Very Castle Celebrations
Chapter 1
Castle has never cared much for green beer, but it's always been a good seller at the Old Haunt this time of year, so he's willing to hoist one with the cops from the 12th that patronize his place. Not that he can hang around long. Kate is going to have an outing with Lanie, the first one she's had since Jackson was born. He needs to be home to take over diaper duties.
Kate gets shy at the damnedest times. She insisted on closeting herself in the bedroom while she pumped milk for him to feed the baby tonight. He would have liked to watch the process, if for no other reason than his love of gadgets. When they were preparing for Jackson, he made sure they bought the latest model of a breast pump, 2 channel and completely programmable to simulate the nursing experience. But then Kate has always been more into old school. He remembers an old pump his mother showed him that she kept as a keepsake. It looked more like a cheap bicycle horn than a pump, but apparently, it did the job. Somehow, he doesn't think Kate would want to go back that far, but maybe she'll relax a bit about the process. He suspects that by the time she returns to work, the whole thing will just become routine.
Of course, as he remembers how it went with Alexis, babies are never routine. There's always something new, some change every day. He kept a journal of them as Alexis grew. He's enjoying doing the same with Jackson. So far, the chief difference seems to be that unlike with a girl, when his son has a pee pee moment on the changing table, there's a nice parabolic trajectory. He hasn't seen a rainbow form yet, but if the light is just right in the nursery, it could happen.
Castle checks his watch. Time to go. Maybe if he and Kate are really lucky, Jackson will allow them to grab enough shuteye that they'll actually be awake when they bring him to the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in the morning. There's supposed to be a display of enormous shamrock shaped balloons that might catch the baby's eye. If nothing else, Jackson should enjoy the music. His eyes were bright, and he waved his hands and feet when Castle played an old recording of The Irish Rovers singing The Unicorn Song for him.
Kate returns from her girls' night out much earlier than Castle had expected. She explains that Lanie had been called away on a case. Lanie hadn't been able to tell her much about it, except that the body had been found in an alley near the parade route on Fifth Avenue. The cops and CSU will have to work very fast to prevent a disruption of the festivities the next day.
Castle can see that Kate is a little nostalgic for the times that they would both rush to the scene of a homicide. He is too, but not so much that he wants his wife back where some dirtbag will be pointing a gun at her. She's great at solving cases on the task force, and there are plenty of them. The Kate Beckett hands-on quest for justice will resume in a couple of months. Until then, they can live vicariously. Esposito and Ryan are never hesitant to recount their crime-solving prowess. It's also amazing how much stuff appears on social media. Some of it even bears some semblance to reality. Given the location of the crime scene, there might even be something on the evening news.
Castle could swear he sees specks of green glitter in the hair of reporter Lucinda O'Mara. They must have been getting an early start on the holiday in the ZNN newsroom. Lucinda doesn't have much information to share, except for assuring the public that the parade will go on as planned. Castle imagines that Lucinda might have some plans of her own.
The March morning is cool, but Jackson seems comfortable in the fuzzy green plush sleeper that Kate and Castle chose to protect him from catching a chill. He also has the warmth of his father's arms. Kate selected a spot as close as she could to the scene of the murder. Castle would have expected nothing less. The area is still taped off and guarded by uniformed officers, but as far as Castle can tell, devoid of any investigative activity. Kate confided that she did finagle a promise out of Lanie for an update on anything unusual about the body.
The parade is pleasantly raucous. The promised balloons go by, and Jackson seems to be paying attention but becomes way more engaged by the wail of the bagpipes played by fur-hatted marchers. Castle sincerely hopes that won't become his son's choice of music. Bagpipes are classed as a weapon of war for an earsplitting reason.
Even in the midst of the noisy crowd, Jackson falls asleep against Castle's green wool-covered chest. Castle knows his son will be hungry when he wakes up. Upon arising, the boy is always is in a mood remarkably similar to Kate's before she's had her morning latte. Castle hopes that when the infant is a little older, he'll have a better morning disposition, much like his own. Be that as it may, they can't stay at the parade much longer.
Kate gets Lanie's text almost as soon as they return to the loft. The victim was killed by an ancient Gaelic dart called a ga. Someone had thrown three of them at close range. Apparently, the location of the murder wasn't the only thing with an Irish theme. The weaponry has one as well.
Kate is intrigued, and if anything, Castle is even more fascinated. An Irish killing will make a great short story. In fact, it could be the beginning of a series of themed stories. He's determined to discover the facts about this one, even if he has to let the boys use the Ferrari for the rest of the year. There's no room in it for a baby seat anyway. He's been thinking of getting rid of it and just keeping his Mercedes. If he can use it as a bribe to keep the information flowing that will be even better.
Something is pricking at the back of Castle's mind from the gut-wrenching study he made of serial killers, as research for his books. A weapon like a ga could be a signature of sorts. So far, the murder hasn't been tied to any others, but the boys might not have even tried. Kate had dismissed his suspicion that another homicide they'd investigated had been committed by a serial killer, until Lanie found evidence to back him up. The boys could be keeping their focus as narrow as Kate had back then.
"The Irish Murders" does have a certain ring to it, or maybe he can call his story the "Gaelic Grim Reaper," but right now a title is the last thing he needs to worry about. He has some research to do, but he recognizes the plaintive infant alert sounding from the nursery. It's his turn at the changing table. Kate made the meal; it's his responsibility to clean up. That's only fair. He just received the shipment he ordered of what were reviewed as the world's best diapers. He'll soon find out if Jackson shares Princely Parenting's opinion.