Five Years in the Life

A/N: Here is the official end of Five Years in the Life. I hope you have enjoyed this little holiday story. As always, the preview of the next installment- Four Letter Words- is at the end of this chapter. I do have an idea for a bonus chapter for this story (year 2017) if you all are interested. Let me know. As always, you all are awesome and I love to hear from you. Reviews are love!

Merry Christmas everyone! (if you don't celebrate Christmas, please don't take offense, I merely want to wish you well!) :)

Chapter 7: Christmas 2012

"I can't believe it was actually Santa!"

Kate looked over at her partner, as they made their way through the lobby of the 12th to her sedan parked on at the curb. He was still shaking his head in disbelief. There were six days before Christmas and they had just closed their final case before Kate started her week long vacation. Elves had been turning up dead all over the city. In the end, it came out that Chris Cringle, the head Santa of a rent-a-Santa company had changed his name from John Murphy years before to cover up his past convictions of child molestation. The elves had found out and had proceeded to blackmail him until he had had enough and decided to just kill them all.

"I hate fake Santas. Always have," she stated in reply. "I refused to sit on his lap as a kid after I figured out that Santa wasn't real. Just the idea of sitting on some stranger's lap creeped me out. Our kids will never go near a mall Santa."

Castle's laughter died as he froze on the sidewalk and stared at her. Kate looked back over her should to find him standing motionless yards behind her. "What's wrong, Castle?"

"You said our kids would never sit on Santa's lap."

Kate stared at him, confused. "Yeah, so? After this do you really think it would be a good idea?"

"Kate, you said our kids. You want to have kids with me?"

It was Kate's turn to freeze as her eyes grew to twice their normal size. She had just said that, hadn't she? "Yeah, I guess I do."

She let out a squeal as Castle lunged at her and picked her up to spin around in a circle.

"Castle, put me down!"

"Come on," he said as her feet hit the ground once more and he grabbed her hand effectively dragging her the last few feet to the car.

"Where are we going?" She asked as she struggled to dig out her keys and hit the unlock button with her free hand.

"Home," he replied. "There is a very comfortable bed waiting there for us."

Kate let out a shocked laugh, "When I said I wanted kids with you, I didn't mean now."

"I know," he responded, pulling her in for a kiss. "That doesn't mean we can't practice, though."

Kate smiled up at him as his lips brushed over hers. "I like practicing."

Kate ran her hand lazily through Rick's hair as he lay, cradled between her legs, with his head on her belly. He let out a content sigh and she shivered as his breath made its way though the thin barrier of the sheet to her naked skin underneath. She pulled her hand back through his hair and grinned softly as it stuck up at jagged angles. He looked like a little kid when she did that. It was cute. Her other arm curled under her head, propping it up, as she stared down at him, meeting his bright blue eyes with hers.

"Hi."

"Hey," he replied quietly as he ran his hands up her thighs, bringing them under his chin allowing him to look up at her more easily.

"My Kate," he mumbled softly and her hand stilled as she raised a single eyebrow at him.

"Excuse me? I'm you're what?"

Castle chuckled softly. "Not like that. I know better than to try to possess you and you're feminist ideals."

She brought her hand down to flick his ear lightly and bit her lip to suppress a smile as he growled in indignation.

"I simply meant that…" Castle paused, trying to find a way to explain. "No, there is a story I need to tell you for this to make sense."

He wiggled his boxer-clad hips a little bit, snuggling deeper into the bed. Adjusting his arms across her stomach, he effectively propped up his head in a more comfortable position.

Kate laughed at the process, her belly shaking underneath him. "You better now?"

"Much."

"Ready to tell me that story?"

"Story? Oh, yeah. Well, once upon a time, there was a ruggedly handsome young man named Rick."

"Ruggedly handsome, really?" Kate interrupted, her eyebrow quirked in emphasis of her skepticism.

"Yes, ruggedly handsome. Now, hush, you're ruining the story magic that I am weaving. So, where was I? Oh, yes, Rick had just published his first book and had decided to visit his favorite comic book store to celebrate his recent success."

"Ugh, I don't believe this," Kate groaned as her hand left Rick's head to run it over her eyes.

Castle glared up at her for a minute and she crinkled her nose at him in response. "As I was saying, before I was once again rudely interrupted, at this store— a magical shop named Comicadia— he came across the boy who worked the counter. His name was Jimmy… Jimmy something or other, I forget his last name, and Jimmy was head over heels in love with this girl. Now, Rick had seen the girl on this particular day. He remembered her because she had bought his book."

Kate's brow furrowed as she listened to the story. Wait…

"This particular day, Rick tried to talk Jimmy out of his crush. The girl was gawky, awkward: braces, acne, flat as a pancake. But Jimmy told Rick how much he was in love with her. He thought she was the center of the world. He called her extraordinary and coincidentally, her name was Kate. So, therefore, my dear Katherine, you are my Kate because you are the center of my world and you are extraordinary."

He looked up at her, expecting to be met with an eye roll at his sappy story only to find her staring at the wall behind him with a soft smile on her face.

"Jimmy Collins."

"What?" Castle's confusion continued to grow with her grin.

"Jimmy Collins was the name of the kid that worked at Comicadia."

Castle lifted his head to get a better view of her face. "How do you know that?"

"I was that girl. Jimmy's Kate." Kate said through her grin.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I am so serious. I bought A Rose for Ever After from Comicadia when I was fifteen. Jimmy Collins was my friend and he worked there."

Castle stared up at her. No way. "Wow… that is amazing."

He continued to stare up at her and it was Kate's turn to squirm. "What?"

"I am just so happy that you pulled an ugly duckling," he laughed up at her.

Kate propped herself up on her elbows as her jaw dropped open and her eyes widened. "I know I had a decently bad awkward phase, but are you telling me that you wouldn't love me if I weren't pretty?"

Rick's laughter died in his throat. Uh oh. "No, no that's not what I am saying. I am simply saying… umm…"

Kate continued to stare down at him, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.

"I love you and you're beautiful inside and out?"

Kate couldn't help but laugh. He looked so cute when he floundering.

"Uh huh, sure."

"I was young and stupid and I didn't understand that people were more than their looks. Forgive me, Kate, please. I would love you even if you were still lanky and awkward."

Kate chuckled again as she tugged on his hair forcing him to crawl up her body. She sighed as his weight pressed down on her and her knees came up to cradle him.

"Shut up and kiss me."

"Yes, ma'am."

Castle drew his lips away from hers a minute later and snuggled down to lay his head against her chest.

"So, did Jimmy Collins ever end up asking you out?"

"Nope. He never did. He fell for someone else. Actually, I never even new that he liked me, until now, that is." Kate smiled as she pressed a kiss to his head.

"Really? That's weird. He was seriously crushing on you." Castle paused, digging through his memory for details of that day. "It wasn't Madison, was it?"

Kate laughter vibrated through her chest and up into his body. "No, it wasn't Madison. It was Rich Jennings."

"Rich?" Castle lifted his head again, startled. "As in Richard?"

Kate nodded in confirmation. "Yup. Jimmy came out when he was seventeen and I was sixteen. He's still one of my best friends, you know. He was at my birthday dinner this year."

Castle's brow furrowed. He would have remembered that. "He was?"

"Yeah, you remember: Jace and Rich. Jimmy got tired of the "little boy name" and started to go by JC about the time he came out. JC eventually got shortened to Jace when he started working on Broadway. He and Rich have been together since high school. Sixteen years," Kate stated, matter of fact.

"Jace. Oh, yeah. Wow, that's Jimmy? He definitely pulled an ugly duckling of his own. Good to know he finally grew into his ears. Ow!" Castle brought his hand up to rub his ear that Kate had just flicked for the second time. Giving her an indignant look as he did. "Well, at least I now know why he was looking at me weird all night."

Kate laughed too, "Yeah, that does explain a couple of things."

"Small world, huh?"

Kate hummed in agreement before she let out another content sigh and ran her hand through his hair once more. "Come on, we need to get some sleep. Alexis will be here bright and early to go skating. Trust me, she's excited."

"Oh, I know. She has always loved ice-skating," Castle replied. His hand splayed over her hip as he rolled off of her and onto the sinfully comfortable mattress. It wasn't nearly as comfortable as his previous position, though. "Oh, did you ever hear back from your Dad? Will he be here for Christmas dinner?"

"Yep, he and Sherry will be here."

"Sherry, really? Is it getting serious?" Rick brought his eyes up to look into hers. He knew her father dating was a tender subject.

"Apparently," Kate replied and rubbed the back of her hand over her eyes at his unasked question. "It's been fourteen years, Castle. I'm okay with my Dad dating. He deserves to be happy."

Rick smiled as he brought a hand up to cradle her face, guiding her face down towards his, gently brushing his lips against hers. "Yeah, he does. You both do."

Castle watched Kate and his daughter glide over the ice, holding hands, as to not lose each other, as they talked and laughed their way around the crowded rink.

"Daddy! Daddy, watch me!" Alexis yelled as she whizzed past him again, gliding effortlessly around the large rink.

Rick watched his daughter and laughed. He couldn't believe it was her first time ice-skating. Alexis wobbled a little bit as she attempted a twirl, but landed with grace, her hands up in the air as she posed. Meredith had just left a couple months before and it was nice to see Alexis smiling and laughing again.

"Daddy, come skate with me!" Five year-old Alexis called out to him.

Rick pushed himself off of the wall and made his way through the thin crowd of people to his daughter. Pulling up beside her he reached out and grabbed her hand, twirling her around him, her giggles brightening the world around them. Wiggling her fingers from his she took off and he skated after her as she raced around the rink singing the wrong words to Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer as her red head bobbed to the beat.

"Daddy, sing with me. Please?" Rick laughed as his daughter slowed down and took his hand in her mitten covered one once more.

As they made their way around the rink, singing Christmas carols at the top of their lungs, Rick knew he could do this. He could raise Alexis on his own.

Rick shook his head as he snapped back to the present. Even though NYU was only minutes away, it seemed like he never got to see his daughter anymore since she had decided to spend her freshman year living in the dorms. Of course, she was still over at the loft all the time, but it wasn't the same. His little girl was growing up.

His eyes scanned the feet of the people passing him, looking for Kate's lime green skates. He shook his head again as he let out a small laugh. He couldn't believe she still had them. She had told him she had gotten them when she was twenty and that they were the most awesome skates she had ever owned. He believed she had actually called them "rock star" skates. Whatever that meant. For some reason, she loved the God awful ugly things. Pierre, his shoe guy, had even commented on them when he had brought all of their skates to be sharpened a few weeks before. Castle had to admit, though, as he saw a streak of florescent green fly past him, they were easy to spot in a crowd.

Castle pushed off of the wall and tapped Kate on the shoulder as he skated up behind his two women.

"May I cut in?"

Kate smiled up at him for a minute before pulling her and Alexis's joined hands up to place the girl's hand in his. "Of course, I will be over on the benches."

Rick watched as Kate skated off, allowing him his much needed father-daughter time. Somehow, she always just knew.

"Oh man, those are awesome skates!"

Kate looked up from her place seated on the wooden bench, where she was attempting to take off her skates, to see woman in her early twenties, with curly brown hair and mocha skin, wearing a Columbia sweatshirt standing above her.

Kate smiled up at her. "Thanks. I love them but most others don't seem to appreciate their awesomeness."

"Well, when I was a kid I bounced around in foster care for a while and one year I got these roller skates for Christmas. It was the best Christmas- I got this giant pile of presents. And the skates were bright green just like those. I loved them, called them my lucky skates. I wore them all the time- in the apartment, in the hallways on the sidewalks. My parents and all the neighbors wanted to kill me, but I refused to take them off. They gave me hope; someone I didn't even know gave them to me. I wore them until I couldn't fit my feet into them anymore. In the end they were held together by duct tape." The girl paused and laughed as Kate stared up at her in wonder.

"I remember I was wearing them when my foster parents told me they wanted to adopt me. That's why they were lucky. Anyway, sorry, I didn't mean to ramble on like that, I just wanted to tell you that I like your skates."

"Oh, it's no problem," Kate paused for a moment, her hands halfway through untying her laces. "You go to Columbia?"

"Yes ma'am. One semester to go until I graduate with my degree in social work."

Kate smiled at her again. "Congratulations. It's a noble profession."

The young woman nodded. "A social worker saved my life. I just want the chance to pass it on."

"Hey, you coming?"

Both Kate and the other woman turned their heads as another girl called out.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute," the young woman responded before turning back to Kate. "I gotta go. It was nice talking to you…"

"Oh, um, Kate."

"Kate. I'm Sophia. It was nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Kate whispered, hands still motionless on her foot, as she stared up at the other woman. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," Sophia called over her shoulder as she teetered over to her group of friends on her skates.

Kate continued to stare over at the other woman long after the group of co-eds made their way onto the ice and Castle plopped down on the bench beside her, his cheeks red from the cold.

"Hey, what's up?" Castle bumped his shoulder into hers, effectively dragging her out of her daze.

"Oh, um, what?"

Rick laughed as he tugged her foot into his lap, continuing to undo the laces on her skate from where she left off. "You were completely zoned out. I called your name like five times."

"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about how small the world really is." Kate smiled softly. "You guys ready to go?"

Castle nodded as he popped the skate off of her foot and tugged her other foot up into his lap to begin working on those laces. "Yep, we still have a bunch of shopping to do."

Kate put her hands on the bench behind her, bracing herself, as she looked at the man sitting in front of her. She studied his blue eyes, the slight crinkles that had grown on his forehead and decorated the corner of his eyes. He had a slight stubble on his cheeks again. His lips pursed slightly as he growled in frustration at the stubborn knot in the lace.

"I love you, you know."

He looked over at her with a smile; his hands paused to lay flat against the bright green leather of her skate. "I love you too, always."

"Forever."

Fin.

Preview: Four Letter Words

Picks up where Six Levels of Hell leaves off.

Love. Hate. Will. Won't. Can't. Hope. Cure. Hurt. Want. Need. Fail. Rise. Fall. Move. Stay. Come. Gone. Feel. Past. Still. Hide. Face. Pass. Bled. Heal. Help. Once. Open. Shut. Wall. Lock. Pick. Near. Away. Push. Pull. Okay. Fine. Save. Rick. Kate.