AN: I'm back... And that means Em and the gang are too... I wanted to post yesterday, but my writing's a little rusty, so it took me a while to get into the swing of things. Anyway, this chapter is based off of Season 7 episode 10 "Bad Santa". Thank's to everyone for following, favoriting, and reviewing this story. Here's the next chapter everybody, enjoy. Don't forget to Review. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or it's characters.

Santa's a Mobster!?

We were filtering through decorations, getting ready to display them around the house for the upcoming holiday, Christmas. It was exciting to spend another Christmas with my family, and now that aunt Kate and Castle are officially married, it makes it even better than last year.

"All right, ladies of the Castle household, just a reminder that your portion for the holiday poem is due in less than 72 hours," Castle said as he made his way over with a bowl of walnuts.

I internally groaned at the very information I dreaded to hear. I really hated doing poems, and if getting them as an assignment at school wasn't bad enough, now I have to make one at home. Man, this is going to be a hectic 72 hours.

"I just have to do a polish," Alexis said with enthusiasm.

"I can't wait to see it," Castle said, before looking over at Aunt Kate and asking, "How's yours coming along? Are you ready for your big debut in the Castle family Christmas card?"

"Yeah, absolutely," she said with a look of fake eagerness.

"Gonna be the best year ever," Castle said with a grin like the Cheshire Cat.

"Yeah," Alexis said.

He went over to aunt Kate, tapping her shoulder with a face of pure joy while saying, "So excited!"

He walked off to his office and Aunt Kate turned to the other woman with worry on her face and said, "You guys, I completely forgot. He said that it wasn't a big deal, but I think it actually kind of is."

"It's a very big deal. We even get a little competitive," Alexis said.

"I started working on mine in July," Mrs. Rodgers said.

My aunt was speechless, barely able to get a word out as she learned just how important this poem really was.

"Welcome to the family," Alexis said

"Yeah," Mrs. Rodgers said with a laugh.

"So what do I have to do again?" Aunt Kate asked.

"Write six funny, poignant, eloquent lines describing highlights of the past year for you," Alexis explained.

"Oh, yeah."

"And they must rhyme."

"Yeah," Mrs. Rodgers said with a nod.

"What word rhymes with "I'm screwed"?" My aunt said.

Her phone started ringing and she answered, "Beckett."

We were on our way to the crime scene, which I had to beg relentlessly to go with, and thankfully I was able to make her cave. Castle turned to look at me in the back seat and asked, "So mini Beckett, have you finished your poem yet?"

"Well, about that… I haven't really put anything together," I said sheepishly.

"Seriously!? You haven't even tried to put something together?"

"Sorry uncle Rick, but I'm not really a poetic person."

"It's okay Mini Beckett. You still have time and maybe your aunt can help since she's almost done with hers."

Aunt Kate parked by the crime scene and said awkwardly, "Actually, about that Castle, I haven't really started yet either."

"What!? What's with you Beckett's? I thought you were always on top of things," Castle said with exasperation.

She rolled her eyes at him, before exiting the vehicle and making her way towards the scene. We followed after her and he said, "How comes you haven't finished it yet?"

"It's just that rhyming isn't exactly my thing," she said with a shrug.

"This coming from the woman who skipped prom to crash a poetry slam."

"Spoken word, Castle. That's a totally different jam. I mean, I could write a haiku for you instead."

"No, that's against the rules."

"Since when do you follow rules?"

"Since I'm the one who made them. You should probably get me your first draft by the time we get to the precinct holiday party. You too mini Beckett."

"That's two days away!"

"See? Plenty of time."'

"Ugh..." I groaned while face palming myself.

This poem thing was going to drive me crazy, but maybe I can finish it before the holiday party. Hopefully I can spark up some inspiration in 72 hours, or not…

Esposito came over as we continued to walk to the body and said, "Hey."

"Hey," Castle greeted him.

"So get ready for a murder with a little holiday spirit. It went down around 10:30 p.m. Witnesses saw a black Mustang, no plates, chasing after this guy."

We got up to a Holiday display window, where a dead body was laying peacefully inside, with dried blood on his face.

"This was a drive-by? But he looks like he was shot close range," my aunt questioned.

"Yeah, and the shooter capped him in the head to finish him off," Esposito said.

"So this wasn't random. Did anyone get a good look at the assailant?"

"Yeah, when he drove by like a bat out of hell. Fuzzy red hat, big white beard."

Castle looked up to the sky, his mouth wide in amazement and Aunt Kate asked, "Seriously? Our killer is Santa Claus?"

"Three witnesses, all told the same story."

"Guys, squeezing down countless chimneys? Delivering millions of presents in one night? It was bound to happen. Santa finally cracked," Castle said with seriousness.

"Or our victim was naughty instead of nice," Esposito said with a chuckle.

"That's tasteless."

"Or our killer just wore a Santa suit because that was the perfect disguise at this time of year. So what do we know about the victim?"

Wow, Santa killing someone… Well of course it's not the real Santa, but Santa isn't real anyway… Still though, who would use such a jolly man to be the assailant in a murder. It's just not the Holiday spirit.

"His name's Eric Mercer, lives in Midtown. His hospital ID says he was an ER doctor at Saint Simon's," Esposito said.

"Do we know where he was coming from?"

"Not yet, but he bought a latte at a coffee shop six blocks away from here before our gun-toting Saint Nick came after him. And the barista there said that Mercer was carrying a blue backpack. But witnesses who saw Mercer running said there wasn't any backpack."

"Okay, let's set up a search from here to that coffee shop. That backpack may contain clues as to why he was killed.

Ryan came over and said, "Well, maybe the last person that Mercer talked to can shed some light on that. Ten minutes before he was shot, Eric Mercer called someone at Saint Simon's Hospital."

We left the crime scene and made our way to the hospital to find out who Eric talked to. On our way there, I decided to spark up a conversation, "So, a murdering Santa. Sounds like a pretty crazy case."

"Yeah it is. But if we arrest him, kids won't be getting there presents this year," Castle said.

"True, but maybe the elves and Mrs. Claus would still bring Christmas cheer."

"I agree; no kids should go without a Christmas."

"Really you two?" my aunt said as she looked at me in the rearview mirror.

"You can't deny it's an interesting concept," I said.

"Well, whoever this, fake Santa, is. I'm sure we'll be able to apprehend him soon, and have a merry Christmas."

Castle and I nodded, and it was quiet the rest of the way to the hospital.

We made it to the hospital and met up with the doctor who talked to Eric before he died.

"That was me. I just talked to Eric a few hours ago. I'm sorry, this is just such a shock," the older woman said.

"How did he seem when you talked?" Aunt Kate asked.

"A little on edge, I guess. Like he was in a hurry."

"Did he say why?" Castle asked.

"I assume it was his uncle. His uncle has cancer and lives alone. Eric tried to be there for him. He missed work last night, too."

"Do you know his name?" my aunt asked.

"Edward, I think. Edward Mercer. Maybe he knows why this happened to Eric."

We were back at the precinct, and Aunt Kate walked up to her desk with some papers in hand, "So we looked into Eric's family history, contacts in his phone and computer. He does not have an uncle named Edward Mercer. In fact, he doesn't have an uncle at all."

"Then why did he miss his shift? And where did he go?" Castle asked.

"I may have an answer to that. It turns out that Eric used the Hytch rideshare app to catch a ride to an address in Queens tonight, a couple of hours before he was killed. In fact, he took numerous trips to that same address, which line up with shifts that he missed at the hospital," Ryan said as he handed some papers over to my aunt.

"And what's at this location?" my aunt asked.

"Certainly not Uncle Edward," Castle said.

"Offices. It's an office building owned by Evergreen Sanitation NYC."

"Are you sure about that?" my aunt asked, Ryan nodded and she continued, "Evergreen Sanitation NYC is a known front for organized crime."

"Why would Eric Mercer be visiting a mob-owned building?" Castle asked while looking at Eric's file.

"Let's head to Queens and find out."

We went to the warehouse, and the place was pretty much dead. There was nothing here, except some paintings and working lights.

"No placards, no names. It's like this whole place is unoccupied," Aunt Kate said as we made our way through the warehouse.

"And yet Eric missed work to come here. Repeatedly," Castle said, looking around the hall we were occupying.

"Yeah."

A man, who looked like a janitor, came out of a room and my aunt said, "Oh, excuse me, sir. NYPD. Could you help… Wait, sir, could you please just help us? We..."

As she went after him, he quickly scurried off, leaving the three of us there alone. Castle looked in the room that the man just came out of and said, "Beckett."

We went inside and the whole room was turned into an operating room; from the bed to the tools that real hospitals use.

"Whoa… This is a surgical suite," Castle said.

"Owned by organized crime," my aunt said.

"Eric Mercer wasn't just a doctor, he was a mob doctor."

I had to go home after our discovery of Eric Mercer being a mob doctor. I knew I wouldn't be able to argue if I could stay because I was already up late enough, and the case was getting pretty deep, especially if the mob's involved. So, I decided to go home willingly and get a good night's rest.

Now that it's daytime, and I have nothing else to do at the moment, I decided to work on that poem that's due in about 48 hours. I sat at my small desk that I had in my room and stared at the blank piece of paper in front of me. I took a pen in my hand, and placed it steadily on the first blue line.

Two minutes… Five minutes… Ten minutes… A half hour…. I sighed and put my pen back down. There was no way I was going to finish this thing in time. I could barely think of two words let alone six sentences that rhyme and describe my year. I groaned and decided to head to the precinct. Maybe on my walk I'll find some inspiration to put into my poem.

When I arrived at the precinct, I found my aunt Kate at her desk, working on her computer. I went up to her and said, "Did you find the killer yet?"

"Yep, it was pretty much an open and shut case," she said to me.

"Aww man…. I thought this would be an interesting case."

"Turns out it was a man who worked for Dino Scarpella, a mobster."

"Oh, yeah… I heard of him… Hmm, who would have thought Santa would be a mobster?"

My aunt gave me an annoyed look and said, "Yeah, well he was definitely no Santa… And of course you'd know about the Scarpella's."

I shrugged and said, "Hey, word gets around."

"Yeah, uh-huh…"

Castle came over to us and said, "Hey, I need to talk to you Beckett."

"All right, about what?" My aunt said as she grabbed her coffee mug, leading us to the breakroom.

"I want to re-investigate Eric's case."

"You wanna re-investigate Eric's murder on behalf of your friend, Dino, the mob boss?" my aunt asked while taking a seat in the breakroom.

"Okay, well, when you put it like that, it sounds bad."

"It sounds bad no matter how I put it. Castle, we have the killer."

"Christopher was with Dino at the time."

"According to Dino. Dino is playing you."

"Mobsters get arrested. It's a cost of doing business. Dino knows that. So why go through the trouble of asking me to look into it unless Christopher was innocent?"

"Firstly, he didn't exactly ask you. And secondly, he just wants his number two back."

"Well, there's more to it than that," Castle lifted up his hand showing a bloody cut.

"No way…. omertà? That's deep," I said.

"Yeah… We made the blood oath. It was not my idea, and I did not have a choice."

"So you believe Dino because he gave you a paper cut?" My aunt asked with exasperation.

"Look, if I look into Eric's murder and the trail leads back to Christopher Carlucci, so be it. But if it doesn't, don't you wanna know who the real killer is?"

My aunt looked off to the side, mauling it over, before turning back to him and said, "Fine. But you have to promise that Captain Gates isn't gonna find out that we're poking around an already closed case. And you have to keep me looped in every step of the way."

"I promise. And since Dino gave me an all-access pass with the family, I'm gonna start by talking to Christopher."

Castle gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving the room and she mumbled a small, "Thank you."

"Sweet, Castle's working for the mo…" my sentence got short when my aunt threw a hand over my mouth.

"Don't make me send you home," She said with a humorous glare.

"Hmmph- hmm," I mumbled in her hand while nodding my head.

"I'm serious Em. If one word of this gets to the Captain, we'll all be in serious trouble. Especially Castle," she said as she let me go.

"I know… I wouldn't want to jeopardize your job or Castle's involvement at the precinct."

"Thank you, Em."

"No problem."

Castle came back from his secret undercover investigation with the mob, and told Aunt Kate about what he's found so far.

"Stolen credit cards, a possible getaway car? It sounds like Eric was about to go on the run," my Aunt said as we made our way to her desk.

"Only the killer got to him first," Castle said.

"Okay, so if Christopher didn't kill him, then who did? "

"Maybe whatever Eric was charging on those cards could give us a lead."

"Unfortunately, the cards are a bust. I ran the numbers. No recent activity," Ryan said as he made his way over to my aunt's desk.

"Did we ever find those cards?" my aunt asked.

"No, not in his hospital locker, or in his apartment, or on his body."

"Hmm, maybe the killer took them."

"Well, I'll have Tory monitor the numbers, see if any activity pops."

"Think I got a lead," Esposito said as he made his way over with a piece of paper.

"So we're really thinking that this killer is not Christopher Carlucci, right?" Ryan asked.

"Yes," Castle said.

"Maybe," my aunt said.

"No. Oh, come on, the guy is guilty. Nobody thought otherwise until Castle over here started moonlighting for the mob," Esposito said.

"I think that might be overstating it a little," Castle said, defending his choices.

"You took a blood oath. You let them turn you into an honorary mobster. What's wrong with you?"

"Come on, man. How many people outside of the mafia ever get to swear Omerta? I think it is an experience of a lifetime," Ryan said with enthusiasm.

"Of course you would."

"But didn't you say you had a lead?" my aunt asked Esposito.

"Yeah. The lab was able to identify the crystals that Lanie found on Eric's sleeves. They're made up of sodium ferrocyanide mixed with sodium chloride, which means…" Castle cut Esposito off and said, "It's road salt. It hasn't snowed in weeks. So why would Eric be literally up to his elbows in salt?"

"I don't know, but there are only four salt depots on the island, and one of 'em happens to be within three blocks of our crime scene."

"The blue backpack," Aunt Kate said.

"We searched for it, we never found it," Ryan said.

"That's because just before Eric died, he hid that bag."

"The salt depot," Castle said.

I went to the salt depot with Castle and Aunt Kate, and we made our way inside. As we walked through the depot, Castle broke the silence, "Man, the places we go to follow a lead. But if it points to our killer, it's worth it indeed."

Great, he's reminding us of that poem we so happened to put on the back burner.

"If that's you trying to help me with my poem, then it's not working," my aunt said.

Castle chuckled and Aunt Kate spotted a hole in the fence of the depot.

"Right over here. This is where Eric gained access," she said.

"Wait, is that the uh…. Right there," Castle said pointing to a large pile of salt with an item sticking out of it.

Aunt Kate pulled the backpack out and shook off some of the salt.

"The victim's blue backpack. You were right. Eric must've stashed it here before he was killed," Castle said.

"Yeah, but what was he trying to hide that he didn't want anyone to find?"

Aunt Kate pulled out the items that were in the backpack and questioned them skeptically, "Bloody clothes?"

"With bullet holes."

"Dun… Dun… Dun…" I said, pretending I was on the piano.

Castle chuckled, and my aunt just rolled her eyes at my behavior. After we collected the backpack, we headed back to the precinct to figure out where this new evidence takes us.

We were in the morgue with Lanie and Esposito, and she had the clothes spread out on the exam table.

"Here's what I can tell you. The guy who wore these clothes was about six feet, maybe 180, 200 pounds," Lanie said as she gestured to the clothing.

"What about his injuries?" Aunt Kate asked.

"Two shots to the back. Both bullets exited the front of his body. Based on where he was hit and the amount of blood, he probably didn't survive."

"So did any stiffs come in with those kinds of wounds? Minus his clothes, of course," Esposito said.

"No, I already checked."

"Can you tell when he was shot?" Aunt Kate asked.

"Blood coagulation says it was within the last two days."

"Eric missed work two days ago, and his Hytch app showed that he went to that surgical suite in Queens," Esposito said.

"So then maybe this was one of his mob patients," my aunt said.

Castle walked back into the morgue, after getting off the phone with Dino, and said, "He wasn't. At least, not according to Dino. No recent gunshot wounds in the family, and Eric hadn't treated anyone in the past week."

"Then Eric must've treated someone else, someone not connected to the Carluccis. Could that mean that Eric operated on someone from another family?"

"If he did, and said mobster is dead or missing, then perhaps Detective McBride has heard about it."

"Meantime, I'll run DNA to see if this blood matches anyone in the system," Lanie said.

"Thanks, Lanie," Aunt Kate said.

We were back on the 4th floor, and Aunt Kate and Castle were speaking with Detective McBride in the meeting room. Thankfully the door was left open, so I was able to listen in on their conversation.

"So I asked around about the other crime families, looked into who might've gone missing or taken a bullet the last few days. I think I got your guy. 6'1", 190 pounds. He'd fit in those clothes," McBride said as he put a file down on the table.

"Luca Tessaro? Of the Tessaro crime family?" Aunt Kate asked.

Whoa, the Tessaro family… That was a big name on the streets when I was young, but they're big rivals to the Carllucci family. Why would Eric help him?

"Yeah, and the family's beating the drums because Luca disappeared three days ago."

"Aren't the Tessaros and the Carluccis rivals?" Castle asked.

"No, more like sworn enemies. Which could be why things went bad for your doctor. You don't cross family lines."

"What do we know about Luca's disappearance?" my aunt asked.

"Well, three nights ago, 911 got reports of shots fired near his neighborhood. Officers responded. They didn't find anything, but Luca hasn't been seen since."

"Thank you, Detective."

"Whatever you need."

I watched him leave, and then went inside the meeting room to listen to Aunt Kate and Castle talk about their new lead.

"Why would Eric treat Luca Tessaro, a member of a rival family?" she asked.

"See, this is the beauty of me being mobbed-up. Temporarily. I can go straight to the source and ask Dino," Castle said.

"Castle, just be careful. If Eric treated a Carlucci enemy, then Dino had motive."

"Dino is not gonna ask me to investigate if it's gonna lead back to his doorstep. I shall return with answers."

They started walking out of the room, so I followed close behind.

"The boys and I will check the area where those shots were fired. Maybe officers missed something."

"And I'll go with Castle," I said as I started walking with him, but my aunt pulled me back.

"I don't think so… The last time you were involved with mob activity, it didn't end so well," she said.

"Aww man… Can I at least go with you?"

"No, you stay here… And don't you have a poem to write?"

"Ugh… fine."

She smirked and said, "I know you'll figure something out. And stay out of trouble."

"Yeah, I will."

I watched her leave with Ryan and Esposito, and let out a sigh. Guess I'll be spending my time finding words that rhyme. This poem project ought to be a crime, but maybe after all this fuss, mine will be sublime. Pfft… Only if making the poem was that easy.

Aunt Kate came back about an hour later, and called Castle on the phone to inform him on what she found at the scene with Esposito and Ryan. Sadly, I couldn't hear the other end, so I was stuck listening to what aunt Kate was saying, "Yeah, so did I. We found blood evidence at the scene where Luca was shot… It was Luca's blood on a bracelet… CSU pulled a thumbprint off of it that matched a DMV record. For Jane Scarpella. She's Dino's daughter. Look, it's possible that Jane killed Luca, she got Eric to help cover it up, and then she killed him, too. I just I don't know what her motive would be... Good, then let's hear it…."

She let out a sigh and hung up the phone.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing… Castle had to get off the phone, so he could talk to Dino. He was going to tell me some news he found out about Jane, which could lead us to a possible motive as to why she killed Luca and Eric."

"So as of now she's our suspect?"

"Yep, but we'll see what Castle brings back."

"Sounds like a plan."

Castle was back at the precinct, and he was filling us in on what he found out from Jane. Turns out, Luca and Jane had a little thing going. Which was actually kind of romantic.

"Lovers from rival families? Oh, that sounds like Romeo and Juliet," Aunt Kate said as she looked at the file for the case.

"Right down to Eric as the apothecary," Castle said.

Esposito came over to us in the hall and said, "Yo. Jane's alibi checks out. Doorman places her at home during Eric's murder."

"What about the street cams in the area around Luca Tessaro's shooting?" Aunt Kate asked.

"We looked. There's no cameras out that way."

"Ugh. Which means we're dead in the water."

"Which means I could be dead in the water. If one of the Tessaros killed Luca and Eric, we need to figure out who it was," Castle said.

"Well, unless you got a bud in that family, too, they're not gonna talk."

Ryan came over with some paperwork in hand and said, "Luckily, a credit card just did the talking. Remember those hot numbers that Eric got from Rita? Well, someone just used one of 'em to order a pizza for delivery."

"It's the killer. He must've got the cards off Eric's body," Castle said.

"Delivery to where?" my aunt asked.

"To a tile import business owned by Luca's cousin, Dante Tessaro. And with Luca out of the way, Dante becomes heir apparent to the Tessaro Family," Ryan said.

"This tile business, what's the address?"

Once again, I had to stay behind and I was running out of time to write my poem. The Christmas party was literally right around the corner and I had absolutely nothing. I sat at my aunt's desk and desperately grasped for some ideas. I looked around the festive precinct and tried to think about all the things that happened this year.

I picked up my pen and started writing on the blank piece of paper in front of me. It might not be the greatest poem, but hopefully they know it's coming from the heart.

A little while later, Aunt Kate and Castle came back with very interesting news, Luca Tessaro was actually alive. Turns out, Eric actually saved his life after they met up with him at the surgery room. Jane and Luca decided not to come clean because if everyone thought he was dead, they'd be able to leave the mafia life behind and start anew.

We were walking down the hall of the precinct and Aunt Kate said, "The shopkeepers we talked to confirmed Luca's story. This Il Penumbra's been terrorizing them for months."

"How do you track someone who nobody's seen?" Castle questioned.

Esposito and Ryan met us half way, and Esposito said, "Not through that bank info that Luca uncovered. It dead-ended at a private account in the Cayman Islands. And given international banking laws, there's no way to determine who owns that account."

"But maybe there is. I, uh, made a new friend who might help us skirt those pesky international banking laws."

Castle got some information out of his new "friend" and came back with some useful information. Aunt Kate was on the computer, trying to determine who made the account, ultimately leading to Il Penumbra.

"Rita determined Il Penumbra's Cayman account was opened using a server at the Midtown Library branch," she said as she looked through the information.

"Public terminal," Ryan said.

"Makes sense. Especially since most libraries don't have security cameras," Esposito said.

"But the convenience store across the street from this one does. So we pulled the video feed from the same day that Il Penumbra created the account," Castle said.

"It's time-stamped, so…"

She went through the footage and we found the person who came out of the Library around the time the account was made.

"There. That's the only person who leaves in the minutes after the account was opened. Well, hello, Bad Santa," my aunt said.

The mobster Santa turned out to be none other than Detective McBride. I thought that guy was kind of fishy, but I honestly wouldn't have pinned him as the murderer. But Ryan and Aunt Kate took care of business, and I think Detective McBride will be behind bars for a very long time, especially since there is a nice chunk of evidence to go on.

So Another case closed, and we saved a decently innocent man from going to jail in a crime he didn't commit. I'd say that things turned out well, and it's going to be a very merry Christmas. And speaking of Christmas, it was time for the holiday party and I had my poem all ready to go.

I found Uncle Rick in the break room, filling small holiday styled paper cups with some eggnog. I went up to him and said, "Hi Uncle Rick."

He smiled at me and said, "Hey, Mini Beckett. Is that your draft?"

"It sure is. Do you want to hear it?"

"Yeah, definitely. Let's hear what you got."

"Okay… "This year was filled with ups and downs; Yet it still made some leaps and bounds." "I got the perfect family out of it all; And I know they will never let me fall." "Our family might not be ordeal; But somehow we make it real.""

"That was really great Emily. I'm so happy to have you be a part of my family and its traditions. And I can't wait to make more memories with you."

I gave him a hug and he placed a kiss on top of my head. When we pulled apart, I said, "Thanks Castle."

"You're welcome Emily."

Three men walked into the breakroom and I figured it was Dino Scarpella and his goons.

I looked at the real mobster in awe and said, "You're Dino Scarpella… You're a legend…"

He gave me a smirk and said, "Cute kid… She yours?"

"Um… She's my niece…" he said to Dino before turning to me, "Em, why don't you go tell that poem to your aunt."

I knew he wanted to be alone with them, so I said, "Okay."

I quickly walked off and went to find my aunt. I found her at her desk and it looked like she was finishing up her own poem.

"Hey, Aunt Kate," I said.

"Oh, Hi Em," she said with a smile.

"Did you finish?"

"Yep, I just put some finishing touches on it. How about you?"

"Uh-huh, and Castle loved it."

"Aww… Let me hear it."

""This year was filled with ups and downs; Yet it still made some leaps and bounds." "I got the perfect family out of it all; And I know they will never let me fall." "Our family might not be ordeal; But somehow we make it real.""

"That's really great Em. I knew you could do it," she said and ruffled my hair.

I fixed my now messy hair and asked, "Can I hear yours?"

"Yeah… Come on, I'll read it to you and Castle," she said as she pulled me over to where Castle was standing in the hall.

"Castle. Hey! Okay, so I, um, got my draft of the poem for the family Christmas card. Wanna hear it?" my aunt asked with eagerness.

"Yeah," he said.

"Okay… "This has been an epic year; Life's been full of joy and tears" "Solving crimes and catching killers; Just like Castle's famous thrillers" "We share a passion every day; As partners go, we're here to stay.""

"It's great."

"Thank you."

"So cool, Aunt Kate," I said with a smile.

She pulled me into a side hug and held me close. She looked at Castle and noticed he wasn't quite himself, "Is something wrong?"

"What could be wrong? My Beckett's are here," he said with a grin.

"Oh," she said as he pulled her in for a kiss.

"Eww," I said jokingly.

My aunt gave me a playful glare and pushed me slightly. We all chuckled and went over the tree that was getting ready to be lit.

"All right, everybody. Let's light this baby up!" Ryan said as he pressed the button in his hand.

The Christmas tree lit up in multiple pretty colors and the star was a beautiful light blue color. It looked amazing and with all the decorations around and the cool ornaments on the tree, it truly felt like the holidays.

"Merry Christmas! Looks great this year," Ryan said.

Castle gestured over to Lanie and Esposito, so Aunt Kate dragged me along to go hang with them. Christmas music was playing, so Aunt Kate started dancing with Lanie. I chuckled at the two, so my aunt grabbed my hands and made me dance with them. I was having a blast, but I caught a glimpse of Castle who was by the tree, and he looked pretty down.

I wondered what was up with him and hoped it was nothing serious. He said everything was okay earlier, but I have a feeling that was a lie. I guess whatever the issue is, he's going to wait until after the holidays to tell us, so he doesn't ruin the special moments. But whatever it may be, I hope it's not something that's jeopardizing his involvement with the precinct.