A/N: Simple oneshot, set in the future. I was feeling sentimental and maternal last night, and this was the product of my musing.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Fairy God-Daughter
Kate sat with her legs crossed on the floor, with her back up against the couch. She had a foreboding eerie feeling that her back was going to hurt like hell after this, but she had made a promise. And when Kate Beckett makes a promise, no matter how little, it is kept.
After a minute of silence, Kate called out. "Well! Where on earth is my hairdresser? I am going to a ball, and I need to look my best!" She projected through the house.
"Coming!" She heard the melodic sound of the young girl's voice traveling down the staircase.
Hearing the padding of her socked feet down the steps, Kate looked over to see Nicole Castle scampering towards her with her 'magical box'. The large pink box was almost too heavy for her to manage on her own, and it caused her to walk in a zig-zag motion.
"Nik! Careful, sweetie!" Kate warned, relieved when she made it off the stairs.
The 5 year old stopped in her tracks, groaning at Kate's slip-up. "Moooooom!" She whined on a whisper, like she didn't want the playing-pretend gods to hear her.
"Oh, sorry!" Kate whispered back, smiling, knowing exactly from whom Nicole learned her whining tactics.
Satisfied, Nicole went over and set down the box with a thud on the couch.
"So, Miss." She greeted Kate, with severe inflection and a friendly smile. "You are going to a ball?"
Kate found it difficult not to giggle. Nicole was a gifted actress. It had something to do with the genes.
"Why, yes!" She played back. "And I need your help to look my best for the prince."
Nicole, as the hairdresser, seemed to ponder the offer, tapping her chin in thought. She nodded, and opened the box. It contained hundreds of pins, bows, hairties, and barettes in many colors.
"Don't worry. 'Just leave everything to me'!" She half-sung.
Not Hello Dolly again... Kate thought. What brought most of the interest in acting and beauty to Nicole's attention recently had been her watching Hello Dolly for the first time, and loving it to death.
Two weeks after showing it to her, Kate really wanted to gag Barbara Streisand.
Nicole jumped onto the couch behind her mom's head, analyzing the hair in front of her.
"Okay." She stated. "The one rule is you have to keep your eyes closed the WHOLE time."
That certainly didn't strengthen Kate's confidence, but she agreed and shut her eyes.
First, she felt Nicole brushing her medium length wavy hair. For how young she was, the girl was a good judge of the strength needed to pull the brush through. When she was done brushing, Kate heard her digging around in the box.
She felt sections of her hair being pulled back and put into ponytails. A lot of ponytails, mostly on only the right side. She focused on her daughter's breathing, calm and steady, yet a little accelerated with excitement.
Kate grinned, and thought back to when her mother let her play with her hair, and how it had made her feel important and trusted.
Kate felt Nicole sticking pins and clips into the left side of her hair, in no particular order or direction. The nimble fingers on her scalp tickled Kate a little, but she was more amazed at the confidence Nicole had in placing the clips in her hair, rather than just placing them for fun.
"Almost done, miss." Nicole announced with a flourish, trying to find the exact barette to use in the box. Kate hummed in response, a warm smile spreading across her face.
She felt one more clip click into place, and then Nicole let out a big sigh. "Done! Now, open your eyes!" Kate could tell that she had a giant grin across her face. Kate opened her eyes, and her daughter held out a mirror for her.
"Oh, wow!" Kate exclaimed, observing the divided aspects of her head, one covered in colorful clips, the other having a group of ponytails sticking out like an unattended Chia pet.
"It looks beautiful, darling! Thank you!" Kate praised her daughter's work of art, handing back the mirror.
Nicole smiled innocently. "You're welcome, Miss. Now, ten dollars, please." Her nose crinkled in humor as she held her hand out.
Kate's face threatened to split with the force of her grin, and she laughed. "Oh, you are too funny! No money for you, you crazy monkey!" She leapt onto the couch, tickling Nicole's sides.
Over their fits of giggles, they heard the door open and close, a familiar set of footfalls against the wooden floor coming towards them.
"Daddy! Save me!" Nicole yelled out, crying from laughing and being tickled.
Rick swooped into the room, throwing his coat on the floor. "I'm coming, Nicolodeon!"
He made it to the couch, and scooped up the little girl in his arms. "Gotcha!" She clung to him for dear life as he sat down on the couch next to Kate.
While she recovered, Kate noticed Rick eyeing her hair. She smirked at his wide eyes.
"That's a nice look, Kate." He smiled, his ocean blue eyes twinkling. Even to this day, Kate can never resist them.
Kate modeled the 'new do' and flipped a couple of the ponytails. "I know. I went to the best hair dresser in the world, because I am meeting a prince tonight." Nicole looked over and smiled, nodding into her father's neck.
"Oh really?" Rick squeezed his young daughter tight and leaned over to kiss Kate on the cheek.
"The prince approves." Rick smiled, and tugged on one of the ponytails.
Kate giggled, pulling Rick's face back and kissing her husband on the corner of his mouth, caressing his ear lovingly.
"Ewww! Not the kissing part!" Nicole covered her eyes dramatically.
And laughter echoed throughout the house.
FIN
So, thoughts?