572. Chapter 572

After Bad Santa

Episode 7.10

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: There's no Santa and there's no UCSBdad that owns Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

When the door to the loft opened, the three women in the kitchen turned and smiled, thinking they knew what to expect. Instead, Johanna Castle ran through the door as soon as it was open enough for her to get through and raced upstairs to her room, crying all the way.

Kate shot to her feet and stood for just a moment, trying to decide whether to go to her daughter or to her husband. She decided that Castle would be slightly more likely to tell her what had happened.

"Castle, what happened to Jo? Is she hurt? What?"

"Some of the big kids at school told her that there's no Santa Claus. They got into a screaming match and one the teachers went to break it up. In trying to settle the kids down, Ms. Williams accidentally confirmed that there is no Santa."

Both Martha and Alexis had joined Kate with Rick. "That's sad." Alexis said.

"Yeah, and I feel responsible." Castle said.

"Why? You didn't tell her that Santa wasn't real." Kate said, comforting him.

"No, but I love to tell her stories. Stories about princesses and fairies and elves and….Santa. Maybe if I'd been a little less imaginative, she wouldn't have taken it so hard. She grilled me all the way home in the car, asking about the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy and whether there really were magical, fairy tale princesses and…all the rest. I told her the truth and broke her heart."

Kate kissed him gently. "You did not break her heart. She would have learned sooner or later. You don't think that she could go through her entire life believing in Santa Claus, do you?"

"Why not?" Alexis spoke up. "Dad does."

"Alexis!" Kate frowned at her stepdaughter.

"It's true." Rick said with a smile. "I refuse to let a bunch of naysayers deprive me of a belief in a higher power. Especially one that brings me presents."

Kate shook her head and smiled. "I should have known." She looked up the stairs towards their daughter's room. "Should we go up and talk to her?"

"She was pretty wound up and upset when she got out of the car." Castle said. "And she was crying a lot. I think we should let her cry herself out first. We can go up in a half an hour or so." Castle sighed. "I think I could use a glass of wine."

"I second that motion." Martha said, heading for the wine cooler.

The four sat around the kitchen island, sipping their wine. "I never thought about this." Castle said. "I should have had a plan for breaking the news gently to Jo."

"This is not your fault, babe."

He looked over at Kate. "At least your parents never had to go through this with you."

Kate frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Little Katie Beckett? Scepticus maximus?" He scoffed. "The first time you heard a story about an immortal man living at the North Pole with a bunch of elves making toys, and keeping track of good and bad children all over the world, and getting all those toys to kids in just one night, while coming down chimneys?" He laughed. "I know you didn't believe a word of it."

Kate blushed slightly. "Of course I believed in Santa Claus. What little kid doesn't? I was very upset when I found that there was no Santa."

"What did you do? Prepare a class action lawsuit against the purveyors of the mythology? Vow to strike a blow for little children against mythologists everywhere?"

Kate stuck her tongue out at Castle. "No. My mother sat me down and told me about all of the good things about Christmas that were true. She talked about the happiness and joy that always comes around at Christmas. She reminded me that while peace on Earth, goodwill to men may have only been wishful thinking to many, it was something to aim for. I lost that when she died. I didn't feel any Christmas spirit until I started dating Castle. He gave that back to me." She rested her head on his chest. "Thank you."

"Always."

"Gram, how did you learn there was no Santa?"

Martha smiled. "Oh, I'm with your father on this one. How can we not believe in Santa Claus? What a grim and dreary world this would be if there was no Santa, no magic, and no miracles. The Ebenezer Scroogres of this world have no idea what they're missing."

"How did you first find out there was no Santa?" Kate asked Alexis.

Alexis shrugged. "I didn't find out all at once, really. I heard the bigger kids at school talking about there being no Santa and I did figure out some things for myself." Alexis giggled. "I remember thinking that the North Pole would be a perfect place to hide a giant toy factory, but the whole thing with flying reindeer…? I just couldn't quite wrap my head around that. But Dad had so much fun believing in Santa that I suspended my suspension of disbelief." Alexis frowned. "I think that's what I did.'

"Close enough, kiddo. We know what you mean."

Castle looked at his watch. "I should go up and talk to Jo."

"We should go up and talk to Jo. Remember me telling you once that I was not going to make you raise our child by yourself? I meant it."

They tiptoed up the stairs and stopped outside of Jo's room. The door was closed. Rick pushed the door open. Jo was lying face down on the bed. At first they thought she might be asleep, but hearing the door open, she rolled over and glared at her parents. A very Kate Beckett-like glare, indeed.

"How are you, sweetheart?" Kate asked, coming into the room, with Rick right behind her.

"Mommy, you and Daddy lied to me. Why?"

Kate sat on Jo's bed and hugged her. Rick went to the other side of Jo and ran his hands over her long, chestnut hair.

"Jo, honey, think about your favorite movies and TV shows. You know that dogs and bears and bunnies and cats can't really talk, and they don't wear clothes, or drive cars, or live in houses by themselves, don't you?"

Jo nodded.

"That's a fun kind of a lie, and it's not really a lie. It's just make believe and you like make believe, don't you? Like when Daddy pretends to be an evil king and you have to fight him with the laser tag pistols?

Jo nodded again. "But I like it better when we play when Daddy's not here and we're both brave princesses."

Rick looked at Kate and did his best to stifle a laugh. "Really?" He whispered, getting a glare from Kate.

Later. She mouthed. "Santa is just like that, it's pretend. And everyone likes to play pretend, don't they?"

Jo thought about it. "Why didn't you tell me it was just pretend?"

"Because sometimes it's more fun to believe that pretend is real. Didn't you enjoy Santa and the toys you got? And the stories about the North Pole and the elves and the reindeer?"

Once more, Jo nodded.

"So you enjoyed it even though maybe technically they were lies?"

Jo nodded.

"Are you still mad at us?" Rick asked.

She turned and hugged Rick and then Kate. "I love you."

"Okay, change out of your school clothes and come downstairs. We'll have dinner in a while. You can play video games with Daddy until then."

As they walked out of Jo's room, Rick hugged Kate. "Very, very good. You're a great mom. and a brave princess."

"Kate, Warrior Princess to you Writer Man and don't you ever forget it."

"I never have and I never will."