A/N: I'm not sure how I'm doing this, but somehow, I'm keeping up with my schoolwork, my NaNo word count, and writing fanfiction for you all. This is an ability I did not know I possessed. It's your gain!

Disclaimer: "Oh, wouldn't it be loverly?" (You get the reference, you get brownie points.)

Kate was wringing her hair out in a towel, perched on the edge of the bed as she had an hour ago before her run. Except this time, she was naked and energized, not in her pajamas and still on the border of exhaustion. Across the room, Castle was riffling through the drawers, a towel looped around his hips, his hair a wild mess of spikes from the shower, just begging her to run her hands through the strands again.

"Is this too loud?" he asked, turning around with a sweater held against his bare chest.

One look at the sweater had her nodding quickly. The thing was red and green striped, thin white lines between the colors. The front was embellished with a reindeer, Santa perched on its back holding a present over his head.

His hand dropped to his side, the sweater dangling on the floor. "Come on, Kate! You need to wear an ugly sweater on Christmas! It's tradition."

"Were we ever ones for tradition, Castle?" she asked, waltzing past him to hang up the towel and grab the brush to untangle her hair. She darted out of his reach when he tried to pinch her side.

"Shush with your reasonableness," came the response, followed by more fabric being shoved aside as he searched for a different sweater.

When she moved back into the bedroom, he had pulled on jeans and thick socks and stood, examining two sweaters laid out on the bed side by side. She came up behind him, wrapping her arms under his and up onto his shoulders, pressing her body against his bare back and resting her chin on his left shoulder, looking down at the choices. She laughed at his quiet groan as she pointed to a deep blue sweater. "That one." She didn't add the reasoning that the navy brought out the blue of his eyes.

He turned, trying to snag her but she danced away. "You going to get dressed? Because I think that would be a shock to Mother and Alexis."

She smiled over her shoulder as she picked out underwear, jeans, and v-neck sweater of the deepest pink. She flipped her hair out from under the neckline of the sweater, the ends still damp, sending droplets into the air. As she looped a cream scarf around her neck, she felt a hand at the small of her back, propelling her toward the door.

"Castle?"

He only stopped when she was in the hallway, the fringe of her scarf in one hand. "You can't see your presents before they're under the tree! Scoot!"

Confused, but with the ghost of a smile at his childishness, she went downstairs to pull her own presents from their hiding spots and place them under the tree. Where Castle went overboard with gifts, Kate kept things simple. He needed two trips up to the room to bring down all the boxes and bags. Kate carried everyone's gifts from the guest room linen closet in one trip.

The tree was something special. Kate hadn't decorated a tree since she got her own apartment in her junior year of college; it was something families did and, living alone, she didn't see the point. Plus, it brought back memories of playing "Mele Kalikimaka" with her parents, stringing lights and tinsel around a real pine tree. When Castle insisted she join in on the decorating, she had hesitated, staring at the pine tree in the living room of the house.

"It'll be fun!" He slipped his hand into hers, giving her a gentle squeeze.

She tugged her hand from his, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the box of ornaments he had toted down earlier that day. The top was folded in on itself and she popped one corner open, releasing the other three. She could feel his eyes on her, standing only three feet from her, as she dug into the box. The ornament in her hand was one of his favorites, given to him by Alexis a few years ago. It was a pile of books, a little green worm reading on the stack, an apple at his side.

Smiling, she got up and hung it on a branch, watching the needles fall as the hook caught. Her eyes were sparkling when she turned around and caught his gaze. "There. The first ornament."

Castle let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He placed a quick kiss on her lips, then grabbed his laptop, plugged it into the house's stereo system, filling the house with the sounds of the Boston Pops playing "Sleigh Ride" as they arranged homemade ornaments and store-bought ones on the branches. They took a break after half an hour, eating gingerbread and sipping hot chocolate on the couch, Martha still wearing the apron from her jaunt in the kitchen.

Once every ornament had found a place on the tree, Alexis had gone up to her room to wrap presents and Martha resumed the mixing of yet another batch of cookies. Kate and Castle had sat on the couch, their stocking feet bumping each other, the tree in front of them sparkling with string lights designed to look like icicles. Her head was pillowed on his shoulder, her eyes closed.

He leaned down, kissing the lids gently. "There's an ornament missing."

Her brow furrowed, her eyes opening. "No, the box was definitely empty."

"It wasn't in that box." He shrugged his shoulder, dislodging her cheek so he could get up. He reached up above one of the cupboards in the kitchen, smiling at his mother before walking back to the couch. He didn't sit next to her, but on the ottoman where her feet rested, holding the box out to her.

Kate's heart leapt up to her throat. Of course her mind had gone right to a ring which meant a proposal which they had both decided to hold out on. He saw her eyes widen and shook his head. "Just look."

She opened the box, taking out a delicate glass spider web suspended from a silver string.

"Spider webs on Christmas trees mean good luck," he explained, tapping one of the edges so the web spun in her hand. "And everyone needs a little luck now and then."

As she straightened, toeing the last of her presents into its spot under the tree, Kate ran a finger over the curved edge of the web.

"What do you want to eat?"

She knelt on the couch, leaning her arms on the back and looking into the kitchen. He was brandishing a whisk, a bowl with pancake batter in the crook of his arm. There was a spot of batter on his cheek and Kate wanted nothing more than to go over and lick it off him.

"Pancakes are fine."

"Good." He switched out the whisk for a large spoon and started forming shaped pancakes on the griddle.

Martha appeared at her side, sitting on the couch with her slippered feet propped on the ottoman. "Merry Christmas, Kate."

"Merry Christmas, Martha," she said, curling her feet under her as she turned, sitting facing the tree with the older woman.

"You make him happy, you know."

Kate glanced over at the woman. It was hard to take Martha Rodgers seriously when she was wearing pajamas of bright pink and green, flashes of orange in the design. But she was smiling, a genuine smile that reached her eyes, as she took a sip of the hot chocolate in her mug.

"You're good for him. You ground him." Martha was wiggling her slippers as she spoke. "And he's good for you." Kate stared this time. "I can't say I knew you well when he first started shadowing you, but I've seen you enough over the years to know you are better off with him at your side."

"Martha…"

"Shh. Here he comes." Martha grinned as her son rounded the couch. "Merry Christmas, Richard!"

He leaned over, placing a kiss on her cheek. "And to you, Mother." His next stop was Kate, brushing a hand through her hair before kissing her. "Merry Christmas, Kate."

She reached up, wiping the bit of batter off his cheek. "You already said that once today."

"Some things bear repeating."

"Go get my pancakes, Castle," she said, giving him a little push away from her face.

He pouted on his way back into the kitchen. "Aren't I supposed to be the one demanding food from the servile womenfolk?"

He wasn't surprised when a throw pillow hit him squarely in the back of the head.

"Point taken."

A/N: I had other ideas for this chapter but the characters brought it in their own direction and I went along for the ride. That means at least another chapter so I can get them to go where I want. Another gain for you all!

Until then, review away! I'm spending all day tomorrow in Starbucks writing, so getting reviews throughout the day would encourage me.