It was already Tuesday and time was going by extremely slow. The only thing to do was paperwork and even that was a drag. Ryan and Esposito left fifteen minutes ago to grab lunch and hopefully they would be back soon because Kate was so hungry that she was chewing on her pen to keep her stomach at ease. By the time she was done with her folder, her partners were rushing through the elevator and toward their desks.

"Finally," she spoke, setting her pen down as Ryan handed her a burger, fries, and soda.

"It's freezing out there." Esposito shivered. "I'm surprised it's not snowing."

"Don't even talk about snow, Javi." Kate glared.

"It is the middle of November," Ryan defended his partner.

"I don't care. I don't want snow."

"It does suck when there's snow when a body drops," Esposito said with his mouth full. "Aren't you gonna eat?" he asked Ryan who was on his phone.

"Jenny is asking what Liam had for breakfast because he's really wound up," Ryan laughed.

"What did you feed him?" Kate questioned before taking a sip of her soda.

"Just a toaster strudel and orange juice." He shrugged not understanding how that could be bad.

"If you give him anything with sugar, your son goes off the walls. Maybe you should get that checked out," Esposito suggested with a grin.

"That reminds me. I should call my dad to see how he's doing with Noah." Kate quickly picked up her phone to see that she had a text from Rick.

I hope you guys like spaghetti.

She texted him back saying that they do, but neglected to tell him that was one of her favorite dishes.

"Why are you smiling?" Esposito asked, even though he had a feeling as to why.

"Nothing." She hit her dad's speed dial and waited until he picked up. "H-"

The screaming in the background cut her off. It wasn't a painful scream, it was more of an upset one. She wasn't entirely sure if it was even Noah because she had never heard it before.

"Dad?"

"Hey, Katie," Jim tried his hardest to answer as calmly as possible.

"Do I need to come there?" she asked, already starting to gather her things.

"I have it under control."

"What happened?"

"Just a little tantrum."

"Over?" She was starting to get impatient with her dad's vague replies.

"Not being able to come see you before his nap."

She could hear the hurt in his voice. Denying Noah anything was hard for him, but she told him not to spoil him either because well, this would happen.

"You can bring him, Dad. I'm on my lunch break anyway."

"And when I try to leave with him? Katie, he always cries after you walk out of the door until he falls asleep for a good fifteen minutes. I can't let that happen again."

"What's goin' on?" Ryan whispered.

She put up her finger to silence him, still trying to think of a reply to give her dad. If she knew Noah cried whenever she left, she would never go to work. Her heart was silently breaking and all she wanted to do was see her son to calm him down.

"Katie?"

"Dad, please just bring him. I'll make sure he doesn't have a breakdown before you two leave," she reassured, already choked up on her words.

"Aren't we supposed to ask the Captain if our kids can come here?" Ryan asked before eating another fry.

"Right. I forgot," she replied, slowly getting up, but then stopped when she saw the Captain making his way over to them. "Is it alright if Noah stops by for a little while?"

"Not a problem," Montgomery answered with a cheerful smile. "The only time you have to ask is if we are working on a case."

She shot Ryan a look who looked down at his food. He didn't like being wrong, but with her, he easily accepted it.

A good twenty minutes went by until the elevator doors opened. The instant she turned her head, she saw her father and Noah. She was glad to see her dad looking more fit and happy. All thanks to little Noah.

"Mommy!" Noah squealed with joy.

The moment he was set down, he was running toward his mom. He ended up colliding with another officer who simply smiled down at him and continued on.

"You need to be careful," Kate said when he was in front of her.

"He's very cranky," Jim mouthed and got a nod in return.

When she looked down, Noah's arms were in the air, so she lifted him up and sat him on her lap. He turned, so his head could easily lay on her chest.

"Someone's tired," she whispered before gently pulling his hat and coat off.

"Maybe I should tell Jenny to bring Liam by," Ryan said to his partner.

"Your son all wound up on sugar? And in a precinct? Not a good idea, bro," Esposito stated.

"You're right. Maybe some other time."

"Do you want one?" Kate held a fry in front of Noah's view. He took it from her and held onto it. "So, what did you guys do today?" she asked her dad.

"We watched a movie and played, mainly with the remote controlled car that I got him," Jim answered with a playful grin. "But he wouldn't eat anything as usual."

"Do you want these?" She held the small bag of fries in front of Noah. He quickly pushed them out of the way, making her drop them on the floor. "Hey, you could have just said no."

He tried to slide off her lap, but she wouldn't let him. That caused him to let out fake cries in the hope that she'd let him go. The last time he got loose around the bullpen, he tried to leave through the elevator and that was not going to happen again.

"Alright." She stood up and hoisted him on her hip. She dug through her purse to find one of his pacifiers and turned to her dad. "I'll be right back."

Luckily, the break room was empty, so she could sit on the couch with Noah. The second she sat down, he was trying to get away, but she held onto him.

"Here," she murmured before handing him his pacifier.

Since he became more relaxed, she leaned back on the couch and held him close. She gently moved her fingers through his hair. Eventually his tired eyes started to droop from her soft touch. And when he did fall asleep, she stayed with him for about ten minutes because she didn't want to let him go yet. After, she gently picked him up, so his head was on her shoulder and walked back to her desk.

"He just wanted to see you," her dad whispered with a big smile. He stood up and put Noah's hat back on him. "How are we going to do the coat?"

"Easy. Slide his left arm through first then his right," she softly spoke.

"Is he out?" Ryan asked from his desk.

"Yeah." she nodded. "Okay, when I pass him over, quickly zip up his jacket," she said to her dad.

When Noah's jacket was on him, she kissed his cheek and watched them leave. She sat back down when the elevator doors closed and picked up her phone. There was a missed call from Rick. Without thinking it was a big deal, she called him back.

"Hey," he cheerfully answered.

"You rang?"

"I wanted to make sure Noah wasn't allergic to peanut butter," he said.

"No, he's not. Why?"

"It's a surprise, but I have to let you go."

She could hear Alexis' excited voice through the phone. "Okay. I'll… uh… call you before I leave," she stammered.

"See you soon, Kate."

…..

"Richard, what the hell are you doing?" Martha asked while walking down the stairs.

Rick was sitting in the middle of the floor surrounded by train tracks. He was holding one piece and frantically searching for its match, but he was having trouble. He was so into building the set that he didn't hear his mother until the second time she said something.

"I thought I hid those from you when you were twelve," she said.

He looked up and smiled at her. "This isn't for me. It's for Noah. They are coming over for dinner and I thought I'd bring out a toy he could play with since Alexis' stuff is too girly."

"Maybe he likes girly things." She shrugged.

"Doubt it." He looked over toward the couch. "Alexis, wanna help?"

Alexis peeked her head over the arm of the couch. She set down her Etch-a Sketch and ran over. She slid to a stop in front of the tracks.

"This is huge!" she exclaimed with her hands in the air.

"I know! I'm trying to make it go around the living room," he replied even more excited than before.

"Will you ever grow up?" Martha asked before opening the fridge.

"Maybe when you move out."

"Funny man."

"So, Daddy, where does this piece go?" Alexis asked, holding up a curved track.

"Um… try over there." He pointed to a spot closest to the wall.

Alexis gladly ran over and bent down. She got extremely ecstatic that the piece fit and quickly came back over for another. To her it was like one of the puzzles she got from her mom for her birthday, which she loved.

"It fit!"

"Great job," her dad replied with his hand out. She happily high fived him and continued to help.

They finished building it after a half hour and decided to start making peanut butter cookies, one of his specialties. Alexis would have gladly helped, but she fell asleep on the couch while waiting for him to get all the supplies out.

He was just about to put the cookies in the oven when knocking came from the door. He carefully put the tray in the oven and ran over to the disturbance. When he looked through the peephole, he sighed.

Paula.

"Hey-" he said when he cracked the door open.

"What is this?" She shoved a newspaper into his chest, making him almost lose his breath.

"What is what?" he asked, frantically trying to open the paper, but instead dropped it.

"You said you were off the market to take care of Alexis and now I see this?"

"Please be quiet. Alexis is napping on the couch," he murmured while picking up the paper.

"Do you know how many strings I had to pull so this wouldn't get printed?"

"Can you wait until I-" he stopped mid-sentence when he saw the photo of Kate, Noah, Alexis, and himself at the park the other day. His mouth suddenly became dry and he started to panic.

"Relax. I told you I got it off the actual paper. This was just one of the copies that they started to print," Paula said with a more caring tone than before. "So, who is she?"

"See the little boy? That's Alexis' new friend and that's his mom."

"She's not one of your little flings? She damn sure looks like one."

"She's a detective," he replied, hoping that would get Paula off his back.

"Make sure this doesn't happen again because if it does and I have to get it off the paper, I want a raise," she announced before walking back out the door. "I'd stay and lecture you, but I have to be somewhere in twenty minutes."

"I'll be careful next time, promise. And I also wish Henry didn't know who you were sometimes. I like to prepare myself for your visits."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You said that with the last girl, remember?" she replied halfway down the hall.

Oh yeah. He definitely remembered that one. But that was all the girl, he was seeing, wanted. That was what most of the girls he has dated wanted. To be in the spotlight with Richard Castle. None of them wanted love. None of them really cared for him, just to have their fifteen seconds of fame. And the girl Paula was talking about, Andrea, told the press that she was pregnant. All that was after he broke it off with her and it was all a lie. That was why he was taking time off from women until Kate came around. There was something about her. Maybe it was because she treated him like a person and not something that could get you famous. Well whatever it was, he was not letting her get away too soon.

"Daddy?" Alexis' tired voice came from the living room.

"Yes, Pumpkin?" He erased the thoughts in his head until later.

"Are they here yet?"

He could tell she yawned with the last word and it made him smile. "I'll let you know when Kate calls okay?"

"Okay, Daddy."

He heard movement on the couch and then nothing. She must have gone back to sleep. It would make sense because she has been up since six this morning. Not something he wanted to be a regular habit either.

He decided to hang in the kitchen while playing on his phone. After every round of Angry Birds he would check the time. When he checked the tenth time, he sighed. Maybe she was standing him up because it was twenty after four.

Relax, the calmer side of him said. She was a detective and they don't always get out on time. She also had a two year old and if he remembered correctly, Alexis was a huge handful when she was two.

As he was taking a drink from his glass, his phone buzzed in his hand. It actually startled him, which made him choke.

I'm out now and I kinda need your address.

He quickly texted her back his address and waited for a reply. The whole time he had a huge smile on his face and he couldn't control it.

I'll be there once I pick up Noah.

All that happened at the perfect time. The cookies were done. His mother was gone for a few hours and Alexis was patiently waiting at his side.

"Oh! You're awake," he exclaimed.

"Yeah." She sleepily nodded her head.

"You can go lay down until they get here, Pumpkin." He smoothed the little hairs that were sticking up on her head and watched as she walk back to the couch.

It was amazing how big she was. By this time last year she was a lot shorter, chunkier and louder. She used to not care how loud she could get. They sometimes ended up having screaming matches followed by loads of laughs. But man she was getting big, which upset him.

By the time he had the cookies laid out on a plate, a buzz from downstairs came from the door.

"I got it," he heard Alexis say followed by her small feet running.

"I told you I have to do it, remember?" he licked his thumb before running over to the door.

"Can I press the button then?"

"Of course. Go ahead." He smiled and watched as she held the button down.

"Yes?" he asked.

"A young woman and her son are here, Mr. Castle," Henry replied.

"Send them right up and thanks."

He lifted Alexis up and tickled her sides before setting her back down again. It had been a long time since he was this excited about anybody coming to visit.

"Hey!" she yelled at him. "Not fair."

"Why don't you go potty before they come up, okay?"

"Fine." She crossed her arms and stomped off toward the bathroom.

When she was out of his view, he quickly turned toward the mirror near the door. He brushed his hair back with his hand and breathed into the other. All good.

A few minutes later there were small knocks coming from the door. He shook his hands trying to free himself of the nerves he had and opened it. In front of him was the gorgeous, Detective Kate and Noah, who was trying to pull his hat off only resulting in it being yanked over his eyes.

Rick laughed and moved out of the way, so they could come in. "How are you guys?" he asked once they were in his loft.

"Cold," Kate answered, astounded by his place.

"Yeah, the weather man is saying that we might have snow by the end of the week. I only like snow if there's a fireplace involved, but I don't have one," he said, sounding more disappointed then he meant to. "And how's Noah?" he questioned, bending down in front of him. "Still struggling with your hat?"

"Off," Noah pleaded and continued to pull it with his left hand.

Rick gently pulled it off his head and put it on his. "Does it fit?"

Noah giggled and shook his head before hiding his face in his mom's leg. He really liked the man in front of him, he was funny.

"Here. Let's take your coat and shoes off," Kate finally said after looking around the loft. She bent down in front of Noah and sat him on the floor. By the time she was done taking his shoes and coat off, Alexis was running toward them.

"They're here!" she shouted with joy. "Can we show them the toy?"

"Of course," Rick let Alexis take his hand and lead him toward the train set. Kate and Noah were just a few steps behind them.

"Look at what my daddy made, Noah. And I helped," Alexis said with a lot of pride in her voice.

Noah's eyes went as wide as they could. His grandpa had a pretty big train set, but not like this one. This one went around the whole room and even had hills. He pointed at it and looked up at his mom for approval. When she nodded, he immediately ran to find where the actual train was.

"Noah, the train's right here!" Alexis shouted and ran to chase the train.

"You didn't have to build this for him," Kate whispered when Rick stood next to her.

"I used him coming over for an excuse to build it. Isn't it awesome?"

Kate simply shook her head with a smile. She usually found it a turn off when men had a big childish side to them, but not with Rick. No, this made him more adorable and not the playboy that articles made him out to be. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even hear the small crash.

"Are you okay, Chief?"

Rick's concerned voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked over at Noah who was laying down on the floor by the coffee table. His little whines made her rush to his side and sit down next to him.

"He tripped over… something," Alexis said, still confused on what exactly he tripped over.

"He sometimes trips over his own feet," Kate replied with a smile to Alexis who gave her a shy one in return. "You're okay," she murmured to her Noah and lifted him onto his feet.

Noah held his hands, palms up, toward her. His bottom lip was sticking out as he looked at his hands.

Kate gently kissed them and pulled him in for a big hug. "You're okay, silly."

"Are you guys hungry or do you want to watch a movie first?" Rick asked.

"Movie!" Alexis cheered and hopped up and down. "Can I pick it out?"

"Of course. Just make sure it's a movie we all will like, okay?" Rick answered and smiled when Alexis ran to grab a movie.

Kate stood up and lifted Noah into her arms. When Rick sat down on the couch, she sat next to him with Noah on her right side.

Alexis came running over with the movie Ice Age being held above her head.

"Remember how to put it in the DVD player?" Rick inquired and got a fast nod.

When Alexis done putting the movie in, she grabbed the remote and climbed on the couch by her dad. She watched as he put the movie channel on the TV.

A good half hour into the movie, Noah started to get antsy. He kept looking from his mom to the train track. A sly smile crossed his lips and he slowly climbed off the couch. Hoping nobody would notice, he crawled toward the back of the couch to see if the train was there and to his surprise, it was. Before it could go by him, he picked it up and inspected it.

Kate went to put her arm around Noah and when she couldn't find him, she looked down.

"Um…" Her eyes slowly scanned the room.

"What?" Rick leaned closer and whispered. He got a whiff of her perfume and had to stop himself from trying to steal a kiss. He hated how woman's perfume did that to him, but he wanted to know why she just went 'um.'

"Where'd Noah go?" She turned toward him and noticed he was incredibly close. It made her nervous and she had to bite down on her lip.

"We should really stop losing him," Rick laughed, causing her to smile and blush for reasons she didn't know or understand.

Before they stood up to go find him, they heard clanking noises behind them. Kate slowly turned around and looked behind the couch. She smiled when she saw Noah trying to put the train back on the track.

"I don't think he wants to watch the movie," she said to Rick.

"And I think he's hungry," Rick chuckled when Noah put part of the train in his mouth. "I'll go get the food ready and then we can eat."

Kate watched as he walked toward the kitchen. Wow, she has never seen a nice, round ass on a man before. She had to look at Noah to get her mind out of the gutter.

"Noah," she whispered so she wouldn't disturb Alexis.

She wanted to laugh when he looked from side to side not understanding where the voice came from. When he turned around, he gave her a huge smile and held up the train.

"Please," he said.

"How about you come watch the movie?"

"Please!" he yelled this time.

"I'll put it back on," Rick announced when he was walking back toward them.

Kate nodded and turned back around to watch the movie. She noticed that Alexis was a lot closer to her and she didn't mind.

Alexis slowly looked up at Kate. "Are you Daddy's new girlfriend?" she whispered.

"No, sweetie. I'm just his friend," she answered with a smile, even though her heart was racing.

"Okay," Alexis replied, leaning against Kate's arm.

She was still in shock at the three year old's question, but the innocence she had was quite intoxicating. It was easier to shrug off than if it were asked by an older child.

The timer in the kitchen finally went off and Rick jumped up to put the food on plates. He carried them to the table, set them down, and walked back into the living room.

"All set." He grinned, wiping his hands on a towel.

"Spaghetti!" Alexis squealed with excitement and slid off the couch. "My favorite."

By the time they were done eating it was around 7pm. Rick suggested that they play a board game before leaving, so they sat down on the floor until Alexis came over with a game.

"Candy Land?" she questioned because she couldn't read yet.

"That's the one." Rick with an adorable smile that Kate couldn't stop looking at. But when he looked over at her, she instantly looked down at her hands.

"Played before?" Alexis asked Noah who just stared at her, still upset that he was taken away from the train.

"No, he hasn't," Kate answered for him.

"It's fun!" Alexis exclaimed while taking the pieces out.

Noah's eyes fell on the green piece, he reached forward, and took it. When his mom wasn't looking, he started to chew on it and play with the loose button on his shirt.

"Hey!" Alexis shouted at him. "Daddy, he's eating it!" She pointed.

"Hey, hey, hey," Kate said, slowly taking the green piece from Noah. "This is not food."

Once the board was set up, Noah decided to stand up and walk over it, giggling and clapping the whole time.

"I don't think a game was a good idea," Rick laughed and pulled him off.

"I'm sorry," Kate heavily sighed. "He's usually not like this." She took Noah from Rick and sat him in her lap. "Let's play the game," she said to him. "Okay?"

"Here," Rick happily spoke, handing Noah the train from the track, creating a big smile.

At the end of the game, Rick and Alexis were on the same spot. Whoever rolled a three would win. It took a few tries, but Alexis rolled a three. She moved her piece to the finish and stood up. Her little happy dance made all of them laugh.

"I never winned before!" she said very loudly.

"You never won," Rick pointed out the correction.

"Yeah!"

"Good job," Kate said with a small laugh. "I think we should get going now, though."

"Why?" Alexis questioned, less cheerful than a few seconds ago.

"I have to work in the morning, sweetie, and it's almost Noah's bedtime," Kate answered with a slight grin.

"Maybe they can come over later this week, Pumpkin," Rick said, trying to cheer her up.

"Really?" Alexis shyly asked.

"I'll call your dad later this week, okay?" Kate reassured her and started picking up the game. When it was in the box, she stood up with Noah and headed toward the door, Rick not too far behind.

"Here's his coat." Rick slid it onto Noah. "And his hat." He gently put it on his head. "I'm… we're happy you came," he said with a charming smile.

"Me too." Kate sluggishly whispered.

If it wasn't their second time hanging out, Rick would have definitely kissed her right then and there, but he didn't want to overstep and have her run the opposite way. He would wait until she was ready, whenever that was.

"I'll see you soon?" he asked and got a slight nod. "Have a good night," he said when he opened the door.

"Daddy?" Noah looked up and asked.

Both Kate and Rick's faces went a few shades lighter. They looked at each other, trying to figure out what to say to Noah.

Kate was the first to say something. "No, buddy. This is Mommy's friend and Alexis' daddy," she nervously whispered.

Noah looked up at Rick and smiled. "Keep?" He held up the train he had been holding the entire time.

"No, sweetie. That's his train. We can keep it here so you can play with it again, okay?" Kate inquired with a smile.

"Actually, he can take that one. I have a whole box of trains for the tracks. One less train wouldn't hurt." Rick replied with a charming grin and pulled Noah's hat over his ears.

"What do you say?" Kate asked Noah.

"Thank you," Noah said with a happy smile while staring at the train in his hands.

"Let's go before it gets even later," Kate announced as she lifted him up. "Say bye."

"Bye," Noah waved at Rick and Alexis, who was watching from the other room.

Once they were in the elevator, Kate received a text. She opened her phone to see that it was from Rick.

Close one, but I can understand where the confusion came from.

She ran her fingers through her son's curls. If only his dad was actually around, he wouldn't have gotten so confused. And he wouldn't have made them feel so awkward after a fun night. Thankfully Rick understood where it all came from or she wouldn't have been able to talk to him for awhile.

AN: Thoughts? And I checked the hit counter for this fic. Holy **** Why you guys so silent? I'm kidding though.