Olive is a creature entirely of my own creation. I've written a few fics about her (feel free to check out my bio page to find them), but all you need to know is that she's a slightly dramatic, precocious little girl (who is slightly obsessed with both musical theatre and Disney films). This fic should stand alone, but feel free to trot over to the darkside and read more about her there
I own nothing. I just want to say thank you to Terri because she's the cat's pyjamas
Kate dropped her pen and massaged the bridge of her nose. No matter how many forms she filled in, her stack of paperwork never seemed to get any smaller. It had been one hell of a case, made more complicated by the fact that the perp had gotten the jump on her and sent her flying into a metal pylon. Her entire left side ached, and it meant at least an extra eight forms on top of the usual post case load, her progress slowed down by a mandatory visit to an NYPD appointed doctor to make sure she wasn't about to break in half after getting thrown around on the job.
Kate looked at the clock above the bullpen and sighed. There was no way she was clocking off on time. She had a four vacation days so tantalisingly close she could almost taste them… she just had to get through her damn paperwork. She sent off a quick text to Castle, letting him know that he should pack up the car and head out without her, reminding him that the iPad would need to be fully charged and an audio book may be a good idea, unless he wanted a bored and cranky Olive trapped in his car for four hours. She gave the pile of paperwork that had yet to be touched a resentful look and picked up her pen, determined to power through.
She'd been so absorbed in filling out her incident report form with the appropriate amount of detail that Kate nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt Castle's hand on her shoulder. "Babe, you scared me!"
Before she'd even had a chance to prepare herself, a tiny body slammed itself against Kate's aching frame. Kate stifled her gasp of pain and wrapped her arms around her petite six year old, brushing a kiss against her head. "Hey Munchkin," she murmured.
Olive pulled her head back from where it rested on Kate's shoulder, her face the picture of outrage. "Momma, I am not a munchkin!" She insisted. "They were mean to Elphaba when all she wanted to do was the right thing!"
Kate had to fight to keep her face straight. "I'm very sorry. Hello, Olive Johanna Castle."
Unable to maintain her indignation, a gap toothed smile spread across Olive's face. "Hi Mommy," she answered, leaning back into Kate's embrace. "I missed you."
It wasn't the first time Kate had gone more than a day without physically seeing her daughter, and she knew it probably wouldn't be the last. It had been the hardest part about going back to full time Detective work when Olive was a baby and it hadn't gotten any easier over the years. "Missed you too," she answered.
Olive pulled back from the embrace and inspected Kate's face before looking over at her desk. "Mom, you don't look like you're ready to go on vacation."
Kate shot a look at her husband, raising an eyebrow. He only raised his hands in a "don't shoot me gesture". "She wanted to see you. How can I say no to that face?"
Kate managed not to roll her eyes. Olive had had Castle wrapped around her little finger from the second she was born and she was completely unaware of it. There was going to be hell to pay when their little girl hit their teen years. Kate focussed back on their daughter. "Babe, you know how we talked about when you start doing something, you have to finish it?"
"Doesn't that just mean that I'm not supposed to get bored of cleaning my room and play pirates instead?" Olive asked.
Kate chuckled. "You're right, but it doesn't just go for your room. It goes for me too. I've almost finished closing this case and if I stop now and don't do my paperwork properly, the bad guy might win. So I need to finish this. Do you understand?"
"Do you need me to help? You said I can always ask for help when I hafta put my dressups away."
"Olive, sweetie, trust me, you don't wanna help with paperwork," Castle interjected. Kate couldn't stop herself from shooting him an exasperated look.
Olive turned to face her father, her little jaw dropped in consternation. "Daddy! That's mean! Mommy helps you all the time."
"It's okay, sweetheart," Kate got her daughter's attention. "You guys did help. I needed a break anyway."
"So how much longer til we can go? I wanna roast smarshmallows tonight," Olive inquired.
Castle peered at the pile of paperwork on Kate's desk and cringed. "I think we might leave without your Mom and head up there now, kiddo."
"Leave without Momma? But she has to come!" Olive's fingers found Kate's wrist and wrapped around it.
"Oh no, Kiddo, I'm coming," Kate interjected before their drama queen kid lost it in the middle of the bullpen. "I just don't want you to miss out on having fun with your Dad and be bored waiting for me to finish here. So you go ahead without me, and I'll leave to join you straight from here."
"Promise?" Olive asked, holding out her pinky. "Lexis said when you make a promise, you have to swear."
Kate locked her finger with her daughter's without hesitation. "Of course I promise."
Olive instantly brightened. "Okay! Can I go see Aunt Tori now?"
At Kate's nod, Olive jumped off her mom's lap and trotted to Captain Gates's office, waving cheerfully at any of the cops she passed. Olive had charmed the gruff Captain in a way that Castle had never quite managed, and Kate was quite sure that Olive would leave that office with lollipops stuffed in her pockets.
"What happened?" Castle asked. "Don't sugar coat it, either."
Kate sighed. Her husband wasn't as actively involved in investigations as he once was; too busy at home playing Mr Mom, but he was as sharp as ever.
"Browning got the jump on me. NYPD doc says I'm just bruised and I should load up on ice and ibuprofen for the swelling and the headache I'll probably have. But the bastard is claiming police brutality in his arrest, so there's a mountain of extra paperwork for that, as well as forms explaining why I discharged my weapon on the job on top of all the usual stuff. It shouldn't be too much longer."
Castle frowned. No matter how long he'd been around the NYPD, it never got any easier to be witness to the violence that cops dealt with as part of the job. Kate was quick to reassure him. "Castle, I'm fine, I promise."
"We can wait for you, you know. You can sleep in the car on the drive up."
"Castle, you know what's going to happen if you wait. Olive will get keyed up and agitated and then you'll be the one who has to be strapped in a car with her for four hours. It'll be a nightmare and you know it."
Castle didn't look happy about it, but he pressed a kiss to her forehead none the less. "I'll make you a coffee before we leave."
Olive sauntered out of Captain Gates's office, her little pockets fat with treats. Kate gestured for her to come closer and lifted her to sit on the edge of her desk. "Olive, you're going to head to the cabin with Daddy now, okay?"
Olive nodded, her face puckered in concentration as she listened. "And you'll be there before bedtime?"
Kate took a furtive look around the bullpen. "Tell you what…. I'll tell Daddy that you're allowed to stay up late until I arrive. Does that work?"
A wide smile spread across Olive's face. Mommy was the strict one when it came to bedtimes; an opportunity to stay up late without getting in trouble for it was a rare and Olive was determined to take advantage of it.
"Now, Olive, do you remember what makes your tummy feel yucky when you're in the car?"
"I'm not a-posed to read or play iPad for too long," Olive huffed, sounding more sixteen than six.
"And what should you do if your tummy feels yucky?" Kate prompted.
"I need to keep my head up and look in front of me and I need to tell Daddy right away."
Kate nodded. Olive was a New Yorker through and through and rarely travelled by car. Their summer trip to the Hamptons had baptised the leather interior of Castle's Mercedes in way it still pained him to discuss, and Kate was far from willing to repeat that experience. "Alright then, baby, I'll see you tonight!" Kate was ready this time, and managed to catch Olive when she launched herself into her arms. Even though Kate's entire body ached, she planned on taking full advantage of her cuddly kid for as long as she was able to, because one day her daughter would be way too cool to hug her Mom.
Castle put his hand on Kate's back after he placed her cup of coffee on her desk. "You ready to go, Olive?"
Olive looked up at her Dad. "I'm staying up until Mom arrives. She said that I could, so she won't get cranky at you!" She wriggled out of Kate's arms and stood up.
Castle chuckled. "Well, I'm relieved to hear that." He grabbed Olive's hand.
Olive turned back to her Mother. "I'll see you soon, Mom."
Kate stood up, hiding her cringe. "That you will," she agreed. She turned her attention to Castle. "If you realise you've forgotten something, call me, please. Let's not repeat Nikki Doll Gate." Nikki Doll was Olive's most beloved toy and the year they'd forgotten her when they went on Thanksgiving vacation had not been pretty.
"Mom, it's okay! She's already in my bag," Olive interjected.
"Call me when you leave," Castle requested, pressing a kiss to his wife's cheek.
Kate nodded. "I'll see you guys tonight!"
"Bye Mom!" Olive waved cheerfully as she left the bullpen, saying goodbye to all the cops she passed.
Kate took a moment to sip her coffee. With a heavy sigh, she picked up her pen and attacked her paperwork.
It had been late when Kate had finally arrived at the cabin. Olive had indeed been awake, but she'd rapidly lost steam and crashed on the couch. Kate had followed soon after, a combination of a long drive, a longer case and a hot cup of herbal tea sending her nodding off.
Kate curled against Castle when he slipped into bed beside her, ridiculously grateful to be on vacation, sharing a bed with her husband instead of catching a few hours rest on the couch in the break room.
She'd barely stirred the next morning when Castle pressed a kiss to her cheek and murmured for her to stay asleep while he got up with Olive.
Several hours later, Kate was just starting to wake up when she heard a neat knock-knock, knock-knock-knock tapped against the bedroom door, before the quiet creak of it swinging open. Kate screwed her eyes shut, wondering how long she could possibly play possum.
"Do you wanna build a snowman?Come on let's go and play!" Olive had persistently been singing Frozen for the last three weeks. She heard Olive's feet tiptoe closer. "I never see you anymore, Come out the door, It's like you've gone awaaaaaay!"
Kate supposed that last part was true. Castle had borne the brunt of the latest Frozen related obsession, sending desperate text messages begging Kate to figure out how to make it stop as she worked her most recent case.
"Mommy, wake up!" Olive commanded.
Kate remained still. "Mommy, if you don't wake up, I'm going to have to keep singing," Olive warned her. She paused for a few more seconds and shuffled closer to the bed. "We used to be best buddies, and now we're not, I wish you would tell me whyyyy,"
Olive huffed a little sigh. "Do you want to build a snowman?" Kate could practically imagine the way her daughter's face was scrunching up, "It doesn't have to be a snowman," she sang through clenched teeth, her face on Kate's pillow.
Olive stomped her foot. "Mommy, I know you're awake!" She put her ice-cold fingers on Kate's face and Kate used the opportunity to grab her by the waist and pull her onto the bed.
"I knew you were awake!" Olive giggled, wriggling as Kate's fingers tickled her fingers.
"Maybe I just wanted to hear you sing," Kate replied.
"So, will you?" Olive asked.
"Will I what?"
"Build a snowman with me?"
Kate looked out the window. A fresh layer of snow had fallen overnight; it was a perfect winter's day. "No power in the 'verse could stop me, kid."
She'd scored the husband jackpot with Castle. Not only had he wrangled their kid into appropriate clothing for a day spent in the snow, but he'd also handed her a cup of coffee as she walked out of their bedroom and made sure she'd had breakfast.
At first, Olive had been content to run around the backyard of the cabin. Jim had never pulled down the tree fort that featured in most of Kate's childhood memories and it was entertaining Olive as thoroughly as it had her mother.
"Mom! Dad!" Olive called out, sauntering over to the porch where her parents were sitting. "I don't have ice powers. Will you help me? I wanna make Olaf Junior!"
Olive had been labelled bossy on more than one occasion, and Kate was starting to see why. "Daddy, I want you to work on his butt. Mommy, you're going to help him. Once his butt is done, we can start work on his belly. I'll make his head, 'cause I'm the smallest."
"Gee, I wonder where she gets that from," Castle muttered as he knelt down in the snow.
"Castle, as I recall, you were the one who spent the last five years reading up on how to raise an empowered daughter. You reap what you sow."
Olive was still concentrating on making Olaf Junior's head oval shaped rather than round, her little tongue poking out in concentration.
"Hey, Olive," Kate called out. "Are you happy with his butt?"
Olive giggled. "Yeah Mommy, I think that's good. I think we should work on his belly now. Daddy, would you go inside and get the decorating equipment?"
Kate looked to where Olive had been making the head, waiting until Castle was out of earshot to ask her question. "Olive, have you been making snowballs?" She asked.
Olive gave her a look that was pure Castle mischief. "Uhuh!" She answered. "We're going to get Daddy when he comes back outside."
Kate grinned. "Did you hide the decorations?"
"I put them under my bed."
Kate nodded. "Quick, we have to get ready."
Several moments later, Castle wandered out of the house, noticeably empty-handed. "Sweetie, I think we left the decorations at hom…"
His words were punctuated by a well-aimed snowball to the mouth. Olive erupted into giggles as she tossed several snowballs at her father's legs.
Castle took a few moments to react. "My wife and my progeny conspiring against me?" He spluttered, stumbling down the stairs towards the snow.
"Olive, run!" Kate called out, bending down to grab more snowballs from her supply.
"This was your idea, wasn't it?" Castle demanded, tossing a poorly made snowball towards his wife. Kate bolted across the backyard, her feet barely gripping the slippery snow as she ran.
Olive popped up over the tiny balcony and tossed a snowball that hit Castle on the top of my head. "Nope!" She cried. "Mommy is just a well trained sidekick. Like the Emperor and Darth Vader. Surrender, and we'll show you mercy!"
"Death first!" Castle bellowed in response.
Kate stood back; content to watch her two drama queens battle it out. With every snowball Olive managed to throw, Castle screeched and died loudly and dramatically, which sent Olive into stitches of laughter. Before long, Castle was flat on his back in the snow, his limbs splayed in "death".
Olive crept down the ladder of the tree fort. "We did it, Mom," she declared, offering her mother a high five.
"That's what you think!" Castle growled, grabbing Olive by the foot and pulling her on top of him. Kate steered well clear of the two of them, Castle declaring something about a Tickle Monster and Olive squealing that he should let her go.
Kate should have been paying more attention. She should have realised that the pair of them had gone deathly quiet, and that could only be a sign of impending doom. She screeched bloody murder when she felt the cold bite of snow on the skin of the back of her neck and could only brace herself to fall on top of her husband as he tackled them both to the snow. Olive crashed on top of both of them without hesitation as they lay in the snow; a pile of giggling limbs.
"Can we finish Olaf Junior now?" Olive wheezed, her head wedged on Kate's side.
"That depends," Castle replied. "Are you guys planning on committing mutiny again?"
Olive pondered the question. "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies," she parroted, repeating one of her Grandmother's favourite sayings.
"It's the best offer you'll get, Castle," Kate pointed out.
"I'll take it," he decided, standing up and offering a hand to both his girls.
"I'm going to go get the decorations," Olive volunteered, trotting into the house.
Castle turned to see Kate rolling her shoulder experimentally. "Are you okay?" He asked.
Kate shrugged. "I'm fine," she replied. "A few snow angels would probably do a few of these bruises some good."
Castle looked like he was about to protest. "Castle, I promise I'm okay," she interjected. "Can we just have fun with our kid, please?"
"You guys look like you're about to do something gross," Olive called out, one hand perched on her hip. "I think you should stop in case you shatter my fragile illusions about life and send me to therapy til I'm one hundred and ten."
"Oh, I am going to pay for letting Grams take care of you last week, aren't I?" Castle muttered.
Olive shrugged. "I don't know," she answered. "I'm only six."
"Come on you two," Kate ordered. "Olaf Junior needs a belly."
She and Olive carefully rolled snow to form a large ball. "Mom, I'm really happy," Olive told her, her gloved fingers crashing into Kate's as they patted the ball into shape.
"That's good, babe," Kate answered. "When you're happy, it makes me happy too."
"I like it when we're happy." Olive looked down at the ball they've managed to form. "I think this size is good," she decided. She attempted to lift it. "But I think it's too heavy for me."
"Castle," Kate called out. "We need your big man muscles over here."
Olive supervised the construction of Olaf Junior carefully, making sure that his head and body were sitting appropriately, before joining her parents in patting snow around his joints to make sure he'd stay together.
Olive stepped back and looked at her snowman. His arms were two different thicknesses and his carrot nose sat at a slightly wonky angle, "I love him," she decided. "He's perfect." She turned to her parents. "Can we go inside now? I'm cold."
She stepped between her parents, grabbing one of their hands in each of her tiny ones. "I also think we should watch Frozen."
I would love to hear what you think, and for you to say ThankYouTerri :)