754You guys, I can't even begin to tell you all how utterly shocked I was by the response to this silly one shot. I didn't plan to expand at all, and definitely didn't think it would garner so much attention, but you all stunned me.
I know you are all dying to see a tiny bit more, so here it is, Christmas Eve with the Swans.
All mistakes are on me.
Kate Swan was a mess. The wedding she'd been planning for almost four months had taken a sudden and drastic turn when she'd gotten word that the venue had caught on fire. The damages were significant, and though no one had been injured thankfully, all the reservations for the foreseeable future were canceled.
Everything relied on her venue reservation.
There was still another two months until her wedding was supposed to take place, but finding a venue with only two months notice? She didn't think such a task was possible.
Kate called all her sisters, systematically working through the list. Irina was presenting a massive proposal and couldn't talk, Rosalie was at another doctor's appointment, Tanya was impossible to get a hold of, as usual, and Bella…
Kate hadn't called Bella in months. They got along fine, despite the ten year age gap between them, but they'd never been particularly close.
Still, Kate was desperate for someone to help her through this crisis, and if she thought about it, Bella usually could find a way out of a scrape.
The phone rang so long, Kate felt her heart sinking deeper and deeper into her stomach, being swallowed by hopelessness and panic.
Then, a miracle happened. "Kate?"
Bella sounded rightfully confused. Kate tried to hold it together, but at the sound of her sister's voice she burst into tears. "Bell-a," she sobbed.
"ImsoscrewedmyvenuecaughtonfireandnowIcantgetmarried," she cried into the phone, not taking a breath between words.
Kate heard her sister shift on the phone. "Wait, what?"
Kate took a deep breath, trying to steady herself to speak clearly. "My venue caught on fire. I don't know what to do."
On the other end of the line, Bella's eyebrows rose in surprise. Not about the venue—she couldn't even remember where Kate was supposed to get married—no she was surprised her sister was calling her of all people. Kate had never been short of friends to call on.
"Okay," Bella said slowly, shifting on the bed and stretching out on her back. Edward looked at her curiously. "So, now it's a matter of finding somewhere else that works with your date."
Kate hiccuped on the phone. "There is nothing. Every bride in one hundred miles has to reschedule too and there is nowhere big enough to accommodate us." She hiccupped again. "Bella, what am I going to do?"
Bella brought a hand to her eyes, rubbing them hard. "Okay, Kate hold on. First of all, it's not the end of the world, okay? Have you talked to mom? I'm sure she'll have all sorts of ideas."
Kate sniffed. "She's busy trying to help my venue plan their renovations. It's a huge project for her and now she's swamped."
Bella rolled her eyes. Of course Renée Swan would jump on a project like that.
"Okay. It's okay Kate. We'll figure something out, all right?"
Kate took a shaky breath. "Thank you, Bella. I really didn't know who else to call."
Bella suspected this was Kate's way of being kind. She had three other sisters to call, and she was sure Kate had tried them all before calling. Bella would have.
"It's fine, Kate. Let me make a call or two. See if I can figure anything out."
Bella was skeptical about her ability to do anything. She'd cut a lot of ties when she'd moved away from Forks, and Kate was still there in the thick of it. But her sister was obviously frantic and not thinking clearly, so Bella could suck it up and reach into her past for a few minutes.
Kate thanked her numerous times, and eventually Bella had to hang up on her to get her to stop. When she ended the call, she pulled her phone from her ear, frowning as she pulled up her contacts.
"What's up?"
Bella glanced at Edward who was still gloriously naked. It was very distracting.
"Kate's venue burned down. She's freaking the fuck out and can't think clearly enough to find a solution."
Edward smiled. "And she called you."
Bella rolled her eyes. "She was desperate. I'm the only sister fool enough to answer."
Edward chuckled, reaching down to pull the blanket over his waist. Bella pouted, but it was probably for the best. She needed to focus.
"You're a good sister," Edward told her, leaning over to kiss her shoulder. She snorted.
"Believe it or not, that's the first time anyone has ever said that to me."
She felt Edward smile against her skin as she hit a contact name. She brought the phone to her ear while her other hand reached up, scratching through Edward's hair. He groaned against her skin while she tried to focus on the call she needed to make.
His lips moved against her again, and she was about to hang up when the call finally connected. "Bella?"
Bella sighed, turning her focus back to the call. "Hey, Angela. I have a favor to ask you."
…
Rosalie was well and truly done with pregnancy. Her son—God bless him—had officially overstayed his welcome.
She'd taken a risk flying last month. Her doctor had advised against it, but thankfully everything had been fine and she'd been able to fly to Forks and back without a problem.
But she still had five weeks left in her pregnancy, and now moving around was becoming more and more challenging. If her son was anything like her husband, she expected the baby to be massive.
She was not looking forward to that.
She got home from her doctor's office, glad to hear everything was going well but secretly wishing he'd miscounted and that she was actually due any moment instead of in another month. She saw the missed call from her sister, but when she tried to redial, Kate's line was busy.
Instead, Rosalie settled herself on the sofa, content to lean back and space out to some television for an hour or two. Emmett was due home in a couple hours, and she was too unfocused to try to get any work done, so TV it was.
She fell asleep almost immediately, and only woke up when her cell phone rang. She answered without checking the caller ID, still confused from her nap.
"Hello?" She croaked.
"Jesus, did you just get railed or have you been drugged?"
Rosalie leaned back on the sofa. "Bella, I'm thirty-five weeks pregnant. The only railing in my life is the one on the staircase that I have to grip because I can't see my own damn feet."
Bella snickered and Rosalie smiled. It was a nice surprise to hear from Bella. They talked semi-frequently, but after their family get-together, Rosalie expected it to be months before she heard from her littlest sister.
"What are you up to?"
Bella sighed. "Oh, just saving the day."
Rosalie's eyebrow arched, even though she couldn't see her. "Oh?"
Bella snorted. "Your skepticism is appreciated."
Rosalie grinned. "How are you being a badass today?"
Bella laughed. "Have you talked to Kate?"
"No. She called me but I was at the doctor."
"Her venue burnt down. She's freaking the fuck out."
Rosalie blinked, then frowned.
"What?"
"Yeah, so somehow I've gotten roped into helping her. Do you think she knows I don't live in Washington anymore?"
Rosalie rolled her eyes. Her little sister was the most enigmatic person in their family, largely because she was also the one best at keeping secrets. Of course Kate had no idea where Bella lived. Rosalie knew only because she'd wanted to ship Bella something for her birthday a few months back and had finally gotten the address from her sister, though she'd been sworn to secrecy about it.
"No, of course not. Everyone still thinks you live in the United States," Rosalie groaned, shifting on the sofa.
She could practically feel her sister's grin. "It thrills you, doesn't it? That no one knows how to find you."
Bella was a little surprised at how well her sister knew her, but she agreed.
"Yeah it does. They don't need to know my shit. None of them ever cared about me enough to earn these details later in my life."
Rosalie couldn't say whether this was fully true or not. She was thirteen years older than Bella, and though they'd always gotten along, she wasn't around much when Bella was little. Their mom had always cared about appearances in the community, but it hadn't been something that had really impacted Rosalie's life too much. Perhaps if she'd been born looking any different though, things might have been not so easy. It wasn't wise to underestimate Renée's vanity, and of her five daughters, Bella was perhaps the one with the strongest will of her own.
It had been rocky between them since day one.
"How is Edward?"
Rosalie could practically hear the smile in her sister's voice as the conversation shifted.
"He's good," Bella said, her voice going a little sweeter. "He stuck around after meeting you lot, so you know, he's definitely crazy."
Rosalie snorted. She hadn't told Bella about Tanya's suspicions, nor had she told anyone about the relationship—or lack thereof—between her sister and James. Rosalie was sitting on a pile of secrets, and to keep the peace, she would stay right there.
After she and Emmett had gotten home after Thanksgiving, Bella and Edward had stopped by on their layover to Europe. It was there that Rosalie learned how long the two had been dating, and her happiness for her youngest sister magnified.
She'd never seen Bella so happy.
"Are you bringing him to Kate's wedding?"
Bella grunted. "I have to. He knows about the wedding, and he's making me go."
Rosalie rolled her eyes. Bella would go, with or without Edward, but she knew her sister liked to be dramatic.
They talked a while longer before finally hanging up with promises from both sisters to do what they could for Kate. Rosalie wasn't sure she could do much, but she was certainly willing to help problem solve from the sofa.
…
It was Christmas Eve, and though the Swan family was spread out across the world, the obligatory video call was set to begin any moment. Life was easier—Irina thought—when video chatting wasn't as easy and reliable. A simple Christmas card posted in the mail, a group text to her sisters and a call to her parents so her children could talk to their grandparents and that was enough.
Last year, Renée had discovered she could have all of her family call in to a group video chat, and had thus instructed them to dress for a holiday party in their own homes.
It was tedious, especially to get the twins into Christmas sweaters they hated but that Renée had bought them specifically for the call.
Her house was chaos up until she brokered a truce with her screaming children as the video call tried to connect to the chat.
The moment her mother came up on the screen, Irina plastered on a smile that made her children roll their eyes behind her back.
Renée inspected each square on her screen as her children logged on.
"Rosalie, Darling. What is your hair doing?" Renée asked, leaning toward her screen.
Rosalie reached up and rubbed a hand through her hair. "I don't know. I haven't looked at it."
Beside her, her husband carefully reached up to smooth her curls, his hand coming down to rub her shoulders. Rosalie shot him a grateful look as Renée nodded in approval. All her children had shown up except Bella.
Of course.
"Where is she?" Kate asked, as if voicing Renée's thoughts.
"Late, like always," Tanya huffed.
Renée shook her head. "No matter, we can begin without her."
She took screenshots of her beautiful children who had—per her instructions—set their cameras up in front of perfectly decorated houses.
"Tanya, where is James?" Renée asked, realizing her daughter was alone in the square.
Tanya's back straightened. "He got a gig. He's in Paris for a shoot right now. He sends his love."
Renée lit up at the thought while Rosalie barely resisted rolling her eyes. Emmett, who didn't have as much practice restraining himself, coughed to cover a laugh.
Renée was about to begin the evening's festivities when a box appeared in the chat. A moment later, there was Bella. She was dressed in an all too revealing sequin dress, her hair wild and her make up better suited to a club than a family Christmas call. She was walking outside, each step jiggling the phone in her hand.
"Bella, what are you doing?"
Renée was appalled, and she was glad she'd taken the photo of her family when everyone still looked respectable.
"Hey," Bella said, ignoring Renée's comment. "We're walking home."
There was a beat of silence as most of the Swan women wondered if the youngest Swan was planning to continue her ruse of dating Edward.
Behind Renée, Charlie cleared his throat. He did not want to know where his youngest daughter was dressed like that with that boy.
"Is Edward with you?" Renée asked, her voice showing her skepticism.
Bella nodded. "Yeah, but he's feeling camera shy."
Tanya snorted.
Rosalie, who could sense that one or more of her family members were about to start arguing, quickly jumped in. "Mom, didn't you want us to sing carols or something?"
Reminding Renée of her plans put the call back on track, and though they were on a video call and couldn't make eye contact, somehow Rosalie knew Bella was shooting her a grateful look.
Renée launched into the festivities of the night, and Bella barely listened as she walked. She was tired and cold, and all she wanted to do was go home, drink a gallon of water so she wasn't hung over tomorrow, and get railed by her incredibly hot boyfriend.
Next to her, Edward listened to the family call with a small smile on his face. He was fascinated by the absurdity of Renée Swan. She'd been a force to be reckoned with—much like her daughter often was. He'd been warned plenty before Thanksgiving about how crazy Bella's family could be, but even that hadn't been enough to adequately prepare him for that night.
Still, he'd survived, and after that night, he'd realized with no uncertainty that Bella truly was the one for him. He loved her, and the fact that she could turn out so—her—despite her family impressed him all the more.
He wanted to marry Bella one day, of that he was certain.
He was also certain that he couldn't ask her anytime soon.
But he was happy to wait it out, to be patient and just enjoy the time with her like this. They had all the time in the world ahead of them.
He watched Bella sing out a Christmas carol off key, and he bit back a laugh. She was a fantastic singer, much like the rest of the Swans if the call was any indication, but it was clear Bella was only interested in mocking the traditional singing.
Bella giggled halfway through the song and turned to him. "My mom muted me. She's probably recording this for her friends."
Edward laughed and shook his head as Bella turned her attention back to her phone.
The song ended and Bella, it seemed, was taken off mute.
The Swan women talked—though it was much closer to arguing—and by the time Edward and Bella got back to her apartment, the noise coming from Bella's phone was absolute chaos.
Edward went immediately to the kitchen, getting them both glasses of water while Bella kicked her shoes off and plopped on the sofa. While she was distracted, Edward slipped into her room, changing out of his party clothes. They'd gone to a Christmas Eve party and though it was close to three-thirty in the morning, he was still somehow wide awake.
He changed into sweats and a t-shirt he'd left there before grabbing his phone and heading out into the living room.
He sat next to Bella, just out of view on camera, and opened his phone.
He was scrolling his favorite social media platform, half listening to Bella and her sisters argue, when he paused, his eyebrows going up at the photo he saw.
He turned to his girlfriend, holding his phone out to her. She stopped talking, looking at his phone.
Her jaw dropped.
"What?" she hissed, her eyes traveling up to Edward's face. He shrugged. Bella turned back to her phone when someone on the call shouted.
"Tanya! James is trending!"
The call went quiet as Kate spoke, and Edward sat back, knowing already where this was headed. "He was just arrested in Paris for trying to have sex with another male model in a club!"
The phone call went silent, and all eyes landed on Tanya. "What?" she croaked.
"Apparently, they were strung out on drugs and were trying to have sex in the middle of the club. Oh my God, Tanya! Did you know?"
Tanya's face was bright red, and despite the fierce feud between the two, Bella felt bad for her sister. Even if Tanya did know James was gay, this was a shitty way for the family to find out.
"James is gay?" Irina asked.
"He does drugs?" Charlie demanded.
"Christ," Rosalie groaned, rubbing a hand over her face.
The Swans were rapidly descending into chaos, and Tanya was shrinking further and further into her seat, unable to come up with a lie quick enough.
Bella glanced over at Edward, her eyes going soft for a fraction of a second.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered.
He didn't have time to ask because then Bella was shifting into his lap and turning the camera to them. "Hey guys, did I tell you where Edward and I were tonight?"
The conversation stopped, and everyone looked at Bella, confused. "We were at a Christmas Party at an underground sex club."
Charlie choked on his beer.
"What!" Renée shrieked.
"A sex club?" Rosalie asked, her eyes wide.
"Mhmm. It was this work thing."
Edward was beet red as Bella announced to her family—yet again—the seedier aspects of their work.
Honestly, it wasn't that bad.
Renée launched into a tirade, lecturing Bella about her life choices. It was hard for Renée to stay too mad, because one look at Edward's handsome face and she started to forget what it was she was upset about.
Bella let her rant, putting herself on mute as she looked at Edward.
"Are you mad?" she asked.
He let out a breath.
"No, Love. Just embarrassed."
Bella smirked. "Why? You're hot."
He rolled his eyes at her and she turned back to her family. "Guys, I have to go. It's almost four in the morning and I haven't even jumped Edward yet today. Merry Christmas!"
She hung up to sputtering and shocked faces before turning back to her boyfriend.
"It was kind of you to throw me under the bus to save your sister," he told her, without a hint of sarcasm.
"Tanya is a bitch but she didn't deserve that," she said, shifting so she was straddling his lap.
"Do you think she knew he was gay?"
Bella nodded. "Almost definitely. I mean, it wasn't hard to spot. The man kept undressing you in his mind at Thanksgiving."
Edward shook his head. "He really wasn't subtle at all."
Bella wound her arms around his neck, pulling her body closer to his. His arms went around her waist. "Will Tanya be okay?"
Bella shrugged. "She'll be all pissy and bitchy the next time we see each other, but that's nothing new. She'll be fine."
Edward nodded. He knew he would have more dinners with the Swans in the future, but for now, he was going to enjoy this Christmas with his favorite Swan.