A Dash of Summer
Castle slides out first, a smacking kiss on Kate's neck as he leaves her in the shower, her fingers trailing at his hip. He misses the 12th precinct now more than ever - maybe because he used to live vicariously through her and she hasn't been there for a week, or maybe because he spends so much time at Black Pawn - but he tries not to bias her. He tries to let her make her own decisions about the job.
But he's not sure what this means - taking two weeks off all of the sudden like this. She doesn't seem anxious about it either, and as far as he knows, she hasn't had any more of those panic attacks like when they were working on her mother's case.
Ever since Montgomery was killed... he just doesn't know. She's been different.
Castle rubs the towel down his chest, scrapes it against his neck as he peers into the fogged up bathroom mirror. He can hear Kate humming over the sound of the shower, the drop and fall of water against tile as she washes her hair. Familiar sounds; he likes being in here while she's in here, something intimate and close about it. He thinks after love like that she can't possibly be faking it.
She must really be okay. Even if she's different.
"Mo-om!" he hears coming from the bedroom door. Castle growls and wraps the towel around his hips, hustles out. The kids aren't supposed to come into the bathroom after them, but sometimes they do.
"Dash, my man, Mom's in the shower. What do you need?" Castle scrapes a hand through his wet hair, flings water droplets into his son's face.
Dash flinches and laughs, scuttles back over the threshold into the bedroom. "I want breakfast. I need protein for my swim meet."
Castle smothers his laugh, looks down at his son seriously. "I can make you breakfast. Let me get dressed."
"Mom said not to bother you."
"Mom's being nice. I can make you some of what I'm having."
"You having eggs?" Dash asks, dancing back again as Castle pretends to flick more water towards him for the gramar. "I want eggs. For my protein."
"I'm having eggs, imagine that," Castle says, raising his eyebrows. "Is Ellery still sleeping?"
"Course."
"Okay, watch tv until I get out there."
"Castle?" he hears behind him.
"I got him," he yells back. "You're fine." He turns back around to Dash and squeezes the nape of his neck. "Go, go, buddy. I'll be there in five minutes."
Dashiell runs back to the living room and Castle sighs as he turns for the bathroom, banishing thoughts of fooling around with Kate post-shower as well. Not now.
He taps on the door and faintly sees the form of her body turn towards him.
"I'm gonna get dressed and start breakfast. You want?"
"No. I'll eat with Ella before we head for the meet," she calls over the sound of the water. "Thanks though."
"Okay," he says, already turning for the closet.
She really is fine.
Castle hoists Dashiell up onto the counter beside him and listens to the boy's heels thunder against the cabinets. Castle draws out the last of the ingredients from the fridge and checks the time as he turns back to his son. He's got an hour - he'll be okay. Kate woke him in time.
"Dad, how about this?" Dash says, holding up the tabasco sauce with a cheesy grin.
"You know the deal."
Dash sighs and puts it back on the counter. "Only when it's done."
"Only when it's done," he says. "Don't want Ellery throwing up again."
"Ew," Dash grimaces, face twisting. "Make me throw up too." His shoulders hunch like he might gag even now, and Castle grunts on a helpless laugh.
"Just don't think about it. Now, pick out what you want. Special ingredients to give you super swimming power."
"Hmm," Dash says, eyeing his choices carefully. "Super swimming power requires..."
While his son debates, Castle moves towards the burner and flips one on, puts the pan on top of it. He's cracking eggs before Dash even has a chance to select his first ingredient; he's trying to hustle this along. He has time, but not a lot.
"Dash," he calls. "Pick your poison."
"Okay, I got it," his son says, relish in his voice.
Castle glances over to the counter beside the fridge where Dash has drawn a collection of things to himself, putting them to one side in a neat and precise order. "Yeah? What's first?"
"Lemon juice."
Castle winces inwardly but takes the lemon-shaped bottle from his son. "All right. Your choice."
Dash claps his hands together and leans forward to make sure his father's doing it right, adding the lemon juice to the eggs on the burners at the island. Castle catches him with a hand and pushes him back. "Don't want to fall. Remember the stitches you got?"
His son grimaces and rubs his fingers on his forehead. "I couldn't get in the water. No swimming. But we went to the video arcade and that was fun."
"Yeah, well, hitting that hard head of yours again isn't high on my list of fun things. Sit back or Mom will kill me for letting you stay up there."
Dash settles back against the fridge, thumping his heels again, and Castle turns to the eggs scrambling in lemon juice on top of the island. He uses the spatula to stir it up and then calls over his shoulder to his son.
"What else, kiddo?"
"This too."
Castle turns and laughs, takes the box of Lucky Charms cereal. "All righty, sounds like a plan." Lemon juice and Lucky Charms. Better get it done before Kate gets out here; she might veto some of this if she's close enough. He shakes a couple cupfuls of the cereal out into the egg concoction, hoping the yolk will keep the marshmallows from blackening in the heat.
"Dad, these."
Castle reaches out and takes the jar of black olives from his son, surprised that it's fairly normal. "Nothing else?"
"No. Those are my three."
"All right. Now mine." He shakes in a good spread of olives, and a plan starts to form. "Want to try to trick Mommy?"
"Yeah!" Dash cheers. "How?"
"We'll make it look like it's a normal omelette. My three will be stuff that will fool Mommy into taking a bite."
"Oh, cool, Dad. You're so smart."
Castle grins at Dashiell over his shoulder and nods towards the collection of ingredients that he pulled out from around the kitchen. "Get me the cheese."
"I don't like cheese."
"You do in your eggs, remember? Plus, we gotta make it look normal."
Dash gives a reluctant glance to the bag of shredded cheese, but he hands it over to Castle. "What else, Dad?"
"Um, I think the crunchy cereal might tip Mom off. So we need something that will kinda mask it. Got any ideas?"
"Huh," he hears from behind him. Castle turns down the heat a little to keep from burning the eggs while Dash makes up his mind about the omelette. "Dad, I think this will do it?"
He shifts and sees his son holding up a package of spicy sausage crumbles. He grins. "Good job, kiddo. We'll use those. And my last choice..."
Dash drums his heels on the cabinet and looks eager for the great unveiling. Castle leaves the spatula on the side of the pan and comes towards his son, brackets the boy's knees with Castle's fists on the counter, leaning in.
"Want to know?"
"Yes!"
"Reese's pieces," he says back.
Dashiell's mouth drops open. "In my breakfast?"
Castle smirks. "You bet. And then we'll feed it to Mom."
"Oh, yes." Dashiell launches himself into Castle's chest, arms flinging around his neck, strangling him with his excitement. "You are so awesome. This is gonna be so awesome."
Kate took too long in the bathroom and she checks the time as rushes out to the kitchen, apologizing even as she does. "Sorry, Castle. I know, I know. It's nearly seven-thirty."
He and Dash are standing in the kitchen watching her hustle towards them even as they eat their breakfast. Well, Dash is actually sitting cross-legged on top of the bar while Castle stands across from him.
"Dash, baby, get in your seat," she sighs, shooting her husband a look. He just shrugs. "Sorry, Castle, I lost track of time. Is Ellery even awake yet?"
"Nope," Dash says for him. "She's sawing logs."
Kate stops and turns to him, a laugh bubbling up. "Sawing logs? Who told you that one?"
Dash points his fork towards his father and Kate glances over at Castle; he's grinning. "That was me. And she's still asleep. I kinda wanted to see her before I left, but-"
"I'll get her up," Kate says, stopping at his side and running her hand up his arm, squeezing his bicep. She comes on her toes to kiss his jaw, humming when she smells that crisp, clean scent of him underneath the breakfast smells. Though it smells good too, some kind of cheesy omelette. Aw, he put spicy sausage in it for Dash, too. What a good Daddy. "You guys finish your breakfast - smells good - and I'll go get baby girl-"
"Mama, wait," Dash says, making her half turn towards him. "You should-"
"Dash, you want some more chocolate milk?" Castle says suddenly, cutting off their son. He's making a dramatic face at Dash, and the boy shoots him a startled look.
But he cheers. "More chocolate milk!"
Chocolate milk doesn't seem like the best idea pre-swim meet, but whatever. Castle is turning his back on his scrambled egg omelette thing, so Kate winks at Dashiell and picks up the fork, presses a finger over her lips.
Dash's whole face beams with joy.
Kate forks a bite of omelette and pushes it into her mouth as she grins back at her son, the melting cheese hitting her taste buds first, the spice of the sausage, and then something crunches.
And holy shit-
Kate spits it back out into her hand, horrified, mouth burning, and Dashiell positively erupts in cackles, giggling so hard that he falls off the bar stool.
She turns to Castle and he's chuckling too, laughing more at Dash than her, but her too.
"What is in this?"
Dashiell is climbing back up the stool and snorting through his nose. "Oh, Mama, Mom - all kinds of stuff."
"That is truly foul," she hisses at Castle, snagging his coffee mug and downing the last of it to get the taste out of her mouth. He doesn't even protest, just hands Dash his chocolate milk. She narrows her eyes at him. "Rick Castle."
She grabs a napkin to get rid of the nasty omelette, but Dash lifts up on his knees in the stool, pointing at the bite still half-chewed in her hand. "You have to eat it. You have to. It's the rule."
She swivels her head to glare at Castle. "You set me up. I'm not eating this."
"It's the rule," he shrugs. "You put it in your mouth, so now you have to eat it."
"You..." She turns slowly to find her son still giggling, eagerly awaiting her compliance with the rules that she herself instituted to make Dash try foods he didn't like.
"Eat it, eat it, eat it," Dash crows.
"Relax, Kate," Castle says with a smirk. "At least you got mine. Dash's has tabasco sauce on it."
Her nostrils flare as she stares down at the nasty thing in her hand, but it's a rule. And the way her son is laughing like a maniac might even make it worth it. So she pops it in her mouth, grimacing as the sourness squeezes the back of her throat. She chokes it down, snags Dashiell's still full glass of chocolate milk, and then swallows it all.
Dash is laughing too hard to protest.
Was that peanut butter?
