Dreams
"My mother gave me my drive, but my father gave me my dreams." - Liza Minnelli
He wakes to the sound of feet pattering against the wooden floor.
Rubbing his hands over his face, he squints as the Sun glares through the large windows of the master bedroom in their Hamptons home, meaning that he must have slept in, an incredibly rare occurrence for him and his wife.
But once he feels around the bed, he realises that his partner is missing.
Just then, he hears her voice emitting a large shush from behind the white closed door of the bedroom.
Smirking to himself, he closes his eyes and attempts to relax his muscles, giving the impression that he's asleep once more.
He hears hushed whispering from only his left ear as his right is pressed up against the soft pillow cover, but it's enough to understand his wife's words.
"One, two, three…" She whispers in a hushed tone.
Suddenly, three of his girls are bumbling into the room.
"Happy Father's Day, Daddy!"
Kate seems to be the only one who said the words clearly, three year old Amelia only managing to pronounce the last word, and nine month old Avery letting out a tiny squeal as her legs wobble whilst she attempts to walk into the room.
Rick sleepily opens his eyes with a yawn, stretching his arms up over his head. Once his vision focuses, he's welcomed with the sight of three of his favourite girls standing (well, two standing, the youngest has given up on standing and is sitting instead) at the doorway.
"Good morning, loves." Castle greets, his daughters taking the words as an invitation to hurry towards the bed as he shuffles to the other end of the mattress, placing his hands around Avery's tiny waist and lifting her up with ease as she wriggles, lying on his back as he brings her down to his chest, pressing a small kiss to her head of brunette hair.
Whilst doing this, he feels Amelia doing the same action on the crown of his head, making Kate chuckle as she approaches and perches on the end of the bed, running her hand gently up and down her husband's naked bicep.
"Afternoon, actually." She amends with a teasing glint in her eyes, which shine from the sunlight filtering into the room.
"I slept for that long?" Rick replies as he settles his youngest daughter on his chest, letting her head fall into the crook of his neck.
"Yeah!" Amelia answers as she pushes herself up onto the bed in one practiced move, "Daddy sleepy!"
"That's right, Ames, Daddy's a sleepy old man." Beckett teases, earning a pinch to her butt from her husband, making her let out a shriek, which Avery then imitates.
"Well," Rick continues, looking at Amelia's crinkled eyes as she giggles at her parents, "I'm up now, so should I make breakfast for my ladies?"
"Already taken care of." Kate says, but before Rick can ask further questions, his wife leans down to brush a kiss against his cheek then effortlessly slinks out of the room.
He gazes at her retreating form, watching how her tanned legs disappear behind her bright red nightdress, the hanging black tassels at the hem shifting from side to side with each stride.
"You coming, Castle?" Her voice calls out, and he can almost hear her accompanying eye roll.
He'll never get tired of those three words.
"Coming!" He replies with a shout, shifting off the mattress whilst still cradling the baby in his right arm as he reaches out for Amelia's hand with his left.
He follows Kate until she halts in the kitchen, and once he tears his gaze away from her, he lets out a small gasp at the display shown in front of him.
The room is covered in bright colours, a large 'Happy Father's Day!' banner scaling the white wall, each letter painted with a different colour. There are small pieces of tissue paper scattered around the kitchen counters, each differing shades of blue, finally leading up to a baby blue cake, with the same greeting perfectly written in white icing, small silver balls lining the outside of the cake.
But what mainly draws his attention is the open laptop screen, which has a familiar face smiling back at him giddily.
"Alexis!"
He shuffles as quickly as he can over to the screen, hearing his oldest daughter's giggle come through the speakers.
"Hi Dad! Happy Father's Day." She says, waving her hand.
"Hiya!" Amelia pipes up, making Alexis giggle.
"Hello, Amy! How are you doing?" The oldest sister asks as Kate whisks Amelia into her arms so that she can have a better view of the screen.
"I'm…" She pauses and touches her nose with a pointed finger, a habit she's somehow picked up that displays that she's thinking, "Happy!"
All the adults smile at her words, making her clap with delight.
"Very glad to hear that! I'm happy too." Alexis replies, but the last word gets cut off short when a yawn interrupts her.
This makes a realisation dawn on Castle, "Wait, isn't it about 11pm in England right now?"
Alexis smiles sheepishly, "10 actually, just had a busy day with lectures, but it was really great."
Castle grins in response. When Alexis first spoke to him about wanting to continue her education further and get a PhD, he was absolutely delighted, though he became less so when she mentioned that she wanted to do so in Cambridge.
But now, witnessing her joyous eyes and bright smile, he can't imagine anything better for his baby girl.
"Speaking of lectures, I have one beginning at eight tomorrow morning, so I'm going to have to cut this short, sorr-"
"It's no problem, Alexis, we understand." Kate cuts in with a sympathetic look, "We'll Skype again later, at a more reasonable hour for you."
"Thanks, Kate, that would be great."
Even after all these years, Castle still feels a pang in his chest as he sees Alexis and Kate bonding so well, the grin already plastered on his face increasing even more.
"Say good night to Alexis, girls!" Kate continues, eliciting a 'night night' from Amelia and flailing from Avery as she tries to copy Alexis' waves from the screen. Alexis finishes the call and the screen goes back to Kate's contacts.
"Cake now?" Amelia asks immediately, making her parents chuckle.
"No, presents first, Ames, then cake." Kate contradicts, with a stern yet gentle look as she places the girl back on the ground.
Castle then lets out a loud cough, making all of the girls in the room whip around to see him.
"If I'm not mistaken, it is my day, is it not?" He begins with a smirk, Kate pursing her lips as she contemplates where this is going, "And as it is my day, I declare, cake first!"
His daughters let out twin cheers of glee as they shuffle towards the counter.
Hours later, Kate and Rick are settled on the couch, nursing twin glasses of lemonade (they decide they're too worn out to even open a bottle of wine).
Rick smiles as he flips through the photos he took today on his phone.
Avery and Amelia with their mouths and cheeks covered in blue icing.
Amelia jumping as he opened her present: a mug with stick figures of their family painted on it, two redheaded women, one with straight hair, one with curly, a grey haired man with a cane, a man with what seemed to be a writing pad in his hand, a woman with long brunette hair, another long haired brunette half the size, and a tiny baby on the floor.
Him with his head leaned back in laughter as he opened the gift from Avery: a plaque with a Yoda outline, the letters above it reading 'Yoda best Dad'.
Kate pressing a kiss to his lips (how Amelia managed to use his wife's iPad and take such a stable photo, he'll never know).
Him and his girls sitting huddled together on the sand, perched on a Minnie Mouse beach towel, only Avery's face visible as she was huddled in a Frozen towel, since they'd placed her in the sea for a few seconds before she screamed due to the slight chill of the water.
Amelia and his wife in the sea, dodging each other's splashes (and failing).
And finally, Kate sitting on the bench on the porch with Amelia and Avery in her lap, all three with closed eyes as they fell to sleep in the sunset glow.
"Had a good Father's day?" Kate asks in a low tone, careful not to wake up the sleeping residents that are already curled up in their beds.
"The best, I have no idea how you manage to top it every year." He replies, awe present in his tone as he reaches forward to place a stray piece of hair behind Kate's ear, all the strands curly from the sea water.
"You deserve it, you're an amazing Dad." She says with the same earnest voice, love glimmering in her eyes as they lock onto his.
She then bites down onto her lower lip, her face shifting into a look of apprehension. Before Rick can question it, her mouth opens.
"Though, maybe next Father's Day you'll have a son to combat all the femininity in the house."
She watches as his eyes shift around, trying to make sure he has the correct meaning.
With a smile she adds, "I'm pregnant. Again."
His mouth falls open, an incredulous laugh falling out before Kate shushes him with her lips, the two giggling against each other.
They break apart, and Kate still has a small ounce of worry present on her face, "I know we didn't talk about another baby, are you okay with it?"
"Kate, are you serious? Being a Dad is the best job in the world, and whether this one's a boy, or another girl, I couldn't be happier." He replies, trying to blink away the tears in his own eyes as he sees streaks of water fall down his wife's cheeks.
"Be honest though, you want a boy." Kate teases as she pokes her husband in the chest.
"I don't mind, as long as they're happy and healthy."
She squints her eyes at him.
He relents.
"Okay, yes, a boy would be wonderful."
Alexander Castle is born eight months later.
Just had to write a fluffy fic for this day, and who can resist Daddy Castle?
Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dads out there, you're doing great! Also, happy Father's Day to all the Mothers out there who did the work of both parents, including my Mum, you're all superheroes!
Regardless of whether you're a parent or not, have a wonderful day :)
Lou xo