Today was the first day in a while that wasn't rainy and nasty. The kids had been going stir crazy and if he were honest, Rick Castle was too. So he decided that today was the perfect day to take the kids to visit mom at the precinct.
At the moment he had that idea, he and the kids were sitting on the couch and he was reading to them. They were clean and dressed – Hope in her favorite yellow dress and Joe in his favorite jersey and sweatpants. They could be out the door quickly. Castle turned to the kids. "How would you like to go visit Mommy at work?" he asked them. They both nodded their heads. First, he grabbed the backpack they used when they went out with the kids; there was all the stuff you could possible need when you took a four year old and a two year old on an adventure: wipes, diapers, even a change of clothing for each of the kids. He believed in being prepared. Well, Kate did anyway; he was along for the ride. He gathered up sippy cups, filled them with water, grabbed some snacks and threw them in the bag. He checked to be sure he had his wallet, his keys and his phone. Then they were ready to go. They went to the garage and he buckled the kids into their car seats, and they were soon on their way.
They got to the precinct and he lucked out with a great parking spot very close to the building. He went to get the kids out – which required him to bend in all sorts of weird ways – but he got them out and they walked into the building. The cops in the lobby recognized them and took the kids as he walked through the metal detectors. When he was reunited with his children, they were each holding a lollipop. Rick called Beckett but got her voice mail; he wanted to be sure it was okay to bring the kids up to the homicide floor. He quickly called Sully and he answered on the first ring.
"Hi Rick! What can I do for you?" Sully said. He was Kate's right hand man; he might be a slob but he was a great detective and Kate made sure he was at her precinct when she got her promotion.
"Hey Sully, the kids and I wanted to visit Kate, but she didn't answer. We're here in the lobby and I didn't want to bring them up there if things were crazy," Rick answered.
"Oh, she stepped out for a minute, but she'll be back soon. And it's quiet up here," the detective answered. Rick told him they'd be up there in a few minutes. When they stepped off the elevator, Rick reflected on how little things changed. This might be the 20th Precinct instead of the 12th, but a homicide floor is a homicide floor. Most of the detectives still preferred using white boards even if smart boards were more available. And it still had that same smell – stale coffee, fast food and a slight tinge of desperation. Gosh, he missed that smell! He loved being with his kids, but something about walking into a precinct got his blood flowing.
Another familiar face, Detective Ann Hastings, saw Rick and the kids and smiled. The kids saw her, and tugged on their dad's hands. "Daddy, it's 'Tective Ann," said Hope. "I want to say hi!" Rick laughed and they walked in Ann's direction.
"Well, if it isn't my favorite mini-detectives! Hi Castles! What brings you here?" she leaned down to hug the kids and Rick laughed.
"We've been cooped up at home, and needed a change of scenery. Ann, it's great to see you. How's Paul? How are the kids?" Hastings was the mother of two herself, and "Lone Vengeance" was much more than an online comic now.
"They're great, thanks for asking. Hey, guys I was on my way out," She kissed cheeks and was on her way. Rick decided to take the kids into Kate's office.
"C'mon, guys, we'll go wait in Mommy's office," he told them. They happily took his hands, saying hi to Sully on the way in. When they got inside, Hope wanted to sit in Mommy's chair, so Rick helped her up. As in the old days, Castle had "his" chair next to Kate's desk, and he sat in it with Joe on his lap. "Hey, guys want to play detective?" he asked. Hope nodded her head "yes" and jumped up in her excitement. Joe, however, wanted to explore, so Rick had to hold on tight.
Rick looked at Hope, sitting up in her mother's chair. Everyone said Hope looked like Kate, and in that moment he could see it. He said to her, "Beckett, pretty soon we're going to have to arrest someone. You're going to need your gun, holster, your badge and Javier Esposito right here," Hope turned to him and smiled. Joe squirmed as Rick tried to hold him steady.
Hope said, "I've got those right here!" as she showed him her empty hand. He laughed.
"Perfect," her dad said. "You've got your badge?" Once again, his daughter showed him her empty hand, but it sure looked like she believed she had her badge.
"I've got my badge!" she said.
"Someone's calling. Answer the phone; say hello, it's Beckett," he instructed her.
He was so busy playing detective, he didn't notice there was a Captain standing in the doorway. Captain Kate Beckett looked at her family and smiled. Rick still liked playing cop. She decided to join in. "Hey Hope, tell Daddy to go catch the bad guy!" With that, three heads swiveled in her direction and three sets of eyes lit up. "Kate! Mommy! Mama!" three voices said. She walked over to her desk and kissed three of her favorite people. "Go ahead honey, tell Daddy to go catch the bad guy," she repeated. As soon as she said that, Castle burped, but pointed at Joe. She laughed at him. He was still a nine year old on a sugar rush, but he was her nine year old.
He jumped up with Joe in his arms. "C'mon, let's go catch a bad guy!" Some things never change, thought Kate. And that's fine with me.
A/N: This is based on an old YouTube video that featured Nathan Fillion playing with two little kids who visited the set of Castle from 2010. Looking at it now, I saw how the two little ones looked like they could be Rick and Kate's kids, and I was inspired to write this. If you want to see the video, search for "Nathan Fillion and mini detectives" on YouTube and it should pop up. I tried to recreate as much of the action as I possibly could.