It was still snowing and the city below was quiet. So quiet she could just barely hear the snowflakes hitting the windows as they fell from the sky. And if she wasn't so comfortable where she was laying she would be in the kitchen making herself some coffee and finding her favorite leather chair by the windows in the office to sit and enjoy the peaceful snowfall under the moonlight glow.
She's naked, and so warm under his covers, his legs mixed in with hers. He's kind of on his side, but mostly on his back and she's squished up next to him, she loves the feel of her body against his. He's strong, and solid, and affectionate. This is her absolute favorite place to be, next to him like this when he's silently sleeping. She watches him. She loves to just watch him sleep, his chest rising and falling in a slow rhythm underneath her chin that rests just where his heart lives. His steady heartbeat relaxes her, soothes her over-worked mind and brings her serenity.
Kate's staring, focused on his beautiful face. His ruggedly handsome features melt into the most innocent childlike expression as he soundly snoozes, it's very adorable. A smile slowly creeps onto her lips as she remembers how his face lit up with pure joy and love the moment he saw her standing at his front door. He was coming to her, ready to happily shadow her on his beloved Christmas Eve instead of staying in his loft as he'd wanted. He was ready to give it all up so he could be with her. He loves her so much more than she even knows.
And then there was his moment of panic over the no present thing…she makes a mental note to let him know the next time he's awake that he has already given her so many gifts this year. So many she can't even count. But the most important one in her mind is his love. His love helped her change her life, helped her become more, helped her to find true happiness but most importantly his love helped her to gain the hope that she seemed to be missing. Hope for her future.
Her eyes pool with tears, she loves this man and all his loveliness, with all his flaws. Her arm moves up towards his ear and she gently grabs little bits of his hair, curling them around her finger tips. She kisses his skin, and lays her head to the side on his chest, pressing her ear closer to his heart and the steady hum of its beating. Her other arm moves across his torso and wraps around the side allowing her to press more of her skin against his. A tear slips onto him, but he doesn't stir, and she watches this single drop trail down the curve of his pectoral muscle and eventually fades into his skin. It's funny how even in sleep he finds a way to soak her in; this deserves a loving eye roll and a cute little smile as she nuzzles her nose into his soft skin.
Kate's eyelids become heavy, hypnotized by the humming of his body and the soft rustling of snow at the window. She's giving in and slowly drifting to slumber, brushing her soft pink lips against his skin one last time and then barely whispering "I love you Castle", before letting it completely take her over.
The smell wakes her hours later, and she rolls over expecting to feel Castle somewhere on the other side of the bed but he's gone, it's empty space and the sheets are freezing cold. Moaning, she gets up and makes her way to his closet, finding a shirt of his to put on over her yoga pants. Her stomach growls and the wafting smells of vanilla and cinnamon aren't helping matters. Coffee…she needs coffee immediately!
She makes her way to the kitchen, expecting to find him there but it's empty, and the house is silent and still dark except for the light coming from his massive Christmas tree and the fire in the fireplace he seems to have already turned on. She decides to make her desired coffee, and then she can go on her hunt for him.
Standing at the counter, her eyes are closed, nose pushed out so she can breathe in the unbelievably delicious scent of the hot brewing liquid. She loses herself in the precious aroma, allowing herself to soak it in and help her wake up. Hands. Her eyes instantly open and look down to find them. His hands are sliding across her stomach meeting in the middle, pulling her back into him, his face nuzzling into the side of her neck, his lips tickling soft kisses just under her earlobe.
"Merry Christmas, Kate" he whispers in her ear.
He's turning her around and crashing his lips into hers instantly, his warm wet tongue slipping through to tangle with hers. Then as quickly as he began, he ends the kiss, pulling away to allow just enough space between them so she can look up and see the dark passion in his blue eyes fade into a childlike sparkle of joy.
"Morning, Castle. I made us coffee," she's smiling, and just staring at him.
She can't stop smiling, this is so new to her; she's never in all of her adult life woken up to anything close to this on Christmas morning. She likes it, she likes it a lot!
"Come sit over here, I'll pour you coffee."
He guides her to the stools on the other side of the counter island, "I made cinnamon buns too, nice and gooey just the way you like them!"
She's still smiling; this one is beaming, and saying everything to him that she cannot put into words.
"Perfect, I'm starving, but maybe we can eat over there on the couch? That way we can enjoy your beautiful Christmas tree; it really is majestic."
He stops, and changes direction, coming back towards her. "Have I told you I love you lately?"
He cocks his head to the side, inching closer and closer until he's standing next to her. "I mean in the past few hours," he's smiling at her, his eyes twinkling again.
"Actually, I don't believe you have Mr. Castle," her face is trying to hide the smile that's on her lips. Her eyebrows scrunched up, making it look like she's thinking hard about what he's just asked her.
"Ya know, since this is a Christmas of new traditions there's something I…" his arm is moving up above her head.
She sees it out of the corner of her eye, "Mistletoe? Really Castle?"
"Yeah, I've never kissed anyone under the mistletoe before, it always seemed silly to me but since this is a holiday full of new traditions I thought I might give it a try."
"You expect me to believe that with all the women you've dated and the two marriages you've had you've never kissed under the mistletoe. Really?" she's smirking, rolling her tongue along her bottom lip before pulling it into her mouth between her teeth.
"Um… I ahhh…no." he's stuttering, seemingly nervous and she takes pity on him.
"No?" she's pushing her stool out and standing, never breaking eye contact with him, smiling.
"So I'm your first then?" Her hands are moving up his chest, fingertips curing around his chest like they have a thousand times before.
She's tingling now, excited, "that's good because I've never kissed under the mistletoe either."
He's diving towards her, leaving his eyes open, his free arm sliding around her side and resting in the hollow of her lower back. His lips gently touch hers, pulling away slightly, allowing her to push up on her tiptoes to find them again. Their lips dancing together as she moves her hands up around his neck and into his hair, grabbing fistfuls and pulling herself closer so her nose is squished into the bones between his cheek and nose.
She's tumbling, melting into him, they've kissed a million times over the past few months and somehow this one feels different. Air…she needs air, breaking away from his lips, she brushes the tip of her nose against his before settling back down off of her toes. Looking at him through her lashes, catching her breathe.
"Magic" he says under his breath, so softly she almost misses it.
He lays the mistletoe on the granite countertop. And starts to move back towards the kitchen, she grabs his hand and pulls him back, leaning up to peck another brief kiss on his lips, "magic" she repeats smiling back at him and releasing his fingers.
"C'mon, let's get breakfast and go enjoy the tree before everyone wakes up and it turns into a present opening frenzy!"
She giggles, "Something tells me you're the one mostly responsible for that frenzy Castle."
He's moving into the kitchen but looks back and winks at her. Then he's bending down to open the oven and takes out the pan of rolls keeping warm inside. Domestic Castle is very, very cute she can't help but smile.
"Do you want extra frosting on yours?"
"Um…yeah sure, why not it's Christmas right?"
His finger is diving into the bowl of fluffy white goodness, scooping up a finger full of the cream cheese heaven and licking it off.
She watches him, then lets her head fall forward slightly, shakes her head back and forth gently, and smiles. He's such a child, but somehow this is what she's needed in her life. He's given her back the joy of Christmas…she doesn't know how exactly…but once again he's wormed his way into another place she's had sealed up for years and made it okay again to find happiness there.
She needs to tell him, this is the right time. She promised herself she would tell him the next time he was up, and that's now, and this feels right so she takes a deep breath and opens her mouth to let her words flow out.
They're rolling off her tongue quickly and she's kind of nervous and definitely unsure if she's even making any sense at all but his face moves into that special look he gets. The look he has when she's telling him something about herself that he doesn't already know, and that's when she begins to relax because she knows that he gets it. Especially as he leans forward and kisses the tip of her nose ever so gently.
"This is the best Christmas, Kate. I'm so glad you're here, I've been waiting three years for this." He kisses the tip of her nose for a second time, and then dives into her warm lips; he tastes like vanilla frosting and cinnamon and somehow she finds that perfect because it's exactly how Castle should be on Christmas morning.
"Merry Christmas Castle, I think I've been waiting for this too…I just didn't realize it until now," she leans in and kisses him again, letting her tongue slide across his bottom lip and curl into his mouth savoring the delicious taste hidden inside.
"C'mon Kate, get your coffee...I've got this cool game we can play with the ornaments on the tree before Alexis gets up…you're so gonna love…I know it!"
She's watching him rush into the living room with his navy flannel pajama pants that have Christmas trees, snowflakes, and candy canes all over them, and can't help but roll her eyes and chuckle at her boyfriend. He's the best combination of everything she could want in a partner, and he's going to absolutely die when he opens the present she got him!