Kate woke and reached for her husband, only to be greeted by a cold, empty pillow. She glanced at the clock-7:30 a.m. She was surprised that he was awake already, especially considering how late they had been up the night before.
"Rick," she called out.
She heard rustling from the other room and a few minutes later he poked his head through their bedroom doorway.
"Good morning, love," he said with a smile. "Stay right there."
He disappeared from her view and she heard more indistinguishable sounds. She wondered what he was up to since Martha and Alexis were out of town and they had the loft all to themselves. When he finally returned and climbed back into their bed, he was wearing a fuzzy red Santa hat and a Cheshire grin.
"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Castle," he said as he kissed her.
"Merry Christmas, Mr. Castle," she replied with a chuckle. "You're up early."
"Yes…well…I heard a noise and I thought I'd better investigate, you know, being a detective, and all."
Ever since he'd taken the online private investigator course because he'd been thrown out of the precinct, dismissed as her partner in crime, he'd thrown himself head-first into this new hobby-slash-career of his.
She smiled. He'd aroused her curiosity. "And what did you find?"
"I discovered that someone had broken into our loft and left dozens of presents under our Christmas tree. The only evidence the culprit left behind was this hat."
She was amused by his efforts to make this Christmas special for her. She had a surprise in store for him, too.
"And," he added with a smile, "The miscreant even ate the cookies and milk we left out for Santa."
She laughed and kissed him again, playfully caressing the side of his cheek. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
"I thought you might be making me breakfast in bed."
"Are you hungry?"
She grinned and purred, "I'm always hungry when I wake up."
He grinned back. "I know what my wife likes first thing in the morning…" He kissed her lips. "…And after breakfast…" He nibbled her ear. "…And in the middle of the afternoon…" He kissed her neck. "…And before dinner…" He kissed her other ear. "…And…"
"You make me sound like a nymphomaniac," she interrupted.
"Do you hear me complaining?"
"No." She smiled. "Did you say dozens of presents?"
He smiled. "Yes…dozens."
As much as she loved making love, this was their first Christmas as a married couple, and she was excited to celebrate this holiday as his wife. Once she knew there were dozens of presents under the tree for her, she couldn't wait to open them. Besides, she knew there would be plenty of time for them the rest of the day.
"Let's go!" she exclaimed and hopped out of bed.
The room looked magical. The glow from the hundreds of lights on the tree filled the entire room. Kate felt like a child again.
The day they'd decorated the tree, Kate had pulled out a small box full of ornaments that she had brought with her when she had moved from her apartment. As she'd carefully unwrapped each one and placed them on the tree, she had explained to her husband that each ornament had been given to her by her mother. She'd received a new one each year. She had nineteen ornaments in all; from her Baby's First Christmas ornament, to her High School Graduate ornament, to the last one she had received right after her nineteenth birthday, a beautiful butterfly ornament.
"What a wonderful tradition," Castle had remarked, as he'd helped her adorn their tree with her precious keepsakes.
"Yes," Kate had agreed, as she had placed the last ornament on the tree.
Castle hadn't exaggerated about the amount of gifts, either. When they had gone to bed on Christmas Eve, there had only been a few presents under the tree. It now looked like Santa had emptied an entire sleigh full of gifts into their living room.
"Gone a little overboard?" she asked, loving all the attention.
"I assure you, Kate, it wasn't me." He smiled. "But, I'm on the case. When I find out who did this, I'll let you know."
She moved close to him and whispered. "I hope you do, because I would like to be able to thank him properly." She pulled him down to her and gave him a slow, passion-filled kiss.
They sat down on the floor in front of the tree and Castle insisted that Kate open all of her presents first. She smiled at his thoughtfulness as she unwrapped each gift. She was amazed at how well he knew her. She was sure he must have been taking notes throughout the whole year because he seemed to remember everything she had ever mentioned wanting. He even came up with a few original gifts on his own that were just perfect. It also occurred to her that he might be overcompensating a bit for neglecting to get her a present last year.
There were two last gifts for Kate under the tree. Castle handed her the larger of the two. When she opened it, she smiled. She removed a shimmering snow globe and shook it. The tiny glistening snowflakes inside the glass sphere danced around until they all gently landed on the tiny mountain village inside.
"It's beautiful!"
"Open the card."
Kate set down the snow globe and searched through the tissue paper in the box to find the card. When she found the envelope she removed its contents.
"Two round-trip tickets to Aspen?"
"I thought we'd give it another shot. I want to finish that vacation we started two years ago. We still have all that equipment and the doctor said I'm cleared to ski again." He waggled his eyebrows. "And besides, we never had a chance to use the Jacuzzi tub."
She smiled and joked, "You think you can ski without showing off?"
He chuckled. "You know the answer to that. But I'll try."
"It sounds wonderful!" She leaned over and kissed him.
Castle handed her the last small package. Kate carefully unwrapped the present and removed the lid to the box. Her eyes started to well up when she saw what was inside. She reached down and grabbed the object by the gold string. As she held it up, the Waterford crystal snowflake ornament sparkled in the lights of the Christmas tree. She read the inscription out loud: "Our First Christmas Together."
"I thought we could start a tradition of our own," he said.
"Yes, it's perfect," she replied, wiping a tear from her eye.
Kate hung the new ornament from her husband in prominent spot on the front of the tree. She leaned over to him and gave him a kiss.
"Thank you. You've truly spoiled me." Kate smiled knowing she was going to give him the one thing he desired most. "You've certainly raised the bar for next year."
All that was left under the tree were six presents for Castle; five smaller ones and one rather large one. At Kate's request, he opened the small ones first. Then she handed him the large gift. A look of confusion came across his face as he unwrapped it and removed the contents from the box.
"A teddy bear?" He turned it over and around looking for more to this childish gift. He even shook it, hoping there was something inside.
"Don't you like it?" she teased.
"Kate, do I look like the type of man who would need a teddy bear?"
"When you put it that way, no." She smiled. "…Well…we could always save it for our baby."
"…Our baby?" A look of realization came over his face. "You're pregnant?"
She grinned. "Yes."
"Oh, Kate!" He placed a hand on her abdomen and kissed her. "This is incredible! How far along?"
"Just barely. I just found out a few weeks ago. It's been killing me to not tell you."
"How are you feeling?"
"Actually, not too bad. I haven't experienced any of that dreaded morning sickness…yet."
"I guess we'll have to postpone the ski trip."
"Why?"
"Can you ski in your…condition?"
Kate immediately became defensive. "Condition? I don't have a condition. I'm just going to have a baby. Of course I can ski. I can do anything I want. I don't intend for this pregnancy to slow me down one bit."
"Of course," he agreed.
She smiled. "Sorry. Can I blame that little outburst on hormones?"
He stood up, reached for her hand and gently tugged her to her feet. He gathered her into a tight embrace and gave her a long, passionate kiss.
"Thank you," he said when their lips parted.
"For what?"
"For giving me the perfect gift."
"It wasn't planned." She grinned. "It just happened."
He grinned back. "I know. And I'm so happy."
She smiled and kissed him again.
"You're probably hungry," he said. "You're eating for two now."
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, brother! This is going to be a long nine months."
He smiled and put his arm around her waist as they began walking toward the kitchen.
"You know, Kate, even with all the planning and preparation I did, you still out-did me this Christmas."
She stopped in her tracks. "It's not a competition."
"I know," he replied.
She shook her head. "I can just imagine what you'll be like once we have a child." She could see the wheels were already turning in his mind.
"I'd better get started on next Christmas, tomorrow," he said. "I already know one thing I'm going to get."
"What's that?"
He smiled. "A Baby's First Christmas ornament."