A/N: I WANTED ANOTHER PUG AND ANOTHER BABY
Disclaimer: still behind on NaNo oops.
He wouldn't exactly call it a surprise, because it's not. They've never ruled out the option of having another kid, have always gone by the idea that if it happens, it happens. And if it doesn't, well, they've got Mary and James and three pugs. It's an unspoken rule between the two of them, and he's happy with that. He's more than okay. He has three kids, a gorgeous wife and three point five pugs that he loves more than he probably should. But when Kate wakes him up one morning with that special smile and a roll of her hips against his, oh he's happy. He's so happy.
Benjamin Richard Castle is born at half five on a beautiful May morning, with the sun just peeking over the horizon and filling the room with a golden light. Everything seems to glow with it, and for a moment Richard Castle is overwhelmed with it all. With the small bundle of blue blankets in his arms, with Kate, half asleep against his shoulder. He takes a deep breath, feels the burn of tears at the back of his throat. Benjamin's got his eyes on him, the same blue of his, big and wide and yearning to see the world around him. They won't stay still, looking where they can but always coming back to him. Kate says he's going to be another version of him, and he grins. He can see that, he can. He'd sit him on his lap as he types, let the world of books and words and literature fill up his mind, at the age of eight handing Castle a page of writing – full of aliens, and spaceships and space cowboys – getting better and better over the years until he's got his own book deal. Oh, passing on the family legacy. He wishes.
Kate insists they wait until he's older before they hand him a pug of his own. He laughed at Alexis's fierce protection over Cappuccino, told her numerous times I am not going to steal your dog. Benjamin has only just hit six months, he can't even walk yet and his only form of communicating is blowing spotty bubbles in your general direction. No, he'll get a pug when he's older, a new pug. Castle's already called it Frappuccino. Has already fallen in love with the yet to be found dog. Hell, if Kate would let him he'd already have the bowls and the bed and the collar and the lead. But that would ruin the surprise. And it's going to be a surprise.
They celebrated his second birthday only two weeks ago, and ever since he's been on the lookout for dog advertisements. Kate says it doesn't have to be a pug. Get him a cocker spaniel or a Yorkie, but no, he has to disagree. It has to be a pug. He can't bring a dog that isn't a pug back into the apartment. That'd just be mean. Pugs are their thing. They are a family of pugs. Bringing back anything but a pug… that'd be unacceptable. No. It's a pug or no dog at all.
They're checking an alleyway, for what, he doesn't know. He wasn't listening when Kate told him where and why they were going, so he's just following behind her, letting her do all of the work. He looks behind a dumpster (needs to look like he's at least doing something) and is more than a little surprised to find a pair of eyes looking back at him. He tries to coax the animal out, thinking it's a stray cat. It doesn't move when Castle tries to urge it out with the movement of his fingers, and it takes a lot of encouraging and a fair few ungentlemanly noises from him before it finally emerges into the light. Slowly, but surely. One paw in front of the other. It's black. It's pitch black, he can see that now. That's – that's not a cat. That's a…
"Kate!"
He can tell the little black pug needs to get to a vets. He's far too thin and he can see the lice on the fur and there is something unnatural about his front left leg. He's looking at Kate, the question already blossoming in his eyes.
"If the vets can do something, and if he doesn't have an owner, then we can have him."
"Oh, hell no. I'm not giving him back to the previous owners if they let him get in this condition." He's already pulling off his light jacket, and the dog - Frappuccino - doesn't even fight as he wraps him up. Sheer exhaustion, or whether the dog trusts him already Castle doesn't know, but he tucks the dog close into his side, trying to share some of the body heat. He can feel him shivering, and oh, his heart is going to break if he has to leave the poor thing here, alone and cold and with no food or warmth, and the leg - "Kate, I-"
She smiles, her eyes on the dog. "Go to the vets, Castle. See what they can do. I'll see you later."
Frappuccino's leg is broken and infected, and he's more than a little surprised when the vet tells him it would be easier and far less painful for the dog if they had it amputated. He hesitates, just for a second before agreeing. Whatever's best for the dog. Their dog. Benjamin's dog. "Will he be okay?"
The vet smiles at him and oh suddenly there's hope. "We'll give him a wash and then get him into surgery. If that goes well, I think he's got a good chance of survival. Particularly if you Castle's decide to adopt him."
"Youngest needs a pug too." Castle laughs. "He doesn't have a previous owner does he?"
"No, not this fellow. I suspect he was born on the street and got left behind. Poor little thing. Good thing you found him. Wouldn't have a hope in surviving, not with this leg."
He stays until the surgery is over and he's sat on the floor in frog of Frappuccino's cage, the dog still out cold from the anaesthetic when his phone rings. "Kate, hey."
"How's our pug doing?"
"He's good. They amputated his leg. It was broken and infected and it was easier to just… they're keeping him in for a while, just to keep an eye on him. We can pick him up in a week."
"I haven't told Benjamin. Keep it as a surprise, yeah?"
He hums in agreement, sticks his free hand through the cage door to run a finger along the dogs back. Kate's laughing at him, low and sultry, and don't do that woman. "You're hopelessly in love, aren't you?" She asks.
"Maybe just a little bit." He admits, his heart melting even more when Frappuccino's nose wrinkles slightly. "Okay, more than just a little bit."
Frappuccino makes it home five days after that. Benjamin has half adopted Latte as his own pug, and the twelve year old dog and the two year old toddler are evenly matched. Benjamin tries to chase the dog around the loft and he is a speedy thing, it's just he hasn't yet learnt to master the art of braking. Latte, meanwhile, just plods along ahead dodging out of the way whenever he comes barrelling through. It's Mocha though, that first picks up the strange new smell. He's more than confused at the white. One that circles Frappuccino's head, tries to nip at it with his teeth. Castle nudges him away with a foot, lets Macchiato say her hello. Frappuccino's tail hasn't stopped wagging since he set him down on the floor.
"Rapuino!" Screams Benjamin, abandoning Latte and skidding across the floor towards him. "Bendog! Bendog!"
"Benjamin's dog, yes."
Benjamin frowns down at Frappuccino. "Why leg?"
"Frappuccino had an accident. He had to have it removed."
Benjamin tilts his head sideways, observing the dog closely. "He Bendog?"
"He's your Bendog. Just like Latte is your mothers and mine, Mocha is Mary's and Macchiato is James."
"Capp is Alesisis."
"That's right. You gonna take care of your dog?"
Benjamin grins, puts his hands on Castles arm to stay upright. Terrible sense of balance, this one. "My Bendog!"
Thinking about it, really, when he really thinks about it, he can't remember a time when Frappuccino's tail has actually stopped wagging. Other than when he's asleep, obviously. But it's always wagging. Back and forth back and forth. Eating, running, walking, lying down, playing with Benjamin. It's constantly moving. And he loves it, because Frappuccino is still on the thin side, he has trouble keeping food down sometimes, and, of course, he only has three legs. But he's never seen a happier dog. He stills runs around the park, followed by a slightly more balanced Benjamin, who's followed by Mocha and Macchiato. Latte is sensible and walks next to Castle, only stopping to occasionally sniff at a leaf. But Frappuccino, he revels in life. He loves everything and everyone and sniffs every leaf (and every dog) and does not hesitate when it comes to jumping in the fountain and growling at the splashes he makes. He has to stop Benjamin from following, of course, and sometimes he's successful. And sometimes he's not. Like now.
Both boy and dog are scrambling up over the stone sides, Frappuccino's legs scrabbling slightly to get himself on top – but he does, out of sheer stubborn determinedness – and Benjamin is standing up and grinning at him, water dripping from his hair and onto his already sodden jumper. Jeez, he really is a younger version of him. God help them all.