"Oh, Alexis! My sweet girl, what are you doing here?" Martha exclaims, hurrying from her place by the tree to sweep his daughter into a hug.

Alexis sets the gift bags in her arms on the floor, her blue eyes bright but cold like glass, and flicking between both Castle and Beckett even as she returns her grandmother's embrace.

"Pumpkin," Castle smiles despite the tension, squeezing Kate's hip as he crosses the room to engulf Alexis in a hug. She hugs him back, but she's watching Kate over his shoulder. "What a perfect surprise!"

"Yeah, definitely lots of surprises happening today," his daughter agrees, shrugging a carry-on backpack from her shoulders. "I didn't want to spend Christmas away from you and Gram."

"But… what about Ashley and all your plans?" Castle inquires, his brow dipping in concern.

Kate watches Alexis's gaze fall to the floor, her pale pink lips pursing for a moment before she exhales a breath.

"We broke up," she announces. "So the last thing I wanted was to spend Christmas in California alone. Or with mom."

"Oh dear," Martha says under her breath, rubbing Alexis's back with her mobile hand.

"No, no definitely not," Castle frowns, squeezing her into another hug. This time, Alexis closes her eyes, lets her dad hold her tight. "Well, I'm just glad you're here safe and sound."

"We all are," Martha coos, stroking fingers through Alexis's blazing red hair, shorter now and falling just past her shoulders. "Oh, this is shaping up to be a wonderful Christmas."

Castle is smiling when he looks back to Kate, practically hiding beside the tree, but she can read the hesitation in his eyes, the same worry she has that his daughter won't accept her.

"Alexis," Kate greets, stepping forward with a tentative smile. "It's good to see you again."

Alexis's chest rises with a sharp inhale Kate can see even through the thickness of the girl's coat.

"Detective Beckett," Alexis nods. "I didn't expect to see you again. Especially not with my dad."

"I - I didn't necessarily expect to see your dad again either. Not here, anyway," Kate confesses, hooking her thumb in the cashmere sleeve of the sweater she's pulled past her knuckles. "But I'm glad I did."

Alexis raises her eyebrows. "Are you?"

"Alexis," Castle murmurs, but his daughter doesn't shift her gaze from Kate.

"I am," Kate nods, deciding to rise to whatever challenge is occurring here. Alexis is Castle's world and she respects that, but she also was not going to scare easy because Alexis resented her. She would fix this, even if it took time and discomfort. She would do it for him. "I wish it happened sooner. I wish I had found him again sooner, made things right."

"So you could drag him back into the crosshairs quicker, you mean."

"Hey, that's not fair," Castle cuts in, frowning at Alexis in a show of rare disappointment. "Kate didn't drag me into anything."

"That's not going to happen again," Kate says firmly, nails digging into her palms. "I won't risk him."

Alexis scoffs, but she looks sincerely saddened by the words she says next. "Like you can control that."

"No, but I'm going to try. I'm going to be more careful, I'm going to do everything in my power to keep him safe, just like he's always done for me," she vows, willing herself to keep her attention on Alexis, refraining from allowing her eyes to drift to Rick. "I made a lot of mistakes, Alexis, but I'm doing everything I can to be more than them. For myself, for your dad, and for the people we both care about."

The room is painfully silent, held breaths between mother and son and blazing stares between Kate and Alexis. It's his daughter who finally blinks, nodding slowly and easing past Rick, her voice a near whisper when she speaks again.

"He makes you happy?"

Castle shifts uncomfortably, clearly catching the words.

"He does," Kate confirms, unfurling her fingers at her side, allowing the tension in her knuckles to dissipate. "I love him."

Alexis's eyebrows raise, lips parting. Startled. But the ice in her eyes melts, softening to a beautiful cerulean that matches her father's, allowing Kate to witness the smallest glimpse of acceptance.

"Okay," Alexis appraises, the corner of her mouth twitching ever so slightly. "Then I hope you know what you signed up for."

Kate tilts her head in question.

"This is your first Christmas with him. We may not be home, but he's still going to go all out," she warns, a teasing glint to her eye, the dimple in her cheek making an appearance.

Kate smiles, her chest expanding with relief. When she looks up, she sees her expression reflected in Castle's before his gaze darts to the back of Alexis's head. And then he's sneaking up behind her, hooking arms around her waist and lifting her feet from the floor.

"Dad!"

"You have to add your snowman to the family we made outside!" he declares, carrying Alexis to the front door even as she kicks and giggles, dropping her purse and clinging to his arms. "While we still have daylight!"

They disappear through the front door of the cabin and Martha casts her gaze to Kate across the room.

"You did good, kiddo," she praises, extending her good arm out for Kate.

Beckett sighs and steps into Martha's embrace, feeling the older woman's thin arm cinch tight around her waist.

"You were open, honest, vulnerable - just what that girl needed to hear."

"I just told her the truth, Martha. I don't want to leave my relationship with Rick open to interpretation anymore," she murmurs, leaning into the warmth of his mother, the comforting scent of her perfume.

"The truth requires courage," his mother states, patting Kate's hip. "And you, my dear, are one of the bravest people I know."

She doesn't agree, but decides not to point out the past year of cowardice, accepting Martha's compliment with a returning squeeze of her hand.


Castle wakes her on Christmas Eve morning with his body at her back, warm and curved around her. He's learned over time that she tends to curl around him in the night, often waking to her chest hot at his spine, her arms tight at his ribs and her palms draped at his stomach. He should have known Beckett would be the 'big spoon'.

But he slipped out of bed earlier this morning to check on Alexis, worried about her after the mention of her breakup with Ashley, her confrontation with Kate, and even the time change. She woke when he snuck a peek into her and his mother's now shared room, smiling sleepily from the hole in her comforter that her face was peeking through.

"Can't handle New York winters anymore, huh, Pumpkin?" he teased her when she tiptoed out of the room to sit by the fireplace with him.

"Hey, I've been back in New York during the winter plenty of times in the last year, way more than you," she volleyed back, curling her knees to her chest and burrowing into his side.

Castle bundled her up against him like she was still his little girl.

"Are you okay?" he asked her more seriously.

"Not really." Her shoulders heaved a sigh beneath his arm. "But ask me tomorrow."

"What happened?" he pressed instead.

Alexis shrugged, tangling her fingers in the side of his robe. "Ash and I haven't really been on the same page for months now. I loved who we were in high school, but the longer we've been at Stanford… the more I just felt like we became totally different people. The idea of spending Christmas in Utah with his family honestly sounded horrible… I figured it was time."

"Poor guy," Castle murmured, earning the sharp turn of Alexis's head. "He lost the smartest girl in the world."

His daughter relaxed against him, a small grin on her lips. "Meanwhile, your love life definitely took a turn."

"It… did," Castle nodded, receiving a quiet laugh in response.

"I can worry about you and be happy for you at the same time, you know."

"That's fair," he conceded. "But I hope the worry will recede soon. Kate is… in this, Alexis. I know it must seem sudden, kind of crazy, but-"

"She loves you," Alexis finished for him, shifting on her side to stare up at him with those wide doe eyes. "And you love her. But what about everything else?"

Castle brushed back the fiery red fringe of her bangs. "Sometimes that's all there is. Anything else, we take it as it comes. Deal with it together."

Alexis nodded slowly, processing the words.

"And it's enough?"

"For me, it is."

Alexis nestled closer, dropping her head to his chest and hugging him tightly. "Then I'm happy for you. Both of you."

He hugs Kate a little tighter at the memory, brushing a kiss to the back of her neck that makes her shiver.

"Castle," she grumbles, rotating on her side and cuddling into him. "You're warm."

He massages his fingers along her scalp, listening to the low hum of contentment in her throat. "I've been up putting the finishing touches on decorating. I was going to ask you… would you and your dad want to have Christmas dinner with us tonight?"

Her lashes flicker against his throat as she blinks, waking herself and drawing her head back just enough to see him.

"You're sweet," she says with a gentle smile, one he knows is an attempt to soften whatever blow she's about to deliver. "But my dad typically tries to get through the holidays, not celebrate them."

"What about you?" he asks, stroking the hair from her cheek. "Will you… can we…"

Kate shifts onto her elbows and leans over him, pressing a chaste but reassuring kiss to his lips. "I'm probably going to head back to the cabin today, spend some time with my dad when he gets into town, but I was hoping to spend tomorrow with you."

He brightens at that.

"Ooh, instead of waiting for Santa, I'll be-"

Kate crawls over him, clapping a hand to his mouth. "Don't finish that sentence."

He pouts, but brackets the points of her hips with his palms, draws his fingers up the smooth flesh of her back.

"Alexis and my mother are out buying cookie dough for some baking later."

"Yeah?" she grins, her spine bowing under his hands as she lowers her body to hover above his. "In that case, let me give you an early Christmas gift now."

Castle gasps in surprise, but she covers his mouth with her own, staining laughter against his lips.


She's still flushing on the drive home, the grin on her lips damn near permanent. She feels idiotic, like a teenager in love for the first time, and she wonders when it will fade, when this wonderful and new sensation of being with him will find a baseline. For now, though, she tries not to think too far ahead and instead, enjoy the holiday season with him and his family.

She helped Alexis decorate the first batch of cookies before she left for the afternoon, sculpting intricate designs of icing with his daughter while Castle simply used a thick coating of red and black frosting for his 'Ninjabread Men'. He promised to save her one to have with her coffee tomorrow morning.

Kate pulls into the driveway of her dad's cabin expecting untouched layers of snow to coat the porch, the lawn, the drive, but after nearly a week away, she notices the faint tread of tire tracks in the snow. Her first thought is that her dad must be here; it's Christmas Eve and the more he worries about her, the more likely he is to come down sooner.

But her dad drives an older model truck when he's not in the city. The tires she sees in her driveway don't match what she knows his to look like and there's no vehicle in sight.

"Detective Beckett." Kate stills at the unfamiliar voice, the touch of cold metal to her spine. "My name is Caleb Brown. It's nice to finally meet you. My superior, Mason, will be along shortly. He wanted to watch."

Kate swallows hard, holding her empty hands up from her sides. Her heart is ricocheting in her chest and she can feel the cold sweat of a panic attack pooling at the base of her neck.

"Watch?"

"This is the end, Detective. He wants to witness your end."