Close Encounters 26: Licence Renewed
Spy wouldn't exist with Jessie D (cartographical) and her unflagging, unfailing, overwhelming support.
Your flails are lifeblood to me. This story is yours.
"Well, you're in a good mood," Castle laughed.
Kate had woken him this morning with coffee, hours before her usual, and while he didn't mind, he was definitely surprised.
She hummed and curled at his side, putting her shoulder to the headboard. "I am in a good mood."
"Well, now I am too," he murmured into his mug. The coffee scalded his tongue in that really good way, a burst of rich flavor. She'd added the pure cream he liked, and something else as well. It was different. He tested the new taste again on his tongue, wondering.
"You like?" she smiled, the corners of her lips appearing over the rim of her cup. She was adorable.
"Uh-huh," he hummed. "Definitely like."
She was grinning like crazy now, something fiercely young and vulnerable in it, so beautiful it made him ache. Been a long time since the aching had been good.
She leaned in against him, their coffee mugs clinking accidentally as they both tried not to spill, an easy morning in bed. He was going to miss this in a few weeks when their suspension was up. While he loved the rush of heading to work, Kate half-dressed as she tried to gulp down her coffee and get the kid out of bed, her hurried kisses as he accosted her on his way out of the shower...
He loved taking their time, the boy sleeping as late as he liked, the two of them making the coffee last - or grow cold as they found each other.
Kate wriggled closer, like she was thinking along the same lines. Castle switched hands and got his arm out from between them, wrapped it around her shoulders, lifting his chin as her hair came to his mouth. He had to pet it down, and it called to mind the way he flattened James's hair too, and it was amusing enough to make him chuckle.
"Share with the class," she tsked.
He laughed and nudged his chin to the top of her head. "Well, your hair was in my mouth. So I smoothed it out of my way. And I realized I do that same thing to James-"
"Oh, his hair is always sticking up on top," she grinned. He felt it against his neck when she put a kiss there. "It's cute. He was my little mohawk baby."
"Still a baby," he grumbled.
"A toddler, really. Walking around. Every day I expect him to start running. He's lurching for it."
He groaned around his next sip of coffee, swallowed it scalding but fast. "He is lurching for it. Good word. Have you noticed how Sasha hovers?"
"So he can use her as a crutch," Kate put in. "I've noticed. And the dog just stands there, waiting for his little grabby hands. I caught him pulling up on her by her tail."
"Ouch."
"She didn't seem to care. Can't imagine that a toddler could hurt her."
"A baby."
"Toddler," she chided, laughing a little as she lifted her head and kissed him again. "Our baby's growing up."
"Oh God, that sounds mushy."
"You were sounding a little mushy there, Rick Castle."
"I'm a seasoned covert operative. I am not mushy."
"Babe, you're seriously mushy."
"Whatever."
She giggled, giggled, and kissed him again, mugs clinking ceramic to ceramic as they pushed closer. He moved his cup away and left it on the bedside table, all without looking, without taking his mouth from hers, and she hummed in appreciation as he took her coffee too.
"Sorry, but I've got to confiscate this in the interests of national security," he growled.
She laughed and slid her thigh over his, straddled his lap. "That was the idea."
"Good idea," he whispered, staring up into her gorgeous dark eyes, dark for wanting him.
"I always have the best ones."
"I've got a meeting with the Director slated for next week," he admitted.
Kate bit her lip to keep from grinning in his face - or clapping her hands with glee like their son often did. She wanted back at work so badly. Instead she hummed something noncommittal and turned back to James in the high chair, spooned another round of rice cereal into his open and waiting mouth.
When the boy got it, he smacked his lips and beamed up at her, giving her his I'm so pleased with you face. He had a hand up like he was ready to 'help' her if necessary, if she kept getting distracted by his daddy. So Kate stopped moving around and pulled out a kitchen chair, sat perched on the edge to feed him.
Castle dropped a hand to her back, a brush of his fingers across her shoulder blades and then gone as he went for another cup of coffee. It was nearly ten, late to be having breakfast, and she was already trying to work out a way to get James on schedule again. The first few weeks back at work were going to be brutal for all of them.
"I was thinking maybe start our work days at nine," Castle said from the counter.
She bit back her first response, what? no, and studied her son's smiling, happy-with-her face. Nine in the morning was seriously late, especially for the work they did with certain agencies overseas. But perhaps if they did conference calls from home, around midnight or one in the morning their time, then they'd make up for it.
And she and Castle would have some quality alone time after James went to bed and before those midnight meetings.
"Okay," she said finally. "That could work."
"Yeah?" Castle blurted out. She turned her head away from James and his rice cereal and saw Castle standing stunned, halfway back to the kitchen table.
"Yeah," she said, nodding. "Why else have we cultivated such a great team around us? They've already had to pick up our slack this summer. We'll come in to the Office at nine and it will be great."
He blinked and took a half-step towards her, as if slowly coming back online, and then he brought the coffee mug to his mouth and took a fast gulp.
She finally let loose the smirk. "Always keeping you guessing, aren't I?"
He laughed, shaking his head as he sank down at the table. His own smirk sent lovely schisms of arousal through her belly, made her breath catch. "You better leave before my wife gets back. She will not be happy."
Kate leaned in, slid her hand along his thigh. "Oh, yeah? How much time do we have?"
"Not sure," he answered throatily. "What'd you have in mind?"
She skimmed her fingers under the leg of his shorts and he grunted, one eye shutting and the other slitting. She abandoned the baby spoon to press both hands into his thighs as she leaned in over him. "Castle."
"Y-yeah?"
"You wanna cheat on your wife?"
"F-fuck, no."
"That's a very good answer," she whispered, drawing a knee to his chair beside his thigh, pressing a little harder into him. Her lips came to his earlobe and she blew softly. "You usually have all the right words."
He wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck, squeezing. "Absolutely cannot handle another like you, Kate Beckett."
"Better only be handling me."
"You like it when I-"
"Uck!"
Kate laughed, falling down into Castle's lap, and she turned her head to look at their baby, still strapped into his high chair, now banging his hands on the tray and grinning at them. Happy, but hungry.
Castle didn't let go of her neck, drew his other arm high at her back, and he dragged her against his chest. "One before you go," he husked.
His mouth claimed hers, fierce and demanding, dragging acceptance out of her. She sucked on his tongue when it pushed inside, and she rocked her hips against him, a little brutal and sudden.
Castle growled and broke from her, fingers tight on her nape. "Hell," he whispered. "What're you trying to do to me?"
"Oh, one kiss," she played. "My bad."
And then Castle laughed, palms coasting down her arms, and he leaned back, got a look at her. "You're ruthless and I love you."
"Love you too," she grinned, squeezing his hips with her knees. "Now let me up, you bully. I gotta finish feeding your kid."
Kate closed her eyes and entered into warrior pose, breathing in time to the inner rhythm of her body. The sounds of their home faded around her until there was only the soft and patient thud of her own heart in her ears.
It was harder to maintain her balance with her eyes closed, but that was - of course - why she did it.
She stretched and moved fluidly into the next position, doing the yoga routine by heart. Her muscles gripped and flexed, and she felt stronger than ever.
Her qualifications were coming up in two weeks and she needed to pass in order to be allowed back in the field with her husband. She was focused solely on training; Castle had taken over so many of their usually shared jobs that she could carve out four hours every day for physical combat and hand-to-hand skills.
When Kate rolled over to cobra and pressed up against her palms, the energy flowing through her blood felt good. As she stretched the muscles in her abs, the knowledge that she'd built all this back without those pills made her feel even better.
For his sake.
She had felt like she'd needed to prove to Castle that heightened abilities weren't solely due to the pregnancy and those 'extra' vitamins. And she really thought now she'd made her point - she was just this good.
Kate broke form and grinned to herself, lifted up onto her hands and knees to arch her back, come to neutral once more. She pushed with her feet and entered into downward dog, breathing slowly.
That's when she realized she wasn't alone.
Kate's eyes popped open in a spurt of adrenaline, one knee coming up in a defensive position, a hand rising from the yoga mat.
Only to find her nine month old son below her, on his back and peering up at her with a goofy smile. When he saw she was looking at him, he grinned even wider, swung his legs up as if in imitation.
"Hey there, Jay," she laughed, dropping down to her knees to crouch over him. She lowered her mouth to messily kiss his cheeks. "You sneaked in while I wasn't looking. Little spy baby."
He giggled and clapped her cheeks, wriggling under her, and she laughed again and sank back to her heels. Workout was over; he was too cute to pass up.
"Come here. Missed you, wolf." She gathered him into her arms for a hug and he squeezed her neck, offering kisses of his own with his open mouth.
"James? Hey, Jay, where'd you go?"
"He's in here with me," she called back. Castle showed up in the doorway between the kitchen and living room, hands on his hips. He smirked at her.
"You look hot."
"I am. Sweat's burning my eyes-"
"Sexy, Kate. I meant you look sexy."
She flashed him a coy look and he laughed, heading into the living room even as James untangled himself from her arms. He crawled over her legs and got to his feet, bouncing a second before he was - oh, look at that - running off. He ran better than he walked.
She let him go. They had enough baby gates up that he couldn't get into too much trouble, but really, someone should have warned her that her baby boy was going to skip walking altogether in favor of running everywhere.
And at barely nine months old, no less.
"He's fine," Castle said.
"I look sexy?" she murmured, shifting to her knees and reaching out for his hand. He helped her stand and drew her into his body, those good rumbles in his chest.
"That should never be a question," he murmured, coming in close to catch her ear with his teeth. Mm, that was definitely sexy.
"Is he crawling out of the playpen?" she whispered, licking the hard angle of his jaw.
Castle chuckled and brushed his nose against her neck, traveling down, already started. "Not yet. Close. Could be today."
"Let's see," she urged, canting her hips into his.
Castle gripped her by the wrist, stalling her movement at his zipper, and his forehead crashed against hers. "Yeah. Yeah, okay. Give me a minute. I'll get him."
"You're a little too worked up," she grinned. She eased her hand away from him. "I'll get him."
"We gotta make it fast," he growled. "I have to be back at the Office in an hour."
"Can do, love. You just get ready."
Kate nudged him towards the Ugly Couch and gave him a wink, heading for the kitchen where she could hear James pulling tupperware containers out of the cabinet.
Castle growled something after her, but she was already escaping the Bermuda triangle of his seduction.
James was - as she'd thought - standing at the kitchen cabinet they'd left unlocked for him. "Hey, Jay P. What'd you get?" She squatted down next to him and reached out to brush her fingers over the bruise on his forehead. The tupperware was scattered all across the kitchen floor and he'd found the wooden spoon they'd left strategically at the edge of the counter.
James had disdained every single one of their baby locks, managed to break or mangle them out of commission within days. They'd discovered that faking him out was the best way to keep him out of the knives and heavy pots, putting the old baby lock on the cabinet with tupperware and new locks on the others.
He thought he was hot stuff, so proud of himself for unlocking the tupperware each time that he never made it to the others. She didn't mind cleaning up tupperware every night if it meant he was entertaining himself.
And not with the knives.
"What'd you find, Jay?" she murmured.
He knocked the wooden spoon against the cabinet door and slammed it shut, grinning at her.
"Yeah, you're pretty clever. Why don't we take some of these drums and your drumstick and hang out in the playpen for a little while, huh?"
James happily pounded the spoon against the closest tupperware container, squatting over it, his little jeans sagging and showing her the white and blue rise of his diaper. She scooped him up and dodged the arc of the wooden spoon, grabbed a couple tupperware as well.
She whistled for Sasha and James started bouncing in her arms, knowing exactly what that sound was for. She could hear the wolf coming up the basement stairs and then nudging open the door. Sasha bounded easily over the baby gate in the kitchen doorway that separated James from the golden Mecca of the basement, and then the dog heeled right at her feet.
"Come baby-sit, Sasha. James is going to play you a song. Right, wolf?" She headed for the dining room that, by now, had practically been converted into a baby-safe playroom. His 'playpen' was a fenced off section of the dining room, padded like a freaking gym - Castle's paranoia made manifest - but it worked really well and James adored prowling the area like the little despot of his domain.
She lowered him over the side and placed his containers all around him, then sat him down with a little foot sweep. He huffed in surprise, blinking up at her, and she grinned and took his spoon.
"Like this. See?" She tapped the spoon against the tupperware and James grinned wide, grabbed for the spoon. He went to town on his makeshift drums, and Sasha whined at her from her feet.
Kate leaned over and scratched her ruff. "Sorry. Hang in there. Stay, Sasha."
She left James happily pounding away and hurried into the living room where Castle was waiting.
He'd pulled off his shirt and he'd pushed her weights and the yoga mat out of the way, but he stood when she approached.
"All good?" he asked, eyebrow raising.
"Perfect," she grinned.
Castle reached out and caught the hem of her workout top, yanked it up over her head, and then he tugged her hard against him and devoured her mouth.
Through the roar of blood in her head and the pounding excitement of her own heart, she could hear her son drumming away and the dog, poor thing, barking in time to the racket.
So perfect.
Castle left her showering upstairs and came down to collect his son, found James still banging away on his tupperware. Sasha slinked out of the room the moment Castle showed up and disappeared towards the basement. Poor puppy, she seemed to have taken the little wolf moniker seriously, but she hated the drumming.
"Hey, James Beckett. What you got there?" Castle crouched before the playpen, put his arms on top of the fencing to watch his son. James beamed back at him and resumed his thunder, both arms going, wooden spoon pounding away. "Drums. Huh? You good here? Cause Mommy's in the shower and Daddy has to go to work."
At go, James glanced up, abandoned his drums to come running for Castle. He threw himself at the soft, padded wall of the playpen and Castle scooped him up into his arms, standing once more.
"Hey, wolf. You know that word, don't you? Time to go. But I'll be back. Not long. Let's go see if Mommy's done yet."
He carried James up the staircase and down the hallway, pressing his hand to the boy's back to keep him from twisting out of his grip. James clapped his hands together when they made it to the bedroom, and Castle chuckled at him.
"Water's stopped. I bet Mommy is just-"
"Here I am," she called out. "Just going to finish blow-drying my hair, Rick. Hang on."
"I got him; you're fine." He stepped to the door of the bathroom and angled James so he could see. "Wanna watch Mommy? She's so fascinating."
"Shut up," Kate laughed, sticking her tongue out at them in the bathroom mirror. She turned the hair dryer back on and drowned out whatever response he might have made.
James bounced in his arms, wanting to get down, but Castle wouldn't let him. The top of the stairs wasn't gated - they were still trying to figure out how to do that with the angle of the staircase - and besides that, he had a feeling James just wanted to run to his mother and tangle his hands in her hair. That was his favorite way to fall asleep lately, against her shoulder and twirling her hair.
"You're a smart kid, I understand the urge. But not right now."
James was fascinated by the whole hair-drying production, the way his mother flipped her hair over her head and combed her fingers through it, the flutter of each strand as the heated air swirled, and then straightening up again to run a round brush through it, drying it in long waves.
Okay, so Castle was fascinated too.
He should be getting the kid started on dinner for her, but he had trouble walking away. These days, turning his back on her and leaving her made his chest ache; there was a hollow place that hadn't healed yet.
Despite Kate's restricted abilities, James had rebounded from their absence. Castle had done his best to keep the baby with them, unable to leave Kate for long, unwilling to have James passed around and out of Castle's sight. James's schedule was all messed up, for sure, but the boy was happy.
The blow dryer turned off and Kate gathered her hair at her nape, turned to look at him. "You're okay," she said indulgently. Castle wasn't sure who she was reassuring - him or the baby. "Be right there."
Castle shifted James in his arms so the kid could sit facing out, his arms banded around his son to keep him still. James's feet kicked out and swung, his hand was at his mouth and he was humming, listening to the sounds of his own voice as he played with his lips.
"Goofy kid," Castle chuckled, but he felt better. A little better. He had a few things to catch up on at the Office, and he didn't really want to leave, but it had to be done.
And Beckett wouldn't be happy with him if she knew he was holding back.
"Hey, there's my guy," Kate murmured, coming back into the bedroom in a cloud of sweet-smelling scent - shampoo and lotion and perfume. James garbled a greeting and kicked, lunging for her, and Kate scooped him out of Castle's arms. "I meant your daddy. But you'll do. Rick, you okay?"
He grimaced and drew his arm around her shoulders, kissed her temple. "Yeah. Thinking too much. I've got to head into the Office now, but if you can wait for me-?"
"Bring me something from Angelo's. That Italian place close to Remy's. They're open until nine."
He grinned; she'd read his mind. "Will do. And I should be home well before nine."
"You want me to keep him up for you?" she asked, kissing his lips softly. Her fingers feathered at his side and she nudged him away, got him going again. The baby leaned in against her shoulder, eyelids drooping suddenly.
"No, he looks tired. Aren't you, Jay? Tell me bye, wolf; time for me to go."
James wriggled up and leaned out to him, smacking his lips at Castle. Kate was chuckling softly. "You teach him that?"
"No," Castle laughed, surprised as well. "I haven't seen it before. Kisses, huh? All right, come here." He leaned into James's reach and got a wet, slack mouth against his cheek. "Oh, thank you. How nice."
Kate was laughing and he winked at her, took her chin in his thumb and finger to angle her for a better kiss. She gave it back with a little noise, and he had to break away, make himself stop.
"It'll only be a couple hours." She was softly pushing him towards the door. "Go - so you can get back."
"Love you," he said to that, turning over his shoulder to look at her. James leaned his cheek to Kate's shoulder again. "Love you both."
A few days later, Castle put his finger to his lips, raised an eyebrow. "Shh. Hush, Jay. Remember what we talked about?"
James glanced back at his mother, asleep on the couch finally after a late lunch. One of his little baby hands came out and patted her shoulder, and Castle leaned in and carefully untangled Kate's arms from around the boy.
"Shh," he cautioned. "Easy now."
James was still for him as Castle slowly extracted the boy, and when he finally got James clear, the dog jumped up from the rug and settled in the empty space instead.
Well. Huh.
James looked a little peeved. "Sorry," Castle whispered, kissing his cheek. "But you're a noisy boy when you're fighting a nap."
James grunted at him, obviously hearing the word 'nap' and not appreciative of it either. Castle steered them out of the living room and headed for the stairs, wanting to let Kate sleep as long as possible. If Jay continued as he usually did, he would play away most of his nap, crash hard in the late afternoon, and have to be woken up in time for dinner.
They were seriously messed up, schedule-wise. Next week was going to be a bitch.
"Mama?"
"Shhh, Mommy's sleeping." He cupped the back of James's head as he mounted the stairs. "And so is puppy."
"Mama," James said pitifully, turning those soulful grey eyes on him. Castle thought he saw hints of blue along the irises, but regardless, powerfully appealing.
"Yeah, you want Mommy, but you know what? Mama went through a lot of shit to keep you for us, keep you from being all skinny and starving, remember? Those were not fun times. So let Mommy sleep, let her sleep as much as she wants."
"Mama?"
"I know I've told you this story," he murmured, cresting the top of the stairs. Their house was so quiet that he could hear the tick of the clock in the living room and - as always - it unnerved him. All the silence. The clock.
That mantel clock and the damn ugly couch - two things on the list to get rid of that never actually had gone.
James whimpered at their arrival at his door, turned his face into Castle's neck, hands gripping Castle's shirt.
"Okay, yeah, I know you're totally not cool with nap. But I'll tell you a story if you let me rock you."
James grunted but his little body seemed to slump into Castle as if with reluctant agreement. Castle grinned and kissed the rice-cereal-smelling cheek, moved into the boy's bedroom and sat down in the gliding rocker. The wall with the window facing the street was the one they'd put the bare trees on, the stark black limbs against the grey background was an incongruent relief to the green summer outside.
"Hope you like your winter woods," Castle murmured into the top of his son's head. The boy was a little whiny, obviously tired, and he rubbed his face against Castle's chest. "Mama figured you were our little wolf, and I know you hear that one a lot, but you know what else Mommy called you?"
James had gone still with the mention of his mother, and he made a small fist in Castle's shirt and gave a plaintive sigh, as if giving up.
"Mommy called you her little passenger. Did you know that? Just when you were so small that no one knew about you yet. I was not quite as nice about it, was I? My jungle parasite. Winter woods don't really go well with the jungle."
James tilted his head back and stared up at his father, as if soaking in every word. Castle rubbed his thumb over the boy's ear, hoping to hypnotize him with the rhythmic touch, the cadence of his voice.
"Mommy would talk to you inside her tummy. I used to lean outside the door and listen, eavesdrop on her conversations with you. I know, I know, but I'm a spy. What do you expect?"
James blinked, but still his fist didn't release Castle's shirt, as if hanging on to wakefulness.
"She would sit on the bed with the laptop and do work late at night, you were always kicking around in there, and she'd rub right here over your elbow."
Castle smoothed the spot, suddenly bewildered by the memory made real before him, this little elbow that they had joked about, already knows some self-defense moves, what did you expect with spies for parents?
He cleared his throat, nudged his mouth into James's forehead, cuddled the boy higher on his chest so that they were close.
"She'd talk to you when you finally went still long enough to listen. All that work piled up on the bed around her, but she'd stop for you. She used to say, how's my little passenger?"
He let out a slow breath, kissed his son's cheek. James's fingers began to relax.
"She'd stop everything for you," he whispered. "That's why we protect Mommy, why we're good for her. Stopped her own heart beating, James, just for you. For me. Because she loves us, and when Kate Beckett loves - God, when she loves, it's with everything."
He sucked in a ragged breath, closed his own eyes. James stirred against him but he wasn't putting up a fight, merely settling more snugly into Castle's arms.
"That's right. You can sleep now. Mommy loves you, and Daddy loves you, and Sasha loves you. And when you wake up, Mommy will come get you and give you kisses and you can play, but until then, sleep. Sleep and dream in your winter woods."
James was asleep. Just like that.
Would never happen again, but it was a wonderful gift every now and then.