34. Picked Up, Swinging Around Hugs - Prompted by Conservativegirl

She frowned at him as he checked his watch for the 47 millionth time, his knee jiggling causing her whole desk to vibrate.

He finally noticed the death glare she was shooting him, and stopped awkwardly, straightening up in his chair to at least pretend to look patient.

He wasn't fooling anyone.

Thankfully, he only had to wait five more minutes as, with a flourish, she signed the last document, tucking the file neatly into her desk drawer.

She lifted her head, caught Esposito's eye. He nodded in response, and smothered a too-warm smile. Her boys knew. They knew why she and Castle had been distracted all day, why she was silently asking him to cover things at the station and call if a body dropped. Thankfully, the city seemed to be having a brief break from crime, and it had been a couple of days since they'd caught a murder. That could change any minute, but now that she was caught up on paperwork, she didn't feel guilty about slipping off early.

Especially today.

Castle had been looking at his watch again, hadn't noticed her movements until she stood up.

"We're finished?" he asked hopefully.

She rolled her eyes, more because it was expected than out of any real annoyance. The man was adorable. Frustrating at times, but adorable. "Yes, Castle, I'm finished. Ready to go?"

He all but leaped out of his chair. "I've been ready for ages," he began, but at her glare he quickly backpedaled. "Not that I mind, considering it's really your job and I'm lucky to be here again."

She smirked at him. "Let's go, Castle."

Half an hour later, they stood outside the door, looking at each other nervously.

"We're early. Do you think it'd be okay for us to just... go in?" she asked him.

"It's the first day. It should be okay, right?" he asked her back.

"How am I supposed to know? You're the one who's done this before!"

"Not for a really, really long time, though!"

She looked through the glass panel in the door, saw a pretty-looking lady catch her eye, smile, and beckon her in. "It's okay. We're only five minutes early, anyway. Let's go," she said, squaring her shoulders and opening the door.

Together they slipped inside, watched as the woman they had seen only that morning approached a small cluster of bodies, extracting one and pointing to them.

"MOMMY! DADDY!" Their little girl cried out in excitement, barreling toward them. Kate watched, grinning, as her husband stopped attempting to contain himself, striding across the classroom and swooping their daughter up into his arms, swinging her all the way around before hugging her close and kissing her beaming face.

"How was your first day of school, Peanut?" he asked as he carried the girl back to Kate, shielding his family from the watchful eyes of his daughter's classmates. Kate slid her arms around both of them heart melting yet again as her daughter turned in her father's arms so she could hug both her parents together.

"It was fun. I liked it," the girl said with simple sincerity.

Kate grinned, savoring her husband and daughter's embrace, leaning in to kiss her cheek. "I'm glad to hear it. Let's get your things, and we'll go home."

Thoughts?