On every list I've ever sent
You're the gift I'd love the best
So deck the halls and all the rest, warm me up
With your Christmas love
~Justin Bieber, Christmas Love
Kate nearly floated into her apartment. She – Kate Beckett – really and truly floated. She didn't remember the last time she'd felt this way. Probably never but maybe in high school – her first crush on a boy. But this … this was way beyond a crush. She knew it as well as she knew her own name. And, while it should have scared her, it didn't anymore. Which was actually a little terrifying. She should have told Alexis that you know you're in love when all the songs make sense… and nothing else does.
The light show at Grand Central – amazing. The tender hand that Rick kept at her back, the occasional brush of his lips against her temple, the love in his eyes when he glanced down at her – extraordinary. Kate closed the door behind her and slipped her scarf free from her neck, catching a whiff of Rick's cologne that came with it and smiling with secret memories. She shrugged her coat from her shoulders and as she turned to drape it across a nearby chair, it registered in her romance-fogged brain that her apartment… well, glowed.
Staggering against the door in shock, Kate whipped out her phone and pressed the first number on her speed dial. "Castle!" she blurted out as soon as the familiar voice answered on the other end. "What did you do?"
"You like it?"
There were no words. Just – just – that man. No words.
"Castle…"
"I'll take that as a yes."
"How did you – Castle."
His low chuckle rumbled through her ear to settle into a pool of delicious warmth in her middle. Her hand clutched her abdomen in an ill-fated attempt to quell the flutter of amazement that had taken up residence there, and she felt her mouth open and close in wordless gape. A large Christmas tree stood in the corner – the corner that used to house the comfy overstuffed chair she loved to sit in while she read. A quick glance told her it had been moved stylishly to the side to accommodate the tree. The tree. Her eyes shot back to drink it in – nearly floor to ceiling, it was adorned with ornaments, tinsel, and lights. Something about one of the ornaments caught her attention and, pushing away from the door, she took a step closer to inspect the tree from a better perspective.
No.
Words.
"Castle … the ornaments. They're … How did you?"
"Your dad," he answered. She could tell from the quirk to his voice that he was holding the phone between his ear and his shoulder. "I called him the other day. He gathered together some of your old ornaments – some of your mom's – some other ornaments that he thought would be meaningful to you." She heard the smile in his voice and duplicated it on her own face. "By the way, Kate, he told me that you two weren't spending Christmas together this year."
"Yeah – um – he's taking a cruise with some old college buddies."
"Spend it with me. With us. Alexis and Mother have threatened to disown me if you aren't here for Christmas."
An inner debate circled her heart before she answered. "Okay." A half beat later, she blurted, "How did you get in here?"
"Your dad gave me the spare key you made for him last summer."
"Castle… I – I – I don't know what to say. It's beautiful. Thank you."
"I think you said it just fine," he told her, his words warm against her ear. "And before you go into a sudden panic, wondering if the lights have been on all day – they're on a timer."
"At least this explains where you were this morning," she laughed softly, still stunned.
"That… or it proves that I really do have my own army of elves." She could almost see his eyebrow twitch as she listened to his counter-explanation.
"My money's on what I said."
"I always knew you were smart."
She grinned into the phone and shook her head in amazement, her brain still muddled from the shock. "I'll see you tomorrow, Rick."
"See you tomorrow, Kate."
She lingered for a couple of minutes, walking around the tree to admire it from different angles until her feet reminded her that the boots she had worn that day were far from comfortable. Reluctantly leaving the cozy glow of the tree, Kate turned and headed for her bedroom, making it only a few steps before halting once again in her tracks. Her gaze ricocheted from the kitchen area to the front closet to the stairs to the windows to the ceiling light fixtures and bounced from door to door to door down the hall.
Before she realized what she was doing, she had punched the redial button and numbly raised her phone to her ear. His voice greeted her with a knowing chuckle and she heard herself murmur, "Castle … there's mistletoe all over my apartment. All over."
"Really?" He sounded more mischievous than surprised. Then, "I told you I had my own stash."
A volcano of soft laughter rippled from her lips. "There's got to be something illegal about all of this."
"If I can help you figure out what it is, will you cuff me?"
She rolled her eyes. He knew she did. They both smiled. "Seriously, Rick. What am I supposed to do with all of this mistletoe?" Kate gestured around her apartment in something close to bemused exasperation. "Kiss my pillow?"
"Do you do that when you're fantasizing about me?" His voice dropped to a hushed baritone, and her toes curled as lust spiraled across her senses.
"In your dreams."
"It's your dreams I'm more interested in right now…"
"Castle!" But she was laughing and he knew he wasn't in too much trouble. "So you had this brilliant plan to break into my apartment –"
"I didn't break in; I used your dad's key. Which he gave me."
"— and decorate a tree for me and put mistletoe up in every possible open space where someone could stand… and then you leave me here all by myself? I think there is a significant flaw in your plan, Rick."
"Open your door."