The frosty wind sent a chill through her body as she summited the subway steps. Kate attempted to brush a windswept curl out of her face while juggling two festive, red Starbucks cups and an armful of shopping bags. Even though she nearly spilled her latte, Kate managed to tame the unruly strands with one of her gloved hands. Her hair stayed put for a few moments, but as soon as another gust of snowy wind blew through the crowded sidewalk, the brown locks began to swirl like the snow descending around her. Once more, Kate tried to do something with her hair. She was able to tuck some of the longer sections behind her ears, but the shorter layers were a lost cause. Her hair was a long, frosty mess. It didn't really matter. Everyone else was so focused on their Christmas plans to notice that her hair didn't meet its usually very high standards. Anyways, soon enough, Kate would be back in the warmth of the loft and Castle wouldn't even care about what her hair looked like because he would be so enamored with her while they decorated the tree and drank their coffees. Their first Christmas as a married couple was going to be perfect. Kate couldn't wait.
Kate loved everything about Christmas; the twinkling lights, the smell of pine needles, getting together with family and friends, the entire month of December made her smile. Her affinity for the holiday season was a fairly recent addition to her life (thanks to Castle) and now, the warm feeling was so ingrained into her that she couldn't believe that she had shut it out for so much of her life. Kate did always wish that she and her mother could embark on the festivities together. She wanted to be her mother's sous chef when they cooked Christmas dinner and she wanted her mother to go shopping with her so she could have someone to talk to and laugh with while waiting in the endless check-out lines, but Kate did have Castle, and although he was only a band-aid covering a much bigger wound, the wound was no longer wide open, and that was something.