MOMENTS SO DEAR
NOVEMBER PART THREE:
THANKSGIVING

NOVEMBER 24

"Is this really necessary?" Kate grumbles when she steps out of the car and spots her dad standing next to a wheelchair.

Jim shrugs, but she can tell by the quirk of his lips that he's amused. "Take it up with your husband. He insisted."

Rick's head pops up from the other side of the car, where he's unbuckling the car seats. "Don't even think about it."

Kate huffs and sits, immediately crossing her arms. "I'm a grown woman, Castle," she snaps. "I don't need a damn wheelchair to go twenty feet to the elevator."

"Don't bother, dear," Martha pipes up, retrieving one of the twins from the car. "You know how he is."

Rick emerges with the other twin, and despite her annoyance, Kate's heart swells with love. This man spent every waking minute by her side over the past four days, from the moment she told him her contractions were close enough to cause concern, to being discharged with their three-day-old babies. She doesn't know when, or if, he slept, but she doesn't think she would have made it with what little sanity she has left were it not for his support.

He steps in front of her, the car seat on his hip, but his gaze softens when he meets her eyes. "Humor me, will you?" he asks in a quiet voice, laced with concern.

She sighs and reaches out to tug his coat. She'd rather kiss or hug him, show her affection and gratitude another way, but she doesn't want him to bend over and jostle whichever twin he has. Judging by the small smile that appears, he understands what she's trying to say.

Rick hands the car seat to Jim and steps behind the wheelchair, leans down to press a kiss to the top of her head. "Ready?"

"To walk into the mess we left?" she scoffs, already dreading it. She just wants to get the boys settled and rest a little before Alexis brings Lily home, but Rick had been in the middle of dishing out pizza when they'd had to leave, there were toys all over the floor, and she can't even remember if they finished setting up the bassinets in their room.

Rick chuckles and squeezes her shoulders. "It'll be fine, love," he murmurs.

She reaches up and takes his hand, cranes her head back to look at him. "Promise?"

"Promise."

She can't imagine how they must look as they enter the building, with help from Eduardo, who holds the door open. It almost feels like she's leading a parade, with Rick pushing her and Jim and Martha following, one with each twin. She knows Rick painted Jake's toenail to tell the boys apart, but she'd been reviewing her discharge paperwork when they'd been dressed, so she has no idea which twin is which.

Rick insists that she stay in the wheelchair all the way to their apartment, so by the time they reach their door, she's seething. As much as she wants the help that Martha and Jim can offer with the kids, she also can't wait until they're alone so she can tell her husband just how she feels about being treated like she can't walk under her own power.

She's so irritated that she doesn't catch the mischievous tone of his voice when he instructs her to go straight to the couch or their room so she can rest, and he'll handle the rest of the apartment. So when he wheels her through the door and she spots the "welcome home" sign over the kitchen island, Alexis holding Lily on her hip, she just blinks in confusion.

"What-"

Rick comes around and kneels in front of her, takes her hands in his. "Surprise," he says in a low voice, brushing his lips across her knuckles. "Everyone came over while we were gone and cleaned up the place, so we can just settle in."

Kate stares at him, her gaze blurring as tears well in her eyes. "What?" she finally manages, her brain still not caught up.

Rick chuckles and kisses her knuckles again.

"You have loads of food, too," Alexis adds. Both of them look at her in surprise, and she grins. "There's so much in the freezer that Lily and I had to eat all the ice cream to make room."

Rick snorts and stands, pulls his daughters into his arms. "Thank you for your sacrifice," he jokes.

Kate pushes herself up, ignoring the look she gets from her husband, and joins the hug. She presses a noisy kiss to Lily's cheek, grinning at the loud squeal it draws from her. Kate's hard pregnancy took a toll on Lily too, stealing plenty of attention, and she makes a mental note to make up for it whenever possible.

Two loud, almost simultaneous wails have her stepping back, and she and Rick both rush to their respective parent and pick up the boys in their well-honed synchronization. She glances at Rick, and he seems to read her mind, because he excuses them and leads her to their room, where they'll keep the boys for at least the first few weeks.

She vaguely hears commotion out in the living room, a door opening, but everything fades away as soon as she spots the chair in the corner.

"What's that?" she asks, her voice cracking with emotion.

Rick appears in her peripheral vision as he steps up to her side. "It's the rocker you wanted."

"It was sold out. They weren't supposed to get one for months."

In fact, the news that the rocker she'd fallen in love with wasn't available had broken her heart so bad, she'd cried for the rest of the day. Rick had tried to point out that the one she'd gotten when pregnant with Lily was still in almost perfect condition, but that hadn't helped. They curl up in that chair when reading, so Kate had been determined to find one to use with the boys.

Next to her, Rick shifts a calming twin in his arms so he has an arm free to drape over her shoulders, and he presses a kiss to her temple. "I convinced them to make one more," he explains.

Kate raises a brow and looks up at him. "You mean you paid an exorbitant amount of money." He grins, and she rolls her eyes, then nudges his arm. "Thank you, Rick," she whispers.

He brushes a kiss to her mouth, drops his forehead to hers for just a brief moment before wincing. "I'd love to stay like this forever, but your son needs a new diaper."

Kate chuckles and checks the twin she has. They both do.

As they work together, Rick handling the diapers themselves while she wipes and re-dresses, Kate can't help but think back to several years before, when they'd experienced their first shared babysitting duty. She didn't know then whether she even wanted kids; even though she knew Rick wouldn't mind more, and she would only want to have kids with him, she just didn't know. Her career had always come first.

But despite being vocal about wanting to have one or more kids with her, Rick told her from the start that he'd be okay without them.

"My life is already complete with you," he'd insisted one night, when she'd apologized for being so indecisive. He'd cupped her jaw, gazed into her eyes as the moonlight illuminated them. "Anything extra, like kids, that would be a bonus."

Well, Kate thinks now when they pick up the clean boys, the kids certainly are a bonus.

Kate turns the door to rejoin their family, but before she can even take a step, Rick's free hand is on her waist, stopping her, tugging her back into him.

"Hey," he says in a low voice, leaning down to brush a kiss to her mouth, "have I told you today that I love you?"

She smirks. "I don't think so," she teases. He mirrors her smirk; they both know that he has, several times, but she'll never get tired of hearing it. She tugs at the front of his shirt with her free hand. "Better remind me."

He narrows his eyes and kisses her hard and fast, leaving her breathless when he pulls away. "I love you more than life itself," he rasps, "and I am so proud of you. The strength you've shown, especially the past few days, I was so lucky to be able to witness it. I am so thankful that you let me into your life."

Kate lets out a slow, shaky breath, his words taking her by surprise. She's used to him being sappy, but she hadn't expected it now. She can't respond, not with words even remotely as meaningful as his, so instead she just lifts herself to her toes and presses her mouth to his. "I'm nothing without you," she whispers. He starts to argue, but she cuts him off with a finger on his lips. "No, listen. You give me strength, Rick. I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for you. And I certainly wouldn't have made it through labor without you to lean on."

"And swear at," he jokes, his voice thick with emotion.

She chuckles. "Well, you did get me pregnant," she teases right back. "Thank you. For everything."

Their kiss is slow and deep, and she moans, nudges his nose with hers when they break apart.

"We should probably get back out there," she whispers. "We have company."

He groans and straightens back up, adjusts Reese in his arms. "Don't worry, they won't stay long. Lily just really wanted to be here when we got home."

"I'm glad she was." At Rick's encouragement, she walks out of the bedroom first, almost drops Jake when she's met with a feast on their kitchen table. Kevin, Jenny, and Lanie have appeared, and even as she looks around in confusion, Esposito walks through the door with a pie in each hand.

She turns to Rick, tears welling in her eyes, and judging by the wide grin on his face, he has surprised her once again. "How-" She doesn't know what she's trying to say, just realizes that it's Thanksgiving, and her family and closest friends are here, welcoming her and her new babies home.

"We're not staying," Lanie assures her, "but we did want to make sure you had a Thanksgiving dinner. And Alexis already offered to stay and clean up after. All you two have to do is hand over those babies and eat."

Before she can stop it from happening, the tears in her eyes fall. Lanie and Jenny rush over to each take a twin, and Rick gathers her in his arms.

True to Lanie's word, after embraces and well wishes and passing around the twins, everyone leaves except Alexis and Lily, who retreat upstairs to Lily's room to play. With the boys in their bassinets, Kate and Rick are left alone in relative silence.

At his instruction she sits, and he hands her a full plate, joins her after a moment with food of his own. They take their time eating, taking advantage of the quiet that she knows will be short-lived. She keeps an eye on the twins through the baby monitors, but they're sleeping soundly, their little chests rising and falling in unison.

"Did you put this together?" Kate asks when she's done and Rick puts their plates in the dishwasher. When he just looks at her, she stands and cuts each of them a slice of pie. "The dinner, I mean."

He grins and shakes his head, follows her to the couch, where she drapes her legs over his lap. He sets his plate on her legs, curls his left hand on her thigh while he eats the pie with his right. "Kind of. Lanie said they wanted to bring food by, but we didn't discuss timing. I assume she conspired with Alexis or my mother."

Kate hums in agreement and wiggles her toes, relaxes into the couch when he starts to rub her feet. She sighs, her eyes drifting shut as his thumbs press into the arches of her feet. "Feels amazing, babe. Thanks," she murmurs.

"Any time." He carefully moves her feet so he can stand, and he leans down, presses a kiss to her forehead. "Need anything?"

Her eyes are heavy even as she smiles at him. "Water?"

He tilts her chin up and brushes his lips against hers, takes the empty dessert plate off her lap. "As you wish," he whispers against her lips. "Rest while you can, love."

He drapes a blanket over her, and she shifts, pulls it to her chin as she listens to him move around. When he appears in front of her and places a water bottle on the coffee table, she grabs his hand and tugs. "Come here," she insists, shifting forward. He grins and guides her forward as he climbs onto the couch behind her. His arms envelop her waist, and she sighs in contentment, feels his breath ruffle her hair as they both drift off to sleep.

-FIN-

A/N: This concludes the holiday collection series. As always, all my thanks to Jenn for her help with ideas (and basically feeding me this last 3-parter on a spoon), and to you for reading!