Daniel looked around as they all crowded into the dining room where the table was used as a buffet table rather than for sit down. Just as well: between the five Castles and Espositos, four each of the Ryans, Parrish-Robbinses, George-Espositos, and the late-arriving Mazzaras and the two of them, they were lucky to fit all in the dining room around the . They all gather around as Meredeth put her beautiful steaming turkey on the table and joined hands; Daniel smothered a little laugh as Dell and Tessi each reached up to let the twins grip their fingers as best they could. On his left, he had Dave's hand, and in the other, he had his fiancee's as Castle - who seemed to be the self-appointed head of the family - gave the annual Christmas blessing.
'Dear heavenly spirit,' he began. 'Thank you very much for everything you've given us this past year. There's been new babies born, new loves found, new friends and new babies made, and it's safe to say, countless surprises. We are thankful for those we've known and loved and lost and miss every day of our lives. And this year, we are especially thankful that all our family is whole and healthy and safe.'
Andrea gave Daniel's hand a squeeze, and she felt her eyes well up, as she knew Castle spoke of her and Daniel; there was nothing in the world like that open love. On her other side, Ryan gave her hand a supportive squeeze as well. The group all murmured an 'amen' and the children were served first from the disgustingly bountiful display. She realized now why Meredeth had told her not to worry about the food, as there was the huge turkey, creamed and roasted potatoes, sweet corn, steamed broccoli and asparagus, home-made rolls, two kinds of stuffing, soy-turkey burgers and two kinds of gravy to float it all away. Once the little ones had their bowls filled up, the grown-ups started in and for the first time in her life since her parents' divorce, Andrea didn't give a damn about how much food she put on her plate. She was pregnant, after all and she needed to eat a healthy balance of protein and fibre and by God she was going to do it. She was the one in charge now, not those two; they never would be again.
It didn't escape Daniel's notice either and he smiled in subtle approval; his fiancee's plate was loaded with turkey, veggies, potatoes, stuffing and gravy and he knew she would eat up with guilt or fear of disapproval. Because he knew she would be in good hands with Ryan, Honey-Milk, Cam, and the woman named Robina Mazzara in the kitchen, he was perfectly comfortable being in the living room, watching the children all kneeling around the coffee table while Meredeth, Esposito, and Gil sat around the living room with them.
'So, Daniel, is it, you and Andrea are getting married in February?' Gil shoveled in stuffing and broccoli. 'Are you thinking church ceremony or having it in a hotel?'
'We're leaning towards hotel for the whole thing. We're both Catholics, but we don't feel obligated to have the ceremony in a church because of that alone.'
'You shouldn't.' Esposito gestured with his drumstick. 'Hell, I was an altar boy at San Gabriel until I was fifteen and hadn't been to regular service there, and Father Paolo Telmo still did our wedding.'
'Hey, that's a great idea, baby.' Meredeth looked at her husband. 'They should talk to Father Paolo about doing the ceremony. He's really down to earth and not preachy at all, and he won't make you attend any kind of pre-marriage counseling courses in order for him to do the thing.'
'And you know he's cool with doing the ceremony as much or as little traditional Catholic mass as you want, plus there's the fact he would marry you on a boat if you wanted.'
'He sounds great,' Daniel said. 'I'll talk to Andrea about it. She's leaving the choice of minister up to me. Oh and Meredeth, we would like you to do the cake.'
'Yeah? You'd like a Heart of Chelios? That's a lot of faith in me having never tasted it.'
'Actually, there's a little bit left over in the fridge, you can try it with dessert. It was a very Merry Christmas,' Esposito said with a wink and earning a smack from his wife.
'I'll kiss that better for you later,' she teased him, then stretched her neck to peer at how much Tessi had eaten. 'Tessiana, you need to eat your veggies.'
'Yes, Mami.'
'She has already eaten her 'pargus, Meredeth,' Dell informed her; where else would he eat but at Tessi's right side? 'She is workin' on her other vegetables.'
'You too, Kelley-belly,' Gil chipped in when he saw his own little girl had plowed through her turkey and stuffing and was poking at the roasted peppers and sweet-potatoes like they were aliens. 'They're not gonna bite you.'
'Fine-fine, Daddy.'
'Her way of saying 'okay' these days,' he said with a shake of his head.
'How's the food, Andrea?' Esposito asked, happy to see her eating plentifully. He'd heard the stories from Meredeth about how Andrea would eat almost nothing at family dinners with her sisters.
'Delicious,' she replied around a mouthful of stuffing and potatoes. 'How do you get those potatoes so creamy, Mere?'
'Real butter, eighteen-percent cream and a Kitchen-Aid stand-mixer.'
'I think I will take you up on that offer of some treats.'
'Yea!' Meredeth clapped excitedly, nearly upending her plate. 'My staples are healthy-cookies, smoothies, soups and pasta casseroles. Plus whatever you want to add in for your own taste.'
'You mean cravings, don't you?' Andrea clarified and Meredeth nodded excitedly.
'Cravings during pregnancy are as unique as the babies themselves. Honey-Milk couldn't get enough pizza when she was carrying Dell. Me, I was always wanting crunchy things with the twins. You had anything like that yet?'
'No.'
'Actually, that's not true, honey.' Daniel scraped the last of his gravy and stuffing off of his plate, gestured with his fork. 'The entire week between getting the tree and Christmas Eve, you had to have grape juice at least three times a day, sometimes with tortilla chips.'
Esposito laughed. 'And did you have to do any midnight runs for said grape juice and tortillas?'
'Does getting that call on the way home after shift count?'
'Half points.'
'Daddy! All done!' Kelley Mazzara stood up, held her plate out for inspection, and Gil nodded his approval.
'Mama's in the kitchen, go show her you're done. You ate all your veggies, right? Nothing hiding in your pockets for the dog?'
'Hey where is Arturo at?' Daniel asked, thinking of the giant honey-brown dog and how he hadn't bowled them over upon arrival. 'He being punished?'
'No, he's upstairs in his room. As much as he loves being around the action, he is almost ten and likes to chill out on his own. Don't worry, once we're doing presents and Secret Santa, he'll be right in the thick of things. He likes the bright paper.'
Sure enough, an hour or so later when it was time for the presents and the Secret Santa, the mixed-breed dog made his appearance and snuffled at the paper that was discarded by the children who were opening their small trinkets like colouring books and travel-sized toys and small items of clothing. Everywhere he went, Arturo was greeted with a giggle and a friendly little pat on his thick neck from small hands, inlcuding RJ, who had decided to sit with Andrea while he opened up his present.
'Annie doggy?' he asked, looking up at Andrea and Daniel. 'You puppy?'
'No, we don't have a puppy.'
'Good peasant, Daniel.'
Daniel laughed. 'We've got a wedding to plan and a baby to get ready for, big guy. Maybe next Christmas.'
'Okay, we do we all say now that we have our presents opened?' Beckett said in a voice like a school-teacher, and she was met with a little chorus of 'Thank-yous.' 'Now it's the grown-ups turn.'
'Yeah, I'm curious about this,' Daniel said to Ryan as they sipped after-dinner hard cider. 'How exactly does Secret Santa without giving out names ahead of time?'
'See, everyone gets a card with their Christmas card that says what they have to bring. You got one right?' At Daniel's nod, Ryan continued, 'They're all wrapped in different boxes and paper, and we play a round of Texas Hold'em to determine who goes first in choosing. You'll catch on.'
It didn't take long to get into the spirit as they did a few hands of poker to determine the order while the children played with their own toys. Daniel was lucky and drew an inside straight to score the third pick while Andrea was horribly unfortunate and going dead last.
'That means you have a great love-life,' he murmured to her, kissing her cheek.
'I know I do.'
'Daniel, it's your turn to chose,' Robina told him, having made her selection. Last year she'd been stuck with woolen socks; anything had to be better than that.
He perused the small mountain of loot and chose a long flat box, drummed his fingers on it as he wondered what was inside. Being a nurse anesthetist had taught him the value of patience, so that as the others chose and were subtly scratching at the tape, his own hands reminded itchy but they didn't touch the present. Finally, Andrea got to select and picked up the only remaining gift.
'Okay, sixty seconds of feeding frenzy, go!' Meredeth cried, and Andrea's head spun as they all shouted, tossed, passed and clutched the various parcels. Since she was sitting right beside her, Andrea traded with Beckett, and then traded again with her hubby-to-be. 'And stop! Okay, Andrea, you picked last for your gift, so you get to open yours up first.'
Andrea shredded into the paper, eyes going wide as she saw the box from some-place called the Sizzling Stork. Lifting the lid, she blushed red as her hair when she saw the pearl-grey negligee with matching panties and robe. 'Well, then,' she managed as the others wolf-whistled. 'Guess Santa thinks I should be the good kind of naughty.'
'Isn't that the kind of clothes that led you to being pregnant?' Castle asked not-so-innocently, getting an elbow in the ribs from his wife.
'No, but they're the kind you wear to make sure you practice lots to get it right,' Lanie fired back, making them all laugh. 'Who's next?'
Andrea watched, fingering the fabric of her new sexy underthings, while the others opened up their treasures - amongst other things Lanie got an iTunes card, Ryan got a small bottle of Irish whiskey, Esposito got a new game for his X-box and most awesomely of all, Daniel got two gift cards for dinner at Pookaloos, a very funky little diner in Midtown. The way she knew her appetite was going to increase, they would come in handy.
When it was time for clean-up, Meredeth hovered near Daniel. 'Javi told me what you two talked about, and I made sure that Andrea got the fancy sex-wear. You can thank me later.'
R&R&Enjoy!
