AN: Apologies for the wait.

A warm welcome to Straycat1 (yes, I do hate when real life gets in the way of story time!), and special thanks to 1822andallthat. I've always wanted to write a 'warm and cuddly' story. Love that image. Thank you for the encouragement. Very special thanks to everyone who has read, followed, favorited, and reviewed. You are very well and greatly appreciated.

Not Beta'd. Mistakes are mine.

Chapter 6

This didn't have to be awkward.

Castle poured the pancake batter he'd just finished mixing onto the large griddle top next to the stove and turned the heat down a little so they wouldn't burn.

So she'd almost felt him up while sleeping. It was probably an accident.

He turned to the refrigerator and pulled out some strawberries and whipped cream; set them on the counter and started slicing the strawberries into a small glass bowl.

It didn't.

Have to be awkward.

He'd been surprised when Alexis, having come downstairs to get some water, climbed onto the couch with him for awhile, but she didn't ask any questions as to why he was on the couch in the middle of the night. She'd snuggled with him for a little while, just like when she was a little girl. Just what he'd needed. It had taken his mind off of things for a moment or two. Off of the fact that Kate was in his bed. On his side of the bed. That her perfect body had been curled around his in what would have been a very intimate position had she been aware of what she'd been doing.

Maybe she wouldn't remember. Then he could just pretend that it didn't happen.

He checked the pancakes, turned the heat up just the slightest bit more.

It happened.

The feel of her fingers grazing his skin...burned forever in his memory.

The spatula nearly got knocked to the floor as he reached for it, distracted.

It happened.

God help him, it happened.

He gripped the spatula and began flipping the pancakes over. They were a perfect golden brown, with just the right amount of crunch.

Alexis had gone back upstairs about an hour ago to get a little more sleep and then shower before officially coming downstairs on their first full day at the cabin. Castle smiled as he thought of how his daughter, though not knowing what the situation was, had been able to tell that he'd needed company. A distraction. Comfort.

He looked up from the pancakes he had been flipping when he heard the telltale board creak just outside the master bedroom.

What if she did remember?

Kate winced as the board beneath her feet announced her coming. As if her telltale heart wasn't enough of a problem, Castle's winder abode apparently also had it out for her.

The sounds of Mannheim Steamroller flowed softly (Castle must not have wanted to wake anyone who did not wish to be woken) from the large ipod dock on the mantle above the fireplace in the living room and she could hear him moving around in the kitchen. It smelled like he was making breakfast. She stilled and listened for a moment longer before moving more fully into view.

No evidence of anyone else being awake yet.

Good.

She needed to apologize and it was probably best if his family wasn't around for that. Less explaining. Though she herself wasn't quite sure what had sent him flying from the bed in the middle of the night and kept him from coming back. Maybe she'd accidentally hit him in her sleep? But surely she would have woken up after something like that. She'd been having a really nice dream, actually. And just before it got really good she'd been woken by his sudden vacating of the bed.

Kate continued down the short hallway and into the living room. The kitchen overlooked the large sunken living room, and she knew he'd be looking for her since she'd accidentally alerted him to her presence.

For a split second he looked like a deer caught in headlights. But she blinked and the moment was over so fast and he had a goofy smile plastered across his face that she wondered if she'd really seen it at all. The smile tugged at his lips as she got closer in proximity to him. Not quite fake, but not entirely genuine either.

Kate's heart stuttered as she took in his slightly disheveled appearance. He was still in his pajamas from last night. She guessed that he'd spent the past few hours on the couch. He was wearing an apron that came up so that where it tied around his neck his face was just above Santa's body and beard.

Would it be too forward of her to just walk right up to him and steal a kiss? Was that considered appropriate house guest decorum? But she wasn't just a house guest. He'd made that all too clear, she was family.

A kiss was most certainly appropriate for family.

Besides, hadn't she just this morning reconciled herself to not fight this thing? Hadn't he told her that they'd take things as they happened?

She wanted a kiss. And right now, right this very minute, it didn't have to mean anything more.

"Sleep well?" he asked as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Mmm, only the first couple of hours," she hedged as she made her way around the counter to where he was standing. She leaned a hip on the counter next to him and stole a whole strawberry from the carton.

He shivered a little as some of the juice ran down her chin. How bad would it be to clean that juice off with his tongue? He quickly removed the pancakes from the griddle before they could burn, transferring them to a small platter on the counter.

Maybe she did remember.

"Only the first couple?" he inquired.

She gave him a sideways glance. "I got cold," she replied simply and popped the rest of the strawberry into her mouth.

Oh. That just wasn't fair. "Odd. This cabin is heated. Plus there's a fireplace in there."

"You went all the way to the living room for a fire," she returned.

"Um...yeah...I..." He shifted so that he could face her. She was wearing her pajamas and a robe. Her hair tousled from sleep. "You were...I was...I didn't want to..." He drifted off. He couldn't put that on her. It wasn't fair, especially if she wasn't ready to take the next step.

She smiled shyly at him. Brushed her fingers over his hand. "I know that I invaded your space last night."

They needed to talk about this.

It was the right thing to do.

She wanted to kiss him.

"I apologize if it made you uncomfortable. I guess... I was having some kind of dream or something..." She trailed off not wanting to admit just what kind of dream she'd been having. She had initially been surprised that she'd migrated until she was pretty much spooning with him. Then again, after the dream she'd been having and having the actual human subject of her dream in the same bed with her, she was also a bit surprised that her subconscious didn't take things any farther.

He flipped his hand and grasped hers on the counter, squeezing quickly before releasing her. He leaned forward and brushed a light kiss to her cheek. "It's ok," he said, "We're ok." Not that he was trying to sugar coat anything, he wasn't. Just. He couldn't tell if she remembered more than just taking over his side of the bed. That she very nearly took over his body as well. Hell, who was he kidding? She had. And without much touching either. And it wasn't that he was uncomfortable with it per se. He welcomed it, much more so. He'd just rather her be aware and consenting of it when she did. How to broach that subject without seeming too...

Kate spun him around effectively pinning him against the counter. "No," she leaned in closer, licked her lips, "it's not."

For the second time in two days Castle found himself contemplating spending the end of his life as a puddle of goo.

"My, what smells so heavenly?" Martha's voice carried through the cabin as she descended the stairs.

Blushing furiously, Kate stepped back from Castle and opened the refrigerator both to cool the burn that had started to blaze within her belly and to give her face time to return to a normal shade. Ah. Perfect. She grabbed the orange juice and hoped she hadn't been hiding in the fridge for too long.

She still wanted to kiss him.

But not in front of his mother. Yet.

They still needed to talk.

Castle surprised her by reaching for the juice, reaching above and behind her to grab a glass, and while doing so whispering, "We probably need to talk. Later." He gave her a small smile and poured a glass of juice before handing it to her and shooing her out of the kitchen.

That man.

She really wanted to kiss him.

Snow crunched beneath their boots as they trudged back to the truck that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere this morning. Alexis later informed her that the cabin had a hidden garage that housed the various vehicles that they used on the mountain.

"Hold up, hold up." Castle stopped moving and he rubbed his hands together, stretched his fingers popping all of his knuckles. "Whew, can we take a little break?" he near whined.

Alexis set the ax head on the ground and rested her chin on the handle. "Seriously Dad? The truck is maybe...50 feet in front of us and you want to stop now?"

Kate couldn't help but laugh as well. "Yeah Castle, you were the one who wanted to be all macho and carry the tree all by yourself. Would you like to reassess the situation? Maybe ask for a little help?"

They'd gone to cut down their own tree, each of them taking turns at hacking at the trunk, but the silly man had insisted that he be the one to carry the thing back to the truck. Alexis had hefted the ax leaving Kate with nothing to do but walk along with them feeling pretty useless. So she'd walked beside him and took the opportunity to watch him. Most of her watching was, unfortunately, in her mind's eye as she couldn't actually see beneath the coat, hat, and pants he was wearing. But her mind was pretty good at filling in the details. The way his muscles would be bunched, working together to heft the large tree. It wasn't a huge tree by any stretch of the imagination. A 7-8 footer at best. Not too showy. Just...right. She could imagine what it would feel like to run her hands down his biceps, over his chest and shoulders...somehow her mind knew what it would feel like...

"Oh!" she gasped, hand flying to cover her mouth.

"Kate! Are you ok?" Alexis asked, concern etched onto her face.

Kate glanced at Castle who was looking at her with matched concern. "Sorry," she said, "Deja vu. You wanna go ahead and start the truck, get the heat going and I'll help your dad get this tree secured in the back?"

Alexis looked at her quizzically but agreed and took the keys from Castle's outstretched hand before picking up the ax and continuing on to the truck.

Kate looked back at Castle, but he simply raised his eyebrows in question.

"I..." Her cheeks felt flushed and from more than just the cold. "I may have just remembered something."

Still clueless he asked, "And...it was something you didn't want my daughter to hear? Oooooh was it kinky?"

She bit her lip. So he'd noticed that she'd effectively gotten rid of his daughter. "Not so much...no. No, just..." Then rather than tell him, she showed him. She trailed her gloved hand up his arm and to his shoulders around to his chest, a little lower...

"Kate..." he growled.

She most certainly did remember.

He grabbed her hand and took a deep breath. He cocked his head to the side. This was one of those moments wasn't it? Where he could either stop things right now and ignore them until later, or test the boundaries and see if this really was a step forward. She was being honest with him. In the way she knew how. "We definitely need to talk, but not here." He held her hand captive between his and inched closer.

She didn't flinch.

He took that as a sign of goodwill and inched forward again until they were toe to toe, sharing air.

The truck's horn blared. Heat must be good to go, his daughter getting impatient. Perfect.

His shoulders slumped and he started to let go of Kate's hand but she leaned forward the tiniest bit and pressed a soft kiss to his lips before stepping back. "Make you a deal," she said as she took up the top of the tree from where it had been laying on the ground, "I'll help you out if you ask nicely."

His eyebrows furrowed until understanding dawned on him. He lifted the trunk and they made their way to the truck. "Please, Kate. I need your help."

"Sure Castle. Anytime."

He was glad that his mother had stayed at the cabin.

She usually did and this year was no exception. It meant that they were able to leave the large fire in the living room going. It meant that the ornaments and decorations were out and the boxes stacked in groups: Christmas tree, indoor, and outdoor décor. It meant that there was cocoa on the stove, and oatmeal scotchies in the oven. And apparently this year it meant that there was the addition to mistletoe just inside the front door.

"Go ahead, Darling. Kiss the poor girl before you make her feel a fool for waiting around."

Oh his mother...his wonderfully evil mother. And if looks were anything to go by, Alexis had known this was coming too. That would explain why she had insisted that she help Kate bring the tree inside. It had had nothing to do with the fact that 'she'd felt like she hadn't really helped.' Little schemer. He was so proud.

Kate's face, on the other hand, was amused but quickly turning to embarrassed. Oh, Mother what truth there was in those words.

He turned to Kate, tenderly took her chin in his hand and tilted her face up towards him. "I'm sorry that my mother and daughter are such dirty little voyeurs," he whispered and leaned in to kiss her.

It was good.

It was so good.

Her lips were so soft and warm and inviting. And he forgot that his mother and daughter were standing not ten feet from where he now stood with Kate Beckett in his arms. Kate Beckett who was willingly in his arms and letting him kiss her and...

"Dad, it's just mistletoe. That means a kiss. Not a make out session."

Thank goodness for his daughter. That could have gotten embarrassing very quickly. Why hadn't Kate stopped him. Oh. She was looking at the ground looking every bit as embarrassed as he probably did. Hmm. Good to know. He decided, for the moment (and to help them both save face), to play it off as a show.

"Satisfied ladies?" he said with a flourish of his arm at his mother and daughter who were looking very satisfied indeed. If only he felt the same way. For now he had tasted. And one taste was most certainly not nearly enough. He clapped his hands together. "Well let's get this show on the road, where'd the tree stand go? Who has the star? And more importantly, where's my plate of scotchies and cup of cocoa?"

He glanced back at Kate as his family went scurrying about to locate the various things he'd mentioned. 'Thank you' she mouthed. Distraction accomplished.

They really needed to talk.

Later. That would come later.

He smiled at her and wrapped a hand around her elbow to lead her down into the living room. "And now we commence the most dangerous part of this holiday," he said dramatically, "The trimming of the tree."

AN2: I can't promise when the next update will be, but will try not to make you wait quite so long. Please review, if you will. It's like opening an advent calendar and each one is a special and happy surprise!

Until next time, my friends.