Kate Beckett can't stop the smile that spreads across her face as she settles into the rocking chair set in the corner of the play room. She can't stop it and she doesn't want to. It's her favorite part of the day. Story time. Her three children sit in a small semi-circle around her rocking chair. Each child is perched upon a plush bean bag as they all eagerly wait for their nightly story. It was a routine that their father had come up with and she cherished these moments. Her days at the precinct were long and she looked forward to this time with her children each night. Dinner had been eaten, baths had been taken, and now each child full and clean and happy sat before her as they eagerly awaited the time when she would read to them. Usually Castle sat in with them, and she secretly loved that he would get just as invested in the story as their children. Openly though, she chided him for interrupting her narrative as she read. Tonight however, he was holed up in his office with another 30 pages of his newest chapter to finish.
"Okay guys. We have three options for tonight." She holds up the three books she's chosen from the small bookshelf set against the wall near her chair.
"Where the Wild Things Are!" The chorus was unanimous and entirely unsurprising. Castle had introduced the story to their eldest, James, when he was a toddler and it had been a favorite ever since.
"Funnily enough, that's not in my stack." She responded.
"Where the Wild Things Are!" Came the chorus again. She shook her head as she replaced the Christmas themed stories she had selected. Thanksgiving was over and she'd hoped to get her children into the Christmas spirit. But, it looks like she'd be reciting the Sendack favorite once again.
"All right. All right. Y'all win." She heaved a giant fake sigh and she grabbed the story and opened it up. She had read this one so many times she had no problem holding it up for her children to look at as she recited the opening lines. "The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind" she emphasized the final words before flipping the page. "And another," she continued as her children grinned and leaned forward. She continued to read, her voice rising and falling with the cadence of the story. She let her volume rise when Max threatened to eat his mother and her daughter gasped with delight. Kate loved these moments. No matter how familiar the tale was, the story never ceased to elicit glee from them. As she was flipping the next page she heard the creak of the stairs and knew Rick, finished or not, was coming to join them. Her smile widened as she continued. Out the corner of her eye she could see his form leaning against the door frame and taking in the scene before him.
"That very night in Max's room a forest grew," she began before she was interrupted by a thrilled squeal from her husband.
"Where the Wild Things Are!" He exclaimed before rushing down to plop unceremoniously behind his children. Kate leaned back to wait for the disruption to settle as each child struggled to find their place around him.
"Are we ready?" She asked arching an eyebrow and struggling to hide her smile. She was met with four sets of round innocent eyes.
"Yes ma'am." They intoned together. She smiled at the scene before her. Her husband sat cross legged with their youngest, Mary, in his lap. While the boys, too old to be seen in their father's lap, had snuggled under each of his arms. All four stared at her rapt and waiting. She looked back at the book and continued.
"and grew-" she began, leaning in close as she dropped her voice.
"What's gonna happen?" Castle interrupted again in a loud stage whisper.
Their youngest looked up at her father in disapproval, "Daddy, you are not supposed to interrupt unless you are helping Mommy read the story. You know the rules."
"I'm sorry, Pumpkin. Won't happen again." Castle dropped a kiss to the top of her head before grinning up at his wife, no trace of remorse on his smiling features.
"May I continue?" She asked giving up any pretense of disapproval.
"Yes, Please."
She dropped her voice again, "and grew until his ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around" she gestured to the wall behind the bookshelf, which Castle had insisted be painted in a mural of this very scene. Her children were once again engrossed in the story. Her voice rose as she flipped the page, "and an ocean-"
"-tumbled by with a private boat for Max" Castle cut in reciting the next line as he jostled the children and himself with pretend waves.
"Daddy!" they exclaimed.
"What? Not my fault. The waves keep moving me around. How are you staying so still?"
"Daddy!" Mary scolded again. Her frustrated sigh ruined by the smile spread across her face and the giggle that she couldn't quite stop from escaping.
Castle continued on as Kate held the book up, "and he sailed off through night and day."
Kate flipped the page before picking up the narrative herself leaning in close to the group, "and in and out of weeks."
"and almost over a year!" Castle chimed in excitedly.
"to where the wild things are!" They finished the line in unison grinning at each other.
Kate again flipped the page as she started, "And when he came to the place where the wild things are," she paused. Rick roared on queue. "They roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth." She couldn't help her giggle as her husband did his most dedicated roaring and gnashing at their boys who roared and gnashed back. Mary caught up in the middle squealed that she was being squashed and she wasn't sure she wanted the lap spot anymore. Kate picked up the story again, "and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws."
"till Max said, 'BE STILL!'" Rick was back to reciting. This was his favorite part and she leaned back in her chair as he took over, his voice dropping to a whisper for effect, "and tamed them with the magic trick." His children crowded closer as he recited how Max impressed the Wild Things. Kate continued to flip pages in time with his story as she marveled at her little family and their perfect moment together. She let Rick take them through the wild rumpus, happy to watch as he enthralled them with his antics. Her children's heads whipped back and forth as they looked first at the pictures and then back to what their father was miming from his seat next to them. Mary was now sitting with her back against her mother's knees so that she could focus her attention on her father and not get squashed if the rumpus involved more roaring from her brothers. He continued on until Max began his journey home before looking up at his wife. Mary jumped up, resuming her spot in her father's lap. She bounced excitedly, knowing what was to come. Kate smiled, picking up the narrative again.
"and into the night of his very own room where he found his supper waiting for him," she took her time turning this page. They had a routine for the last page. It was sacred. And she waited for her queue.
"Do it Mommy!"
"Do the hot!"
"Do the slam!"
She smiled before completing the page turn and reading, "and it was still" she snapped to book closed sharply, "hot!"
"Yaay!" Mary squealed. "I love that part."
"Me too, Mary. I'm glad Mommy does it that way." Rick agreed as he leaned down to press a kiss to their daughter's cheek. "Now," he sighed setting Mary on her feet before standing himself. "Time for bed." Her husband is met with a chorus of disappointed groans as he corrals the children into the hallway and to their respective rooms. Kate leans over replacing the book on its shelf before standing to stretch. She isn't surprised when a few seconds later she feels her husband's arms wrap around her from behind. She leans gratefully into him.
"I thought you had a chapter to finish."She can feel him chuckle behind her.
"And miss Max's adventure? Never." Turning in his arms to face him, she wraps her arms around his neck. "Good. Telling it is never the same without you."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world. It's my favorite." He grins at her, every bit the man child she married, before she reaches up to capture his lips in a kiss.