those memories of human celebrations came back to me, and by then, being so far removed from them for that long, I felt no connection to them at all. It wasn't until Alice and I joined the Cullens twelve years later that they meant more than just another date on the calendar. We didn't celebrate every year, though. Depending on where we were living or what kind of mental space some of us were in, we played it by ear. For those in the family who still grieved for their human lives, Christmas could sometimes just feel like another reminder of what they lost."

Bella hummed in acknowledgment as she thought about that. She hadn't been much of a Christmas celebrator either. And it had no religious component in her family. She and her mom would usually go on vacation, and if she was with her dad, they typically just had a quiet day at home together, occasionally stopping in at the Blacks or Clearwaters.

But now she was growing a pea, and the thought of having the type of Christmas she saw on TV and in movies was a little more appealing.

"Today's the 20th," Bella said as she pushed herself up so she was sitting. "Think the Volturi celebrate it?"

"I doubt it," Jasper laughed as he tried to straighten out the chaos that was Bella's hair in the morning. "The brothers, and many of the guard, are from a time well before Christ was born. I think the Volturi was founded in something like 1100 BC. Or BCE, I guess now."

Bella laughed as she batted Jasper's hand away from the rats nest on her head. "What's the plan for today?" she asked.

"The Cullens are going to need a little time to heal so we have the day free," Jasper said with a smile, then caught Bella up on what had happened after they'd left the night before.

"Their heads?" Bella asked in astonishment. "You vamps are so fucking weird. The fact that dismemberment and beheading don't kill you is wild," she shook her head and then slowly climbed out of bed to make sure her stomach didn't revolt once she was fully upright. "I'm going to take a quick shower and then we're gonna make some plans."

Jasper just nodded and then tugged her in for a long kiss. Whatever she wanted, he'd make it happen.

"What's an umbrella pine?" Bella asked with her face scrunched up a little in confusion as she nibbled on a piece of cold toast. "Can we make a Christmas tree out of it? That's honestly all I need to know about it."

Jasper showed her a picture on his phone and the two tried to imagine how they could make it work. "Let's look up Christmas markets instead," Jasper said as he shook his head. "Maybe we can find you a tree that way."

After too much online research that bored Bella, who escaped to the kitchen to make herself a light breakfast, Jasper came in and held his phone up triumphantly.

"Found one!" he shouted with a huge smile, making Bella laugh.

"Cool, wanna use that front desk phone to let the kings know we'd like a word?" she asked as she plopped herself down on the couch next to Peter with her food. "And can I borrow your phone?"

Jasper handed it over and then went to call the front desk, and Bella pulled up a number on his phone.

"Good morning, Jasper," Esme answered, and Bella could hear the smile in her voice.

"Hey Esme, it's Bella. Do you have anything planned for the day?"

Thirty minutes later, Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie showed up at their door with smiles.

"So a Christmas market, huh?" Emmett asked. "Are we bringing a little holiday cheer to the Volturi?"

"I don't know about the Volturi as a whole, but definitely to this suite," Bella laughed as she answered another knock on the door. "Aro! Just the man I was looking for."

"Good morning, Bella," he smiled. "What can I do for you?"

After some negotiating, and a tiny bit of bribery, the four Whitlocks and the three former Cullens climbed into two Volturi SUVs, one driven by Felix and one by Afton, and hit the road in search of some holiday cheer.

Bella tipped her head to the side as she looked at the tree in front of her.

"What do you think?" Emmett asked. "I'm not gonna lie, the fact that it already has lights strung on it is a huge bonus to me. I've spent way too many Christmases untangling strings of lights."

Bella nodded. "I do like that. Do you think it'll fit? It's not too tall, is it?"

"Nah, it'll be fine," he assured her. "The ceilings are pretty high in your suite. We'll even have room to put a star on the top."

"Alright, then I think this is the one," Bella smiled at her bear of a brother. "Well done, Em."

Emmett grinned, absurdly pleased that he'd picked the winning tree. No one had anticipating how picky Bella would be, but she'd wandered around for at least half an hour muttering 'too tall' or 'too short' or 'no, no, no, not enough branches'. Emmett was about to be fifty dollars richer. He and the other former Cullens and the three original Whitlocks had all put ten bucks in an envelope to go to the winning vamp.

Meanwhile, Jasper was wandering around with Rosalie picking out ornaments. There was something that appealed to both of them about using handmade ornaments and they'd picked up a bunch of small, hand-carved wooden stars and snowflakes. They'd also found some mercury glass balls that had a vintage feel they both liked. Rosalie smiled when she found huge strands of cranberries and dried orange slices already threaded and held them up to show Jasper, who nodded his agreement.

When Bella found the two she smiled at their choices. The wooden ornaments were intricately carved and beautiful, and she thought maybe she could find a way to turn them into a mobile to hang above the pea's crib in the future. That way they'd be enjoyed year-round, rather than only for a week or two in December.

"What else?" Jasper asked as he tugged his mate in for a hug.

Bella propped her chin on his chest and looked up at him. "We've got the tree and ornaments, so now it's just the star for the top. And maybe stockings, too, actually. I wouldn't mind finding something small for everyone."

Jasper leaned down to kiss her and nodded. "Solid plan, sweetheart."

As they passed a stall that sold dried herbs and herbal remedies of one kind or another, Jasper noticed there was hard candy made from ginger. He shooed his mate away with instructions to find their tree topper, then bought out nearly every jar. He was thrilled to find they sold candied ginger also, so he bought out most of those, too. He expected the seller to give him a weird look, but she just looked at Bella's receding back and gave Jasper a knowing smile.

Three hours after they arrived, the group of vamps and their human piled back in their cars for the drive back to the castle. Bella was grateful for her supernatural escorts because tying the tree to the top of the SUV was a piece of cake for them and took all of seven seconds. Once they were on the road, Bella rested her head on Jasper's shoulder and closed her eyes, letting the comfort of being cuddled up to him and the gentle rocking of the car lull her to sleep.

Bella looked around their suite in the Volturi castle with a huge grin. Not only did they have a tree, but Esme had found poinsettias in pretty clay pots, along with what felt like hundreds of simple white candles once they were lit, but was probably no more than ten.

When Jasper handed Bella the star for the top of the tree, she looked at the tree, then the ceiling, then the six vamps in the room, then the ceiling again.

"Well Rose, looks like you're the loser in this situation," Bella laughed. "The guys are all too tall, and Charlotte and Esme are too short. You, however, are just right. So if you could just kneel here so I can get on your shoulders, I'll be eternally grateful."

Rosalie looked at her for a second like she was crazy but then started laughing. "That's it? I just have to hoist you up there to put the star on and you'll be eternally grateful? Eternity is a very, very long time, Bella."

Jasper and Bella both started laughing. "You and Jasper really are twins. He told me the same thing. But that's all right, I'm easy to please," Bella smiled and waved her hand dismissively. At the very skeptical looks from all six vamps, she huffed a little. "Fine, maybe not when it comes to Christmas trees, but I am when it comes to everyday life, thank you very much."

Rosalie just shook her head and smiled at her brother's mate, then crouched down in front of her. Bella let out a squeal of surprise when Jasper lifted her up to put her on Rose's shoulder, then laughed her thanks.

After a minute of fiddling, Bella nodded that the star was perfect. "Heads up, Whitlock," she laughed as she let herself fall backwards and Jasper held out his arms to catch her with a smile.

Once she was on solid ground around, she looked around the room one more time and felt her eyes well up with tears. She'd had a wish to bring a little holiday cheer to their suite, and her own six vamps and others from the Volturi worked to make it happen. With a throat tight from emotion, she gave each and every vampire in the room a hug, then asked Jasper to share her love and gratitude and happiness with them.

Ten seconds later Bella was caught up in a group hug, smack in the middle of all the people in the world who meant the most to her. Life may be scary and heartbreaking and uncertain, but it was also pretty fucking amazing.