In Another Lifetime
A/N: Hey guys, so it's been a while since I've posted a story because year 12's been so full on, but I'm on holidays now so I've decided to start a new story. Hopefully this will be longer than my first story, and I'd love to hear some feedback since I've been out of the game for so long!
Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, just borrowing it for a while:)
Chapter 1
"Mom!" shouts a six year old kid with messy brown hair and hazel eyes that are sharp with determination, "We're gonna be late!"
Katherine Beckett bends down to her son, who is currently tugging impatiently at her jeans, and smiles at his cute face which is filled with worry.
"Logan it's only three thirty," Kate says warmly, "Practice doesn't start 'till four thirty. We've got plenty of time."
Seeing her son still looking anxiously up at her, Kate sighs and says, "Okay, how about you go put your soccer uniform on and we can play in the playground if we're early?"
"Yessss!" cheers Logan, "You're the best mom ever!"
Logan gives his mum a quick hug around the waist and sprints off to his room. Kate watches him leave with a small smile on her face and gives a slight chuckle at how energetic he is. Today was his first ever day of soccer practice, and he'd been excited for it ever since he got his uniform at registration the week before. It'd been Kate's idea to sign him up for soccer, as she thought it was necessary for every boy to play a sport growing up. She knew it was hard for him growing up without a father, and didn't want him to miss out on anything else in his life- even though they were struggling as it was on her cop's salary.
Logan skids into the living room in his bright blue knee-high socks, wearing his team's black soccer shorts, and blue and black checkered shirt. In his hands he holds his new soccer boots- well sort of new. The old couple next door, who sometimes babysit Logan when Kate is at work and her father can't, gave them to her when they learnt Logan was starting soccer. Their own son had played when he was younger and they insisted it was just gathering dust now and she would be doing them favour by taking them. Kate hated taking charity, and the couple had already done so much for her, but Logan really needed soccer shoes and they were expensive new.
"Can you put on my shoes mom?" Logan asks shyly.
Logan was a little embarrassed he couldn't tie his shoelaces yet. All the other kids in his class could, but no matter what, when it came to tying his shoelaces he was stumped. He was all thumbs and could never remember what goes where.
"Of course baby," Kate says, "Come here."
Logan jumps onto the couch and starts tugging on his boots. Kate gets down on one knee, rests his foot on her thigh, and starts tying the laces.
"Okay all done," Kate announces, "Now go grab a jumper and you can watch some TV while I get changed."
"But mom!" Logan whines, "I'm not cold, I don't wanna wear a jumper."
"You'll be cold when we get outside," Kate chides, "Just take one and if you're not cold I'll carry it for you. I don't want you to turning into a snowman on me."
Logan laughs, "You're silly mom."
"Oh yeah," Kate challenges, "If I was silly... would I know your ticklish spot!"
Kate grabs him around his waist and tackles him gently onto the couch, tickling his stomach until he's red in the face.
"Noooooo!" gasps Logan, as he squirms and wriggles, trying to get away from his moms tickly fingers.
Kate let's him go after a little while and laughs at the drool running down her sons chin. She wipes it off with her shirt and then gets up and ruffles his hair.
"Okay, off you go," says Kate, "I'll only be a minute."
She goes into her room and sighs in front of her wardrobe wondering what to wear. She spends most of her money on her son, so there wasn't much choice. Not that she regrets having him; she loves her son and wouldn't trade him for anything. She had a hard job, and seeing him in all his innocence at the end of the day made it a little easier. She did everything she could to protect his innocence, but the nature of her job being a homicide detective meant Logan had been through more than she wanted him to by age six. She tried her best to come home safely to him at the end of every day, but despite her best attempts there had been several occasions of her waking up in a hospital to her son's concerned hazel eyes staring into hers, each time a little more scarred and world-weary than before.
As he got older she had explained her job to him as simply as she could. That there were risks to her catching bad guys every day of the week. That there was always the chance that she could get hurt, but she would do everything she could to not let that happen. Her partners Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan had helped her so much though. They always had her back, whether it was on the job, with Logan, or with guys she dated. She trusted them and knew that if something happened to her, Logan would be safe and looked after with them.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Kate pulled on her favourite skinny leg jeans, a tight-fitting shirt, and a brown leather jacket. She left her long, wavy brown hair out, and grabbed her keys as she left her room.
"Logan!" she called as she filled up a water bottle for him, "You ready?"
"Yeah," replies Logan softly.
Worried, Kate goes over and kneels in front of him. She places a finger under his chin and lifts it up so he is looking into her eyes.
"What's wrong?" whispers Kate, her heart breaking at the tears she could start to see forming in his eyes.
"What if the other kids don't like me mom?" Logan whispers back, "What if I'm terrible at soccer?"
Kate pulled him into a tight hug, and wondered how long this had been bothering him. She knew that he was excited to start soccer, and hoped that his shyness didn't hold him back. When he was around people he had known for a while like herself, her dad, Javi, and Kevin, Logan was the most energetic and outgoing kid. When he was meeting new people, he was super shy and could barely get a sentence out. Sometimes she wondered whether it was just his nature, or if missing a father had something to do with it. He was finally settling into year one, and the teacher doted on him, saying he was starting to become quite the class clown. However, he knew none of the kids who were going to be in his soccer team, so Kate had been expecting a little breakdown like this. However she was surprised he was worried about being bad at soccer, she hadn't even thought about that.
"Of course the other kids will like you!" exclaims Kate, "Just look at your class. You were so nervous for that but now your teacher tells me you're very popular. Your friend Jamie likes you a lot and you've been over to his house more times than I can remember already."
Logan sniffs, but appears as though he is calming down a little.
"And as for the soccer," continues Kate, "It doesn't matter if you're not good, and you probably won't be at first, but if you really want something you just have to work hard ok?"
"Ok," whimpers Logan.
"Are you ok to go?" asks Kate, wiping his eyes and nose with a tissue.
"Yeah," he answers, "I'm sorry I got upset mom, it was dumb."
"No, it wasn't baby," coos Kate, pulling him into a hug, "I'll always be here for you ok?"
She feels him nod against her chest, and then releases him.
"C'mon, let's go play some soccer," announces Kate loudly.
"Yeah!" cheers Logan.
So there's the first chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. If you've got the time please leave a review because they will make my day:)
