first snow
For Jenn and Lindsey and Pau. Happy holidays!
She's kneeling in the front hall of the apartment, wrapping the scarf around the little girl's neck. "You remember the rules, Bets?"
The two year old nods, pulling down her knit hat. It keeps slipping off of her head.
"You stay near me or Daddy all the time, okay?"
Another series of nods that are cut short when Castle comes around the corner. "Daddy!" the girl shouts, running into his legs. Her hat falls onto the ground behind her. "Snow!"
He leans over, snagging up the bright green hat. "You excited?"
"Yes! Snow!"
Castle pulls the hat over the girl's curls, right over the excitement-bright eyes. The girl giggles, pushing the brim of the hat up so she can see.
"Daddy," the girl scolds even as she fumbles to hold onto his jeans through thick mittens.
"Yes, Betsy?" he asks calmly and Kate sees his wink over their daughter's head.
"Stop."
So he picks her up, setting Elizabeth on his hip. "God, you're heavy," he groans dramatically, bumping his forehead against the girl's.
Kate finishes tying up her snow boots before she tugs on Castle's jacket to touch her lips to his. "Who lets her have midnight snacks?"
"Shush," he murmurs. "Let's go play in the snow."
They take the elevator down to the lobby. Eduardo waves to Betsy as Castle hails a cab from the curb; Betsy has had the doorman wrapped around her finger since the day she was born. They don't go to Central Park, going up to Washington Square Park instead. The girl in Castle's lap is practically vibrating with energy. Her face is pressed up against the glass of the window, hot breath creating fog across the surface.
"Make sure you have a hold on her," she reminds him from where she's snugged into his side as the cab stops against the sidewalk.
Castle catches Betsy when she tries to run from the cab. "Slow down, speed racer. The snow won't melt if you walk." With one hand on Betsy's hood, he turns around to help Kate from the backseat.
As soon as they're past the gates, Castle lets Betsy go. The girl dives into the nearest snowbank, laughing loudly as she struggles to get to her feet, her hat already fallen from her head. "It's cold," she states.
Kate bends over, scooping snow up, and patting it into a ball. "It's snow, silly. It's going to be cold." Before he can move, she tosses the snowball at Castle's back. Another peal of laughter comes from their daughter as she claps her mittened hands together. Castle spins and glares. "What?" she asks as innocently as possible. "Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I can't take you."
"Oh yeah?" He gathers up some snow from near Betsy, creating a larger snowball than the one that hit his jacket.
She knocks the snowball out of his hands when he goes to dump the snow down the back of her coat. "Go make a snowman with Bets," she says, shoving his shoulder.
"So you're not too pregnant to have a snowball fight but too pregnant to make a snowman?" he teases, pulling her closer by her scarf. "Anything else you're too pregnant to do?"
"I'll be too pregnant to warm you up when we get home if you keep this up. Snowman. Betsy. Now." She goes to sit on the nearby bench, brushing off the seat before settling on the chilly wood. Castle is helping Betsy out of the snowbank, his head ducked close to the girl's damp, snow-matted curls, the green hat a bright spot on the white snow, as they talk strategy.
She takes her phone out from the deep pocket of her dark green peacoat, swiping her finger over the screen, thankful for the smartphone gloves Castle gave her last year. The two are just getting started, making the snowball for the bottom of the snowman, but she still takes a picture of them.
When they get home a little over an hour and a half later, she gets Betsy out of her wet clothes and into the warm tub. The girl chatters about their snow family left back in Washington Square Park, letting Kate wash the snow from her hair and get her bundled up in her pajamas.
Castle meets her outside of Betsy's room, spinning her so that her back hits the wall gently. "Do I get to be warmed up now?" he whispers against her lips.
Her fingers push under his sweater, coasting along slightly-chilled skin. "Think you've earned it?"
"Yeah. Made a whole snow family with Betsy. I think that deserves some warming up."
She snags his hand, tugging him down the stairs. "I think so too. Come on, Castle. Let's go work some heat back into those fingers."
A week later, she gets the picture framed. She wraps it and sneaks it under the tree while he and Betsy decorate the stairs.
His face lights up when he unwraps it on Christmas Eve.
The photo of he and Betsy making that first snowman, his daughter's tongue peeking from between her lips as she pushes at the snowball while he looks down at her finds a place on his desk next to pictures of Alexis and his mother and their wedding photos.