Castle Drabbles for Christmas

Introduction

It was the flurries which drew him outside; the wind tossed pixies of frozen moisture which zigged and zagged foreshadowing full blown snow. Rick Castle stood on the exterior balcony of his loft looking to the sky as heavier flakes began overwhelming their predecessors.

The child in him charged the surface inspiring him, almost involuntarily, to open his mouth and stick out his tongue. To hear Beckett tell it, the child didn't have far to go to get to the surface; in fact she maintained that the child lived at the surface and the mature man was the one who had to the long journey to make himself known.

Love-

Castle and Beckett lean against a counter in a downtown coffee shop sipping gingerly from their cups. They are watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade. They huddle close as the spot they share is right next to the door. Every time the door opens, they are assaulted by a chilling burst of arctic wind. Castle shifts his stance, positioning his broad back to the door. It would not do to have his wife any colder than she is at the moment.

She leans into him and places a small kiss on his lips. "How chivalrous."

He smiled mischievously. "My way of taking one for the team."

"I love you, Richard Castle," she said, touching he forehead to his.

"Saying 'I love you, too' just doesn't seem sufficient," he replied. "I could write a book?"

Light-

When Castle and Beckett returned home to the loft, they were met with a strange sight; festive, but strange. Both Martha and Alexis were dressed in Santa costumes specifically designed for the Rockettes. Castle had seen his daughter in a miniskirt before, but there was something oddly salacious about the outfit.

"What is this?" he asked, truly surprised.

"Seriously, Dad?" Alexis admonished. "Don't tell me you forgot?"

"Of course he didn't," Kate interjected elbowing Rick to jog his faulty memory.

"Of course not!" he proclaimed, uncertainly. "What am I supposed to do?"

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Nothing , Dad. Just come to the performance. Gram convinced me to help her with a Christmas Charity event."

"I'm all in," he replied with a smile. "Not sure how I feel about that outfit though. It's a little low in the front and high in the back. Is Ashley gonna be there?

Kate hit him with another elbow. "You look great, Sweety. When do we leave?"

Dark-

On the night before Christmas, Castle was awakened by the sound of movement on the first floor. His first thought was of Kate, who, coincidentally, was not lying next to him in bed. Furrowing his eyebrows in puzzled concern, he threw off the covers and hopped from his bed.

Just in case, he pulled an iron from his golf bag in the hall closet. When he reached the top of the stairs he surveyed the landscape below. There she was, his wife, kneeling before the Christmas tree feeling, shaking, and placing gifts up to her ears.

It was adorable.

But it could not be allowed to continue.

"Unhand that present, FIEND!" he boomed from behind her. He had silently descended the stairs and approached her without her noticing. So he thought.

The flannel clad woman shot a leg out behind her and whirled with uncanny speed to push her palms into his chest. He toppled involuntarily and landed with a dull thud on the couch.

She was on him in a flash; straddling his waist.

"You, Mister, of all people, should know better than to sneak up on me," she said short of breath.

"And miss this?" he replied, placing his hand on her hips. "It was my plan all along."

"We used to open a present on Christmas Eve," she said, raising her fingers to the top button of her pajama top.

"Who am I to break with tradition," he said, pulling her into a kiss.

Past-

As he sat back and watched Kate, Alexis, and his mother open their Christmas presents, Castle tried to remember a Christmas more satisfying. There were grand moments in the past, but nothing so fully realized as a family so perfectly united.

It was Kate's second Christmas with the family; the first as wife. His final wife. The woman he had been searching for all his life. Being with her was the gift that kept on giving; the element added to their family was never really missed until it finally arrived.

Alexis laughed at Kate as she placed a pair of garish antlers on her head.

Mother smiled and took sip of her hot butter rum.

Kate looked to him for approval.

"Perfect," he said, meeting her brilliant blue eyes.