A.N. There are plans afoot ;)

Chapter Three – Movies and Pictures.

"Ok girl when I tell you were coming over to help you prepare, that doesn't mean that you make sure it's all done before we get here." Lanie frowned as she looked at all the pots and pans full of freshly chopped veggies and the turkey already half defrosted on the draining board.

"I had Lex," Kate smiled as she put her arm around the younger girl and pulled her into a side hug. "Castle was more of a hindrance but we managed despite him." They all laughed and Kate pulled out three wine glasses, "Do you want something to drink Lex?" she asked as she reached into the fridge for a bottle of wine Castle had opened earlier, "There's still some of that soda you like."

"That's ok, I've still got some left." She replied, pointing to her glass on the side.

"I can't believe how much food you guys have prepared." Jenny said as she took the glass of wine Kate offered her.

"Well it's not Christmas unless you overstuff yourself," came Castle's voice as the boys rejoined them. Kate knew Castle wanted her to ask what them disappearing was all about so she purposefully ignored it and turned to Ryan and Esposito.

"What do you guys want to drink?" she asked.

"Beer, please." Ryan replied as he walked over to Jenny and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Yeah, me too, thanks Beckett." Esposito said.

"What about me?" Castle asked with a pout.

"You know where they are," Kate said as she handed a glass of wine to Lanie, "Get Ryan and Esposito's whilst you're there." She smirked.

"Well, I walked right into that one didn't I?" he asked the room at large before turning back to Beckett, "Only for you my dearest!" he dramatically exclaimed, causing Kate to roll her eyes and Alexis to giggle into her soda. Kate wasn't a very tactile person in front of people from the precinct but she was very affectionate to her Dad mostly when she thought people weren't looking.

"So which movies did you decide on Lex?" Kate asked as she turned to face her, ignoring the smirks from her colleagues over Castle's behaviour.

"I've got a few, I so couldn't decide." Alexis said as they all made their way into the living room. "There's the classic's like 'It's a Wonderful life', 'A Miracle on 34th Street' and The Santa Claus' Movie but then there's great Christmas movies like 'The Grinch' with Jim Carey and 'The Santa Clause' with Tim Allen. I've got loads and I can't decide. So I've written down all the movies on bits of paper and we'll pull them out of the hat." She grinned as she pointed at the top hat on the centre of the table.

"Hey that's so cool," Ryan said, "You've got an actual top hat too."

"It's from when Dad was trying to be a magician when I was little," Alexis told them to a round of laughter, "It didn't last long." She smiled. She picked up the hat and placed it in front of Kate. "Pick a film Kate."

Kate picked out 'The Grinch' and everyone sat down to watch it. By this time Castle had brought in the drinks for the boys along with two big bowls of popcorn, so he sat down on the chaise lounge part of the sofa and pulled Kate next to him. Lanie sat on the other end of the sofa with Esposito on the floor, leaning back against the sofa next to her legs. Ryan and Jenny sat on the large armchair that was almost a two-seater sofa and Alexis sat down on the comfy large pillow on the floor she had brought down from her room. 'The Grinch' passed with a lot of laughter and commentary between Alexis, Ryan and Castle, not to mention Castle and Alexis' spirited random quoting of their favourite Grinch speeches. The next film was chosen by Lanie and this time it was 'Miracle on 34th Street'. By the end of this film every was feeling pleasantly sleepy so they agreed to one last film before they headed home and Jenny picked 'It's a Wonderful Life'.

Half way through the film, Kate and Castle both dozed off, snuggling closer together almost instinctively as Kate entangled her legs with Castle's as they were stuck out on the chaise lounge and wrapped an arm around his waist whilst Castle wrapped his arm around her waist to keep her close. Not long after they had drifted off, Lanie happened to glance in their direction and she instantly smiled. She nudged Esposito with her foot and gestured for him to look at them. He grinned and pulled out his phone and took a picture, they didn't even stir as the flash went off but Jenny, Ryan and Alexis all looked around, their own faces splitting into grins at the sight.

"Hey Ryan, you still have that tripped out printer right?" Esposito said quietly.

"Yeah." He replied.

"Cool," Esposito said as he started pushing the on screen buttons. A few seconds later he smiled. "I just emailed that to you, make sure to print it off and bring it with you tomorrow."

Not long after this, just before the end of the movie, Kate woke up suddenly as there was a bang in the movie. She sat up, despite Castle's attempts to keep her next to him and yawned before looking around the room. Everyone seemed to be engrossed in the movie so she stood up and walked into the kitchen for a quick glass of water. By the time she came back, the movie was ending and everyone was standing up and yawning too. They all said their goodbyes and see you tomorrows before leaving Kate, Castle and Alexis. Alexis yawned again and looked at her watch.

"Night Dad," she said and stepped forward to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek and then moved to Kate and repeated the gesture, "Night Kate."

Kate and Castle both said goodnight to Alexis before moving all the glasses and bottles from the living room and putting them in the bin or dishwasher along with the popcorn bowls. Kate switched the dishwasher on and then they made their way up to bed. As they settled down, Rick smiled at Kate.

"I don't know how I got so lucky." He said.

"I must have done something really bad in a past life." She grinned and kissed him softly, taking any sting out of her response. "I love you." She whispered, as if sharing a secret.

"I love you too." He whispered back, retuning her kiss eagerly.

A.N. Please review guys :)