1. autumn leaves – future
"Mama, wook!"
She does, dragging her eyes from the wisps of brown hair atop her daughter's head to where her son is standing knee-deep in a pile of orange leaves.
"Yeah, baby?"
He grins, that toothy smile she loves so much. "Da weaves falled down!" he says, bright and happy.
It makes her smile widen and tug at her cheeks as her heart swells with irrational, unconditional love for the little boy so fascinated by the simplest of things.
Brown haired, blue eyed and finding joy in everything, so much like his father.
"They did," she says. "They do this every year."
His eyes go wide, mouth forming an O. "Dey do?" he asks, voice laced with wonder.
"They do," she chuckles.
His eyes stay wide as he bends down and clumsily reaches for the first leaf he can find. It's an orange one, the edges broken, but he doesn't care.
"Wha do wif falled weaves?" he asks, curious eyes tracing the leaf's edges, his brows furrowing.
This part, he gets from her.
"You can do a lot of things with the leaves," she answers. "I'm sure daddy could show you a bunch."
"I could show him a bunch of what?"
She turns around to find Castle bounding down the path, an easy smile on his face and a bounce to his step. He drops onto the bench next to her and reaches over to run his hand over the top of their daughter's head.
"She asleep?" he asks.
"She's not crying, is she?"
He chuckles softly before turning to where their little boy is still standing in the leaves. "So, what am I showing the little man?" he asks.
"Oh," she says, "Ethan was wondering what we do with the fallen leaves."
Castle smiles, eyes going wide with the same excitement she sees in their son as he turns to face Ethan. "Is that right? You wanna know what to do with the leaves, little man?"
Ethan looks up from the pile he's standing in. "Daddy? Wha' you do here?"
Castle stands up, arms already extended as he crosses the path. He scoops their son out of the leaves, crushing the little boy against his chest as he spins in a circle. "Well, I came to see you, silly."
"Me?"
He laughs. "Well, and your mommy and Tay. Is that okay with you?" asks Castle.
Ethan laughs and squeals as his daddy tickles him, slowly letting him fall back to the ground. "Yeah, daddy. Is otay. Is otay!" he says, over and over again until his words dissolve into incoherent giggles.
"Good," says Castle. "Because that means I can teach you what to do with the leaves."
"Yay! Daddy, 'owe me. 'Owe me, daddy!"
She laughs softly, watching as Castle lifts Ethan back onto his feet, and proceeds to explain what a leaf pile is. Ethan tries to help make one on the grass, imitating his father as he scoops up armfuls of leaves, only to drop most of them.
Castle ends up making a huge pile, compared to the original.
Ethan turns to her, eyes wide. "Daddy mate i' big!" he says, motioning to the leaf pile that's almost as tall as he is.
"He did," she chuckles. "Your daddy likes to go all out."
Her little boy nods, head bobbing happily, and turns to his father, babbling something she can't quite understand. Castle, however, grabs his hand, pulls him a few feet from the leaf pile.
"You gotta run and jump into the leaves, little man," she hears her husband say.
And Ethan does exactly that, running forward on chubby legs, his jeans catching the heels of his shoes. He stops right before the leaf pile, and jumps forward slightly, landing in the edge of the pile.
Still, he squeals and giggles, screaming "Again! Again, daddy!" over and over.
She snaps a picture of his smile after he jumps in the second time, as Castle grabs handfuls of leaves and lets them flutter down around their little boy.
She watches for as long as she can, until she knows baby's naptime should already be over, before interrupting with a slightly heavy heart.
She could watch Castle and Ethan play in the leaves for hours, but Taylor's bound to wake up soon.
"Guys, I think we should get going. I don't want the baby to get cold."
Ethan looks up at her from where he's lying in the leaf pile. "Taytay 'old?"
"Yeah, I think so, buddy," she says. "I'm sorry."
Castle is already standing straight, lifting Ethan from the leaf pile. "Don't be sorry, Kate. We gotta look out for our girl," he says. "Ethan gets it, right buddy?"
Her little boy nods. "Taytay gots to be hot," he says, that proud big brother smile on his face.
And, man, she thought she couldn't love him any more than she did this morning.
Castle leans down, sets Ethan on the ground, whispering in his ear. Their little boy's face lights up, and he runs around picking leaves up off the ground before running back to his daddy. Castle scoops him back into his arms before joining her on the path.
"Whatcha got there, baby?" she asks.
He holds out a handful of leaves, stems clutched in his palm like one would hold a bouquet. "Weaves, mama!"
"I see," she smiles. "What are you going to do with the leaves?"
He grins back at her, that same toothy smile from earlier. "Daddy say we gots to 'eeps weaves an' pu' dem in boocts."
"Oh? That sounds like a really good idea," she says.
Looks down, suddenly, at wear Taylor is nestled against her chest. "Taytay no gots a weaves?" he asks. And, oh, his voice is suddenly that pouty, caring one he uses when the baby cries.
"Tay's too young for leaves, Ethan, love."
"No," he says. "Taytay need a weaves. Mama give Taytay one my weaves?"
Her heart melts. Actually, physically melts. He is such a good big brother.
"Okay. Which leaf do you want to give to Taylor?"
He picks one, a red one, and hands it to her. "Taytay gots dis one, mama."
She takes it from him and gently tucks the stem under Taylor's headband. The baby doesn't stir, doesn't move, just keeps sleeping, breathing softly against her chest.
"Look, mama!" says Ethan. "Taytay wikes her weaves!"
She leans over, presses a kiss to her little boy's head, running her hand over her baby girl's back.
"I love you," she whispers, and pulls away to see mirror smiles looking back at her.
"Wove you, too, mama."
You can find the list of prompts I'm using for this story here: "http" : / / whatifellinlovewith . tumblr . "Com" / post / 131184543808 / fallhalloween-prompts