Dear Diary:                                                           December 24, 2013

Lions and tigers and dragons, oh my! That was a pretty spectacular battle and one I'm glad I didn't have to fight. That's way beyond my or my family's level of expertise. Glad we could stay home and watch from a distance. But that's over and done with; Rogue doesn't think we should have any more problems for a while. Let us hope she's right; with our luck there's always something around the corner. But that's the past and in the present we are preparing for the holidays just like I'm sure you all are.

When it comes to religion and such not everyone celebrates Christmas; for example Rogue and Alexander are Jewish while Kim is an atheist altogether. Everyone else does; but the above-mentioned three don't mind, so we got the house ready for both Christmas and New Year's Eve. Being so far up north, we have a ton of snow already so people were out building forts and having snow ball fights; and by people I mean Michelle, Emmett, the wolves (Jacob, Seth, and Leah), and their mates (Nessie, Corin, and Keith). Alice, Bella, Rogue, Kim, and Amy decorated the interior of the house which including the ginormous tree we put up in the great room. Yes we have a great room in this house; the reason it hasn't been previously mentioned is because we only use it for holidays. They decorated not only the great room but the rest of the house including everyone's bedrooms!

Rose, Maria, and Esme were cooking up a storm in the kitchen for the feast that we were going to have. The men including Edward, Jasper, John, Alexander, Peter, and I were decorating the exterior of the house; climbing on the roof and such as well as the property surrounding. By the time we were done with the decorating alone, you'd think it looked like all of the lights of Las Vegas put together in a much smaller setting. The Denali's were staying with us until after the New Year so we made extra room for them. They hadn't yet arrived at that point so we had time to kill so to speak.

Let me explain how we decided to deal with presents this year. Because we had such a shear amount of people and due to all the insanity we had gone through this year plus the fact that we already had pretty much everything imaginable; not to mention the latest in everything that we decided that in lieu of presents, we were going to donate to our favorite charities. We all regularly donated money or other things to about 8 charities. We are grateful for everything we have so therefore we love to give back to those less fortunate. The charities we donate to as well some of the other photos are below. The Denali's agreed to this as well; The Watchers have donated before so this wasn't new to them. We did agree that the only presents that were allowed to be given would be from one mate to the other; something private and special. It would make everything very easy and helpful at the same time. We felt like a bunch of Santa's for the people out in the world.

Once the Denali's arrived, most of the men went to cut down some trees or break them in our case for the fireplaces in the houses. I honestly don't know what every single person was doing but I did see Nessie, Michelle, Leah, Jacob, Seth, and Corin making snow angels and a really life-like looking snow man; in between chucking snow at each other that is. As we walked passed them carrying the wood, we were all bombarded with a ton of snowballs and a fit of giggles. At that point, we dropped the wood and had an old fashioned snowball fight. You would think we would use up all the snow but we got so much of it that there was enough for a supernatural snowball fight. Sooner or later everyone migrated outside and joined the barrage of snowballs. At first it was men against women; then at one point Jacob chucked one at me, which I sidestepped nicely. It flew past me towards the back door from which Rogue was emerging; knowing what was happening she ducked her head in the nick of time but Rose who was following behind her didn't have a chance to and the snowball smacked her dead center in the face!

To say she was a bit perplexed and pissed was an understatement; meanwhile Jacob and quite a few others were rolling on the ground laughing. Even I had to snicker at that one. Jacob meant to hit me but hit the one person he was still thawing a relationship with; no pun intended. With a shrill cry of "I'll kill you!!!" Rose jumped into the fray and within seconds landed a Volkswagen sized snowball right on top of Jacob virtually burying him under it! It was her turn to laugh. Jacob popped out of there like nothing happened and the two of them started volleying snowballs at each other. At that point it was a free for all; basically hit whoever was closest to you or wasn't covered by the makeshift snow forts!

There were two nice and loud screeches when both Corin and Nessie stuffed snow down Jacob's and Seth's clothing respectively which was followed by more laughter. The only ones not partaking in this festive holiday fun were Carmen, Eleazer, and Marcus. The first two were more reserved but still laughed when I would get bamboozled from all sides. Marcus looked very unsure with what to do with himself; like what would be proper? Finally, it was decided for him when Tanya, Rogue, and Alexander slammed three really large ones into his back and back of the head. He realized he had no choice but to defend himself against the barrage from his mate, cousin, and cousin in law!

Though Carmen and Eleazer were more reserved they did agree to help with the next game which was who could build the coolest looking snowman. It was split half and half; some were very engrossed in the snowball fight while the other half built snowmen. We had set up a camera and video camera on a timer to take snap shots of our silliness. The video camera was motion sensitive so it was rigged in such a way that it could shoot everyone and not make it look blurry or give people vertigo from just watching the damned thing!

Finally, when most of the snow in our backyard was used up or melted; we all went inside. Time for some eggnog and food by the fire. It was going to snow again overnight so we could get more of it if we needed it. Well most of us went inside; Leah asked Keith to take a walk with her. She had something really important to ask him and we all knew what it was already. Now if you all recall Emily's wedding and when Keith met Sam and Emily for the first time; Sam had a weird reaction to Keith and kept looking at him sideways and such. Well, Leah wanted so desperately to know what Sam was thinking and why he looked at Keith sometimes like he had two heads. Keith said that Sam was nothing but pleasant to him; still Leah had to know. I guess it was her own version of closure. Keith though knowing what she wanted to ask him, waited patiently for her to actually say the words:

"So um, I'm sure you know what I'm going to ask you but I really am curious. I mean I have never seen Sam look at anyone like that. What was going on in his head?" Leah looked Keith in the eyes earnestly as she asked. They sat down on the two person swing out in the backyard after clearing it of snow.

"Oh that yes. It wasn't anything bad if that's what you're worried about." Keith said honestly.
"If it wasn't anything bad, why are you stalling?"
"Because I'm not sure how you're going to feel."
"Just tell me already, I'm dying with suspense here!" Leah said, trying to sound flippant; didn't quite work.
"Ok ok....breathe babe." He said stroking a piece of hair out of her face.
"I'm breathing." Leah grumbled as she waited patiently.
"Ok well when we first all saw each other, Sam was stunned by my size I guess you can say. I'm taller and wider built than he is. That is why he couldn't really get words out." Keith explained.
"I figured that much when I saw him sizing you up in the very beginning; Emily admitted to me later that she thought you were like an oak tree." Leah finished with a giggle.
"Later when you women went about your business and we men were alone as I got to know them each better both by reading their minds and from what they were saying, all commented on my height and I joked that you would have to wear stilts just to kiss me." Keith said with a smile and a wink. Leah blushed as Keith continued.
"Sam's head came up and the emotions were a little hard to read at first......"
"At first? What do you mean?" Leah's head came up to meet his eyes.

"Well when you came back to get me much later and I kissed you, Sam was standing not too far away and that's when his emotions and facial expressions were clear to me. The emotions he was projecting were jealousy, forced happiness, and yet peace all at the time. He seemed to be conflicted. He truly wanted you to be happy and he wouldn't give Emily up for the world but I guess my....whatever you want to call it.....manliness intimidated him. Last thought he had before we left them, was that he had to start working out more." Keith finished shrugging while Leah's eyes were bugging out of her head and her jaw was on the ground somewhere under the swing.

"I......you.....he......huh......" were the only words Leah could stutter out.

Keith waited patiently as she gathered her thoughts. Rogue told me earlier that he was actually very nervous about telling Leah because even though he was her imprint, she and Sam had a very long history together. Would it make her want to be with him again or would this be the final end? The only one who could really answer that was Leah because Sam and Emily were already married and happy. So there he sat waiting for her answer. Finally she was ready to speak.

"I must say out of everything I thought you would tell me, this was not anywhere near my thought process. I don't really understand how that feels and why. I mean once you imprint the only feelings you have toward someone else whom you dated before is that of friendship. Seeing him that time when you all met, I mean that's all I felt for him and it felt so good! I no longer had to deal with that pain in my chest; that constant ache. It was replaced by my love for you." She said stroking his cheek and blushing simultaneously. Keith breathed a sigh of relief. That surprised her.

"Wait.....did you actually think I would have feelings for him still too?" Her eyebrows all but flying off her head.
"It crossed my mind yes; you have to remember I don't know all of the 'rules and regulations' of imprinting and how every little thing works. You explained the basics to me and that's all I needed to know. Do you blame me?" Keith looked sheepish.
"No, I guess not. But you have nothing to worry about. Everything I ever felt that was love related toward Sam vanished the instant I saw you. Now the only way I think of him is in that friendly, fellow wolf, and the husband of cousin type of way." Leah said with a wink and a giggle.
"Well that's definitely good to hear."
"And it's actually quite amusing that he was jealous of you. You're way hotter than him!" She said mischievously.

At that point Keith grabbed her and kissed her as she squealed with laughter. They were laughing and hugging on that swing when suddenly they noticed Seth and Bella come out to the porch; Seth was bouncing up and down like a ball and smiling from ear to ear. Bella told Seth something and he nodded; she then strode across the grass toward Leah and Keith. By the time she reached them, she too was beaming. Before Leah could ask, Bella said:

"You'll never believe what happened; I just got off the phone with my dad. He proposed to your mother! Charlie and Sue got engaged on Christmas eve!"

To be continued.....

P.S. Happy Holidays to you and yours! From all of us!

~Carlisle Cullen