To: Chachalab (review Chapter 19) I speak French, so you can either leave a review in French or sent me a PM =) I am always happy!

To: Nina (review Chapter 19): OMG blush! Thank you so much… and please don't die… I want (need) more of your awesome reviews!

Chapter 21

"Easy, okay?" Beckett warned Matt as he sprinted off into the distance. They had strolled around Central Park for quite a while now, but the boys needed to get rid of the energy inside of them so they found a nice spot where they could sit down onto the green lawn and close to a playground where Charlie could also crawl around and about.

"Yes, mom!" Matt screamed from the top of his lungs. "Come on, Jamie. Let's go all the way up there!"

Kate Beckett shook her head. What did she do to deserve three energetic boys? At least one of them could have been a girl, no? Sighing, she sat down onto the blanket Castle had spread out for them where Charlie was already seated.

It was a very beautiful Saturday afternoon, the sun was set up high and many people had taken the opportunity to spend a day out in the fresh air. Birds were chirping in the trees, children were running and laughing about, some teenagers were throwing Frisbees, rollerblading or doing any other sort of outdoor activity, while elderly couples wandered arm in arm among the snaky long pathways throughout the entire park.

"Wow… this feels so refreshing", breathed Beckett as she momentarily closed her eyes to let the soft breeze sweep through her hair. It was a quite hot day, but not too hot yet. The wind was soft and slightly less warm than the heat from the sun. Just perfect and exactly the way she liked the summer.

Charlie was busy with his favorite toy, the bendy ball, and both adults observed him with a smile on each of their faces.

"Come here", Castle welcomed her to sit between his legs. At first Beckett hesitated, but for some inexplicable reason she longed to feel close to him so she followed his request. Charlie gazed curiously up at the couple as they switched places and instantly crawled into his mother's lap.

"Ma-ma" Charlie babbled sweetly moving his hand in front of his mouth.

"Do you want water?" Beckett asked repeating the sign language she had used with all three of her children, which had been something completely new to Castle. He was mesmerized by the fact that she could indeed communicate with her baby even though Charlie couldn't talk yet so she knew what he wanted. Sure thing, he was thirsty and fervently sucked on his bottle of water. Next he signed for a cookie. "I don't have any cookies, Charlie. What about some crackers or apple?"

Charlie signed the word apple back at Beckett, albeit a bit clumsy, but to her trained eyes she knew what it meant and fetched a pot of mashed apples out of the cooler they had brought along. When Charlie was done with his food, both Matt and Jamie showed up again completely sweaty and thirsty.

"What are you two doing?" Beckett never seemed to have a break. They rattled on about how they climbed all the way to the top of the slide. Once they were on top there stood a little girl crying out for her mommy because she was scared to slide down. They had gone up and down the slide over and over again, before moving onto the Gymboree and the monkey bars. Both adults were having a hard time keeping up with the boys excitement as they only nodded their heads as good as they could.

"Can we play ball now?" Matt requested still out of breath.

"Why don't you sit down first Mattie, you're all sweaty and out of breath. I want you to calm down first. It's not good for your heart sweetie."

"Mom! I'm not a baby!" He protested but upon a stern look from his mother he reluctantly sat down onto the blanket albeit with a protruding lip.

"Please quit that tone with me, Mattie. I'm not telling you that you are a baby, but that you have to take it easy on your physical exercise, all right?"

"Why.. why? What's wrong?" Castle's interest was peaked.

"Mattie was born with a hole in the heart." Kate Beckett couldn't quite believe that she never told him about it. "It's very small and rather benign. We just need to keep an eye on it. Once per year we have an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist who sets up an ECG and ultrasound. We're still keeping our fingers crossed for it to close up some day." Seeing the confused look on his face, she felt the need to add, "He's okay, Rick. When he's all roughed up like that we have to remind him to slow it down a notch, that's all. No need to panic."

She felt sorry and even apologized to having forgotten to mention it to him, but since it was benign, she had a tendency to forget about it. A short eerie silence fell upon them as they all sat and observed Matt as he played ball with his youngest brother, throwing or rolling the colorful item across the blanket. Each time Charlie would lift it up and toss it back with a full toothy smile. Jamie in the meanwhile got some cuddle time with his mother instead.

"Can I play ball now?" Matt requested another while longer once he started to get slightly annoyed playing with Charlie. It was time for Castle to step up to his promise. This was a brand new territory for him and he had no clue what he was supposed to do. He never had a father figure to look up to, so he couldn't help feeling a tad bit apprehensive. Being a father figure to a boy felt different from being a father figure to a girl. He couldn't quite describe what it was, but to him it felt different.

Matt made sure to give him the right instructions on how to toss a ball and how to catch it too. It was quite tricky at the beginning but he quickly caught up with it, albeit a bit clumsy. Castle wasn't much of a sports person at all, but for the sake of the young child's happiness he was more than willing to give this a shot. For the next half an hour the duo got quite acquainted with each other as Beckett sat in close distance and surveyed the bond growing between them. She even came to wonder when she had ever seen her son that happy in his life. It had been too long already, especially when it came to something as special as this. Her heart swell with love at the man displaying a loving devotion for her son who was a complete stranger to him, but the man's affection taught her more than she needed to know. Even though those three kids weren't his blood and flesh, he truly cared for them. She could see it. She could see it in the way he moved, the way he listened carefully and the way he smiled. Every now and then he would turn his head to look her way and smile, and every time her heart skipped a beat.

Exhausted the boys eventually dropped their tired bodies next to Charlie and Beckett – Jamie had long since left for the playground again.

Matt was more than thrilled as he kept rambling endless long sentences. His mother had to slow him down both in his words and for drinking water, "I was sitting here Matt. I could see everything, all right? Come here." She opened her arms wide open aware her son was in dire need of a hug. His emotions were getting the best of him.

"That was so cool. Thank you, Rick!" He beamed after Beckett had whispered the words into his ears, reminding him of the manners she was still trying to get to them.

"Any time, young man." Castle's face was all red, but his eyes were glistening, letting her know that he had enjoyed it just as much.

"Tomorrow?" Matt interjected.

"What about next week, huh?" Beckett replied for Castle, slowing down her giddy son. She could understand his excitement, but that didn't mean they had to throw ball now every single day now.

tbc

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