Disclaimer: I don't own Castle but I did name these kids and their story is all in my head.
A/N: This was unbeta-ed so any mistakes are definitely my own.
~*~ Handprints~*~
"Shhhh."
"Stop, let me. "
"But it was my ideeeaaa."
"Grace, you're too little." Frobisher's voice rose in frustration.
"Shhhh. We're going to wake Mummy up before we finish making breakfast."
"You started it!"
Castle was feeding Claire her cereal and watched the two argue over their breakfast preparations. They were determined to make the whole thing without any help. The only stipulation was that they couldn't use the stove which led to Grace suggesting that they microwave the egg.
"Fine, you can do it if I get to press the buttons."
Ahhh, the real reason behind the argument.
"Fine."
Crisis averted.
They continued to argue over the toast and the berries, but finally the tray was loaded with their creations.
"Ready Daddy."
"What about you presents? Why don't you go grab those?"
"Dad, you are so smart!"
Thank you, thank you very much.
Arguments forgotten, Frobisher grabbed Grace's hand and pulled her up the stairs.
Castle took the opportunity to pour a cup of coffee, fix it with the flavoured cream he'd bought for his wife's special day and took it through the office to their room.
Somehow Kate had managed to sleep though the ruckus in the kitchen and he leaned down to press a kiss to her mouth to wake her up.
She was unresponsive, only grunted at him.
He waved the coffee under her nose and her eyes snapped open, hands reaching for the steaming mug.
"I see where I stand then."
Kate took a huge gulp, "Mhmmm." She squinted at him then, not quite awake, "What?"
"Nothing darlin', I just wanted you to be functional when the little rascals wake you up."
Speak of the devil. He heard the thunder of footsteps as they raced down the stairs. "I'll be back in a few."
He arrived back in the kitchen to find Grace and Frobisher glancing back and forth between the tray and their presents as if they were watching a tennis match.
"Go ahead guys, I'll bring the presents and Claire."
Grace and Frobisher each grabbed a handle and sidestepped their way through to the bedroom, slowly but surely so as not to spill the orange juice, again.
Castle quickly wiped Claire's hands and scooped her up along with the presents. They got to the doorway just in time to watch Kate's face when she saw the masterpiece.
"Wow guys! You did this all by yourselves!"
They nodded with excitement and jumped on the bed. Kate barely had time to lift the tray a few inches to keep it from spilling everywhere.
She sat back with Grace and Frobisher curling into her sides. The whole time she was eating, Grace and Frobisher regaled her with the tales of their breakfast making adventure. Claire and Castle joined them on the bed to listen to the story, in spite of the fact they had lived through it.
Kate had barely finished the last bite of toast and washed it down with a last swig of juice when Grace and Frobisher were bouncing up again.
"Daddy, the presents?"
"Right here."
"That one is mine, Dad."
"Daddy...thanks."
Kate had placed the tray on the floor now, out of the way of the wiggling children, and Claire climbed out her father's lap and into Kate's, squishing her face into her mother's stomach. When she leaned back she'd left a trail on the purple t-shirt.
"Castle, you forgot to wipe her face."
He shrugged, an oops and an apology all in one.
"Thanks Claire, such a great present!" She gave the baby a smooch, making her giggle.
Grace stopped wiggling and pouted, "I wanted to give my present first."
"It doesn't matter who goes first...plus I just got slimed."
"Slimed!" Grace collapsed into a fit of laughter. "Mummy got slimed!"
Frobisher moved to hand over his card and gift bag while his sister was incapacitated but then snatched them back quickly.
He sang under his breath, "First is the worst, second is the best, and third is the one with the treasure chest... You can go first Grace. Go."
Castle was impatient when gifts were concerned, being just as excited as the kids. She could feel his fingers tapping on her knee under the blanket.
"Go ahead Grace."
Swallowing her giggles Grace managed to hand over the card, covered in glitter and sequins.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY
LOVE, GRACE
The writing was precise and neat, complete with the backwards 'E's. "Good job Grace! "
"We made them at school, and this too." Grace handed over the picture for Kate to unfold.
It was all in purple sparkly crayon – mother and daughter shared the same taste there. "Mummy" was written at the top of the page with a picture of a woman with long hair, a triangle dress and big purple block...heels.
"We had to draw a picture of what we love about our mothers," Grace said, matter of fact.
It was Kate's turn to laugh, "Thank you Grace, I love it. I'll have to put it up at work." The boys will just love it.
"Ok, ok. My turn." Frobisher pushed his card in front of the picture and dropped the gift bag on her lap. The card was almost identical to Grace's but his bag held a story that they had written at school.
"We had to write about a favourite time we had. I did the story of when we got to put the siren in the car," His eyes lit up as he remembered.
"Thank you guys, so much." She squeezed the three into a hug and dropped kisses on their hair.
"Wait, wait for me." Not to be outdone, Castle handed over his card, really from them all, and the present that went with it.
"It's from all of us." Grace had to make sure that they all knew this little fact.
To the most beautiful Mother in the world.
Solar System.
Galaxy.
Universe.
"Mhmmm, what do you want Castle?" She leaned sideways and pressed a quick kiss to his upturned mouth.
"That will do, for now." He practically bounced up and down in the bed beside her, "Open the present now."
She carefully unwrapped the tissue paper, layer by layer, colour by colour, just to see them all squirm. Her hand brushed something cool and she brought it out for all to see.
It was a large white coffee mug covered in the kid's handprints - two larger ones and one tiny print.
"It's so you can have all your favourite things together."
"Yeah, us and coffee."
Kate smiled at Castle over their heads and brought them all in for a big bear hug.
A/N: Hmmm not sure what I think about this, but it's written ...Feel free to check out Summer's Song : ) *Shameless self promotion*