And Everything Nice
8. Cookies
Castle was bustling about in the kitchen when she returned home from work. It had been a long day. Ryan and Esposito had finally tracked down the Candy Cane Killer, as her husband had dubbed him, just before the end of her shift. Having invested in the case, Kate had opted to stay past her end of shift to oversee the final interrogation and case wrap up. When she'd called to let Castle know she wouldn't be home until late, her heart had clenched with guilt at hearing Lily giggle and squeal in the background. Kate hated missing out on time with her daughter, but Castle, ever the supportive husband, assured her that it was okay.
God, she loved him. She really didn't know what she ever did to deserve him.
"Hey," she called softly, dumping her bag and coat on the sofa and walking around the living room space to join him in the kitchen. "I take it Lily's already down for the count."
"About an hour ago, yeah," Castle replied, wrapping an arm around her waist, reeling her in, and greeting her with a kiss.
She hummed into his mouth and tenderly patted his chest, just above his heart. "I'll just go quickly check on her, then come back to join you." Pushing on her toes, she kissed him again, letting her hand linger along his shoulder, before slipping away to head for the nursery.
Lily was sleeping peaceful in her crib, clutching the trunk of a stuffed elephant. Kate bent down and adjusted the blanket, which had shifted, before dropping a soft kiss to her sweet baby girl's forehead. She paused, staying for a few more minutes, watching her daughter sleep, still marveling at what she and Castle had created together. It saddened her, at times, that her mother never got to see her granddaughter, but she hoped that wherever Johanna was, she was proud of what her daughter had achieved in both her professional and personal life.
Sighing, Kate reached down to gently caress Lily's cheek, watching as the little girl cooed softly in her sleep and leaned into her mother's loving touch.
"Sleep tight, my beautiful girl," Kate whispered into the nursery, before quietly drifting out.
Diverting to the bedroom, she quickly changed out of her work clothes, slipping into a pale green cardigan. Letting her hair down, Kate carded her fingers through her curls, amazed at how long her hair had become. She contemplated putting it up in a messy bun, but ultimately decided to leave it down.
Sauntering back out to the kitchen, Kate smiled at the sight of Castle moving about behind the island countertop, at home behind the stove. She missed cooking. She used to do it a lot more when she was younger, before the job became her life, and before her promotion, she'd managed to cook a few meals a week, but mostly Castle did most of the cooking, and he was really good at it, always surprising her with delicious feasts for her tastebuds.
"What are you working on?" she asked, padding up to the island countertop.
His head jerked up and he smiled, his eyes soft and warm as they met hers. "Just messing about in the kitchen," Castle offered with a shrug.
"Hmm," she hummed, scooting up onto one of the barstools and resting her chin in one hand, eyeing him suspiciously, feeling like teasing him. "That's not always a good thing."
Pointedly ignoring her gaze, Castle turned around and stepped over to the stove. He opened the door and leaned down to retrieve something on the inner tray. Kate pushed up slightly off the stool and craned her neck, unashamedly enjoying the view of her husband's magnificent ass, hugged snuggly in a pair of blue jeans. He didn't often wear jeans, opting mostly for slacks, but as he was spending more and more time at home with Lily, he was dressing more casually. And while she liked his usual attire, Kate had no complaints about a more relaxed dressed Richard Castle, especially when she was rewarded with views such as this.
"I kept your dinner warm for you," Castle announced, standing up and turning around with a macaroni casserole. As he placed the pan on the countertop, Kate sat back down and pressed her lips into a thin smile, watching as he set to work assembling her plate. "There you go."
She raised her eyebrows, impressed. The macaroni casserole was joined by sautéed vegetables, reasonably seasoned, and a small bowl of mixed salad covered in a light vignette dressing.
"This chardonnay should go well with it," Castle said, pouring her a glass of wine.
"Thank you, babe, it all looks delicious, and I am starving!" Kate picked up her fork and tried some of the macaroni casserole, humming with approval.
Castle smiled, clearly pleased.
"So," she said between bites, and a sip of her wine, "what were you working on when I came home?"
"Oh, yeah," Castle shifted the trays and bowls around. "I thought it would be fun if we made some holiday cookies after you ate."
"Really!?" Kate asked, excitedly. While obviously not a mind reader, her husband was still good at reading her.
He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Yep! I thought it would be fun, just the two of us, like it was when we were first dating."
"But that was just chocolate chip cookies," she pointed out. "And, we got a little drunk while baking. If I recall correctly, we burned the cookies because we spent more time making out than actually baking cookies."
"True," he conceded, his eyes momentarily glazing over as he fell back into those pleasant memories. They'd christened the island countertop that evening in more than one way. "So, not entirely like then, but still, cookies!" He lifted his hands up in a theatrical gesture. "What do you say? I know you've had a long day, but it might be fun."
Kate glanced around at the bowls filled with various kinds of homemade cookie dough he'd obviously taken time to prepare just for this activity. She bit her lower lip and bobbed her head. She should be tired, especially after today, but the thought of baking cookies with her husband, maybe even making out a little during the process, sounded too good to pass up.
"Get me an apron, Rick," she answered, watching as his face lit up with joy.
Seeing that look on his face, reinforced her decision. Bouncing on his feet, Castle hurried off to get her an apron, while she took a big gulp of her wine. Sliding off the stool, Kate moved around the island countertop, adding an extra sway to her hips.
"We could always just skip the baking and just make out," Castle proposed as he returned with an apron for her, adding a suggestive waggle to his eyebrows.
"Perhaps," Kate hedged. "But, later… I'm really in the mood to make cookies now."
"I didn't hear a no," Castle pointed out as he helped her in the apron, taking the opportunity smooth his hands down her back and cup her ass, squeezing as he tugged her close for a kiss.
Kate chuckled into his mouth and nipped at his bottom lip as she dropped back down on her feet. She pushed back up to claim his mouth, before shoving him back and shaking her head. "Later, promise," she said, biting her lower lip. "But I actually do want to make holiday cookies. We can give them out to friends."
While visibly disappointed they couldn't just skip straight to making out, Castle approved of her enthusiasm. "Good idea."
"So, what kind of dough have you made?"
Hooking an arm around her waist, Castle guided her over to three bowls. "This one is gingerbread," he said, gesturing to a green bowl. "This one," he pointed at a red bowl, "is sugar cookies. And this," he indicated a blue bowl, "is just generic cookie dough."
She nodded, narrowing her eyes as she scanned all the fixings surrounding the bowls. Castle had a large assortment of sprinkles and frosting, along with a variety of cookie cutter shapes.
"Right," she nodded, mulling over which one she wanted to start with. "Let's start with these snowflake design," she decided.
"Sugar cookie?"
"Obvious," she said, giving him the side eye. "Roll out the dough, babe, and I'll prep the oven."
"Yes, ma'am," he said with a wink and bumped his hip against hers before they parted.
Baking commenced.
They danced around each other, drank wine, shared kisses, teased and fondled each other, and backed cookies. Kate felt light and free, the weight of the case lifting from her as she laughed and joked with her husband, decorating cookies and eating a few, in-between sharing nibbling kisses. Soon the loft was filled with the aroma of warm and delicious holiday cookies, making her feel giddy, or that could just have been the wine.
Whichever it was, Kate couldn't think of a better way to end the day.
"Thank you, Castle," she said, hugging him from behind as she pressed her body close to his, planting soft kisses into his neck while they admired their creations. "I really needed this."
"We did good, didn't we," Castle said. "Didn't burn any this time."
"I know," she agreed, surprised they hadn't gotten distracted in each other as they had before. She didn't think it meant anything other than they were having fun baking cookies. And it had been fun. Kate especially enjoyed frosting the gingerbread men and women, making a pair of them that had blue flak jackets.
"So…," Castle drawled out, turning around to loop his arms around her waist and pull her close. "What should we do now?"
Kate gasped as their centers crashed together, knowing immediately what her husband had in mind. She draped her around his neck and canted into him. "Oh, I think we can think of something," she answered in a sultry tone, before ramming her mouth to his and jumping into his arms.
They christened the island countertop again that night, and might have damaged a few of the cookies. No bother, Kate thought afterwards as she surveyed the carnage, they'd just have to make more.