A Gift
A continuation of/sequel to A Hobby for everyone who asked me to continue the first little drabble. Follows 7x09
It takes him over a month to have the photos ready.
Work is partially to blame, but his desire to do right by them, by Katie and Rick, has slowed him down more than anything else. Johanna always used to call him a perfectionist, even for what was essentially just a hobby. She would probably tell him he's worse now that software has taken the place of darkroom chemicals. At least in this case, she'd probably be right.
He asks Rick's daughter for help more than a few times throughout the process, when trial and error with the photo editing software doesn't seem to be working for him or his aging desktop computer. In the end she brings a newer, far more compact computer to his apartment, and they prepare Katie and Rick's wedding photos together on that machine. It's good for them both, he thinks; a father and a daughter preparing a gift for a father and a daughter. It's nice to have a bit more insight into his daughter's new home life, too, through the stories Alexis tells him.
The day they finish the pictures and agree which ones should be framed and which should be put in the photo album he bought, she invites him to a sort-of housewarming dinner. Katie's finally packed the last of her things and moved into the loft officially and Alexis wants to celebrate. To officially welcome her home.
"It's just us, family, and I invited Lanie and Detectives Ryan and Esposito, too. Since they were so upset before. I thought we could give everything to them then?"
"I think that's perfect."
Alexis smiles. "Great. They'll love them, and it'll hopefully make it feel more like home for Kate, too. Not that I think it doesn't already, but pictures like these make it better."
He can't help but agree. Which is why just a few days later, he's tapping on his daughter's front door and trying to keep the bag with their gifts hidden behind his legs.
"Hey, Dad."
There's nothing he loves more than seeing the way happiness has changed his daughter. Her face hasn't changed physically, not really, but everything from the set of her jaw to the look in her eyes has softened. Now – over a month later – the peace and joy he'd captured on her wedding day remains.
His lips find her cheek as she tucks herself into his arms.
"Hi, sweetheart. I didn't know you'd be home this early."
She smiles against his shoulder. "Cleared the case and decided to play hooky from the rest of my paperwork. Which is good, because I hear we're having a party tonight."
He chuckles. "You'd know all about spontaneous parties, wouldn't you, Katie?"
Katie doesn't even flush at the reminder. Instead, her eyes make a slow roll as she counts down from three. Just before she gets to one, there's Rick at her shoulder.
"What's this I hear about spontaneous Beckett!parties? Jim, you're holding out on me."
Under any other circumstance, it would be scary how well his daughter knows her new husband, but in this case, it's just funny. Jim grins, releasing Katie to shake Rick's hand.
"Just saving the good parts for a night like tonight, Rick."
His daughter rolls her eyes again, closing the door behind him. "What's in the bag?"
Alexis smiles from the kitchen, giving him a nod when he checks. It's just as much her gift as it is his. "Go ahead. I'll be there in a second."
Nodding he gestures with the bag. "It's a gift for you."
Katie takes it almost carefully, grunting at the weight. It is heavier than it looks.
"Is it bricks, Dad? Because you shouldn't have."
Alexis laughs behind them, offering him a glass of water to go along with the wine she hands her father and Katie. "It's not bricks, Kate. Sit, open it."
"You know what it is?"
"Uh huh. I helped."
Rick's glee seems to kick up a notch at that knowledge. "What is it?"
"A surprise, Dad. You have to open it."
Obediently, the couple sits, knees close enough to touch as their hands fight playfully to untie ribbons and remove the tissue paper he'd stuffed in to cushion the four frames along with the album. They're both the dig right into the present type, apparently.
"Dad," Katie breathes his name, turning her cheek to rest on her husband's shoulder. She has the picture frames in her hands and Rick's already turning the pages of the album. "These are… the ones you took?"
"They are. And I asked Alexis to help me with the photo software. That program is so complicated. I couldn't have done it without her."
"It was mostly your computer," the redhead promises, smiling from Rick's side. She's seen the pictures already, but it's almost better to see them again with their reactions this time. "You still deserve all the credit; I didn't take the pictures."
"These are… Dad, Alexis, these are gorgeous." Kate clears her throat quickly. "All of them." She shows Castle the framed photo of his daughter before tracing the back of his head in one of the shots of the two of them.
"I'm glad, I'm glad." Alexis nods her agreement as well.
Rick agrees softly, his voice as husky as his wife's. "Jim, these are amazing. You have a gift. I think you both do," he adds, hugging his daughter.
Katie's arms are around him before he has the chance to insist the brilliance came from his subjects, not him. "My mom loved when he'd take pictures," she explains quietly, squeezing him for emphasis. "She'd love these, too, Dad. Thank you."