Disclaimer: I don't own Castle. I'm too poor for that.
a/n: Obviously it's been awhile. For that, I apologize. I won't list a bunch of excuses but just know I'm not abandoning this. Seemed appropriate considering Valentines Day started this whole Cub journey.
She remembers the last time she did this. With a baby in the stroller and the pavement beneath her feet but this time it isn't her chattering little boy keeping her company as she takes a seat on the bench. He wasn't awake when she left. Only one of her kids was alert enough to make the trip with her and it wasn't the little boy passed out on the couch with his father. Both Castle boys snoring softly as she strapped Charlotte in the stroller. They didn't even wiggle when she dropped the baby monitor next to her husband and kissed each of their heads. Not even the dog.
She wonders if they're awake now, pulling her daughter closer and digging her phone out of the pocket on the stroller.
"We're gonna sit for a minute, okay Charlie?" Curious blue eyes watch her closely as she sends a quick text and just as she presses send, two little arms are stretching towards her. Her daughter grunting and struggling against the straps holding her in place. "I probably smell and I'm pretty sweaty."
Kate knows it's not gonna deter the little one at all. And it doesn't. Charlie is still trying to get out, starting to fuss a little and before she can work herself up, Kate helps her out. She unbuckles the straps and lifts her little girl. A smile on her face as small hands tighten over the fabric of her shirt and Charlotte's warm nose presses into her neck. Her one baby that still likes cuddles all the time, day or night. The one she can snuggle that doesn't push her away and make angry chattering sounds like Ella does or tell her 'busy' like her son as he toddles off to daredevil his way onto the coffee table.
Sweet Charlie with her happy giggles and smiles, her hair pinned in little pigtails on top of her head and now that Kate thinks about it, she finds herself a bit amused that they're almost like the antennae to the little one's lady bug attire. A complete accident but an extremely adorable one.
"You ready to go see if Daddy's awake?" The response she gets is a high pitched squeal and chubby little hands patting her cheeks. "I hope you know I'm taking that as a not yet."
The babbles start, inconsistent mumbles and syllables and sounds all jumbled together and she nods, occasionally says 'oh really' and even gives the appropriate facial expressions to her wide eyed baby. Ella and Charlie both are quite big talkers, though usually Ella is the jabbering one and Charlie is content to remain quiet and happy until her sister gets distracted or falls asleep.
It's the smile that has her heart bursting in her chest. Every single time she sees those little teeth and Charlie scrunches her nose, her heart just melts. No different than when her son has a random urge to hug her and runs over to wrap his little body around her and kiss her cheek before running away as if nothing happened. It's the little moments. When Ella laughs and crawls as fast as she can to get away after she's done something brilliantly devious for someone under the age of one. Which is something Castle swears she gets from her mother but Kate knows better. Okay, maybe the mischievousness comes from both sides but there's no way she's taking blame for all of it.
Small little moments that make everything worth while. And this is one of them. Sitting on a park bench with her youngest seated on her knees, listening to her chatter. She's so into her own thoughts - wrapped up in her mind and how Charlie's eyes are so blue, so trusting and full of love - that she almost misses it. The familiar sound. One she hears all the time but never from her girls. Neither of them.
At first she doesn't believe it, thinks she's imagining things but then Charlie grabs her nose and says it again. Not quite plain but enough that Kate knows exactly what her daughter is trying to say.
"Charlie, did you just -" She can't even finish a sentence, her mouth opening and closing as her eyes mist. "Are you saying 'momma'?"
Of course she already knows. She knows that's what she heard and without even hearing it for a third time, she hugs her little girl, burying her face in dark hair. She doesn't even care that one little pigtail is poking her in the eye as she rocks back and forth. She can't feel anything but the pride burning in her chest and the lump tightening her throat.
Charlie giggles in her ear, nuzzling at her cheek and pressing her feet just a little too hard into Kate's stomach but she doesn't mind at all. Not one bit because the oblivious wiggling girl has no idea how happy she just made her momma. But now she wants to share it, tell everyone and that starts with Castle. She needs him, needs to share this milestone and bask in his excitement. The wonder that will fill his eyes and the fatherly pride that spills from him each time they experience something new with any of his children.
She pulls her clinging girl away from her chest, kisses her warm soft cheeks and gives her a somewhat watery smile. She knew when she woke up to a cold mattress and found her boys on the couch that it would be a good day. She just hadn't expected this.
"Let's go home, baby."
The loft is quiet when she pushes a sleeping Charlotte through the door. Too much excitement paired with getting up so early has taken it's toll on her little Cash. She barely made it a block on the way home before the girl was quietly dozing.
"Hey." As soon as she sees her writer in the kitchen, she smiles. A bright smile that lights up her whole face when he flips a pancake and grins at her.
"Hey, kids still sleeping?"
"Wes is in our bed. Didn't wanna risk the stairs and waking Ella."
She understands. Ella is a grump in the mornings and with a nod, she parks Charlie by the couch and then she's heading for him. Needing him just a little. Each step a little quicker than the last and when she pokes at his side, he turns. She doesn't offer any explanation, just folds herself into him. Wrapping her arms around him and shoving her face into his chest.
The spatula drops to the counter, his hands gripping at her, accepting the hug she's offered. And she takes a deep breath, filling her lungs with the scent of him and pancakes. A smile pulling her lips as she presses a kiss to the underside of his jaw.
"Charlie said her first real word." She mumbles the words into his skin, waits just a beat and then lets it all out. "She said 'momma'."
She feels the moment he hears, when his muscles jump and his hands come up to stroke through her tangled ponytail, moving quickly to caress her face when she pulls back far enough to meet his eyes. She can see that he's just as excited, practically bouncing on his toes as they share a smile. A parental pride seeping all the way down to their bones.
Something they share that no one else can touch. It's pure and untainted. Theirs.
"She said -" He raises his eyebrows, leaves the question dangling and instead of answering, Kate leans in and closes the distance between them. Meeting his lips with an open mouthed kiss. Pouring into him, gripping his shirt and then just as quickly as she started it, she's ending it.
"I need to shower."
"You know I tried to find that shirt this morning." It takes her a second to catch up, brow furrowed as his eyes dart down to the top she's wearing and then she realizes, biting her lip as she recalls pulling it from his drawer. "You planning on giving it back?"
"We'll see." That's a no and they both know it. She'll keep it. It'll end up folded in her drawer of commandeered articles of clothing. Including a couple pair of his socks because they're warmer and pants that swallow her but she keeps anyway because they're on the floor after two seconds any time she wears them.
She leaves him in the kitchen, watching her walk away and feeling his eyes travel up her legs. She knows where that gaze settles and tosses a smirk over her shoulder before disappearing.
Wes is sprawled in the middle of the mattress, starfish-ed across the bed with his face in his father's pillow and his feet against the dog's nose when she passes through. She pulls off her clothes and just because he mentioned it, she pulls another of his shirts from a drawer. Something dressier this time. A maroon one that she's more than a little partial to. Socks too, his but ones that have made their way to her drawer. Gray wool and perfectly soft and warm. Her favorite ones, not that he'll ever know.
She slips into the shower with her mind on first words and her heart soaring. Eyes blurring as she goes through the motions. Barely even paying attention as she soaps up and rinses off. Quickly shampooing her hair, stomach growling as her thoughts turn to the man in the kitchen that helped her create such perfect babies.
The water cooling as her body heats and by the time she's rinsed and stepping out, she's more than just hungry and ecstatic. She's wanting. The kiss she left him with replaying in her mind, flushing her cheeks. It hadn't been enough.
Dressed in another of his shirts and a pair of warm socks on her feet, hair piled on top of her head in a mess of wet tangles, she's ready for family lazy day. A day of fort building and pajama wearing, movies and popcorn fights with her writer. Coloring books and cookie baking are also on the agenda according to event coordinator Castle and whatever their little troublemakers decide they want to do. Which will probably include pulling Boomer's tail at some point and being in trouble for stealing toys from siblings. Ella.
But for the moment, Wes is still sleeping. Rolled into a ball now and cuddled into Boomer's side and the loft is still quiet. A rarity these days. She enjoys it while it lasts.
As soon as she's walking out, her eyes check just to make sure that Charlie is still sleeping but she's gone and there's no sign of Ella. She catches the pancakes stacked on the counter, the bowls of fruit around them and the can of whipped cream. Her stomach growls, reminds her that she's hungry for more than just Castle but she ignores it as she steps into the kitchen.
She tries not to notice the heavenly smell as she steps up behind her husband, wraps her arms around his waist and rests her cheek against his shoulder blade. Sometimes it feels like they go days without seeing each other, with the kids and her job, his writing. It can be a little distant but they steal their moments. Like this one. While the kids sleep and it's just them.
He turns in her arms, eyes flashing when he sees what she's wearing and before she can smirk and mentally pat herself on the back, she's the one pressed into the counter, the one with her mouth opening beneath his lips as he kisses her. Breakfast momentarily forgotten when her name rumbles from his chest and his hands grip her hips.
She helps, hopping up when he lifts. Her mouth leaving his for just a fraction of a second as he steps between her thighs, his hand gripping her leg, the other pulling her closer, fingers pressing into her back.
"Charlie?" It's barely coherent from her lips when his teeth catch on her jaw.
"Upstairs."
"Thought you didn't want to wake -"
"Risked it." And something tells her that's as much as she's getting out of him. Short answers. He's too busy focusing elsewhere. The buttons on the shirt she borrowed being popped open one by one and she tightens her legs around his waist. "You keeping this shirt too?"
"No. In fact, I'm not even that fond of it. I should probably just take it off."
"Kate."
"Come on, Castle, kids will be up soon." He says nothing as she bites at his shoulder, doesn't protest when she lets her shirt drop to her elbows and fully participates when she comes back up for a kiss. Mouths hot, desperate as he nips at her lips and she claws at his back.
"Remind me to thank our bug for saying 'momma'." He takes another kiss, slowing it down.
"Bug?"
"She looks like a ladybug today." He looks so serious, eyes dark with need and she can't help it, she laughs. Leaning into him and holding tight as she smudges her mouth against his. Quick this time. Playful.
"I'm sure Charlie-bug doesn't need to know about this." And just when he's smiling, his hands venturing to the bare skin of her stomach and dipping just a little further down, a cry ruins their plans. An angry unsettled piercing cry.
They both know. Giving each other a sympathetic look as they say it.
"Ella."
a/n: Happy Valentines Day.