Disclaimer: Not mine.
Notes: Can I just preface this chapter with a big fat apology? I've been reading over some of these older chapters to try and reestablish my timeline. I've made some heinous errors. Absolutely, heinous. It's ridiculous, actually. I'm going to make a more concerted effort to not butcher English as badly as I have been. Forgive me?
Note 2: Never write hungry. This is turning into another food story, sort of. This chapter is also late, so expect chapter 14 (New Years Eve) to go up today too.
"Merry Christmas," Rick whispered and kissed Kate's forehead.
She grumbled in her sleep and rolled away from him.
He chuckled and scooted to the edge on his side of the bed to get up.
Her hand shot out and grabbed his wrist before he got too far away, "No."
"No?" He shifted back toward her.
"No, stay," she opened her eyes and rolled back over to face him, "It's too early to get up."
"I was just going to go tell Emily 'Merry Christmas'," he stretched back out next to her and ran his fingers through her hair.
"Again? Come on, Rick. It's..." she turned to look at the clock, "It's three. Get back under the covers."
"Is that an order?"
"Yes. I'm cold, so get back under the covers."
"Kate-"
"Get back under the covers," her voice took on a very serious edge, "now."
"Can I-"
"Rick..." her warning tone made him cringe.
"CanIgopeefirst?" He spit out quickly, and looked at her hopefully.
"Go," she sighed, "but come right back."
"I promise," he kissed her lightly, and then rolled out of the bed.
"I'll know if you try and leave," she called out to his retreating form.
"I know," he shut the door behind him.
She burrowed back down under the covers and drifted back to sleep. When Rick slid back in behind her, she snuggled back into him.
"Merry Christmas," he whispered again wrapping his arms around her.
Kate woke up again at eight, and she was pleasantly surprised to still be snuggled up against her husband. He had drug her out of the bed at first light last Christmas. She was fully prepared to remain in bed until she had to get up to get lunch ready, but Emily had other plans for her. Her cries carried over the baby monitor.
"Unnnnph," Rick replied when she pulled his arms away, "Mmnostay."
"Have to, I'll be back," she pried his hand loose and crept down the hallway. She entered the nursery and immediately picked Emily up, "Shhhh, it's okay."
Emily's crying let off a little.
"Shhhh, come on Emmy, lets go find Daddy. You want to?" Kate rocked her lightly as she went back up the hall. She got back to their room and smiled, he had snuggled up to her pillow after she left.
"Rick?" She sat next to him.
"Mmmmmwhat?" He groggily responded, snuggling her pillow closer.
"If you want me to lay back down with you I'll be needing my pillow back. If not, Emily and I are going to go downstairs and get some breakfast."
"Breakfast?" He opened his eyes.
"Yeah, I was maybe hoping for some pancakes, and Emily was hoping to see what Santa left for her."
He sat up, "It's Christmas."
"It is," Kate nodded.
"What time is it?" He looked over at the clock, "What? No! It can't be that late already!"
"Rick, it's just 8:30, relax. No one is going to be here until noon."
"No, it's late. I can't believe it..." He shook his head in disappointment.
"Okay, Emily, Daddy has obviously gone off the deep end this morning," she got up and made her way downstairs, all the while listening to him lament. Kate grabbed a cup of coffee, the wonders of a machine with it's own timer, and made her way to the living room. She curled up on the couch with Emily and watched her.
When he finally came down, or rather moped down, the stairs a few minutes later he went right into the living room and fell into a chair. "I can't believe I'm late for Christmas."
Kate rolled her eyes and sipped her coffee, "You aren't late for Christmas."
"I am, I've never ever slept this late on Christmas before, ask my mother."
Kate sat her coffee down and looked at him, quietly she spoke, "Come here."
He pulled himself up from the chair and made his way over to her.
"Sit," she patted the spot on the couch next to her, and when he sat she handed him Emily, "Does Daddy have you?"
"Merry Christmas, Emily," he smiled at the little girl who was smiling up at him.
Kate pulled her feet up until they were tucked under her, "She doesn't care what time it is."
"Yeah, bu-"
"Shut up, and listen to me," she turned around sideways on the couch and kissed his cheek, "It's her first Christmas, Rick. The only first Christmas she's ever going to have, and she could care less about it starting at eight in the morning instead of the very second the sun peaked over the horizon," she leaned in and brushed a finger down the baby's cheek, "There is no harm in sleeping in."
She reached out and turned his head to force him to look at her, "When she gets big enough to care about all of this, you can drag us out of bed whenever you want, but just enjoy this. Enjoy today. Our family is going to come together to celebrate in a few hours. So quit your moping and get in that kitchen to make me some pancakes."
"I love you, Kate," he leaned forward and kissed her.
"I love you, too," she sat back on her heels, "The sooner you feed me breakfast the sooner we can get to the presents."
He smiled his first genuine smile all morning, "Just pancakes?"
She nodded and pulled Emily back out of his arms, "Yes, and then we can start getting lunch ready."
"Presents, then lunch," he stood.
"Duh," she smiled and sent him on his way. She snuggled back into the couch and played with Emily while he was cooking. She made funny faces. She made silly noises. She tickled her. She talked to her. She was blowing a raspberry, much to Emily's delight, on the baby's belly when he carried the plates back into the room.
"Santa pancakes, for you," he sat the plate on the table in front of her. The plate was swimming in whipped cream. There was a fruit face, and big a blob of cherry pie pilling above it to make a hat.
"You're not going to be offended if I eat around his beard are you?" She got up and carried Emily over to the swing.
"I made you a plate with less," he sat another plate down, this one only had one little blob of whipped cream, the ball on his 'hat'. He then tucked himself into the little space between the couch and the coffee table.
"Thank you," she sat next to him and stretched her legs out under the table.
"You're welcome," he dug into his plate.
She ate a little more slowly, stopping now and then to watch the swing, or the snow falling outside the window. She cleaned her plate and turned to look at him, "I'll make you a deal."
"I'm listening," he stacked their dishes together and then focused on her.
"You," she pointed at him, "keep me in pancakes for the rest of my life, and I," she pointed back at herself, "will do more baking."
"Done," he held out his hand to shake.
"One stipulation, nothing disgusting."
"Done," he continued to hold his hand out.
"Okay," she shook.
"Okay," he pulled her in for a kiss, "I shouldn't love doing that as much as I do."
"I like it," she rested her head on his shoulder and looked over at the tree, "Do you want to take the dishes or get the presents?"
"It can wait," he jumped up from his seated position and went over to the stereo. He scanned the music until he found the perfect song, "Dance with me."
"Absolutely," she got up and met him in the middle of the floor by the tree. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his around her waist. Together they swayed slowly to the music.
"Merry Christmas," he took one of her hands and spun her in a circle before pulling her back in close.
She laughed as she twirled, "Merry Christmas, Rick." She rested her head over his heart, and listened to it beating.
The song wound down and he let her go, "I'll get the dishes."
"Okay," she smiled and stooped down to sort through the mountains of gifts to find their presents to each other, and the gift they got for Emily. She retrieved all three of them and carried them over to the coffee table. Then she went to pick up the baby.
He came back in, and settled into the couch with her, "Ready?"
"Yes, you go first."
"No, you."
"Open Emily's present."
He grabbed the little box off the table and held it close to the baby, "You want to help Daddy open it?"
Emily was mesmerized by the shiny silver bow on the box and reached for it. She gripped it, and Rick pulled lightly on the box and nudged the bow loose for her. She giggled happily and shook her arms when she had it freed.
"Apparently all she needed to be happy was a bow," Kate laughed, "What did you end up getting her?"
"You'll see," he pulled the paper off the box and opened it for her, "Get it out."
"Nothing is gonna bite me in there is it?" She joked and reached into it, she grasped a little ribbon and pulled the item out, "I wondered where those went."
"I know-"
"I know, you know a guy," she laughed and examined the little shoes that hung from the black ribbon. It was the same pair she'd worn at Thanksgiving, but they'd been coated in something hard and clear. On the sole of the right shoe was Emily's name and birthday, the sole of the left simply read 'Emily's First Christmas.'
"Do you like it?"
"Yes," Kate responded sitting the ornament gently back into the box.
"I was asking her," he winked and kissed her cheek, "Your turn."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she handed him Emily and pulled the large and unwieldy present into her lap. She peeled the paper off carefully, just to annoy her husband. She set the paper aside and broke the seal on the white box it was wrapped around.
"Can you not open presents any faster?"
"I only do it because it gets on your nerves." she opened the box and then looked down into it. She couldn't contain the laughter that erupted. Inside the box was a skateboard.
"You like it?"
"Yes, yes I do," she grinned and then kissed him, the present bringing back a fond memory.
He reached over surreptitiously and grabbed her hand, as they entered the park.
She looked down at their hands an then up at him. She smiled and laced her fingers through his.
"I feel like I'm in high school again," she blushed at the admission.
"Why is that?" he stopped walking and looked at her.
"I don't know what to do with myself. Butterflies. Awkward silences. It's like my first date all over again, except you haven't spilled a soda in my lap," the blush crept higher as she looked up at him through her lashes.
"You have butterflies?"
"Yes."
"I'm making you nervous?"
"No, you don't make me nervous. You make me worry. It's this whole date thing that is giving me butterflies."
"Kate?"
"I... I want this to work. Us," she stepped a little closer to him, "I'd really like to-"
"Watch out, lady!" The kid on the skateboard plowed right by her, and had it not been for her reflexes and Rick grabbing her she would've been knocked down by the reckless teenager. Instead she found herself lying off the edge of the path and on top of Richard Castle.
"Fancy meeting you here," he joked, "You okay?"
"Yeah, to think, I chase around bad guys with guns all day long, and the thing that almost takes me out is a skateboard," she shook her head.
"Can I kiss you?"
"I'd be mad if you didn't," she smiled at him and lowered her face to meet his. They shared a sweet kiss, before she climbed off of him and helped him up.
"What were you saying before all that?" he asked as he laced there fingers back together.
She laughed and looked back up at him, "That I would really like to kiss you."
He smiled and leaned into give her another kiss, this one just as gentle as before.
"I'm glad, what did you get me?"
"Gotta open it," she took Emily from him.
"No fair," he stuck his bottom lip out and reached for the last gift on the table.
She watched him shred the paper to bits, "You are cleaning that up."
"Okay," he kept digging his way to the box. He got inside and his jaw dropped when he saw the present, "No. Way!"
"So you like it?"
"Kate, how did you... When... I mean..."
"You aren't the only person who 'has a guy' and I've been working on it since June," she smiled at him.
"You're incredible," he dropped the box into his lap and took her face between his hands, "Really and truly incredible," he plated a very serious kiss on her lips.
"Thank you," she blushed.
He pulled the book out and opened it, "I don't even know what to say."
"Your mother was a big help. I have to say, getting to read all of your early works was fun, I never knew you'd dabbled in poetry until she dropped off the box of paper."
He flipped through the book and stopped at one poem, "This one isn't old, I wrote this the Fourth of July after we got engaged."
"I know," she smiled, and took his hand, "I really like that one though. We made a lot of fireworks that night."
He smiled and squeezed her hand, "We did. We definitely did."
"Kate?"
"Yeah?" She pulled the white t-shirt down over head and turned to look at him.
"I was just checking to see if you were ready, but I can see that you are still half naked. I'm going to go out there and wait for you. If I don't we'll never make it out of this house," he pointed in the general direction that was away from their bedroom here in the Hamptons.
"Okay," she laughed and shook her head as he walked away. Kate grabbed the navy blue shorts off the bed and tugged them up her legs. She fastened them, and then grabbed her red sweater from the bed as well. She slid on the flip-flops and hurried down the stairs.
"Stunning, as usual," he spoke the second he saw her.
She blushed, "I'm ready to go."
He took her hand and led her out the back door and onto the beach, "I have a blanket all set up, they'll start the show as soon as it gets dark. I thought maybe we could have a picnic dinner to pass the time."
"That sounds wonderful," she followed him over to the blanket and sat down. They shared a quiet meal and were just getting around to dessert when the first boom thundered across the sky, it lit up a bright green.
She looked out over the water as the next firework shot up into the sky, this one erupted in a blaze of red. The next round was a volley of blue. When she looked back at him her breath caught in her throat.
"That," he motioned to the fireworks overhead, "is how I feel. Whenever I see you. Whenever I touch you. Whenever you touch me. I've come to the conclusion, Katherine Beckett, that I can't live without you, and I'm not even willing to try that anymore," he edged closer still holding the ring up in front of him, "You're my spark, Kate. The other half of me. The..." he stopped to search for more of the right words.
"Yes."
"Yes?" He looked at her hopefully.
"Yes," she nodded.
He slid the ring onto her left hand, "Will you marry me?"
She laughed, "I already said yes. Yes! Yes, I will marry you Richard Castle!" She launched herself at him and their lips met as the fireworks show out over the water reached its peak.