'Babe, you're phone's ringing.'

Meredeth stuck her head out of the bathroom. 'Then answer it, please,' she hollered back at Esposito, her mouth full of toothpaste foam. She spat in the sink and was patting her mouth dry when he came to the door, dressed for work and holding her iPhone.

'Pay the finder's fee,' he told her, playfully holding it out of reach, pleased when she gave him a smacking kiss. 'It's Lanie.'

'Oh, okay.' Meredeth took her cell, swatted Esposito on the ass when he put his hands on her hips to pull her close. 'Bugger off, you.'

'Excuse me?'

'Sorry Lanie, not you, the idiot cop I spent the night with who seems to think putting his hands on me when I'm trying to take a call is funny.' Meredeth waved good-bye at him as he headed out the door of his apartment. She wandered into the kitchen to put her breakfast dishes in the sink, then over to watch early morning New York come to life. 'But he's gone off to fight crime for another day.'

'Ah, well, tell the idiot thanks again for the empanadas from his mother's bakery next time you hear from him. Certainly hit the spot better than the vending machine chemicals.'

'No problem. Anyways, I called to see if you were interested in a little Christmas shopping on your morning off. I've already picked up most of my gifts, but I could use some company to grab the last few things.' Meredeth plucked nervously at the belt of her robe. 'If not, I understand.'

'I do have some little paper things to do this morning, but I can swing a few hours this afternoon.'

'Perfect. I'll meet you at Penn Station around eleven.'

'Thanks again for inviting me, Mere. I don't usually get to do this a lot.'

'My pleasure.' Meredeth smiled as she wandered around the perfume counters at Macy's, Lanie in tow behind her. 'I called Honey-Milk to come with too, but she's down with a bug, so going anywhere beyond her bedroom or the bathroom is a gargantuan miracle, according to Ryan.'

'You think maybe it's a morning bug?' Lanie asked with a little devilish tease in her voice, making Meredeth laugh.

'Maybe. Wouldn't that be fun, watching Ryan be a daddy-to-be? Oh, look.' Meredeth stopped in front of a display. 'Javi's be grumbling about finding new aftershave that his sister didn't pick out for him. Think he'd like this?'

'Men usually like to get that stuff out for themselves, from my experience.'

Meredeth shrugged. 'Just a thought.'

Lanie shook her head and laughed as they left cosmetics for men's wear. The girl had it bad for the detective, she thought, and it was something she hoped would last for a long time. She'd never seen Esposito so relaxed or so willing to take a joke from Ryan or Castle when it was Meredeth-related. It was a subtle transformation, one only those who knew him best - like Lanie - would pick up on. 'Tell me again why he's going to go so loopy over a bunch of shark dvds?'

'Not just shark dvds. An autographed copy of the Discovery Channel's Shark Week hosted by Craig Ferguson. I got them when I was in L.A. doing my press back in October, and I'm including a picture with Brian the Shark from the Late Late Show.'

'Right.' Lanie remembered how she joined her co-workers in invading Esposito's apartment when Meredeth's interview with the outrageous Scottish-American host had aired on CBS. Espsito and Meredeth had only been together maybe two or three weeks then, and they hadn't even met her yet. If Meredeth had gotten the gift then, maybe they'd all misjudged just how serious Esposito was about her from the get-go, Lanie herself included. 'I take it you two made up from the whole hypnotherapy fight? He told me,' she explained off of Meredeth's questioning glance.

'I wouldn't call that a fight. Disagreement sure, but we have those all the time. Now my friends Chin and her ex Beau, they would fight. Screaming matches, hairbrushes at ten paces, the works and it was not pretty.' Meredeth took a sweater off the rack. 'Ooh this is so soft and snuggly. You think he'd look better in the navy blue or the red? I think the blue. He's got plenty of red dress shirts, this is for at home in the winter, just relaxing.'

'But things are good now?'

'They didn't turn bad, if that's what you mean. We had a problem, we resolved it.'

Lanie set her lips in an impressed line. 'Wow. That's mature. I don't know of very many people who take that approach.'

'Well, the way I see it, between his job as a murder cop, my job writing drama, and the fact I have night terrors that's more than enough drama, so why waste time we spend with each other on more? I don't pretend we're perfect, because we're not. But we like each other enough that those little problems stay little and when something big needs to be dealt with, like my choice to do hypnotherapy, we talk about it.'

'Come on, let's go find something to drink and people-watch.'

Hours later, after Meredeth could all but hear her credit cards crying for a break, and Lanie had found a couple of necessary items for her work colleagues, they opted for a little cafe in Penn Station, as Meredeth was going to meet Esposito when he got off the metro and Lanie would hop on to head home once he'd met them. Though the booth was tiny and the overhead lights far too bright, the drinks were piping hot and generous in size.

'So, you excited for Christmas?'

'I am. We got the tree last weekend, at this farm just outside Scarsdale. Artie had a blast, chasing snowflakes and trying to figure out if the horses were other big dogs like him.'

'Sounds really sweet. You're doing Christmas at your new place then?'

'Yeah, we figured between the dog and the fact my place is a townhouse versus his broom closet, it'd just be easier, and besides...what?' Meredeth trailed off as Lanie chuckled into her peppermint hot chocolate.

'Nothing, it's just cute to see you're as much in love with him as he is with you.'

Meredeth stirred her green tea with steam milk. 'I do. I love him so much, it scares me,' she admitted. It was the first time she'd said it out loud to another person within earshot, and if Lanie of all people didn't understand confidentiality, who did? She tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear, under her toque. 'I never expected to feel this way about anyone in my life.'

'Have you told him yet?' Lanie anticipated the eager nod, the story to come spill out and actually felt her jaw drop open when instead the pretty writer shook her head. 'Are you freakin' kidding me? Why not?'

'We've only been together two and a half months, Lanie. And it's a big thing to say, a big step to take.'

'Both are very true, but serious, honey, it's very obvious how you two feel about each other, why not take the plunge and say it out loud to him? Oh!' Lanie crossed her legs and sat back when Meredeth remained silent. 'You've never said it to a guy before!'

'No I haven't. When I say to someone, I want to really mean, and I feel like with Javi, I-'

'Isn't that a Christmas picture, sugar and spice!' Ryan strolled up, smiling from ear to ear as he tucked his notebook in his pocket. 'Question is, which is which?'

'Why are you so chipper?' Meredeth tucked her bags a little father under the table so he wouldn't be tempted to snoop. 'You and Honey-Milk planning to play hide the candy-cane later?'

Ryan jammed his hands into his pockets. 'Don't I wish. She's still got that flu-bug, but more importantly, we're off shift on time and Esposito mentioned you two would be here, so I came with to pick up some chicken soup for the little woman.'

'Don't let Honey-Milk hear you call her that, she'll punch the stripes right off your candy cane.' Lanie pursed her lips as Esposito came up, warmly kissed Meredeth's cheek.

'Hello Detective. Bad weather out there?' Meredeth smiled as he sat down beside her, brushing at the lingering flakes of snow on his heavy leather overcoat.

'Getting that way. We could be lazy, take the subway the whole six blocks from here.'

'Lazy it is, as I have presents to slug home. No peeking,' she added, pointing a finger at Ryan, who'd returned with his wife's soup in a to-go bag. 'Yours and Mrs. Ryan's are in here too.'

'We should head out then, next train's in less than ten minutes.'

Meredeth beamed at him, and as they headed out, parcels in tow, Lanie shook her head. 'Think we've got another Castle and Beckett on our hands?'

'What do you mean?'

'Those two.' She drained her hot chocolate and jammed her winter hat on her head, adjusted her scarf. 'How long do you think it'll be before they finally gets some guts and drop the L-bomb on each other?'

'Not long.'

Lanie looked at Ryan. 'Why, what do you know?'

'My silence can't be bought.'

'Twelve of Guinness?'

'Well, why didn't you say the bribe of the day was fine Irish stout?' Ryan shifted the bag of take-out soup to his other hand, offered his arm to Lanie as they made their way to the uptown tracks. 'What would you like to know?'

R&R&Enjoy!