Better Things

Chapter 11

A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews! I appreciate each one of them so much! Now, this chapter is the longest one yet, and we see some progress being made, so I'll let you get on with it. Thanks to Heather for being an awesome beta!

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"Merry Christmas!" I hollered as I came down the stairs and made my way into the kitchen where I would begin making chocolate chip pancakes. It had become tradition since I was about eleven, and I'd first learned to cook. Every Christmas morning since, I'd holler Merry Christmas and make breakfast while Mom and Dad stumbled out of their room, wrapped up in robes with slippers on their feet.

I got a pot of coffee started and began to mix the batter. A few minutes later, Dad came into the kitchen in a tattered bathrobe that was older than I was. He poured himself a cup of coffee and took a seat at the kitchen table.

"Merry Christmas, kiddo," he said in a sleepy voice.

A few minutes later, Mom came in wearing an equally ancient robe and a pair of ugly house slippers, and I mean ugly. Good thing I'd gotten her new ones for Christmas because the ones on her feet had to go.

After a delicious breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes and orange juice, we went into the living room to gather around the Christmas tree. Dad played Santa every year, donning a bright red Santa hat and dolling out gifts. Minutes later, I had a small pile gathered at my feet from Mom and Dad as well as from my friends. I couldn't wait to tear into them, and I did so with glee. I loved opening presents. Maybe it was the anticipation of what was inside, or perhaps, it was the sound of paper ripping. Whatever it was, I freaking loved it.

"Holy sh—smokes!" I yelped when I stared at the box in front of me. There was no way Mom and Dad could have afforded to get me this, not after getting me a car.

"We weren't sure what kind to get you, but the guy at the store said that one was the best, and you'd said your old laptop was starting to die," Dad said as I continued to stare at the box that contained a MacBook Pro.

"I—" I couldn't even get any words out because I was so gob Smacked. "Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

I got up from the couch and threw myself at Dad, hugging him hard before moving on to Mom. I stammered my thanks over and over, because I truly was in shock.

"You're quite welcome, sweetie," Mom said.

Since I'd gotten such a huge gift from them, I only got two other things from Mom and Dad: an Amazon gift card and a beautiful sweater. Dad loved his fishing pole, and Mom loved her new slippers and books that I'd gotten her. The only gifts I had left to open were from the Cullens and the Whitlocks. I decided to save Edward's gift for last and opened Alice's first. She'd given me a really cute pair of jeans and a cute blouse to go with it. I wasn't surprised at all that she'd chosen to get me clothes. Emmett and Rose had combined their gift and got me a hundred dollar gift card to use anywhere at the mall, and Jasper had gotten me an iTunes gift card. Pleased with all of my gifts, I turned to the box that was left.

Slowly, I unwrapped the paper and opened the box. Nestled inside the box was a smaller box. Reaching in, I took the smaller box out, my stomach nervous as I did so. The small box was thin and rectangular, and I gasped when I opened it. Inside the box was a necklace with a gorgeous dragonfly attached to it. In one of our many talks, I'd mentioned to Edward how much I loved dragonflies, but I hadn't realized he was paying so much attention.

"What is it?" Mom asked at my gasp.

Slowly and carefully, I took the necklace out of the box. It was sterling silver and the body of the dragonfly was a sapphire. It was way too much, and I'd be scolding Edward later, but I loved it.