Hey!

Here's another little Braden Series companion. After writing Awake, I loved the Kate and Braden moment, it got me wanting to do a story with Rick and Braden, so that's what this is. Hope you like it! Reviews are love.

Disclaimer: Castle is not mine :/

[Triumph]

August 5th, 2015

The crying never stopped.

The little guy would wail and scream, desperate to be heard. And Rick had no idea what he wanted. He wouldn't eat and he wouldn't sleep. All he did was cry, his face scrunched up in despair, all red and flush, as he held on tightly to his father's now soaked through t-shirt. Tears were streaming, sliding down the chubby little cheeks.

And there wasn't a thing Rick could do about it. He'd tried it all.

Man, where was Kate when he needed her?

Oh yes, that's right. She was at work because he had convinced her that he could handle the baby on his own for the day, he has done it plenty of times before so why not now?

Big mistake.

Softly bouncing Braden in his arms as he paced back and forth in the living room, he attempted to coax him to sleep, or at least get him to stop the tears from falling. For such a little guy he made quite a lot of noise. Rick used every trick he had in his arsenal, none of them seeming to calm the boy down in the slightest. It only seemed to agitate him even more.

Thinking back to when Alexis was baby, he remembered not having much trouble at all. Only every so often would she act this way, but it would only last for ten minutes or so, not two hours. Yeah, she was an easy one. And now, with his howling son squirming in his arms, he realized how much he had taken that for granted.

"Come on, buddy. Calm down for Daddy. Do it for Daddy."

He pressed a chaste kiss on Braden's head, the little tufts of wavy hair soft against his lips, before resting his cheek there. With a large hand braced at the back of the boy's head, Rick kept him close to his chest, holding him tightly as he patted his son's diaper clad bottom. Every so often, Braden would kick his legs and push against his father, as if trying to get away from him, while a little grunt would tumble from his lips.

Rick watched as Braden suddenly raised a hand and motioned over to the toys all over the floor, his hand opening and closing shut. He let out a smaller whimper, still gazing over at the toys. Was that all he wanted?

"Do you want to get down? Play with the toys?"

Moving to the middle of the living room area rug, Rick sat down carefully, wary of the wriggling baby in his arms. Keeping a close eye on Braden, he set the boy down and watched as he crawled over to various toys and playthings that were scattered about, when he noticed...

Thank God.

The crying, screaming, wailing, whatever it was had finally stopped. Now that he had been released from his father's grip, Braden was content and as happy as ever. And so was Daddy.

So, he just wanted to get down and explore? That's what ceased the endless crying and whining?

If that's all the boy wanted, then Rick could've had peace and quiet hours ago. Too late to go back and change that now though. Oh well, at least he wasn't screaming his head off anymore.

Braden grinned, giggling to himself when he crawled over to the coffee table, Rick watching him with curiosity. He had been trying to grab the plush toy car that was in the center of the table a couple of days ago, so Rick and Kate had left it there, seeing if he could eventually get it. And now, that time had come for him to try it again.

He just wanted to get the car this entire time. That's what all the fuss was about. The car. How Rick saw right past that he'll never know, but it was taken care of. Braden was now calm and, most of all, quiet.

Gazing at his son, he couldn't help but chuckle at the look of pure determination on the boy's features. He looked so much like Kate in that very moment, all focus. Never having the smallest faze of concentration leave his hazel eyes, the need and want to reach his end goal was written all over him.

Today was the day he got that car.

Using words of encouragement, Rick gave his son the boost he needed. "Good job, Brae. You can do it. Grab the car."

Holding onto to the edge of the coffee table, Braden pulled himself up and stood on wobbly legs. Reaching over until his stomach was practically lying over the surface, his little fingers were stretched out toward the car. He missed, the tip of his finger grazing the edge.

And he didn't dare ask his dad for help, wanting to do it on his own. Much like Kate, so independent.

The second Braden's hand clasped around the plush car after his third attempt he let out a merciless laugh, sliding his way off the table and into a standing position.

He did it. He got the car.

Hopping in place, Braden crushed the plush car to his chest. "Dada!"

Smiling, he stared over at his boy. "Yeah, buddy?" Wait a minute. Did he just say…?

"Dada! Dada-dada!"

Yes. Yes, he did. He just said his first word. His little boy was talking.

Scampering over to his son, Rick picked him up by the armpits and brought him into his chest for a hug. "You just said your first word! Your first real word! Oh my God! I've gotta video this!"

Quickly standing up, Braden laughing and chatting nonsense as Rick went in search for his cell phone.

Darn it, where did he put the stupid thing? Ah, there it was.

The two made it over to the kitchen, the iPhone lying on the marble counter, hidden by all of the baby food products that were strewn about. Rick turned his focus on Braden, pecking the squirming little guy on the cheek. "So proud of you, buddy."

A spit bubble appeared on the eleven-month old's mouth, making both of them laugh. Braden clapped his hands together, the plush car squished between Rick's chest and his. More babble was heard, filling the room with the rowdy fit of giggles.

"What if we send Mommy the video?" Rick suddenly asked. "Do you think she would like that, my man?"

Another giggle was his response. Picking up the phone, Rick sat down at one of the barstools and let Braden sit on his thigh, an arm wrapped around his belly securely. Pulling up the camera app, he switched it from photo to video before raising it out so that he could see their faces clearly.

He hit the record button.

"Hi, Mommy. Brae and I are sure you're out there kicking butt and saving the world, as you always do, but we are having quite an eventful day as well. And we thought, out of the goodness of our hearts, we could share some of that with you."

He knew she would roll her eyes at the last bit. Braden chuckled excitedly, throwing the plush car out of his hands and onto the floor. The sight of the car flying made him laugh even harder, causing Rick to laugh as well. Kate was sure to get a chuckle out of that, too.

Continuing, he had that sideways grin on his lips. "See? We're having loads of fun over here. Never a dull moment between us Castle boys. Isn't that right, Brae?" Braden cooed in reply, reaching out for the phone but Rick kept it out of his reach. "Anyways, we are sending you this video to show you, uh...well, just watch and you'll see."

Rick encouraged Braden to talk, telling him to do it for Mommy. It took a few seconds before he got the kid talking.

"Dada. Dada-dada!" He said it over and over again, a huge smile taking homage on his lips.

Watching as his son then went on to babble various syllables, probably talking about how he had gotten the car because Rick saw him turn over to the car that was a few feet away on the ground.

After a few minutes, Rick kissed the crown of Braden's head before interrupting the rambling. "There you have it. We've got quite the talker on our hands. Love you, Mommy. Stay safe and we'll see you when you get home."

As soon as he was finished recording the video, he saved it and then proceeded to punch in her phone number before attaching the video in a text and sending it. Making sure it delivered first, he then clicked his phone off and placed it back on the counter.

"There. Now Mommy will be able to see you talking, buddy," he stated, bobbing the giggling boy up and down in his lap.

"Dada," Braden sighed, becoming extremely interested in his father's t-shirt; the fabric clenched tightly in his small fingers before he shifted and nestled his face into Rick's chest. "Dada..."

Rick still couldn't believe it.

"That's right. Dada."

Standing up from her chair after an exhausting interview, Kate ran a hand through her hair and let out a long sigh, as she made her way to the break room in desperate need of a caffeine fix. The day had been quite...eventful, to say in the least.

A double homicide had been called in as soon as she'd stepped into the bullpen earlier that morning. It was a tough one, not for the faint hearted. And to top it off they were getting absolutely nowhere with it, stuck at square one.

But not wanting to worry about the details of the case at the moment, she focused all of her energy into making herself a cup of coffee.

Her phone let out a single beep in her back pocket, signaling that she had received at text message. Pouring the freshly brewed coffee into a mug, she pulled out her phone only to see a message from Rick. There was a video attached.

Hmm. What had he sent her?

Clicking on the play button, she watched curiously as her husband spoke into the camera. She rolled her eyes at a few of his comments; he was always trying to be the funny guy, silly man. Her heart suddenly burst with joy as soon as she heard Braden say "dada" several times in a row, his face lit up with glee as he spoke.

Kate had a hand over her mouth, trying to suppress the urge she had to scream in joy. Her boy was talking, he still spoke baby babble, but this was a huge step. Braden was growing up, and much too quickly for her liking.

This was exactly what she had needed. The video had instantly brightened her gloomy day.

Yet she suddenly felt sad that she hadn't been there to witness this new milestone in person, but she was so grateful that Rick had been considerate enough to think to send it to her.

Man, she knew she should've stayed home today.

Taking a quick glance at her watch, she saw that it was nearing four o'clock. Maybe she could clock out a bit early so she could spend some time with her boys.

Watching the video once again, Kate slowly made it back to her desk, coffee mug in one hand and cell phone in the other. A large, crocodile grin appeared on her lips, not being able to hide her excitement.

Yeah, she was definitely going home early today.

There you go, folks!

It kind of took a different route than the one I was planning, but I love how it turned out. Please let me know what you thought by leaving a review. Until next time!

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