A soft patter of rain sprinkled the playground of Max and Madeline's elementary school, located a few blocks away from the 12th precinct. After finishing their reading lesson for the day, the kids flooded the playground for half an hour of recess. Madeline and Max had gladly slipped away to the swings in the far corner of the gated area. Their friend, Sophia, fell in step beside them.
Madeline and Sophia had settled onto the swings, squirming across the rubber until they were comfortable. Just as Max was about to sit on the swing beside his sister, Luke raced over and knocked him down. Max's feet slipped from beneath him as he plopped onto the ground in a shallow puddle, water dampening the edge of his khaki pants.
Madeline watched from her swing, perched on the edge as her brows furrowed. After a minute, Max straightened up and wiped some pebbles from the palms of his hands.
"Excuse me," he said softly, his heart racing. "I was there first."
Luke shrugged. "So?"
Anger bubbled in her chest. Without thought, she pushed off her seat. Her Mary-Jane clad feet met the pavement with a soft tap. Water splashed around her feet as she stomped over to Luke. She stood in front of him and propped her hands up on her hips.
"He was there first, Luke."
"Says who?"
"I do. Max and Sophia know too."
Luke laughed. "What are you going to do about it? You can't tell Mrs. Harper, that'd make you a tattletale."
As she huffed, Max leaned toward her. "It's not a big deal, Maddie."
"I got it," she muttered, waving a hand at him.
"Just listen to your brother, Maddie," Luke said, emphasizing her nickname in a way she couldn't stand. He jumped off the swing and walked forward.
Her small fingers curled into fists as she bit the inside of her cheek. She had to tilt her head to keep eye contact, but she refused to drop her glare. His derisive laugh rang through Madeline's head as he stepped even closer.
"Come on, Max. Do you need your sister to do everything for you?"
The words pushed her over the edge, she moved toward him and pressed her hands against Luke's chest, giving him a hard shove. He stumbled backward, tripping over the pole of the swing set and hitting the ground.
Immediately she knew she shouldn't have done it, her parents had warned her about keeping her hands to herself and not letting her emotions get the best of her. Guilt tightened in her stomach as hot tears began brimming her eyes. She blinked them away, refusing to cry in front of her class.
She stepped toward Luke, Max peeking over her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" she asked, "I didn't mean to knock you over." She offered her hand. "I'm sorry you fell."
He swatted her extended arm with a scowl, beginning to cry just as Mrs. Harper walked over.
…
Kate grabbed her coat and slipped it over her shoulders. "Ready, Castle?" she called to his form where it stood in front of the murder board.
He turned toward her, an excited smile lighting up his features. "It's time to grab 'em already?"
"Yep," she said, threading her arm through his as she pulled them toward the elevator. "Any special plans for tonight with the twins?" Kate asked as they were lowered to the ground floor.
"I think we're in need of another Uno tournament as soon as their homework is finished. Honestly, they're getting too good for me."
"Maybe you're just getting old." Kate looked up at him, glimmering eyes and smirking lips, she leaned her head against his shoulder. "I'm only kidding, of course," she added a moment later. She grinned and stopped walking for a minute, pressing against the pavement with her toes and leaning up to kiss his cheek.
Rick shook his head. "It's so cute and so unfair when you do that. How am I supposed to stay offended?"
Kate shrugged and fished the car keys from her purse. "I doubt you could look me in the eyes and tell me you don't love it."
"Is that a challenge, detective?"
"You tell me, writer boy."
…
Kate and Rick had just entered the classroom to sign Madeline and Max out, when Mrs. Harper pulled them aside.
"Is everything okay?" Rick asked when they had moved to the edge of the room.
Mrs. Harper nodded, blonde curls swaying. "It's not really a big deal, but I wanted to make sure you knew—there was an incident on the playground today between Madeline and a boy, Luke."
"An incident?"
"I'm still trying to determine exactly what happened since I'm hearing two different stories; however, it appears that Luke did something to provoke Madeline and she pushed him."
Both parents' eyebrows rose.
"Madeline pushed?" Kate asked, her voice incredulous.
Mrs. Harper nodded. "I thought it was strange considering she's never caused trouble before."
"All right, well thanks for letting us know," Rick said. "We'll talk to her about it."
"I think that'd be a good idea. I really do enjoy having both your kids in my class. They're very bright."
"Thank you. I know they enjoy being in your class."
Mrs. Harper smiled. "If you want to sign them out, I'll go grab them. I think they're just playing with some of the other kids."
"What do we say to Maddie?" Kate whispered to Rick as soon as Mrs. Harper left. "We've never had a problem like this before."
"I don't think we should pry at first. See if she says anything, and if not we'll bring it up when we get to the loft?" he asked just as the kids came over. Kate gave him a quick nod.
The twins' little bodies looked even smaller with their large backpacks draped over their shoulders, bouncing as they teetered toward Kate and Rick, lunchboxes dangling from their hands.
On their walk to the car, both parents immediately noticed that something was wrong with Madeline. Their usually loquacious daughter was quiet and barely answered their questions about her day. As Kate was helping Madeline into the car, she couldn't take it anymore.
Kate squatted down so her eyes were level with the girl's. "What's a matter, sweetie?"
Madeline's lower lip quivered as tears formed in her eyes. Before she could stop them, they spilled over. The girl's frame shook violently with sobs.
"Talk to me, honey." Kate said softly, running a gentle hand up and down her daughter's arm.
Rick noticed the exchange and tasked Max with finding the perfect radio station. Meanwhile, Rick climbed out of the car and stood beside Kate.
Madeline sniffled and dropped her gaze. "We were on the playground and I pushed Luke and he fell." More tears poured down her cheeks.
"Why'd you push him?" Rick asked.
" 'Cause he was being mean." She gasped for breath between sobs, and Kate could feel her own heart twisting in her chest.
"What was he doing?"
Max, who'd been watching rather intently from the car window, cracked the door open. "She was just helping me."
The trio looked over at him.
"I was at the swing first and Luke pushed me out of the way and took my seat. We asked him to give it back, but he just laughed."
Rick nodded along, following his son's words. "Thanks, buddy." Rick moved his gaze back to Madeline as Max shut the door again. "Is that true?"
The little girl nodded and tried in vain to push the tears from her cheeks. "I didn't mean to hurt him. I just wanted him to leave me and Max alone," she whispered, toeing the ground with her Mary-Jane shoes, her eyes cloudy and red-rimmed. She hung her head, looking entirely disappointed with herself.
"Hey, Maddie girl, look at me, okay?" Kate said softly, tilting her daughter's chin up. "It wasn't nice of you to hit him, you know better than that. But I'm still glad that you stood up for yourself and Max. That takes a lot of courage. Just next time someone is being mean, no hitting, all right?"
"It's perfectly okay to go tell Mrs. Harper if someone's not being nice or you can just ignore them. Whatever feels right, so long as you keep your hands to yourself and don't do anything hurtful," Rick added.
Madeline nodded tearfully. "I'm going to go make sure Max is okay," Rick said, brushing Madeline's hair gently before standing up and sliding into the car.
Kate leaned forward and wiped the tears from her daughter's face, pressing a feather light kiss to the girl's forehead.
"We're not mad at you, baby bird," Kate said, rubbing the girl's trembling back. "Can I have a hug?"
Madeline nodded and fell into Kate's arms.
"I'm really sorry," the little girl murmured into the crook of her mom's neck.
"Sometimes we make mistakes, but you learn from them and that's what matters."
Madeline looked up with a watery smile. "Like when Daddy tried to microwave the s'more but it exploded and made a mess. So he learned not to microwave marshmallows."
Kate smiled. "Exactly like Daddy's marshmallow catastrophe."
The little girl giggled and wrinkled her nose. "It was sticky." Then she nestled back against Kate, hugging her tightly. "I love you, Mommy."
"I love you too, baby."
A/N: Special thanks to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed! You guys are the best. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I should have the next one shot up soon. It'll be less fluffy and more Beckett/Castle centered as they work to find a balance between work and family. I've been planning it for the past few days and I'm really excited to finally get it written and posted.
