Chapter 15

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"So… my daughter and your son are not dating?"

Jim Beckett was standing in the middle of Castle's living room having a conversation with Martha Rodgers. It was Thanksgiving and they had both been forbidden to help with the preparations. All that was left for them to do was drink and discuss their children behind their backs. Martha had made them both a cocktail but Jim had taken one sip and was now only holding it in his hand as a sign of courtesy. They were observing Kate and Castle in the kitchen – bickering, as usual.

"Oh, they're together," Martha replied, "They just don't know that they are. Or, they know that they are but they're just not telling anybody that they are." She glanced at the interaction happening between her son and Kate and added, "Not that they really have to, I suppose."

"When Katie called me, she kept telling me not to look too much into this dinner invitation," Jim shook his head and continued, amused, "Emphasizing how she and Rick were technically not –"

Martha cut him off. "Mark my words, Jim, they'll be married, at the very least engaged, this time next year."

Jim Beckett arched his eyebrows and looked from Castle to Martha. "So, should I be concerned?"

Martha chuckled. "Your daughter will break his heart before he ever has a chance to break hers."

"My Katie would nev—"

"Oh, I'm not saying that she will. I'm just saying that she's good at keeping him in line. She's a feisty one." Martha smiled at Jim. "I like her."

Jim smiled back and then admitted, "I haven't quite decided what I think of your son."

"I think he's good for Kate but, then again, I might be a little biased." Martha paused, then added, "Jim, my son might not be a lot of things but I will say this: he's as loyal as they come."

They both turned back to look at the pair who had since been joined by their daughters. Kate was teaching Alexis how to tell when the turkey was ready and Castle was carrying Zoey in his arms, letting her taste the cranberry sauce he had just finished making.

Jim winked at Martha. "A year, you say?"

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The next night, Kate got home from work and instead of seeing Alexis and Castle engaged in a movie night, she heard both their voices and Zoey's laughter drifting down from the second floor.

She took off her jacket, draped it over the banister and made her way quietly up the stairs. As she neared Castle's room, she realised that he and Alexis were reading Zoey a story, complete with voices. Kate silently leaned against the doorway, smiling at the sight of Zoey squished happily in-between the two of them. While Castle and Alexis read from the adapted storybook, Zoey was flipping through the original illustrated copy, mouthing random words and pretending to follow along.

They were so engrossed in what they were doing that Kate thought she went unnoticed until Castle's quirk of the lips as he turned the page told her that he knew she had been standing there the whole time. Still, he didn't interrupt his smooth recital.

When he got to the last line on the page, instead of changing his voice to suit the character, he continued in his own. "'I'll eat you up'—" he read, gaze flicking up to meet her eyes, "—'I love you, so.'"

When he didn't immediately flip the page, Alexis looked up and noticed Kate standing in the doorway. Her lips curved up into the enchanted smile of somebody who still believed in magic. As nonchalantly as she could manage, Alexis said, "I think she knows, dad."

Kate pushed herself away from the doorjamb and walked over to the bed. "I do," she replied, just as casually. She plopped herself down next to a beaming Alexis. "Oh, well hey there, Zo," she said, chuckling as her daughter climbed over Alexis to wrap her tiny arms around her neck and give her a sloppy kiss.

"Grr. Monsters," said Zoey, making what she thought was a scary (but really was just an adorable) face.

Alexis laughed. "We've been having a monster night."

"Oh, really?" Kate said in surprise.

Castle nodded. "Alexis and I have been showing Zo that some monsters can be friendly," he looked pointedly at Kate over Alexis' head, "You know, that not all monsters are scary and mean and hide under your bed?"

"Ohh," said Kate, understanding. Zoey had started having nightmares and every night for the past two weeks, she had been stubbornly insisting that all the lights be kept on while she slept.

"We watched Monsters, Inc.," said Alexis.

"I don't think I've seen it," said Kate to Castle's gasps of horror.

Kate rolled her eyes at him and then asked Zoey (with a lot of help from Castle and Alexis) to tell her all about what happened in the movie and the monsters that she liked.

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Castle startled awake in the middle of the night and rubbed his eyes, confused about the brightness.

He sat up slowly and saw that the television was still on, the screen blue from idling. The four of them had been watching My Neighbour Totoro and they must have all gradually fallen asleep. Castle picked up the remote control from the side table and shut the TV off. As he went to turn off the lamp on her side of the bed, Kate stirred.

"Hey," she said, sleepily.

He smiled. "Hey."

She lifted her head a little to check out their sleeping arrangements. Alexis was beside her, body turned to the side so that her fanned out red hair mingled with Kate's brown locks. She had an arm wrapped protectively around Zoey who, until just a couple of minutes ago, had been flanked on the other side by Castle. "Should we try to get them back into their rooms?" she whispered.

Castle shook his head. "I don't want to wake them up," then added with a grin, "Besides it's cosier this way."

Kate was too tired to debate the point further and nobody looked squished in the big bed so she just nodded and pulled the covers up tighter around them. "Good night," she said.

Castle bent down and kissed her softly. "'Night."

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Kate returned to Castle's bedroom after making herself a cup of coffee. Castle, Alexis, and Zoey were still asleep, cuddled up together in a way that made Kate wish she could find a camera. Being able to witness the scene before her made it worth it, for once, to always be the first one up.

She slipped back into bed, placing her mug gently on the bedside table. Soon enough, Zoey started stirring, eventually wriggling around comically until she saw that she wasn't the only one up.

"Ssh," said Kate, putting a finger on her lips. "Rick and Lexi are still sleeping."

Zoey tried to crawl carefully over Alexis' body but, being two, couldn't control her clumsy movements as well as she thought. Once Alexis woke up, it wasn't long before the noise woke Castle up as well.

He glanced at the clock and groaned. "It's seven o'clock on a Saturday. It's against the law to be up so early."

"Castle, I am the law."

"Not at seven o'clock on a Saturday morning."

Alexis hit Castle on the head with her pillow when he attempted to close his eyes again. "There's no way you can fall back asleep now, dad," she said, laughing.

"Well, not with you guys in the room," he replied.

Alexis looked at Kate. "Do you have to work today?"

"Nope. I got today and tomorrow off."

Castle looked up. "How did you manage that?"

"Karpowski wanted as much time as she could get away from her visiting relatives this weekend."

Castle grinned. "The holidays are such a special time, aren't they?"

Alexis perked up. "I know what we can do today! Let's decorate the house!"

"Yes!" Castle sat up, suddenly pumped. "Oo. Do we have the ingredients to make gingerbread cookies? There's no decorating without cookies."

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Kate's moment of epiphany never happened. At least, not in the way James Joyce described it.

It definitely wasn't a moment of surrender where she decided to just stop fighting with her feelings; a curtain never lifted to reveal that she had been living in a state of denial for this entire time; and she didn't suddenly have a rom-com moment where the character realises that the person they love is their childhood best friend.

It was one morning, amongst many similar mornings, sometime after Thanksgiving.

"Castle." Kate had just walked out of the washroom and was now securing her watch. She knelt down beside the bed where Castle was still half-asleep.

"What?" he mumbled, turning his head to face her.

She placed her arms on the bed and rested her chin on them, inches away from his face. "We should go on a date."

His eyes blinked open drowsily.

"A real date," she added.

He closed the inconsequential space between their lips and gave her a soft kiss. "Sure," he answered. His eyes drifted shut but his fingers reached out to seek hers. He squeezed them tightly before releasing her.

As Kate walked down the hallway, she heard Castle's voice ringing out after her.

"Katherine Beckett," he said, "We are not just a coincidence."

A/N: The story they were reading was Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sedak. It was turned into a pretty awesome movie in 2009 with Spike Jonze as the director and Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) doing the soundtrack! Read it. Watch it. Love it.