Disclaimer: All things Castle are not mine, they belong to ABC.
His daughter had a boyfriend. It was every father's worst nightmare.
His little girl was growing up. How could this have happened so fast, wasn't it just yesterday that he was attempting ponytails in the little wisp of red hair? His time being "Daddy" was over. No more "Daddy," was he in fact … now "Dad?" Or even worse … father? Pops? Oh no. Boyfriend … grandkids were close. He was too young!
But that look on her face … that smile of hers. He had not seen that on her face in a long time. He supposed that she did have a lot to worry about. Her mother … well, she was Meredith and that was enough for a teenager to worry about (heck, Meredith was enough for anyone to worry about). But he had never thought that Alexis would have to carry the burden of a father working with the police department. Castle had never pictured himself, or his family, in this situation, and he now realized how much it put onto Alexis. Not only was she the real adult in the household, she now had "father being shot to death at any time" on her plate.
Oh well, crap.
How could he be upset that his little girl was growing up when she so much deserved this happiness? As much as he didn't like it, he supposed he should be happy for her.
Interrupting Castle's thought process was a round of hacking that could've raised the dead.
"Pumpkin? Are you ok?"
"Daddy, I don't feel so good."
"What do you need, darlin'?" (He would do anything for her when she sounded like that.)
"Can you rub my back and read me something?" Alexis didn't sound anywhere close to her 16 years.
Well … maybe "Daddy" wasn't as far away as he thought.
FIN
