Hi dear readers! Happy Castle Monday (after all these weeks)! Here's a little one-shot that I'd been thinking about for a while. Enjoy it!
Disclaimer: Don't own Castle but Ridley Elaine is all mine
The bone-chilling cold from Mother Nature still had not released its grip on New York City by the end of March. But while outside the weather was cold, icy and all around nasty, inside the Castle abode things were nice and toasty warm. The smell of freshly baked cookies wafted through the air and low music drifted from an old-style record player.
At the kitchen counter, two girls stood over the source of the mouthwatering fresh-cookie smell. The little one stood on a stool so she was tall enough to see the yummy treat while the big one stood next to her, showing her how to decorate the cookies with icing and sprinkles.
Alexis Castle had chosen vanilla icing and rainbow sprinkles for her circular cookie. She was currently putting the sprinkles on in a spiral pattern while the little girl next to her watched with a look of awe on her face.
"What do you think, Ridley?" Alexis asked the girl when she finished designing the cookie.
"I have the most artisticest big sister ever!" the little girl exclaimed her hazel eyes shining, as she threw her hands up and nearly lost her balance. Ridley Elaine Castle was nearly six years old and grew more rambunctious every day. After the kindergarten day ended, her parents could often find their only daughter with bits of leaf caught in her light brown hair and mysterious smudges on her shirt. Heaven forbid they sent her to school in stockings because Kate would immediately have to run out and buy two more pairs since they would surely come home ripped. She had already taken an interest in the more rough-and-tumble sports like horseback riding, soccer, and she once expressed an interest in bull riding which her father immediately put a stop to.
Alexis smiled at the little girl and moved the tray of cookies to her. "Now it's your turn," she told her little sister.
Ridley pondered which cookie to take for a moment, eventually deciding on the horse-shaped one that she made from the cookie-cutters her Gram had given her for Christmas.
"I'm gonna make it look like Pansy!" Ridley proclaimed, referencing the pony she rode every Tuesday for her riding lessons. She reached a small hand for the brown and black icings (they had made every color icing for this excursion) and began to color the sugar-cookie horse.
Alexis gave a small, quiet giggle and watched the little girl intently at work. She loved getting a chance to spend time with her little sister. At first, it had been overwhelming to have a new baby in the family, but now it was just fun. Tonight, her dad and Kate went out with the boys and their respective partner and wife for a while after closing a particularly bad case. Alexis jumped at the chance to babysit. Work and school had her needing a place to wind down and the twenty-five year old found that solace in Ridley. It was the little girl's idea to make cookies because their dad had eaten the last Oreo.
"Finished!" Ridley shouted, breaking Alexis from her thoughts. She looked down to examine the iced cookie. It was actually pretty good for a five-year old but Alexis was pretty sure Pansy did not have a rainbow sprinkle mane and tail.
Smiling, Alexis said, "Nice job." Just as she began to say something else, her phone chimed.
"Who is it?" Ridley asked curiously.
"It's Dad," Alexis replied.
"What'd he say? Are they coming home soon? They can help with the cookies!" Ridley cried, excitedly giving a little bounce.
"He said: Hi, Pumpkin! Be home soon, just leaving. Having fun?"
Alexis typed a response back and then turned her head to the rather inquisitive-looking Ridley.
"What's up?" Alexis asked.
"Why does Daddy call you Pumpkin?" she asked, "It's not because of your hair, is it?"
Alexis chuckled. "What makes you think it isn't?"
"Because Daddy and Mommy call me Strawberry but I have brown hair. That would mean they'd call me Coconut or something."
"Coconut?"
"There aren't many fruits and vege-tables (Ridley said vegetables like how they were spelled) that are brown!" the little girl replied defensively.
Alexis laughed, seeing her sister's face turn red in frustration. "No, he doesn't call me that because of my hair."
"Why? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!" Ridley demanded.
"Only if we finish these cookies and talk."
"Got it," she said, grabbing the nearest cookie and smearing green icing on it. The littlest Castle looked at the second-littlest intently.
"Okay, so until I was your age, we lived in a different apartment than here," Alexis started.
"Really?" Ridley asked, interrupting.
"Hey, story time. Questions later."
Ridley nodded, pretending to zip her mouth closed.
"Anyways, this building wasn't too far from here but it was a little smaller and had a lot more kids around my age to play with. When I was three, I got to go trick-or-treating for the first time with the other kids, Dad, and some of the other parents. It was just in our building and the one next to it on the block.
"We went to the other building first. I'd never seen so much candy in my life and I think even smelling the candy made all of the kids, including me, a little crazy. When we got outside to go back to our building, all the kids raced each other. I was the littlest.
"We were all running up the steps to the door and I slipped at the top and fell. Everyone stopped to see if I was okay and I was. But, my head wasn't that okay."
"Did you crack your head open?" Ridley asked, her eyes wide.
Alexis gave a half-smile. "No, I didn't crack my head open. When I slipped, I somehow fell headfirst into a jack-o-lantern decoration sitting outside. It didn't have a candle inside or anything, and was really big (also, I was really small) so somehow my head got stuck in it and when Dad picked me up, my head was still stuck in it!"
Ridley, at this point, was giggling really hard.
"When they finally got it off, I had pumpkin all over me. Needless to say, that was the end of my trick-or-treating for the night," Alexis grinned at the memory, "And from that moment on, Dad called me Pumpkin!"
Ridley smiled, setting to work on a new cookie (only having gotten one done throughout the story). "You're so funny, 'Lexis!" she said, but then her face grew serious, "That still doesn't explain why I'm called Strawberry!"
"That one is easy," the redhead told her little sister, "When you were born and your mom held you for the first time, she and your dad called you their 'Strawberry Baby' because you were kind of red when you were born."
Ridley nodded and sat down on her stool, getting a little bored of icing cookies. Of course, Alexis thought.
"You know," the little brunette commented, "I like cherries better."
Alexis shrugged, "I think Strawberry kind of suits you. And anyways, you can't choose your own nickname."
Ridley opened her mouth to start and argument about whether or not you can choose your nickname but nothing came out as the door opened to reveal Kate and Rick back from The Old Haunt.
"Mommy, Daddy!" Ridley shouted, leaping off the school and attaching to the nearest parent (which happened to be Kate).
"Hey little Strawberry," Kate greeted her only child, "How was playing with Alexis?"
"It was so much fun, Mommy! We made cookies and 'Lexis told me a story!" Ridley gushed.
"A story?" Rick asked, detaching the little girl from her mom and scooping her up with a giggle-response from the brunette.
"Ridley was asking about why she was called Strawberry so I told her the story about 'Pumpkin' and about her nickname," Alexis responded.
"Oh the one about you falling into the—" Kate's face turned white when she processed the rest of the sentence, "Wait, you know the Strawberry story?"
At Kate's words, Rick's face also started draining of color.
"Alexis told me the whole thing!" Ridley exclaimed proudly.
Alexis looked confused. "Why wouldn't I know it, Kate? I was there."
"You saw—heard, wait saw? Alexis?" Rick asked, equally confused but obviously frightened by what had happened.
"Guys, have you really forgotten about Ridley's birth six years later? I was there in case Dad fainted," Alexis explained.
"Oh!" Kate started nervously laughing, "I completely forgot what you were talking about for a second." Rick joined in laughing with his wife, a glance barely passing between them.
"Wait, what did you guys think I was talking about?" Alexis asked, realizing the Strawberry story was something else entirely.
At this point, Rick was carrying Ridley into the kitchen with Kate in tow to check out the cookies.
"Nothing, Pumpkin," he called over his shoulder, "Absolutely nothing."
After Alexis went home and Ridley went to sleep…
Kate flopped back in her and Castle's bed, letting out a deep sigh of relief. She was changed out of her work clothes and, in their big soft bed, perfectly comfortable.
"Hey," Castle said quietly, breaking her thoughts. He was leaning against the doorframe, just taking in the sight of his beautiful wife.
"Hey," Kate said back, motioning for him to come and sit next to her on the bed.
"Hell of a day," Castle commented as he sat down and leaned against the headboard while Kate crawled over to cuddle with him.
She looked up, her beautiful eyes shining with a love that was only reserved for him. Castle ran his fingers through her hair and kissed the crown of her head.
"I am dreading when Alexis figures out the Strawberry story, Castle. She's going to need therapy."
"Smart as she is," Castle replied, "I don't think even she will figure that one out. Only two people know that story and that's the way it will stay."
"Mmm," Kate replied, nuzzling into his chest, "that was the most amazing night ever."
"Even more amazing because we made Ridley," he added, his hand beginning to run up and down Kate's body.
"Who ever knew conception could taste so good," Kate said before realizing how ridiculous it sounded.
The two of them looked at each other and started laughing; muffling each other with their hands, which soon became their mouths.
More and more passion bubbled from the kiss and they only broke away when oxygen became a necessity.
"So, Detective Beckett-Castle," the writer began in a low voice as he started unbuttoning his wife's nightshirt, "We've made a Strawberry Baby. Do you want to try for another food group?"
Kate pulled back and looked at him with an inquiring stare. Castle reached behind him and produced a half-full jar of icing.
"Icing Baby?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
Kate smiled and in a sultry voice replied, "How could I ever say no?"
She wrapped her arms around him and initiated the kiss again. Castle, in turn, encircled her waist, bringing her flush with his body and then slowly laying her down and finishing his unbuttoning to start what turned out to be another tasty night.
Needless to say, the next baby was nicknamed Fondant (as it sounded better than Icing) and the Icing story was another private memory shared between the writer and the detective.
That was fun! Tell me what you think because I might use Ridley again some time soon!