SIX - Presents

Setting: Castle, post show

Sipping on his third cup of coffee of the morning, Castle sat patiently on the sofa in his office as he watched his sons squeal with joy as they enjoyed their new Christmas presents. Both wore a Batman helmet that came down just over their eyes, giving them the iconic caped crusader look. The helmets were a bit big and bobbled around on their heads, especially Reese's, but neither seemed to mind very much. And, of course, they had to get two helmets, because all highly desirable items needed to be duplicated or there would be fighting. At least they'd learned that much in five years.

The boys squealed as they chased each other—Jake after Reese this time—and called out "I am Batman!" in the deepest, gruffest voices they could manage. Sensing he should add a little kerosene to their fire, he stood up and said, "It's the Joker here, and I'm out to get you Batman!" The boys yelped and ran from the office into the bedroom with Castle nipping at their heels. They circled through the living room area, laughing and screaming as they went, and then finally landed back in the office where they dive-bombed their pile of new comic book figurines.

Castle had really only started introducing them to comics about a year earlier, staring out slow, testing the waters to gauge their interest—and making sure he picked as age-appropriate ones as he could. Though he'd tried not to be bias in any way, Jake had really taken an interest in batman, and of course since Reese seemed to want everything his older-by-three-minutes brother wanted, he decided to like Batman as well. Castle didn't really care which superhero they chose; he was just so happy to watch them discover and explore new things.

While the boys played with their new Batmobile figurines, Castle finished his coffee and then decided to start picking up some of the toy packaging strewn across the room. He grabbed one of the garbage bags he'd previously set out and then crouched down to pick things up, in doing so felt a pinch in his left hip. He winced, stood upright again, and rubbed it with the flat of his hand. It was the same hip he'd been sitting on that morning as they gathered under the tree to open gifts, so he supposed he might have tweaked something. Everyone had warned him that having young kids in his mid-fifties was never going to be easy, and they were right; it wasn't, but he wouldn't have given it up for the world.

After gathering up all he could, he carried the trash bag towards the kitchen, catching a glimpse of Kate and Lily playing with her new American Girl doll and accessories. Kate looked up as he passed and he gave her a wink. She smiled back at him and then lifted up one of her hands to feather through their daughter's hair.

Their older their children grew, the more interesting the Castle family Christmases became. Well, really, it was just the older the twins became; Lily had always been a relatively calm child. Now that the boys were bigger and louder, they would never have a demure Christmas morning again. In fact, if they managed to get all the kids to only open their own gifts and not slap each other around in the process, it was a win.

Mornings like that one reminded Castle just how starkly different his life was then than it had been when he was growing up. When he'd been a kid, Christmas morning generally didn't happen, because his mother had been out late performing the night before. That was assuming she was actually home with him and not on tour, which had happened a few times. If she was home, Christmas "morning" was more like Christmas "after lunch". His mother would get up, sometimes with a paramour in tow, and make coffee and some food. Then they'd sit beneath her plastic, table-top-sized tree and exchange gifts. Not to say that he disliked these days by any means. His mother always made it fun in one way or another. There certainly was no other mother quite like Martha Rodgers. Most importantly: he had always felt very loved and cared for, even if there hadn't been enough money to buy him more than new underwear and socks and a new book or two.

Castle remembered that he was around the boys' age when he first started wishing that his father would show up for Christmas. At that point, his knowledge about his father was limited. "He's not a part of our lives," was Martha's token line. He didn't find out any more details surrounding his conception until he was around thirteen. As a young boy with an unusually creative imagination, Castle had already begun to paint various extravagant scenarios about what his father might have been doing that explained why he couldn't be a part of their lives. Chief among those ideas were: astronaut, rodeo clown, and spy. Of course, he had no way of knowing at the time, but he'd actually been correct on that last guess.

For most of the year, Castle daydreamed about what activities his father might be up to that kept them apart. Around Christmas, however, those dreams turned to wishes that his father might just show up at their apartment one day around the holidays and they'd be able to hang out. All this friends at school talked about what they did with their fathers and he wanted to experience that too. Sadly, that never came to be. Still, Castle couldn't be upset, because he knew that he was the man he was because of the fact that he grew up without a father.

With that being said, he was so glad that his younger children were growing up with not only two parents, but many other family members who loved them. Especially for his sons, Castle tried to be a strong male role model who taught them to be kind and gentlemanly even from their young age. He planned to always be there for them and never miss one major event in their life for as long as he lived.

"Daddy!" Jake called out, looking over to his father with his sparkling blue eyes. "Will you play too?" he asked holding up one of the Batmobiles.

Grinning, Castle dropped to his hands and knees and crawled over. He gave Jake a tickle at the back of his neck and the boy giggled happily. "Of course, Jakey—I'll always play with you. Always."

A/n: this concludes the ficlets for the Castle canon, but dont worry i still have 6 more prompts to go!