Hello again! I am officially back to writing and I am so excited to share the rest of this story with you. I am so glad you are still on this journey with me. Your reviews and messages meant the world to me and they are why I have the inspiration and encouragement to write this. I will be posting as much as I can in the coming weeks here and in my collection of prompts.

So, without further adieu, back to our story!

Kate woke up hours later feeling infinitely better than she had in days. Sleep was always hard to come by with Eva, and she was way too old for the all-nighter she pulled last night. She sat up gingerly and stretched, the muscles she had abused by sitting on the hard tile floor all night protested even as they popped and the feelings subsided.

"Castle?" She called when she realized he was nowhere in sight. She didn't think he would have left without waking her, but he wasn't in the living room with her. And judging by the silence she heard, he wasn't in the kitchen either. If there was one thing she knew, it was that Castle did not know how to be silent. She smiled. His incessant chatter had once been nothing more than an annoyance, but these days, when so much of her life was spent in silence, his mindless conversation was a relief.

She stood from the couch and slouched off the blanket she had around her legs.

"Castle!" She called a little louder, moving past her bedroom and toward the hallway.

"Shhh!" Her partner emphatically shushed her.

She stepped into the hallway to something she had never anticipated.

Sitting on the floor a few feet from Eva's door, was Castle. He had somehow folded his legs beneath him 'criss-cross applesauce', quite the feat for someone his size, and had one of Eva's beloved books open in his lap. There was a stack of books beside him, indicating he had been at this for some time. His deep, calming voice filled the hallway as he read the pages and held the pictures in the direction of Eva's doorway.

There in her doorway lay Eva, she was wrapped in a blanket with her head pillowed on her pig as she listened to the story and studied the pictures from a safe distance away. There was maybe 3 feet between Eva and Castle, to anyone else it would have been an odd sight, the toddler laying on the floor with Castle so far away, but to Kate it was an amazing sight. She wasn't sure how they had gotten into this position, but it was blowing her mind.

Castle finished reading before she had gotten over her shock. When his voice went silent, Eva looked at him for a moment and began to disentangle herself from her blanket. Kate started to go to her, but Castle held a hand up to her, much like she had the day he had found them in the park. She took a step back and remained in the shadows as Eva abandoned her pig and disappeared into her room.

She appeared in a few seconds with another book in her hand. She took a few steps into the hallway and set the book down before retreating back to her little nest. Castle waited until she was laying down and then leaned forward to grab the book that was between them.

Now Kate was truly speechless. Eva was interacting with Castle. Not only that, she was interacting with him without her prompting it, or even being present for it. It wasn't direct contact or speaking or any of the other million things they were hoping for, but it was extraordinary in its own small way.

Before Castle could begin, Kate made her presence known by stepping into the hallway.

"Hi, Baby. How are you feeling, Sweetheart?" She asked, stepping over Castle and coming to sit beside her little girl. The little girl. She had to stop doing that.

As soon as she sat down Eva was crawling into her lap and curling up against her. Kate picked up the pig and placed it next to the girl and wrapped her in the blanket. She pressed a kiss to her forehead, half in sincerity and half to check her temperature. She was still hot, but a little less so than when she had fallen asleep.

"How about I order us some dinner?" Castle said standing from his seat against the opposite wall.

"Oh, Castle you don't have to-"

"Kate. Let me order us some dinner." He said leaving no room for argument with a genuine, but kind voice.

"Okay." She relented, smoothing Eva's hair back behind her ear and scooping her up with her as she stood.

Kate pushed her way in front of Castle and made her way to the kitchen, looking back at him to ensure that he was following. She kept Eva on her hip, pig in hand and blanket still somewhat around her, as she dug in a drawer and came up with three take-out menus.

"Okay, Eva, which one do you want today? This one," she began pointing to the chinese menu, "has the brown rice and veggies, remember? This one," pointing to the italian menu, "has the yummy spaghetti and bread. And this one," pointing to the familiar green menu of Remy's, "has burgers and fries."

She remained silent for a few seconds as she let the toddler consider her options. She shot Castle a breathtaking smile as Eva intently studied the menus in front of her. Even after the last few weeks, he was still amazed when she looked at him like that. He longed to be the reason behind a smile like that, but just seeing it in response to her little girl was enough for him.

Eva picked up the Remy's menu and handed it to Kate, decision made.

"That okay with you, Castle?" She asked as she handed it to him.

"You know I love Remy's." He said with a smirk. "What can I get for you, Mademoiselle?" He directed his question to Eva.

Kate had never had to tell him to address Eva when he was talking about her. It was something that the therapist had emphasized, making sure that she was apart of conversations so that she could form answers and not feel separated from everyone else in her life. She had had to make that clear to the boys, Lanie, and her father, and she could tell it still made them uncomfortable to talk to the little girl. She knew they just didn't want her to be afraid of them, it was also what had kept them away for these months. They had come for a very short birthday celebration and her father saw them once a week, but it had just been Eva and Kate for so long, before Castle, that is.

Of course, Eva looked up at Kate to answer for her, but the message was received by her at least.

"Just add a kids cheeseburger with ketchup and fries to our usual. Oh, and a small chocolate shake for her too. After today, she deserves it."

"Alright, be right back."

KBKBKBKBKBBKBKBK

When Castle came back from calling to order their food, the Beckett girls had made themselves comfortable on the couch. Eva had changed into new pajamas and had lost the blanket in lieu of reclining against Kate. She was much more alert, but Castle could tell that the sickness lingered, even if the nausea had passed.

Suddenly unsure of what to do, Castle stood awkwardly in the doorway until Kate looked up at him and gestured to the other end of the couch. He walked to the couch and sat down.

"Should we play with your dolls before dinner, Eva?" The little girl nodded. Kate set her on the floor and followed her past Castle to where the dollhouse waited.

Eva picked up the first doll she came to and handed Kate the other. Castle turned so that he was facing them and watched as they got lost in their make believe. He was elated to be able to see this side of the little family. He had gotten used to how they were outside of the house, but here in their own home they were both more relaxed. Eva giggled endlessly at the story Kate made up for the dolls, a story that he recognized as a kid-friendly version of something Ryan and Espo had done last year. Kate had lost herself in the girl too and it was beautiful to watch. Even more beautiful were the pictures he had sneakily taken on his phone when he was sure they weren't paying attention to him.

After about ten minutes Kate left Eva on the floor to join him on the couch.

"We're trying to get her to use her imagination. She usually only lasts a minute or two before she runs out of steam. I don't really know how to help that."

"Kate." He said, taking her hand.

"Yeah."

"You are an extraordinary mom. She just needs a little bit more time and you're giving her everything she needs."

"How do you always know what I need to hear?"

"I'm just psychic like that."

"Uh huh. Seriously though, Castle. Thank you for being here and talking me down this afternoon. I'm sorry I've been such a mess lately, there is just so much going on and you don't have to keep putting up with me and reading to my kid for hours every week and… and I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm glad that I have you to talk to."

"Katherine Beckett! Did you just admit to looking forward to my sparkling conversation every day?"

"And then you ruin it." She laughed.

Just then, the doorbell rang and Castle popped up with the excitement of a 9-year-old on a sugar rush and called dibs on the door.

"Oh and Castle?" She called as he was headed for the door. "Tell anyone I said that and Alexis will be your only child, kapeesh?"

"Kapeesh." He replied, but with the mention of future children he had to shake away the image of Eva curled up in his lap with Kate's head on his shoulder.

KBKBKBKBKBKBKBKBKBK

They decided to eat on the coffee table in the living room instead of setting the table. Kate even allowed them to eat straight out of the styrofoam containers. They let Eva pick out a movie to watch to fill the silence of the meal and she picked Aladdin, a choice that Castle got so excited about that the little girl dissolved into a fit of giggles and almost choked on her first french fry.

Unfortunately, Eva only got a few bites of her burger into her before she pushed it away and came for Kate.

"I know you don't feel good, baby, but you need to eat." Still, the little girl refused and just buried her head deeper into Kate's shoulder. Kate spent the rest of their dinner giving the little girl her fries, and amazingly Eva ate almost all of the ones that came from Kate.

As Jafar was taking over the world, Kate decided it was time for milkshakes and Castle followed her into the kitchen to get them from the fridge.

"Castle why are there two small shakes and two larges?" She asked coming out of the fridge with the two kids ones in her hand.

"Oh, yeah. I have a trick for you with the medicine. She's never going to sleep tonight unless you get some medicine in her and I thought you could use a little trick that I learned with Alexis." He said it tentatively, or as tentatively as he had ever done anything.

"Castle. I would love to give it a try. You don't have to be nervous to offer me advice. I know I haven't been as receptive in the past, but I'm trying here, Castle and I could use your help." If he hadn't been leaning on the counter, Castle would have fallen over. This was Kate Beckett standing here in front of him taking his advice. Kate Beckett. He never thought he would see the day.

"Well, Castle. What's the trick? And what does it have to do with the milkshake?" He shook himself out of his surprise and took the shakes from her.

"When Alexis was little she threw a fit every time she needed medicine. She would scream and cry and when I finally got it in her mouth she would spit it right back at me. So I made up Princess Shakes."

"Princess Shakes?"

"Yeah. I snooped in your medicine cabinet and found the cherry flavored children's tylenol. If you put her dosage in this strawberry shake and mix it up in the top half, she will never taste it. Bonus, you call it a princess shake because it is pink." Kate couldn't help but laugh at how excited he got explaining princess shakes. It reminded her of her mother cutting up her pills and putting them in applesauce when she had the flu. Why hadn't she thought of that?

Their eyes caught and they were both grinning like fools at one another. The whole world melted away as they lost themselves in their shared happiness. It was such a simple thing, laughing over something that was only funny to the two of them. They had done it so many times in the 2 years they had worked together, but somehow it felt like it meant more now.

"What?" He asked.

"Sorry, it's just you get so cute when you get excited." As soon as the words were out of her mouth her face turned beet red and she quickly looked away from his face, the world snapped back into place.

"Look Castle, I didn't mean..."

"No, Kate. It's okay. You don't need to explain."

"But I..." A giggle from Eva in the living room snapped them out of their awkward situation.

"I'll just go get the medicine." She said and walked swiftly out of the kitchen.

He couldn't think about what her words meant to him, she had clearly not meant to say them, but she had to have meant them on some level if that's what she had been thinking. But, he couldn't push her and he certainly didn't want to scare her. He had been making progress with both Beckett woman, not just the little one. They both had walls that needed to be scaled and he couldn't afford to go back to the bottom.

Beckett returned to the room with a little cup of red medicine and went about mixing it in with the milkshake. Castle simply took their large ones and gestured to the living room.

Eva had crawled up onto the couch and was fully engrossed in Aladdin and Jafar, who was now a giant snake, so he took a seat back on the floor.

"Hey, Eva, time for your milkshake." The little girl perked up at that. "Guess what, baby? Castle got you a special milkshake today since he knew you weren't feeling good." Castle wasn't sure mentioning it had come from him was the best idea, but he let her go with it, crossing his fingers that this would work and bring the girl a little comfort. "Look, it's a princess milkshake. It's pink! The fairy godmothers made it just for you to help you feel better. Isn't that special, it is just for you?" Eva's face actually lit up at that, and she was so grateful that the protein shakes she drank every day had never been strawberry flavored.

Eva practically snatched it away from Kate and put the straw in her mouth. Kate sighed in relief and glanced over Eva, who was already absorbed in her shake and the movie, to see Castle with both his thumbs up. She pulled the little girl closer and kissed her on the head, grateful that she was finally getting medicine into her little system.

When the movie was over Eva was already dropping off into sleep and her fever had almost faded the rest of the way.

"Eva." Kate called as she shook the little girl slightly. "Say thank you to Mr. Castle for the special milkshake." Eva simply looked at him and smiled her shy little smile.

"You're very welcome, Eva."

"I'm just going to give her a quick bath and put her to bed, will you still be here when I'm done?" She asked as she scooped up the girl and pig all in one go.

"Absolutely, Kate."

"Perfect. I'll be right back and we can talk."

TBC

What does she want to talk about? You'll have to wait and see.

Thank you all for your patience and continued encouragement. I would love to hear from you!

Also, if you have a prompt I would love to write it for you. My tumblr is .com