Alright, here is my entry for the Winter Hiatus Ficathon. I will be posting a chapter every day leading up to Christmas.

December 1, 2025

"Mama, where this go?" Avery asks, holding up a christmas lamp.

Kate looks over at the table and waves her hand. "On the table for now. Unless you want to put it in your room?"

Avery thinks for a moment before nodding excitedly. "I can put it in my room?"

Kate smiles and nods while she continues unpacking the boxes of dishes and loads the dishwasher. "If you'd like."

Avery smiles as she turns and sprints up the stairs. Kate can hear her feet pounding on the floor as she hurries to her room.

She's left in silence for a few minutes before the front door opens and her husband and son come in while dragging the box with their tree in it.

"My boys are home!" She says as she moves to meet them at the door.

"We were just in the storage area, Mama." Evan says. "We weren't gone that long."

Kate smiles and squeezes his shoulder. "I know, Ev."
"Who's helping me put together the tree?" Castle asks as he drags the box further inside.

"I will. In front of the window?" Kate asks as Castle stops dragging the box to inspect the area she's left clear for the tree.

"That'll work, yeah." Castle says as he removes the straps holding the plastic box closed and removes the lid. "Ready?"

Kate nods and grips the middle section of the tree while Castle grabs the bottom. They lift it out together and Rick fits the metal base into the holder.

"Hey, Ev. Can you come tighten the base for us, Kiddo?"

Evan hurries to his father's side and crouches down. He twists the screws until the bottom section of the tree is sturdy in its base, and Kate easily fits the middle section on top watches as it sinks down.

"Here, Mama!" Evan says as he holds out the small top for the tree.

"Thank you, Evan." Kate says. She leans down slightly and scoops him up, the huff she lets out not entirely for show, he's certainly grown out of being her little boy. She holds him up as high as she can to allow him to fit the top section into the center of the tree, smiling when he lets out a grunt of satisfaction when it slots into place.

"Done!"

Kate lowers him to the floor and gestures for Castle to connect the lights and plug the tree in. As soon as he does, the tree is illuminated with colorful lights, and Kate smiles at the joy on both her son and husband's faces.

"Pretty!" Avery cries as she runs down the stairs before coming to a halt at her father's side. "I put the angel on, Daddy?"

"We gotta find her first, Avery." Castle says. "I think Mama is still on dishes."

"Sorry, guys, I got a late start. Daddy can help you sort through the boxes and find the tree stuff."

"Kay." Evan says and begins walking off to the stacks of boxes with Christmas decorations.

"Hey!" Avery cries, stopping Kate as she makes her way back to the kitchen.

"What's wrong, Ave?" Castle calls as he helps Evan shift boxes around.

"It not a real tree! It plastic!"

"It's the same tree as last year." Kate says.

"Last year it was real!" Avery argues, a mutinous look on her face. "I 'member the smell!"

Kate looks at her husband who offers her a shrug in response. A quick look at Evan tells Kate that he's blushing, and she's hit with a wave of sadness for her son.

"Come into the kitchen with me, Avery." Kate says softly. "Let Daddy and Evan do the tree."

"I wanna help." Avery whines as she crosses her arms over her chest.

Kate sighs softly and swings her daughter up into her arms. "You can help in a bit. But we need to talk." She whispers into Avery's ear as she carries her into the kitchen, where she sets her daughter on the counter and puts her hands flat on either side of her.

"'M I in trouble?" Avery asks softly, the potential for trouble making her shy.

"No." Kate replies and strokes her daughter's hair out of her eyes. Not in trouble. I just want to explain."

"Why the tree's fake?"

Kate nods. "Evan's allergic to real trees, Avery."

"Like me?"

Kate nods. "Yeah, like how you're allergic to milk. Only there's not really a way for us to help his, like we can with you."
"No pills?"

"No, honey. So we have to use the fake tree so he can have fun too."

Avery thinks for a moment and nods. "'Kay. I help now?"

Kate laughs. "Yeah, Avery. You can go help now."

Avery kisses her mother's cheek as Kate sets her back on the floor, and Kate watches as she runs back toward the tree to help her brother unpack the ornaments and put them on the tree.

Kate's pulled out of moment of silence by the dishwasher beeping, and she hurries to unload it and put all the christmas dishes in their proper place before putting a new load in and boxing up more of their everyday dishes. When she gets the dishwasher started on a rinse cycle, Kate heads back to her family and the tree.

"Why did I let you talk me into Christmas dishes again?" She murmurs to her husband as she comes to stand beside him.

"Because you love me." He replied instantly, leaning in to kiss her.

"Well yeah." Kate hums as she kisses him again. After a brief moment she pulls away and smiles. "But I don't remember to agreeing to this many."

"There's not that many." He defends.

"Rick. There's three different sized plates. Plus three different types of bowls. And silverware. Not to mention serving dishes. And 5 different kinds of glasses. And the cookie jars."

"All necessary."

Kate huffs and shakes her head. "I doubt that."

Castle's response is cut off by Avery's noise of disgust, and both parents start laughing at the horror on her face.

"What is this?" She asks, throwing it at her brother.

"Ew." Evan laughs, looking at what used to be a candy cane. "Gross."

"Hey, Alexis made that when she was little." Castle defends. "It's special."

"Rick, honey. That doesn't even look like a candy cane anymore, Babe. Time to toss it."

"No!" Rick grabs it from Kate and holds it close to his chest.

Kate rolls her eyes and grabs it from him. "You're not keeping it. It's gross. Alexis will forgive you."

Castle pouts, but it falters when Avery wraps her arms around his thighs. "I make you new ornment, Daddy." She declares. "Ev and me make new ornments."

Castle lifts Avery up and blows raspberries into her neck while she cackles with laughter. "Daddy!" She gasps as she tries to push him away. "Uncle!"

Castle stops after a final kiss to her cheek and hugs her tightly. "I would love if you guys made me ornaments."

Avery smiles as she wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him tightly. "We make you so many, Daddy!"

Thanks to Bean for convincing me that I could get this done. Also thanks to Lindsey for help planning, as well as to Lindsey, Cathey, Callie, and Rachel with the help on the title.

And a super thank you to Random-Ship for drawing one picture that spawned this entire universe.

Twitter: AllyLobster

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