Thank you all so much for continuing to read and review. I love reading your responses.
Thank you to MelissaMargaret for making this pretty and to anhanninen for prereading and writing with me.
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or these characters.
Carlisle POV
Leaving the bed without waking my beautiful wife was a challenge, both in stealth and will power. Our bed was warm and comfortable, especially at seven-thirty in the morning on my day off, but a certain red-headed baby wanted attention.
As quietly as I could, I walked over to Pumpkin's crib and smiled down at my son. He had his feet up by his mouth as he played with and sucked on his toes, but when he saw me, his feet could no longer hold his attention. Grinning, he kicked his legs against the mattress and waved his arms until I picked him up.
"Good morning, buddy," I whispered, kissing his head. "Are you a happy boy this morning?"
He babbled an answer as I carried him out of the room and down the hall. In his room, I changed his diaper and then sat in the chair, letting him stand on my lap.
"Look at you, Pumpkin. You're so big!" I exclaimed as he bounced, only being supported by my hands under his arms.
"Deeeee," he squealed and then blew some spit bubbles. I chuckled and grabbed a burp cloth to wipe his mouth.
"Oh, yeah? Tell me more about it."
He did just that – letting me know exactly how he slept last night, what he wanted to do today, and how he planned to survive Christmas with his excited brothers and sister. Or at least that's what I assumed he was telling me.
When his hands went to his mouth and his happy babbles turned frustrated, I knew exactly what he wanted. Looking at the clock on the wall, I knew it was almost time for his breakfast, but my goal this morning was to delay it as long as possible.
Esme hadn't been getting as much rest as she normally did, thanks to our busy holiday season. She wasn't complaining, but I hated how she seemed to crash every night after the long days.
Our Thanksgiving was quiet, or as quiet as you can get with twelve people and an infant who'd discovered the sound of his own voice. We had many new things to be thankful for, but there was no need to complicate it. The food and the company were great, but the simplicity was my favorite part. We still dressed up for a family picture and ate more than we should have, but the day mainly consisted of sitting around in Kate's den and chatting while football played in the background.
Christmas was already proving to be another story.
The shopping was finally finished, and Carmen, Kate, and Esme had the menu all planned out. The three of them worked like a well-oiled machine, and none of us husbands doubted their abilities.
All of the preparations were finished, but we still had five days to go. Those days would be full of putting those plans into action.
Today we had an appointment to get our Christmas pictures made. Esme had debated on when to make the appointment, explaining to me that normally this was done much earlier. But since Pumpkin's age would be obvious in the picture, she wanted to wait as long as possible. Somehow she managed to find a photographer who could get the pictures back to us quickly so we would be able to give Carmen the pictures of her grandchildren.
Pumpkin suddenly ended his bouncing, landing on my lap with a grunt. He wrinkled his forehead, huffing as he took his hand out of his mouth. "Muu," he protested. "Ma. Baaaa."
I couldn't resist chuckling. "You won't take 'no' for an answer, will you? All right, let's go find Mommy."
As I stood up and adjusted him in my arms, my smiling boy returned, almost as if he knew he was about to get what he wanted.
I was satisfied I had delayed him by a few minutes, and Esme was already awake and sitting up in bed when I entered the room.
"I wondered where you two were," she said, smiling as she reached for Edward.
I passed him over and leaned in for a kiss. "I wanted to give you a few extra minutes to sleep this morning. You needed it."
"Thank you," she responded, giving me an extra kiss. "But my little guest woke me up a few minutes ago."
I hadn't noticed until she said something, but the middle of our bed did look a little lumpier than when I'd left it. And the lump was giggling.
As Esme got Pumpkin settled for his meal, I silently walked to the other side of the bed. Esme laughed silently as I sat down on the edge.
"Hey, sweetheart," I said loudly. "Why does the bed look so lumpy this morning?"
"Hmm…" she pondered, playing along with me. "I'm not sure. You should probably investigate."
"I probably should," I agreed and scooted closer to her on the bed. "This looks suspicious." I poked the lump, and it giggled again in response. "Yep, very suspicious. I think I'll have to tickle this lump out of here."
"No, Daddy!" Jasper squealed, throwing the covers off his head. "Don't tickle me! I's Jasper. Not a lump."
I widened my eyes. "That was you under there? Well maybe I want to tickle you anyway."
He started crawling to get away from me, but I caught him and pulled him back. I tickled him until he was laughing uncontrollably and saying he needed to go potty. I released him right away with that request, not wanting a wet bed this morning.
Esme laughed and high-fived me as Jasper ran off to the bathroom, and after he finished, he climbed back onto the bed and cuddled between us.
"Did you make it?" I asked as I pulled him close and kissed the top of his head.
He nodded. "Mmhmm. And I washeded my hands too!"
"Good job, Jasper," Esme praised.
"Really good job, buddy," I agreed. "Did you sleep good last night? Have some good dreams?"
"Daddy, I dreamed about Christmas," he told me. "We haves lots and lots of cookies and presents. And Pops didn't let Santa in ours house."
"Well how did you get all the presents?"
"They dropped down the chimley," he explained. "But he didn't come in the house, Daddy."
"Oh, okay," I said with a nod, looking over at Esme. The slight fear of Santa hadn't completely disappeared, although it was much better than last year. Jasper just didn't want a strange man coming into the house, no matter how magical.
Esme didn't look too worried though.
"Jasper," she started softly, "we'll make sure Santa knows not to come in the house, okay? We can leave his cookies and milk outside this year."
Jasper turned in my arms so he could smile at Esme. "Mommy, yous so smart! He has to stay outside and Pops can be a guard, right?"
"I'm sure Pops would love to help," I assured him. "You'll have to ask him when we see him."
Jasper continued to describe his dream in detail, providing Esme and I with very enjoyable entertainment. It was always a treat to get a glimpse into our kids' minds.
A few minutes later, Rosalie decided to join our party.
"You needs to wake me up for this stuff, Daddy," she informed me as she sat on my chest. "I like to play in the big bed."
"Excuse me, sweetheart. I'll try to do better next time."
She nodded and leaned down to give me a kiss, and I proceeded to blow raspberries on her cheek. We soon had another tickle war going on, and it only ended when Esme stopped us.
"Okay, okay. I think it's time for us to go downstairs for breakfast," she said. After fixing her top, she stood with a very happy Pumpkin and offered her hand to help Rosalie and Jasper climb down. "Someone needs to go wake Emmett and tell him we're having blue pancakes for breakfast."
"That means it Pumpkin's birthday!" Rosalie cheered, jumping up and down. "How many is he?"
Esme kissed Pumpkin's cheek and smiled proudly. "He's six months old today."
"And what a great six months it's been," I said as I got out of bed and went over to them. I kissed Esme and Edward and pulled them in for a long hug. Rosalie and Jasper joined in, hugging our legs. It reminded me of who was missing. "I'll go wake Emmett and meet you downstairs. Wanna come with me, buddy?"
Jasper agreed and together, we woke the bear also known as Emmett. The promise of pancakes made getting him out of bed a little easier, and after a trip to the potty, we made it to the kitchen.
Esme already had a batch of pancakes and bacon cooking on the griddle and Rosalie entertained Pumpkin who was sitting in his brand new high chair. We wanted to wait to start solid foods until six months and until he showed an interest in eating. That had been happening more and more over the last week, so it seemed that the time was right.
"I thought we could get the pancakes served and then see what happens with some rice cereal for him," Esme suggested. "The camera's on the counter so we don't miss anything."
I chuckled. "Like him spitting cereal on us?"
She shrugged. "Well, that will be another first. At least it'll be easier to clean up than breast milk down the back of a shirt."
"Don't remind me, sweetheart," I said, shuddering. "We don't need to relive that."
After everything finished cooking, I helped Esme serve the pancakes, bacon, and orange juice. Emmett said the prayer for us, and as the three of them ate, Esme and I turned our attention to Pumpkin.
"Are you ready for this, baby?" Esme asked him, making faces as she stirred up the rice cereal with a little bit of breast milk that she had expressed.
Pumpkin smiled and smacked his lips, as if he knew what was coming.
I was filming everything, hoping to be able to share the success with the rest of the family later. Or give them some good entertainment at least.
"Don't make too big of a mess, buddy," I warned as Esme prepared to give him the first bite. "Keep everything in your mouth."
But the first bite didn't stay in his mouth, instead running down his chin as he tried to adjust to the new experience. The next bite was a little better, and with each one, more and more stayed in his mouth.
"There you go," Esme cooed as she scraped excess from around his mouth. "You're a good eater like your brothers and sister, aren't you?"
"Food is good, Pumpkin," Emmett said, shoving pancake in his mouth. Rosalie and Jasper agreed and offered their own support as their little brother actually finished his bowl of cereal – and only a few globs of it ended up smeared on his bib.
We all clapped once he was finished. I then turned the camera off and helped Esme clean him up before getting our warm plates out and setting them on the table. With Edward full and content with sitting in his little foam seat on the table, we were able to finish breakfast in relative peace.
Kitchen clean-up was finished quickly since we did have an appointment to get to. Thankfully, Esme had everyone's outfits laid out, so I knew exactly what to help the boys put on.
"Daddy, this shirt is itchy," Emmett complained as I finished buttoning his shirt. "Do I hafta wear this?"
Jasper shook his head as well. "Daddy, dese pants are no good and the shoes hurts my feet. I don't wanna wear dis."
"Yes, you do have to wear them. And I'm sorry it's not comfortable. Wear them for just a little while…for Mommy, okay?" They grumbled and pouted but didn't complain again.
The little button down shirts and sweater vests did look nice. Even I had to admit it and I had no clue about fashion. The boys weren't too fond of them or their dress pants, but today would be a lesson in compromise. They wore these nice outfits to make Mommy happy, and then they would get Christmas cookies later this afternoon.
Of course, they didn't know about the cookies, but I was saving that information for later. I'd probably need to bribe them at some point. It wasn't easy for little boys to sit still through hundreds of photographs.
I sent the boys downstairs to play so I could get myself dressed. Esme had Rosalie and Edward in our bedroom as well. Rosalie was cooperating much better than the boys, but she usually liked dressing up and getting her hair fixed in a large bow.
"Look at my red dress, Daddy," she said as I walked over to give her a kiss. "It's so pretty."
"It is pretty, baby," I agreed. "And you match Emmett and Jasper."
"Us too," Esme added, nodding toward our clothes for the day. It seemed we were all wearing red, black, and white today. Nothing overly festive, but even I could see the Christmas-ness in it.
"Looks good to me. Thank you for dressing me, sweetheart." I gave her a quick kiss and then headed to the bathroom.
It didn't take me long to pull on my clothes, the outfit nearly identical to my sons. I hoped it would make them feel better about being dressed up, knowing that I was going through the same thing.
Since I was out of the bathroom in less than ten minutes, I volunteered to dress Pumpkin so Esme could have plenty of time for herself.
Rosalie decided to help me, and together, we managed to dress baby Edward without too many mishaps.
"See, it goes like that," Rosalie said. "I told you."
I nodded. "You surely did, sweetheart." Apparently sweater vest arm holes couldn't be used for heads. "I should have listened to you in the beginning."
"I know, Daddy. It's okay." She kissed my cheek and patted my head before jumping down from the bed and skipping out of the room.
I turned to Pumpkin who looked up at me. "You're still my ally, right? You're okay with having a daddy who gets confused about clothes?" He babbled and jerked his head which looked like a nod to me. "Okay good. I'm glad you have my back."
"Is he telling you his plans to take over the world? I think he could get anything he wanted with that smile."
"He got that from his mommy," I said, turning to face Esme. But when I saw her, I immediately froze.
"What's wrong?" she asked, clearly confused.
I shook my head. "Don't move."
She did as I asked, and as soon as I placed Pumpkin in his crib, I had her in my arms.
"Esme. You look absolutely beautiful." I punctuated each word with a kiss, dipping her on the last one.
Although surprised, she wound her arms around my neck, kissing me back with just as much intensity.
My wife always looked beautiful in my eyes, but in black dress and red sweater she was wearing today, she looked incredible. I wished we didn't have anywhere to be, and that the kids did have somewhere to be, so I could admire her in this dress…and then slowly peel it off of her.
"You like the dress?" she asked softly, straightening my collar.
"I love it." I kissed her again. "You are so beautiful."
She smiled. "Thank you. I'm glad you like. I got it while shopping with Charlotte a few weeks ago. I liked it better than what I had picked out before."
"Feel free to go shopping with Charlotte more often." She giggled, but I was serious. "No, really. You could use a break."
Her smile softened, and this time, she kissed me. "I know I could," she sighed. "We just have to make it five more days. Then I'll take a day for myself. Or maybe make it a girls day. I think Rosalie might need some mommy time soon."
"Sounds good. I'll be glad to keep all three boys. Last Christmas was exhausting for you."
"I was pregnant last Christmas," she pointed out. "And also planning a trip to Alaska. This year is different."
I had to agree with her logic. She probably wouldn't be as exhausted this year without a pregnancy and a major vacation, but I still felt bad that I couldn't do more. Now that I had a few days off of work, I'd be trying my best to do what I could.
As Esme spent a few more minutes in the bathroom – doing so called "finishing touches" that I thought she looked perfect without – I started loading the kids into the van. I went ahead and turned the DVD player on for them, letting them watch a Christmas movie in their car seats while I grabbed a few snacks from the kitchen. Esme and Pumpkin joined me just as I was about to head outside for the last time. She had the diaper bag slung over her shoulder, showing that she was ready to go as well.
The drive to the photographers' studio went by quickly with the kids serenading us with Christmas songs. We didn't mind their volume – which was fairly loud – because we needed this happiness to carry over to the pictures. We'd never had a problem with uncooperative kids before, but I was willing to do almost anything to increase the chances of this appointment being tear and pout free.
Though we had never used these photographers before, the experience was just as good as the ones in the past. I was aware that one kid presented a challenge, and we had four. The male and female team didn't let our large group faze them though. They were patient, making sure they captured every shot Esme requested along with many extras. Esme fell in love with almost all of the candid shots, and rather than pick and choose, I just told her to order them all. Pictures meant a lot to her, and there was no way I was going to limit her or let her limit herself.
By the time we finished, two hours had passed. Esme was beyond satisfied and excited about the pictures we would be giving Carmen, I was happy that she was happy, and the kids were all in varying stages of boredom, tiredness, and hunger.
Once we were back home and changed into more comfortable clothing, the kids ate their promised Christmas cookies. They deserved every bit of their reward for being well behaved during the pictures, and it almost seemed like they gave us a reward because they all decided to take a nap at the same time.
"That went really well," Esme commented as we snuggled under a blanket on our favorite couch. "Did you notice that Rosalie and Jasper were fine the whole time?"
I shook my head. "I didn't, but now that you mention it, they were, weren't they? Not even clingy."
"Not even a little bit. I think Rosalie even gave the girl a high five. Is this new or did we just miss it?"
I held Esme a little closer to me as I thought about it. Months had passed since the last time I remembered having to make a conscious effort to keep any situation comfortable for Rosalie or Jasper. There were always the things we did unconsciously, like keeping them close in new situations and always explaining what was happening, but other than that, Rosalie and Jasper just adjusted on their own. They were shy most of the time, but that was fairly normal with any child their age.
"I don't think we missed it, exactly," I finally answered. "I think we just…didn't need to notice."
"Now you sound like Siobhan," she said with a soft giggle. "But I think I understand. I guess it is better that they adjusted without calling attention to it. It just hit me today. I always wanted to get to this point, but now that we're here, I don't know. I'm so relieved and thankful."
I knew exactly how she felt. Seeing that everything you hoped for your children came true right in front of you and nearly without notice was overwhelming.
"Me too, sweetheart," I whispered, kissing the top of her head. "It's just another reason why this Christmas will be amazing."
She nodded and giggled again. "As long as we can keep Santa away from Jasper, I think we'll be good."
I laughed with her, but I knew it wasn't something we took lightly. We would do our best to keep the jolly guy away from Jasper.
The next few days flew by for us while the kids complained about them dragging. We did our best to keep the boredom away though. When Esme was busy with preparations, I got the kids out of the house even if for just a drive around the neighborhood to look at Christmas decorations we usually only saw at night when we looked as a family.
The extended family was a big help as well. Carmen kept all the little ones busy with numerous craft projects, family baking, and new Christmas books. Movies also worked but only for so long and then it was up to Garrett and I to entertain our children, a task we usually succeeded at but were now failing big time.
The whole family breathed a sigh of relief when we survived until Christmas Eve.
The goal of the day was to just make it until the evening without going crazy. The kids knew the tradition of opening a gift, but they were also smart enough to know that it wouldn't be pajamas again. Carmen and Eleazar gave the whole family matching pajamas to wear on Christmas morning so we wouldn't be providing them. That just made the kids even more excited to find out what they would be getting tonight.
Esme and I ran out of activities before lunch. We'd watched the kids' favorite movie – Frosty the Snowman, baked cookies for Santa, and wrapped a few remaining gifts. Naps weren't going to happen with all the excitement in the house, but we still had another six hours of time to kill.
Carmen saved the day once again when she invited all of the grandkids over to make food for Santa's reindeer. Unfortunately, Esme couldn't totally enjoy her break because she needed a last minute item at the store. I volunteered to go for her, but she declined my offer. That left me and Pumpkin to enjoy the peace and quiet.
Having baby Edward with us this year was my favorite part of the holiday season. He noticed the decorations and loved all of them, sometimes a little too much when he tried to taste everything. Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper loved to tell him stories about last Christmas and ever tradition they could remember, and he just ate up the attention, laughing and smiling the whole time. His innocent joy was the best gift.
"What should we do with this quiet, Pumpkin?" I asked as I sat in the floor with him. He babbled and scooted and crawled over to be as close to the Christmas tree as he could get. The circular baby gate stopped him, so he flopped down to his tummy to babble at me.
"You're as bad as the rest of them, aren't you?" I said with a laugh. "You want those presents. But I bet you just like the pretty bows."
I reached over the gate and pulled one of the bows off of one of my own gifts. It wasn't like I would miss it, and Pumpkin would definitely appreciated it. I handed it to him and was rewarded with a smile. As he gripped the shiny green bow, I sat him in my lap so I could keep a close eye on him. It was only a matter of time before the bow wound up in his mouth like everything else he could get his hands on.
Sure enough, thirty seconds later, the bow was headed right for his mouth. I hated to take it away from him, and he seemed to hate it as well. The happy babbles turned to angry grunts and squirms.
"Sorry, buddy. We can't eat that." I stood, dropping the bow on the other side of the gate before heading to the kitchen. "Let's get you something you can chew on." I grabbed a teething cookie and one of his chilled rings and let him have his pick. The cookie won and brought a smile back to his face.
Just as I was about to return to the family room, the doorbell rang. We weren't expecting any guests and carolers didn't usually go out in the middle of the day, so I had no idea who it could be.
I definitely wasn't expecting Mrs. Cope to be at our door on Christmas Eve, but that was exactly who I found.
"Merry Christmas, Carlisle," she said sheepishly. "Sorry to drop by like this."
"Merry Christmas to you too, Shelley. And really, it's no problem at all," I said, shaking my head. "Esme won't be back for a few more minutes, but you're welcome to come in."
She accepted my invitation, and I led us into the family room. I offered her some cookies and milk which she declined with a grin, so I sat down with Pumpkin in my lap.
"I can't believe how big he is," Shelley commented as Pumpkin decided he wanted to crawl around instead of sit.
I checked the floor for anything in his path then helped him down. "We can't believe it either. It feels like he was just born yesterday instead of six months ago."
"And I haven't seen him in quite a while," she added. "I've missed the Cullen family, but we've been so busy. I'm sort of on the clock right now, but I was about five minutes away so I couldn't not see if you guys were home. I actually have something for the kids."
She reached into her tote bag and pulled out a box, passing it to me. I recognized it as being an ornament box, but these weren't just ordinary ornaments. These four had the kids' names written on them in glitter paint along with long ribbons tied to the tops.
"We usually do them for all of the kids and in our office," she explained. "And none of your kids are ours, per say, but I still wanted to do this for them."
"They're going to love these," I told her honestly. "Thanks a lot, Shelley. Esme is going to force some cookies on you now."
We both laughed, but five minutes later when Esme returned home and saw the ornaments, she immediately packed a container of cookies and forced Shelley to take them.
"Don't even think of refusing," Esme said, placing the cookies in Shelley's bag for her. "That was entirely too sweet of you to bring those for the kids, so this is the least we can do."
"That isn't the only reason I came by," she confessed, shifting nervously. "It's a bit of a long story."
Esme sat beside me, scooting as close as she could get, and smiled. "We're good with long stories. Almost every story we have is a long one."
Shelley laughed weakly, making it obvious that this was a pretty big deal. "Well, just don't call me crazy when I finish."
We both denied that we would and encouraged her to go ahead, which she did.
"So we were cleaning up files last week, just straightening things up a bit. Your file was one of the ones I went through, and I noticed that it's now been over a year since your last foster parent certification. That isn't abnormal since you aren't actively fostering any children, so usually when I see that in a file, I don't think anything of it. Yours though, I couldn't stop thinking about. Even now, I have this…feeling that won't go away, and it's telling me to update your paperwork. I don't know how to explain it, and it's entirely your choice when and if you decide to do so. But that was my other motivation in coming here. I'm sure you think I'm crazy."
"Not crazy," Esme assured her. "But this is...an interesting development."
I nodded in agreement, but stayed quiet as I tried to sort out this new information. I didn't doubt that Shelley had a nagging feeling to do this. In our past, there had been many decisions made by both Esme and me that took leaps of faith – leaps prompted by the same sort of feeling.
Esme turned to look at me, examining my eyes like she liked to do. She seemed to find what she was looking for and then turned back to Shelley.
"Do you know what it would take to update that information? I'm not saying that we'd do anything with it, but…"
"I guess it can't hurt anything," I finished for her. When she nodded and gripped my hand tightly, I knew for sure that we were on the same page.
Shelley sighed, seemingly in relief, and explained what we would need to do. The process wasn't too detailed. Mostly, we would just need to send her some updated paperwork and she would take care of the rest. We would also need a new home visit on file, and the three of us agreed that there was no time like the present.
Neither Esme nor I was surprised that Shelley had her checklist with her, and every item was checked off with her seal of approval. The process only took about ten minutes, and we promised to send the paperwork next week.
Once we were finished going through the house, we returned to the family room. Shelley visited with us for a few more minutes, finally realizing after we reassured her that we didn't think she was crazy. If anything, we were all crazy but that just made her fit in perfectly.
Regretfully, Shelley soon needed to leave without having a chance to see the other kids. She did get some love from Pumpkin though.
"Thank you again," Esme said as she gave our friend a hug. "We'll have to bring the kids by after Christmas to see you."
She smiled and nodded. "Oh, please do. Everyone in the office would love to see them as well. And thank you for the cookies."
"Thank you for taking the sugar off our hands," I said with a chuckle, giving her a quick hug.
We said our goodbyes, waving as she pulled out of the driveway. I closed the door and pulled Esme and Pumpkin into my arms.
"That was unexpected, huh?" I placed my forehead against hers, swaying slowly.
"Mmhmm," she murmured. "I'm not sure what to think, but I definitely knew better than to deny her feeling. We'll just wait and see."
"Works for me," I said, kissing her.
There really wasn't much time to mull over the events of the afternoon because Carmen soon returned our children. They were happy to be home, although even more hyper after sampling the sugar sprinkles used in the reindeer food. But thanks to the same food, we had yet another activity to do together.
Esme wrapped Pumpkin to her chest and filmed as the kids and I sprinkled the oatmeal and sprinkles mixture all over the yard. They each had their own baggy and had varying strategies for distributing it. Emmett tossed handfuls of his as he ran around, while Jasper was attempting to place it piece by piece. Rosalie didn't want to get her pink and purple "sparkles" on the ground and had to be convinced that the reindeer would appreciate all the good food. With my help, hers was eventually scattered around with the boys', and we all went inside, satisfied with our work.
The next task was calming the kids down enough for dinner and eventual presents. A warm bath sounded like a good idea, but with the sugar highs, there was no stopping the splashing. I wound up almost as wet as the kids, but they did get clean and calm down enough for me to help them into their matching pajamas. This year, everyone had traditional red plaid flannel. Esme washed them ahead of time, with lots of fabric softener by my request, so the kids loved how comfortable they were.
Dinner was still high-energy, but not bad by any means. The kids kept us laughing with their stories from their afternoon at Nana's house. And Jasper felt better about the Santa situation after talking with Pops. He'd promised to keep any strangers out of our house and to let Santa know that he had to stay outside. We supported any explanation that helped Jasper sleep peacefully tonight.
After dinner and clean-up, we let the kids hang their ornaments from Shelley - which they loved, and Esme and I took turns showering and dressing in our own pajamas. Then the presents couldn't wait any longer.
"Okay, guys. You have to sit on your bottoms," I instructed, pointing to a spot on the floor where Esme had laid a blanket. "No fighting and no grabbing. Understand?"
They all agreed and did as I said without arguing.
"Good job. Now, Mommy is going to pass out your presents, and when we count to three, you can open them."
The agreed to this as well, and their smiles grew as Esme placed three large identical boxes in front of them. After placing a large box in front of me for Pumpkin, she grabbed the camera and counted for them.
The wrapping paper disappeared in the blink of an eye, and the contents of the boxes were dumped in the floor. Immediately, there were squeals of joy and thanks for their new soft blankets. They each received one with a different animal – a monkey for Emmett, a puppy for Jasper, a pink butterfly for Rosalie, and in Pumpkin's unopened box was a duck.
But the kids didn't realize that we cheated this year. The boxes actually had two things in them, but the pieces of paper seemed to disappear in the trash.
"Hey, did you guys see anything else interesting?" Esme asked them. "Was that the only thing in the box?"
We laughed as they dropped the blankets and started searching through the torn paper. Rosalie was the first to find something and carried the paper over to Esme.
"Mommy, this is a picture of a hoppy ball," she explained, very seriously.
"It is," Esme agreed.
"Why was it with my pretty blanket, Mommy?"
I winked at Esme and stood, going over to the closet. "Maybe it's because of what's in here," I said as I opened the door. Three inflated hopper balls tumbled out, prompting another round of squeals and thank yous.
After Esme and I received kisses and hugs, we let the kids take off. They all hopped to their hearts' content, bouncing into each other and into furniture. It was an accident waiting to happen, but with them so happy, there was no way we were going to stop them.
As they played, Esme and I turned most of our attention to Pumpkin as we helped him unwrap his gift. He loved the plush blanket, smiling every time we showed him the duck face or let the soft fabric touch his skin. He was more than content to be wrapped in it as Esme nursed him and then lie on it and fall asleep as Esme and I opened our own gifts.
We kept our gifts to each other fairly low-key, basically consisting of clothes and gift cards. Both of us felt like we had everything we need without monetary gifts, but we gave those anyway just because we felt like it. The best part for me was having Esme by my side as we watched the kids play and then as they gave us the gifts they had both picked out and made themselves. I loved everything they chose to give, especially the dozens of hugs and kisses.
Rosalie was the most affectionate and stayed in my lap even as the boys went off to play. Last year, her hug had meant the world to me and I never would have believed that she would be snuggling in my lap in a year's time, let alone snuggling with no intention of getting up.
It turned out that Rosalie's choice to remain in my lap instead of playing was a sign of depleting energy. A few minutes later, she was snoring softly in my arms. I took her upstairs and tucked her into bed, and when I came back down, Jasper and Emmett were both with Esme, rubbing their eyes and yawning.
We took them upstairs, along with Pumpkin, and sat in their bed to read the story of Christmas. They were asleep only two minutes in, so I didn't feel bad about Rosalie missing it. We'd be reading again tomorrow.
Esme and I were ready to pass out as well, but we still had things to do. After placing Pumpkin in his bed, we headed downstairs. I grabbed a trash bag and cleaned up the mess as she started arranging the Santa gifts. I helped her after the trash was taken care of, and once everything was in order and the cookies and milk had been dealt with, we turned out the lights and curled up in our bed.
Sleep came quickly, but unfortunately, so did the morning. Pumpkin woke us bright and early wanting his breakfast. Esme rolled out of bed to go get him, changing his diaper and then crawling back in bed beside me. I held her close as she nursed, neither of us saying anything for a while as we tried to wake up.
"Merry Christmas, sweetheart," I finally mumbled as I kissed her temple.
She yawned and then turned to give me a better kiss. "Merry Christmas, Carlisle. Can I have more sleep as my gift?"
I chuckled. "I wish because I would join you. Maybe we'll survive the day."
"I hope so," she sighed. "The kids will definitely have a good day though. I'm ready to see their faces."
I nodded and then looked at the clock. "We should probably go down soon if we want to head them off. Or you can go down and I'll wake them up."
We agreed on that plan, so after Pumpkin was fed and happy, Esme used the bathroom and then headed downstairs.
"Okay, buddy," I said softly as I walked down the hallway. "I know you probably don't remember, but last year when you were in Mommy's tummy, I promised to carry you downstairs today. So that's what we're going to do."
He looked at me, eyes wide and then started chewing on his fingers. I chuckled and kissed his cheek. He truly was the best gift.
Jasper was the easiest to wake, followed by Rosalie, and finally Emmett. Really, all of them were thrilled about it being morning, and I could barely stop them from running downstairs. At Esme's word, they took off toward the family room, The piles of gifts were clearly labeled so there was no confusion, and we basically just sat back and watched them.
Easels were the big item this year. They loved to be creative, so painting would be their next adventure. There were also some roller skates, along with helmets for Rosalie and Jasper. The little things were giving plenty of attention as well, including cars and trucks for the boys, and baby doll accessories for Rosalie. It was very possible that we spoiled the kids, but I wasn't too worried. They were learning to be grateful in the process.
Pumpkin attacked his new toys in his own way – drooling over everything. Lucky for him, most of the new toys were made for just that and would hopefully help with his teething pain as well as be fun for him.
A bonus of the year was letters to each child from Santa. Esme and I asked Ben to write them so there was no chance of the handwriting being recognized. Rosalie and Emmett's were basically the same, but Jasper's was special. He was the reason we came up with the idea, after all.
"What's it say, Daddy?" Jasper asked hesitantly, handing me his letter.
I pulled him into my lap, holding him close. "Well, let's see what Santa had to say to you," I said, kissing his cheek before I started reading.
Dear Jasper,
I hope you enjoyed your presents this year. You've been such a good boy for your mommy and daddy all year, so you deserve every one. I talked to Pops, and he made me promise not to come in your house. I did exactly as he asked and dropped the presents down the chimney. I hope they landed safely.
Thank you for the cookies and milk. They were delicious. You just let Mommy or Daddy or Pops know next year if you still want me to stay outside. The North Pole is cold too, so I'm used to it.
I have to get back to Mrs. Claus and the elves now. Have a great Christmas and enjoy all of your toys. (Don't forget to share with your brothers and sister)
-Santa Claus
PS: The reindeer say thank you for all the food you left for them in the yard. They loved it!
Jasper was quiet for a few moments but then completely relaxed. He turned to me, smiling brightly. "Daddy, Santa is so nice! And he eated the cookies I made!"
"He did," I agreed. "He is very nice. And see, he didn't come in the house at all. Pops did a good job, huh?"
He nodded quickly. "Uh huh. Dis is so cool!"
With some of his fears relieved, he returned to his new toys. I knew we had made the right choice with the letters because I could tell Rosalie felt better as well. The thoughts of this would-be happy tradition causing unnecessary stress in their lives weren't good, but I hoped this would make things better in the future.
Even if we went through the same thing next year, at least they could now enjoy their toys without worry.
It was impossible to pull the kids away from their loot to go eat breakfast, so I convinced Esme to let us have powdered sugar donuts in the family room. I was lucky that she loved me because it did make a mess on everything and everyone, but the memories captured were great too. I knew I'd never forget the sugary smiles and kisses.
When breakfast was over and as much of the mess was cleaned up as possible, we grabbed our clothes and gifts, loading everything into the van. Carmen wanted us to open presents in our pajamas before dressing up, and we all went along with her plan.
The family looked like a sea of red when we all arrived and were sitting in the den. Carmen kept everything orderly though, handing out presents and directing everyone. We all received too much, but that was just us. There was a lot of love above all else, and it was nice to just sit and enjoy it.
The rest of the day was just as successful as the beginning. The kids played, the adults talked and laughed, and the food was delicious. We all ate too much for lunch, and then after a nap, had a repeat performance at dinner.
The menu was nearly the same as last year, but everything else was different. Kate, Garrett, Corin, Riley, and Jane were here to stay, and there would be no sad goodbyes because their home was five minutes away. Pumpkin was also here, bringing even more happiness to our lives with his smiles and giggles. And the rest of the kids were growing up, each meeting new milestones and becoming interesting, smart little people.
After the successful year we had, I had no clear idea what all was to come. Everything we had planned to do, we had done. Now, all that was left to do was wait for whatever came next. And with Esme and the kids by my side, it would be easy to just enjoy every day as it came.
A/N: Links are still disabled on profiles, but since there are images for this chapter, I provided a link on my profile where you can view them. Just copy and paste. And as a bit of extra info, Pumpkin was sitting in a bumbo seat and Esme uses a Mobi wrap.
Thank you all so much for being patient with me. I'll try to have the next chapter posted in less than three weeks.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and reviewers will receive teasers. =)