59. Open it

X~~~X

"It's beautiful," Kate breathed, staring at the sparkling lights on the Christmas tree, while she sat on the couch, leaning against Castle whose fingertips were running patterns on her forearm.

The tree sparkled in red and gold in front of her, looking surprisingly simple in the otherwise opulently decorated loft. And even though Kate had told Castle his decorations were a bit over the top for her taste she couldn't help but admire the Christmas Wonderland he had created for them, the highlight definitely being the toy train that circled the living room with loads of cookies on its wagons.

"It is," he smiled against the top of her head, where he had rested his chin. "The girls did a great job."

Kate turned in his arms to look at him, "You did a great job," she said, knowing it must have mainly been his doing, considering the size of the tree and the rest of the tremendous decorations. She leant up with a sigh to kiss him softly. "Sorry, I missed all the fun."

"Hey," he nudged her nose gently with his, "You'll be here for the important parts, the famous Castle Christmas Eve Dinner, Christmas Day Gift Massacre and my special Christmas Punch. You guys are staying here over the holidays, right? You're not going back to your apartment?" He asked the question he had dreaded to ask ever since she had come through the door three hours earlier.

Jamie and Kate had spent most of their time over the past weeks at the loft, but Kate had made it a point to stay at her own apartment for one or two days a week and he just wanted to make sure they wouldn't disappear during the holidays.

But Kate shook her head, "We're all yours," she grinned sheepishly, a note of something darker lacing her voice as she settled back into his arms and Castle wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Well in that case I'm looking forward to celebrate in our own special way, just the two of us, after the kids are in bed." He smirked, his eyes darkening.

She blushed, smiling almost shyly back at him, "Me too, you know - I missed you, I missed us."

The past days had been rather hectic for Kate who had been involved in another major homicide investigation and due to her involvement they hadn't seen much of each other over the past week. When Kate had made it home to the loft after all at a reasonable time, she had been too tired to do much more than kissing the girls goodnight or reading them a story before she would fall asleep right afterwards in Castle's bed or even on the couch. And then she would get up at the crack of dawn to make breakfast and wake Jamie and Alexis, before leaving for work again.

But they had solved the case early this morning and now she was off duty until New Year's and nothing would come in the way of celebrating their first Christmas as a family.

"My own special gift unwrapping," Castle sighed delightedly behind her, as his mind obviously had travelled to less innocent thoughts, before he returned his attention to Kate, "How did your meeting with Montgomery go by the way?", he asked and watched her sit up straight to face him, leaving his embrace with a smile on her face and a sparkle in her eyes.

"Clasterfield is retiring," she said, her smile widening, "so there will be a Detective position opening up by the end of February and Montgomery wants me to apply for it."

"Kate," he gasped, "that is amazing."

"I'll take the test right after New Year's and if everything works out I could become the youngest female Detective at the NYPD ever." The thought still terrified her slightly.

Castle looked at her in awe before pulling her close, "I'm so proud of you," he mumbled into her neck. "You're gonna be amazing."

"Thank you," she sighed happily, holding on tight until he pulled away to thoroughly kiss her on the lips, leaving her breathless and her blood thrumming through her body.

"Take me to bed, Castle," she whispered and didn't have to ask twice for him to pick her up and carry her into the bedroom.

When Kate woke the next morning Castle's side of the bed was empty and cold, which after a glance at the alarm clock was unusual for this hour of the day. She stretched her limbs and with a sigh she pushed down the covers and got out of bed, grabbing her robe as she walked out into the living room where she spotted him in the kitchen.

"You're up early," she observed, crossing the distance between them to lean over the counter and kiss him good morning, feeling strangely excited all of a sudden.

Christmas had never meant much to Kate ever since her mother died, and though she had tried to make it special for Jamie over the past years, Kate had never been thrilled about it anymore, had lost that magic feeling she had associated with the holidays for so many years. But this year was different, this year she felt like the magic might come back.

"I have so much to prepare for our Christmas dinner tonight," Castle said stepping around the counter, pulling her close and out of her thoughts, "plus I have to run some last minute errands later."

"Need any help?" Kate asked, studying the various ingredients she found sprawled out on the kitchen counter, but Castle shook his head.

"Not right now, maybe later," he smiled.

"Okay," she nodded, "then I'll go take a shower, before the little monsters upstairs wake up."

Castle laughed, Christmas might have their daughters a bit overly excited and had turned them into quite a force when it came to the matter, "See you later," he smirked, smacking her ass as she turned to head back toward his bedroom, which she rewarded with a saucy look over her shoulder.

She sauntered off, her hips swinging more than usual and strictly for his benefit and she wasn't surprised at all when he joined her under the shower just minutes later.

"What about dinner preparations," she panted as his fingers travelled down her wet body.

"Dinner can wait, this is more urgent," he smirked, before causing her to gasp and all thoughts of dinner preparations were momentarily forgotten.

The day went by in a jolly rush, Alexis and Jamie making sure again and again that their parents had everything ready for Santa Claus' arrival during the night, while Castle tried to get the final touches done on their dinner before his mother arrived.

"You have the milk, Dad?" Alexis asked, already opening the fridge.

"Yep," he nodded, rolling his eyes. This was the fourth time his daughter checked.

"Cookies, Daddy?" Jamie chimed in, standing in front of him with big eyes and bopping pigtails.

"Cookies too, yes Jamie," he sighed, glancing over at Kate who seemed to be very amused by the scene as she kept glancing over at them while setting the table.

Thankfully Castle was saved from any further questioning by the doorbell as both his girls ran off to let in their grandmother who kept both of them occupied until Castle announced that dinner was ready and they all gathered around the dining room table.

Making sure Jamie could manage her food on her own, Castle placed only small pieces on her plate before settling down at Kate's side and filling his own plate with meat and vegetables. Kate meanwhile filled his glass and brushed a kiss to his cheek as she sat the bottle of red wine back down.

"Thanks for dinner," she whispered, leaning back into her seat and catching Martha's warm smile.

The matron raised her glass, waiting for Richard and Kate to follow her example before she spoke, "To the great addition to our family." She smiled broadly at all of them, knowing that her son had finally found what he had been looking for all those years.

"To family," Castle answered his mother's toast and then watched Kate do the same, her eyes beaming up at him before landing on their daughters.

"And to the best Christmas ever," Castle added, after bathing in the feeling of completeness for a moment.

"Presents?" Jamie suddenly asked, a hopeful expression on her face after her father had mentioned the magic word, causing them all to laugh.

"No Baby Bird," Kate said, placing a kiss on top of her daughter's head, "you'll have to wait until tomorrow. Santa hasn't been here yet," she explained with a warm smile on her face and watched Jamie nod.

"Cookies," she mumbled to herself as if this explained everything to her before digging back into the food in front of her, her parents exchanging an amused look.

After they finished dinner they all gathered around the Christmas tree to place the final ornament on it, the Christmas Angel, usually Alexis' job but this year she was determined to let Jamie do it.

Making sure Alexis really was okay with giving up the honor of placing the angel on the tree,Castle placed Jamie on top of his shoulder and directed her while his older daughter watched them, snuggled into Kate's side.

Afterwards they settled down on the couch, Jamie and Alexis between their parents, hot chocolate and marshmallows in front of them while they listened to Martha reading from A Christmas Carol, another Castle tradition that Jamie and Kate were introduced to. As much as Kate would have loved for Castle to read to them, since she loved his baritone, she had to admit that Martha had a unique way of letting the characters come to life and capture them all in the well known story.

It was late when they finally carried the girls up the stairs to put them to bed, followed by Martha who would stay in the guestroom for the night and it was way past midnight when Castle finally turned off the lights in the kitchen and walked over to join Kate beneath the Christmas tree.

"Hey," he smiled, wrapping his arms around her from behind and pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

"Hey yourself," she grinned back, snuggling into his embrace and then watched him reaching for the milk and cookie on the window sill, taking a big bite from the cookie and swallowing it down with half of the glass of milk.

"Everything set?" he asked, looking down at the presents Kate had placed under the tree while he had finished up in the kitchen.

"Yep, all presents are out here," she nodded and then looked at him, slightly nervous. "All but this one."

She held up an envelope, with a red ribbon around it and Castle looked at her confused.

"Technically it's already Christmas Day, right?" She shrugged, waiting for him to take it.

"I guess, yes," he nodded tentatively. "You really want me to open it now?"

"Castle, I'd never thought I would have to convince you to open a present," Kate looked at him and he had expected for her to be amused but she still looked anxious.

"It's just, you look so nervous," he gulped, taking the envelope from her hands.

"I am," she admitted, "Just open it, please."

"Okay, okay," he let his hand run through his hair, before tentatively unwrapping the ribbon and opening the envelope.

With a deep sigh he unfolded the piece of paper he had pulled out and started to read, his eyes shooting up when he realized what he was holding in his hands, "Kate," he stuttered, glancing back down at the piece of paper in his hand and back up at her.

"You said anytime," she whispered, unsure if she really did the right thing without talking to him first.

"I did," he nodded and then she watched the biggest smile blossoming on his face. "So this is real?"

"If you'll take us in," she shrugged. "Otherwise we'll have to live on the streets because my lease ends on December 31st."

"No, never," he exclaimed, staring at the confirmation later of her landlord he held in his hands before looking at her in wonder, "You're really moving in with us?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Kate," he gasped and then she was wrapped up in his arms, his lips crushing down on hers. "Best Christmas present ever," he mumbled in between kisses, pushing Kate into the direction of his, no, their bedroom.

His hands fumbled with the rim of her shirt, pulling it over her head and throwing it carelessly into a corner of his office, where he pressed her up against one of his bookshelves, kissing down her chest.

Kate moaned, her hands grabbing his hair as his lips descended further down her body.

"Castle," she gasped and he took the cue, picking her up and letting her wrap her legs around him as he carried her towards their bed.

Her fingers tugged on his shirt, "You're overdressed," she groaned frustrated as he put her gently down on the bed.

He moved away from her, smirking, "That can be helped," he muttered as he ripped his shirt apart, buttons flying all over the place, causing Kate to laugh at his antics.

She pulled him back down, pushing the shirt off his shoulders and then ordered him to take his pants of as well.

As they lay together later, their legs tangled under the covers, her head resting on his chest, Castle couldn't help but ask again, "You're really moving in?"

He heard her chuckle, her lips pressing against his chest, "Yes Castle, we're really moving in."

"We only have a week," he mumbled, "How long do you think we need to pack everything up at your place?"

"Two days, maybe," she replied. "We could ask Lanie and Esposito if they can help us for a day or two with moving things over to the loft."

"Yeah," he nodded, "we should do that."

They were quiet for a while until she felt him stir under her before he tentatively spoke her name, "Kate?"

She lifted her head to look at him, "Mmm?"

"Thank you," he smiled at her and there was only one reply she could give him.

"Always."

X~~~X

AN: Sorry, it took me slightly longer than I promised. I had to get back on track. ;-)