Wishing everyone Happy Holidays with this little Christmas Special to A Night to Forget. If you haven't read that one this might not make a lot of sense.
To the rest of you, enjoy.
Vermont December 2008
The snow was dancing around them, soft fluffy flakes that seemed too light to ever touch the ground, glistening in the lights of the village's Christmas decorations as they made their way back from the romantic candle light dinner they had shared in town. The restaurant serving a mixture of Austrian and French cuisine and the best Kaiserscharrn, a cut-up and sugared pancake with raisins and homemade apple sauce, they had tasted so far.
The unexpected children-free evening was an early Christmas gift from Alexis who had offered to stay back with her sisters at the chalet to give their parents some alone time, promising to entertain her younger siblings with a Disney marathon.
Now on their way home Kate linked her arm through Castle's, crowding into his side as they slowly walked down the small main street, their footsteps crunching in the fresh snow, everything peaceful and quiet around them. A perfect winter wonderland.
It was their last night in Vermont, where they had spent the past week skiing, sleighing and simply having fun in the snow, before getting back to the city in time for Christmas. The rental car was already packed and Castle planned to get on the road early the next morning in hopes to dodge the Christmas traffic. Though they all knew that there was a slim chance they'd actually accomplished that.
"We should bring your mother and my dad next time we come here," Kate said, "I'm sure they'd love it."
"Of course," Castle nodded, "though I doubt we'd see a lot of mother with all those handsome older gentlemen around."
"We would have to keep an eye on her for sure," Kate chuckled.
"Your dad could do that," Castle suggested, "he has this stern, no-nonsense look sometimes that scares the hell out of me."
"And you think that would work on Martha?", Kate frowned, watching her husband's brows furrow adorably as he thought about it.
"You're right, probably not," he agreed. "But hey, maybe we're lucky and she wouldn't come back with us, traveling the world with her new rich and very European husband."
"Rick," Kate scolded him, punching him lightly in the arm. "Stop it."
"Sorry," he grinned sheepishly. "You know I love her."
"Wouldn't hurt to tell her from time to time," she suggested, suddenly stopping in her tracks as she caught sight of the towns little Christmas market. "We still have some time, right?", she asked, eyes sparkling.
"Alexis said not to hurry when I called her after dinner," he grinned, loving the way her eyes lit up even more at his words.
"Great," she smiled, tugging him along.
XOXOX
He watched her talking to an older woman who sold beautiful handcrafted Christmas decorations and ornaments while he stood in line to get them some of the village's famous Christmas punch made after an old German recipe as he had been told by one of the villagers. His wife was smiling brightly and nodding at something the older woman said before pointing at something he couldn't see from where he stood. The woman wrapped whatever Kate had chosen and his wife took the offered bag with another smile and what he imagined were Christmas wishes. She then turned, her eyes finding him across the little market square and winked at him before continuing to the next stall, knowing he would find her once it was his turn in line to get the punch.
She found a scarf for Martha and some leather gloves for her dad, knitted hats for the girls and some spices she was sure Castle could use for his own glögg recipe before she finally sensed his presence behind her.
"Hey," she beamed, turning around.
"Hi, found something?", he asked, holding out one of cups he was carrying.
"Yeah, thank you," she nodded, taking his offering and breathing in the rich aroma of the spicy, yet sweet drink before taking her first sip. "Wow this is good," she moaned.
"Right?!", Castle agreed eagerly, "I tried to get them to tell me what's in it but no one's talking, sneaky villagers. All I found out is that it's an old family recipe that the grandmother brought over from Germany."
"Too bad," she sighed, taking another sip.
"But they said we could keep the cups," he offered in return.
Kate looked at the beautiful painted mugs and nodded happily, "They're lovely. Great souvenir."
They stood together watching villagers and visitors enjoying the festive atmosphere for a while longer, sharing a bag of candied almonds until Kate yawned and started to lean heavier against Castle.
"You tired?", he asked, looking down at her and watching her lift her eyes to him.
"Yeah, a bit," she admitted.
"Let's get back then," he whispered against her temple as he rested his head on top of hers, "We have a long day on the road ahead of us."
She nodded, putting their now empty cups in one of her bags and let him take her hand, as he led her to the far side of the market square.
"That's the wrong way," Kate tugged at his hand, confused, but he kept going, throwing a wink over his shoulder at her. He obviously had a plan and sure enough at the other end of the market place stood a beautiful antique horse sleigh.
"What - ?", she looked at him as he grinned from ear to ear.
"Wanna take a ride home?", he asked, wriggling his eyebrows, already knowing her answer.
"It's beautiful," Kate sighed ten minutes later as they left the village behind, the only sound to be heard coming from the horse and the sleigh bells. "Perfect last night."
"Yeah?", he asked, moving closer until their lips were inches apart.
"Yeah," she whispered, closing the remaining distance, letting her tongue run over his bottom lip until he opened up to her, deepening the kiss with the unspoken promise of more once they returned.
XOXOX
Castle was the first to wake the next morning, surprisingly even before the alarm went off. He found himself pressed against Kate's back, as usual his arm draped over her waist, holding her close. His nose was buried in her curls and he could tell she was still fast asleep as he carefully extracted himself from around her, pushing the warm blanket aside and making his way out of bed.
He pulled open the curtains since it was still dark outside and yet due to the snow and the lights around the house he had no trouble to see the massive mountains of white that had appeared over night.
He rubbed his eyes and muttered a not so quiet, "Shit," as he realized how much snow exactly had fallen over the last couple of hours.
"Whas'up?", his wife mumbled behind him, only half awake and burying herself deeper into the pillows, pulling the covers over her head.
"It snowed," Castle simply stated, disbelief written all over his face.
"So?", Kate groaned, rolling onto her back and blinking at the ceiling, "It did snow last night when we came back, remember?", she said, the last part of her sentence muffled by a yawn.
"No Kate, it snowed snowed, like a blizzard or something."
"A blizzard?", with a sigh and the realization that another twenty minutes of blissful and peaceful sleep was not in her future, Kate crawled out of bed, wrapping the comforter around herself before she joined her husband at the window, "So what is – oh shit."
They both stared at the endless white in front of them, their car barely visible under the icy blanket under which the street seemed to have disappeared as well.
"That's a lot of snow," Castle said in awe, his eyes roaming from tree to tree and whatever else he could make out in the eternal white as if not sure where to rest them first.
"When did this happen?", Kate asked confused, pressing her nose against the glass as if somehow that would make all the snow disappear. When they had turned in last night it had been snowing steadily but lightly, nothing close to have caused this.
Before Castle could come up with a theory of how Mr. Freeze and Frosty the Snowman had collaborated on this masterpiece of Snowmargeddon, a loud knock on the bedroom door startled them both out of their slightly shocked state.
"Are you decent?", Alexis called through the closed door and Kate rolled her eyes, an amused smile on her lips when she heard Jamie ask what Alexis meant.
"Just come in," Kate called back and a second later Jamie and Ellie came rushing inside, throwing themselves into their parents arms while Alexis followed shaking her head at the two whirlwinds who had woken her ten minutes ago, eager and excited to tell her all about the snow outside.
Castle picked Jamie up, putting her on his hip, happy that she was such a lightweight as Kate did the same with Ellie, exchanging good morning kisses and waiting for Alexis to join them at the window.
"Did you guys see all the snow?", the redhead asked, as she made her way over.
"We were just looking at it," Castle replied, pushing his index finger against the glass, leaving a mark where his finger lingered, right next to the one Kate's nose had left minutes earlier.
"You think we can get back to the city in this weather?", Alexis questioned, pressing into Kate's side to get her to share the comforter and Kate opened her arm, careful not to drop Ellie on her other side, all of them pressing close in front of the window.
"Honestly I'm not sure," Castle admitted. "It's a four-wheeler, but this is a lot of snow and the street is not even cleared. Maybe we should take the train."
He looked at Kate, silently asking for her opinion and his wife nodded. She really didn't think they should get on the road, they would probably get stuck somewhere along the way and the last thing she needed was to spend Christmas in the car.
"Okay, let me make a few calls and see what options we have," Castle said, dropping Jamie playfully onto the bed as he made his way out of the room in search of his phone. Jamie shrieked and didn't wait long before she crawled under the covers, never one to decline some extra minutes in bed and as soon as Ellie saw her sister getting in, she demanded to do the same.
"Momma bed," she said, pointing at her sister and with a chuckle Kate tucked her in next to Jamie.
"Maybe we should get in as well?", she shrugged, looking at Alexis, "Who knows how long it will take for your dad to arrange things."
Alexis nodded and with a grin grabbed the remote control as she got in next to Jamie, while Kate took Ellie's side, "I think Dr. Seuss is on."
XOXOX
Castle found his four girls half an hour later, snuggled up in bed, the TV on and all of them giggling at the Grinch who once again tried to steal Christmas.
Rick carried a tray with steaming cups, filled with hot chocolate for the girls and coffee for him and Kate as well as some cookies and oranges, since none of them had breakfast so far.
"It's not fair, you're all bundled up, having fun without me and I have to do all the work," he grumbled, handing out cups and then wriggling his way into the narrow spot next to Kate, keeping his left leg put on the floor, so he wouldn't fall out.
"So any luck?", Kate asked, wrapping one of her hands around his upper thigh.
Castle shot her a look due to the rather intimate gesture and Kate shrugged, "Don't want you to fall off."
"Well just keep your hand still," he muttered just loud enough for her before he directed his words at the whole family.
"Well, most of the roads are closed and they don't know when they will be cleared," he started, but got interrupted by Jamie right away.
"Does that mean we have to stay here for Christmas?", she asked, her eyes widening. "But what about Grams and Grandpa? It's no real Christmas without them."
"Pop-Pop?" Ellie looked, munching on a cookie, same wide eyes as her sister.
"Would you just let me finish?", Castle asked, rolling his eyes.
"Sorry Dad," Jamie said quietly, all ears again.
"As I said, taking the car is not an option but there's a train leaving in two hours that can bring us back to the city. They say the tracks should be cleared by then and I booked us a cabin. Someone from the lodge will pick us up with a snowmobile in an hour and they will take care of the rental for us as well."
"See Jamie," Kate leant over to brush some curls out of the girls face, "all good. No Christmas with out Grams and Grandpa."
Jamie nodded, relief shining in her eyes and then jumping out of bed all of a sudden, "We better get ready though," she said, "Don't wanna miss the train."
"You heard her," Kate shoved at her husband, almost sending him tumbling to the floor, "Don't wanna miss the train."
XOXOX
"Where do we have to go Dad?", Jamie asked, grabbing for his hand as they walked over the crowded platform where an endless stream of travelers hoped to get back to the city. The train was actually an unscheduled one to ensure that as many people as possible could get home despite the weather conditions.
"Coach 5," Castle told her and Jamie pointed to the one in front of them.
"There it is," she called excitedly, turning around to see where the rest of the family was.
XOXOX
Ellie's eyes were wide, darting around as she tried to take in as much as possible, her arms flying around Kate's head as she pointed things out with a demanding, "Look Mommy, look," while Kate was busy not to lose sight of Castle and Jamie in the crowd.
There was a white bearded man, standing in the middle of the platform, ringing a big golden bell and calling out directions and wagon numbers to the masses as if he could somehow bring order into the chaos of people and voices. Others were busy loading baggage onto the train, while the village's church choir was singing Christmas Carols at the far end of the platform.
"I feel like we're in one of these old Christmas movies," Alexis said, reappearing at Kate's side. "The only thing missing is an old fashioned steam train. Though I gotta say this one has probably seen better days as well."
"As long as it brings us back to New York, I don't really care," Kate replied, raising up on her toes to see what Jamie was pointing at.
"Me neither," Alexis agreed, following Kate to where Jamie and Castle were waiting.
Once they where settled in their cabin, toys out for Ellie who was sitting on the floor and books for Alexis and Jamie, both of them already engrossed in their stories, Castle looked at his wife sitting across from him.
"Ready to go home?", he asked, receiving a nod in return.
"It was wonderful but I wouldn't want to spend the holidays without our parents," she said, kicking of her shoes and letting out a satisfied sigh when Castle took one of her feet, placing it in his lap.
"Couldn't agree more," he replied, voice low as his hands worked her foot, the way he knew she liked and Kate closed her eyes relishing the feeling as the train slowly started to move.
XOXOX
Ellie was fast asleep after lunch which had consisted of sandwiches Castle had prepared in the morning and some fruits Kate had cut up. Since they planed to be home for dinner a snack was all they needed in the meantime. Their youngest was half curled up in her mother's lap and Kate was playing with her curls, running her fingers through them, while her other hand held the latest and final installment of the Derrick Storm series. Though she yet had to find about the last part.
Alexis and Jamie had left fifteen minutes ago, wanting to explore the train and ever since Castle had been staring at Kate, waiting for her to be done. He knew she was almost finished and he couldn't wait to hear her opinion and see her reaction, since he had failed to tell her about Storm's deadly destiny.
"What?!", she exclaimed finally, a bit louder than she had intended and Ellie stirred in her lap.
"Mommy?", she blinked up at her, but Kate gentled her with a soft touch to her cheek.
"Sorry baby," she smiled softly, "go back to sleep."
The little girl's eyes drooped and within seconds sleep had taken her under again.
"You killed him?", Kate hissed, mindful now not to disturb Ellie's sleep again. "Why?"
"I don't know," Castle sighed, moving over to sit down next to her, instead of across the aisle.
He took the book out of her hand, one of the pre-prints, without the proper cover and without the dedication and turned it over in his hands, opened it to the last page to re-read how he had ended his greatest professional success so far.
"It felt finished, boring even. There's nothing left to Storm or his story. It's time for something new, I guess," he shrugged, for once not sure how to put his thoughts into accurate words.
"Why didn't you tell me?", she asked, confusion and a little hurt shining in her eyes. She had no idea he felt like this about his work. Sure he had struggled more with this book than the previous ones but she had attributed his frequent writer's blocks to their hectic family life. Never had she thought he got bored writing the story itself.
"I didn't want to disappoint you," he admitted, keeping his eyes fixed on the book, away from her.
"Babe," Kate said softly, "look at me."
He lifted his eyes reluctantly finding hers and found nothing but compassion and understanding shining back at him.
"You could never disappoint me," she told him gently, "Certainly not because you don't wanna write any more Derrick Storm books."
"What if I never write a book again, because so far I have nothing new. Nothing," he asked and suddenly she saw it all, the pain, the helplessness he had hid so well until now.
"Not even then," she assured him, her thumb coming up to caress his cheek. "I love you."
Her lips brushed against his, just a fleeting moment, before she pulled him close, letting him hide in the curve of her neck, both of them mindful of their sleeping daughter.
He breathed her in, finding solace in her strong presence, the rock she was for him and suddenly he felt foolish that he had not confided in her earlier.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled into her neck, his lips pressing against her warm skin.
"Don't be sorry," she whispered.
"No, I mean for not telling you earlier," he clarified.
"It's okay," she whispered back, "But you know you can always come to me. We're in this together, you know that, right?"
"Always," he replied, his lips curling upwards when he pulled back to look at her. "I love you too."
They kissed once more and then Castle leant back, bringing his wife and daughter down against him. All three of them snuggling up on the small bench of their cabin while the train steadily brought them closer to home.
"I'm sure you'll find a new inspiration, a new idea, even better than Storm," she whispered before their eyes closed to join Ellie in dreamland.
XOXOX
The train slowed down abruptly and then stopped altogether, causing Castle and Kate to almost crush down onto the floor as the movement jostled them awake and Ellie giggled at her parents from the floor where she was playing with her toys.
"What was that?", Kate frowned, rubbing her eyes.
"I think we stopped," Castle groaned, rubbing his neck. Sleeping on the small bench certainly hadn't been a good idea.
"Are we in New York already?", Kate frowned, getting up to let Castle out from behind her.
Castle moved over to the window, staring out into the dusk. They were surrounded by wilderness, definitely not New York.
"No," he shook his head. "We're still far out. There must be another reason we stopped. I'll go and see what's going on."
"Okay and send the girls back if you find them," Kate instructed as she moved down to sit next to Ellie.
XOXOX
Twenty minutes later Castle came back, Jamie and Alexis in tow, all three of them wearing the same unhappy expression on their faces.
"What happened?", Kate asked, getting up from the floor where Ellie was still playing with her toy blocks.
"We're stuck?", Castle grumbled and Kate watched as Alexis and Jamie both plopped down in their seats as if all energy had left them.
"Stuck?", Kate asked. "What do you mean?"
"Apparently there's a snowdrift blocking the tracks. They don't know when they'll be able to clear it," Castle explained, plopping down next to Kate in the same manner as his daughters had just moments before.
"So we might not get back to the city tonight?", Kate looked at him.
"Maybe not even tomorrow," he replied, taking her hand.
"We're really stuck," she shook her head in disbelief.
"We're really stuck," he agreed.
XOXOX
An hour later the mood in the cabin had reached it's low point, the prospect of having to spend Christmas on a train getting to all of them. Jamie and Alexis were bickering, Ellie was whiny and Castle grumpy after he couldn't get through to Martha or Jim to inform them of their as from now undefined arrival time.
"Anyone hungry?", Kate asked, partly to fill the tense silence, partly because she really was hungry.
She received a series of mumbled grunts from her family, none qualified as an answer and she finally had enough.
"Okay," she said sternly, getting up, "everyone follow me."
"Mom," Jamie groaned annoyed and even Alexis, usual the most reasonable one, barely moved at her mother's words.
"No. I mean it. We're not spending the rest of the night in this cabin being grumpy and miserable, there's a dining car in the back and that's where we'll go and have a nice Christmas Eve Dinner together."
"It's not Christmas Eve Dinner without Grams and Grandpa," Jamie grouched.
"Well than it's just dinner," Kate replied daring Jamie to object again before pulling her up form her seat. "Come on, up, up. You too Castle."
"Better do as she says," Castle mumbled, raising his eyebrows so only the girls could see, they had officially entered the Kate Castle danger zone and so they finally followed her out into the corridor, making their way to the dining car, still in mutual grumpy silence.
Kate strode ahead as if on a mission, not looking back if her family followed, they knew better than not to. She understood that everyone was disappointed, she was too, but they didn't have to make a bad situation worse by bathing in self-pity. They were not the only ones being stuck on this train in the middle of nowhere.
"Mommy mad?", Ellie asked, looking up at her dad from where she was clutched against his chest.
"Yes, mommy's mad so we better do as she says, okay?", Castle looked at Ellie and then at his two other daughters, "And smile," he added and watched as everyone put on a smile that was so fake you would detect it from a mile away. "You can do better," he hissed before they pushed through the door of the dining car.
They were met with excited chatter, Christmas music and the smell of home cooking and even Kate couldn't hide her surprise at the festive atmosphere. When she had wanted them to get dinner she had simply wanted to get out of the cabin for a while, she hadn't expected to walk into a Christmas party.
"Oh come on in, come on in," an elder woman ushered them cheerfully further into the room, smiling at all of them, "such a lovely family you have," she said, looking up at Kate.
"Uhm, yeah I'm sorry, right now they're a bit grumpy," Kate apologized, looking back at her family, almost taking a step back when she saw the flabbergasted expression on their faces, "Oh."
"I'm sure you're all hungry," the woman said, "let me see if I can make some room for you on one of the tables."
They followed in single file, nodding at other travelers along the way until they reached and empty table and were told to sit down.
"I'll bring you all a plate of George's famous meat loaf. I'll be right back," their host told them, already turning around.
"Thank you …?," Kate looked at the other woman, realizing she didn't know her name.
"Mary," she smiled, "my name is Mary."
"It's nice to meet you Mary," Kate smiled and then pointed out her family. "This is my husband Rick and our daughters Alexis, Jamie and our youngest Ellie."
"Nice to meet you all," Mary smiled, "I'll hope you enjoy our little improvised Christmas Party," and then she left and disappeared into the kitchen.
"This is really cozy," Castle beamed, all grumpiness gone all of a sudden as he took in his surroundings and even Jamie and Alexis had small smiles on their faces when Mary came back and not only brought the meat loaf but also some chocolate pudding.
"Excuse me," Castle stopped Mary's retreat, "who's responsible for all of this?"
"Well, George, our cook, had the idea and then it took on it's own life and a lot of people contributed. We'll even have some life music later. We still need someone to read A Christmas Carol though," Mary shot him a meaningful look, obviously aware of who he was and Castle nodded happily.
"I'll do it gladly," he grinned.
"Wonderful and now enjoy your dinner before it gets cold," Mary told them and rushed over to the door to welcome the next guests.
They moved together after dinner, making room for some other people at the table and with steaming cups of coffee and hot cocoa in front of them the Castles listened to the little band playing famous Christmas songs.
"It's not that bad after all, huh?", Kate whispered into her husband ear and he simply pulled her closer, placing a kiss against her temple in reply as they watched their children happily sing along.
XOXOX
When it was time for Castle to enter the little makeshift stage, the loud cheerfulness had given way to reflective tranquility and everyone was looking forward to hear the so beloved tale of Charles Dickens.
Mary introduced Castle simply as Rick and even though he could tell that some of their fellow travelers recognized him no one seemed to really care that he was the famous author and so he sat down, opened the book someone had handed him earlier and started to read.
The room was quiet, everyone hanging at his lips and from time to time Castle lifted his head to look at his audience and found them totally enthralled by the story he was bringing to life. Kate winked at him from her place at the table, Ellie already fast asleep in her arms and he could tell that everyone else was ready to lay down as well.
He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!
"The End," Castle said, closing the book and finding the room applauding him the minute he stood up. He gave a little bow, before making his way over to his family, shaking hands and wishing a Merry Christmas on his way until he finally sank down next to Alexis with a happy, but tired sigh.
"You were great Dad," his oldest smiled, placing a kiss against his cheek.
"Yeah, really cool," Jamie agreed, yawning and falling into her sister's side, all energy drained from her.
"Alright everyone," he said, shooting Kate a look who looked like she could fall asleep on the spot, "time for bed. Let's go."
As the passengers settled into their cabins and seats, wishing a good night to total strangers they had all forgotten that none of them had planned to spend Christmas Eve on a train and as Mary and George cleaned and closed up the dining car there was not one unhappy soul on board.
And as the train grew quiet, everyone fast asleep, no one noticed the slight twitch as it started to continue it's journey toward home.
XOXOX
Jamie was the first to wake the next morning and immediately sensed that something was different, crouching out from under her big sister's arm, where she had been trapped all night, she raised up high enough to look out of the window and instead of seeing trees and endless white slipping past the windows she saw houses and streets.
"Mom! Dad!", she shrieked and the tangled mass of limps that had been created out of bodies during the night struggled to get up, Castle being the first to accomplish the task.
"What?!", he yelped, standing on his feet and looking around. "What … what happened? Who's dead?"
"No one is dead, Dad." Jamie rolled her eyes, "We're moving," she exclaimed, pointing out the window, "I think I can already see Manhattan."
"Where?", he frowned, eager as he stepped over Alexis who was lying closest to the window, mindful not to kick her. "Wow, you're right. I can see the Empire State Building. Kate, we're almost home."
"Really?", his wife asked, rubbing her eyes, her hair adorably tousled when she came up next to him, her arm sneaking around his waist as she leant against his back.
"We're getting home in time for Christmas Day," he said wistfully and Kate pressed her lips against his neck.
They all stood side by side, Alexis and Jamie pressed against them as they stared in awe at what lay ahead of them. Home.
"Better pack everything up then," she suggested after a while and then looked down at Ellie who was still fast asleep on one of the benches, totally unaware of what was going on around her. "And wake the little one."
XOXOX
When they finally made their way up to the loft, everyone was tired but happy to be home. Castle and Kate had agreed to settle in, unpack and then call Martha and Jim over for a late lunch to start their Christmas celebration just a little later than usual.
But when Castle opened the front door, letting the girls skip ahead of them they all stopped dead in their tracks when instead of an empty, dark loft they were met with all the Christmas lights on, presents under the tree, music playing and the smell of pancakes coming from the kitchen.
"Grams?!", the girls exclaimed as the diva appeared from the kitchen, uncharacteristically for her wearing an apron around her waist. They threw their arms around her and Martha leant down to greet all of them.
"Mother?", Castle gasped.
"Martha?", Kate followed.
"Merry Christmas darlings," Castle's mother greeted them as well, hugging each of them with a happy smile. "Glad you could join us."
"Us?", Kate frowned.
"Hey Katie," Jim Beckett appeared from around the corner where he had set the table, giving a little wave.
"Pop-Pop," Ellie squealed and scurried over to her granddad who picked her up laughing whole heartedly at her enthusiasm.
"Hey there Bumble-Bee," he tapped her nose and the little girl giggled, snuggling into his chest.
"What are you guys doing here?", Castle finally asked, finding his words as he closed the front door and stepped further into the loft.
"Well, Jim tracked your train on the internet or something like that. I wouldn't know," Marta waved her hand about, "and once we knew you would get here in the morning, we thought it would be nice if we welcomed you back with a lovely Christmas breakfast since you didn't make it home in time for dinner last night."
"Martha," Kate sighed touched, "that's a wonderful idea. Thank you." She stepped up hugging her mother-in-law once more.
"Ah it's nothing," Martha waved her off and then instructed everyone to sit down. "Breakfast first, then presents," she proclaimed and no one even thought to object, just happy they get to spent Christmas together.
XOXOX
Later that day, the sun had already set and the kids busy with their presents, Martha and Jim relaxing on the couch with Castle's famous glögg the man himself sneaked up behind his wife, who stood next to the Christmas tree, watching her family with a content smile on her face.
"Hey, are you okay?", he asked, wrapping one arm around her middle and pulling her back into his chest.
"Perfect," she replied, leaning against him. "You know what's funny?", he said and Kate shook her head.
"Before we left the train this morning I went back to the dining car wanting to thank Mary and George for the wonderful evening," he started.
"And?", Kate questioned.
"There was an attendant and when I asked him about Mary and George he said there wasn't anyone working with that name on the train."
"What?", Kate looked confused. "You're not making this up?"
"I swear," he promised.
"Well that's strange," Kate mumbled.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Castle agreed.
"And now?", Kate frowned.
"Now I'd liked to kiss my wife under the mistletoe," he smiled, leaning down toward her but before he could actually kiss her Jamie interrupted them.
"Ewww, could you do that when the kids are in bed?", she wrinkled her nose and then jumped up on the couch, "We want to start the movie."
"Alright, we're coming," Castle chuckled, pulling Kate with him, but first pressed a kiss against her lips, hearing parts of his family groan.
"Come on," Kate chuckled, "let's not gross them out completely."
Castle laughed and followed her, taking the remote control to start It's a wonderful Life and looking at his family, all of them together, happy and healthy, he smiled and said, "Merry Christmas. I love you."
THE END