Special thanks go to ariel119 for once again being a bloody awesome beta person. My work wouldn't be half as good without your help =D

Also, I know many of you guys reading are American, but I really want to send my best wishes out to those Aussies who have been affected during the Queensland floods. Hopefully, with a bit of luck things take the turn for the better sooner rather than later. My thoughts are with you. Every little bit helps, so everyone keep your fingers and toes crossed.

Now, on with the chapter!

Season of a Lifetime

"This year has been a good year"

"It's the most magical time of year."

She shoots him a look, before rolling her eyes. "For you it may be. For me it means a mountainous hike in cases as the loneliness and frivolity crash together."

"That's a really… screwed up vision, Beckett."

She shrugs. "It's true, Castle. Either people can't handle being alone for whatever reason; or they over-do the Christmas cheer and end up in the fight to end all fights. It's always, without fail, the time of year when there's far too much alcohol and all feelings of resentment come to a head. From Thanksgiving – hell Halloween – until the first week of the New Year, we get inundated with cases. Some are as simple as suicide. Some are more complex. But, mark my words, I will be too busy with cases to know that it's Christmas."

Just the way I like it. she thinks. She agrees with him in one respect, though: she has a really screwed up view of the holidays.

She never used to be that way. But, almost twelve years ago, her world had been shattered. And while, each year, she has gotten a half step closer to being able to find some small reason to celebrate (her dad's last drink had been around Christmas seven years prior), there was always something in the back of her head that made her want to be part of a family, celebrating each other and the holiday like she should.

Like she would, if her mother had survived.

He comes around to her side of the desk, and sits himself nice and close to her, where he can lower his voice so only she will be able to hear it. He knows she hates it when he does that, because it means that they're not being as professional as they'd promised when they crossed that line between Detective/Shadow and something that resembled Boyfriend/Girlfriend.

"Kate," he starts his voice low and husky and reminding her all-too-well of several nights over the last six weeks that make her want to blush. But she flatly refuses to blush. Ever.

Along with refusing to blush, she refuses to meet his gaze.

"Kate," he tries again, reaching out and touching her arm softly. "You can't do what you did last year."

Her head snaps up and the expression clearly reads why the hell not!

"I know it's only been a little while, but I would really, really like to spend this Christmas with you. We all would," he adds, knowing that the promise of Alexis and Martha's presence always made her consider his invitations for a half a second longer.

She shakes her head 'no' and goes back to whatever mundane paperwork she had been doing before he interrupted.

"Castle, it's sweet, really. But I'm on call, anyway."

He shakes his head and dips an inch closer.

"And if you move even one more millimetre, I swear to god, I will shoot you."

He grins. "Kate, please? It doesn't have to be the whole day. Just… just spend Christmas Eve with us. We'll watch Christmas movies snuggled on the couch and sip wine. You don't even have to have any wine, so you can drive home. We just… we want to include you. We all do."

He hears her sigh, and knows, even if it'll take a couple more days to completely make up her mind, that she'll eventually agree.

"Just think about it, okay?" he taps her arm again, and straightens, and even moves off the edge of her desk and into his chair.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watches as he gazes wide-eyed around the precinct. She knows that he knows that she usually spends Christmas Eve, Day and Night holed up in her apartment completely ignoring everything about the day. She and her father have dinner the week before, not willing to revisit those first few Christmases they'd shared after her mother's murder. Not even the memory of him telling her he'd been sober for a whole month could fully erase the pain of the previous ones, where she'd gone by to visit him, only to find him passed out in his recliner, an old Christmas record of her mother's popping and crackling in the darkness.

Her focus returned to the present, to the very different man beside her. She wishes she could find it in herself to muster half the joy that he seems to exude this time of year. Even a quarter of that child-like anticipation would be fine with her. But, even though their relationship had shifted and changed, even though she was by far happier than she had been in a very, very long time, she just couldn't seem to do it.

He folds his hands over themselves and tilts his head in her direction. Though he is talking to her, his gaze is focussed on a random patch of wall across the other side of the bullpen. "If you want," he starts slowly and quietly, obviously choosing his words carefully, "we can invite your dad over, too. I know you have dinner with him Friday night, but he is more than welcome."

She glances at him out of the corner of her eye. "Dad goes out to Jersey Christmas Eve, to his sister's place. But thank you." she replies softly and pretends she doesn't notice when he shifts closer to her again. His elbow is resting on the desk, his chin in his palm. From the corner of her eye, she can see his gaze is focused on his fingers tap dancing closer to the hand she has resting lightly on her paper.

"He is important to you, and you're important to me. We may only be in the early stages of our relationship, Kate, but like it or not, you're a part of the Castle Family." This time her head turns to him fully, and he shrugs. "Alexis has busted us making out on the couch far too many times for this to be considered a fling. And, whether you're ready to admit it or not, we both knew the night we kissed that this was never going to be a one off."

"Castle," she hisses, eyes sweeping the bullpen for evil little gremlins with nothing better to do than gossip.

"I know. And now you do, too." He taps the desk again, before standing and tilting his head in the direction of the break room. "I need coffee." He takes two steps, and then turns back. "Think about Christmas Eve. I'll be back with one for you, too."

As she watches him go, her head tilted slightly in an effort to fully appreciate his slight strut, she wonders what on earth she did to deserve someone like him.

Season of a Lifetime – Plain White T's

Yeah, Christmas was a few weeks ago. I started this two days after. Better late than never, though, right?