Kate was breathless when she looked over her shoulder for cars as she ran furiously down the busy street. Her heart was beating fast as she burst through the front door of her building, getting a startled look from the doorman, and ran up the stairs to the top floor. Her pulse only started to slow once she was in the familiar surroundings of the Castle's loft.
"Kate!" Alexis started, but Kate cut her off.
"Quick, he's coming, is everything ready?" she asked in a hushed tone.
Alexis nodded and waved her hand, gesturing to all of the decorations and the banner hanging that they had made in honor of her father's birthday. "And my grandmother dropped off the cake on her way to the studio, and it looks awesome!" Alexis said excitedly, before Kate shushed her again.
"Ok, you ordered the Chinese food right?" Kate asked.
Alexis nodded. "It should be here any minute. And I got the table set and the candles in the cake."
"Good. And I got the present." Kate grinned as she pulled a small box out of her pocket, which she set on the table next to the cake.
Alexis flashed Kate a smile and both girls, giggling and shushing each other, flew around the loft making sure everything was perfect for Richard Castle's birthday.
Since Kate had moved into the loft a little over a year ago, Rick had noticed that her and Alexis had become very close friends, and he thought it was good for both of them. Alexis helped Kate catch up on her schoolwork once they got her reenrolled, and Kate is like the sister Alexis always wanted. Another girl in the loft to talk about boys and clothes, and whatever else Rick wasn't "cool enough to know about". Alexis and Kate came up with some crazy schemes when they were together, and more than once the girls immediately stopped talking and started blushing when Rick walked in the room. He thought raising one daughter alone would be hard enough, but two girls…he would have to worry about that another day.
Tonight was his birthday, and Rick was excited to get home after his long shift at the precinct to celebrate with his girls. He planned on whipping up a quick dinner, and then going out for ice cream but when he arrived at the loft he realized Alexis and Kate had different plans in mind.
As Rick opened the door to the loft, the first thing he noticed was the large decorated banner declaring his birthday. The second was that no one appeared to be home…until he closed the door and was greeted with a loud "surprise!" which was then followed by Alexis and Kate running out of the kitchen with huge grins on their faces.
Rick looked around the loft and took it all in; the decorations, the food, the cake. "Everything looks amazing girls, I can't believe you did this all for me."
"Well we know you've been working long hours at the precinct, so we wanted to do something nice for you," Kate said.
"And we even got you a present Dad!" Alexis announced excitedly.
"Oh really, I wonder what it could be," Rick asked in a teasing tone.
Rick took off his shoes, and they sat down at the table. Alexis handed him his present, which he slowly started opening, making a show of it, but when he finally got the box open he was speechless.
Inside the box was a pair of silver cufflinks with the Green Lantern logo engraved on them. Sophisticated and nerdy, just like him.
"Wow girls, I love them!" Excitement shined in his eyes as Rick tried to think of the next event when he would need to wear cufflinks.
"Grandma helped pay for them," Alexis said as she leaned in for a hug, "but Kate and I picked them out together."
It was then Rick noticed Kate standing off to the side, fidgeting with her hands behind her back. "What's up Kate?"
"I bought another present for you," she answered shyly. This got a questioning look from Alexis, but Rick just nodded encouragingly as she handed him what was behind her back.
When he saw what Kate set in his hands Rick's throat squeezed tight with emotion – it was a bag of gummy bears.
Alexis looked even more confused at this turn of events, but Rick understood. He pulled Kate in for a hug and their unspoken words said it all, Kate was home.
