Kate was roused from her sleep at the feel of gentle fingers tracing light circles on the skin of her side. At any other time this would have had the opposite effect and put her right to sleep but considering the fact that she had just fallen asleep in the first place she found it to be rather annoying. Quickly she rose her hand and snapped it over the larger one now resting peacefully over her hip. "Rick..." she cooed in a warning tone he knew well. "What are you doing?"
"I couldn't sleep." He answered simply.
She sighed dramatically and rolled over to face him and met his trademark smirk through the darkness of their room. "So you wake me up because you're what...bored?"
Rick's eyes grew sheepish. "I wasn't trying to wake you up, honest." He grinned for effect and batted his eye lashes in a pout. "I just love watching you sleep."
She sighed again more softly this time and removed his hand from the place on her hip and dropped it to the empty space between them. "Last time I checked 'watching' didn't mean 'touching'."
His eyes twinkled in the faint light in mischievous amusement and she rolled her eyes and flipped back over reclosing her eyes.
"I love you." His tone was apologetic and hopeful and she could practically feel his intense gaze on the back of her head.
She huffed in response, "Goodnight Rick."
She heard him mumbling something to himself and the bed shifted under them as he rolled over.
Once she was sure he wouldn't be disturbing her anymore she allowed herself to give way to sleep.
It couldn't have been more than twenty minutes later when she felt a gentle poke to her side. She was instantly awake and growled in the back of her throat and propelled upwards, "For God sakes Rick-!" She paused in her scolding when instead of meeting a mischievous pair of blue eyes she met a frightened pair.
"Alex..." She whispered.
"Mommy..." The little boy standing next to the bed clutching his blanket in his tightly clenched fists whimpered. "Mommy I had a bad dream."
Kate's face immediately softened. "Come here baby." She held out her arms and Alex ran into them and she lifted him onto the bed. "Do you want to sleep with me and daddy tonight?"
Alex nodded fervently and crawled into the empty space between his mother and father. Rick was sleepily looking over his shoulder at them and as his son settled down next to him he flipped over to face him. "Hey little man everything okay?"
Alex ducked his chin into his chest and brought his blanket up to almost cover his face. "I had a bad dream." Came the boys muffled reply.
"Oh." Rick answered and gently reached out to cover Alex's head protectively. "Well don't worry kiddo you're awake now nothing can get you."
Alex was silent for several moments and then he spoke again, his words once again muffled slightly from the blanket. "I bet superman doesn't get bad dreams." Rick noticed the blue fabric covering Alex's shoulders and remembered that he dressed himself in his superman pajamas.
"Oh I think he does." Rick answered.
"He does?" Alex lowered the blanket away from his face and stared curiously up at his father.
"Oh yes and he gets scared just like you do."
Alex's blue eyes widened. "Really?"
Rick nodded surely. "Uh huh but you know what Superman doesn't have to protect him?"
"What?"
"He doesn't have a Kate Beckett."
Over his sons head he saw his wife roll her eyes but the smile beginning to form on her lips was genuine.
Alex blinked at him in wonder and confusion. "What's a Kate Beckett?"
Rick chuckled lightly to himself. "A Kate Beckett is a beautiful woman. She's smart and she's brave and she's extraordinary. And," he held up a finger and subtly winked in Kate's direction. "She's a cop."
Alex's face lit up. "Like mommy!" He glanced over his shoulder at Kate who smiled back at him.
"Yes." Rick agreed with a grin. "Exactly like mommy."
Alex shuffled over on the bed so he was pressed into Kate's side and he threw his little arm over Kate. Kate immediately slipped her arm around the four year old and held him close dropping a kiss to the top of his head.
"Daddy?" Alex prompted after a few more moments of silence.
"Yeah Kiddo?"
"I don't want a Kate Beckett."
"You don't?"
Alex shook his head which was still firmly presses into his mother. "Nope. I don't need her I got mommy."
Kate's heart swelled and the smile threatening to take over finally broke across her face and she tightened her grip around her son. "She can kick all the bad guys butts." Alex added and Kate's smile faltered and she sent an exasperated glare at Rick who just grinned in response.
"She sure can Alex, she sure can."
Alex sighed sleepily, closed his eyes and murmured against Kate. "I bet Superman doesn't have a mommy like mine."
"Oh kiddo," Rick responded talking to Alex but looking directly at Kate, "no one has a mommy like yours."
Alex's lips twitched in response, let out another sleepy sigh and soon was fast asleep curled comfortably against Kate.
Rick never broke eye contact with her and as his lips turned up in a smile so did hers.
He scooted over so he was closer to his wife and son rested his head down on Kate's pillow and gently tossed his arm around them. A long couple of moments passed where the couple stared into each others eyes until Rick broke the stare by closing his eyes and burying his nose lightly into Alex's brown hair.
Kate gently maneuvered her hand out from under the blanket and rested it over Rick's. "Hey Castle?"
Ricks lips turned upward at the name and he hummed in response.
"I love you too."
Rick found her pointer finger and captured it between two of his own and squeezed it gently. Kate smiled to herself and closed her eyes and together the Castle family slept peacefully until morning.