To the beautiful and wonderful JMHaughey, happy birthday my sweet friend. May this make you smile on your special day.
With many thanks to the awesome Tadpole24 for her encouragement and to the amazing Mali Bear's Buddy for making this Australian sound more American, I couldn't have done it without you.
I've written about little Zoe Castle before in my Mother's Day fic "Mommy" and the muse decided to bring her to life again!
All comments welcomed and appreciated, especially if you would like to read more Zoe!
I don't own anything you recognize.
Favorite Things
She smiled at the sleeping child, her arms curled around her tiny body, a leg haphazardly hanging out from the sheets. Watching her daughter sleep peacefully was one of her most favorite things. She contemplated tucking her daughter back into bed, but that would wake her and it was too late for her to be awake. Even if her other child was.
Kate Castle's hand moved down to pat her swollen belly, child number two was making their presence known in the form of some very decent kicks to the kidneys. She patted the small lump that had formed and then tickled it with her fingernails, before looking down at her watch.
"I miss him too." She whispered as she turned and left the sleeping Zoe and headed downstairs towards the kitchen.
Sausages, apples, rice crackers. Normally the combination would make her stomach hurl, but this unusual concoction seemed to be the tonic that at the moment she and the baby inside her loved. She carefully took the plate towards his study, she liked to be close to him, even though he wasn't there. Eventually she managed to lower herself into the large, well worn desk chair, propping her feet up on the hardwood of the desk and balancing the plate on her belly.
Her watch clicked over to midnight and the laptop in front of her began playing a melodic tune. She pressed the answer button, and there he was. Richard Castle, as large as life. But on the other side of the country.
"How is that comfortable?" he questioned, his voice calming and soothing her instantly and gaining her another kidney kick.
She smiled, "I thought you'd want to see the big picture. And by big, we mean big."
Castle laughed tiredly, "Did you grow overnight?"
"It's still overnight. I haven't been to bed yet."
He nodded, "I miss you too."
"How was tonight?" Kate asked, as she reached for another piece of apple.
"Good. Busy as usual. Natalie was asking about you. She seems to think that I should have Nikki and Rook with five children as the last scene." He said with a laugh that echoed through the laptop, his eyes sparkling at her reaction, "Apparently she has more questions for you."
Kate rolled her eyes, "Suddenly I'm glad I'm not there."
"We have one more premiere and then I can come home."
She smiled happily, he'd been away from them for far too long this time. He smiled back and she knew that he felt exactly the same, "So any reviews?"
"Yes. Many." He answered rolling his eyes, "You know that mother has sent them all to me via email. She was delighted by the one in Cinema Scope. Apparently someone who once trashed her in a review called my writing a delight to the senses."
Kate laughed, "She did tell me that earlier tonight. She came to bring the garland for the tree."
Castle pouted, "You've started decorating without me?"
"It's December Castle. We had to do some decoration, although by we I mean Martha and Zoe, all I seem to be able to do is fall asleep in the armchair."
"How is my Zu-Zu?" He asked excitedly, as Kate watched the exhaustion disappear from his face, replaced by sheer fatherly delight at the prospect of talking about one of his precious daughters.
"She's good, she misses you. She tried to stay up to talk to you tonight, but she didn't make it." Kate smiled sadly at him and, as she watched his face sink, she could tell time zones were getting him down.
"Is Alexis bringing her to meet me at the airport?"
Kate nodded as she took a bite of rice crackers with a slice of sausage wedged in between. "Wish I was coming too, but they don't allow whales into JFK."
"If you are a whale, and I am not saying that you are, you are the most beautiful whale I've ever seen." He told her with a chuckle, leaning right into the camera as he said beautiful. Just to make sure that he got his message across.
"Richard Castle, I don't know if I should be flattered or offended." Kate replied haughtily. "With talk like that I should just have gone to bed." She watched as a flash of amusement crossed his face, before he broke into a smile.
"Flattered. It was said with love." He answered with a wink of his left eye.
"Now," Kate began, "you are going to be in New York for the entire month of January?"
Castle nodded.
"Good, because you may have another woman in your life to spend time with." Kate answered, patting the swollen bump another time.
"I'm feeling boy this time." Castle responded as light flashed around the New York study.
"You're feeling boy? You've been away for a month, I was sufficiently less whale when you left. Also you were the one who wanted to keep the sex a surprise." Kate replied with a smirk.
"I wanted to test my prediction abilities." Castle responded, earning a roll of Kate's eyes. "But I need some male company in the loft." Castle then added quickly, he loved his women with all of his heart, they were his favorite four things in the world, but sometimes it could be just too much.
"Why?" Kate questioned as thunder rumbled outside her window, "You don't like being surrounded by 'your girls' any longer?"
"I love my girls. But in the future I am going to need someone to protect his sisters."
"And by protect you mean have pretend rubber heads scattered around the room?" Kate questioned as Castle looked surprised at her knowing of this event years earlier, "Yes, Alexis talks."
"I was a teenage boy once, I know they need to be scared off sometimes."
"You were? I think on some occasions you still are a teenage boy." Kate told him with a wink as another flash of lightening lit up the room. She pouted, "I am going to have to hang up."
Castle pouted back, "Why?" he whined.
"Thunder, lightening. Unsafe things like that." She answered as she pulled herself into a more recognizable sitting position.
"It isn't unsafe to be on a computer in a thunderstorm." Castle answered back. "You don't have to go anywhere."
"Lightening attacks electricity. The computer runs on electricity."
"Kate, you're inside a building." He bantered back.
Kate shook her head as another bang of thunder rattled the windows.
"Do you need evidence?" Castle questioned, as he switched screens with his laptop and began a google search.
"I almost got struck once, I don't think I'd like to tempt fate again."
Castle immediately looked up from what he was reading, "You were almost struck?"
Kate nodded, "I was seventeen."
"And you've never told me this before?"
"It was over half my life ago."
"But I like stories. If I tell you something funny will you tell me the story of how you were nearly struck?" He asked hopefully, giving her trademark puppy dog eyes.
Kate wrinkled her nose, Zoe inherited those puppy dog eyes and she couldn't resist them, "You just don't want me to hang up."
"Guilty." Castle answered bashfully, "But I googled it and it seems perfectly safe."
Kate turned up the volume on the computer and moved it away from her, "Okay, but this better be funny."
Castle laughed, "All I can see is belly now."
"Just pretend you're telling your son."
"I'd prefer his mother's face, and I notice you didn't shy away from saying son." He answered as he poked his tongue out at the camera, trying to get a rise from Kate. But she didn't see, Castle did like to think that his future son would be proud of this childish display from his father.
"I never denied thinking that this one was a boy. He kicks me at the most inopportune times, seems just like his father to me."
"You're mean." Castle answered as another bolt of lightening flashed.
Kate laughed and leaned her head down to face the small camera, "Better?" she questioned.
"Much." Castle said with a smile, moving his own position towards the camera and looking down towards his hands as if he was going to read from an unpublished manuscript before clearing his throat. "Okay, so this person suggested that the best thing to do in thunderstorm was to get under the covers with someone that you love and make noise to compete with the storm."
Kate scoffed, "And how is that relevant with you over two thousand miles away?"
"I was suggesting it for the next storm." Castle added sheepishly, watching as Kate's frown turned into a smile, a smile that meant he was in trouble (in a good way) when there was another storm.
"And the one after that?"
"You bet. All the storms from now until storms no longer exist."
Kate giggled. She couldn't help it, his childlike excitement was infectious. Even at his age he was still as excitable as Zoe and when they were together magical things seemed to happen.
"You laughed. It's story time."
"I was seventeen," Kate began, as the storm grew more intense around her, "Four friends and I had gone to the Hamptons for a week. We were celebrating finishing finals. We'd been watching a storm move across the water, each time coming closer and closer. Emma had moved her car right onto a sand dune, and she'd parked us there for at least an hour. We just sat, talking and watching the storm. I guess we didn't realize how close it was coming until there was a flash directly in front of us. I was sitting in the front seat and I saw the light hit the ground and the sand begin to smoke once the light disappeared. The sound that followed shook the car. Emma gunned it out of there. She pulled over as soon as we were far enough away because she couldn't stop shaking. She'd only been driving for a few weeks."
"You didn't want to get out and see if any glass had been made?"
Kate smirked, "You've watched The Notebook one too many times."
"Kate, you've got that wrong. It's Sweet Home Alabama where they make the glass from lightening." Castle replied with a wink, before realizing perhaps he shouldn't have been able to correct his wife there, maybe he was turning into Ryan. Soon he'd be reading People and blaming it on Kate for 'leaving it around the house.'
"Too many chick flicks for you." Kate replied with a laugh.
"Not my fault. I've spent my life surrounded by women. But still glass making could have been your big career move." Castle explained with a smirk.
"Oh yes, I could really see myself selling glass for a living. 'Madam can I interest you in this fine piece of glass made from lightening that I risked my life for.'" Kate told him, waving her arms around dramatically.
"I could see it." Castle responded, "You'd make a great sales woman." Kate glared at him in only the way she could, so he changed the subject. "So, that was the big lightening story? You contemplated hanging up on me because of that?"
"If you keep picking on me I will hang up. Anyway aren't you the one who says that our future is based on what happened in the past? This is something that happened in my past that changed the way I felt about lightening and thunder for the future." Kate retorted as the loudest bang yet cracked above her.
Castle wrinkled his nose, his wife had him there. He was about to make a response of his own but he heard the petrified cry of his daughter through the speakers.
"Mommy!" Zoe screamed.
Kate was on her feet instantly, "I'll be right back." She told the worried looking face on her laptop and ran or waddled as fast as she could to where the voice had come from.
Zoe stood halfway up the stairs, as if she had been headed for Kate and then stopped frozen in fear deciding yelling for her mother was the safest option. When she saw her coming, she leapt down the last few stairs and right into Kate's outstretched arms.
Kate lifted her as much as she was able, Zoe's little legs balancing around her back instead of on her little baby brother or sister and one of her hands clenching her mother's tightly. Zoe shook as she buried her head into her mother's shoulder, "Mommy, I'm so scared." The little voice whispered as another flash descended.
"It's okay, baby." Kate whispered soothingly, as she patted her daughter's back. "I have someone who might make you feel better." She said reassuringly, as she waddled back to the computer. Zoe's head was still buried tightly into Kate's neck, and did not move until Kate had successfully balanced herself back into the desk chair. "We're just a little scared." Kate explained to Castle.
Zoe looked up at her mother, "Who are you talking to?"
"Me, Potato." Castle answered.
Kate watched as the little girl's eyes sparkled, the blue becoming more blue for just an instant just like her father's did when he was excited. Zoe spun around to face her father, however she didn't let go of Kate's hand.
"Daddy!" Zoe responded excitedly.
"Hi Zu-Zu." Castle answered just as excitedly before blowing an air kiss towards his screen. "Did the storm wake you up?" he questioned as he watched Zoe chew on her bottom lip, just like Kate and he couldn't help but smile.
Zoe nodded, "It was really loud, but I tried to ignore it and make it go away but it just got louder and I wanted Mommy. I tried to come fast before there was no noise again but but there was a really loud one and I didn't make it so I just, I just had to scream." She explained very quickly, barely pausing to take a breath.
Castle opened his mouth to say something reassuring, but he was interrupted by another flash followed very closely by a bang. Zoe jumped in Kate's lap and turned back to bury her head in her mother's chest.
"Why does it do that?" Zoe questioned, her head turning back to her father and then tilting to the side waiting for an answer. Her Daddy always knew the answer to her questions.
"The lightening says something to the thunder and then the thunder says something back." Castle explained.
Zoe looked confused, and Kate laughed, "So now we are plagiarizing The Sound of Music are we?"
"I thought it made a good explanation."
"Daddy?" Zoe began having given her father's answer a few seconds of thinking time, "Why don't we hear what the lightening says?"
"Well?" Kate questioned, watching Castle's puzzled face.
"The Von Trapp family children didn't have any questions like this."
"But I'm maddening, Daddy."
Castle laughed, "That you are, Zoe."
"So do you have an answer?" Zoe asked patiently.
Kate laughed, "I don't think he does."
Castle's face lit up as he thought of a plausible explanation, "We don't hear what the lightening says, but we see it instead."
Zoe bit her lip again as she considered her father's answer. "I don't know about that, Daddy. I think I'd just like it to go away."
"It will soon, Potato. There is always something else we could do while we wait for it to go away?"
"What, Daddy?" Zoe questioned as another flash plunged the room into brightness.
"We could sing about our favorite things." Castle stated proudly.
Kate scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Really, Julie Andrews?"
"I think it sounds like a wonderful idea, Kate. You could sing about sausages and apples and Zoe could sing about..."
"Mommy's hugs and Daddy's laugh." Zoe answered finishing Castle's sentence.
Kate squeezed Zoe tightly as Castle laughed. "And you would sing about, Castle?"
Castle smiled, and took a deep breath before breaking into song "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens."
"Daddy!" Zoe exclaimed, "Now you're just copying!"
"Your Gram used to copy the song all the time." Castle explained as he used YouTube to search for the music that he wanted.
"Yes, Daddy," Zoe agreed, as another loud noise rumbled around the room, "But Gram is an actress. Her job is to learn lines and then repeat them." Zoe added with a dramatic flourish, reminding Castle of his mother.
Castle smiled as the music began to play, "First we sing it the Julie Andrews' way and then we sing it the Castle way." Castle sung to his girls with a falsetto voice.
"But how will I know the words, Daddy?" Zoe questioned.
"Mommy will tell you before we sing."
Kate smiled, she loved her husband and he still made her heart flutter on a regular basis, but it was him as a father that truly made her heart melt. He'd been as exhausted as she at the beginning of this call but now instead of exhaustion she could only see love beaming from his eyes.
"Will you tell me, Mommy?" Zoe asked as she turned around to stare at Kate.
"Of course." Kate whispered, "And you have to promise to be loud."
"Promise." Zoe and Castle answered at the exact same time, making Kate laugh.
Kate yawned as she watched the sleeping Zoe, now calm and peaceful curled up beside her father's large desk. The singing had been a huge success, the thunder and lightening had long been forgotten in Zoe's mind once Castle had begun to sing at the top of his lungs. He'd sung the traditional version of his favorite things and then moved on to a version of his own, Kate and Zoe had tried to sing along but he'd been too funny and each of them wanted to giggle more than sing.
Eventually Zoe had decided to dance around the room, spinning herself into a whirling mess of nightgown and chestnut hair until she'd fallen over exhausted. The storm had ceased at approximately the same time, so Kate and Castle had been able to continue on with their conversation. They never ran out of topics to discuss, it was one of the main reasons for why they were a successful couple; there was always something to banter and chat about.
"You can go to bed now." Castle whispered quietly. "I promise I'll be home soon."
Kate smiled, "I have a better idea. Wait just a minute."
Castle nodded as Kate disappeared from screen. Carefully, Kate lifted Zoe into her arms and carried her over to her and Castle's bed, she slipped the sheets around her and Zoe stirred and opened her little, blue eyes before snuggling down into the warm duvet. Kate then returned to the laptop, "Will you stay online until we fall asleep?"
"We?" Castle questioned as Kate lifted the laptop and moved towards the bed, "Zoe looks asleep to me."
"Your son and I." Kate answered with a laugh as she placed the laptop on the table beside her, before lowering herself into the bed. "He's kicking my kidneys again."
"For the two of you, always." Castle replied, before lowering his voice, "Little one, you have to stop kicking your mama."
Kate smiled and closed her eyes, as Zoe inched up to move beside her, grabbing a fistful of Kate's pajamas.
From over two-thousand miles away Castle smiled and began to sing softly. "Beautiful wife and lovely daughter, little baby and warm blankets in winter, New York nights and family all around, oh these are a few of my most favorite things."
And he kept humming until he heard both his girls snoring peacefully. Only then had he pressed the hang up button and packed the rest of his belongings into his small suitcase.
He'd told his wife a small white lie. There was no last premiere. Singing about his favorite things had been quite fitting. In a few hours time, he'd be doing several of them: kissing his wife good morning and sharing cereal with a little girl who shared her mother's smile and his enthusiasm.
He looks at his watch. The moment couldn't come soon enough.