A/N: I haven't written or read anything Castle related for such a long time and I miss them. (If this picture has been written to already I apologize).
"She stole my coffee, Castle." Kate grins, leaning over her husband's shoulder as they stare down at their daughter. In her cream and grey onesie, the baby gums the edge of the ceramic mug, a little pout coming quick when she finds it empty.
With her hand around his waist, glancing up, Kate sees the answering lift of Castle's cheeks, knowing a man who puts true weight in his words will catch her reference and delight in it.
"What next? Your soul?"
"Already took my heart." She laughs when he groans, smacks a hand to his chest and pushes around him, silently calling dibs on baby snuggles. "Didn't you, stole it right out from under daddy."
The baby gurgles up and out and into her mother's arms. Dropped squarely on her hip, Kate attempts to pry the mug away and replace it with something more suitable for chewing.
"Hey, now." He grins, reaching around them both to ruffle the baby's hair, "Daddy knows how to share."
"Mommy doesn't." Kate smirks, her eyes possessively drifting between her husband and child.
"Judging by the death grip our girl has on your cup, I think mommy's gonna have to learn."
The baby squarks between them, cheeks bright red with teething pain and a fierce refusal to give up her treasure.
"We've created a monster," Kate hisses, still smiling as she bounces the disgruntled baby on her hip.
"We? I had very little to do with this." He gestures to the twin looks of possession coming from Kate and their daughter.
"It's clearly a genetic predisposition to caffeine addiction." Kate deadpans, eyeing him up and down, as though the walls of their bedroom have been replaced by the backdrop of precinct banter. "As a contributor to half of her genetic makeup, I'd say you're always at least half responsible for everything."
He scoffs, but the pride shines through, bright and endearing.
Kate plays into it,"We can blame daddy, can't we jellybean."
"More like coffee bean the way she's trying to climb inside that cup, Kate we really need to get her to -"
"I know. Plan B?"
Kate spins on the spot looking for the dog. They adopted him just as she hit the second trimester. His huge blue eyes reminding her a little too much of the husband she was delighted with - an abundance of pregnancy hormones suddenly fueling her need to have Castle, and an abundance of pregnancy hormones solely responsible for his ability to talk her into many things (dog included).
Her eyes flare to his, memory a lingering heat at the back of her mind. He grins and she sways the baby, more than a little smug about her life right now.
Plan A was the baby. Happy, healthy, thriving. Plan B was aiming for a little more normality, a little less getting shot. More dog, less danger, as Castle had put it.
"Ah, trusty Plan B." Eyes alight Castle scans the room. "I see no Plan B."
"Bailey dog," Kate calls lightly, clicking her tongue. They laugh, as the noise that has always fascinated the dog brings him bounding into the room. He skids, front paws too large to control and butt wagging too hard to slow him down.
Kate oofs as the dog knocks into her knees, the baby in her arm grunting and glaring down, "Bay-ee?" She hugs her cup closer. "No."
"Or not," Kate mumbles, "We can always fall back on plan C."
"She's a little young," he teases, reaching for the cup just as the baby roars. He flinches, the high pitched pre tantrum of teeth pain making him squint and give in."Plan C it is. And lots of it."
"No decaf." Kate grimaces as the baby howls again, and the dog joins in, "it's gonna be a long night."