A/N: Every year around Christmastime, I always promise myself that I’m going to write at least one Christmas themed one shot, but I never get around to it because of holiday shopping and such. Well, this year, I decided that I was actually going to do something about it and, well, this is what resulted from some awesome sugar cookies after we put up all the Christmas decorations in my house. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything. How unfortunate, right? I also don’t own the title to the fabulous Danny Elfman’s song for “Nightmare Before Christmas”, but I thought it was a fitting title.

Making Christmas

Jasper’s POV

I’ve never been a huge fan of Christmas. Everyone who knows me is well aware of this tidbit of information. By no means am I a Scrooge when the month of December comes rolling around, but I’m not exactly jolly old Saint Nick, either. I’m not exactly pessimistic, but sometimes, I fail to see the point in Christmas other than an excuse to lavish one another with ridiculous gifts.

Yes, I know the true meaning behind Christmas, but it’s become so commercialized that it is causing me to lose faith - no pun intended - in the human race. Maybe if they didn’t insist on putting up the decorations for the holiday in the middle of June, I would be okay with the holiday.

I can’t even put into words the precise reason why the Christmas season irks me so much. Did you know that Christmas is actually one of the most depressing and stressful times of the year?

It’s not all that hard to believe once you start thinking about it. People are so focused on buying the right gift for one another that they seem to forget the true meaning about Christmas: it is about being with those you love, the ones you hold close to your heart, regardless of whether it still beats or not. Not heaps of expensive presents that the receiver is most likely to return when the stores open their doors after Christmas.

At least, that’s what Christmas is in my opinion, as I’ve never really celebrated the religious side of the holiday.

Despite the fact my family knows that I dislike Christmas, to a certain extent, anyway, I was still on the roof, hanging up the Christmas lights that people would most likely never see. Unless, of course, you were in outer space. Esme really went to extremes when it came to the outdoor (and indoor) decorations, but instead of looking tacky, it looked elegant.

“Could you move Santa a little more to the left, Jasper, dear?” Esme called from the ground. She was standing in the middle of the front yard, her hands on her hips as she observed our progress. Unlike the rest of us who were outside in our normal clothes, Esme was wrapped up in a thick wool shawl and a stocking cap was pulled over her head.

I couldn’t help but smile at her, nodding my head. I turned back toward the light up reindeer, sleigh, and Santa on the slant of the roof. The reindeer had been positioned in the front of the sleigh, which was full of fake presents that Bella had spent the better part of two hours wrapping the night before. I moved the Santa Claus to the left just as Esme had asked and looked down at her on the ground for her approval.

She sent me a thumbs’ up, her satisfaction reaching me on the roof.

“Is there anything else I can do?” I asked.

“No, Edward and Bella haven’t returned from Lowe’s yet with the new Christmas decorations, so you can go inside and help Alice wrap presents if you want to,” Esme replied.

I nodded, swinging down from the roof and landing on the ground with a light thump. Esme winced as I did so, and I smiled in her direction before heading inside.

Alice was sitting in the middle of the living room, hundreds of toys scattered around her petite frame. Some of them were wrapped, but most of them were still without a shiny paper cover and a name tag. Currently, she was scribbling a name on a tag, and held it up in front of her face, squinting at it slightly. I leaned against the doorjamb, folding my arms over my chest as I watched her, the angel of my life.

“Need some help?” I asked.

She looked up at me, smiling widely. “Of course.”

Alice cleared a space for me to sit down beside her and instead, I took to sitting behind her, wrapping my arms around her slim waist and pulling her close to me.

“Jazz,” she complained, despite the fact that I could feel waves of happiness leaking from her every pour.

“What?” I frowned at the fabric of her red turtleneck, which was hiding her pale neck from view, and pushed it aside, kissing the newly exposed skin.

“Don’t you have some work to do outside?”

“Bella and Edward aren’t back with the rest of the decorations,” I answered, repeating Esme’s words to Alice. “And we’re out of decorations. Besides, you know how Esme is; always mixing the old with the new.” I kissed her neck again. “She was especially adamant about it this year, although I know it’s because she wants to make Bella feel welcome into our family and let her have a say.”

“Oh,” she replied. “In that case, you can help me wrap presents!”

I groaned, my lips pressed tightly against her throat. “Do I have to?”

“Oh, Jazz,” she reached back and swatted at me, but I caught her hand and brought it to my mouth, kissing each one of her fingertips, going as far as sucking on the finger in which the silver wedding band rested; she only wore the ring around the holidays, for God only knows what reasons. “Quit it.” She didn’t sound like she wanted me to stop, so I continued.

I looped my finger around her turtleneck and pulled the pesky fabric further down her body, ripping the seam in order to get to her shoulder; I loved her small, perfectly rounded shoulders. “I’m sure you can put take a break. Besides, it’s not like you don’t have all day to do it.” I tore the fabric even more and licked the curve of her shoulder, all the way to her neck.

Much to my surprise, instead of sinking into me, she pulled away from me and twisted around, a stern look on her face. “I’m serious, Jasper. I have two hundred more presents to wrap for the kids at the childrens’ hospital. Do you want them to go without a gift on Christmas, Ebenezer?”

I scoffed. “I am not Ebenezer Scrooge.”

“You hate Christmas,” she pointed out.

“I don’t hate it. I just find it entirely materialistic nowadays. Nothing like it used to be when I was a little boy,” I responded, sounding a little too wistful for my liking.

She gazed into my eyes and something sparked within her own hazel depths. “If you help me wrap the rest of these presents,” she began, scooting closer to me and snaking her arms around my neck. She brought her head to my ear, her lips brushing against my earlobe as she whispered what was quite possibly the naughtiest thing I had ever heard her say.

When she pulled away, I stared at her, wide eyed. “You really mean that?”

Alice grinned. “Of course I do.”

“With the fuzzy red hat and all?”

“Yep.” She placed her mouth over mine and kissed me hard.

Hm, maybe Christmas wasn’t so bad after all.