Disclaimer: Castle isn't mine. Standard. You probably knew that. If not... well, what are you doing on a fanfiction site, anyway? None of the characters that are actually on the show are mine, either. A few of the characters in here actually ARE, but it really shouldn't be difficult for you to figure out which ones. All the ones under seven, basically. :P

A/N: Hiii. So I realize it's been a ridiculously long time since I've posted anything. And now that I am, it's a new one shot instead of updating something I already have going like I probably should be doing. Oh well.

Apparently once I make up characters... they're created. And I usually don't leave them alone for long. Awhile ago, I wrote a one shot ("Diving In") that featured Castle and Beckett's future daughter, Marleigh. And since then, she's been running around in my head, and I can't seem to imagine them having any child that isn't her. So you'll see Marleigh in this story as well... and she'll probably come up again in the future. As, I'm sure, will some of the other original characters in this. You'll see what I mean, I think. For now, just enjoy the fluffiness. :)

"Surely you could've come up with an easier way to get out of doing paperwork." Ryan was joking, at least for the most part, but there was an earnestness in his eyes that made Rick chuckle.

"My standard excuses are starting to get stale, but that's not why I'm doing it."

The detective raised his eyebrows, not buying it.

"Okay, that's not the only reason I'm doing it. But shh, Beckett's still here somewhere."

"I'm pretty sure she knows, bro."

"I'm pretty sure she does too," she said, emerging from around a corner, grinning. "You sure you're gonna be okay?"

"Oh, come on. You of all people shouldn't need to be convinced of my amazingness with kids. I'm the Kid Whisperer."

She rolled her eyes. "I know you're good with Marleigh, but she's your daughter. It's different when the kids aren't ours."

"One of them is. And I've hung out with the other three lots of times, it'll be great."

"But you've never had all four of them by yourself before."

"Yeah, the boys can be a handful," Ryan put in.

"Hey, I can do this. Have a little faith."

"I know you can do it," Kate said, "I just think it's gonna be harder than you think."

"Well then that's for me to worry about, isn't it? Because you, my beautiful wife, are gonna be at work." He kissed her once on the cheek. "Go, or you'll be late."

"Fine. Just call one of us if you need help, okay?"

"I'll be fine."

"I know, you're the Kid Whisperer." There was more than a hint of mocking in her voice. But then she smiled, and if vanished. "You'll be great. I'll see you tonight."

"Be careful."

"It's a paperwork day, Rick. What do I have to be careful of? Paper cuts?"

"Yes." He took one of her hands in two of his own. "When you get home tonight, I want this hand to look just as it does now. No paper cuts."

"You're ridiculous."

"And you know the drill. You go to work without me, I have to tell you to be careful. And you pretend to be annoyed even though you secretly like it."

She smirked. "I'll see you tonight. I'll be early."

"I'll be fine!"

"I'm sure you will. Have fun."

"You too," he teased.

"Time of my life," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Marleigh," she called to the little girl who was already engaged in creating some kind of sculpture out of blocks with the two Ryan boys, "I'm leaving, come say bye."

That was all the prompting Marleigh needed. She abandoned the stack of blocks, which Dylan immediately knocked down, and ran into her mother's waiting arms. "Bye, Mommy!" she said. "I love you."

"I love you too, baby." She hugged her daughter and kissed the top of her head. "I'll see you when I get home. Have fun today."

"I will. Maya's coming, right?"

"Yep, she should be here any minute. Go play."

Marleigh ran across the room to start rebuilding the destroyed tower.

"You waiting for a ride, Ryan?" she asked. "You can come with me if Espo's running late."

"Actually, would you mind waiting?" he asked, making a face that let her know he was a little uncomfortable making this proposition. "And, uh, giving Lanie a ride to the morgue?"

She sighed, understanding what Ryan was hinting at. "Not again?"

He glanced down at his phone. "Oh yeah."

"What happened this time?"

"Who knows? All I know is that I don't want to be in a car with the two of them while they're at odds."

"Understandable. I'll wait."

Ryan sighed gratefully. "Thank you. Really."

"You know, maybe I'll drive Javi this time and you can go with Lanie…"

He tensed visibly. "That's not funny."

Castle laughed, and Ryan scowled at him. "Sorry man," he said. "It actually was funny."

"You don't always have to side with her," Ryan mumbled.

"Actually I do, she made me put it in our marriage vows. But, um, that aside," he said, feeling his wife's glare and deciding it would be best to change the subject, "what are we gonna do with those two?"

"There's nothing to do," Kate said. "They're both adults, they just need to work out their problems. Which they will, in time."

"It's been six years," Rick pointed out. "They haven't made a whole lot of progress. Why don't you just talk to Lanie?"

"Because it's none of my business. This is an old subject."

"They're your friends. You want them to be happy. Doesn't that make it your business?"

"No, it doesn't. And it doesn't make it yours, either."

"I don't know why you won't just talk to her. How bad can it be?"

She rolled her eyes. "Lanie's my best friend. I'm not afraid of her. I'm not Ryan."

The other detective frowned, but didn't argue.

"I just don't want to butt in where no one asked my opinion."

"I think at some point you have to make a distinction between butting in and doing what's right for your friends."

"What's right for them isn't for us to decide."

"Well, it's gotta be for someone to decide, because they're not any good at it."

She finally sighed. "I'm not saying I agree with you, but even if I did, why do I have to be the one to bring it up?"

"Because you're the one Lanie's most likely to listen to. Plus Ryan's afraid of her."

"Can you stop with that?" he finally interrupted, perturbed.

"I haven't heard you deny it," Castle teased.

Ryan was saved from having to answer that allegation by the door. "And they're here," he declared as he went to answer it, apparently unbothered by the fact that he didn't live there.

The next thing Rick saw was the tiny ball of energy that was Maya bolting across the room to where the other kids were playing. Then her parents made their appearance with Ryan lagging behind. Lanie looked triumphant, Esposito sulky.

"Okay, we've gotta go," Beckett said quickly. "Why don't you ride down with me, Lanie? I could use the company."

She agreed, Castle managed to steal one last goodbye kiss from his wife, and the other four adults were gone as quickly as the last two had come, leaving Rick with a loft full of little people. And whether it was misguided or not, he couldn't have been more excited.

"You guys are having all the fun without me," he accused, joining the foursome who were all still occupied with Marleigh's blocks. "What are you building?"

"A skyscraper!" Dylan proclaimed.

"It's not a skyscraper, it's a tower," Maya argued. "Like where Rapunzel lived."

"Ah, right," Castle said. "She was trapped in the tower until her hair grew so long that the prince climbed up it and saved her."

Maya frowned. "Flynn wasn't a prince, he was an outlaw. And he didn't climb up her hair, he climbed up the tower."

"…right. But I just talking about Rapunzel, not necessarily Tangled."

"Rapunzel was in Tangled," Maya explained in a tone that hinted he couldn't possibly understand.

"I know, but—"

Marleigh tapped on his shoulder, stopping him, and whispered in his ear, "It's okay, Daddy. I don't think she read the book that we have."

He took his daughter's advice and gave it up as a lost cause. "So what are we gonna do today?"

"I want to color," Maya said.

Marleigh nodded at her friend's suggestion, abandoning the blocks. "Me too."

The two boys weren't distracted by this idea, and continued working on their tower, or skyscraper, as Dylan had called it, until Carter carefully removed a square block from near the bottom and sent the whole thing crashing to the ground.

"Carter!" Dylan yelled. "You messed it up!"

"I didn't mean to!" Tears began to form in the younger Ryan boy's eyes. "I wanted that block for the top!"

Dylan picked up a triangular block, clutched it in his fist, and pulled his arm back, aiming for his brother's head. But Rick was paying attention, and he grabbed hold of Dylan's arm before he could do it.

"I think it's time we put the blocks away for a little while," he said. "Marleigh, why don't you go get the box?"

She cast a worried frown in Carter's direction, but then she ran off to get it. Rick managed to look Dylan in the eyes without letting go of his arm. "No throwing things," he said firmly. "Got it?"

Dylan nodded grudgingly and dropped the block. Rick let go of his arm, and by then Marleigh was back with the big cardboard box. "Let's see how fast we can put these away," he suggested. "Ready set go!"

The two girls and Dylan seemed to like this idea, and immediately began picking up as many blocks as possible and dumping them into the box. Carter engaged, but halfheartedly, dropping a few into the box one at a time.

When all the blocks were put away, Marleigh turned to Carter. "Do you want to color with us?" she asked.

Rick swelled with pride. His daughter could not have been any sweeter.

But Dylan answered before his brother had a chance. "Coloring is for girls," he said, like there could've been no worse insult to the pastime.

Marleigh bit her lip and looked at her father, and he understood that she was asking, although without words. Was it? Besides her father, who probably didn't count in her mind because he was a grown-up, the only two boys she knew were the Ryans. If Dylan said that coloring was for girls, then maybe it was.

"That all depends on what you're coloring," Rick explained. "If we're talking about a Barbie coloring book, then yeah, I'd have to agree with Dylan. But I have this Star Wars one that I think you two are really gonna like."

"Cool!" Carter said, finally smiling.

Dylan nodded grudgingly. "I guess that sounds okay."

"Alright. Dylan, why don't you help Marleigh carry the blocks into the other room and bring back the coloring stuff?"

Big six-year-old that he was, Dylan managed to carry the heavy box of wooden blocks by himself, refusing Marleigh's offer to help. She led him to the extra bedroom that had been converted into a sort of playroom so that she could show him where they went, and Rick kept the other two busy taping together blank sheets of printer paper to cover the coffee table. Inevitably, he figured, they'd eventually end up coloring on the table, and this way instead of him having to clean it off later, they could turn it into a sort of horizontal mural.

But before the table was even half-covered, he heard a crash followed by a cry that he immediately identified as his younger daughter's and ran toward the playroom without another thought, leaving Maya and Dylan behind. He found the box and many of the blocks that had once been inside scattered on the playroom floor, and Marleigh standing among them sobbing and clutching her foot.

"I didn't mean to!" Dylan insisted as soon as he saw Rick. "It was just heavy, and I dropped it too early."

"Okay," he said, letting Dylan know that he believed him. "What happened? It fell on her foot?"

He nodded, and Rick turned his full attention to his daughter, sitting down on the floor in front of her. "Alright, baby, let's look." She wasn't wearing shoes, but he carefully peeled off her pink sock so that he could see her foot more clearly. It looked very much like a foot. It wasn't at all bruised or disfigured, which immediately made him feel better, but Marleigh was still crying. "Can you wiggle your toes?" he asked.

She winced, but did.

He ran his fingers over the top of her foot. It felt normal. It might be bruised the next day, but nothing seemed to be seriously wrong. "Okay, sweetie," he sighed, "you're gonna be fine. Come here." He extended his arms for her and she stood up, putting most of her weight on the non-injured foot, so that he could pick her up, and he balanced her on his hip. "Can you grab the coloring books, Dylan?" he asked. "Look." He pointed to the drawer of the desk where they were kept. "They're in there."

Obligingly, the boy opened the drawer and took out a stack of coloring books. Rick used the hand that wasn't supporting Marleigh to pick up her box of sixty-four crayons and followed Dylan back into the living room, carrying his daughter.

He was surprised to find that Maya and Carter had finished covering the table while he was gone. "Hey, good job, guys," he told them as he sat Marleigh down gently on the couch.

"Is she okay?" Maya asked.

"Yeah, she just hurt her foot. She'll be fine. Set those on the table, Dylan. You guys can start coloring, I'm gonna grab an ice pack for Marleigh."

When he returned with the ice pack, Marleigh's favorite, shaped like a penguin wearing a pink bow, he found that only Dylan and Maya were actually coloring. Carter was sitting beside Marleigh on the couch, and to his relief it seemed that she'd stopped crying. "Did he say sorry?" Rick heard Carter ask.

Marleigh shrugged and then shook her head no.

Carter frowned deeply. "He never does that."

"It's okay," she said. "I know he didn't mean to."

"No it's not." Carter pushed himself off the couch and went to his brother. "Dylan, tell Marleigh sorry," he said. "You hurt her."

"I don't have to listen to you," he said, pushing down hard on the blue crayon he was using to color in Thomas the Tank Engine, leaving a streak on his left side that was darker than the rest. "You're littler than me."

"If you don't, I'll tell Daddy."

Rick had been listening but staying out of the argument. He couldn't see the harm in letting the kids figure it out among themselves, as long as it didn't get out of hand. But at this turn of events, he couldn't help but smile. Ryan was his friend, but he couldn't picture him as much of an enforcer. He'd been silently rooting for Carter—he had the right idea, and, after all, he was trying to defend Marleigh—but he couldn't imagine that this threat was going to get him very far.

But to his surprise, Dylan sighed. "Sorry, Marleigh," he said, turning toward the couch to look in her general direction without actually meeting her eyes. Maybe Kevin was a stricter parent than Rick had imagined.

"That's okay, Dylan," Marleigh replied. "I forgive you."

"Here, honey," Rick said, giving the penguin to his daughter without any indication that he'd been listening. "Hold this on your foot, it'll keep it from getting swollen."

She nodded and did. He sat down on the floor with the other kids and chose a picture from the Star Wars coloring book that he'd been telling the boys about. There was no reason he couldn't entertain himself while he was watching them.

When Marleigh heard the door open she jumped up and ran toward it, her earlier injury completely forgotten. Rick was tempted to do the same – it had been a very long day without any adult company – but he hung back and followed her at a reasonable pace. "Mommy!" she squealed, before throwing herself into Kate's arms.

Kate grinned and hugged her daughter tightly. "Hi, baby. How was your day? Did you guys have fun with Daddy?"

She nodded, letting go. "We watched movies and colored and drew a mural. And Dylan dropped the blocks on my foot, but it's okay because it was an accident and he said he was sorry, and it doesn't really hurt anymore."

"Wow. Sounds like a busy day." She smiled at Rick over Marleigh's head. "Was Daddy a good babysitter?"

She nodded. "Very good."

"Glad to hear it."

Maya appeared in the doorway before the conversation could go any further. "Hi," she greeted Kate without much enthusiasm.

"Hey, honey. What's going on? Did you have fun today?"

She nodded. "My mom and dad aren't here yet?"

"Nope. I left the precinct a little before your dad, and he was gonna pick up your mom before he came here. They'll be here soon though, okay?"

She nodded. "They're both coming?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think so."

Maya nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Do you want to see our mural?" she asked Kate.

She smiled. "I'd love that. Why don't you girls show me?"

They ran back into the living room where the boys were still watching TV and pointed out the paper from the coffee table that Rick had taped to the wall. "Isn't it pretty?" Marleigh asked.

"Very pretty," Kate agreed. Rick caught her eye and smiled. It was mostly a mess of scribbles, which made sense considering it had been created by a group of kids between the ages of four and six, but it certainly was colorful.

"I drew the shark," Dylan bragged, pointing out a blue, fish-like blob near the bottom. There was a triangular fin on its back, which was probably what made it a shark in Dylan's eyes.

"Very cool shark," Kate told him.

"I drew the flowers," Maya said, showing her some pink and purple scribbles in another corner.

"Oh, they're lovely. It looks just like a garden."

"It's a meadow," Maya corrected her. "They're wildflowers."

"I see."

Rick grinned. Sometimes he wasn't sure whether Maya was actually as caught up in specifics as she seemed or she just liked to argue.

"What about you two?" she asked, addressing her daughter and Carter. "What did you draw?"

"I drew a butterfly." Marleigh pointed out a brown line with pink circles on either side. For a four-year-old's drawing, it wasn't bad.

"Wow, that's beautiful," Kate told her daughter.

Carter pointed to something near Dylan's shark that looked a bit like an orange snowflake with too many points. "Octopus," he said softly.

She laughed. "Awesome. It's a great mural, guys. Looks like you had fun."

It wasn't long before Ryan and Jenny showed up to take the boys home, and Maya's parents immediately followed. After chatting a little, they all went home. Maya looked especially happy as she left with her parents, each of them holding one of her hands.

"They look reconciled," Rick said as he closed the door behind his guests. "Did you talk to Lanie?"

She shrugged. "We drove in together, of course I talked to her. But I didn't do much. I might have mentioned that she could try to go a little easier on Javi. You know, for Maya."

He smiled. "Not much at all."

He kissed her, and she grinned. "So, did you have fun today?"

"I did. The kids were great. I told you it would be fine."

"And I told you I believed you. So, what do you think? You gonna do it again tomorrow?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because tomorrow's your day off."

She nodded. "Right. Well, the next day?"

"Maybe next week."

He stifled a yawn, and Kate smirked. "They wear you out, Kid Whisperer?" she teased.

He nodded. "Little bit."

"What do you say we order pizza tonight?"

He smiled gratefully. That sounded much more appealing than cooking. "Sounds perfect."

"Hey Mar," she called her daughter in from the other room. She was there within a matter of seconds. "How's pizza sound tonight?"

She grinned. "Yay!"

"I thought that might be okay."

Rick smiled. Pizza had always been Marleigh's favorite food. He was sure that Kate had only asked because she liked watching her daughter's face light up. She sat down on one of the kitchen stools, invited Marleigh up to her lap and balanced her on one knee. He watched as she started asking more questions about her daughter's day, her friends, and the quality of her dad as a babysitter. All of Marleigh's reviews seemed to be raves.

It didn't seem to matter whether he was with Kate chasing bad guys, across the city at a book signing, or here in his apartment looking after his friends' kids. His favorite part of the day was always the same. It was now, when the three of them were home and everyone else was gone. There were very few things that could keep him occupied for hours at a time, but watching his wife with his daughter together was something that he would never tire of doing. Marleigh giggled and Kate grinned, and no moment could ever be better.

A/N: I am aware that there's an intense amount of fluff here. Oh well. It's fun. I love imagining a future where all of my favorite couples are together and have kids running around and playing with each other. It's just... fun. So, mostly, that's why I wrote this. I thought of all these characters awhile ago... I even made a timeline of when they were born and some of the events that happened around the same time (... I may have put WAY too much thought into this...), and eventually this happened. It took me forever to get it to a point where I liked it enough to post, but I think it's there now.

If you want, you can also think of it as an introduction. Because in the process of developing this, it's possible that the kids' characters got a bit... over-developed. And I want to play with them more. Eventually. Or right now. Whatever. It's also possible that I already have an entire folder on my laptop dedicated to them. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do with any of this yet. I might just do some more one shots, make it like a series-type-thing, and/or I might actually do a multi-chapter story involving these guys at some point. Regardless... they're in my head, and I don't think they're going anywhere, so tell me what you think of them. Like? Dislike? Like some and dislike others? Would you be interested in reading more about any/all of them (anyone specifically?), or do you feel like I already beat the dead horse? I know I'm prompting a bit here (okay, more than a bit), and I don't normally like to do that... I want your opinions without my influence... but I feel like this might actually help me figure out where to go.

Anyway, ignoring my ramblings if you like (which you probably didn't if you made it this far... oh well, hindsight and whatnot), reviews are awesome. Leave some, please. :)