Update! This one is going to be short and sweet. Christmas dinner, this time.
Christmas 2021
Every single person in the Castle, Esposito, Beckett, Ryan, Foster (Max and Alexis' family), and Rodgers clan was squeezed together at Kate and Rick's large dining table, which sat more than twenty people (with the leafs placed into the usual ten-seater). The kids all sat on one end; the Castle kids (Holly, Eva, RJ, and Neo); then the Ryan kids (Caleb, Olivia, and baby Sarah); the little Espositos (Nia, Carlos, Christopher, and Charlie [short for Charlene]) sat across from them; Max and Alexis' daughters, Lily and Grace, sat in between them in high chairs (Lily was two but Grace was barely six months old now). The kids were chattering about school and about the presents they received while the adults made small talk about work. Rick glanced over at RJ once and smiled when he noticed him making eyes at Nia; his boy was growing up fast. He just hoped Espo wouldn't notice.
Just then Kate, Martha, Jenny, and Lanie all came in, carrying trays of sweet-smelling food and pitchers of iced tea and wine. Kate set the Glazed Ham in the middle of the table and received a kiss from Rick as he stood to start carving it. Before he could, Alexis stopped him.
"Dad, shouldn't we say grace first?" she asked.
"But Grace is sleeping…" Rick said with wide eyes, unable to stop the smirk from spreading across his face. "Just kidding, Pumpkin. Of course." He sat down. "Everybody hold hands."
"Eewww!" Holly and Christopher chorused, shooting each other looks. Kate and Lanie each gave them 'the look' and they quieted, linking pinkies instead of holding hands.
Rick started the prayer. "Dear God," he said, "thank you for this delicious meal we are about to devour like starving mutts ("Here we go," Kate murmured, earning scattered laughs and giggles around the table) and for the large, albeit strange, family we are sharing this bountiful feast with. Thank you for my beautiful wife, healthy children, grandchildren, and mother. Thank you for my friends; the Ryans and the Espositos. Thank you for bringing Katherine Beckett into my life for, if not for her, none of us would be sitting her, at our overly large dining room in Eastchester, New York, with our wonderful, extended family, sharing this lovely meal. Thank you also for our newest son, Neo, who we thank you for every single day of our lives, and thank you especially for your son, who started this wonderful Christmas tradition just by being. You have given us all so much and I don't know how we'll ever be able to thank you, but I can promise that we will all try our hardest every single day for the rest of our natural-born lives. Amen."
"Amen," everyone else chorused. Kate leaned over and kissed him softly on the cheek.
"That was beautiful, Castle," she whispered.
Castle beamed. "Yeah, well…I try." He kissed her back and leaned his forehead on hers for a second before turning back to the Ham. "Okay, so who wants some ham?"
Nearly every single child's hand went up and Rick smiled at them, beginning to skillfully carve the Christmas delight.
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