Chapter Fourteen: Daybreak

The first thing he does every morning before he's even truly awake is to reach across the bed for her. She's not an early riser naturally, only her job dictates the often before sunrise starts, so more often than not he is the first to wake. He is used to working through the night and still looking after a young child so his body has long become accustomed to waking up early. Even though it has been years since Alexis has come running into his room to wake him early in the morning his body still routinely wakes him around this time.

When his hand meets cool sheets it quickly pulls him out of his early morning stupor and he sits up in bed, straining his ears to listen for her. No sounds come from the bathroom so he pulls the sheets off his body and gets out of bed, grimacing when his back cracks. He pads through his office towards the living room in search of his wife, wanting to pull her back to bed before they really have to get up and face the day. He has an idea of where she is though so he isn't too worried as he heads out into the living room.

He stops short when he spots her on the couch, the sun rising on the horizon shining through the loft's windows making her hair look almost golden. Her body is curled like a question mark with her back facing the open living room. As he walks closer he can see the floor littered with blankets, a pacifier and a stuffed giraffe toy. On closer inspection he can see the small form curled into the cove of Kate's body and his earlier suspicions are confirmed. Their one year old is teething and has been sore and fussy and over the last couple of nights has wanted only Kate so both mother and child are absolutely exhausted.

The infant whimpers softly and Castle scoops her up from the couch before she can wake her mother. Kate snuffles in her sleep as her hand searches for the baby but castle runs his hand over her head and she soon settles back into sleep. His daughter whimpers again, rubbing her face across his chest and he bounces her as he heads towards the kitchen.

"I know, I know it hurts baby girl but just hang on for a second," he says kissing the crown of his daughter's head as he reaches into the fridge to grab one of the teething rings resting in the door.

"Mama," she mumbles her lower lip trembling.

"Mama's sleeping," he says handing her the teething ring.

A few tears escape as she shoves the ring into her mouth and starts chewing enthusiastically on the purple silicone. He swipes a thumb under her eyes to get rid of the tears and kisses her again on the top of her head, taking a moment to breathe in her unique baby smell. With his daughter held against his chest, he moves slowly back into the living room to where his wife slumbers. She has rolled over so that her back rests against the back of the couch and he sits on the coffee table so he can look at her.

He knows she hates it when he watches her sleep but there is something so calming to stare at the woman he loves when she is like this, so at peace. The Despite the dark shadows under her eyes from the nights of interrupted sleep she is still the most beautiful thing he has ever seen and he reaches out to brush the hair that has fallen across her face back behind her ear.

The baby in his arms grunts with his movement and he leans back so that she is resting more comfortably against him. His daughter hums in contentment as the cool plastic soothes her aching gums.

"Does that feel good my little tree?" he asks giving her his thumb when she grabs for it.

"Don't call her that," his wife mumbles from the couch her eyes squinting in the early morning light, "She'll be confused."

"She won't be confused," her grins back at her, "She's smart like her Mama. She knows her name, don't you Willow Kate."

The baby had perked up instantly at the sound of Kate's voice and bounced in his arms as she lunged for her mother. He managed to get a firmer grip around her body and she turns and glares at him with a stare that is eerily like her mother's.

"She gets that from you," he grumbles as he passes her over to Kate who has struggled into a sitting position on the couch and has her arms out for the baby.

She laughs as she turns Willow so she's sitting out facing her father and he is struck again how much his daughter looks like Kate. Twin sets of dark eyes regard him as he hands his daughter the teething ring she dropped when she had reached for her mother. Kate smiles softly back at him, her eyes drowsy as her body curls around her daughters.

"Daddeeee," the early morning silence of the loft is destroyed by the voice calling from upstairs.

"I think your son wants you," Kate smirks around a yawn.

"Go back to bed," he says to her as he stands, "I'll meet you there."

"Bring Ollie with you," she says, "We might be lucky and get a couple more hours if we're all in together."

"Daddeee," his son calls again as he jogs up the stairs.

The walls of Oliver's room are painted a navy blue and the wall next to his bed is adorned with brightly coloured dinosaur decal stickers. The blinds are closed so the early morning light hasn't made its way into the room but Castle can make out his son's outline sitting up in the bed. They had a rule that he wasn't allowed out of his bed in the morning until Kate or himself came and got him and the three year old was pretty good about sticking to the rule.

"Hey Ollie buddy why are you up so early?" Castle asks as he walks over to sit on the edge of his son's bed.

"I had a dinosaur dream Daddy," Ollie says excitedly, "You and Mommy too."

"Mommy and I were there too," Castle smiles, "Sounds pretty awesome."

"Pretty awesome," Ollie agrees nodding his head enthusiastically, "We can get up now?"

"It's really early buddy," Castle tells him, "Not really time to get up just yet."

"I'm not sleepy Daddy," Ollie says his mouth turning down into a pout.

"How about this. Mommy and Wills are downstairs and they're still sleepy," he says.

"Is Wills still sad Daddy?" Ollie asks.

"Her teeth are still hurting her," Castle tells him, "And because her teeth are hurting she isn't sleeping very well and she needs Mommy to make her feel better so Mommy is pretty tired as well. How about you and I go down into the big bed with Mommy and Willow and we see if we can get a little more sleep?"

Ollie seemed to consider this for a little bit before asking, "Can I take Rex with me?"

"Sure can," Castle said scooping up his son and the stuffed dinosaur that had been caught up in the bedding.

"Maybe Wills can have Rex to make her teeth not hurt," Ollie says his hands wrapped tightly around his father's neck.

"You're a good big brother," Castle says pressing a kiss to the top of his son's head.

Kate was already asleep when they entered the master bedroom; her body facing the middle of the bed with Willow snuggled against her chest. The baby wasn't quite asleep but her eyes were drooping as she sucked on the teething ring.

"We gotta be quiet buddy," Castle whispered as he bought his son over to the bed, depositing him next to his sister.

"Rex will make you better Wills," Ollie whispers theatrically as he places his stuffed dinosaur next to the baby.

As Castle gets them all situated under the covers he curls on his side to face his family. He can hear his wife's deep, even breathing and the soft sucking sounds his daughter makes as she chews on the silicone ring. His son has wiggled back so his little body fits within the cove of Castle's chest. As his own eyes start to drift shut he thinks to himself that he's not sure what perfection is but he knows that this right here must come pretty damn close.