December 22 - Mittens
"Mommy, whassat mitten for?"
Kate smiles, showing her daughter the paper mitten. Lily peers at it with interest, looking up a moment later.
"Whassit say?" she asks. "You know I can't wead yet."
Kate brushes her daughter's dark hair away from her cheek. "I know baby, but you are learning. This is a helper mitten; everyone at the police station got one or two, and it has the name of someone who needs a little extra help this Christmas. So we'll go buy them some things that they like, and some things that they need, and take them home and we can wrap them in pretty paper, and then I'll take the boxes to work and they'll go to whoever needs them."
"Oh," Lily says, tugging on her arm to see the paper mitten again. Kate points out key details for her; the recipient's name and age, their wish list, even their clothing size.
"What do you think, Little Flower, wanna help me shop? I have three more in my purse."
Everyone else in the precinct had grabbed one or two, but then there had been a couple of extras and, frankly, she and Castle can afford to pick up a few more gifts so she'd scooped them up too. There's no reason for her to send two back to 1PP when she can pick up the slack.
Lily nods eagerly. "Uh huh. Ca'I pick evewyfing out?"
"Mmm, well I want to do some, too. Why don't we pick things out together?"
Lily pretends to think about it, tapping her lips with a finger even as a mischievous grin covers her lips. "Okay."
She grins in return. "Okay. Thank you for letting me do it with you."
"No pwob, Mommy."
Kate chuckles, lifting a hand and squeezing Lily's shoulder. "What should we get first?"
Lily asks to see the other three mittens too, listening with rapt attention as Kate gives her the details on the rest of their assignment. When she finishes, Lily claps her hands together.
"Stick wif me, Mommy, I know what to do."
She grins, nodding for her daughter to lead the way.
True to her word, Lily picks out wonderful gifts for all four of their mitten recipients, putting a great deal of thought into each one. The clothes she chooses are comfortable but cute, and the toys are exactly what she would pick for herself, the Ryan kids, or her brothers. Kate presses a kiss to her daughter's head as pride sticks in her throat.
One of the things she and Castle have always talked about is how to keep the money they have from becoming a problem for their kids. For all the bragging he'd done about his wealth in the early days of their partnership, he had taught Alexis well, taught her to value what she had, to be mindful of others who didn't necessarily have the same things. They're working hard to instill the same in Lily, and at least at the moment, it seems like they're on the way to being successful.
"You're so good at this, Little Flower," she praises. "Everyone on our mitten list will love what you picked out."
Lily leans into her, accepting the affection with a shy smile. She straightens a moment later, her mouth opening wide.
"Mommy! Dere's one more fing we have to get! For evwybody!"
Kate blinks. "There is? What do we need to get?" They've covered the wish list and moved onto the necessity aspect of the helper mittens, piling their cart high with everything from toothbrushes and toothpaste to bubble bath and sweet-scented shampoos.
"Mittens!"
Oh, her sweet girl.
Kate nods, hugging Lily to her side again. "That is a fantastic idea, sweetheart. We'll get everyone a pair of mittens, too."
Lily nods eagerly, helping her pick up the last of the other items before steering the cart toward a display of mittens and gloves they'd passed when choosing clothing for their helper mitten recipients.
They clear one of the shelves, making sure they get enough for their recipients and their recipients' families as well – at Lily's behest.
Much to her surprise, Lily comes thundering down the stairs the next morning, dressed in a mismatched – adorable – pair of Christmas tree leggings and green and white striped shirt, boots already on her feet.
Kate shares a look with her husband before twisting on the bar stool. Castle shakes his head; he has no more idea than she does what would've drawn Lily out of slumber, let alone been enough to have her get dressed.
"Well good morning, Little Flower, what are you doing up?" She holds out her hands. "Were your brothers crying?" she asks, tilting an ear toward the upstairs. Reece and Jake had been asleep when she checked the monitor last.
Lily shakes her head, slipping her fingers against Kate's palms and allowing her to haul her onto her lap.
"M'gonna go wif you," she says. "Kay Mommy?"
"With me?" Beckett asks, rubbing Lily's back. "You want to go to work with me? How come?"
Castle smiles from the stove, adding another egg to the bowl and attacking it with a fork.
"Well, it is pretty awesome going to work with you," he says.
Kate chuckles. "Another couple of months and you'll be able to do it more often."
Rick exhales, looking to the ceiling. "Ahh yes, the beauty of an opening two days a week in the preschool nursery and a good working relationship with the director to let us get PB and J in a little before they're eighteen months old."
She grins. He loves being home with their kids and he insists he wouldn't change the time he spends with any of them for the world, but they can both agree that it's time for Reece and Jake to start learning what it's like to be with other toddlers their age.
Lily giggles at their banter, leaning her cheek on Kate's shoulder. She reaches out, curling her fingers around Kate's glass of orange juice and bringing it to her lips carefully.
"I wanna give the pwesents, Mommy. I drawed some pittures fo' em."
Kate presses her smile into Lily's hair (unbrushed, but that's a battle for a different morning). "That's sweet of you, baby," she says, "but we're not going to get to see the people we bought the presents for today."
"Oh. Why?" Lily asks.
"Well, they live all over the city and they might not be able to come to the precinct, or they might be a little scared to come to a police station," she says after taking a few moments to gather her thoughts, "so some very nice people are going to take the presents to them."
"Oh." Lily deflates a little.
"But if you'd like, you can come with me and help me bring all the great presents we bought into the precinct and then put the pictures you drew into all the bags. And you can talk to the nice people when they come pick everything up?"
Her daughter considers the proposal. "Uh huh!"
"Okay," she agrees, dropping a kiss on Lily's hair. She turns her gaze to Castle. "Today's a light day – or it should be – so she should be able to stay, but if it gets crazy…"
Rick smiles. "Just call me and I'll come get her."
"Thanks, babe."
He winks, spooning scrambled eggs onto her plate and adding another spoon for Lily to mooch if she so chooses.
She does.
Thank you for reading! Until tomorrow!