Hello, all! So I've been seeing a lot of Christmas stuff lately (commercials, decorations, etc.) and usually that would annoy me but since I now have to do a December chapter, all that has given me inspiration and so I have written a Holiday-inspired episode. Enjoy!
Chapter Five-December
On the first day of December, Castle (the nickname which he'd been introducing himself as and people have taken to calling him) walked into Roy Mongomery's first grade class with wide eyes.
"Whoa…" he whispered, in awe of all the decorations that littered the room. Montgomery had hung up Christmas lights and tinsel and put up a small tree in the corner that blinked red and green, with handmade ornaments hanging from branches, high and low, and had old-fashioned toys scattered around the room, as well as stuffed reindeer, Santa dolls, and snowmen. He had a collection of snow globes on a shelf behind his desk and the blackboard had one corner dedicated to counting down the days until Christmas.
Now it read, "24 Days until Santa Claus arrives!"
"This is so awesome!" Castle murmured to himself, walking over to where Kate lie reading, while Javi and Kevin played with their trucks. "Kate," he said, coming up to stand next to her, "have you seen all this?"
Kate peered up, over her book. "Hmm? Oh, you mean the decorations? Yeah, I've seen them. They're okay."
"Okay? They're more than just okay! They're amazing! Look at all this! Mr. Montgomery even got a tree!" He looked over at said tree, thoughtfully. "I wonder if Santa's gonna put anything under it.
Kate snorted. "I doubt it."
Castle furrowed his brows at her. "Why not?"
Kate rolled her eyes. "Because there is no Santa, Castle." She whispered it, making sure Javi and Kevin didn't here.
"What do you mean?" Castle asked. "Of course there's a Santa! He comes every year and puts presents under the tree for you!"
Kate rolled her eyes. "That's impossible because I don't even have a chimney. There's no way he could get in my apartment."
"Of course he can; he's magic!" Castle insisted.
Kate just rolled her eyes again. "Whatever you say, Castle."
Castle wanted to argue further but Montgomery was already calling for everybody to take their seats.
"Good morning, class!" He boomed as everybody settled. "As you've probably noticed, the Holidays are starting! That means Hanukah, Kwanza, New Year's, and, of course, Christmas! Now I know not everybody here celebrates Christmas, but in my house it's a pretty big deal. I have a boy and two girls. My middle child is about your age and she just loves decorating for Christmas and making cookies and buying presents. In fact, we even have a little Secret Santa tradition. Each year, we pass around a hat with all our names in it and whoever picks your name has to make you a Christmas gift. Then on Christmas Eve we exchange gifts with each other. It's very fun and we've been honoring this tradition since my oldest was just a few years old. And I thought it would be fun if we could do something like that here. What do you think?"
The students all looked at each other and nodded in agreement; it sounded like fun to them.
"Alright then," Montgomery said, reaching into his desk drawer and pulling out a hat, "I've already taken the liberty of putting all your names into this hat. Now, when I call your name, I want each of you to come up and pick a name. If it's your own then you put it back and pick again. Whosever name you pick, you are their Secret Santa and you must make them three presents. The first will be placed anonymously on their desk on Friday. The second a week after that, and then the third you will give to them personally, revealing yourself to them. The only rules are no inappropriate gifts and you are to make the gifts yourself; no buying. Also, my name is in there, so whoever gets me know that I love anything with chocolate and the color red." There were a few snickers here and there. "Now come on and pick the first name…Miss Beckett, you're first."
Kate stood and walked to the front of the room, reaching into the hat and digging around in the tiny slivers of paper until her hand closed around it. She didn't look at it before walking back to her desk.
When she did finally look at it, she nearly groaned aloud at the name written on it; "Richard 'Castle' Rodgers".
"Great," she muttered under her breath, looking at her eccentric partner who was currently doodling a picture of a Zombie and an Alien at war with one another, making sound effects as he did. She shook her head; what was she going to make him?
Kate was still wondering what to give Castle that night at dinner, while she was rolling her peas around on her spoon.
"Katie don't play with your food," Johanna chastised.
Kate looked up, brought out of her thoughts by her mother's stern voice. "Hmm?" she said, blankly.
Johanna could see that the girl hadn't been aware of what she was doing and she knew that something must be on her mind.
"Is everything okay, Sweetie?" she asked, taking a spoonful of peas into her own mouth.
Kate nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine." Johanna could tell that wasn't true but she didn't want to push her daughter.
"What happened at school today, Katie?" Jim asked.
"Mr. Montgomery decorated the whole classroom for Christmas and we picked Secret Santas."
"Oh? Who did you get?" he asked.
Kate rolled her eyes. "I got Castle."
"You don't sound too happy about it; I thought you liked Rick." Johanna refused to use the nickname the kids had come up with; she knew him as little Rick Rodgers and would always think of him that way.
"He's okay," Kate said, blushing, "but I don't know what to make him."
"Make?" Jim asked.
"Yeah, Mr. Montgomery says we gotta make something; no store-bought gifts."
"I see…Well, doesn't Rick like sweets? Maybe you can make him some cupcakes or something. I'm sure he's love that."
"I guess so, but I gotta make hime three gifts. The first one I have to leave on his desk on Friday. Then the second one next Friday, and then the day before vacation I gotta give him the last gift and reveal myself as his Secret Santa."
"Well, then we can make Gingerbread cookies tomorrow and you can decorate one specially for him," Johanna offered. "Sound good?"
Kate smiled and nodded. "That sounds great!"
"Good. Now, eat your peas."
Kate rolled her eyes and took a spoonful of peas into her mouth. "Happy?" she asked, cheekily.
Johanna smiled. "Thrilled."
Castle rolled into class-yes, he rolled, like a spy-landing on his feet, his eyes darting around, making sure that the person he was looking for was not in his sight. Quickly, he dropped to his hands and knees, tucking the doll into his coat pocket and crawling over to the desk he was looking for, slipping the doll onto it, and rolling away.
He landed on his backside at Mr. Montgomery's feet. Montgomery smiled down at him.
"Very smooth, Mr. Castle," he said, lending a hand to help the small boy to his feet. "I think she's going to like it very much."
Castle smiled at his teacher. "Thanks, Mr. M!" he ran over to Kevin and Javier, who were once again playing on the rug, only they had blocks instead of trucks. Kate was, as always, lounging on the couch, a book in her hands. Castle smiled at her and crawled up behind her, making sure to remain unseen. Slowly, he rose up on his knees behind her and made his hands into claws, making a scary face and inhaling a deep breath, before preparing to let it out…
"Don't. Even. Think about it," Kate said, startling Castle and causing his face to fall.
"You're no fun," Castle moaned.
Kate rolled her eyes. "I'm plenty of fun," she said, "right, Espo?"
Javi looked up, wide-eyed. "Uh…yeah, whatever you say, Kate." He smiled, widely, nervously.
Kate grinned and went back to her book.
Castle shook his head at Javier. "Suck-up," he mouthed.
Javi shrugged and went back to his blocks, while Castle huffed and leaned against the couch, shaking a snow globe until Montgomery called for all the students to take their seats.
When he got to his seat, Castle was surprised to see a Gingerbread man, decorated to look like an elf, sitting on a napkin on his desk.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed, picking up the cookie and examining it. "This is so cool!"
Kate sat next to him, with a smile, finding a little, hand-sewn doll on her desk. The doll had a red dress with white fur on the edges of the skirt and the sleeves. It also had brown, stringy hair tied into a braid. Kate assumed it was her, dressed in a Mrs. Claus style dress.
"I wonder who made this," she said, aloud. Castle shoved the head of the Gingerbread man in his mouth to hide his smile.
"Okay, class," Montgomery said, "take a moment to peruse and/or eat your Secret Santa gifts and then we're going to start on our addition tables." The entirety of the class groaned, but Montgomery waved it off, taking a large bite out of his own cookie, shaped like Santa's head.
The next week, Kate slipped a handmade mug on Castle's desk.
Jim had taken her to a pottery place, where an instructor had assisted her in shaping a tall coffee mug, which he then put in the kiln for her. It had taken a couple of hours to fully harden, so Jim took her out for dinner and they perused the toy stores and jewelry stores looking for gifts for Johanna. When they returned, Kate was able to decorate the mug. She painted it dark blue and used red to write, 'Rick Castle' on it. They left it there to dry overnight and picked it up before Kate arrived at school.
Kate hoped Castle appreciated all the thought she'd put into the gift. Just like the thought her own Secret Santa had put into the doll, which she kept in her backpack, though she'd never admit it to Castle or the boys.
Castle crept into the class, holding his hand-knitted scarf, which was far too long and was missing a few stitched, but it was his first time knitting anything and Martha was not a very patient teacher; she was very busy with her new show and didn't have time to properly teach her son how to knit, so it was natural that he made mistakes.
He placed the folded up scarf on Kate's desk, making sure that he nose was firmly stuck in her book, and smiling at the coffee mug on his own desk.
"That's neat," he muttered, before joining Javi and Kevin, playing once again with the blocks.
Kate loved the purple and red scarf she found on her desk. It was long enough to wrap around her neck three times and still go down to her knees, and the yarn was nice and soft against her skin; it would definitely keep her warm.
Rick decided that he would ask his nanny to make him Hot Cocoa in his mug later that night; he especially loved his name on the side.
Kate's last gift was a hand-painted ornament. It was a simple ball but it had his name on it and she'd painted it a variety of crazy colors that clashed, but she knew that's what he loved. She tied a red ribbon on it with, 'To Castle, From Kate,' printed on it in white letters.
Rick's last gift to Kate was a knitted hat with her initials stitched in. The hat was supposed to match her scarf and Castle thought he did a good job, though he might have made it a bit too wide for Kate's head. Oh well, she'd grow into it…hopefully.
On the last day before Holiday vacation, Rick arrived to the class with the hat in his hand and a Santa hat on his head, his cheeks rosy with the winter chill.
"'Sup, Claus?" Javi greeted, coming up to him with the ever-loyal Kevin at his side.
"Hey, Castle," Kevin greeted.
Hey, Espo, Kev," Castle said, smiling. "You guys seen Kate? I'm her Secret Santa."
Javi smiled. "Awesome! Yeah, she's reading again on the couch. So you really made that scarf for her?"
Castle smiled proudly. "Yup! My mom taught me how to knit, but I think I made it too long…"
"Well, Kate seems to like it. She's been wearing it all week!"
Castle grinned. "I've noticed. So, who did you guys get?"
"I got Lanie," Javi said, "it's hard making things for girls! All I was able to make was ornaments made out of popsicle sticks; I'm no artist."
"Tell me about it," Kevin laughed, earning him an elbow in the ribs. "I got Jenny. I made her an origami swan, a picture frame, and this angel." He held up a little cloth angel, stuffed to stand upright, with origami wings.
"That's pretty cool," Castle complimented. "Good job."
Kevin smiled. "Thanks! I worked hard on it."
"I can tell. You should probably go give it to her. I'm gonna go give my last gift to Kate. Seeya guys later." The boys said good bye and Rick walked over to Kate, who was wrapped up in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and didn't see him come up behind her.
"Merry Christmas!" Castle yelled in her ear, making Kate jump and fall off the couch. She looked up at him from the floor, annoyed at being disturbed.
"Was that really necessary?" she asked.
Castle shrugged. "Maybe not, but look, I have a gift for you; I'm your Secret Santa!"
Kate's eyes widened. "Really? Because I'm yours!" She reached down into her backpack, taking out the ornament and showing it to him. "Merry Christmas, Castle," she said, smiling.
Castle took the ornament, trading it for her hat, and turned it over in his hand, examining it. "This is so cool!" he said. "I can't wait to hang it on our tree!"
Kate smiled. "Thanks. I love the scarf and I really like this hat!" She put it on her head and giggled as the front slid down over her eyes. "It's a little big though."
Castle laughed. "I guess so, but your head will grow."
They both laughed and Kate settled the hat so that it stayed on the top of her head. "Thanks, Castle," she said, smiling at him.
Castle smiled. "Always."
OBAMA WINS! Just ten minutes ago Obama won his second-term as President of the United States and I, in turn, got up and danced for a good five minutes, before coming back to finish this up. Anyways, REVIEWS would make my morning wonderful! Thank you all for reading! Until next time…
Luv Cassie Bones