Love and Biscuits
A sequel to The Reminder and Just Yours, AU
Inspired by a photo from wendykw that can be found on my tumblr (post/168277033626 /castle-fanfic-love-and-biscuits-11). Thank you so much for sharing this photo with me, Wendy. I hope you enjoy this fic.
Of all the things she expects (and hopes) to see when she trudges into the kitchen on her morning off, her twenty-one-month-old son covered in flour and holding a cookie sheet with pucks of raw dough on it is not necessarily one of them.
"What's going on in here?" Beckett asks, reaching out to steady the pan before the dough circles land on the kitchen floor. Judging by the empty spaces on the metal, at least one already has. "Are you and Daddy cooking?"
"S'biscuits, Mama!" Sam announces, beaming with pride. He's always so pleased with himself. Always so eager to show her what he and Castle create together. "No, Daddy, I do it!" he insists, sidestepping Castle's outstretched hands. "I put in."
Eager to please, and so very stubborn. Just like his parents. Kate subtly nudges the pan upward again, lifting an eyebrow in her boyfriend's direction. Independent streak or not, there's no way he would let their son go near a hot oven.
"I'll turn it on in a few minutes," Castle murmurs, confirming her thoughts. His lips dust her cheek when she smiles. "Okay, you can do it, but why don't I stand with you while you put the biscuits in the oven? Just in case you need help."
Her son considers the proposal for a moment before giving his head a firm nod.
"Good choice," Beckett praises, brushing her fingers through her baby's hair and stepping back to let her favorite men complete their task. They share bright smiles once it's done, turning to her once again.
"While we wait for those," Rick starts as Sam bounces around their legs, "why don't we clean up a little bit, and then we'll make Mommy's coffee?"
Kate's eyebrows jump higher on her forehead. "Going all out today, Rick. You got something to tell me?"
Castle's mouth brushes hers, his kiss sweet and soft, and she wraps her arms around his neck to keep him close for a moment. He brings this out in her, this desire to hold and be held. He always has, even when she didn't want to be cuddly, didn't want to need him.
"Just that we love you."
Kate snorts. "Yeah, that doesn't sound like you're buttering me up," she drawls. "Not at all."
Rick quirks a grin, sneaking another kiss. "Never, Kate."
All teasing aside, he does love her. Just as she loves him, and loves this unconventional life they've carved out for themselves in the wake of an admittedly intoxicated interlude at his Halloween party years ago. They work in ways she'd never imagined they would, ways she'd barely allowed herself to hope they could when she realized that she was carrying her writer shadow's baby. Yes, he drives her crazy, and yes, he's up to something right now (and there's no way he's going to convince her that he's not), but he also fills her heart, helps her every day to forge herself into someone stronger, better, than she was before they were together.
"Go sit," Castle insists, slipping his broad palms down her back to cop a quick feel. Beckett rocks into him, knocking a dirty little kiss to his lips in retaliation. "We're treating you this morning."
She settles at the bar, wiggling her fingers for her son once Castle finishes wiping him down.
"Come sit with me, baby. We'll watch Daddy do the rest of the work."
Despite his father's scandalized look, Sam scrambles over, launching himself at her legs. Kate lifts him up, her crazy, sweet boy, pressing her lips to his forehead.
"Thank you for helping make breakfast, Sam. I can't wait to try the biscuits."
Sam beams, smacking a sloppy kiss to her cheek before he turns back to his father and shares his pleased grin with Rick.
"I am surprised you didn't want to save the big breakfast until Alexis comes home, though," she says after a moment, watching Castle brighten at the reminder of his daughter's return from her graduation trip to Europe.
Rick lifts a shoulder as he stirs a pump of vanilla syrup into her coffee. "Why can't we do it again in a few weeks?"
"Mmm, true," she agrees, rubbing circles over Sam's back. She smothers a smile in his hair; he's still wearing the flour, despite Castle's efforts to minimize the damage. "Alexis will love that."
Her son nods, eager to agree to another surprise breakfast. Castle isn't the only one who's been missing Alexis fiercely. Sam adores his big sister, follows her everywhere, and he'd been beside himself when he first learned that the girl would be going on a trip without him. It's a good practice run for the end of the summer when they move Alexis into her dorm at Columbia and the routine changes, but it's still been hard, and they still have two and a half weeks to go.
Rick nudges her coffee across the counter, waiting until her fingers slip around the ceramic handle to back away. Their son has been on a grab everything kick lately, and the last thing they need this morning is for him to burn himself on hot coffee.
"Good, Mama?" Sam asks, watching her take her first sip. "S'good coffee?"
Kate nods, cupping his ear with her free hand, dusting a kiss over his temple. Her son would know the word coffee before he's two. "Yeah, baby, it's great coffee. Thank you," she adds, lifting her eyes to catch Castle's.
Her partner winks, returning to the task of preparing their breakfast, his movements more than a little performative.
Yeah, he's up to something.
Although she offers to set the table, Castle waves her off, indicating for her and Sam to adjourn to the cozy nest on the couch.
"I'll take care of that in just a few minutes. You don't have to sit here and wait, if you'd rather relax."
She shakes her head, shifting her son on her lap. "I'm good. The view's not so bad from here," she says, allowing her eyes to drift down his chest. "Plus, Sam and I can't sneak bacon from the couch."
"Hey!" Castle gasps. "You've been stealing the bacon? Behind my back?"
Kate scoffs. "Like you don't stand there and swipe bites whenever I make brunch. How many times have you burned your tongue on scrambled eggs, Rick?"
"No comment. I feel so betrayed," he murmurs, breaking off a piece of bacon for himself. "Okay, now I feel better."
She rolls her eyes, but chuckles nonetheless, touching her lips to Sam's shoulder to keep her mirth from spilling over. "Uh huh."
"Blood sugar must have dipped. Probably from not sneaking bites of food before it's all done."
"Oh shush," she orders, sticking her tongue out in a fit of playful petulance. Delight washes across his features, and she can't help but extend a hand to him. "C'mere, Castle."
He obliges, leaning across the counter, his eyes shut and lips puckered in expectation. Kate grins, lifting Sam up until their faces are almost parallel.
"Get him, Sammy," she whispers.
She dissolves into full-blown laughter when their son plants a sloppy kiss on Castle's nose. Her partner's eyes fly open, but his confusion is short-lived, replaced by amusement. He taps Sam's nose in return.
"Et tu, son?"
Sam cackles in her arms, offering Rick another kiss, narrowly missing his father's eye in the rush to get to his cheek this time. Kate lowers the boy, wrapping her arm tightly around his middle. She swipes her fingertips across her partner's face.
"Sorry, couldn't help myself," she says, slipping her hand down his jaw. "I'll kiss you for real this time, promise."
Rick exhales, feigning a beleaguered, long-suffering sigh that the quirk of his lips betrays. "Thank you."
Her mouth curves against his, lips pressing in soft assurance. She'll be serious now. After all, if she keeps messing with him, they may never get to eat, and she may never get to the bottom of whatever it is her boys are up to today.
She gets her answer once they sit, once Sam's strapped into his booster and Rick begins serving their food. Her partner is good at sleight of hand, but she's better, she sees the moment he adds something to one of the biscuits he and Sam baked. Her breath seizes in her chest, her heart trembling against her ribs. He's not – is he?
She plays dumb, calms herself by reaching over to help cut her son's food, kissing his little fingers when she's done.
"Castle, this looks amazing," she says, giving Rick her attention again, noting the change in his body language, the tension in his fingers, the rigidity in his spine. The biscuit he'd been holding has made its way onto her plate.
His shoulders relax a tad. "I'm glad. Of course, Sam did most of the work – as you saw – so I can't take all the credit for it."
"Of course," she agrees, turning to see her son push a bite of egg into his mouth with his fingers. The boy grins at the attention, bouncing in his seat. "He's a culinary expert, you know."
"Oh, absolutely." Rick grins, pouring more coffee into her mug.
Her foot hooks around Castle's ankle, brushing underneath the leg of his pajama pants to caress his skin. She watches his breath stutter, but he recovers nicely, reaching for his orange juice and taking a slow sip.
A part of her wants to continue staring at him, to watch the way his throat works as he swallows, to admire the lines of his face and the warmth in his eyes, but she lowers her gaze instead, presses her lips together to keep from blurting an answer to a question he has yet to ask.
She starts with a bite of egg, savoring the hint of pepper and cheese, before reaching for the butter and the biscuit he'd set on her plate. She opens it carefully, not wanting to drop anything that might be inside, only to find it empty.
Her face must betray her, because Castle clears his throat, getting her eyes again. This time, he's grinning, all trace of tension and hesitance gone from his body, and she follows his gaze down to the hand that rests on the table between them.
"Rick," she murmurs as he turns his hand over and his fingers unfurl.
"You didn't think I was going to put this in your food, did you?" he teases. "That's not even sanitary. Plus, what if you hadn't opened the biscuit? What if you'd just taken a bite?"
Kate laughs, covering her mouth with her fingertips. "Okay, I'll give you that."
"Mmm, thank you." He clears his throat again, leaning closer. "Kate, I love you. Our start might not have been the most conventional," he pauses as they both turn to watch their son chomp happily on his bacon and eggs, "but what's a good love story without twists and turns and unexpected surprises?"
God knows they've had more than a few of those, good and bad, but they've always made it. They've always come out stronger for it.
"And maybe this isn't as unexpected a surprise as the others have been, maybe this was always what was written, but Katherine Houghton Beckett, will you marry me?"
"Mawwee!" Sam echoes around a mouthful of food.
Castle turns, tapping their son's chin with his index finger. "Chew and swallow, Sam. The last thing Mommy and I want is for you to end up in the ER."
"Daddy's right, Sammy. 'We got engaged in the ER' doesn't quite have the romantic flair that 'over a homemade breakfast' does," Kate muses, feeling her lips lift as her partner's eyes widen. "That's a yes, Rick."
He jumps from the chair, rounding the table on wobbly legs, practically landing on his knees in his haste to get to her. They laugh together, barely managing to get the ring on her finger before she cups his cheeks and blankets his lips with hers.
Castle's rumble rockets through her, warming her from the inside out, and she pulls him closer, grazes his lower lip with her teeth.
"You didn't think I was going to say no, did you?" she teases when they part, spying the shine of relief in his eyes. Her fingertips caress the lines of his face in attempt to soothe his worry.
"No," he says, quick and confident, but the tic of his jaw tells another story. "I knew you would say yes; so did Alexis. But it's nice hearing it anyway."
Kate knocks a kiss to his chin, giving him the assurance, the confirmation that she's not yanking his chain or putting him on. "Yes, I'll marry you."
With the band of his arms and a gentle slide of his mouth, he manages to rob her of her breath.
"Thank you," she whispers once he returns to his seat. "For all of this," she continues, looking down at the stunning engagement ring adorning her hand before allowing her eyes to drift around the home they've created together, taking in the evidence of their shared joy and happiness and ending on their beautiful, albeit messy, son.
Castle's foot nudges hers under the table, his fingers drifting across the surface to cover hers, the rock on her hand pressed against his palm.
"Always, Kate," he promises. "Now, eat your breakfast before it gets cold."
Barking a laugh and gripping his hand tighter, she picks up her fork to do exactly that.