Ch. 31 Last Christmas

Kate's phone was ringing but she ignored it. It kept ringing and that's when Kate looked at her bedside clock.

"6 A.M.?" She pulled the covers back up and threw her pillow on top of her head. She breathed a sigh of relief when it stopped ringing but then she heard a knock at her door.

"What the?" She tried to ignore that too but it wasn't going away. Finally, surrendering, she got out of bed and made her way to her door.

"Yeah! Yeah! I am coming! Chill!" She wiped her eyes of the previous night and peeped through her viewer. When she saw it was Rick, she was confused.

"What are you doing here?"

"Is that any way to greet me?" He narrowed his eyes at her but then smiled and walked in.

She closed the door and spun back around. Her eyes were droopy and she was half awake.

"Kate? Are you with me?" Rick walked up to her and gently shook her shoulders.

"Barely. Why are you waking me this early?" She flashed her eyes at him and sat down on her bar stool.

"It's Christmas Eve! By the way, nice jammies." He tried to cover up his laugh but he made no achievement.

Kate fully opened her eyes and looked down. "What's wrong with them?" She was wearing a Grinch t-shirt and her Santa, skull boxers.

"No, I mean it. They are cute." He tried to warm his hands and half smiled at her.

"I'll make coffee, now that I am awake. You never did tell me why you felt the need to wake me up so early." She took out two purple coffee cups and turned on her machine.

"It's Christmas Eve!" His eyes got real wide and he shook his head as if that was a tell.

"Yeah. I got that part." She kissed the top of his head and sat back down next to him.

"Well, everyone is coming over my place like we planned. However, Alexis is freaking out that no one will like her. I have tried to say that won't happen but she refuses to listen to me. I was hoping that you could talk to her." He rubbed her knee and his eyebrows perked up.

"So, let me get this straight. You woke me up too early, insulted my jammies, and now you want me to calm Alexis about your party that isn't happening for eleven more hours?" She tilted her head to the right and raised her brows right back at him.

"Well, your place is Christmas ready."

"So is yours. I was there to help get it that way."

"I know and it looks great. I wasn't insulting you by the way. I told you that your jammies were cute."

"You said nice." Kate poured them both coffee and walked to her couch.

Rick followed her into her living room and let his eyes travel around her decorations.

In front of the window was her artificial tree adorned with pink and purple lights. If he was really looking, he would catch a lot of old ornaments. Most of them from her childhood. Her first baby's Christmas ornament, her name ornaments (one with Kathryn, Kat, and Katie Kat), her Alice in Wonderland ornament, all of the Disney Princesses, Tinker Bell, angels, a lot of handmade ones, toy soldiers, nutcrackers, and her ballerina from the time she saw The Nutcracker Ballet. Then, were more recent ones: picture framed ornaments, a police car, Twilight ornaments, a coffee cup, a guitar, a pencil, and the one Alexis got her (a dream catcher), and the one Rick had just got her (a camera). Her mantle was lined with fake snow and held many nutcrackers of all different kinds. Garland was hung anywhere she could get it to go and her tree skirt was her and her dad's favorite one: Santa with a little girl on his lap. The angel at the top of her tree was fairly new. It was a brown haired angel wearing all white.

"I meant cute." He sat next to her and leaned his head on her shoulder.

"What?" She took a sip of her coffee and passed him her annoyed eyes.

"Will you talk to her?"

"Like at this minute?" She took another sip of her coffee then let it just warm her hands.

"No. In a couple of hours. She said that she was going to try to get a nap in." He set down his coffee and rubbed his eyes with the bottoms of his hands.

"How long have you been awake?" She pulled her Santa blanket off the back of the couch and slid it over both of them.

"Since three. I am so tired and there was no way she was letting me sleep so I came here." He nestled his head on her shoulder and cuddled up to her. "So warm." He smiled and his cheeks turned rosy.

"Well, thank you for waking me up." She lost her tone and continued, "I am glad you decided to come here and of course I am warm. I just came from my warm bed."

"Mmhmm." He nodded his head but kept his eyes closed.

Her smile was playful and she finally realized what he was wearing. He was still in his jammies. His red and green flannel jammies looked sexy on him and she wasn't afraid to admit that to herself. She noticed he started to doze off and she let him. She placed her coffee down and cuddled up next to him too. Before she closed her eyes, she saw snow drifting outside.

A white Christmas.

"See. Told you everything would be great." Kate rubbed Alexis's back and Alexis nodded.

"You were right. Sorry for freaking."

"Don't worry about it." Kate left Alexis to talk to Lanie and just stepped back to enjoy the view.

Johanna was sitting on one of Rick's bar stools wearing a nice red sweater with black dress pants. Talking with her was Captain Montgomery and his wife, both of them wearing matching outfits. A few down from them was Kevin and his wife Jenny, talking to Javier. She looked around Rick's living room and stopped on his elaborate Christmas tree. Every colored light possible was on the tree along with every ornament and bulbs you could think of. Wreaths hung on every door and in every window. Garland lined the frames of all the doors and walls. The train he had as a little kid was busy going around the tree. She was so caught up in his display that she didn't notice when he made his way over to her.

"Egg nog?" He handed her a glass. He smiled and took a sip of his own.

"Thanks." She clinked glasses and took a sip herself. She let her eyes speak for herself.

"I love you too." He leaned in and kissed her lightly. "I can't wait till everyone leaves and I can sleep."

She reached over and smacked his red, sleeved shoulder.

"I was not including you. Ouch." He rubbed his shoulder and she laughed at him.

"Don't be a baby." She smiled a little and let him follow her to his couch.

"I just want to say thank you."

"For what?"

"For being here with me this year and easily being the prettiest person here." He looked down at her vintage, green and red, plaid dress. The dress's sleeves went just to her wrist and her black, velvet collar made her look eloquent.

Color rose to her cheeks and she looked down towards her lap.

"I meant it." He lifted her chin with his finger then pulled her in for a kiss.

They were broken from their stare when Alexis shouted, "Presents!"

Everyone was happy over their gifts. Javier loved his watch from Kevin and Jenny. Captain Montgomery immediately slid on Javier's tie. They all laughed when it started to blink. Kate teared up when she opened the locket Lanie gave her to a picture of her and Lanie from when they first became friends. Lanie loved her new pair of pumps that Kate knew she had her eyes on. Johanna cried when she opened her gift from Kate. In the little box was a framed photo of Kate when she was just a baby. She was in Jim's arms. Alexis gave Rick her sober chip. He immediately got up and hugged and kissed his sister. Kate got a book of poems that Alexis had written. She thanked her and told her she couldn't wait to read them all. Johanna gave Kate a book of promises. Kate knew that her mom would stick to every last one she wrote. Rick gave Alexis their mother's wedding ring on a chain. Alexis cried and slid it over her neck. Kate gave Alexis a certificate for piano lessons. Captain Montgomery gave Kevin and Jenny tickets to a Rangers game, which happened to be one of Kevin and Jenny's first dates.

It all turned out to be a great Christmas Eve.

"I am glad it's just you and me all day." Kate smiled when Rick walked through her door.

"Me too. What do you want to do first?" Rick slid off his jacket and as he turned around, Kate jumped in his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist.

She tugged his lips into a kiss and tried to get every bit of him. She pulled her lips off of his and bit her bottom lip.

"So, that?"

She nodded and whispered in his ear, "My Christmas gift takes place in the bedroom."

When he faced her again, he turned his head towards her bedroom, and she nodded.

"Well, Merry Christmas." He ran with her in his arms to her bed.

Under the candlelight, they made love for the first time. It wasn't all a hungry and intense time. It was at first. They couldn't get enough of each other. They tasted every bit of each other and clung to each other's every touch. At first, they wanted each other in a frenzy. As they made love more than once, it became less intense and more passionate. The slow kisses on her neck made what they had so much more than just physical.

For this was the first time they were even making love, a decision she made. She wanted there to be real love before they took it on the physical level.

As the candles wore down, they just held each other and kept passing tender kisses. They were so comfy that neither wanted to leave the warmth of the other's arms but the day was still ahead of them.

With persuasion, they both took a shower. The whole time, he kept landing kisses here and there. Some on her nose, on her cheek, and her neck. As she was washing his back, she traced the curves in his back and kissed his shoulders. They smiled at each other with a look, only two people who were in love with each other could offer.

She made breakfast while they dried each other off and filled the time with laughter and more kisses. She sat in his lap while they fed each other pancakes with her dad's homemade syrup. She made sure she ate most of the bacon and he made no objections.

He was just glad to be with her. He was grateful to even have her in his life. He didn't take any minute he had with her for granted. With Alexis healthy and helping at a soup kitchen all day, he was happy to spend his favorite holiday with Kate. He would just sit with her and listen to whatever she wanted to say or not say. He smiled when she smiled. He enjoyed hearing the sound of her laughter and how occasionally, she snorted. He loved when she would talk with her hands to help explain her thoughts. He loved when she truly smiled, he could see all of her teeth. How when she was angry, her eyes would narrow in and her brows would furrow. He also loved how she smiled in her sleep. But he especially loved how she would kiss him. In every kiss, he felt all of her love. Overall, he was in love.

There is no easy way to say how Kate felt about Rick. She knew that in ways they had saved each other. She was just so grateful for the quiet or loud moments they shared. She was just lucky to have him in her life in the first place. She loved how his eyelashes would graze the tops of his cheeks when he was being a smart ass. She loved how the corners of his eyes would crinkle when he smiled. How his laugh seemed to make her heart bounce. How by just being near him, made her calm and warm. How when she was sad, he would try to make her feel better and hold her in the same way her dad had done for her. She loved how when she missed her dad, she could turn to the similar qualities Rick possessed. How he would just listen, and truly hear every word she had said. How when he touched her, color would rise to her cheeks, giving her away completely. How he looked at her. She had never been looked at the way Rick looked at her. She couldn't quite put it into words but she could tell by how he was looking at her, that he looked at her with love. She wanted to capture every face he made because he wouldn't carry the same face every time. She loved how he kept her on her toes and how he encouraged her. There weren't enough ways to say she loved him and she didn't always have to. They could look at each other and talk without words.

Over pizza and chocolate chip cookies, they watched the snow come down over New York. They passed the silence with love and movies. Over comedies such as, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, they enjoyed their laughter that bounced off the walls. When it came to Kate's favorite Christmas movie, The Nutcracker, they just warmed with the light from her tree and hummed along to the music. Christmas was spent in love.

Love can: come from anywhere, when you least expect it to come to you, heal you, and help you find strength in yourself; or so I've learned.

What I wanted you to know by sharing Kate and Rick's story is that love can and will save the day if you let it. That, don't always look for it, the best and the right kind will come to you. When both of them weren't ready, love came anyway. And by waiting, the best came along. They needed each other and were rewarded for the wait. They found the purest, honest, and truest love that can ever be reached. But that doesn't mean that their story's over. That's all I have reported on. For now.

Hi,

I am the author of the story you have been reading. I would first like to thank kate41319 for convincing me to write this in the first place. Also, for coming up with the idea for it and letting me run with it. Thanks for giving me complete writer's freedom. I thank you so much and this has been fun. You are an awesome friend. I can't wait to write with you again!

I would also like to thank all the readers who took the time to read my story. I hoped you enjoyed it and would continue to support me for when I write in the future. I loved every comment you left! Thanks for being loyal fans!

I can't forget my family. My parents for encouraging me to be creative and for supporting me. Thanks to you for telling me that I had this talent in the first place. Thanks to my brothers for listening to me talk about my story, even if you weren't really listening. Thanks to my Grandma (R.I.P.) for always asking me to read her my latest work and for being the only one to call me "my little author". Also, big thanks to all my friends (past and present) for your support!

Lastly, and not least, Castle. Without Castle, I don't know where I'd be. You saved me and picked me up when I had too much going on in my life. For giving me the strength to write again after I lost my grandma and for being a loyal friend. Thanks for letting me ease my anxieties while you are on. Big thanks to Stana Katic and Nathan Fillion for starring in my favorite show ever! If it wasn't for them, this story would never have been an idea. Thanks to Andrew Marlowe for making Castle happen in the first place. Thanks also to Rob Bowman for filming such a fantastic show! And lastly, everyone else who is a part of Castle. Thanks for saving my life!

Chelsea Marie (chelseamariec)