Chapter Four: Warmth
"Castle." Kate said, still asleep "Castle." She said again, and started poking him softly. "Rick!" she tried one more time, this time a little louder.
"What?" Rick said, without turning around or opening his eyes.
"Quinn is up. It's your turn." Kate said, turning around to go back to sleep. It was a little before five, and the second time Quinn had woken up that night.
"How can it be my turn when I was the one to go last time?" He asked, annoyed.
"Just go, Castle." She said, kicking him off the bed.
"Not fair." Rick jumped off the bed and put his slippers and robe on. As he approached the small portable crib Quinn was sleeping in, he noticed that her cries were getting softer and softer. "What's wrong, Quinnie?" he asked, even though he knew he wouldn't get an answer He picked her up from the crib, and looked at her face. It was red and puffy, as if she had been crying all night long. She was clutching the teddy bear they'd bought her, and was sucking on her pacifier nervously. "Baby, what's going on?" he asked.
"Momma." Quinn answered, with the pacifier still in her mouth. When she was about to start crying again, Rick hugged her tight.
"Shh, don't cry." He was still holding her tight. "Don't cry. How about I warm you some milk and tell you a story? How does that sound." The little girl nodded and Rick carried her to the kitchen. He was heartbroken. That little girl had lost everything. Her dad, her mom, her life. She was just one, for God's sake. "Here you go." He said as he handed her a sippy cup with warm milk in it. He watched as she drank the liquid slowly. "Good?"
"Mhm." Quinn murmured.
"Okay, let's get to that story." Rick picked her up from the counter she was sitting in and carried her to the living room. He sat down on the couch and settled her on his lap. "Once upon a time, there was a little family of bears…" he started. Quinn was looking deeply at him, her blue eyes glazing his. "Papa bear was far, far away, in the woods. Mama bear loved the baby bear very very much, but soon realized she'd have to go to the woods too, and soon. The baby bear, named…" he looked down at the adorable little girl sitting on his lap. She was wearing butterfly footed pajamas and still held the teddy bear. "Quinn." He smiled at her. "Also loved her mama very much, and was very sad when she left." He proceeded "But, mama bear was very clever, so she left a very nice bunny to take care of Quinn. That bunny's name, was Katie." Quinn was still very much interested in his story, and would poke his chest whenever he would pause the storytelling. "When mama bear left for the woods, Katie had to come and get Quinn. But she wasn't alone. She had the help of a very nice…" he stopped for a second to think which animal he was "Silly monkey." He made a funny face at her, causing her to laugh "Then, Quinn, Katie and the silly monkey became a family, just like the little family of bears. And they lived happily ever after." Quinn clapped her hands for a few seconds and said
"Again!"
"Again? Okay, Once upon a time…"
…
Kate woke up and saw the most adorable scene. Rick was lying on the couch, sleeping, with Quinn lying on his chest, also asleep. His right arm was keeping her close, avoiding a possible fall. Kate took a quick picture with her phone and walked towards them to wake the two up. "Castle. Castle, wake up." Kate tapped his chest a couple of times. "Castle, I have to go."
"What? Morning." Rick smiled at her, without changing his position or making any move whatsoever.
"Good morning. They need me at the 12th. You okay?"
"Yeah, go. We'll be fine." Rick said, still immobile not to disturb Quinn's sleep. "Just be sure to take notes on the case to tell me all about it."
"Sure I will." She said, in a mocking tone.
"Don't forget any gory details." He asked.
"Will do." Kate said, and left for work.
…
"Okay, ready?" Rick asked Quinn, who was sitting in the couch. She was wearing a red velvet dress with a small satin sash, white stockings and black patent Mary Janes, and looked even more adorable than usual. Being mid-October, it wasn't too cold, but the chilly air of the fall was starting to reach NYC.
"Yup, yup." The little girl jumped off the couch and ran towards the door "Pa-ak?"
"Yes, later we'll go to the park. But first, we'll run some errands, okay?" Rick asked, picking her up. The little girl gave him "sad" look, which was too cute to even look sad. "It shouldn't take too long. We'll go to the park later." Rick said. He hung Quinn's diaper bag on his left shoulder and proceeded to unlock the door.
…
"Yeah, I'll take a Vanilla Latte and an apple juice, please." Rick said to the cashier at Starbucks. "Okay, that will be $6.02." The cashier, with a name tag that read "Lou" said.
"Alright, here you go." Rick struggled to get a $10 dollar bill while holding a very sleepy Quinn, her diaper bag, a couple of folders and his cellphone. "Thanks." He said, as Lou handed him the change. "Let's sit!"
"Juice." Quinn said, throwing her little hands to the air. "Juice, Juice!"
"Okay, sweetie. Let's sit and have some juice." Rick set Quinn down on the chair and chuckled at the scene. The chair was huge, and Quinn was tiny sitting in it. "Here you go." Rick gave the little girl her sippy cup and watched as she swallowed the juice, fast. "Slow down, Quinn. You're gonna make yourself sick."
"Good juice." Quinn concluded, placing the sippy cup back on the table.
Author's Note: Oh my God, you are unbelievable. Thank you all for reading, subscribing, reviewing, favoriting, everything… I love you all. Please keep reading and reviewing!
