A Day in the Park
Prompt:
"What's your baby's name?" Caskett Meeting AU. Beckett is holding her newborn child in the park when young Alexis comes up and bluntly asks Kate what her baby's name is, to which Rick comes over and apologizing for if Alexis was bothering her.
Kate Beckett was determined. Determined that today she would finally find the time to start reading Richard Castle's latest novel. Yesterday's walk in the park had been a full success and Kate was confident that after two and a half months, she had figured out, at last, how to make her little girl fall asleep. The fresh air of the early summer and the soft motion of the pram would do the trick in no time and, just like the day before, she would be able to sit down on a sunlit park bench and relax. This time, she even came prepared with Derrick Storm's latest adventure to make it even sweeter.
A tiny shriek pulled Kate out of her day dreams of mysteries, spies and private detectives. This had not been part of the plan. She tried to ignore it, keeping the motion steady. Maybe her daughter was not truly awake. The muffled cries Kate heard next though, left no doubt. Sophie was awake and entirely uncooperative of her mother's project.
"Hey, my little one," Kate spoke softly, leaning into the pram. "Don't you want to sleep for me today?"
"Apparently not," she added, when the cries got only louder in response.
Surrendering, Kate searched the vicinity for a place to sit. The only empty benches she could make out belonged to a nearby playground, which seemed to be occupied by only a handful of children. Not too loud, she hoped, as she started to make her way towards it.
"I know you want to be held Sophie-bug, but you'll have to wait just a moment," Kate singsonged, "Mommy will sit down and take you out of the pram and then we will cuddle and watch the older kids play. What do you think?"
She quickly chose a bench overlooking a swing set, pulled up next to it and lifted her baby into her arms. Kate could feel her daughter relax before she even managed to sit down. Sophie wanted to be held every minute of the day. According to her father, Kate had been just the same as an infant. The long walks in the park had been his advice, but apparently they didn't always work. Looking down at her child - now quite - she felt that overwhelming love that made everything worth it. The sleepless nights, the wailing, the never ending pacing through her apartment trying to rock Sophie back to sleep. All that was nothing compared to the moments when her daughter was lying in her arms, contently staring up at her. It gave Kate a feeling of peace and calm that she hadn't experienced in a very long time. She sunk deeper into the bench and smiled at the infant. Derrick Storm would have to wait, now was going to be Sophie time and in this moment Kate didn't mind a bit.
Lifting her head to push a stray curl behind her ear, Kate noticed a little girl with fiery red hair sitting on a bench on the opposite side of the playground. She was holding a doll close to her, the head in the crook of her arm. Just like Kate was holding Sophie. Right before Kate turned her attention back to her own daughter, the girl looked up, caught her eyes and gave her a sheepish little grin.
"Sweet Sophie-bug," Kate cooed at the child in her arms, "will you play with dolls in a few years? Or will you play with cars and climb trees? I can already see you as a little tomboy."
She kissed the baby's soft head and glimpsed back at the little red-head. Kate had to suppress a giggle when she realized that the girl must be imitating her, talking intently to her doll before gently pressing her lips to the plastic head. Kate used her free left hand to caress her daughter's face and sure enough, the girl opposite her did the exact same thing to her doll. Kate smiled at the cuteness of what she was witnessing. When the girl looked back up at her, her whole face gleaming, Kate felt the warmth of that darling expression. Apparently, her mommy hormones reached further than just her own child. She definitely can't remember ever having felt like this over children before.
A pull on her hair, brought Kate's eyes back to her daughter.
"Hey Sophie, no hair pulling," she told the baby playfully, while trying to extricate her long curls from the little hands. "No, no, no, no, no." She gently rubbed her nose against her daughter's.
When she tore herself away from the little face again, the bench opposite was empty. The girl and her doll were gone. She let her gaze wander over the playground, but the long red hair was nowhere to be seen. She actually felt sad. Of course, then she felt all sappy and stupid for being sad about a little girl, a stranger, leaving the playground. God, she was almost creepy, and she was a cop for heaven's sake. Motherhood was really making her all mushy.
Still eying the playground, Kate could feel someone suddenly plop down next to her on the bench. She almost jumped - apparently some cop instincts were still there - before recognizing who was sitting down next to her. A certain small girl with long read hair and a doll in her arms.
"What's your baby's name?" the little one asked boldly.
"Uhm.." Kate was getting nervous. Kids shouldn't talk to strangers. Strangers shouldn't talk to kids. Where were these girl's parents? "Her name is Sophie. Uh, where is your mom? Have you told her where you went?"
"My mommy is in California," the red-head replied, looking at Kate intently while stroking her doll's head. "How old is Sophie?"
"Oh, ok. Uh, Sophie is ten weeks old. Is someone here with you?"
"Is she awake?" the girl asked, getting up and walking around to stand directly in front of Kate and the baby. She gave a little squeal of delight when she noticed Sophie's eyes were not only open, but looking straight at her.
Before Kate could ask about the girl's parents again, she heard another squeal. This time directed at her Derrick Storm book lying upside down in the basket under the pram. "That's my daddy!"
"Alexis!" a deep voice called from behind them. "Alexis. What have I told you about talking to strangers?"
"But daddy. Look. She has a baby. It's so tiny."
"I'm so sorry," the man said, now directing his voice at Kate. "I hope my daughter didn't bother you. She can be quite a handful. And she's obsessed with babies at the moment. It's one of those phases. I thought we were through it. Apparently not."
He rambled, but Kate hardly even heard it. The girl's father was Richard Castle, her favorite author, and he was telling her how sorry he was that his daughter might have been bothering her. How did you even react to that? She just stared at him with her mouth half-open, not knowing what to do.
"I'm sorry. I should have introduced myself, I'm Rick. That's my daughter Alexis," he comes to a sudden end in his monologue.
"I, I know. I -" Kate stammered.
"She has your book, daddy!"
Kate could feel blood rushing into her cheeks. "Yeah, uhm… hi. I'm Kate. This is Sophie." She really needed to pull herself together if she didn't want to look like a complete fool. "Alexis didn't bother us at all. She's a very sweet girl.", Kate continued, hoping that she would seem more like any ordinary mom on a playground – not like a Richard Castle fangirl.
"It seems as if you have one of those for yourself." the author told her, sitting down next to her on the bench and pulling Alexis onto his lap. "At least my daughter is totally smitten."
The girl indeed looked completely captivated by the sight of the infant, which made Kate share a small laugh with Richard Castle.
"Look, daddy. She is so small and so beautiful. Can she be my sister?" Alexis buried herself in her father's arms.
"No, darling. It doesn't work that way. We have talked about that, remember?" Alexis' father softly stroked the girl's hair. Kate was fascinated by seeing her favorite author with his daughter. She had never known that he was a father and his public image was more that of a playboy than that of a family man.
"Can she be my friend?" Alexis asked quietly.
"We would have to ask Kate about that, pumpkin. But remember, we only just met her." her father answered, adding a mouthed "I am so sorry!" to Kate.
She couldn't help but grin at the boldness of the little girl, who now looked up at her expectantly. Hopeful.
"I'm sure it would be great for Sophie to have an older friend as a role model as she is growing." Kate blurted out, before realizing what she was agreeing to. That her favourite author's daughter could be friends with hers? That they would be growing up 'together'?
At least, it seemed, her answer has made one certain little girl very happy. Alexis was now climbing back down from her father's lap and went to position herself in front of Kate and the baby.
"Can I touch her?"
Kate only nodded, bemused.
"Careful." Alexis father added and Kate could see the proud look on his face as his daughter stroked Sophie's cheek as gently as anyone could.
"Since we're all friends now, I hope the two of you will join us for coffee."
Was this a good idea? Kate was unsure. It was her, though, who only a moment ago had agreed to be friends with him and his daughter and if she was honest with herself, making a new friend would probably do her good.
"There is a nice little café just around the corner. They have awesome muffins, don't they Alexis?" he added seeing her expression of uncertainness.
Alexis was nodding wildly, obviously very taken with the idea. Kate could't say no to her and thus, a few moments later, she lowered Sophie back into the pram, hoping that the baby wouldn't make a fuss about being put back down.
She let Alexis push Sophie. The little girl could hardly see over the handles of the pram, as she carefully pushed it along the wide park way, Kate not more than a step behind her, but she practically oozed with pride at being given this important task.
"Alexis is obsessed with little sisters and babies at the moment." Castle explained as they were trailing behind their daughters. "We never got to see a life one, hence the over-excitement."
"It's really no problem."
"And you're a fan."
"What?"
"You have my book." Obviously some of that celebrity writer Kate had heard so much about in the tabloids was coming out now.
"I'm more a fan of the genre." Kate shrugged.
"Ah. So what did you think? Of the book."
"I haven't had time to read it, yet."
"No time?" He looked slightly upset by her answer and it was almost cute.
"Sophie's keeping me quite busy."
"Is there no one to share the work with?"
'Subtle,' Kate thought.
"Nope, just me. And my dad sometimes."
Castle pretended to ponder about that for a moment. "Ok. I will accept the excuse then. Maybe I should have a little talk with Sophie about letting her mommy have some time to herself."
"Are you a baby whisperer? A super daddy?"
"Well, I wouldn't go that far, but I have to say my own daughter is turning out quite well." He grinned complacently.
"You mean, when she is not chatting up strangers in the park?" Kate returned with a cocky grin.
Castle's smile faltered. "I guess we'll have to have another talk about that."
"How about you give my daughter the sleep talk and I have a cop talk about strangers with yours?"
His eyes grew wide all of a sudden. "You're a cop?!" he all but shouted.
Huh. She had met guys who thought a girl being a cop was hot, but he looked more like an eager child. "Homicide Detective." she elaborated, grinning as the author seemed barely able to contain his excitement. "Well, I was promoted to Detective, but then I found out about Sophie and I never really got to work the part."
"I have so many questions." Richard Castle exclaimed, visibly thinking hard about where to start.
"Dad! Now you are bothering Kate!" Alexis halted him, just as they reached the little café at the park's entrance.
Kate took over the pram again and checked on the, now sleeping, baby, while the father-daughter duo chose a table and bickered over who was bothering her more. By the time she sat down, they seemed to have come to an agreement which allowed them both to ask her unlimited questions. Even though she had to give countless answers about Sophie, for Alexis, and about police work, for her father, it didn't feel awkward.
Her muffin was as good as Castle had promised and she actually started to enjoy the thrill that father and daughter were apparently getting out of her. She even managed to ask a few of her own questions of the author whose books she had devoured during the last few years and an hour later she was sorry to have to say goodbye to her new found friends.
She kissed Alexis on the cheek and swapped numbers with Castle.
"Call me if you want to see us again," he told her, "Or if you ever need me to have that sleep talk with Sophie."
Kate gave them a small wave, before making her way towards her home, musing about her day. She had left for the park hoping for an afternoon with Derrick Storm and had gotten a coffee date with Richard Castle and his daughter instead. Things couldn't have turned out better.