Disclaimer: I don't own most of the characters I write about. If you recognize a name, odds are it isn't mine. But seeing as this is a fanfic website, you probably knew that already.

Thanks again to Sunshiny-Kate, the best beta a writer could ask for!

Castle wakes abruptly from a deep sleep. He blinks his eyes open and it takes a moment for them to focus before he sees his son standing by the bed. Even in the darkness of the room Castle can see the trails left by the tears that are still streaming slowly down the boy's cheeks.

"Hey Wyatt," Castle whispers, "what's wrong?"

"I had a bad dream, Daddy."

Castle lifts an arm up. "Come here, big man."

The five year old sets his stuffed elephant on the bed and then climbs up. He crawls over to Castle and flops down next to him, right up against his chest.

"Hey, don't forget Phantom." Castle reaches for the elephant and hands it to Wyatt, who hugs it tightly. "You want to tell me about your dream?" he asks as he wipes away the tears with a gentle touch of his thumb.

"Phantom and me were fighting the Sandman and his army of bed bugs. I was like a knight, riding on Phantom's back, but we couldn't defeat the evil army."

"That does sound scary."

"Yeah, and I called for you and Mommy but you couldn't get to me because you had to wait for the sands of time to pass but the Sandman kept adding more sand to it and it never passed." Wyatt looks up at Castle. "Daddy, I thought you said the Sandman brings me happy dreams."

"He does, son, but sometimes a bad dream will sneak through. But bad dreams can't hurt you, no matter how scary they are."

"I know." Wyatt sighs, and his faces scrunches like he's deep in thought. "You know what the worst part was?"

"What was the worst part?"

"Spider-Man never showed up to help me either."

Castle fights off a smile. "Oh Wyatt, my man, the Sandman from Spider-Man isn't the same as the Sandman who brings you dreams."

"He's not?" Wyatt's eyes widen in disbelief.

"Nope."

"Oh. Well, it was still a scary dream."

"I know." Castle drapes his arm across Wyatt's little body and tugs him closer. "But you're so brave to come down by here by yourself. Looks like the Sandman didn't beat you after all."

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I stay down here the rest of the night?"

"Of course you can, Wyatt."

Suddenly an arm snakes its way over Castle's side from behind him and a hand lands on his stomach. "You know," Kate murmurs, "you two just might be the world's worst whisperers."

"That's because we're manly men," Castle replies as he covers her hand with his own, "and we can't keep our manly voices down. Isn't that right, Wyatt?"

"That's right!" He grins enthusiastically. "We're manly men!"

Kate laughs, her breath hot on Castle's neck. "Well, manly man of mine, how about you quit hogging our son?"

Castle slips his free arm under Wyatt and grabs him tightly, then flips over. Kate pulls her arm out of the way so Wyatt won't be slammed into it, and she can't help but smile when he lands on the bed between her and Castle and bursts into laughter. Unable to resist, she starts tickling him, and Castle quickly joins in. Wyatt's laughter soon turns into loud, panting shrieks, and he tries over and over to push their hands away. When that fails to get them to stop, he curls up on his side in the fetal position and holds Phantom up to try and block his parent's roving fingers.

"Oh," Castle chuckles, "does Phantom want to be tickled too?"

He starts tickling the furry toy, and Kate follows suit. It takes several moments for Wyatt to catch his breath enough to speak.

"Phantom isn't ticklish, Daddy. He's all full of stuffing and can't feel it."

Both Castle and Kate stop and look down at Wyatt.

"Are you sure?" Castle lifts an eyebrow.

"I'm sure," Wyatt nods.

"I don't know," Castle sighs, "what do you think, Mommy?"

"Well, he's not laughing," Kate purses her lips, "so maybe he's not ticklish. I guess we should just tickle Wyatt some more."

"No!" Wyatt squeals.

"No?" Kate echoes.

"No more tickling, Mommy. Just hugs and kisses."

"I can do hugs and kisses," she smiles.

Wyatt turns over so he's on his back again. He reaches up and puts a hand around both of his parent's necks and tugs them towards him. They each plant a long, loud kiss on Wyatt's cheeks, making him laugh again. He lowers his arms and picks up Phantom, then snuggles himself further down on the bed. Kate and Castle each lay an arm across him, cocooning him between them. He sighs contentedly and looks up at Kate.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, love?"

"Can we make waffles in the morning?"

"We most certainly can."

"Good," he yawns, "I like waffles."

Kate smiles and kisses his forehead, then starts running her fingers through his hair, letting her nails drag lightly over his scalp. His eyes drift close within seconds, and less than five minutes pass before his whole body relaxes and his breathing deepens.

"Hey, Kate?" Castle breathes out.

She looks at him. "Yeah?"

"I haven't gotten a new waffle iron yet."

"Oh yeah," she rolls her eyes, "the experiment."

"I had to know how effective a waffle iron was at sending morse code smoke signals."

"Mmmhmm."

"It was for work," he whines softly.

"I know," she grins and caresses his cheek. "We'll just do pancakes or French toast or something."

"But Wyatt wants waffles."

She shoots him her signature look, but he can see a hint of a smile. "We'll go out then."

"Ooh, can we go to the arcade after breakfast?"

"I don't know," Kate hums, "do you think the manly men can handle getting beat by a girl?"

"It'll never happen."

"Oh no?"

"Nope." He shakes his head.

"It's on, then," she squints. "better rest up, Mr. Castle. You're gonna need all the help you can get."

"I hope you dream about winning," Castle rebuts, "because it's the only way you're gonna beat us."

"Well, you -"

Kate stops talking when a small hand closes over her mouth.

"Mommy, you need to be quiet and go to sleep." Wyatt mutters sleepily.

"Yeah, Mommy," Castle snorts.

Wyatt puts his other hand over Castle's mouth. "You too, Daddy."

He waits a handful of moments before removing his hands, and once he's grabbed hold of Phantom again, he falls right back to sleep.

"Well, on that note," Castle whispers with a grin, "good night, Kate."

She smiles back at him and leans over Wyatt for a quick kiss. "Night, Castle," she says against his lips.

In less than ten minutes, the only sound in the room is the soft, deep breaths of three sleeping Castles.