He quickly dressed his daughter in a purple onesie and placed a wool hat over her fast growing brown hair, strapped her in her stroller, grabbed his phone, keys, wallet and left the loft sometime in the afternoon.
They hadn't left the house much with her, wanting to wait until she was a little bit older and got her shot to expose her more, although they said exposure wouldn't hurt at this age and helped them build up their immune system, they were being over protective parents.
It was a relatively cool day, so he decided to walk the few blocks to the store, telling his daughter stories of random passers-by, imagining just how Kate would roll her eyes or scoff at his stories and interject her own little twists and turns into his plot points as she always did.
He stepped up into the store, pushing Elizabeth in front of him, grabbing a hand cart just to get a few stuff. It was Kate's first day back to work, first day in months away from her baby that she hadn't been away from in more than a year. He hoped she would be home early as she promised and so with the help of the little one, they were going to have a hot meal waiting for her. He had to make it clear that just because she was back at work or no longer carrying, she could go back to not eating more than a bagel and coffee a day.
He pulled the hood of the stroller back so he could see his little girl, she was wide awake and leaning slightly forward, her wide eyes peering all over the store, chubby hands reaching out trying to grab at anything they passed.
He turned into the meat section, debating what to cook for his fiancé, opting to go with something simple and easy to cook that wouldn't require too much attention as now his attention had to be focused more elsewhere.
He decided on a pack of chicken breasts to go with her favourite pasta. He dropped it into the cart and proceeded to the pick up the rest of seasonings and the pasta. He strolled over to the bakery, wanting to get a fresh loaf of bread to make garlic bread for her too.
He was about to pick up the loaf when Elizabeth suddenly let out a loud cry, his attention shifted to her immediately and he was coming around to the front of the stroller, unbuckling her and lifting her to his chest.
He bounced with her, trying to calm her down as tears ran down her red cheeks and her tiny fists thumped him in the chest.
"Ssshh, little one, what is it?" He continued to bounce her, offering her his finger to hold on to, which she weakly shoved away.
He quickly reached for the bottle of formula and offered to her, which she accepted and quieted down. Her hands gripped the bottle, but Castle still kept a hand on it as she had the tendency to just let go when she was done.
He sighed in relief and picked up the bread, dropping the cart in the stroller where Elizabeth once occupied and was about to move off when he noticed a lady smiling at him. He really didn't want to do any publicity or have to sign or take pictures with fans right now, not when he was out with his family, he hoped the smiling lady would respect that.
"Your daughter?" She asked, nodding her head to Elizabeth who still held the bottle with her hands.
He looked at her and then back to the lady nodding, "Um yea." He responded.
"She's adorable." She complimented, smile still on her face.
Castle realized that she wasn't a fan, just someone who thought his daughter was adorable, she could join the club.
"Thanks, she takes after her mother." He told her, a huge smile on his face.
"Oh, I thought you were a single father." She said.
Why would she think that?
"Um, no I'm not." He told her, shifting the baby in his arms.
The lady looked just a bit embarrassed, "Oh I'm sorry – I didn't mean to assume, it's just that I usually see mother's doing this sort of thing."
"Buying groceries?" He raised an eyebrow.
"With their kid." She added.
"Well no, her mother is a detective, just went back to work today." He told her, realizing the lady wasn't trying anything, she was just a nice lady engaging in conversation, who had the decency to look embarrassed when she made a mistake.
"That must be tough," She said, with a knowing sadness, "I have three boys, triplets, it was hell to go back to work the first day and leave them at day-care."
He was about to respond when he felt Elizabeth drop the bottle and began crying again. He gave the lady a sheepish glance and returned the bottle to its place, hoisting her up on his shoulder, patting her back trying to get her to burp. When that didn't work, he checked her diaper, it didn't feel like she made a mess, but maybe he should check.
Just as he said goodbye to the nice lady, to find a bathroom to check Elizabeth's diaper, his phone rang and he quickly fished it out of his pocket, pressing it to his ears, trying to hear whoever was on the other line over the cries of his kid.
"Castle," He said, not bothering to check the caller I.D.
There was a pause, "Castle?"
He sighed in relief, "Kate, hi."
"Is that Elizabeth?" She asked, concern clear in her voice.
"Um, yea, we're in the grocery store, she was crying before, but then she stopped when I gave her the bottle, but now she's at it again." He explained, "I was about to take her to the bathroom to see if it was her diaper."
"She doesn't need changing." Kate answered quickly.
"How do you know?" He asked curious as to how she can tell what her baby wants over the phone, but then again this was Kate, he shouldn't be surprised.
"Because, I'm her mother, now, put me on speakerphone." She told him and he quickly did as he was told, holding the phone out in front of him.
"Okay, you're on." He told her.
"Hey Beth?" She called, "Hey, hey, mommy's here." She cooed over the phone.
Castle couldn't help the smile that bloomed over his face when Elizabeth stopped crying immediately, and looked at the phone.
"Hey, I think it's working." Castle whispered.
"That's my good girl," Kate continued, "Just wanted your mom huh?"
Of course. Elizabeth had been quiet all day, but she had never been away from her mom, unless she was sleeping and maybe it was just now hitting her that her mother wasn't there fussing over her as usual and she missed it. Castle sure missed her.
Elizabeth reached out for the phone and a high pitched laugh fell from her toothless mouth, so happy just to hear her mother's voice. It sent a warm, fuzzy feeling through Castle at the thought of that, come to think of, he just wanted to hear her voice too.
"Yea, I miss you too little one, but in a few hours I'll be there and I promise I'm not letting you out of my sight for the rest of the night. Until then, be good for your dad okay?" Elizabeth thumped a hand against her dad's chest in response and Castle grunted.
"Seriously, he's not a young as he used to be." She said seriously, but he picked that hint of her teasing tone and smirked.
"Ha, ha." He said dryly, "Say bye to mommy Beth."
She looked up at him with her big eyes and smiled, laughing again, "Great, now our child is laughing at me."
"I've taught her well." Kate laughed, "Bye my baby."
Castle took her off of speaker and brought the phone to his ears as she sighed, "Are you going to be home early?" He asked her, hopeful.
"We got a case, but we just wrapped it a while ago." She told him, "If no case drops in the next couple hours I'll be home by five-thirty, if not the latest seven, I promise."
"Great." He smiled, "I hope you get no case."
"Me too." He could hear the longing in her voice, "I miss you guys so much."
He smiled, "I miss you too, and I can't wait until you come home."
"Me too, so I can relax with the two loves of my life." He could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke.
"I'll make it worth your while," He grinned, his voice low.
"Castle!" She laughed, "We have a kid!"
"That's not what I meant detective, get your mind out the gutter." He said innocently and he could see her rolling her eyes.
"I gotta get back to paperwork," She said after a moment of silence, "I love you two."
"I love you too Kate and so does Beth, although she might just love loaves of bread a bit more." He told her, noticing her baby hands trying wriggle out of his hands to reach the loaf of bread he had stuck in the back of her stroller.
"Just behave you two, see you in a few. Oh and give her a kiss for me." Kate requested.
Castle turned his head and pressed his lips to the side of her head as she continued to wriggle in his hands, "Done. Now go finish your paperwork so you can come home and get yours."
"Bye Castle." She laughed before the line disconnected.
He smiled at the phone and then shoved it in his pocket.
He made his way to the checkout counter, placing Elizabeth back in her seat, her pacifier in her mouth as she glanced around at everyone.
He cashed out and this time opted for a cab to head back to his loft, juggling everything up the elevator and to his loft, setting the bags down with a huff. He turned to his child who had managed to fall asleep during all of that and smiled warmly, pulling her out of her seat and setting her down in her crib, gently pressing a kiss to her forehead as she smacked her lips together, but remained fast asleep.
He glanced at the clock and decided to start the chicken now and just keep it warming in the oven until whenever she came home.
He packed away everything that wasn't needed and worked on the chicken, glancing over to his sleeping child every now and then a smile on his face as he thought of how this was going to be his life for the next few years and he was so loving it.
End A/N: I shall be at camp next week, so no updates 'til I'm back