And Everything Nice

5. Ugly Sweaters

"Thanks again, Martha," Kate said as she offered her mother-in-law a cup of coffee. "I know this was kind of last minute. But my father had to cancel. One of his clients called out of the blue and desperately needed to meet with him."

"Oh, no worries, darling," Martha Rodgers waved a hand to dismiss the apology, the colorful bangles on her wrist rattling noisily with the motion. "I'm always happy to help. I did so with Alexis when she was little."

"Yeah, Rick told me," Kate nodded. "Speaking of, he's just giving Lily a change, and then we'll be on our way. We shouldn't be long—"

"Oh no, Katherine, please, don't rush home on my account," Martha insisted, giving her a bright smile. "You two need time and space to breathe. Our Lily does dominate a lot of your time lately. Not that you mind, but you two need some… well, adult time." The dramatic diva added a saucy wink to punctuate that statement.

Kate flushed at the obvious innuendo. Finding time for "adult time" wasn't really a problem for them. Thus far, Lily had been a relatively easy baby, they hadn't had any real big tantrums or blow ups, and she didn't really wake that often when she was put down for the night. Now in the beginning, it was like a living hell with all the midnight and early morning feedings, but since then the little girl had settled down and started to find a nice sleeping rhythm that gave Kate and Castle time to themselves, granted most of it was spent sleeping, but they did manage to still enjoy a comfortable—and very pleasurable—love life.

"Oh," Martha grinned upon spotting the blush staining Kate's cheeks a nice rosy shade. "Well, good for you, darling. Glad to know my Richard's an attentive husband."

Blushing again, Kate could just bob her head, meanwhile praying the floor would just open below her and swallow her up, saving her from this conversation. Martha seemed to catch on to Kate's embarrassment. She shook her head and chuckled, lightly patting Kate's arm.

"Don't look so mortified, dear, it's perfectly natural behavior for a happily married couple," Martha assured, pausing to take a sip of her coffee. "Not all are so lucky in wedded bliss."

Now that Kate could agree with. She was very lucky to have found Castle. Never in a million years would she have thought she'd find the love of her life when she crashed that book launch party to bring her favorite mystery author in for questioning.

"Hey, you two, you talking about me?" Castle came striding into the room, Lily attached to his hip. The little girl gurgled excitedly upon seeing her Grandmother.

"Hello, my sweet!" enthused Martha, spreading her arms wide to welcome her youngest granddaughter as Castle handed her over. "And how are you this fine evening?"

"Thoroughly cleaned," Castle asserted with a grimace.

Kate suppressed a smirk. She'd caught a whiff when Castle picked Lily up, and she was glad she wasn't the one who had been changing her. Martha tilted her head and squinted at her granddaughter.

"Don't worry, Mother," Castle rushed to assure. "I think she got it out of her system. Just… if you do feed her, avoid the carrot mash."

"I'll make a note of that," Martha nodded. "Now, you two go, enjoy the party."

Kate hesitated, reluctant to leave her daughter. It wasn't the first time they'd gone out and left Lily behind with a family member, usually her Dad or Alexis, but it was still difficult. Stepping over, she smoothed her hand over Lily's fuzz of brunette hair and dropped a kiss on her crown. "Be good for Grandma Martha. Love you."

Castle was standing by the front door, holding her coat for her. She spun in place, eyes locked on Lily, cooing happily in Martha's embrace, as she slipped her arms into the sleeves. Castle patted her shoulders, and reached down for her hand. She curled her fingers around his, letting their palms kiss.

"Let's go," he said softly, then turned and smiled at his mother and daughter, wiggling his fingers at the latter. "See you later, Flower Girl."

Lily babbled and waved her hands.

"Have fun, kiddos!" Martha hollered after them. "Oh, and Richard, dear… stay away from the tinsel."

Castle did a double take, and Kate tightened her grip on his hand and pulled him out the door before he could say anything. He gasped and turned towards her when they stepped into the elevator.

"You told her!?" he said, eyes narrowed, incredulous.

Kate bit her lower lip as she glanced at him. "It was pretty funny, Castle," she said. "Even you have to admit that."

"I'll only agree because it made Lily laugh, and her laugh is so precious," he relented.

"You're a good sport, Rick," Kate murmured, leaning in close. "I love you."

He grinned, and squeezed her hand. "I love you, too."

They exited the elevator and strolled through the lobby in a companionable silence. Castle waved to Eduardo as the doorman held the door open for them, and then led the way to the awaiting town car.

They were a block away from the Loft when Kate suddenly realized they'd forgotten something. A moment of panic struck her until she remembered.

"Babe, we forgot the ugly sweaters," she said, gesturing to herself.

She was wearing a pale lavender turtleneck, plain and not all festive. Lanie's party invitation and specifically said that attendees should wear an ugly sweater. A contest would be held at the end of the night, and the winners would get a bottle of wine as a prize. Kate wasn't really all the concerned with winning or losing—though the competitive part of her abhorred losing—but she knew they couldn't show up without the proper attire, Lanie would nag her all evening if they showed up dressed as is.

"Relax," Castle soothed, holding up a hand. "I've got us covered."

Narrowing her eyes, instantly suspicious by the overly calm demeanor exuding from her husband, Kate leaned in. "How exactly do you have us covered?"

"You know I like to win, right?" he asked with a waggle of his eyebrows.

"Right," she repeated, already growing concerned. Castle was just as competitive as she was. It was what made certain aspects of their private life so invigorating and exciting. But other times, it could be a little overwhelming, and he did—okay, often—go overboard, on occasion. "Castle," she ground out a warning.

He just grinned infuriatingly at her. "You're so cute when you fret," Castle announced. "Your nose wrinkles so adorably!"

"Castle," she bit out another warning.

"Trust me, Kate," he assured, eyes twinkling. "You're going to love it."

A bike courier was waiting for them outside Lanie's apartment building, holding a box that was the right size to hold two sweaters. Castle clapped his hands and smiled, handing the man a generous tip, before accepting the box. He handed it to her with a dramatic flourish. Pursing her lips, she untied the string wrapped around the box and peeked inside.

"No way," she said.

"Way," Castle acknowledged.

"These customed made?"

"Of course."

"How… wait, don't tell me, you know a guy."
"Well, actually it's more a girl… er… woman… gal? Whatever," he shook his head and waved a hand in the air to dismiss it. "Point is, we'll definitely win."

"Are you sure?" Kate questioned, brow knitting together. "Because I don't think so." Not that she cared about winning. Of course not.

But she did.

She couldn't fight her nature.

"Come on, we're a shoo-in," Castle insisted. "It's both clever and original. Why wouldn't we win?"

Kate peeked inside the book again. "They're not really all that festive."

"Spoilsport," Castle grunted.

"I'm just being realistic," Kate explained. "I mean, you had ugly sweaters customed made to resemble your writer vest and my police vest, it's not all that holiday specific."

"But it is unique!" Castle pointed out.

"I'll grant you that," she said slowly, pausing to think it over. Warming to the idea, she smiled. "All right, let's get these on and blow away the competition."

Castle grinned and accepted the box from her as she called Lanie up and waited for her to buzz them in. As far as Kate was concerned, she was already a winner. Life was never dull with Richard Castle as her husband.