May 4, 2032
Rick stood in the doorway of Lily's bedroom, watching her sleep. He could hardly believe his little girl was turning fifteen today. He could still remember the thrill of finding out that Kate was pregnant, that they were having a girl, and he could remember every moment of her birth. Everyone had had fun with the fact that the two Star Wars geeks had a baby on Star Wars Day.
He remembered her first birthday party, with everyone dressed like their favorite Star Wars character. He still loved the fact that he picked Han Solo, and Kate picked Princess Leia separately. He grinned whenever he remembered Jim Beckett as Obi-Wan (Alec Guinness style) and his mother as Mon Mothma. He remembered Ryan as Luke Skywalker and Sito as Lando. And he smiled as he remembered the R2-D2 onesie that Lily wore.
That night, he started a tradition with Lily. He and she watched "Star Wars: A New Hope" together. (He was an old school Star Wars guy – he loved the original trilogy best) Kate grinned at him when he told her his plans, but she let him do it with only a little bit of teasing. And every year after that, he and Lily would watch it together; it was his favorite part of her birthday.
But he was worried this year. When she turned thirteen, Rick congratulated himself – his newest teenager wasn't a problem. She still thought he was funny; she still came to him when she had a problem, and she still kissed him when he dropped her off at school. But sometime after turning fourteen, he'd noticed a change in his daughter. She rolled her eyes at some of his jokes. She'd go to her mom or her big sister or her grandmother when she had a problem, and sometimes the ladies wouldn't share the problem with him. And not only did she not let him kiss her good-bye, she didn't let him take her to school anymore. He was upset, and Kate just reminded him that their little girl was growing up. He grumbled, but he knew he was going to have to get used to it.
All of those thoughts went through his head as he watched her sleep. He startled a bit when a hand ran up his arm, but he turned around to grin at Kate. She had a tradition with the kids, too – she woke them up on their birthdays by singing "Happy Birthday" to them, and he guessed it was time. He went downstairs to start on Lily's favorite breakfast – blueberry pancakes. She had a busy day ahead of her, but another Castle/Beckett birthday tradition was the birthday person got to pick all the meals they had on their day. He didn't need to ask her about her favorite breakfast, but he was happy when she asked him to make them for her. When she came downstairs and saw her plate of pancakes waiting for her, she smiled and let him kiss her on the cheek. She did stop him from kissing her sixteen times-an extra for good luck, of course - because "I want to eat my breakfast while it's still hot, Dad!" He considered it a win because she didn't roll her eyes as she said it. She ate her breakfast and drank her coffee (yes, she was a Castle/Beckett through and through) and was off to school. Kate kissed him good-bye at their door, while the boys patiently waited for her. "Don't spend your day pouting, Rick. Remember your deadline!" With that, she gathered up her sons and they were out the door.
Rick spent his day alternating between pouting and working on his edits for his latest book. He couldn't help but remember Lily's previous birthdays when she'd happily hold his hand as they walked to school, thrilled that he was going to be bringing birthday treats for her class to share. He'd often stay in the classroom to read a book to her class, and she'd sit there grinning with pride that her daddy was a great reader because he used different voices for each character. Then she'd hold his hand as they walked home, stopping on the way to get their favorite ice cream. He remembered the family birthday dinners, his mom, Kate's dad and Alexis and her family joining them for whatever dinner Lily requested. He remembered the years when she wanted pizza or chicken fingers or macaroni and cheese and the years when she wanted spaghetti and meatballs or fried chicken. He remembered the gap toothed grins when she blew out the five candles or the six candles on top of her chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. ("You can never have too much chocolate" she had told him quite seriously on her fourth birthday.)
Then his favorite part of her birthday would happen. He'd pop some popcorn; she'd gather the drinks and the two of them would watch. Even though the other members of their family loved the movies too, they all understood that this was a daddy-daughter moment, and they let them have it. He really hoped that it would continue.
This year, she was going to be hanging out with her best friend Kaylee after school and then be home for dinner. She had requested steak and lobster tail this year, and Rick had grinned as he prepared it. The whole family had loved the dinner, even if the boys turned down the lobster. Lily had loved her presents, and Rick was sitting in his chair as Kate and the boys had volunteered to do the dishes. (Well, Kate had volunteered and told twelve year old Reece and Jake that they were volunteering too) Lily had jumped up and gone off somewhere a few minutes ago, and just as he was wondering where she was, she reappeared. She came over to him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for the great dinner, Daddy!" she said as his heart lurched. She hadn't called him Daddy in a while. Mostly, he was "Dad" and sometimes he was even "Father", which he really didn't like, since that usually came with an eye roll. But before he could say anything, she held out the DVD of "Star Wars" and asked him, "Are you ready to watch?"
"Am I ready to watch? Daughter, when aren't I ready to watch the greatest movie of all time? " He stopped as she giggled at his usual response. They walked off to the kitchen to get their movie snacks as Kate smiled at him. Lily might be getting ready to leave the nest, but she wasn't leaving yet. There were still a lot of memories to make, and he was grabbing every one of them while he had the chance.
A/N: In my Castle world, Lily Castle was born on May 4, 2017. I couldn't resist the idea that our two sci-fi geeks had a kid born on Star Wars Day. And I just know that Rick watched Star Wars with her on her first birthday, and continued the tradition every year. The birthday person getting to pick their meals on their birthday was my mom's tradition with us. I was the kid that went through years with mac and cheese or spaghetti and meatballs or my mom's fried chicken for my birthday dinner.