Hi lovely readers!

This is a little Christmas fic I came up with for fun. This story has canon pairings and personalities, but some things are not canon. Such as: Events in Edward's past and Renesmee growing at an average rate of a human child.

- I have dyslexia and do make spelling mistakes. I proofread, yet mistakes happen. Also, if Reneseme's name is changed to Rutabaga, Resume, or anything else that's ridiculous, that is not done on purpose. I use Google Docs and Grammarly and both programs were changing her name on me while I was writing. Ugh. My apologies in advance for anything that is not spelled right.

- Disclaimer, I do not own Twilight or any of the characters, or Elf on the Shelf. I'm just playing pretend with them.

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It was a chilly evening in Chicago, just four nights before Christmas. The city was blanketed in a soft layer of snow, and the Victorian-style house where Edward grew up during his human days, and now lived with his own family, was decorated for the season. Twinkling red, green, and white lights hung from the awning, an inflatable Santa that waved was parched on the roof, and a family of four blow-up snowmen lined the walkway. There was also a giant neon Christmas Minion that stood front and center and far away from it was a giant inflatable Grinch, who was smiling mischievously. It added a touch of humor to the cheerful Wonderland and was something Edward's daughter insisted he purchase in July.

The inside of the house was filled with the warmth of holiday preparations. The stockings were hung above the fireplace, and the tree was decorated, half of it had store bought ornaments, and the other half had handmade ornaments that a young child made. Not to mention the Elf on the Shelf shenanigans were in full swing. This was the first year Bella decided to do the elf since she thought their daughter, Rennesme, was old enough to appreciate it. Having an elf doing crazy things from the day after Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve was Bella's doing. However, Edward often found himself roped into these shenanigans.

Edward had been the victim of the elf's pranks a time or two since Bella had brought it home and introduced it to their daughter. His hair had been colored blue with washable hair dye during one incident. Another time his toenails had been painted a festive green and red with sparkly nail polish. One morning the elf even had him wearing makeup! With each elf shenanigan, Edward took it all in stride. He'd do anything to see his little girl smile and hear her laugh. However, he liked it much better when Bella asked for his help with an elf shenanign, then him being the victim of one.

Right now was one of those times where he was participating in the preparations. Edward sat at the kitchen table, meticulously carving butter into reindeer while Bella was busy setting up their elf Jingles on a sleigh made out of a box of candy dots and two candy canes. Their five-year-old daughter Rennesme was sound asleep upstairs in her bed. Edward could hear her thoughts and knew she was dreaming of Christmas magic. Hearing her thoughts and seeing the images from her mind, he smiled.

Bella glanced over at Edward, who was deeply focused on his task. She admired the detail he put into each reindeer, carefully shaping the butter with precision. She stepped out of the kitchen and approached him, picking up one of the reindeer to examine it closely.

"Be careful, love. It's delicate." Edward reminded her.

Bella gently put the reindeer down and watched him work. "You put so much detail into each one," she said, her voice filled with admiration as she sat across from him.

Edward didn't respond immediately, his concentration solely on the reindeer he was finishing. When he finally completed it, he held it up proudly. "What do you think?" He asked, looking at Bella with a twinkle in his golden eyes.

Bella's golden eyes widened in awe. "It's amazing, Edward!"

"You really think so?" He wondered, looking at his creation.

"Yeah." Bella nodded her head. "How did you learn to make butter into such beautiful sculptures? When you said you were going to carve reindeer out of butter for my idea, I never imagined it would be this incredible. I was thinking more of a ball of butter with some googly eyes, a red pom pom for the nose, and brown pipe cleaners for antlers."

He laughed, just one short laugh. "I hope my reindeer sculptures exceed your expectations."

"They do. They really do." She looked at the reindeer, then back at her husband. "So, tell me, how did you learn to do amazing things with butter?"

Edward shrugged modestly, placing the reindeer down with the others. "It's just something I picked up a long time ago."

"Oh no you don't. Don't leave me guessing. Tell me how you learned to do this because I'm intrigued." Bella's curiosity was piqued.

Edward hesitated, then picked up another block of butter and the butter knife. "All right," he began. "It was back in 1919. Carlisle and I were living in a boarding house in Canada. Our landlords were an elderly couple named Don and Dolores. They believed I was Carlise's fifteen-year-old stepson who he was raising on his own after his late wife died in a house fire. They also believed I had a neurological condition that made me act more like a child than a teenager."

"He passed you off as a fifteen-year-old with a medical condition?" Bella asked. She was very interested.

Edward nodded his head. "Since I was a young vampire I didn't always act my human age, especially when I went through those rapid mood swings and had temper tantrums like a toddler. He saw it more fitting to say I was younger. As for the fib of the medical condition, well, it explained a lot to humans."

Bella listened intently as Edward continued. Now and then her eyes glanced at the marvelous butter sculptures on the table.

"I didn't always like that cover story," Edward admitted, keeping his voice level as he carved. "However, I understood Carlisle couldn't exactly tell them the truth–that he was a mature vegetarian vampire and I was a vampire fresh out of my newborn days learning to live among humans. So, being ignorant of the truth, they thought I was just a young boy with a disability. Neither of them looked down on me for that and they always offered my father help."

Edward paused, lost in the memory. While he thought about his past he carved the reindeer in silence.

"Fascinating. But how does this story fit in with your hidden talent for carving butter?" Bella gently prompted him.

Edward looked up. He gave her the half smile she loved so much. "I'm getting to that. Be patient, Love."

"Okay." She leaned back in her chair.

"Dolores was a caring woman with a kind mind. She loved to keep busy and was very spry for her age." Edward said as he carved out the antlers. "On days when my father went to town, he left me with her. She would look after me and keep me out of trouble."

"Aha!" Bella shouted a little too loudly. "You had a babysitter when you were a young vampire. Is that why you were always making your family my babysitters when I was human?"

Staring at her, he blinked. Before this moment he never saw a connection to his life and Bella's.

"Well?" Bella prompted, wanting an answer.

"I never thought of it that way," He spoke honestly. He quickly went back to his butter carving.

"Oh," Bella said and added, "You were a young vampire, weren't you tempted to…" Her voice trailed off.

"To bite my caretaker and her husband and drink their blood?" He finished the sentence that he could only assume she had stopped short of saying.

"Um…well… yeah." She stammered.

Edward was shaking his head no. "No, I was never tempted with Dolores or Don. Both of them had the inedible aroma of mothballs and nicotine coulding the scent of their blood."

"That sounds unpleasant." Bella wrinkled her nose.

"It was." He agreed. "It was also one of the reasons Carlsile felt comfortable leaving me with humans. Another reason was he was very shrewd; he had so much faith in me."

"He always does." She agreed.

Edward went on carving the reindeer. He finished the one he was working on and started another. The whole time he worked, he was silent.

"So let's hear how you started carving butter." She was very eager to hear this.

Edward smirked. "Dolores loved to crochet. She enjoyed making blankets, doilies, and sweaters. There was one point when she was keeping an eye on me that she thought out loud about wanting to teach me. Don had warned her not to teach me how to crochet since I was a boy child and it would be frowned upon."

"Really. Why?" Bella wondered.

"It was a different time." He explained. "Instead of her teaching me how to crochet, she taught me how to carve butter." He held up another finished reindeer.

"Why did she know how to carve butter?" Bella wanted to know.

Edward chuckled as he shrugged. "I don't know. She thought about it. I also never asked and she never volunteered the information."

"Oh." Bella sounded surprised.

"Dolores was an amazing woman though." Edward went on. "She loved to carve butter into beautiful creations for the dinner table. She said she wanted everything to be perfect for the borders. It sure was nice to look at."

"I bet." Bella agreed.

Edward grabbed another block of butter. "Well, that's the story of how I learned how to carve butter. Apparently, it was more manly than learning how to crochet since Dolores had argued with her husband that I could put my butter carving skills into woodworking skills." He shook his head at the memory.

"We've been together for eight years now. How am I just learning about your hidden butter-carving talent?" Bella was amazed.

Edward laughed softly. "There was never a need for me to carve butter before. It's also not something I use as a conversation starter."

Bella giggled. "Who would have thought The Elf on the Shelf would bring out your hidden talent?"

Edward eyed Bella with amusement. "So that's what we're calling this? My hidden talent?"

Bella snorted and nodded. "Yes, exactly."

Edward finished carving the last reindeer and they arranged the buttered sculptures in front of the candy sleigh, making it look like Jingles the elf was in control of Santa's reindeer. When everything was set up, Bella turned around and gave Edward a kiss that he gladly returned. He held her by her waist, not letting her go.

"You should carve butter more often," She said. "I really love your hidden talent."

Edward grinned. "I hope Renezeme will be just as impressed."

Bella smiled contently resting her head against his chest. "I'm sure she will be. She loves seeing what her elf has been up to during the night."

"Yeah, she sure does." He agreed, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

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Thanks for reading the first chapter.

Did you enjoy it? Please review. :)