Jellybean Situations
By
Natalie Elizabeth
"I didn't get you anything."
Kate pulled back from Rick's embrace.
"What?"
"Richard dear,"
As hard as it was, Castle tore his eyes away from Kate. The fact she was there, was proof Santa did exist. There was nothing he wanted more for Christmas than Kate. Not even that new gadget for his Wii.
"Yes Mother."
"Now that Detective Beckett is here, would it be okay for Alexis and I to stick to our original plans. After all it's not like you are going to notice if we are here or not."
Castle closed his eyes. There were times he wished the ground would open up and swallow him. This was one of those times.
"Mother," he sighed as he opened his eyes.
His mother shrugged at him. "Well it's the truth. Your mind hasn't been on us the whole night."
His mother was right. All he could think about was Kate.
"Okay go."
"Thanks Dad." Alexis jumped up excitedly from her chair and started grabbing her things.
"See I told you not to cancel your plans," Martha told Alexis. "I knew detective Beckett would change her mind. I had faith." She then looked up as if thanking God, or Santa.
"'Night Daddy. Merry Christmas," Alexis placed a light kiss to his cheek before turning to face detective Beckett. "Thank you for coming." Alexis nervously looked at her father's girlfriend. "Merry Christmas" Alexis leaned forward and gave the woman a quick hug before heading to the door.
Kate blinked a few times to make sure what had just happened, actually happened.
"Ahh Merry Christmas Alexis."
Martha walked up and gave her son a hug. "Merry Christmas dear. We will be home in time to open presents. Ok"
Castle nodded at his mother and then smiled as he watched her give Kate the same loving hug.
"Merry Christmas Kate. Please make sure he eats something."
Kate laughed. "I will Martha."
"And you to dear."
"Mother," Castle warned.
Martha waved her son off as she walked over to the door.
"What kind of mother would I be, if I didn't tell you to eat? Now Merry Christmas darlings"
"Merry Christmas," Rick and Kate replied.
The door shut and Kate turned to face Rick. "They didn't leave because of me did they?"
Rick wrapped his arms back around her. "Yeah"
Kate playfully hit him in the chest. "Castle"
"What," he complained.
"They left because of me," Kate asked, now concerned.
"Mother and Alexis assumed the two of us were going to be spending Christmas Eve together, so they made other plans."
Guilt swept over Kate. "So if I hadn't turned up you were going to be spending Christmas Eve on your own,"
Rick rubbed his hands down her arms. "Well they just informed me they were going to stay."
The guilt got worse. "So they cancelled their plans because of me?"
Rick smiled. "Well based on what my mother just said, they never cancelled their plans. I guess they knew I would get my Christmas wish."
Kate sighed. "I am sorry Rick."
Rick pulled her close to him. "It's ok. You're here now. So are you hungry?"
Kate smiled. "Yeah I could eat."
Rick grabbed her by the hand and led her to the table.
"We have got turkey and all kinds of stuff. What would you like ill go and heat it up."
Kate looked over the table full of food. When Rick went all out, he really went all out. "Umm, I'll just have a little bit of everything."
As Rick run off to the kitchen presumable to get her a plate, Kate took off her coat. The small box inside her pocket clattered out onto the floor. Rick's Christmas present. She had purchased it a few weeks ago when she had seen the item. At the time she had hoped that she would be able to get over her aversion to Christmas. Normally she would ask to work Christmas, weeks in advance but hadn't this time. As the weeks went on the thought of spending time around a Christmas tree without her mother, brought on panic. She couldn't do it. Christmas was about family and she had lost hers.
Rick had been disappointed when she told him she had to work. It about killed her to lie to him but she had wanted to cause him less pain. She didn't want to tell him how she hated the holiday that he loved so much. When he had called her out on her lie she could clearly see he felt betrayed, she had lied to him again. So she had dumped the next instalment of Kate's messed up life on him. He sat there and simply listened to her and then dropped the whole Christmas thing. Rick may not have agreed with her reasoning but he accepted it. It was her traditional and he was letting her continue on with it, even though she was stopping him from following through with his. Rick spent Christmas Eve with the ones he loved. Martha and Alexis were still spending Christmas Eve with him but she was also someone he loved. Rick again had been the one to relent, like he had so many times. He had given up something for her; it was about time she give up something for him. Which is why she was at the loft.
"Are you ok?"
Kate turned to see Rick standing beside her loading up a plate full of food.
"Yeah. Look Rick I want to tell you how sorry I am that I lied to you about having to work."
He looked up at her and she saw a brief look of pain appear in his eyes before he turned his attention back to the food.
"It's fine."
Kate sighed. "No it's not Rick. Lying got us both into so much trouble already, I want to stop all that. I just thought with the wall gone that I could be perfect to you. Admitting that I still have a few problems worried me."
Rick put the plate down and turned Kate to face him. "Nobody is perfect and I don't expect you to be. I'm upset that you felt you had to lie to me but then again I am no better. When I found out you lied I didn't confront you straight away, instead I acted childish. I wished you had told me sooner because I feel like a fool for constantly throwing Christmas in your face when you were hurting. Of course you're not going to be into Christmas, the big focus is on family and you lost your mother. "
"Yeah but Rick if I don't tell you these things then you can't know."
Rick nodded but he felt as if he should. "In future, if there is another event like New Years or Easter or anything else that you are not comfortable with can you give me a heads up. Like say Jellybean or something so I don't make a fool of myself."
Kate smiled. "Jellybean?"
"Yeah. If I start talking about a big New Years Eve party or this huge Chocolate Easter egg I am going to buy you, just say Jellybean. I'll know to back off and that way you won't have to feel like you have to explain. I don't want to pressure you into something you're not ready for."
Kate couldn't help the grin that had broken out on her face. This was the reason why she loved him. Rick was so understanding about her needs and she wanted to be just as accommodating.
"Ok Rick. Well I'll give you a heads up now. Mother day is one of those Jellybean situations."
Ricked nodded. "Yeah it's a bit Jellybean around here to. Sometimes Mother does something with Alexis or Alexis helps me do something for Mother."
It was Kate's turn to feel a bit foolish. Of course Mothers day was a Jellybean Situation here. Father's day probably was to. She should remember that.
"Well I better go heat up our plates."
Kate nodded as Rick took her plate and his own and walked back over to the kitchen. Picking up Rick's present off the floor she placed it next to his wine glass. She then picked up Alexis's and Martha's abandoned plates and took them into the kitchen.
"Hey sit down. You're a guest,"
Kate shrugged as she cleared off their plates into the trash.
"It's ok I don't mind. You went to all this trouble after all."
"It's worth it," he told her.
Kate smiled. "And Alexis did most of the work right."
Rick gave her a cheeky grin confirming her suspicion. Placing the cleared plates into the dishwasher Kate nervously approached Rick.
"I hope you don't mind but I got you a little present."
Ricks eyes widened. "You did! But I thought you didn't do Christmas."
Kate bit her lip. "I don't, normally, but you do. It's just something little."
"I am sure I'll love it. I have a gift for you to."
Kate put her hands on her hips. "I thought you didn't get me anything."
"I didn't"
Kate frowned. "But I thought you said you had a gift for me."
"I didn't 'get' you anything, but I did make you something."
"Made me something," Kate's brows rose. What could he have made her?
"Go sit," he urged her. "Our food will be ready in second, I'll go get your gift."
Rick ran off to his study and was back just as she was sitting down at the table.
"Here you can open it now."
Kate took the envelope and expected him to stay and watch but he simply returned to the kitchen. Maybe he was worried about what her reaction might be. Making a gift for someone was a very personal thing. If the person didn't like it, it almost felt as a rejection of one's self. Opening the envelope Kate pulled out a booklet of white shimmery paper. The top sheet announced her gift was Richard Castle Gift Certificates. Kate grinned at her present, he had maybe spent $10 on ink and paper. For a man who carried over a thousand dollars in his pocket for walking around money, him spending only $10 on her was fantastic. He had respected her wishes to a certain degree. She wasn't going to argue that 'get' didn't necessarily mean buy, but who could be angry with a man who made her a gift. Had anyone since like the 5th grade made her a gift?
Flipping open the cover Kate looked at her first certificate and frowned.
'This certificate entitles you to one full hour of Richard Castle remaining quiet while at the precinct'
That hadn't been what she was expecting. Flipping through the other certificates she realised they were all along the same lines.
'No crazy theories for a whole case'
'She could say 'No' to two things he was going to get Nikki to do in his next book'
"Do you like it?" Rick asked as he deposited a plate in front of her.
Kate smiled. "Yeah but I figured if it was certificates for you to do things for me it would be filled with things like a back massage, foot rub, you take out the trash for a week."
Rick chuckled. "Well when I came up with the idea I went online and goggled certificate ideas. I figured we aren't living together yet so the trash one was pointless."
Kate decided to let the living together 'yet' go. That was a discussion for another day.
"I also realised you don't need a certificate to get me to massage your back or rub your feet. All you have to do is ask."
Kate nodded in agreement. He was right. Ask, bite her lip, give him a sexy look and he was her loyal servant. Flicking through the remaining certificates Kate laughed at some of the things he was willing to do, or rather not do. As Rick moved away from the table to get his own food Kate noticed the last certificate. She frowned at the request. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a pen and set about changing the certificate. When she was done she ripped it from the booklet and placed it on top of her gift to him.
"I decided to use one of my certificates tonight."
Ricked frowned as he sat down. "Oh please. Not a Nebula 9 marathon tonight. I have got a stack of Christmas movies lined up."
She hadn't seen the Nebula 9 certificate. Kate bit her lip.
"Not that one," she told him.
Rick picked up the certificate and Kate watched as his eyes widened.
"You changed it. You changed 'away' to 'close'."
Kate nodded. "I did. You made a mistake. The certificate is supposed to say. Richard Castle will stay close for 24 hours not stay away."
"Kate there is only one of each certificate. If you give one to me I have to do as it says. Don't you want to save this one for when I get on your nerves and you want some space?"
Kate shrugged. "There are times when I do need space but I know if I ask you will respect my decision. I don't think I could be away from you for 24 hours anyway."
Rick nodded. "But you do realise this state's I am to stay close for 24 hours. That means you would have to stay here tonight and share Christmas morning with my family."
Kate bit her lip a little worried. "That's ok right?"
A huge grin broke out on his face. "Of course that's alright. That's more than alright." Rick leaned over and clenched her hand. "I promise you I am going to make this the best Christmas ever ok."
Kate nodded. "Open your presents."
The man didn't have to be told twice, he quickly tore into his gift.
"Oh cool its one of those Hallmark Christmas decorations. You got me a wreath I don't have that one yet. Just mainly got all the Disney ones and the Trans AM from Smokey and the Bandit"
"Read the writing on the wreath."
Rick opened the box and pulled out the decoration. "I didn't realise there was writing on it I thought it was snow."
Unwrapping the decoration from its protective paper, Kate smiled as Rick's mouth gape open
"Our first Christmas" he said reading the words that were written around the top half of the wreath.
"The empty spot in the middle of the wreath is where we can put a photo."
Rick tore his eyes away from his gift to smile at her.
"So we can put a photo of us in it?"
Kate nodded.
Rick fidgeted in his chair before pulling out his phone. He immediately activated his camera and began shuffling over so he could capture a shot of the both of them. Kate smiled for the camera and it wasn't until after the shot was taken that she realised she was smiling at Christmas. It had been so long since she had done that and it was all thanks to the man sitting next to her.
"Thank you."
He frowned at her. "For what? You're the one who is making my Christmas dream come true."
Kate smiled at that. She was making his dreams come true just as he had been doing that for her since the moment she picked up his books. She had dreamed of someday finding justice for her mother, of living a life full of happiness. Rick had been doing that for her for years and now finally she was able to do the same for him.
"You have made my dreams come true to."
Rick leaned forward and gave her a peck on the lips.
"Merry Christmas Kate."
"Merry Christmas Rick."
The end
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