Day One
"Kate, wake up." Rick said, shaking her gently. The smell of fresh coffee filled the room, and Kate was absolutely sure it was the best smell in the universe. "Come on, Kate. It's December!"
"Castle, go back to sleep." Kate said, still not opening her eyes. It was a Sunday, a chilly one, and she had no intention of waking up early.
"Kate! It's advent season! Get up!" Rick demanded. He was still shaking her, keeping his body close to hers.
"Richard fucking Castle, shut the hell up and let me sleep." She said, throwing in as many curse words as possible.
"You wanna do this the hard way?" He threatened. It was almost nine, and he had been up since before six preparing her gift. It was a relatively hard one, but not harder than finding out what to give her every day, for twenty five days. "Okay, it's your call." He said, getting off the bed and putting his flip flops on. "You give me no choice but…" without saying anything else, he scooped her off the bed, causing her to awake and give him a death stare. Quickly, he picked up a blanket from the bed and threw it over her.
"Castle, put me down, now!" She demanded, even though she was not really resisting to it. It felt good, to be in his arms, and she was enjoying the ride. But she was not giving up that easily.
"No can do." He said, carrying her towards the dining room. "I'm gonna need you to close your eyes, please." He asked.
"Castle…" She whined. She was way too tired for this. Saturday nights were usually murder-filled ones, and last night was no different. She got home from the precinct at around two, and needed some more sleep.
"Please." He asked.
"Okay." She said, closing her eyes. It surprised her, really. How long he could carry her. Not that she was exactly heavy, but her frame did not allow her to be feather-weighted. She could feel him carrying her inside the room, and then setting her down on a chair. She could smell coffee, amazing coffee, and it was close.
"You can open your eyes, now." He said, standing next to the table. And then she saw it. Dozens of coffee cups, each one with a sentence. She couldn't really read all of them, but she was eager to sip the liquid inside each and every one of them.
"Wow. Castle. What are those?" Kate asked, picking up a random cup from the table, which read I don't hang around you just to annoy you. I don't ride out to murder scenes in the middle of the night to satisfy some morbid curiosity. If that's all this was, I would've quit a long time ago. She remembered the say he told her that, almost two years ago. And then she understood. Each coffee mug held a sentence, a sentence import to their relationship. But, how? There were at least twenty coffee mugs in there. Did he really remember all that much? "I…"
"Awesome, right?" He said, giving the conversation a lighter mood.
"Yes. Amazing. And wow, strong." She said, after swallowing some of the coffee in the cup.
"The coffee inside the mug represents the sentence. The one in this mug is a Ristretto, because the phrase was a strong one. Get it?"
"Yes. It's perfect." She said, picking up a second mug from the table We can always just cuddle, Castle It read. The letters in this mug were red, which she assume to be an indicative of the fact that she was the one to day that, not him. "Sweet." She said, describing both the taste of the coffee and the sentence.
"Café-au-lait, my darling." He mocked, sitting on a chair next to her. "Go on."
She picked up the third mug, which held Most people come up against a wall, they give up. Not you. You don't let go. You don't back down. That makes you extraordinary. A smile appeared on her face at the remembrance of the day he told her that. She slowly drank the coffee, wondering what it would taste like "Is this…? Is this Irish coffee?"
"Yes. Unexpected and amazing, just like you." He said, grabbing her left hand. They smiled at each other, him loving the fact that she was enjoying the surprise and she, thinking this was the sweetest gesture ever.
She picked up another cup, reading Shut the front door! She chuckled. She did love that phrase. The coffee tasted the way she expected, sweet and smooth. She looked at him, but didn't say anything.
"Cappuccino."
The next cup read Your secret's safe with me. And the coffee had a comforting taste.
Seventh cup read Every morning I bring you a cup of coffee, just so I can see a smile on your face. Because I think you are the most remarkable, maddening, challenging, frustrating, person I've ever met. In tiny letters, and the coffee had an extremely strong taste.
After tasting each and every single one of the coffees, she recapitulated the sentences on the coffee mugs.
I don't hang around you just to annoy you. I don't ride out to murder scenes in the middle of the night to satisfy some morbid curiosity. If that's all this was, I would've quit a long time
We can always just cuddle
Most people come up against a wall, they give up. Not you. You don't let go. You don't back down. That makes you extraordinary
Shut the front door!
Your secret's safe with me
Every morning I bring you a cup of coffee, just so I can see a smile on your face. Because I think you are the most remarkable, maddening, challenging, frustrating, person I've ever met
I almost died and all I could think about was you
You're not alone in this. I'm here
I know I never would have gotten this far without you
Well, if it's any comfort to you, I do know mouth-to-mouth.
This is me…softly touching your face, pulling you in for a long, slow kiss
Caskett? Ooh, that's good 'cause of the whole murder thing, casket
Okay, yes. I was a sci-fi loving, costume wearing geek. And you know what? Not ashamed of it or of Nebula-9. Despite what you think, it was an awesome show. (This one made her laugh extremely louder)
Are you here to annoy me?
She's not naked. She's holding a gun… strategically
Actually in my dream you're never jealous, in my dreams you just join in
Hey! I can buy you a pony!
I mean it. You are extraordinary
Why, Detective Beckett. I had no idea you were a romantic
You're such a metrosexual
I'm here to protect you
If you are not comfortable in a swimming suit you can just skinny dip
I respect the universe
All the songs make sense
If you don't believe in even the possibility of magic, you'll never find it.
Each and every one of those sentences, she remembered them all. What they meant then, what they mean now, and just how much she loves him. For this, and for everything.
"Thank you, Castle." She said, giving him a long kiss.
"You're welcome, love." He said, pulling her to his lap "And welcome to twenty five to always."
…
Author's Note: So, whatcha think? Please leave a review to let me know!