Castle stayed in the kitchen after Beckett had gone upstairs to put the kettle on for tea. He knew she needed a little space just to breathe, to cuddle with their son. She had pushed herself and pushed herself hard in such a short space of time, she needed the self-reminder why she was doing it. He knew she knew why she was doing it, but the tangibility of hugging her children and tucking them into bed made her feel successful as a parent which made her in turn an even better cop.

When the water was boiled and he'd put the tea tray together for her Castle added a second espresso cup that was RJ's tea cup. He loved having tea time, mostly because he understood this as an excuse to have cookies, he chuckled as he added the toffee-walnut and oatmeal biscuits he'd been making with his sister the day before. Christ was it only that long ago?

Tray in hands Castle climbed the stairs and just stayed outside the door of the bedroom as he listened to his wife and son talking.

'But you can't be home now, Mumum, you have to catch the bad guys.'

'Remember what we talked about before, RJ, how you need to collect up all the evidence to show the bad guys you have proof they really are the bad guys?'

'Yeah.'

'Well that's what we did today, a tonne of evidence collecting and the bad guys can't know what we're up to, so that's why we worked here today.'

'Oh. In case they were at the per-sink and saw you guys working together?'

'Precinct, RJ-' Castle could hear his wife trying not to laugh '-it's called a precinct.'

'Puh-ree-sink.'

'Close enough.'

'Mumum?'

'Yes RJ.'

'Even if you don't get the bad guys, I am still very proud of you.'

Castle shoved open the door then, lest Beckett start to get a bit teary from lack of sleep and being touched by their son's huge heart. 'Here we are, it's tea time.'

'Yummy! Is it the Puerto-Rican tea, Daddy?' RJ asked, bouncing to the end of the bed to inspect the contents of the tray.

'No, but it's still yummy. This is the kind of tea Meredeth makes her iced tea from, it's called rooibos.'

'Oooh, sounds dee-lish.'

Knowing the drill, RJ sat on the bed with his legs crossed and politely held up both of his hands, took the small cup of tea with milk. He dutifully blew across the surface of the hot beverage and sipped carefully. 'That is very yummy. May I have a cookie, please?'

'Of course. Alexis said you guys had a great time baking yesterday,' Castle smiled as he passed over Beckett's tea to her and put the plate of cookies on the bed where they wouldn't be toppled.

'Oh it was so much fun Daddy. I wish Trini's birthday was sooner, then I could make her some cookies out of my new cookie book,' RJ sighed wistfully.

'Maybe she might like them for Valentine's Day.'

'No, Daddy.' RJ shook his head. 'That is too close to Max's first ever birthday. And he is a very special baby, be-cause Meredeth was sick when he was so little in her belly.'

'Maybe you can make cookies for Max,' Beckett suggested, loving this normalcy of chatting with her son after naptime was done. 'Meredeth says he's like his biggest sister and his daddy, he loves chocolate things.'

'I thought under-ones weren't supposed to have dairy?' Castle asked.

'Normally true, but because of the issues Meredeth had while pregnant, the pediatrician gave them clearance to get Max's calcium up and he loves chocolate milk apparently.'

'Maybe he likes super cho-o-late cookies?' RJ inquired, then went very still.

'RJ, what's wrong?'

'I think Jojo is awake and she wants to visit.'

'I'll get her,' Beckett said, and RJ went to follow her, but Castle stopped him by putting a hand on his son's little shoulder.

'Daddy, I have to see my Jojo, she needs her RJ after nap-time.'

'RJ, I know you love your sister, but your mumum is very worried about this case she is working on, and she wants to spend some alone-time with Jojo just like you guys had your alone time.'

'Oh, okay Daddy. This a time when I have to be a big bro and take a step back, right? That's what Shane says to me from time to time.'

'Shane is very right.'

RJ sipped his tea, nibbled a kid-size cookie. 'We should make a nice dinner for Mumum tonight. She needs to have a good healthy meal to be strong for catching bad guys.'

'I agree wholeheartedly. What do you think she would like?'

'Ummm, I don't know.'

'What if we did ravioli with that creamy tomato sauce?'

'Yummy!' RJ nodded excitedly. 'To the kitchen, Chef Daddy!'

'Mumum, why sad?'

'I'm not sad, bumblebee, I'm just very tired. It's been a busy day.'

Jojo pursed up her little one-year-old mouth in thought and looked around. 'Where Bib?'

With her daughter's wet diaper in one hand, Beckett looked around and saw the stuffed caterpillar in the crib. She deposited the used nappie in the diaper genie then brought over the toy. 'Here you are, sweetie.'

'Moosh Mumum.' Jojo gripped Bib with one hand and bopped him against Beckett's cheek. 'Moosh niss.'

'Mooshes are nice,' Beckett agreed and when she tickled Jojo's feet, heard her little girl laugh, the smile came naturally. 'Can I get one more?'

Jojo held Bib close to her face and nodded. 'Bib moosh!'

Knowing her job Beckett gave her daughter's toy a loud noisy kiss. 'There, how's that?'

'Yea moosh! Up?'

'Yeah, we're all dry here.' She picked up Jojo, and felt her wiggle in her arms. 'Are you a caterpillar too?'

'Wan' walk.'

'Okay.'

Jojo clapped when she was put on her feet, then dutifully handed over Bib to her mumum and took her hand. 'Ah-Shay?'

'We'll go find RJ.'

Beckett giggled in delight as Jojo dragged her towards RJ's room and stuck her head in the doorway. 'Ah-Shay?'

'He's not in here.'

'Do-tahs?'

'I think he might be downstairs.'

'Okay!'

Jojo hauled her mother towards the stairs and squatted down so her bottom was hitting each step as she went downstairs. 'Dodo safe!' she declared when she got to the bottom, then dropped Beckett's fingers when she saw her brother in the kitchen. 'Ah-Shay!'

'Hi-hi, Jojo. We are making supper for our dete'tive mumum!' he told her brightly.

'Me too!'

'I think we can manage that.' Castle came over and scooped up his baby girl, planted a raspberry on her cheek. 'You are going to be the queen of the kitchen and supervise the humble peasant chefs.'

'Mumum, you go over there.' RJ came over and actually put his hands on his mother's butt and pushed her towards the living room. 'You are working hard and you nee' your chefs to take care of you.'

'You're very sweet, RJ, but I can help.'

'Maybe...maybe you should have a bubble-bath before dinner,' he suggested with a sage nod. 'That might make you feel better too.'

'Bubbas?' Jojo looked over from her highchair. 'Go pash-pash?'

'Actually, I think that would be a good idea for Mumum to do later,' Castle said, giving his wife a sizzling look over the tops of their children's heads. 'With a nice little glass of wine to go with it.'

'I think that sounds even better,' Beckett agreed.

Later when the babies were in bed, Beckett did indulge in her bubble bath and glass of wine, but she wasn't alone in the tub. She sighed as she leaned back against her husband's sturdy chest. 'Am I wrong, Rick?'

'Are you wrong?'

'Am I wrong, taking the night off from the case, indulging myself like this?'

'No, you're not,' he told her. 'You have gotten maybe twelve hours of sleep in the last three days and you need to take a pause for yourself, and your men, or you will burn out and that's when you're most vulnerable. And clearly I'm not doing my job as your husband if you are in the bathtub, hot and wet with me, and you are still thinking so hard.'

Castle moved the wet strings of her hair off the nape of her neck and kissed where it sloped into her shoulders. In his opinion, a woman's shoulder were one of the most unappreciated curves of a woman's body, and he loved to let his lips linger there.

'Let's fix that, shall we?'