Three year old James Castle woke up and for a moment, he was confused. What was today? Why was he awake already? Then it hit him – it was Christmas! He really hoped Santa thought he was a good boy and brought him the Batman bicycle he wanted. It was the only thing he asked for this year. He wanted to have his own bicycle to ride when his family went to the beach. He used to get to ride with Mama, but last summer she took baby Hannah with her, and he rode in the little seat on Daddy's bike. But Mama and Daddy thought he was a big boy now, and they thought he was ready to learn to ride his own bike. And he and Daddy thought the Batman bike was really cool. He was about to jump out of bed and see what Santa brought when he thought about another present – the present he made for Mama.

Now that he was three (and almost four!), he went to school some days. He liked school; he got to play with other boys and he didn't have to share them with Hannah. He loved his baby sister, but he had to share everyone in the family with her, especially Mama. But at school, he got to hang out with his friends Tommy and Jared. And they liked to play Batman with him. Yeah, he had to sit still sometimes but school was still fun.

And last week, they made stuff for their families. There were different things you could make; some kids made stuff for their daddies but he made something for his mommy. He didn't even show it to Daddy; he was a big kid now, and he even wrapped it himself. He watched Daddy wrap presents for Lexis and Grams and Grandpa Jim, so he knew what to do. And now he was allowed to use his special scissors he could cut the paper. (Okay, he got in trouble when he experimented with cutting some papers he wasn't supposed to cut, but he was careful now to only cut the paper Daddy let him use.)

So one afternoon, he pretended to fall asleep on the couch downstairs. When Daddy fell asleep for real, Jamie got the box and the paper and he wrapped the present. Sure, he had to use lots and lots of tape, but he thought it looked pretty. And he managed to be pretend sleeping when Daddy woke up so he didn't know. Mama was going to love it! He'd hid it downstairs so he could give it to her after he opened his presents. He decided it was time to get out of bed. Maybe he'd go check Hannah before he went downstairs.

When he got to Hannah's room, he tiptoed in, and saw that she was awake. "Hannah, do you know what today is? It's Christmas! I hope Santa thought we were good!" Hannah laughed when he finished talking. Mama said she wasn't ready to talk yet, but he thought she knew stuff even if she couldn't talk about it. He liked to make her laugh, so he kept talking to her. He told her some jokes he knew, he talked more about Santa, and he talked about baseball.

Rick Castle thought he was dreaming. He could hear Jamie talking to someone and he could hear Hannah laughing. He wasn't much of a morning person, and he and Kate had been up late putting all the presents out and 'celebrating' Christmas. He couldn't wait to see Jamie's face when he saw his new bike. Then he slowly woke up, and he soon realized why he could hear Jamie and Hannah – Jamie must be in her room, and he was talking to her. He and Kate always loved listening in, so he leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Hey, beautiful, Merry Christmas! And you've got to hear Jamie – he's in Hannah's room!" Kate always woke up quickly, and today was no different.

"Let's go get them, Castle! I want to open presents!" she jumped out of bed and threw her robe on. He followed her and watched as she entered Hannah's room. "Good morning, my babies!" Jamie usually hated being called a baby, but today he seemed too focused on the day to mind.

"Merry Christmas, Mama!" he said as he ran to her. She kissed all over his cheeks. He giggled and said, "Did Santa come?"

Hannah was standing up holding onto the rail of her crib and she smiled at Rick as he came to get her. He kissed her cheek as he lifted her out of the crib and he answered Jamie, "I don't know, maybe we should all check together." He smiled at Kate as Jamie turned to him.

"That's a good idea, Daddy! Let's go!" Jamie wasn't patient on a normal day, and Christmas meant he wasn't patient at all. But Kate and Rick were just as excited as the kids were, so they left Hannah's room and quickly made their way downstairs. When they reached the living room door, Kate thought back to the first time she saw the Castle version of Christmas, in the loft. They had moved to this townhouse after their fake separation, giving themselves a new beginning. And at moments like this, she was glad. Now they had a living room door to close so Rick could be dramatic and she could watch the kids' reactions.

"Let's find out if Santa came last night," Rick was saying to Jamie. "Are you ready?" Jamie was jumping up and down in his excitement and even Hannah was straining to go into the room. Rick grabbed the door knob, and opened the door with a flourish. Jamie's mouth opened in a silent "O" and Kate smiled. And she could see the moment he saw his Batman bike, because his eyes got wide.

"Daddy! Mama! My bike! My Batman bike!" he cried out as he ran into the room. "Santa brought my bike!" He went to jump on it, but Kate stopped him.

"Wait a minute, James. Let me help you!" She lifted him in her arms and put him in the seat. His smile could have lit up Times Square. He almost caressed the handlebars. "Okay, buddy, do you want to open more presents?" she asked him.

He looked almost shocked. "More presents? Wow, this is great!" She helped him off the bike and he really looked around. Rick handed Hannah over to Kate, and took Jamie's hand. When he asked Jamie if he wanted to help hand out the gifts, he nodded yes.

Some time later, there were piles of presents and lots of discarded paper and ribbons. Hannah was gnawing on a new doll's fingers while Jamie sat and looked at a new book. All of a sudden, he jumped up and ran out of the room. Rick and Kate looked at each other. But he was back in a minute, holding up a package wrapped in purple paper and lots of tape.

"Mama, this is for you. Merry Christmas!" He handed her the package. Kate held it in her hands and looked at it with tear filled eyes. She looked at Rick, but he just shrugged.

"I know nothing about it. Did you do that in school, buddy?"

"Yes, we made stuff in school, and I made something for you, Mama! And I wrapped it myself, too!"

Kate smiled through her tears. "I can tell that buddy. Nice job," she grinned as she slowly unwound the tape. When she got all the tape and paper off, and lifted the top of the box, she smiled. Inside the package was a purple necklace – plastic purple beads strung on elastic thread. "Oh Jamie, this is so beautiful. My favorite color!" she said as she lifted it out of the box. She put it on immediately, and turned to Rick with stars in her eyes. "Isn't it perfect?"

He'd seen her look the same way any time he'd given her jewelry. And he knew that in her heart, she didn't see plastic beads and elastic thread, but the love that James had put into that present. He told her that he thought it was perfect too. She showed that necklace off to everyone that day, and put it away with all her special jewelry. After all, it was special to her.

A/N: Written for another Castle-less Monday. Only 56 more days to go!