December 25, 2022
7F
Bella was beautiful in her sweater and jeans. The burgundy cowl neck showed off her cleavage modestly and hugged every inch of her torso.
"Merry Christmas, Edward. Please come in."
I walked past her and heard the oven beep, which sent her jogging past me to lift a large ham into the oven. With the door closed and the timer set, she turned back to me.
"What can I get you to drink?"
"For right now, I'll just have a soda."
She grabbed two sodas and motioned towards the couch. "There are snacks on the coffee table and everything is good to go for right now, so if you wanted to continue the marathon, we could."
I smiled at her and took the offered drink, sinking onto the couch as she picked up the remote. "Today is your day, Bella. So let's watch the return of the dark lord."
She joined me on the couch and selected Goblet of Fire and pressed play.
We watched in companionable silence, snacking on the spread she'd laid out until about halfway through the movie, I remarked, "Esme and Alice think I look like Cedric."
"There may be a passing resemblance, but you're definitely hotter."
"Am I now?" I turned to face her fully.
"Don't act like you don't know you're attractive, women scream 'Daddy' at your shows."
My cheeks warmed with a blush and I stretched my left arm along the back of the couch. "I didn't say I was unaware of my appeal. But I didn't know you agreed with the general assessment. Good to know."
"Can I ask a question?" She fidgeted a bit, which had me a little concerned about the nature of her query.
"Sure."
"What's with the wedding ring? When I first saw you, and then saw Esme with Edie, I thought you were either married or recently divorced."
I shook his head and looked down at my hands. "You mentioned the 'Daddy' calls at my shows. Some women can be overly excited and I found that the wedding ring keeps most of them from being too wildly inappropriate."
"Does it?"
"Usually. I'm firm when girls get too forward, and it doesn't happen too frequently. Esme is a big sister, never any interest there. Edie is my goddaughter and my namesake. I love that little girl and her little brother."
"It shows. And she's all about her Uncle Edward."
We focussed back on the movie, and when Cedric died, she sniffled. Bella was quick to start the next movie, then went to the kitchen to put some things in the oven and started the potatoes on the stove so dinner would be ready on time. I helped her put away the snacks and we settled in again.
Bella got up to put the finishing touches on dinner about an hour later and we stopped the movies so we could sit and eat at the table.