I'm so sorry for the delay, guys. I had this all planned out and everything, and my computer decided to die. Plus this chapter is based on my family's actual traditions, so I didn't have time to fix my computer and get this all typed until now because my weekend was filled with family fun.

#97 Because it's time for new traditions

Thanksgiving

"Kate, come on, wake up."

Kate groaned and rolled over, trying to get away from her husband so she could go back to sleep.

"Hey, none of that." Rick said as he followed her across the bed. "It's Thanksgiving. You know what that means."

Kate groaned again and peeked one eye open. "Sleep?" She asked hopefully, even though she knew it wasn't likely.

Rick smiled and kissed her cheek softly. "Sorry. No more sleep. You can do that later. Come on, it's nearly 8 am. Gotta get up and feed the girls."

Kate sighed as she flopped onto her back. "Really?"

Rick laughed. "Really. Come on, sleepyhead. Breakfast, Parade, boxes. Let's go."

Kate sighed again for good measure and forced herself up and out of the bed, letting out a small groan when the cold air hit her skin. Rick was by her side a moment later and pulled her into his arms, easing some of the chill that had seeped in.

"Go take a shower." Rick murmured a moment later as he pulled back slightly.

"You could come with me, warm me up faster." Kate said, but her suggestive tone was ruined by a yawn.

Rick laughed as he kissed her lips. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm gonna get everything out for breakfast. Come join me when you're done."

Kate nodded as she grabbed a pair of jeans and a sweater from the closet and threw them on the bed before making her way into the bathroom.

Rick was beating the eggs and cinnamon for the french toast batter when Kate walked out of the office 30 minutes later.

"Hey." He said, greeting her with a kiss as he set the bowl down.

"Hey. Monkey up yet?"

Rick nodded. "She woke up about 5 minutes ago, hasn't come down yet though. AJ's still asleep from what I can hear."

Kate nodded and gave his butt a swat as she went in search of their youngest daughter.

"I'll get you for that." Rick called after her.

"I'll be waiting." Kate said over her shoulder as she made her way up the stairs. When she got onto the landing, she paused and smiled when she heard the water running in Clara's bathroom. Kate paused to look into AJ's room was unsurprised to find the 14-year-old still asleep, with her brown hair strewn across the pillows.

Kate continued down the hallway until she reached Clara's room; she knocked softly and waited until Clara called for her to enter.

"Hey, Monkey." Kate said as she closed the door behind her. "You're up early."

Clara shrugged as she came out of her bathroom, already dressed in sweatpants and an NYPD sweatshirt that had gone missing from Kate's closet. Clara caught her mom staring at her sweatshirt and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry. I meant to give it back, but then I kept wanting to wear it."

Kate rolled her eyes. "I can get you one of your own, you know that right?"

Clara smiled again. "Thanks."

Kate nodded as she held open her arms, and hugged her daughter when she stepped into Kate's embrace. "Happy Thanksgiving." Kate murmured into Clara's hair.

"Gobble gobble." Clara replied, just as she had when she was a little girl and Rick had called it 'Turkey Day.'

"Come on. Dad's working on breakfast and the parade's starting soon."

Clara nodded and hurried to the door, grabbing her shoes along the way. Kate followed her, but stopped at AJ's door when she heard movement inside.

"I'll be down in a bit." Kate told her daughter, and watched as Clara made her way downstairs.

Kate knocked and stepped into AJ's room. "Hey, Bug. How are you feeling?"

AJ sighed from the bathroom and stepped into her room. "My lungs are kinda sore. But that happens when I'm up coughing most of the night."

Kate nodded in sympathy. "I'm sorry, AJ. You know I'd fix it if I could."

AJ nodded. "I know. It's not your fault, anyway."

Kate smiled as she hugged her daughter. "Doesn't make me feel any better."

AJ laughed, and then immediately started coughing. "Ouch." She said when it was over, pressing the heel of her hand to her sternum. "Damn, that hurts."

"Language." Kate said reflexively.

AJ stuck her tongue out at her mom as she grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt.

"Are you gonna be able to help Dad today, or are you hanging out with me?"

AJ shrugged. "I don't know. I want to help him, but it depends."

Kate nodded. "Alright. Alexis and Jeff are coming over, so we can send them off with him and Clara if we need to."

"That makes me feel even worse. Clara hates being with Jeff."

Kate laughed. "Well, Alexis is dating him, so she might need to suck it up."

"If it lasts." AJ whispered conspiratorially.

Kate laughed. "No breaking your sister and her boyfriend up during today."

"What about tomorrow?" AJ called as Kate walked out of her room.

"I'll think about it." Kate said with a wink. "Hurry on down. I smell breakfast."

"Alright. AJ come do dishes so I can get started on food." Kate said when breakfast was over and Clara had cleared the table.

"I'll dry!" Clara chirped as she bounced from foot to foot.

"No, you won't." Rick called, hurrying up behind her and pulling her off the ground. "I need someone to watch the parade with me!"

"Rick, put her down!" Kate cried as Clara's laughter filled the loft.

Rick grumbled good-naturedly as he complied, and Clara gasped for breath.

"Thanks for the offer, Monk, but it's a pretty light load." AJ said as she turned on the water.

When the parade was winding down, Clara and Rick began pulling on their coats and boots while AJ opened to door for Alexis and her boyfriend.

"Hey, Bug." Alexis said as she hugged her sister. "Kate says you're not coming with us?"

"She's sick." Rick said as he came over to hug his eldest daughter. "She's spent most of the morning coughing."

"Did you go to the doctor?" Alexis asked, worry seeping into her tone.

AJ rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. It's just a cold."

"We're taking her on Monday." Kate called from the kitchen.

Alexis nodded, satisfied. "Well then, let's go. Monkey, come on!"

"I'm coming!" Clara exclaimed as she walked over to the group.

"Where exactly are we going?" Jeff asked, still confused.

"To our storage unit with all the Christmas decorations." Alexis said.

"You start decorating today?"

Clara and AJ laughed. "Don't be silly. It's too early to decorate today!"

"Then when?"

"Tomorrow, of course!"

Jeff just looked at them like they were crazy. "Isn't tomorrow just as early?"

"Nope. Tomorrow is the beginning of the holiday season. It's completely acceptable." Clara said matter-of-factly.

"Oh."

Clara rolled her eyes and hugged AJ goodbye, and followed the group out into the hall, snickering when AJ mimicked Jeff's confused expression behind his back.

AJ closed the door and made her way into the kitchen, where Kate was putting the turkey into the roaster. "What are the chances that one of them will get hurt?" AJ asked as she put the lid on.

Kate laughed. "What are the chances that it's snowing?"

AJ looked out the window, and sure enough, snowflakes were falling past. "Pretty good then."

Black Friday

"Come on, Castle." Kate said as she nudged her husband. "Get up."

"No. It's time to sleep."

"You've been sleeping."

"I hurt." Rick whined, peeking an eye open to look at his wife.

"It's not my fault you dropped a box full of dishes onto your foot."

Castle groaned. "Your dishes. Your fault."

Kate laughed. "Nice try. Now, come on. Up you get."

By the time Rick left their bedroom after his shower, Kate was already unloading the first of the Christmas dishes from the dishwasher, and the entire kitchen counter was covered in other ones.

"Finally!" Clara cried when she saw her dad emerge. "We've been waiting for you so we can put up the tree."

Rick nodded and followed his daughters into the living room where the boxes with the tree was waiting. Since AJ was allergic to real Christmas trees, they had to use a fake one, but they'd found that it was more convenient, because they could leave the lights on the tree when they took it apart, and it lasted for years.

Rick grunted and groaned as he got the tree set up, but he let out a giddy laugh when AJ plugged in all the lights and the tree lit up.

"Alright, ornament time." Kate said as she sat on the couch and began pulling ornaments out of the boxes and handing them to her husband and kids. When all the ornaments were up, Rick made his way around the tree with the strings of beads, until finally the tree was done.

"Good. Now we just have 47 thousand other things to do." Kate said with a smile.

The rest of the day was passed in a flurry of Christmas music and decorating, until the loft looked like Santa himself could live there. There were lights and decorations everywhere imaginable, and the only dishes left were Christmas dishes.

"How long until we take it all down?" AJ asked playfully.

"Just for that, you can do it on your own." Rick replied.

Christmas

"Up! Time to get up!" AJ and Clara called as they hurried into their parents bedroom.

"What time is it?" Kate asked.

"6 am. Just like always. Come on, Momma! It's Christmas!" Clara exclaimed.

"Happy Birthday, AJ." Kate said, looking pointedly at Clara.

"I already said that." Clara said as she waved a dismissive hand.

"Why are our children so loud?" Rick asked.

"They're yours." Kate replied.

"It's Christmas!" Clara exclaimed, like they were missing something important.

"Exactly. A perfect day to sleep in."

"No!"

Rick laughed as he got out of bed. "Fine. In you girls get."

AJ and Clara jumped into their parents' bed and climbed under the covers, huddling in the warmth their father left behind.

"I'll go start coffee." Rick said as he pulled on his bathrobe and left the room.

When they were alone, Kate and her daughters began talking softly while listening for the front door to open and announce the arrival of Martha, Jim, and Alexis.

"I'm glad Alexis broke up with Jeff. He gave me the creeps." Clara announced suddenly.

Kate laughed. "Once she found out that he hated Christmas, he didn't really stand a chance."

Footsteps made their way toward the bedroom, and Rick appeared with a cup of coffee for Kate.

"Everyone else is here. You can leave prison."

"Finally!" Clara exclaimed as she jumped up from the bed and hurried to greet her family.

By noon, all the presents were opened and everyone was playing with their new toys.

"Are we eating soon, Mom?" AJ called from the living room.

"We're eating when I tell everyone to get the butts to the table. Now stop asking." Kate called back.

"She sounds just like you did when you were a little girl." Jim told his daughter, a fond smile playing on his lips. "Always wanted to know when you'd be able to eat next."

Kate laughed. "Like you weren't the same way." She teased.

Jim faked a wounded expression. "I never!"

Kate laughed again, and she caught Rick's eyes on her, smiling as he listened to her laughing. She watched as he made his way over, and pulled her into his arms.

"I love when you do that." He murmured into her ear.

"Then I guess I'll have to do it more often, huh?"

"Please." Rick said before leaning down and capturing her lips with his in a passionate kiss.

"Eww! Get a room!" Clara called.

"How do you think you got here?" Alexis asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

Clara screamed in horror and covered her ears while she tried to get rid of the picture Alexis had just painted for her.

When dinner was finally served, it was a lively affair and laughter sprang out constantly. When the dishes had been cleared and everyone had had their fill of pie and birthday cake, they made their way to the couch to watch the real Miracle on 34th street. By the end of the movie, everyone was asleep except for Jim, and he took a moment to look around at the family he'd given up hope of having after his wife died, just like he did every year.

Then, he adjusted his grip on Clara, and fell asleep with his granddaughter using him as a pillow, with nowhere else in the world he'd rather be.

So, that's a look at some of my family's traditions. I'm sorry if it felt a little weird, but I tried to make it seem like it does for my family, but it's kind of difficult. But I hope you liked it, regardless. Also, Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers, and to my other readers, Happy 'Let's hear about Americans eating all day' day, as my Australian friend calls it.

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