what a woman! i.

quarante-quatre

Parking in the driveway, Tatum had Avery grab the big bag of small presents. The two carefully walk up to the front door and knock on it. Jasper opens the door with a wide smile, Avery crashes into his long legs and Tatum quickly shuffles inside. She looks at him with a euphoric look.

"Joyeux Noël, beau diable!" Tatum says cheerfully. Jasper gives her a confused look, not understanding what she meant. He lets Avery hold onto his legs as he rubs Tatum's cold face. He loved the hard rosy tint in her face. Her nose and cheeks were flushed and her teeth were chattering. "Il fait si froid que je ne parle même pas Anglais!"

Jasper chuckles and looks down when he feels a constant tapping on his leg. He looks at Avery and sees the toothy smile of the little guy. Jasper removes his hands off her face and uses them to pick up Avery. The little boy never let the bag go, so it swung over and hit him in the face.

"You little stinker," Jasper teases, poking Avery's flushed cheek. "What's in the bag?"

Tatum snatches the bag from Avery and hides it behind her back. She shakes her head and tilts her chin up, not letting Jasper look her in the eye. Jasper chuckles and leads the two to the living room, still holding Avery. But, he's quickly snatched up by Rosalie who smiles brightly at the three-year-old.

"My favorite little fern tree!" Emmett says loudly, carefully hugging Tatum before backing away so Esme can give her a hug too. After most of the family greets the two, Tatum pulls out the gift bag and hands each person a gift. Emmett tries to unwrap his before Tatum quickly swats his big hand away.

"No opening until Noël Day!"

"Nutella what now?" Emmett asks, not understanding.

"Noël means Christmas," Carlisle informs him. Now Emmett felt like an idiot.

"Because you are," Edward says, smirking at the biggest brother. The family, plus two, were confused. But honestly, it happened quite a bit. The family goes back to chatting and soon enough, it grows dark. The two had been out for three hours and needed to head home for family night. They wish the vampire family happy holidays and head on their way back home.

On the way back, Avery tells Tatum all about the stuff he learned in school. How he learned about Frosty the Snowman and other Christmas tales. Soon enough, the two make it home and find the house decorated with little, colorful string lights. Tatum parks her car and quickly escorts her nephew inside.

The smell is heavenly.

Tatum takes off their winter gear and quickly skid into the kitchen. While they were out, Mr. Fernsby had made most of the Christmas treats. Including, the Pillsbury doughboy cookies. After, sneaking some cookies and eggnog before scrambling towards the living room where Mr. and Mrs. Fernsby sat on the couch. 

"Ready for Christmas movies?" Mr. Fernsby asks, placing his arm behind his wife. Tatum hops on the couch and grabs her nephew, placing him between her legs. The two snack on cookies and drink eggnog, Avery finding out he didn't like it, as their grand/dad puts in How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

About half-way through the movie, Avery and his grandparents had fallen asleep. Tatum was still watching the movie, running her fingers through the toddler's hair. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. 

Tatum carefully sets Avery's head on a pillow and hops off the couch. She heads to the door and quickly opens it up, a small box was wrapped in paper and topped off with a bow. She leans down to grab it. She looks down at it, trying to find a card, but all she can find is her name in bronze marker. She flips it over before looking back up once more to see anything. Of course, there's a very charming Southern vampire in front of her. 

Jasper smirks that damn smirk and swipes a piece of his hair behind his ear, not losing eye contact. She smiles and pulls the gift closer to her. He slowly walks towards her, making her back up, until the two are inside. He closes the door and keeps eye contact with her. He slowly takes the gift out of her hands and places it on the counter-top. 

Jasper pulls Tatum towards him, he leans down and picks her up. He places his hand on her butt, as support, and the other around her waist. He walks the two of them upstairs to her room at a human pace. They never lost eye contact until it came to the stairs. Jasper was in love, but he wasn't stupid. They reach her room and Jasper walks in, removing the hand from her waist to close the door behind him. He walks them over to the bed before dropping her on the bed. 

Jasper cages her on the bed and places his legs on either side of her legs. He leans his head towards her neck, placing a small peck on the side of it before going to whisper into her ear. His unnecessary breathing made her spine tingle. Sounds strange, but it was an accurate description. 

"So, I heard that you met Major?" 

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