384. Chapter 384

After Secret Santa

Episode 5.09

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Ho, ho, ho. I've been a good boy, but I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above

December 22, 2015

"Dad, quit worrying. Christmas will be fine. You always make sure that it is."

Rick shook his head. "I don't want a fine Christmas. This has to be the most perfect Christmas ever. This has to set a new record for Christmas perfectness. This has to go down in the history of Christmas perfectness as…."

"Perfect?" Alexis finished for him.

"Exactly. My first Christmas with Kate, we had just gotten together, and she didn't get the full Castle Christmas. The next Christmas we spent at the precinct, because I wanted to share her Christmas tradition. The next Christmas was crazy because I had gotten kidnapped and we got married and then Jim got the flu and couldn't make it. This is the first Christmas we're going to celebrate here as a family. And it will be perfect."

Castle was interrupted by a phone call from his wife. "Hello, Mrs. Castle. How are you?"

"We've had a body drop, babe. You don't need to come over though. We already have a confession. The vic broke up with her boyfriend and he decided that he should respond by breaking into her apartment and smashing her skull. I should be home at the usual time though. Okay?"

"See you then."

He had no sooner hung up than he got another call. Alexis watched s her dad's smile faded from his face.

"That was Mr. Keith from the Christmas tree farm. One of his employees accidentally backed a tractor over our tree. But, he said he has one that's just as good and he's got a trucker friend who'll deliver it before Christmas Eve. No problem. Our perfect Christmas is still on track.

His phone rang again at eight in the evening. It was Kate. "Bad news, babe. Lanie said that our vic was already dead when her skull was bashed in. Poison. All we have the ex-boyfriend for is desecrating a corpse. This could get tricky. Sorry."

Rick gulped. "Okay, but were still on for the annual Precinct Christmas Bash?"

"Christmas Eve day? You bet. The whole precinct is looking forward to it. See you later.

December 23, 2015

Castle opened the door to find George, his butcher, standing in the doorway with a frown and no Christmas turkey.

"George, what is it?" He said, fearing the worst.

"Mr. Castle, I was just downstairs getting your turkey out of my truck, when some idiot on a skateboard slammed into me and I dropped the turkey."

"You had the turkey all wrapped up, didn't you?"

George nodded. "Dropping it didn't cause any damage. The damage was caused when the bus drove over the turkey."

"A bus drove over my turkey?" Rick said, feeling ill. "How bad is it?"

"The turkey…is all over the street." But George quickly went on. "Since it's Christmas, all of my turkeys are spoken for, but I have a cousin in Brooklyn who has a gourmet food store just like me. He has absolutely guaranteed me that he'll have a 27 pound turkey here for you by tomorrow morning. Without fail and no charge."

Rick shook his head. "I insist on paying you and your cousin. This is Christmas, I can't have you losing money on my account. I insist."

George thanked Rick and went on his way.

Castle's phone rang. It was Kate. "Babe this murder is getting complicated. We've found records in our vic's apartment. It seems that she, Sylvia Hayes, is the illegitimate daughter of Walter Butler, she's been suing the Butler family for her share of the estate."

"He was in real estate, right?" Castle asked, his heart sinking. "He was a billionaire and he had like eight children and maybe fifteen grandchildren?"

"Plus cousins, nephews, and about a dozen girlfriends, all of whom want a piece of the pie now that he's dead. I'm sorry, Castle. I'll do everything I can to make Christmas with you."

"No, you do your job. That's what we all expect of you."

"I love you, Rick."

"I love you, too."

December 24, 2015

"How can a food delivery truck be stolen right in front of a police precinct?" Castle yelled.

The driver responded with a flood of impassioned Spanish, which Esposito translated. "Ramon here says he had to park up the block and walked over to make sure he had the right address. He left the engine running and the next thing he knows, the truck is roaring off down the street. He's sorry, and he says his boss is putting together another load of food for us, but since it's Christmas, it might not be exactly what we ordered."

Three hours later, the 12th Precinct sat down to a meal of…"Matzo balls, chopped liver, gefilte fish, borscht, and…"Castle said morosely.

"The little cookies shaped like the Star of David are really good." Ryan spoke up.

"Yeah, "added Esposito, "so are the kung pao chicken, cashew chicken and the pork fried rice."

"It's what we eat at Christmas all the time." Detective Feinstein added. "It's great. Thanks, Rick."

Kate leaned over and kissed her husband. "Thank you, lover." She whispered. "It's more than we got before you came along, you know."

"Better than the sandwiches in the machines." Roselyn Karpowski said around a mouthful of orange chicken.

"It's just that I wanted a traditional Christmas…" Rick was interrupted by his phone. He listened, replying only in a monotone. "That was Alexis. The guy delivering my Christmas tree had a little too much Christmas cheer on the way down from upstate New York. If we look out the window, we night see my tree floating down the Hudson River about now."

"Castle…"Kate put her head on his shoulder.

"But, Alexis is going out and promised to get the best Christmas tree she can find in all of Manhattan."

When he got home, he found out what the best tree left in Manhattan on Christmas Eve looked like. "Alexis! That's our tree?"

"The other one they had was worse, Dad." She said sadly.

The tree was no more than four feet tall, crushed on one side and it leaned backwards, no matter how hard Alexis had tried to get it straight. She had put as many decorations on it as possible.

"But the turkey is here. And it's a beauty. We'll have our traditional Christmas feast."

Just then, the door opened and Kate walked in. "We got a break. One of the Butler cousins confessed. The case is done and I am here for my Christmas with my family. I saw my dad pulling into the garage, so he should be here in a minute or two."

Castle smiled and kissed her just as the lights went out. "Wow! That's some kiss, Kate."

Ten minutes later he was talking the building manager. "It's the wiring to your loft, Mr. Castle. A rat chewed through the wiring to your place. We called an electrician, but it's Christmas Eve and everyone's…"

"Busy. I know." Rick said. "How am I supposed to cook a Christmas feast with no electricity?" Suddenly, his eyes lit on the gas fire in the fireplace. He smiled in triumph. "I know how I'll cook a Christmas feast! No rat is going to stop Richard Castle!"

"Are you sure that you can cook a turkey and all the trimmings over a gas fireplace fire?" Alexis asked, watching as her father cooked their Christmas meal.

"Alexis, people cooked meals over open fires for centuries, millennia even. This'll be a snap." He said, just as the turkey caught fire. Castle pulled the turkey out of the fireplace, however, as it was hot, he dropped it. The smoke detectors went off, which turned the water sprinklers on. By the time the fire department arrived, the fire was out and Christmas dinner was definitely a non-starter.

"Merry Christmas, sir." The last fireman said as he closed the front door.

"Bah, humbug." Castle muttered.

"Cheese sandwiches anyone? Or bologna?" Alexis said as cheerfully as she could.

December 25, 2015.

Rick woke up with the love of his life kissing him. "Merry Christmas, Mr. Castle." She said before going back to kissing him.

"This was the worst Christmas ever." Rick said morosely. "Everything I tried to do, went south."

"We managed to save the presents." Kate said. "I love my new suede jacket and Alexis got the new laptop she wanted, and Martha…"

"This was to be our first Christmas as a family." Rick whined. "I wanted it to be perfect."

"Are you trying to tell me that this wasn't the most perfect Christmas ever?" Kate asked.

"I know you're trying to cheer me up, but even you have to admit it. This was a disaster."

Kate gently shook her head. "For years and years, all I could think about at Christmas time was my mom's death. I knew, I absolutely knew, that I would never have the kind of Christmases that other people had. A Christmas with a loving family all around. I knew that. And now I have a husband who loves me and who I love. I have Martha, who is really becoming a mother to me, and I have, if not a daughter, a friend and step-daughter. And for the first time in years, I had my dad with me on Christmas. Don't you tell me this wasn't the very best Christmas I've ever had, Mr. Castle. Because it was. And I owe it all to you." She kissed him again. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Castle. Shall we have some Christmas breakfast?"

"And look in our stockings?"

"The ones that didn't burn?"

"We'll do better next year."

"I'm already planning our perfect 2016 Christmas."

Kate rolled her eyes.