Hi! So I've been writing this the last couple of days and it was supposed to be this sweet small story, but it got longer and longer. I'm not really happy with the result but it'll do.
The precinct is still dark and Beckett is the first one in as usual. She doesn't need to be this early since she isn't working a case right now and not really behind on paperwork, but she woke early anyway and figured that she could just as well go in.
She logs onto her computer and finds that she has an e-mail from her cousin. She hasn't talked to anyone from her mom's side of the family in years and is surprised to find an invitation to Christmas dinner from Savannah. She doubts it'll be fun, but it would be nice to see her family again. She hasn't really talked to them since the funeral. They send each other Christmas and birthday cards, but that's it. Kate sighs and flags the invitation, she needs to think about it.
She just turns to her paperwork when her phone rings. Castle.
"Why are you calling me at seven in the morning?" she asks as a way to say hello.
"And good morning to you, Detective," Castle's cheery voice comes through the speaker. "Don't tell me I woke you!"
"No, Castle. You didn't wake me," Kate sighs.
"Good, where are you?"
"At the precinct," she answers wearily.
"Great! I'll be right up then! Five minutes tops!" Then he hangs up and Beckett is left stunned. She stares at her phone. Usually Castle's still asleep at this hour, and very grumpy when she calls him.
Five minutes later Castle comes crashing into the bullpen. His cheeks are bright red from the cold outside and his hair is dishevelled.
"Hi, Kate!" he yells when he stumbles into his chair.
"Hush, Castle! I'm not deaf!" Kate grumbles.
"Guess what!" he beams in a more normal voice.
"What? Are you going to tell me why you're here so early?" she says.
"Well… I just realised that it's Christmas next week!"
"Just? Seriously? You've been going on about it since the day after Thanksgiving!" Kate laughs.
"Oh, who cares? It's almost Christmas, Kate! Where's your holiday spirit?"
"On the north pole," Kate mumbles, but Castle doesn't hear her and chatters on about his plans for Christmas dinner. Kate smiles and lets him. She likes it when he's so enthusiastic about something that he's all hyped up.
"But I'm still not sure if I should go for steak or turkey. I mean turkey is more traditional, but we already had turkey at Thanksgiving and I found this really awesome recipe for steak."
"Sounds like you've already made your choice, Castle," Kate says, not looking up from her paperwork.
"Yeah, maybe… so what are your plans for Christmas? You don't have to work this year, do you?"
"No, Montgomery insisted that I'd take Christmas off, because I've been running the Christmas shift for years. So I'm not sure. I got invited over by my cousin, but I don't know. It's been years since I've been there." She's not sure why she told him that, she usually doesn't, but it just tumbled out.
"How long?" he asks. He'd come down to earth again, just the slight red in his cheeks now hinted at his previous exhilaration.
"Twelve years," she says in a small voice and it doesn't take Castle long to do the math.
"Your mom's funeral." It isn't a question, but Kate nods anyway. She feels Castle move closer and lean in to take her hand and she lets him. "You should go," he says, "it'll be good for you."
Kate looks up and sees the tenderness in his very blue eyes. Her breath hitches as he stares back at her. His eyes speak volumes. She means the world to him and he wants her to be happy. She's sure her eyes tell him the same thing.
"Okay," she hears herself say and Castle grins.
"Yeah?"
"Yes. Fine, I'll go. It's just dinner, right?"
"Just dinner. You can leave whenever you want," he says. "When is it?"
"Ah, Christmas Eve, I think. Wait, let me check," she says as she pulls away and turns to her computer. She opens the invitation and reads it more carefully. "Yes, Christmas Eve."
"Okay," he says, then adds, "Do you want me to come?" He looks genuine when Kate turns to him sharply.
"No, you should spend Christmas with your family!" she says, coming on a little harder then she intended. She'd actually love him to come, but his family comes first.
"Alexis is spending Christmas Eve with Ashley and Mother is going God knows where, so I don't have a problem with Christmas Eve dinner with your family," he waves her away with a grin. Then he thinks of something and his grins falls. "But you probably want to ask Josh to come."
Josh? Why would she ask Josh? Oh, she didn't tell him that did she?
"No, I don't think that be a good idea," she says and Castle looks up in question. "See, I gave him an ultimatum. Me or Uganda. He chose Uganda. He left last week."
Castle brow furrows, "I'm sorry." But he doesn't sound sorry at all. A light has been ignited in his eyes and they shine brighter than they have since she found him next to his dead acquaintance with a gun on this hands.
"You're not, but thanks anyways. I think I knew it was going to end sooner rather than later. I was just kind of hoping for later." She gives him a small smile. "Anyway, since you're free on Christmas Eve… I would love for you to come with me. I need someone to talk to when it gets awkward."
"You're on."
(…)
Castle's picking her up at five and she's still struggling to get her make-up right. It keeps getting smudged. Kate growls when she hears the knock on her door. He is five minutes early.
She opens the door for him and lets him in. "Give me a minute, I need to fix my make-up," she manages before she disappears into the bathroom again.
Castle follows her and stands in the doorway, watching her as she tries to get her eyeliner right. It doesn't surprise Kate, since he hardly ever gives her the privacy she wants. She just tries to ignore him as usual.
"You nervous?" he asks after a minute.
"No, I'm not nervous," she shoots back and winces as her voice rises an octave. "Right, maybe a little."
"It'll be fine, Kate. I'll be with you the entire time." Somehow that does make her feel slightly better and she shoots him a grateful smile. She looks at herself in the mirror again and decides that she looks fine. Or, as fine as it'll ever be.
"You look beautiful, by the way," Castle says in a soft voice as he eyes the elegant black dress she's wearing.
"Thanks, Castle. You look good, too." She barely sees the expansive shirt and jacket he's wearing and says it almost automatically.
"Ready?" He steps back to let her out of the bathroom.
"Yes, let's go," Kate says with a sigh and grabs her purse from a kitchen stool.
The ride in Castle's town car is quiet, but not awkward. Kate marvels over the fact that they can just sit together without having to say anything. It's not often that Castle isn't talking, but she doesn't feel the urge to fill the quiet with conversation when he doesn't.
"What are we?" he suddenly asks, hauling her out of her thoughts. She gives him a look and he clarifies, "I mean, how do we introduce me? Am I your partner or your friend… or do we say you're my muse?"
Kate slaps him on his bicep, "We definitely don't say that!" Then her brow furrows, "I guess you're my friend?" It comes out as a question. She's not sure why, but she goes with and looks at him.
"Okay, good," he says with a smile. "And will they recognize me?"
"Possibly. I wasn't the first in the family to read your books," Kate answers with a sly smile. "We'll just go with it. I'll introduce you as Rick, because it's weird to call a friend by their last name. And then we'll see what happens. If they recognize you, fine. If they don't, that's fine too." She just hopes that they accept Castle as Castle and not as the author.
"Great." Castle reaches out for her hand and squeezed it. "You're doing surprisingly well with all this."
"Yeah, well, it's my family, right? I shouldn't be nervous to introduce my friend to my family." That earns her a massive grin that warms her heart and she automatically returns.
"So... Is there anything I need to know about this side of your family?" he asks. He's been surprisingly quiet about the subject and hasn't grilled her on all the details of her long-lost family as he calls it, so she's more than willing to answer his questions now.
"Ah, we're going to Savannah's house, but she doesn't want to be called Savannah anymore and insists that we call her Hannah… She's my aunt Janine and uncle Robert's oldest daughter and has one brother called Tommy. Janine was a year younger then my mother and used to look a lot like her. My other aunt is called Sophia and is married to Brant; they have a son and a daughter, Callie and Grant. Tommy, Callie and Grant all used to be pretty normal." She pauses for a second, thinking. "My grandmother is basically deaf and there's no point in striking conversation with her, but she'll be perfectly happy as long as she doesn't have to sit alone. Then there's Tommy's kid, Charlie. I've never met him, but he should be around four by now."
Castle stares at her, his mouth hanging open a little. It takes him a minute to recover from the amount of information she just gave him, but eventually he grins and says, "So, basically, there's nothing to worried about, right?"
"Right," Kate smiles. "Just don't ask about Charlie's mother."
"Okay, fine," he responds, then says, "Which Brant calls his son Grant? That's child abuse."
Kate chuckles. "Yeah, and Grant isn't even Brant's son. His father left during his first month and Sophia married Brant when Grant was three."
"This is getting more complicated by the minute," Castle grumbles.
"It's not that complicated, I mean, Brant basically is Grants father. So just don't mention Charlie's mom and everything will be fine," she says and she glances outside. "We're here."
Castle takes a deep breath, gets out of the car and hurries around it to open Kate's door for her. "I wish I hadn't asked anything, because now you've made me nervous," he says.
"Relax, Castle, everything will be fine," Kate chuckles as she takes his hand and drags him to Savannahs front door. It opens before she can knock and suddenly she's face to face with her cousin. Before she knows it she's being crushed in a hug.
"Kate! You made it! We thought you weren't going to come. It's been so long! How are you? You look good," Savannah rushed over her head.
"Ah, thanks, Hannah. You look good, too. I sent an e-mail that said I'd be here," Kate tries to reply to everything at once. "This is Rick, by the way. Rick, this is Hannah." Kate turns to her companion and suddenly realizes that she's still holding his hand. She quickly lets go, but Savannah caught it and hugs Castle while she says something that looks a lot like "Welcome to the family."
Castle shoots her a look when Savannah leads them inside. "Guess you forgot to tell me that she's an Easter bunny on a sugar rush," he mumbles into her ear.
"Right, sorry, totally forgot about that," Kate apologizes then shoots him an evil grin. "But really you two should get along just fine."
He grumbles something Kate doesn't understand and she follows Savannah into the living room, followed by Castle. Almost everyone is already there. When she steps through the door all conversation abruptly stops and every head is turned in her direction. Suddenly, Castle's a little too close behind her and she feels his hand on the small of her back to let her know that he's with her. It somehow gives her strength, the knowledge that even in here they're partners.
"Hi," she says tentatively as she takes another step inside. There's an awkward pause and Kate tries to think of something she could say next when a cute little guy bumps into her.
"Hello," she hears Castle say affectionately, "and who must this great man be?" He moves around Kate to crouch in front of the boy.
"My name is Charlie, sir," the little boy says in a shy voice. It surprises Kate how grown up he sounds for a four-year-old.
"Hello, Charlie, my name is Rick," Castle says and he holds out his hand to him, which Charlie shakes. Kate smiles affectionately at the sight at her feet when the boy looks up.
"I'm sorry for bumping into you, ma'am." She sees Castle look up at her as well and chuckles at the look of two pairs extremely innocent eyes staring up at her.
"No worries, Charlie," she says as she crouches down next to Castle and holds out her hand mirroring Castle only moments before. "My name is Kate."
Charlie takes her hand and says, "Hi, Kate. Daddy says you're family, but why haven't I seen you before if you are?" The question surprises her and she's quiet for a beat.
"I guess I've just been very busy," she says as she glances at Castle for help.
"Kate catches bad guys," he stage whispers to the boy and Charlie's eyes grow huge.
"Cool!" he yells and turns around to tell his father. "Daddy! Daddy! Did you hear? Kate catches bad guys! She's a superhero! Like superman!" The overenthusiastic boy gets scooped up by Tommy, who only looks slightly older then Kate remembers him.
"Yes, little man, I heard. She's more like Catwoman if you ask me. Superman's a guy remember?" he tells his son.
"Right, but then Rick is Batman!" the boy shrieks.
"Not necessarily," Tommy says and he comes closer to where Castle and Beckett are now standing. "Hi, I'm Tommy," he introduces himself to Castle.
"Rick," Castle says.
"So, are you Batman? Or just Kate's friend?" Tommy asks.
"Well, we're partners, too. So you could say I'm Batman, if Kate's Catwoman," Castle grins.
Kate elbows and says quietly, "In your dreams, writer-boy. Hi, Tommy." She moves in to give him a hug, which is awkward since Tommy is still holding Charlie. Around them, her other family members have started talking again and Kate's relieved.
"Writer-boy, huh," Tommy says in a low voice. "Don't let my mother hear you, she's a big fan of yours, MrCastle."
"Huh, ah, thanks?" Castle says uncertainly.
"Don't worry, I'll tell her to behave," Tommy chuckles. "So how are you, Kate?"
"I'm good, thanks. You?"
"I'm good, too. We're glad you're here."
"Thanks, I'm glad to be here," Kate says and she finds that she means it.
"Great, how's your father?" Tommy seems to be struggling to keep the conversation going.
"He's doing much better. He seems happy again." Tommy nods and there's a lull in the conversation. Neither of them knows what to say next. Charlie looks up at them and grins at Castle, who was making faces at him.
Tommy chuckles. "Do you have a kid, Rick?"
"Yes, I have a daughter, Alexis. She's seventeen," he says proudly.
"They grow up so fast, don't they? It seems like yesterday that this little guy was born," Tommy says.
"Oh, it seems like yesterday that I was braiding Alexis's hair for her first day of school," Rick says.
"You braided her hair?" Kate teases.
"Yes, Kate, I did and I'm proud of it. Meredith wasn't around to do it and she wanted braids." He pushes out his chest to prove that he isn't ashamed of having braided his daughters hair. Kate chuckles.
"So I take it you raised her yourself? Or are you two…" Tommy trails off.
"No, I raised her myself. Beckett and I are just friends," Castle says.
"You didn't raise her, Castle. She raised you," Kate interferes.
"And where did she learn all that stuff?" Castle protests with a sparkle in his eyes.
"Certainly not from you," Kate answers with the same sparkle.
"Well, not from Mother either, or from Meredith," Castle grumbles.
"Kate!" a voice interrupts their banter. Kate turns around and sees Callie coming her way.
"Hey Callie!" Kate says as she hugs her youngest cousin. "How are you?"
"Great! I see you've already met Charlie! Isn't he amazing?" Callie beams.
"Yes, he is," Kate says.
"Oh, hi, I'm Callie," Callie says as she holds out her hand to Castle.
"Rick," Castle says with a smile.
"You're Richard Castle, aren't you? I saw in the paper that you were following Kate for a book a few years ago, but I didn't think that you two would still know each other after three years. So, are the rumours true? Are you two together? Did you break up with your publisher for Kate?"
"Callie! Leave them alone!" Sophia says from behind Kate. Kate glances at Castle and sees that his mouth is hanging open. She puts her finger under his chin to close it and turns around to greet her aunt.
"It's good to see you, Kate," Sophia says as she gathers Kate in a hug. "And nice to meet you MrCastle, I'm Sophia," she says as she shakes Castle's hand.
"Nice to meet you too. But please, call me Rick." Castle doesn't seem uncomfortable, but it surprises Kate that he doesn't fall back into his alter ego the author.
"I love your books," Sophia praises. Castle thanks her with a humble smile that makes Kate's heart melt. Sophia engages Castle in a conversation about his motives to kill off Derek Storm.
Tommy has left to talk to his mother and Charlie his still looking up at them with big eyes. Kate kneels next to him and says, "Hi, Charlie, do you like it here?"
The kid starts to nod enthusiastically and then tilts his head to one side, "Yeah, but it can get kind of boring when all the big people are talking to each other about stuff I don't know. Daddy has brought me some cars, but I've been playing with them all afternoon and I'm a bit tired of them."
"How long have you been here?" Kate asks him.
"Daddy was free this morning, so we came here right after we'd finished lunch," Charlie says.
"Wow, that's early, aren't you tired?"
"No, not at all. I don't get tired anymore."
"Right… How about this? Rick is very good at making up games, maybe you can ask him to play with you?" she proposes and the boy's eyes grow wide.
"He won't mind?" he asks uncertainly.
"No, of course not," Castle says, having listened in at the end of their conversation. "I love playing games." He practically beams. The big kid.
Kate lightly touches his arm and says, "I'll go greet my grandmother. I'll be right back." Castle nods and Kate looks around the room in search for her grandmother. She finds her on the chair by the window.
"Hello, Gram," Kate says while she touches her grandmothers arm to catch her attention.
"Katie! Good to see you, good to see you!" Gram says. She's dressed in black and Kate assumes she's still mourning her daughter's death. It makes her sad and she pulls up a chair next to her.
"How are you?" she asks.
"Fine, fine. You look good, Katie. Who's that handsome man you've brought with you? Is that your husband?" A spark of electricity shoots up Kate's body and warms her heart. She's stunned for a second by her body's unexpected reaction.
"Guess not then," Gram smiles. "But you like him don't you? I saw how you looked at him when he was talking to Charlie. Your smile could light up the room, everyone noticed."
Kate blushes and looks down. "Come on, Katie, talk to me like you used to." That makes her look up into her grandmothers eyes. It reminds her of how she used to tell her grandmother everything, sometimes her grandmother got stuff out of her that she didn't even admit to herself. Only now, she does admit it to herself. Sometimes.
"It's complicated," Kate says uncomfortably.
"Why? Tell me the story, Katie," her grandmother pushes.
"Ah, the story… you want the beginning?" Kate chuckles.
"Everything."
"Right… You know I already read his books, right?"
"Yes, you were quite fond of them, if I remember right."
"Yeah, well, almost four years ago I caught a case that copied the murders in his books. So naturally he was a suspect. I interrogated him and despised him. He was so arrogant and childish. Of course, he was innocent and I had to let him go. But he insisted on consulting on the case. He did help a bit, but he was so annoying," Kate growls. Now she's started she has to finish, she doesn't even care that Callie has started to listen in.
"Then, when we closed the case and I thought I was finally rid of him, he decided that he wanted to write a book about me. So now he's become my partner. I've realised that the arrogant side of him isn't real. He's actually kind of sweet, a really good father… and my best friend," she says the last part a little softer, ducking her head down.
"Well, it sounds like you really like him," Gram teases, making Kate blush. "Why is it complicated, again?"
"I just broke up with my boyfriend a couple of weeks ago… Besides, he's a world-famous novelist, it wouldn't work."
"Says who? Katie, look at him," Gram says, forcing Kate to look up and search for Castle. He is telling Charlie a story on the couch, but his eyes are on her. She meets his eyes immediately. She smiles at him without giving herself permission to smile and he smiles back, warming her heart again. Then she looks back at her grandmother. "See? You didn't notice he's been looking at you since we started talking?"
"No, ah, well, he does that. I guess I've grown used to it," Kate defends, but as soon as she's said it she realises that it doesn't really help her case.
Gram chuckles, "I'd like to meet him."
"Okay, fine, I'll go get him," she says reluctantly and gets up. Castle's eyes light up when he sees her coming for him.
