A/N: Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Hope today is relaxing for you and filled with good food. Here is a peak at the day through the eyes of my Castle family.
Enjoy!
Rick…
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"Alright, here we go," he says, stepping around other people sitting with them on the metal bleachers and handing a piping hot coffee to his wife. The crowd in front of Macy's Herald Square pulsed with energy and excitement; the chill of the November morning not fazing them in the least.
"Oh, thank you," Kate sighs, sipping hungrily at the coffee. She didn't have a problem with waking up early to be here, but the lack of caffeine was starting to get to her.
Castle pulls aside the blanket covering Kate and sits next to her, replacing the blanket over both their legs. "The line was insane! It's gonna be a busy one."
"It always is," Kate says, scanning the area, taking note of the uniformed officers keeping watch over the audience. She'd worked many a Thanksgiving at this parade in her time, and still felt a bit of adrenaline in her chest as she sat there with her husband. You could take the girl out the cop-
"Kate? Are you listening to me?"
"Hmm?"
"I was just saying we should probably leave a bit early, beat the traffic. Mother will be expecting us to help."
"Your mom doesn't need help, Castle! She just said that to make you feel good about brining the turkey for her last night. I bet by the time we arrive she'll be half a bottle of wine deep, and have everything already done and ready to go."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Castle says. He missed this: their easy banter; the way they play off each other so well. Banter hadn't come so easy for them these last months. She'd been busy with work and meetings and politics, and he hadn't made as concerted an effort to connect as he probably should have.
The crowd around them cheers loudly, waving as the camera for the national morning program being broadcast there pans the area, showing them all bundled up against the cold, so excited for the parade to start. Each one of them hoping to be shown on TV.
He sips his coffee and people watches, observing families and children, adults excited to experience being there for the first time, eager fans waiting to see their favorite Broadway show perform, and older people excited to be a part of a national tradition.
"Alright, folks, we're getting ready to start in just a few minutes! Remember to cheer loud and have fun!" The producer of the parade says to them over a microphone.
He'd been to the parade many times, even sat right here in the grandstands for a few of them, and every time he experences it he rediscovers the effort and planning that went into producing the parade every year. He was starting to understand what his daughters meant when they explained to him the work they do. It wasn't just song and dance; there were so many moving pieces that all had to be in the exact same place at the exact same time.
"Hey, look: the royal pooper scooper," Castle says as he leans close to his wife, pointing out the bundled-up person holding a shovel and pulling a plastic trashcan behind them. He smiles wide and lets out a loud laugh.
Kate follows his arm to the person in question and laughs with him; throwing her head back in delight. "That's horrible," she tells him, still laughing.
"Horrible, but true," he says, his voice being drowned out by the announcers hosting the parade kicking the event off.
"Live from New York City, it's the 122nd Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!"
The audience around them cheers uproariously and confetti cannons shoot off, scaring a few unsuspecting babies in attendance. He joins in the fanfare and suddenly feels like a little kid again.
While the first Broadway show prepares to perform, he turns to Kate. He sees her smile, and the way her hazel eyes look gold in the daylight; how genuinely happy she is. These past few months have been tiring and stressful for her, and he was glad she was letting herself be happy and forget the work that was still left to do.
He kisses her cheek and pulls her close, eager to spend this time with her before things changed. No stress, no meetings, just them and the easy way they fit together.
Alexis…
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"Hey, Alexis, there's food in the lounge when you get a chance," A passing nurse tells her.
"Thanks, Megan!" Alexis smiles, sighing wistfully.
"Drew the short straw this year, didn't you?" Her patient, whose gaping head wound she was trying to sew up, asked.
"Yup," She answers, pulling the needle through the wound again. "But it's okay. I got it off last year; now other people can be with your family."
"But it still sucks."
"Yes, it does."
Her family was at home; Max was probably yelling at the TV as the football game played and the turkey cooked in the oven. Her three kids, who finally would all be home for the holiday, would be sitting around finding ways to annoy each other like always. She'd finally get the chance to meet her son's boyfriend; a man who, according to Wyatt, had stolen his entire soul. She'd get to be with her oldest baby girl, who was three months pregnant with her first grandchild. Minutes passing by; moments she'd never get back with them.
Yes: covering the ER on Thanksgiving wasn't exactly her idea of a good time, but if she could help another family be together, she'd do it. Someone would have to owe her one.
She finishes the stitches and applies a bandage. "Okay: keep it clean and dry and come back in ten days to have them removed," she says, slipping off her gloves.
"That's it?"
"That's it. Now: go home. Have some stuffing for me."
"Will do. Thanks, Doc!" The man collects the necessary paperwork and then heads to the desk to finish signing out.
Alexis watches him as she helps clean up; stripping the bloody sheet off the bed, gathering her trash, disposing of her sharps, and washing her hands. She's about to pick a new patient off the list on the tablet she caries around when their charge nurse, Emily, shouts at her.
"Go get food. Go get food before it goes cold, or you forget, or something else," she says, not daring to say 'busy' out loud. "Go."
"Okay, okay, I'm going," Alexis insists.
Inside the quiet lounge, she grabs a paper plate and dishes out a dinner for herself, and sits at an old, rickety table alone.
Wow, this really sucks.
Each bite felt like swallowing sawdust and sat in her stomach like a brick. Not even Dawn's famous mac & cheese could turn how she felt around.
Her ringing phone breaks the loud silence and startles her. The screen lights up with her smiling husband's picture.
"Were your ears ringing? I was just thinking about you!"
Max recounts a story Chyler told him about her first semester away at college, and then as if they knew they were being talked about, their kids beg tier dad to put the phone on speaker so they could talk to their mom.
"Hey, guys," Alexis says to them, suddenly emotional; happy to hear their voices. It wasn't as good as being there in person, but it would work.
Danielle…
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"Baby! Can you make sure Mace's tights don't have a rip in them? I can't remember if I pulled out new ones or not!"
"Yeah, I got it!" Ashley yells back to her wife through the closed bathroom door. She goes into their daughter's bedroom in search of the tights in question, finding them stuffed into the back of a drawer. "Macey Kate! What did I tell you about folding your clothes nicely so they don't get stuck in your drawers?"
"What, momma?" Macey asks, coming into her bedroom from where she had been playing with her brothers.
"You gotta make sure you don't stuff clothes in your drawers or they're gonna get stuck and you're gonna be mad," Ashley gently scolds.
"I know. I'm sorry," Macey replies; her sometimes hasty attitude towards chores was often the point of many discussions and teaching moments between the third grader and her moms.
"It's okay. Come on, it's time to get dressed."
Ashley hands over the grey tights and gold corduroy dress and leaves her daughter to change while she goes to do the same with her sons.
An hour later, the family is loaded in the car and speeding down the freeway towards Ashley's grandmother's house, whom the kids lovingly call Gigi. And ninety minutes after that (thank you, LA traffic), they are pulling along the curb, walking up the driveway, and into the modest ranch-style home. Macey and her brothers immediately run off to play with their cousins, while Danielle and Ashely make the rounds and greet all of the aunts, uncles, and older cousins sitting around the house making conversation and listening to the football game on TV.
The wives offer to help out in the kitchen but are summarily ordered to stay out until it is time to eat. So, they join the other adults, stealing vacated chairs and joining in on the conversation.
Left to their own devices in the small backyard garden their great-grandmother had painstakingly created over four decades, the youngest group of cousins created their own imaginary world and played games of soccer in the dead grass.
Soon enough, the food was ready and a long line formed next to the buffet. Parents helped their children make plates before getting food themselves; people saved seats for specific aunts or cousins, and once everyone was seated, Ashley's eldest aunt, Jennifer, invited everyone to hold hands and led them in prayer.
Once dinner was cleaned up, the older cousins took the younger ones into the field behind the house to play.
Danielle and one of Ashley's uncles get into a conversation about the new show she was working on which quickly dissolved into a frantic search for the name of a song that was featured in a recent episode. However, they are interrupted when her youngest son crawls into her lap seeking comfort after being ignored by the big kids.
"Hey, I think Aunt Jen is putting out dessert! You want to see if she'll give you the first slice of pie?" The little boy sneaks off with his great-uncle, delicious with the ability to gloat to his older cousins over getting dessert first.
As the night deepens, and the air turns cool, people take their leave. Most collect coats and leftovers, some also collect children. The small house that had been filled with noise all day grows steadily quieter.
"Bye, Grandma! Thanks for having us over," Danielle says, kissing the soft, wrinkled cheek of the matriarch of the family.
"Oh, Honey, you're welcome! We love having you guys here," Grandma replies, smiling up at her granddaughter.
After their kids have given hugs and kisses to their Gigi, Danielle loads them back into the car and turns the ignition while Ashley says her goodbyes.
Once again, they are back on the freeway, stuck in the same gridlock of traffic, but are happy and stuffed full of good food and good time spent with family.
Liam…
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The subway car lolls as they turn a corner, and Liam braces himself against a metal pole to steady his balance. For it being Thanksgiving afternoon, he's surprised the train is as quiet as it is. The wine bottles in his backpack clink against one another, and he winces in hopes they don't shatter.
A staticy voice from above announces his stop, and Liam steps to the door as the train slows. He pushes his way off and through the throng of people on the platform (there's the crowds he knows so well), and up the stairs to the street.
The November chill hits him hard and he bows his head into the collar of his jack to protect his ears from the wind. Liam waves to his favorite bodega owner as he passes the corner store, and jumps through a chalk-drawn hopscotch board on the sidewalk. Again, the wine rattles and Liam makes haste to his grandmother's apartment.
He would never hear the end of it if he didn't show up to Thanksgiving dinner with the one thing he'd been asked to bring.
"Darling! Come in, come in!" Martha Rodgers greets her grandson with a tight hug and her signature booming voice. Though slowed some in her age, Martha still commanded any room she was in and adored hosting family and friends. Her tiny apartment was a reflection of her carefree, bohemian lifestyle. Plush oriental rugs and mismatched furniture covered the weathered wooden floors, while lamps and candles filled the space with warm, orange light.
"Smells good in here!" Liam comments, shedding his coat and retrieving the wine.
"Well, it should! Your mother and grandfather have been cooking all day!" Martha comments as if the intrusion of people in her kitchen were offensive.
"The turkey wouldn't be done in time if it weren't for us!" Jim Beckett replies. "She was poised to put it in an hour before we were ready to eat!"
"Oh, tush!" Marth scolds, playfully smacking his arm. "It wasn't that bad."
Yes, it was, Jim mouths to his grandson, who laughs.
"I heard that!" Martha says, though her back was turned.
Liam sets the wine in what little space was available on the butcherblock counter and then makes a round of hellos to his grandfather and parents.
"I would offer to help, but it looks like you guys have it covered," Liam says, leaning against the fridge.
"Can you go turn the game on?" Castle directs his son. Liam hums acknowledgment and heads for the television where the National Dog Show is emanating quietly from the speakers. He flips the channel to a football game and turns the sound up so it could be heard from the kitchen.
Joining his mom at the tiny table in the corner of the kitchen, Liam steals from the veggie platter.
"So, how's Ingrid?" Kate asks. Liam's girlfriend (soon-to-be fiance, if his plan works) was the newest member of their family and already loved by them all.
"She's good! Yeah, we decided to split up this year. Her oldest brother is home on leave so she wanted to spend as much time with him as she could."
"Aw, that's sweet," Kate smiles. "I hope you guys can come over for Christmas."
"Yeah, I think we'll be able to make it. Ingrid's family usually doesn't do anything for Christmas Eve, so we'll probably be over then."
"And how are you? Things still going good?"
"Yeah, you know," Liam shrugs. "This time of year is hard. I'm trying to stay busy."
"I know," Kate agrees. Her mental health issues also resurfaced around this time of year. Something about the cold weather and the dark skies made the bad days come much more frequently. "Staying busy is good! But, take care of yourself. Call us if you need to."
"I know," He soothes, trying to take them away from the darkening conversation. "How's work? Still on the hunt?" Kate's impending retirement from the NYPD had been the main source of conversation during their summer in the Hamptons earlier that year, and Liam had been a large sounding board for her.
"It's good. Trying to wrap things up. Finding a suitable replacement is harder than I thought. I don't want to leave them with someone who doesn't know the place, you know? Someone outside our family."
"Yeah, no, I get that. I mean you've worked there for decades and you want to make sure your people are going to be protected and taken care of."
"Exactly!" Kate cheers; finally someone who understood her reticence to finding a new captain of the twelfth.
"You'll find someone. Someone perfect."
Their talk is broken when Jim yells towards the TV, and the family all shout unseemly remarks at the referee for a bad call on their team.
The smell of turkey soon fills the tiny apartment, and another bottle of wine is opened. Liam makes a spot for himself on the couch and watches the game; adding comments or opinions on conversations every now and again.
The elders, who are arguing over the merits of community theater, don't hear the knock at the door. Grunting, Liam rises to answer it and is met with the smiling faces of his sister and her family.
Miyana…
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"Hey!" her brother shouts, wrapping her in a hug. "You're finally here!"
"Yeah, sorry. We got stuck in parade traffic," Miyana says, stepping past Liam and into the apartment.
"And yet: mom and dad managed to get here faster than you," Liam goads.
"Haha, you're funny," she replies sarcastically. She hears her husband give her brother a back-slapping hug and then her daughters shouts as they fight to hug their favorite uncle first.
"Hey!" She announces, juggling the infant carrier on her hip and the ceramic dish in her hands.
The grandparents swoop in and fawn over their newest grandchild, giving Mia a chance to unload her bag and contribution to dinner.
"Tell them, Calvin! Tell them how you kept Ima up all night," Miyana says as she sheds her coat, feigning anger at the baby.
"He was just excited for the holiday, weren't you, kiddo?" Jim asks, scooping up his great-grandson and settling him in the cook of an arm. "Come help me start the cranberry sauce."
"Sure, we'll call it that," Miyana says, rolling her eyes. With her son occupied, she, too, steals from the appetizers and joins the others in the living room. She settles on the couch next to her dad and leans into his arm for a quick cuddle. "How are you, dad?"
"I'm good, I'm good," Rick smiles at his middle daughter. "In a bit of a writing slump, but it's okay."
"It will come back. It always does," Mia encourages. Her dad had had plenty of writing slumps in her lifetime and the words always came back to him; she was sure they would this time as well. Miyana relaxes back against the couch. The holiday season was busy, even for a Broadway performer, and these next two days off were the reprieve needed to get her through the next month.
Jim joins them a few minutes later, declining offers to hand the baby over.
"Did you have fun with Papa Jim? Huh? Did you help him?" Mia sings, causing the infant to break into a wide, toothy smile.
"Grandma Great!" Jaycee, now over the excitement at seeing her Uncle Liam, says rushing over to Martha. "It's not fair!"
"What's not fair, darling?" Martha asks, eyeing the girl quizically.
"Savta said when we go to her house for Shabbos tomorrow she's gonna let Emilia light the candles! But lighting the candles is always my job!" The offended statement is accompanied by an equally offended stomp of a boot-clad foot.
Across the room, the girl's parents roll their eyes and stifle groans; they'd had to deal with the exact same argument all week.
"Well, isn't time your sister had a turn? From what I've heard, you've gotten to light them many times. Are you angry because your grandmother is letting Emilia do it, or because you don't want to share your special job?"
"I don't want to share," Jaycee confesses. "It's my job! Why does she have to do it too?" A dirty look was cast over to the sister in question who was digging into her mom's bag in search of the toys she knew were there.
"Jaycee," Martha starts, taking the girl's tiny hands in her own. "One of the things about being an older sibling is getting to teach your younger sibling new things. Don't you want to teach Emilia about lighting the candles? All the traditions you have, doesn't she get to know them?"
"Yeah," Jace relents. How is it that the exact same things her parents have told her sound totally different coming from her Grandma Great? "I have to teach her the kiddush! She doesn't know it!"
"There's my girl," Martha cheers, happily hugging the girl. "I can't wait to hear how it goes." Satisfied Jaycee was taken care of, Martha turns her attention to the others in the room, striking up more adult conversation. The sisters play together in the corner, and excitedly invite their family to join them in an imaginary tea party.
Hours later, the adults return to the kitchen to finish dinner and clear off enough places to set the hot dishes. The kids are settled at the coffee table in the living room where they kneel on the floor, and the adults crowd around the small table. Jim and Rick share toasts, and Byron quietly says a blessing before everyone digs into their meal.
Austin…
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"Ready! Set! Hut!" Grant shouts, receiving the ball and readying to throw it to his teammate. Unbeknownst to him, someone from the other team comes from behind and strips the ball from his hands.
"Yes!" Austin shouts, pumping his arm in the air, ecstatic at making the clever play on his brother-in-law. "Our ball!" He smacks five with his other brother-in-law, Ben, while Grant groans in defeat.
"How do you do that, man? You're like a ninja!" He asks Austin, voice laced with curiosity.
"A magician never reveals his secrets," Austin confesses with a shrug.
The game continues across the large front yard with Austin's team scoring another touchdown, putting Grant's team behind.
"Hayley! Hayley, come here!" Grant says, calling over his niece. "You want to help me?" She wasn't officially playing the game, but at the idea of being included, Hayley smiles wide and nods at her uncle. "Okay, here's what you're going to do." The two share a secret conversation before the team is lined up for another play. Hayley stands by her uncle's side, ready for her job.
"Red, 21! Red, 21! Set, hike!" Grant calls, catching the ball and faking as if he were to throw it. Instead, he passes it to Hayley. As he blocks for her, the girl runs the ball down the field. She dodges players and hears everyone watching yelling at her to run.
"Touchdown!" her cousin Trey calls as she reaches the garden hose marking the endzone.
Hayley jumps up and down, screaming in excitement. She high-fives everyone on her team and jumps into Grant's arms when he comes to her.
"You did it! You did it!" he cheers, tossing the girl into the air and then flipping her upside down. Hayley shrieks with laughter, and when Grant lays her down, Hayley's sweater picks up the dead grass.
"I can't believe you did that!" Austin teases, going to his daughter and pushing her back down into the grass, ticking her until she again shrieks with laughter. "You're playing for the enemy!"
"No! Uncle Grant told me it was a trick on you!" Hayley confesses.
"Yeah, a trick to score on me! Whose team are you on anyway?"
"I don't know," Hayley shrugs. "I just like playing."
Austin laughs loud at that, helping his daughter up and running with her to rejoin the game.
"Simon! Simon, did you see? I scored!" Hayley calls to her older brother, who was in the bathroom and missed the play.
"No fair! Uncle Grant! That's cheating!" Simon says.
"Yeah, you tell him, dude!" Austin encourages.
"Well, why don't we settle things like men?" Grant asks, poised to (jokingly) fight his nephew and brother-in-law.
"There will be no settling things like men! Food's ready," Grant's wife, Sarah, tells them. Every person playing in the game was ordered into the bathroom to wash up before joining the rest of the family at the dinner table.
Dishes are passed around, rolls are tossed across the long table to people asking for them. Austin wouldn't say Christine had a large family- three kids, two parents, a handful of aunts, uncles, and cousins- but it was enough to fill her parent's house with noise and love.
"I heard you and Grant were gonna duke it out?" Christine asks her husband as she tends to their youngest son who was eagerly eating the bits of food his mom set on the tray of his high chair.
"Nah, we were just playing," Austin laughs. "No more bread until you eat your turkey, Simon," He says across the table to his oldest. The boy pouts but follows directions.
"Remember the last time you two 'played'?"
"Hey, he cheated! And, I was only in a sling for a few weeks, it wasn't so bad!"
Christine rolls her eyes; her husband and brother were going to give her an aneurysm one day, that she was sure of.
Finn…
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"Put this one on that foot," Finn directs kneeling before her son, touching the tiny cowboy boot to the corresponding foot. Bodhi slips the shoe on and then reaches for the match.
"Are you ready to go?" Deacon asks through the open garage door.
"Yeah!" Bodhi cheers, jumping up and rushing off towards the black pickup truck parked out in the driveway.
"Don't go in the street!" Deacon calls after the toddler, rolling his eyes at his wife. "That kid is a magnet for mischief. We better go." He sees Finn struggling to get up and loops a hand under her arm to help her.
"Thanks," Finn sighs, rubbing at the tense muscle in her hip. One struggle for her during pregnancy was the added weight and pressure on her hips. And this pregnancy seemed to be worse than her first in that area.
"Come on," he says, leaving his hand on her arm as they walk together. He clicks the lock and leaves her as she rounds to the passenger side. She helps Bodhi climb into his seat and soon, they are on the highway headed to his family's ranch.
Not ten minutes into their journey, Bodhi is fast asleep, his head resting against his carseat. She falls asleep not long after, and evidently it's a deep sleep because she's jolted awake by the truck bumping along the gravel driveway of Deacon's family's cattle ranch.
"Sorry," Deacon soothes, a hand on her arm. "I wanted to wake you up sooner, but you looked so peaceful and you were doing that cute little snoring thing; I didn't want to ruin it."
"I don't snore," Finn defends, offended at even the thought of it.
"Baby, I've known you for nearly a decade, and have been sleeping next to you for about as long. Trust me: you snore."
"Rude," Finn scoffs, pouting for her husband. Deacon, seeing past her ploy, leans over and offers a kiss, to which she takes and then gives him two back. They reach the top of the bluff that overlooks the property, and find a spot among the many cars parked near the large farmhouse.
They don't even reach the top of the wooden steps leading to the wide front porch before Deacon is stolen by some cousins, and Bodhi gets scooped up by one of his many aunties. Finn easily finds Maxine and joins the conversation she's having with her mom and an aunt Finn can never remember the name of.
Talk comes easy, and full of laughter. Drinks are opened, and other people come and go from their little trio. It's nearly two hours later when Finn realizes she hasn't heard from her son. Not one bit of noise.
"Hey, where's my kid?" She asks, looking around the room, laughing along with everyone else.
The amazing thing about large families is that someone is always watching the kids, and that same someone usually has a cell phone on them. Using that logic, it is quickly discovered that Bodhi is being looked after by his cousins and Finn should not worry.
She doesn't see either of her boys until the call for dinner rings through the house and everyone lines up for the buffet. She catches Deacon's eyes across the room and smiles at him, and a moment later he appears at her side with a kiss to her cheek. With their kid being looked after by cousins and aunties, Finn and Deacon manage to sit next to each other and actually eat their entire meal. And, better yet: engage in adult conversation with other adults.
Instead of the traditional pie for dessert, a birthday cake is served to celebrate a handful of cousins all born within that week.
As darkness falls over the ranch, she finds herself standing out on the porch waving as a caravan of cars drive off.
"Mama!" Her son's shout makes her smile and she helps as he's lifted over the railing and into her arms.
"There you are! Did you have fun with your cousins?"
"Yeah! We played and I went on the big swing! It was like this-" he says, using sound effects and theatrical gestures to describe the swing in question.
"Wow, that sounds like fun!" Finn smiles. "But, I'm afraid we have to leave soon."
Once they make their round of goodbyes, and collect Deacon from the large firepit erected out back, the family makes one last stop at the memorial set up to honor the one year anniversary of the passing of Deacon's grandfather, Papaw Joe. They take a moment to pay their respects to the patriarch and are soon back in the car and crunching back down the long driveway.
They don't even reach the main road before Bodhi is asleep again, and have barely gotten on the highway when Finn sucombs to sleep too.
Kate…
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She has a belly full of good food and good wine, is cuddled close to her husband, and has a sleeping baby on her chest. If this isn't what paradise feels like, she wonders what is.
For the first time in months, Kate feels relaxed and happy. The parade that morning was amazing; she felt liek a kid again, and it reminded her about what was important.
Her work would always be a part of who she was, but being there, in her mother-in-law's apartment surrounded by her family, Kate recognized that they were just as equally a part of her.
"Hey," she whispers to Castle. When he looks at her with that crooked grin she first fell in love with all those years ago, she has to swallow back a sudden rush of emotion. "Thank you. For today, for these past few months. Thank you."
He links their hands and bows his head to steal a kiss. "Always," he answers. "You're not giving him back, are you?"
Kate rubs a hand over Calvin's back. "Nope, never," she smiles.
"You're gonna have to give him back eventually. He's gotta eat and sleep."
"He can do that perfectly fine right here," Kate argues playfully. "We can give him a bottle."
Castle laughs at that; saw no flaw in her logic. "You have to eat and sleep."
"Agian: I can do that perfectly fine right here."
"What about work? You'll have to go in at some point."
Oh yeah. That. Such a killjoy, her husband.
"You had to bring that up, huh?" She starts, looking up at him with a sullen look. "Fine, you win. But come March: he's all mine," she isists, kissing her grandson's downy soft head. The baby stirs,wiggling into a better position, but quickly drops off again.
"I can handle that," he smiles.
"Hear that, Mia? March: I'm stealing him," Kate calls to her daughter, pointing to the baby.
"Fine by me," Mia shrugs. "I'll be more than ready for a break by then.
"Can I come?" Jaycee interjects. She loved going on adventure with her grandparents, and scampered over to them to restate her question.
"Me too!" Emilia shouts.
"I think that can be arranged," Kate says, cupping Jaycee's face a smacknig a kiss to her cheek. "Go get me a cookie." When she returns, Kate breaks it in half and hands one to her granddaughter.
Off his indignant squawks, Kate breaks her half in half and gives it to Castle.
"Spoiled baby," she jokes, looking up at him with sparkling eyes.
"You love me," he says.
"Yeah, mostly." She waits a beat before looking up at his offended face. Laughing, she kisses him, trailing a hand over his neck as they part.
The small apartment isn't quiet for long after that, though.
Kate's phone rings back to back for the next hour with phone and video calls from her other kids wishing her, and Rick, a happy Thanksgiving.
Alexis, who was stuck at work, was looking for comfort and noise. It was clear she was missing her family badly that night. She and Kate talk for a bit over the exciting news of McKenna's first pregnancy and the shock of the first great-great-grandchild to be born. Her young nieces provided plenty of noise and fast-passed conversation, and the call ended with a happier Alexis and a promise of a trip to see her soon from her dad and step-mom.
Danielle, seeking refuge from Ashley's big and loud family, called to check in and to see her newest nephew again. Her three kids were too busy playing with their cousins to spare more than a quick hello to their grandparents and aunt and uncle before rushing off again; though Ashley stays to chat for a few minutes. Danielle lets them go; the excitement of a trip out to New York for Christmas ends the call on a high note.
Finn calls from stuck in traffic on the highway as they drive home from Deacon's family's ranch; red tail lights illuminate her face on the video call. She fills them in on all the details of the big and beautiful lunch his mom, aunts, and grandmother put together and lets them know how her pregnancy was going. She chats with her grandparents and sister, and, since he was there, her brother about how the editing of the photographs for her newest cookbook was going. As their conversation grows longer, Kate hands Liam the phone and watches as he takes it into the kitchen, excitedly talking with his sister.
"Why do you think they called you and not me?" Castle muses, holding up his phone which showed no sign of call or text.
"Because you never answer your phone, babe. It's always on silent! And they know they can get a hold of me," Kate responds, giggling.
Once a self-proclaimed technology guru, Richard Castle had formed a habit of leaving his phone in unoccupied rooms, or on silent where he wouldn't hear a notification if he tried.
"Oh, yeah," Rick grumbles.
"But, we still love you," Kate says, stealing a kiss.
A/N: Edit. If you saw this chapter before, no you didn't. I'm just quietly sliding in here to fix a few things and add a few things. Carry on. You saw nothing ;)