A/N: Hello, my nerds! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones! Here is a peek at Christmas 2021 with the Castle family. Enjoy!
"The stocking were hung by the chimney with care, in the hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there."
Kate sits up a bit as her husband continues to read the poem, looking around at their family.
Castle, Austin, and Danielle were smushed together on the chase part of the couch; Tin had his head on his dad's chest and Dani was laying on his stomach. Miyana and Liam were in the middle sharing a blanket, the young boy absentmindedly sucking his fingers. She and Finn were on the other end, wrapped together in a blanket.
It was warm and cozy, the perfect Christmas Eve.
"Daddy? How come Rudolph isn't there?" Austin asks, pointing to the picture of the reindeer team.
"Because this story was written before Rudolph was born."
"Oh, okay."
"How far away is Santa now?"
"Let's finish the story, and then we'll check, okay, Mia girl?"
"Okay," Mia says, bouncing in her seat with excitement. Their dad had shown the kids the 'Santa Tracker' and they've all been obsessed with it.
"His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry," Castle continued, turning the page in the storybook to reveal an illustration of Santa.
Kate mouthed along with the words as he read, playing with her daughter's hair. Taking in all five of her kids' reactions to it. Their open-mouthed faces and eyes full of wonder and excitement; how they hung on every word their dad read.
The story ends and Rick snaps the book shut, moving the kids out of the way and standing from the couch. He groans and stretches, stiff from holding one position for too long.
"You're getting old, Castle," Kate jokes.
"I am not!" He whines, "it's the cold weather."
"Sure, sure, tell yourself that," Kate says. Standing as well and patting her husband on the arm as she leaves the room.
"Am not," Rick grumbles again to himself.
"You're not old, daddy," Danielle says, "you have character."
Both adults laugh loudly at that one.
"You're right, baby! I'm full of character," Rick says, scooping up his daughter and kissing her cheek. She definitely got that one from her grandmother.
"Come on, guys! Let's get some cookies for Santa!" Kate's call summons them all into the kitchen, where she is setting out three containers full of cookies. The kids take their places at the counter on bar stools, Danielle holding on to her dad when he stays standing next to her.
They had spent an entire Saturday early in the month baking all sorts of cookies. Cut-out sugar that the kids decorated with way too much frosting and sprinkles; gingerbread, peppermint flavored ones shaped like candy canes, peanut butter with chocolate candies in the middle. Their house smelled amazing and every available flat surface was covered in baked goods.
"Everyone gets to pick one for Santa and one to eat before bed," Kate directs. The tradition had been one of her favorites from her childhood, and Kate loved that a memory from her mom could be passed to her kids. "Let's do Santa first and then we'll get our snack, okay?"
"Okay," five little voices agree. In turn, all five kids pick out a treat for Santa and place it perfectly on the plate. Meanwhile, Castle had been pouring a tall glass of milk.
"I'll put these out," he offers, grabbing the plate in his empty hand and heading for the fireplace.
Once Rick comes back and everyone has their cookie, one of the kids calls out "cheers" and they all clink cookies and proceed to happily eat their treat.
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"Alright, get into bed, girls. I'll be back in a minute," Rick says to his daughters after all three of them take their turn brushing their teeth. He heads down the hall to the boys room where Kate is cuddling with the twins in Liam's bed.
"Just came to say good night," he announces his arrival.
"Night, daddy!" Both boys call, not even moving from their places tucked into Kate's side.
"Give dad a kiss," Kate prompts, nudging her sons.
Reluctantly, Austin and Liam stand up on the bed and give their dad a kiss.
"Jeeze! You're lucky you two are cute! Can't even give your dad a kiss on Christmas Eve!" Rick says, feigning offense.
"Love you, daddy!" Liam says, going in for an extra hug.
"Love you too. Get some sleep! Don't wake your sisters up, okay?"
"We will," Austin replies, smiling.
The cheeky little punk!
Castle leaves the room, shaking his head at how much alike he and his sons were.
Back in the girls' room, he removes Finn's glasses from her face and puts them on the nightstand.
"Daddy? Are Lexi and Maxie coming tomorrow?" Miyana asked, using one of the many names they have for their sister and brother-in-law (though until April, he's technically not their brother-in-law, not that it matters, but still).
"No, remember, baby? They are in North Carolina with Max's family this year. But Alexis did say she'll call us tomorrow, so we can be excited for that!"
"Oh," Mia says, obviously a little disappointed.
"Come on, perk up! I know you're sad, but tomorrow is Christmas! We're gonna have so much fun and eat way too much candy!"
When his girl is happy again, he gives each of them one last kiss and turns off the overhead light, replacing it with the string lights hung around the ceiling.
"Now, go to sleep! Santa won't come if you're awake! And don't wake up your brothers." He warns from the door.
"We will!" The three sisters reply, snuggling under their covers with their favorite stuffies.
He pulls the door behind him, not closing it all the way so Kate can do her rounds with the girls, and heads back downstairs to begin setting up for the morning.
He fills stockings, starting with Kate's while she's still upstairs, and pulls gifts out of hiding.
Kate joins him not long after and together they finish getting their house Christmas ready, and soon they are getting into bed themselves, mentally preparing for an early morning full of energy and excitement.