A/N: Another little piece, set in the same universe as Sweet Dreams. Hope you enjoy it! Anna is such a cute character, I couldn't not write her some more. :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.
Rick was startled out of his half-asleep state by the sound of the front door slamming shut. An auburn-haired comet flew by, and another door closed with a sound like thunder before he could register what had just happened. He shut his computer on the screensaver flashing, as it had all day, "YOU SHOULD BE WRITING," in huge capital letter, the removed the device from his knees, setting it carefully on the coffee table before standing and crossing to the closet, his daughter's favorite hiding place. He could hear her shallow breathing and the gulping sobs that came every time she paused. She mustn't run all the way home crying.
"Anna," he called gently, knocking lightly on the wood. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"
"Go away," the thirteen-year-old snapped in reply.
"Come out and talk to me," he pleaded. "Please?" There was no response. "Or I'll have to hold Dr. Dare hostage."
The silence rang out, pronounced after the crying. "You wouldn't."
"I would," he returned quickly.
"Don't you dare touch him."
He slowly backed away from the door, closer towards the stairs. "I'm gonna get him."
He wasn't ready for it when the door crashed open and she leapt past him up the steps and into her room. She hadn't had time to close her door before she huddled into her pillows, holding a stuffed dog tightly, curled into a tight ball. He inched his way into the room slowly so as not o scare her off again.
"Anna?" he said quietly. She looked up morosely, her clear blue eyes ringed with red. "What's up?"
"They're mean!" she yelled. "I don't wanna go back to school! Never ever ever!"
"Darling, what happened?" he asked, sitting down and scooping her onto his lap. Thirteen years old and the daughter of a cop she may have been, but she was still young enough to cry into her father's shirt.
"I...I was wearing my new shoes," she gulped. "The pink ones Gram bought me for my birthday. And all the guys said that pink shoes were ugly and they stole them—"
"How did they get your shoes?"
She glared at him. "I told you they were big on me."
He shrugged apologetically. "Why'd you wear them then?"
"Gram was here when you went to the store."
"Okay, okay, what happened?"
"They dropped them in the mud! They're all muddy!"
He lifted her foot up to examine the shoes she was currently wearing. "Whose are these then?"
"Jane let me borrow them. She wore her jazz shoes, she had her dance bag."
"Why didn't you call? I would've brought you shoes."
She curled up against him. "I didn't want to distract you from writing."
"I've, um, been sleeping all day. You could've called."
"I'm not allowed to use the phone at school."
It was times like these that Rick was reminded how smart his daughters were. Alexis had always done that too; heck, she still did it. And Kate absolutely loved to refute his arguments.
"I'm sorry Anna. I apologize on behalf of those idiots in your class who have something against pink shoes."
She hugged him and smiled happily. "Thanks, Dad. And the doctor says thanks too." She put the stuffed animal in his face. "Woof."
He chuckled. "Do you have homework?"
Her smile turned back to a resentful glare. "Maybe."
"Go on and work on it then. And just to let you know, pink shoes are awesome. You wanna give them to me and I'll put them in the washer overnight, 'kay?"
She nodded and ran to get her backpack from the closet. He followed her into the kitchen, waiting as she rummaged for her dirty shoes. When she'd retrieved them, Rick saw that that'd indeed been smothered with mud. They'd been shoved in a plastic bag to preserve her books. She dragged her bag into the room. Rick didn't bother asking what she had to do for homework; also like Alexis, Anna generally maintained good time management when it came to school.
Moments after he'd started the washer and wandered back to his laptop, the door opened, much gentler than it had before. He looked in slight dismay at the one word he'd written before shutting the computer and smiling at his wife. "Your daughter came home crying today."
Kate rolled her eyes at him. "I hope you fixed it and didn't make it worse."
"Of course," he bristled self-righteously. "I apologized for anyone who hates the color pink."
She cringed. "The shoes? I wondered whether the pink would be too bright with the uniform. What happened?"
"They were too big on her and fell off, and some of the boys stole them and dragged them through the mud."
"So that's what's in the wash. I thought you'd done laundry two days ago."
"Yeah. Lucky they were washable."
"So how'd she end up wearing them? She knows not to wear clothes that don't fit right."
He snorted. "My mother. I had to run to the store for milk while Anna was getting ready, and I guess she stopped by."
Kate nodded with an eyebrow raised. She got a glass of water and sat down next to him on the couch. He slipped his arm around her waist and kissed her quickly. "Good afternoon," he smiled. She kissed him back.
"Good afternoon to you too. How was your day?" She opened the laptop and typed in Anna's birthday to unlock it.
"Unproductive," he replied. "How was yours?"
"Uneventful. You know your manuscript is due in two days?"
"Of course. I'm almost done anyways. Gina called you, didn't she? It is difficult to write when your publisher is your ex-wife and you're married to your muse."
She smirked. "Well, I wouldn't know anything about that."
"So why are you home, my dear?"
"Get something to eat, see you and Anna. By the way, if you were a garbage man, what kind of trouble would you be able to get into?"
He grinned. "Oh, so much trouble. I like the challenge."
Behind them a door opened and Anna ran down the stairs. She jumped onto her mother's lap. "Hi, Mom!" She threw her arms around Kate's neck.
"Hello, beautiful," Kate smiled at her. "I hear your day was interesting."
Had Rick mentioned it, she probably would've started to cry again, but when Kate brought it up, Anna waved it off. "Never mind that, do you have another case?"
"Of course, when don't I? It's a real good one, a garbage man was found in a dump truck across town from where he lives and his route."
"Well, was it actually his truck?" Anna asked.
Her parents looked at each other. "She's much more help than you," Kate snorted, pulling out her phone. "Ryan, run down the truck, check to see if it belongs to our vic. It not, pick up the driver." She paused to listen. "No, it was Anna. I know, isn't she so much more helpful than her father?" Rick opened his mouth to protest but she silenced him with a hand on his shoulder. Anna laughed delightedly. "Yeah, okay, I'll be there soon. See you in a bit." She shut her phone and lifted Anna gently from her lap. "Gotta go, I'll see you tonight." She moved to get up but Rick held her for a moment to kiss her again.
"Don't try to escape without saying good-bye," he grinned.
Both Kate and Anna rolled their eyes. "Good-bye. Now let me go so I can get some food before I go."
Rick relented and she crossed to the kitchen to get a container of leftover pasta. As she heated it up, Anna tiptoed over and hugged her tightly.
"I love you, Mom," Anna smiled up at her.
"I love you too," Kate replied. "And your pink shoes are awesome. Don't listen to anyone who tells you otherwise."
"Okay. Can I come watch you interrogate?"
"Don't you have homework?" Anna's face fell slightly. "Maybe on Friday."
"But I cracked this case," Anna complained.
"You can't come in anyways," her mother reminded her. "Child labor laws and all."
Anna snorted. "Because I'm never in the precinct helping. Please?"
"What do you think, Rick?" Kate called. "Can she come?"
"I don't know..." he trailed off, watching Anna's face. She held her hands together and looked at him pleadingly. He cracked a grin. "Yeah, go ahead."
"Yes!" Anna jumped up and down excitedly, then ran to her room to change out of her uniform.
The microwave beeped, and Kate retrieved the pasta, then walked over to read over Rick's shoulder at what he was currently typing as she ate.
"Hey," she complained, swatting at his head. He ducked and she missed. "Erase it!" He grinned.
"Well, it's true," he insisted. "You're the best mother in the world."
"Nikki isn't a mom," Kate countered.
"Doesn't make it any less true," he replied, stretching his neck up to kiss her chin. She looked down and he caught her on the lips. She kissed him back.
"Why thank you." She turned to put the container in the dishwasher. Anna ran down the stairs.
"Ready!" the girl announced.
They were walking out the door when Kate turned back with a smirk and raised eyebrow. "But you'd still better erase it."
He smiled. "Understood."
A/N: Hope you liked it! Criticism is always appreciated. Any reviews are actually always appreciated. ;D
By the way, writer's block sucks, and the Josh-filled Chapter 11 of Evanescence Files will be up. I know it's been a while, I don't even wanna look at how long. Sorry guys. :)