The Gift

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns all Twilight and the Characters

Chapter 1 Meeting Santa

BPOV

"Come on mommy," my little girl said dragging me along behind her through the mall. "I can see him over by the gingerbread house."

"Carly," I said trying to slow her down. "Slow down he will still be there even if we take our time."

Christmas time in Seattle was sometimes a hassle. This was one of those times. I loved the Christmas season and the chill in the air that it brings. I love looking at all the Christmas lights, the smell of the fresh pine tree in the house, and the smell of cookies coming out of the oven. The one thing I dreaded was going out in public . Everyone seemed to loose the meaning of Christmas when it came to buying the newest toys or hottest electronics to date. Here we are in the mall trying to make it through the crowds to see Santa. As we made our way closer to Santa's village I couldn't help but smile at my little girl. She was so happy at this one moment in time. It had been a long and difficult year with the divorce and moving back to Forks.

"Alright," I said kneeling down to her eye level fixing her hair. "Be polite and smile real pretty."

"Okay mommy," she said getting in line.

I walked over to the exit side and waited for her to have her turn. I stared at all the happy families walking by and wishing. Wishing that I could give Carly the happy family she deserved . As she made her way up to Santa something caught my eye. Of course he had the white bread and rosey cheeks but what caught my attention were his eyes. They were the most brilliant emerald green color. I had only met one other person whose eyes where that color and that was many years ago.

"Bella," I heard someone from behind me say. "Bella Newton."

"Its Bella Swan," I said turning around to see who it was. Then I saw her, my best friend at on time dressed as one of Santa's helpers. "Alice!"

"It's true then you divorced that asshole," she said hugging me.

"Earlier this year," I said when she let me go. Alice hadn't changed one little bit since I saw her last a little over four years ago. She was still a little shorter than me and had that same black spiky hair do. There was one little difference with Alice she had a small baby bump showing through the elf outfit. "How are you?"

"Good," she said. "Helping out like we do every year. Where are you staying? What brings you out here?"

"During the divorce I moved into Charlie's old house since he lives in La Push with Sue," I started to say. When Charlie found out that I was getting a divorce he took his house off the market and gave it to me. Before I could say anything else I saw Carly jump off Santa's lap and come towards me. "I'm here so that this little one can see Santa."

"Bella," she gasped out kneeling down to get a better look at Carly. "She is gorgeous just like you. Good riddance that she didn't get any of Mike's features. How old are you princess?"

"I just turned four in September," she said holding up four fingers. We both couldn't help but laugh when she did this.

"Little elf," Santa said. "I need your help with the list."

"Coming Santa," she said. "I'm staying over at mom and dad's for a couple of weeks. We need to catch up big time."

"Will do," I told her hugging her goodbye. "Can you tell Alice bye."

"Bye Alice," Carly said waving.

As we walked out of the mall I couldn't help but have a strange feeling that Santa was someone that I knew. It couldn't be him last I heard he married the girl he broke up with me for and they lived happily in New York.

"So," I said trying to change the subject. "What did you ask for?"

"I can't tell you mommy," she said giggling.

"Why not," I said shocked.

"Then Santa won't get it for me," she said before going to sleep.

While I drove back to Forks I couldn't get Santa's damn green eyes out of my head.

EPOV

"Damn it Edward," I heard Alice say. "Could you be just a little jolly here for the kids."

Why did there have to be an emergency at the hospital today? Dad was the one who was supposed to be playing Santa not me. But no! Here I seat in this damn Santa suit that could give me a heat stroke and listen to kids talk about what toys they wanted there parents to buy.

"Alice," I said while the next kid came up. "How much longer?"

"One more hour Scrooge," she smarted off.

"Merry Christmas," I said as the little boy sat down on my lap. "What would you like this year?"

As he started mumbling off the top toys of the year something caught my eye. Over at the entrance was a little girl with her mother. She the little girl had brown hair with bronze highlights and looked as if she could be four years old. It wasn't the little girl that caught my attention it was her mother. She had her back towards me but she had long brown hair with loose curls down her back. No it couldn't be her, she was happily married to an asshole. When she stood up and faced me I couldn't believe it. It was her but she wasn't the same. She looked sad, and depressed forcing a smile on her face. One thing didn't change in my opinion, it was her melt chocolate brown eyes that made me weak at the knees. She walked over towards the exit watching as the little girl came up.

"Hi," I said as my older brother Emmett helped her up on my lap. ""What's your name princess?"

"Carly Esme Swan," she said smiling proudly. She had my mother's name as her middle name. That alone took my breath away as I took a quick glance over at her. I could see that Alice was talking to her.

"That is a beautiful name Carly," I said to her. "What would you like for Christmas this year?"

"I want," she started to say.

"You can have anything you want," I told her playing the part up real big. "I am Santa and I have all the magic in the world to make your Christmas wish come true."

"I want my mommy to be happy," she said taking a breath.

"Why isn't your mommy happy," I said thanking her for opening the door.

"She is always sad," she said. I had to know what was going on with Bella.

"Carly," I said looking at her after thinking for a minute. "I promise to make sure that your mommy is happy."

"Thank you Santa," she said hugging me.

"You can't tell your mommy," I said. "This is between Santa and you. Pinkie promise."

"Pinkie promise," she said grabbing my pinkie with hers. After she let go she hugged me one more time and whispered in my ear. "Thank you Santa. I love you."

Emmett helped her off my lap and we both watched her walk back over to Bella and Alice.

"Dude," Emmett said. "Was that Bells little girl?"

"Apparently so," I answered. "Do you know what she meant with her Christmas wish?"

"No way," he answered. "That's the most interaction I've seen you have with a child all day. What the hell dude?"

"There was just something about her," I said still watching them. "She's different then all the other kids I've seen today."

I needed to get Alice back over here and talk to her. I'm sure that she had the inside scoop with what happened to Bella.

"Little elf," I yelled at her making something up real fast. "I need your help with the list."

"Coming Santa," she yelled back telling Bella and Carly goodbye.

As I watched her walk towards me I had a thousand questions going through my head.

"What," she said crossing her arms at me. I knew not to take it personal, it was just the hormones talking.

"How is Bella," I asked her.

"It's none of your damn business," she barked out. For a small person she can be vicious sometimes.

"Alice," I said standing up. "I know that there is something going on. It's written all over her, and Carly said that she wasn't happy."

"If you weren't the ass that ended the one good thing you had," she said turning around to leave. "Then maybe I would tell you."

She didn't give me a chance to respond she walked away leaving me alone in Santa's village to think things over. I did break her heart a little over four years ago, got married for all the wrong reasons to someone else, and divorced quickly afterwards.

I made Carly a promise that her mommy would be happy. I will be damned if I didn't make her Christmas wish come true.

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