Christmas Wish
Chapter 4
It turned out that the first viewing wasn't until 2 o'clock. "Any idea what we can do for the next two hours?" Rick asked.
Kate shrugged. "I don't know, Rick. This is your date."
"Um, we could go window shopping for two hours. Go to the shops and see if there's anything we can't live without," Rick suggested. Then he saw the look on her face. "Or not."
Rick decided to risk it, and he pulled her into a kiss. When she didn't fight him, Rick kissed her again. Finally, he raised his head and looked at her.
Kate looked up at him and thought about what to do next. She cupped his face and kissed him purposefully. When she broke from the kiss, she stared at him. What had she done? Then she ran for it. Kate ran to the only place she felt safe – her room in the dormitory.
Rick gave chase but came up short when she entered the dormitory. He knew he could walk right in like last time, but he chose not to.
Kate was such a mystery to him. She had kissed him back and had even initiated a kiss, so she liked him, maybe even cared a little. That much he knew.
The older woman at the desk in the dormitory lobby asked, "May I help you, Santa?"
"No… Yes, maybe you can. Wait right here." Rick left. Like Violetta was going to go anywhere. That was her job.
Rick returned with a bouquet for Kate. "Can you see that Kate gets these flowers, please?"
"Certainly." Violetta took them and didn't ask him who Kate was, or what room was hers. She had watched those two leave and saw Kate come running back again, so she knew.
"Thank you." Rick stalled and watched the hallway, willing Kate to come back into the lobby, but she didn't. He eventually left and went home. Then he decided to focus on getting some work done, so he headed for the workshop.
Kate was sitting there, thinking. She liked him, she truly did. She had even returned his kiss when he had kissed her. So what was it that worried her so? She finally decided it was her lack of memory, of not knowing what came before being here. She knew she was 19 years old, and there just had to be something. Except she had nothing, and being with Santa wasn't going to change that.
Kate only left her dormitory room to go to the TV room and sit and watch.
~oo0oo~
Though he didn't like it, Rick did his work till it was 3 o'clock and Alexis was due to get out of school. He was waiting outside for her.
Alexis saw him first and ran as fast as she could to him. "Daddy!"
"How was school, Pumpkin?" Rick asked his daughter.
Alexis bubbled with excitement. "It was great! My teacher is really nice too."
"That's good. I'm glad you like her. It is a her, isn't it?" Rick queried.
"Yes, Daddy," Alexis said as her head bobbed. "Did you have a good date with Kate? I like Kate."
Rick shrugged a shoulder. "It was nice, I guess."
Alexis knew something had gone wrong, and it had to be his fault. "Oh, what did you do?" she shrieked.
"I should take exception to that, but I won't," Rick muttered under his breath. "It was going great until I kissed her. I don't know why, but then she ran home."
Alexis didn't understand. "Take us there, Daddy."
"Not a good idea, Alexis." Rick had sent flowers. He thought that should be enough.
Teary-eyed, Alexis begged, "No, take us there. Make it snow and take us there. My teacher told me you could make it snow and go anywhere. So make it snow, take us to her room."
Rick was stunned into silence. Damn, Abagail! She hadn't said anything about such an ability. He didn't know what to think.
Alexis pressed him. "Please, Daddy, make it snow," she pleaded.
"All right, but if it doesn't work, don't blame me." Rick concentrated and made it snow on them. He was amazed, and when next he knew, they were in a dormitory room.
Rick didn't believe it. "It worked!"
Alexis' chin trembled. "But where's Kate?" The room was small; it held two desks, two beds, and a few personal items, but those were all on one side. The other side was bland-looking.
Rick sighed. "She's not here, Alexis. We should go home."
"No, Daddy. We need to find Kate. I'm going to find her," Alexis insisted. The door was open, and she ran out of the room before Rick could catch her.
"Alexis, no!" Rick shouted, but he couldn't stop her. He was alone in the room.
Alexis hurried down the corridor, passing open door after open door. She peered into each room and saw someone in a few of them, but none were Kate, so she kept walking.
She heard something that sounded like a TV, so she went that way. She entered a room with many chairs and a TV in the wall. She looked at every chair. Then she saw Kate sitting there.
Her face lit up, and she ran over to her. "Hi, Kate!"
Kate just stared at her, but she pulled herself together. "Alexis? What are you doing here?"
"I came to find you. Daddy's in your room," Alexis told her. "I missed you."
"What? Santa's in my room? What's he doing in my room?" Kate was almost frantic.
"We came to see you. Come on." Alexis took hold of her arm, pulled, and got her to stand up. Then she guided her to her room.
Still holding her hand, Kate and Alexis walked into her room. "Santa, what are you doing here? How did you get here?"
"Kate, sit down. Alexis, close the door." Rick waited for each to do as he asked.
"Why did you leave? Was it because I kissed you?" He needed to know.
"You shouldn't be here," Kate said instead of answering his question.
Rick stayed focused. "You kissed me back, and then you ran. Why? Is it something I did? I didn't mean to upset you."
"No, it's nothing you did. I like it." Then Kate decided to tell him more. "I'm new here. I have no memory of anything. I'm 19, I know that much, but I have no memory of anything before that. I don't even know my last name."
Rick smiled. "I can tell you that. Your name is Katherine Houghton Beckett. Your mother's name is Johanna, and your father's is Jim. And you stopped believing in Santa when you were three years old."
Kate stared at him. "How do you know all that?" Not that she didn't believe him. It was that she didn't understand how he knew so much.
Rick shrugged. "I just do. But I think it might have something to do with me being Santa."
"What else do you know? Can you tell me why I don't remember?" Kate asked, somewhat excited that he knew something about her. She was also worried that he knew what he did know about her.
"I know your parents." Suddenly Rick knew something more, something he wished he didn't. "...I'm so sorry, Kate. They're dead, I'm afraid. I have nothing on them passed a certain point."
Kate didn't like the sound of that. "Dead as in dead-dead?"
Alexis was still there, and she didn't like it either. "Daddy?"
Rick looked down at the floor and shook his head. "I don't know how they died, only that they're dead. I know when they died, just not how. God, I'm sorry."
"Dead," Kate stated dully. "And you don't know why I don't remember anything?"
"I wish I did. Apparently, that isn't how this works." Rick felt terrible about it. He couldn't help her.
Alexis tugged on his hand. "Daddy, we should go home."
"You should come with us. We can continue our date at home." Rick didn't wait for an answer. He picked Alexis up, took hold of Kate, and made it snow.
They arrived in the kitchen of his house.
"What just happened? Where are we?" Kate looked around and could see she was in a kitchen.
"It seems I can teleport. I make it snow, and poof, I'm somewhere else. Obviously, I can take people with me. Are you hungry?" Rick asked hopefully. "I bought a lot of food. Well, I didn't buy any of it. But I have food."
Kate could eat. "All right."
"I need to wash up. Don't go anywhere. Please don't run away." Rick wanted to make sure she didn't run away again.
"I won't." Kate grinned a little as he hustled off in a hurry. "And you, what do you think?" Kate asked Alexis.
"I'm sorry." Alexis felt bad that Kate didn't know who she was or how she got here. But she was with them now.
Rick was back with partially wet hands. He was afraid Kate would run away. "Why don't you show Kate around the house while I fix supper."
"Okay!" Alexis could do that. She took hold of Kate's hand, pulling her along and making Kate follow her.
~oo0oo~
Rick watched Kate take a bite. "So?" he asked, eager to know what she thought about his cooking.
She shrugged. "Eh, it's okay."
"Just okay?" Then Rick saw the mischievous grin on Kate's face. "Oh, you! I'm going to get you for that."
Kate grinned even wider and kept eating. "This is good, Santa. What was your name before you became Santa since even I know you're new here."
"I was Richard Castle." Something happened. Rick didn't know what, but he noticed that she wasn't eating. "Hello, Earth to Kate." He waved his hand in front of her face. "Kate... Kate!" She was just sitting there, staring at nothing.
Her face was still blank, and she was that way for several minutes. Finally she said, "You're my mother's favorite author."
Rick heaved a sigh of relief. "So you remember something. That's wonderful," he enthused.
Then Kate blinked and looked around. "How did I remember that?"
Rick took her hand in his. "Because it was important to you." He grinned at her. "I was your mother's favorite writer?"
Kate rolled her eyes. "Don't let it go to your head."
"Too late." Rick grinned again. "But you remembered something. That's really good, sweetheart."
Kate stared at him. "Sweetheart?" She raised an eyebrow at that endearment. "I guess. But why remember that and nothing else?" Kate felt so frustrated.
"I don't know but it's something we can build on. Stick with me, and we'll have you remembering more." Rick was beginning to care for her and didn't want to lose her.
Hesitantly, Alexis touched her hand. "Kate?"
"I'm fine, Alexis. Really, I'm fine," Kate assured her.
Alexis wasn't sure, but she accepted it anyway. She leaned into her and let Kate hold her.
Kate realized holding Alexis gave her a nice feeling. She was a little worried about her, but this...was special.
~oo0oo~
Kate was still there when it was Alexis' bedtime. Alexis even asked Kate to tuck her in instead of her dad. Rick got her into her pajamas and then withdrew from the room.
Kate picked up the monkey that was on the bed. "Who's this?"
Alexis smiled. "That's Monkey Bunky."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Monkey Bunky." Kate tucked Monkey Bunky in beside Alexis. "You're sweet. How do you like school?" Kate knew she was in kindergarten.
"School is great. My teacher's nice, but I don't have any friends." Alexis looked sad and lonely. "I left them all at home."
"You'll make new ones, little girl," Kate soothed. "Good night, Alexis." Kate bent down and kissed her forehead.
"'Night, Kate." Alexis yawned and pulled her covers up to her chin. Kate made it to the door when she heard, "Kate, will you be here in the morning?"
Kate thought about that. "It's time for you to go to sleep." Kate didn't commit to being there since she wasn't so sure she would be.
~oo0oo~
"Alexis is in bed," Kate said as she entered the kitchen and watched Rick clean up. "She's a nice kid."
Rick agreed wholeheartedly. "Yeah, she is." He was very proud of his baby girl.
"Where's her mother?" She had to have one somewhere.
"Her name is Meredith, and she's somewhere in California. I don't know where." Rick stopped cleaning up and gave Kate his undivided attention.
He began his story. "I dated Meredith. She was a person that came after I asked someone else to marry me. Her answer to that question was to go to London with her parents, and she never talked to me again."
Kate reached for his hand. "I'm sorry, that sounds horrible."
"I was about ready to dump Meredith when she showed up at my place, yelling at me, saying that I got her pregnant. She was an actress and said no one would hire a pregnant actress. I ruined her life.
"Long story short, I talked her out of getting an abortion and agreed to marry her. Naturally, she wanted a big ring and a house, so I bought both. She became more and more difficult as time passed. I had to talk her out of getting an abortion nearly every day.
"When the time came for her to give birth, she never told me. She just disappeared and was gone for almost three days. She showed up with a baby, shoved it at me, and told me, 'Here's your baby.' Alexis was crying, and I had nothing. No formula, no diapers, nothing. Just a baby.
"And then one day, I came home to a howling baby after a meeting with my publisher. Alexis was wailing away. I tended to her needs first, and afterward, I went looking for Meredith. She was supposed to be watching our daughter.
"Instead, I found her in our bed fucking some guy. I blew up and kicked him out, and I yelled at Meredith. She was my wife. She said that it was just sex, and it was no big deal.
"Three days later, she served me with divorce papers. Meredith got half of everything, and I got Alexis. I've never seen or heard from her again." That was the end of Rick's story.
"Oh, Rick, that's terrible! How could she think like that? If it was my baby, I would love it all I could," Kate said earnestly. "But you've done so well with her. She's maybe a little old for her age. Her vocabulary is good. Not always, but fairly frequently, she talks like she's older than five."
"I took it upon myself to teach her. I read to her, and she reads to me," Rick told her.
"That's quite a story, Rick. Not what I was expecting to hear." Kate felt sad for Alexis. "So you were a single parent, just you and Alexis? No mother?"
"No, no mother. It's just been me." Rick went into the kitchen and got back to cleaning up from dinner.
~oo0oo~
They sat down on the love seat in the living room area and started kissing. They were kissing a lot when Kate felt a hand on her breast. She moaned into his kiss. But when the same hand worked its way under her shirt to reach her bra, Kate pulled away.
"I should go," Kate said, not looking at him.
Rick put a finger under her chin and tipped her head up. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure." If she stayed they might end up making love and she wasn't ready for that. Not yet.
"Then I'll take you." Rick stood, wrapped his arms around her, and made it snow. An instant later, they were in her room. Her roommate was in bed sleeping.
"Goodnight, sweet Kate." Rick kissed her and stepped back. He made it snow, and he was gone.
Kate suddenly felt terrible that she had stopped him, but she knew her heart of hearts it was the right thing to do. She had learned so much today, and they had time. Kate gathered her toiletries and walked over to the restroom.
She came back, got into bed, and tried to get to sleep. Sleep came hard when she thought maybe she shouldn't have stopped him. She should've gone with it and been there when Alexis woke up.
Kate had tomorrow off, so maybe, she would be there in the morning when Alexis woke up. But not because she had spent the night.
~oo0oo~
Rick thought about Kate. He tried his best to remember more about her. But all he knew was her name and that she had given up on Santa when she was three. That worried him a little. Why couldn't he remember more for her?
Rick got undressed and pulled on his pajamas. He wore them because of Alexis since she might wake up and need him. He yawned and stretched; he was more than ready for bed, and eventually, he drifted off to sleep.
~oo0oo~
Kate was up early, and her roommate was still sleeping. She went into the restroom, used the toilet, and took a hot shower. She decided to wear a pretty dress and hurried to Rick's house.
Once there, she knocked and knocked. She was beginning to wonder if they weren't home. Then the door opened, and Rick stood there in his pajamas. Kate stifled a laugh. They were Christmas-themed pajamas!
Rick was still half asleep. And he yawned, and his jaw popped. "Kate?"
"May I come in?" She wanted to know if she was welcome after what she had done the night before.
"Always." Rick stepped aside to let her enter and then closed the door.
"I think I should let you wake up a little. I'll make breakfast," Kate offered.
Rick blinked. Did he really hear what he thought he did?. "You cook?"
"We'll find out. Now shoo. Get cleaned up and wake up Alexis. I'll be in the kitchen." Kate went into the kitchen, leaving a stunned Rick in her wake. However, a little while later, he did what she said and went upstairs.
~oo0oo~
Alexis rushed into the kitchen and wrapped herself around her grownup friend. "Kate!"
"Hello, Alexis. I'm here." Kate gave her a good hug. "I made breakfast for you."
Alexis finally let go of her and stepped back. "You can cook?"
"It would appear so. I'm not sure how I know, but I do. I made French toast with smoked maple syrup, bacon or sausage, and golden brown home fries." Kate smiled at her. "Now, go sit down while I serve."
Alexis scrambled so Kate could serve breakfast. Her plate had one piece of French toast, two slices of bacon, and some golden home fries. Kate set it down in front of her, and the little redhead beamed. Then glasses of milk and orange juice showed up.
Kate drizzled maple syrup on her French toast for her. "Eat up, sweetie," she said just as Rick came in. "Go ahead and sit, Rick. I'll serve you."
Rick sat down, and Kate put a plate with two pieces of French toast, sausage, and golden home fries in front of him.
"Mmm, I could get used to this," Rick murmured. It looked fit for a king and smelled heavenly.
"I'll bet you could. But I have to work tomorrow, so you're out of luck." Kate set the smoked maple syrup in front of him, along with a milk bottle and a bottle of orange juice.
Kate put her own plate down and sat down, watching them eat. "How is it?" She wasn't sure how she knew how to cook.
Rick talked with his mouth full. "It tastes so good, Kate! You didn't mention you knew how to cook."
Kate blushed. "I didn't know either. It just came to me. It was easy. But thank you."
He swallowed. "Hmm. It sounds like a memory that you didn't know you had."
"Maybe." Kate was willing to consider it. "Um, Rick... I'm off the entire day. So what should we do?"
Rick felt awful about what he had to tell her. "I'm so sorry, Kate. But Alexis has school, and unfortunately, I have work I have to do."
It only took a second, and Kate knew what she wanted to do. "Maybe I can help you with your work?"
"Maybe." Rick didn't know what she could do to help, but he was willing to find out.