Disclaimer: The only part of Castle that I own is the TV on which I watch the show.

A/N This will be a two-shot. The second part, which will be up tomorrow or Monday, will be chapter 19 in "A Few Good Fonts," so don't look for it here!

Next month it's going to be Christmas, and Dad said I should start making a list of things for Santa. I thought for a long time and I got a whole bunch of ideas. One night last week when it was FaceTime with Docky I asked him if he could write down my list of things for Santa and tell Mom and Dad later since they were making dinner.

"I'd be happy to do that. I have a pad of paper and a pencil right here, so I'm ready when you are," Docky said.

"Okay."

"What do you want me to put at the top of your list?"

"Mittens! And a hat. It's cold out."

"You're right, and it's getting colder. Do you have a color in mind?"

"Not red. Maybe blue."

"You're crazy about blue, aren't you? That's your favorite color, as I recall."

"Yeah!"

"I'm writing down mittens and a hat. What's next?"

"A humongous box of cookies."

Docky coughed like he had something caught in his throat. "Cookies, eh? What kind?"

"I think graham crackers. Yeah, graham crackers are the best idea."

"Uh, Eliot, far be it from me to question your list for Santa Claus, but don't you already have lots of graham crackers at home? I know that you and your father like to make s'mores."

"We love those! Abby got marshmallow in her hair when we made them the other day. I thought it was so funny but Mom didn't. She said it took her ten minutes to get it out. Plus Abby was hollering the whole time."

"Well, then, are you sure you want graham crackers?"

"Yes, because Santa really loves them. And if we gave him a big box for Christmas he would have his own and not have to wait 'til next Christmas when we leave them on a plate for him. He could even eat some on the way home to the North Pole. I bet he's hungry after delivering all those presents."

"Oh, Eliot. Oh, my."

I have to stop for a second because I want to tell you that I love it when Docky says, "Oh, my."

"Um, tell me something. What's the most important thing on your list? Or the biggest?"

"Nine reindeer beds. You know, great big cushions for all the reindeer to lie down on like Scrapple does on his. They'd each have their own and they'd be very cozy. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph. Do you think it would be nice if we could say those are from Scrapple? Because they're animals and he's an animal."

"It's a wonderful idea. I'll tell you what, why don't we finish this list tomorrow? You'll remember everything on it, won't you?"

"Yeah!"

"Could you ask your father if he could speak to me for a minute, please? If he isn't too busy?"

"Okay. Hold on, Docky."

"Absolutely."

"Oh, bye! Talk to you tomorrow!"

"Best part of my day, Eliot."

So I went and got Dad and while he talked to Docky I watched Mom cut up carrots one of which she accidentally dropped on the floor and Scrapple ate it. That's why he always sits next to the island in the kitchen, because pieces of food fall off it. He says the only better place is under the twins' high chairs. "That's a gold mine, Eliot." But the twins were already in bed asleep, so he was sitting by Mom instead.

When Dad came back to the kitchen he was smiling. He came right over to me and picked me up in a bear hug and kissed me on the forehead. And then he turned me upside down which is my favorite thing. And then he turned me right-side up and sat on one of the stools and put me on his lap.

"You know what, Beckett?" Dad said, looking at Mom.

"I don't know what," Mom said and tapped her wooden spoon on the side of the pan, "but whatever it is, it's making you very happy. So, you gonna fill Eliot and me in?"

"We have the world's most amazing son."

"Already know that, Castle." Mom smiled at me.

"Even more amazing than we knew. A few days ago I told Eliot that since Christmas is coming up he should start making a list of things for Santa."

"Yeah, Dad! List!"

Dad leaned over so he could look at me. "You made an incredible list. Docky just told me all about it."

"More, Dad. More list!"

"Right, Docky said you had a longer list but he stopped you so he could tell me about it."

"Okay."

"I'm going to tell Mom what you had so far. The first thing was a hat and mittens because it's cold out."

"That's good," Mom said.

"Oh, you have no idea how good," Dad said, and he gave her a funny look that made her face be red. "The next thing on the list was a ginormous box of graham crackers—"

"You want graham crackers?" Mom looked confused.

Before I could tell her about it, Dad said, "Hold on a sec. And the third thing on Eliot's list, before Perlmutter stopped him, was nine big cushions, one per reindeer, so they could be, in our son's words, 'very cozy.' And he wondered if we could say that they were from Scrapple to the reindeer, since they're all animals."

I don't know why, but Mom put her hand over her mouth and big tears came out of her eyes. And then she wiped them off with the back of her other hand and said, "Oh, sweet pea," and came around to where I was and hugged me even harder than Dad did before. Mom is pretty skinny, but she's so strong. You wouldn't believe it. "You are such a generous boy. And you have such a kind heart." I didn't know what she was talking about and I guess I looked confused, too.

"When Dad said you should make a list for Santa, you thought he meant you should think of some presents for you to give Santa, right?"

"Yeah. Dad say."

"You're right, Eliot, I did say that, but what I meant was that you should make a list of things that you would like Santa to bring you for Christmas."

"For me?"

"Yup, for you. Boys and girls all over the world write letters to Santa so that he knows what they'd like. He couldn't keep it straight otherwise. He might bring you, let's see, a suitcase full of tunafish!"

"No, Dad! Noooo! No tuna! No like tuna."

"See, that's why you have to make a list for Santa, so he doesn't bring something you don't like. But what you did was just what Mom said, so kind. You were thinking we should give presents to Santa. I think that's great. I never thought of that. Shall we pick one thing from your list?"

"Dad's right, Eliot, how about one special present? You know, you don't want Santa and the reindeer to have pull anything too heavy all the way back to the North Pole."

"Santa and deer?"

"What? Oh, a present for all of them? How about we get a bunch of carrots for the reindeer and you choose something for Santa?"

"Okay. Yay!"

"I'm going to put you down now," Dad said and lifted me off his lap. "And after we have supper you can start thinking about what you'd like from Santa. You can tell Docky when you're done."

"Day?"

"No, not today. You don't have to decide right now."

A couple of days ago I was thinking about words. I really, really love words. So when I had FaceTime with Docky that night I asked him some questions.

"Docky, you know how some words are the same frontwards and backwards? Like MOM and DAD and PUP and my friend Anna who is ANNA?"

"Sure, there are quite a lot of words like that. Do you like those?"

"Yes. Do they have a name?"

"You mean a name for a word that is spelled the same either way?"

"Yeah."

"That's called a palindrome. It's hard to say, but it sounds wonderful, doesn't it? Very exotic."

"What's exotic?"

"Let's see. Sort of mysterious."

"I like that, Docky! What about when you mix letters up for a different word?"

"Can you tell me a word like that, Eliot? I think then I can answer your question."

"The boy whose cubby is next to mine at school is called Liam. We have our names on top of our cubbies and this morning I was looking at his and I thought if you mixed up the letters of LIAM that would spell MAIL, like a letter. Isn't that funny? Mix up the letters for something that means a letter! Another word I thought of was last night when Mom had kale salad. I don't like kale. I like how the word sounds but I hate the taste. Ugh! Do you like it?"

"Don't tell anyone, Eliot, but I don't like it, either, even though it's very good for us. So that can be our secret."

"Good! Okay! Shhhhh! A secret. Mom showed me how kale is spelled and then later I thought if you mix up the letters for it you get lake! I love the lake by Granddad's cabin. So is there a name for words that are different but have the same letters, like LAKE and KALE or LIAM and MAIL?"

"There is, and it's a great word, too. Almost as good as palindrome, but easier to say. Anagram. It's called an anagram."

Then I laughed for a long time until finally Docky asked me what was so funny. "Anagram!"

"Anagram is funny? Why is that?"

"Because it sounds like my friend and my grandmother smushed together. Anna and Gram, get it?"

Then Docky laughed as hard as I did. And then it was time for me to go to bed.

Ever since then I've been thinking so hard about what I'd like to ask Santa to bring me for Christmas. Today is Saturday, so we all went to the park in the afternoon and Otis tried to eat two acorns which he spat out all over Mom and then we went home and on the way Dad called Docky to see if he would like to come over for coffee, which he did. The grown-ups had coffee but the hellions and I had juice. The hellions are the twins. That's what Gram calls them, but I'm not allowed. I think maybe because it starts with hell which is a swear word.

We were in the living room and Dad said, "Eliot, have you made a list for Santa yet?"

"Yeah, Dad, list!"

"Since Docky is here he could do all the translating for us so we could write your letter. How about that?"

So I said okay and told him some things like a drum which made Mom make a terrible face like she had just shut her hand in the door. But I saved the present that is the most important for the last.

"Blocks! Best one!"

Mom said, "Blocks? But you have blocks. Are there special blocks you want?"

So I asked Docky, "Remember when we were talking about words?"

"Of course. That was fun, especially what you said about anagram."

"Could you tell Mom and Dad about that?"

"Sure." And he did and they liked hearing all about it, plus they laughed at Anna and Gram, too.

"But Eliot," Dad says, "I'm still not sure why you want Santa to bring you more blocks?"

So I explained to Docky that I would like to have a whole lot of blocks, bunches and bunches of blocks with all kinds of letters, not pictures. Just letters so I could find about a million anagrams and palindromes and build things out of them. "Dad was watching the news on TV and a woman said 'words are building blocks.' That would be my best present, if I could have a lot of those."

Later I had my bath and got into my favorite PJs which have dogs all over them and say DOG TIRED on the front, which is a very good joke. Scrapple jumped up on the bottom of my bed and Mom and Dad tucked me in.

"Tomorrow we'll write your letter to Santa," Dad said. "And put some stamps on it and drop it in the mail box."

"Liam!"

"Right. We'll put it in the Liam box, you little comedian."

"Wordsmith, Castle. We've got another wordsmith here." Mom tugged on Dad's ear, which she does sometimes. Dad always says ouch like it hurts but really he likes it. "No doubt who his father is."

So I pointed to him and said, "It's Dad!"

Night!