Between the Evergreens (Part One)

Merry Christmas

     December 25th came around very quick. Sheridan had finally settled into a more lazy routine which consisted of begging Carlisle to stay in bed all day and never changing out of her pjs, and today was no different. 

     "Carlisle, you have celebrated Christmas for one to many years I believe. This year you should stay in bed with me and I'll give you the best Christmas gift ever." Sheridan Hall was the queen of teasing, her words alone left Carlisle in a frustrated state. Both were unsure about taking their relationship to a physical level but that didn't mean they didn't want to. Sheridan crawled on top of Carlisle, her soft thighs became more visible as the large t-shirt rode up her legs. His large hands quickly took their place and he trailed his fingers from where her legs met the mattress to the very edge of the shirt. 

     "So, so tempting but I've never celebrated Christmas with you and we must do it right." Carlisle slipped his hands just under the t-shirt and fit them right in the crease of Sheridans hips. The soft lacy fabric he felt was not doing him any help when it came to getting out of bed faster. Sheridan could feel the heat rising in her body and reaching all the way to her cheeks making them a soft pink. The vampier was becoming much to temped by the human, he flipped them over quickly and planted a soft kiss on her plush lips. 

     "One day I'll convince you to stay in bed with me you know" Just as quickly as Carlisle kissed Sheridan he slipped off the bed and was pulling on a t-shirt from the dresser. 

     "I know, but lets go, there are people waiting to give you gifts." Carlisle rummaged through another drawer in the dresser till he found a pair of leggings for Sheridan. She picked up a cardigan from the floor and slipped it on as she walked out the door. The cool hardwoods were like a shock to her system compared to the warm carpet in the bedroom. Carlisle heard the small almost inaudible gasp and was quick to lift her off her feet. Sheridans soft giggling flowed though the home like soft music. The rest of the Cullen's, including Bella, were situated around the living room waiting for the couple to arrive. As they all watched Carlisle descend down the last stair case with Sheridan in his arms, a giggling mess and him with a wide smile, they realized they had never seen two people so utterly happy in one moment. Sure each couple was undeniably in love with their other half but not like these two were. Maybe it was just the Christmas spirit making everyone a little extra happy and thoughtful but something about this exact scene was so picturesque and heart warming you could practically see the love wrapped around Carlisle and Sheridan.

     "Good morning, everyone slept well I assume?" Sheridan snickered to herself while everyone else just rolled their eyes. 

     "You are so funny Sheridan" Edward threw one of the sofa pillows at her, successfully hitting her in the face while she continued to laugh. 

     "Whenever you guys feel like acting like adults again I want to hand out gifts." Alice stood by the tree already sorting through boxes and bags looking for names. Sheridan sat back and leaned against Carlisle. Alice took her sweet time passing every gift out individually. Everyone took turns unwrapping their gifts. Alice had gone first and it was no surprise that she had been given a designer bag and pair of boots, along with many other clothing items. Sheridan had gifted her a brand new collection of make up for her to play with. Products ranged from YSL to Tom Ford, Chanel and of course Tarte and Benefit, everyone needed the classics. Jasper was next. Sheridan had the most difficulty shopping for him, the two were undoubtedly comfortable around each other and were close but no where near as playful as her and Edwards and as sisterly like she was to Emmett. When Jasper pulled opened the box from Sheridan he was quite surprised she would go to such lengths. 

     In his hands he held an old silver pocket watch, it seemed to be in mint condition aside from the small indent on the back. Along the inside of the lid the name of the watch maker and date were scribbled in the all to familiar hand writing. 

      John Galston 1862

     Sheridan had done a fair amount of research to find the maker and she put an even bigger effort into actually finding an authentic watch. John Galston was an old watch maker from Galveston, Texas. Jasper had grown up down the street from his shop and his own father had a watch from him. This was much more sentimental than anything he had ever received and he truly had no clue how she even found this. 

     "Where did you find this?" Sheridan giggle lightly and smiled softly at him, she wouldn't tell him how much work it was to get the watch to the country, let alone try and buy it from the man who had it. 

     "I'm part of the Russian government, you can't question how I get things or someone might have to kill you." Sheridan was delighted about how much Jasper liked the gift but brushed it off. Eventually everyone else had opened their gifts and turns out Sheridan had picked excellently for everyone. 

     What she got for Edward was her favourite thought, she had bought him several original copies of piano music from Mozart, Debussy, Bach and even found a piece from Tchaikovsky, thought she wasn't sure they were all for piano.

     Finally it came time for Carlisle and Sheridan to open gifts, Sheridan insisted Carlisle go first and so he did. He came down to the last box and it was smaller then the rest of the gifts but he knew it was from Sheridan, the same red wrapping paper and signature ribbon was present on every box she wrapped. Underneath the red tissue paper lay two airline tickets dated for one month from now. He looked at them closer but couldn't place the odd letters on the ticket. Carlisle looked down at Sheridan for a few seconds till he realized what he was looking at. Sheridan had bought them flight tickets to Russia. 

     "I hope its okay." The kids were staring intently at the couple waiting for Carlisle to pull what ever was in the box out so they could understand, Edward on the other hand was smirking on the other side of the living room. 

     "Of course, I love it." The unspoken reason behind her gift was clear to two. Sheridan had once talked about the time she lived in Russia and how it was really like, she talked about her family there and how much she missed them and wished she could go back and see them soon. 

     "Well can someone tell us what it is." Carlisle adverted his eyes from Sheridan at the sound of Emmetts voice, He quickly pulled the tickets out slowly and held them up. 

     "Airline tickets, to Russia." 

     "I think we can all agree that Sheridan buys the best gifts and has out done every single person here, and we've been doing this for easily one hundred years." Emmett slumped back against the couch and everyone laughed. It was true everyone had absolutely loved what they go from Sheridan. "and you still have to open your gifts." Sheridan was quick to pull up the first box and un wrap it. 

   Sheridan was adamant that they didn't even need to get her anything and she didn't want anything so all the kids pooled in together to get something for her and Carlisle. The first box had a pair of wool mittens, the second a matching hat, the third was a box of Starbucks peppermint hot chocolate mixes and the fourth was passes and air line tickets for a skiing trip in Switzerland. A small card in the bottom of the box was signed from all the Cullen kids with a little note written. 

     With the utmost love.. Your bags are packed, everything has been taken care of. You leave tonight.

     "Did you know?" Carlisle smiled down at Sheridan, her soft brown eyes were wide and pink lips pulled into a breathtaking smile. He nodded lightly before grabbing one more small box from the side table. 

     "You have one for thing to open from me." It was a small velvet box with a single thin ribbon wrapped around. When Sheridan pulled open the box she knew immediately what she was looking at. it was a thin gold bracelet with two chains, one held a small few diamond and the other had a pendant that held the Cullen crest. Sheridan practically threw herself across the couch at Carlisle to hug him. She abandoned all the boxes on her lap and went to hug everyone else as well and say thank you about 100 times. 

     For the rest of the day everyone sat around and talked, shortly about the details of their Switzerland trip they would be leaving for in a few short hours, and of course Sheridan was frantic about what was packed and if they had enough clothes. Overall it was an amazing Christmas and Sheridan couldn't think of spending it with anyone else.