Gates had sent Kate home early when she had seen Kate was the only one who was still finishing her paperwork. "Beckett, go home. You can finish this after Christmas." Kate had tried to protest, but when Gates had pointed out that she could still make it to the school on time, Kate had grabbed her coat and scarf, shouting a quick "Merry Christmas, sir!" in Gates' direction before getting on the elevator.
Kate was leaning against her car, waiting for school to be out. Her daughter had no idea that she would be coming to pick her up instead of her grandpa. Kate had asked Jim to pick up Addison because she had assumed that everyone else would be too busy working another case, but even criminals seemed to have taken some time off during the festive season. Kate had called her dad while she was standing in line at a coffee shop. He had sounded a bit disappointed that he wouldn't get to see his granddaughter that day, but his mood had improved once Kate reminded him that he would get to spend three days with both his daughter and his granddaughter for Christmas, so long as Kate didn't get called in on a case of course.
Kate was still enjoying her coffee when the doors opened and a horde of cheerful kids came out, eager to start the holidays. Kate had thought that Addison would've been one of the first children to come out, but she didn't see her. Eventually she saw her little girl coming out of the building at a much slower pace than her high-spirited classmates. Kate waited for her daughter to spot her.
"Mommy!" Addison yelled when she laid eyes on her mother. Kate saw her little girl running towards her. She bent down to pick her up. She hugged Addison close to her and gave her a kiss on her cheek. "Mommy, where's grandpa?" Kate put her daughter back down. At seven years old, she was almost becoming too big for her to pick up anymore.
"My boss let me go early, so I decided to come pick you up instead of grandpa." Kate guided Addison to her car seat. "Are you disappointed mommy came to pick you up instead of grandpa? Because I could always leave and tell him to come pick you up," she said, smiling so Addison would know it was a joke.
"No, silly mommy!" Addison laughed. Kate was glad she had succeeded in making her daughter laugh. She knew something was wrong when Addison hadn't come out of school cheering and running like the rest of the children, but she decided she could wait until they were home to ask her daughter about that.
"Daddy, we're home!" Castle had been working on his new novel when he heard the front door open. He came into the living room, expecting to see his father-in-law. When he saw Kate, he gave her a surprised look, but focused his attention on the little girl trying to climb her way into his arms. He bent down to pick her up. "How was school, sweetie?" he asked, noticing that Addison's smile lessened.
"It was fine," she sighed. Castle looked at Kate, wordlessly asking for an explanation. Kate shrugged. "Well," Castle said, "why don't you go put away your stuff and we can get started on dinner?" He put his daughter down and she ran towards the stairs.
Castle walked over to Kate. "How was work?" he asked as Kate wrapped her arms around him.
"Boring. We had to finish our paperwork. Espo and Ryan left around noon, so Gates let me go early," Kate replied. "So, what's for dinner?" She let Castle go so she could take off her boots. Castle started walking towards the kitchen. "I thought we could do mac and cheese. Addie looks like she might need some comfort food." Kate followed him into the kitchen.
"I don't know what happened, Rick. She looked so sad when I saw her at school. Maybe I should go up there and…" Castle interrupted her. "Don't. Maybe she'll come to us with whatever's bothering her. If she doesn't, we'll still have plenty of time to ask her after dinner." Kate nodded. "Maybe you're right," she said reluctantly. She went to the stove to boil a pot of water for the macaroni. Castle hugged her from behind. "Maybe it's nothing and she's just tired." He hugged her closer to him. "Don't worry, Detective Mom. She'll be fine," he said, pressing a kiss to her ear.
Castle was just about to kiss Kate's neck when they were interrupted by a small voice coming from the doorway. "Daddy?" Castle let go of Kate and turned around. "Yes, sweetie?" Addison bit her lip. "Can I watch television?"
Castle grinned. "Of course! Let's go see if there are any good cartoons on!" He chased his daughter into the living room, just catching her before she reached the couch. He lifted her up and let her fall down onto the couch, making Addison laugh. Castle sat down next to his daughter and turned on the tv. He started flipping through the channels to look for something suitable for a seven-year-old.
"Stop! Go back, daddy," his daughter said all of a sudden. Castle switched back to the previous channel, where a documentary about penguins was playing.
"Are you sure you want to watch this, Addie?" Castle asked his daughter. "Wouldn't you rather watch cartoons?"
Addison shushed her dad. "No, daddy. You're the one who wants to watch cartoons. I want to see the penguins," she said, already enthralled by the images of penguins waddling about on the ice. Castle put his arm around his daughter and she cuddled into his side, both watching television while Kate made dinner.
"Dinner will be ready in ten minutes, guys. Addie, you should go wash your hands and then you can help me set the table," Kate said some twenty minutes later.
"Yes, mommy," Addison replied, escaping her dad's hug. Once Kate was sure their daughter couldn't overhear them, she asked Castle if Addison had told him anything.
"We just watched tv, Kate. She didn't say anything," Castle answered, standing up from the couch and walking towards his wife. "By the way, she's starting to become just as bossy as you are. She shushed me! My little girl shushed me!"
Kate waited until Castle was within reach before she slapped his arm. "I'm not bossy, Castle. I just know how I want things to be." Castle chuckled as he went into the kitchen to see if Addison needed help setting the table.
During dinner Kate tried once more to get her daughter to talk about what was bothering her. "Are you looking forward to Christmas, Addie?" Addison looked up from where she was pushing around bits of macaroni on her plate.
"I guess… Will Santa bring me presents?" she asked, looking over to the corner where their Christmas tree stood.
"Of course he will!" Castle exclaimed. "You've been a good girl this year, and good girls get lots of presents from Santa!" Kate couldn't help but tease her husband a bit. "Yes, that's right. And not so good little boys don't get any presents, which is why your daddy needs to buy all those toys he likes to play with himself," she said, sending a wink to her daughter.
"Talking about Christmas, I heard from Alexis today," Castle told Kate. "Teddy has recovered from that bug, so they should be able to make it here tomorrow and stay for the weekend."
Alexis had left the city after her second year of college, only returning for holidays like Christmas or birthdays. When she had graduated, she had moved back to the city to work at a small literary magazine. In her third week back, she had gone to visit the precinct during her lunch hour, wanting to go say hello to her dad's friends at the twelfth. She should have picked a better time, because everyone was out except for Ryan. It did give them a chance to catch up more than they could have done if everyone had been there. They had made plans to meet up for lunch that weekend and it was the start of their friendship. A friendship that turned into a relationship a few months later, after Ryan's divorce was settled. Castle had been worried at first about the age difference, but even he couldn't ignore how perfect Alexis and Ryan were for each other. They were married 18 months later and Teddy was born 7 months into their marriage. Alexis was now expecting their second child and actually nearing her due date. Ryan kept hoping for a Christmas baby and had the support of Addison, who had proclaimed she wanted Santa to bring her a niece or nephew for Christmas when they had learned Alexis' due date.
"It will be nice to have a full house again for Christmas," Kate said. "My dad is staying too, so we'll need to get the guest room in order. And your mom still has her old room here, so she can sleep in there. I've asked Lanie and Javi too, but they are celebrating with her family this year."
Addison looked at Kate. "Uncle Javi isn't going to be here for Christmas?" Kate's heart hurt from seeing her daughter's eyes turn sad.
"No, he and aunt Lanie won't be here this year, but I'm sure uncle Javi will want to spend some time with you after Christmas. I did hear him talking about taking you out to go sledding next week," Kate replied, seeing her daughter's smile return.
After dinner, Castle took care of the dishes before going back to his office to work on his novel some more. Kate had taken Addison to the bathroom to give her a bath. The little girl was old enough to wash herself, but she still needed help washing her hair. After Kate had rinsed out the last of the shampoo, she helped her daughter out off the tub and wrapped her hair in a towel. Addison dried herself off while Kate went to find some pyjamas for her to wear. After she had helped Addison put on her pyjamas, Kate unwrapped Addison's hair and combed it. "Do you want me to braid it?", she asked. Addison nodded, but didn't say anything.
When Kate had finished braiding Addison's hair, they made their way into Addison's bedroom and Kate helped her daughter into bed. "Do you want me to get daddy so he can read you the next chapter of your book?" Kate asked. Before Addison could answer, Castle appeared in the doorway. "No need, no need, the world's best bedtime storyteller is already here!" Kate rolled her eyes, but she went to sit down on the other side of Addison's bed so Castle could sit next to the bedside lamp.
"What chapter did we read last time, sweetie?" Castle asked while he picked up Addison's copy of 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'.
"Harry and Ron had just saved Hermione from the troll in the bathroom. Don't you remember, daddy?" Addison teased.
"Daddy is a lot older than you, sweetie. He sometimes forgets things," Kate replied, winking at her daughter and sticking out her tongue at Castle after seeing his face of mock indignation. Castle snuck a hand behind Kate's head so he could lightly tug on her ponytail in retaliation. Before Kate could react to what Castle had done, both adults heard a sigh from their daughter. "Daddy. Story. Please."
As Castle begun to tell his daughter about Harry's first Quidditch match, Kate was wondering if Addison was okay. Usually their daughter would begin to fall asleep after a few pages, even with the added entertainment of Castle doing a special voice for each character, but tonight Addison was still wide awake at the end of the chapter. Castle had noticed too.
"Do you want me to read another chapter, sweetie?" he asked.
"No daddy, one is enough. I want to have enough chapters left for grandma to act out tomorrow," his daughter replied.
"Okay, sweetie, if you're sure. Now, where is my payment for tonight's chapter?"
Addison pressed a soft kiss to Castle's cheek and wrapped her little arms around his frame in a hug. Castle returned the hug and after she had let go, he got up and kissed her forehead.
"Sleep tight, sweetie," he said as he was leaving the room.
"Don't let the bedbugs bite, daddy," Addison replied. Castle turned around to smile at her and then disappeared from view. Kate got up and moved to the bedside lamp to turn it off.
"Sweet dreams, baby," she said, her hand already on the switch. When Addison didn't reply, Kate let go of the lamp switch and sat down on the spot previously occupied by Castle. "What's the matter, baby?"
"Am I really a baby?" Addison asked, tears in her eyes.
"You are and always will be my baby," Kate replied, "even when you will be all grown up and have babies of your own. Why?"
The first tears spilled from Addison's eyes. "People at school were making fun of me because I believe in Santa. They said he isn't real and that I am a stupid baby for thinking he is," Addison said, sniffling and hiccuping between every couple of words. Kate wrapped her left arm around her daughter, running it up and down Addison's arm, and used her right hand to wipe away Addison's tears.
"Is that why you were asking if Santa was going to bring you presents this year?" After her daughter had nodded, Kate continued. "You are not a stupid baby for believing in Santa Claus, Addison. You know how Harry found out he was a wizard and he had to go to school to learn magic? Well, Santa Claus is magic too." Kate saw the confusion in Addison's eyes. "It's not the same magic as the magic Harry has to learn. There are no spells or potions, but it is still magic. And believing in Santa means you believe in magic."
Addison sighed. "But if Santa exists and he's magic, why were the other kids making fun of me?" she asked, new tears threatening to spill.
"Oh, Addie. It's really sad," Kate said, "that the other kids don't believe in Santa anymore. Because if they don't believe in Santa, they probably don't believe in magic either. And life without magic is too horrible to even think about."
Addison was still sniffling, but the tears had stopped coming. "Mommy," she whispered, "do you believe in magic?"
Kate smiled at her daughter. "Yes, I do, Addie. I have to believe, because I've seen it."
Loosening the hold Kate still had on her, Addison looked up at her mother. She blinked the last of her tears away. "Really?" she whispered. "You've seen magic?"
"I did," said Kate, "a long, long time ago. I had stopped believing in magic, because I thought I couldn't see it. But then I met your daddy and he made sure I took a closer look. And eventually, I saw that magic had been there all along." Kate looked at her daughter and saw that she was almost asleep. She got up and kissed her daughter's forehead, just like Castle had done a few minutes earlier. She switched off the bedside lamp and tiptoed towards the hallway, trying to not wake up her daughter, but Addison was not yet asleep. "Mommy?"
"Yes, baby?" Kate asked. The light shining in from the hallway made it possible for Kate to still see her daughter's face. Addison was smiling.
"If daddy made you see magic again, does that mean he's magic too?" she asked sleepily.
Kate chuckled. "He is, baby, but don't tell him that. His magic works best because he doesn't know he's magic." And, Kate thought, if you tell him I told you he is magic, he will be insufferable tomorrow.
"Okay, mommy," Addison yawned. "I'm going to sleep now. Sweet dreams, mommy," she said matter-of-factly.
Kate couldn't help but smile. "Okay, baby. Sweet dreams." She closed the bedroom door behind her. Turning around to make her way back downstairs, she saw Castle leaning against the wall.
"I told you she'd come to one of us eventually," he said, pushing himself off the wall. Kate walked over to him.
"How much did you hear?" she asked, desperately hoping he hadn't overheard the entire conversation.
"Not much," Castle said, grinning from ear to ear, "just that Santa is magic and apparently so am I."
Kate pushed past him and made her way downstairs. At the bottom of the stairs, she turned around to face Castle again. "Aren't you coming, Rick?" she teased.
Rick ran down the stairs. "What do you have planned, Kate?" he asked once he'd reached her.
"Oh, I don't know," Kate replied, undoing the top button of her blouse and walking slowly towards their bedroom. "I thought we could take a ride on Santa's magic sleigh."