December 20 - Cookies
What his sons lack in finesse and dexterity, they make up for in unbridled enthusiasm, diving into their Christmas cheer tasks with glee.
"Okay, boys," Rick Castle says, breaking off another chunk of dough and splitting it into two. "We're making cookies. Mostly they're to take to Lily's school this afternoon after the final performance to give to her director to say thank you for a great show, but we're also going to keep a batch for ourselves. Your mission is to make a cookie or a few cookies to keep at home."
He places the dough on their highchair trays, touching their hands to get their attention before they dive in. "But boys?"
Their heads lift, an impatient, determined glint already in their eyes. Rick grins; his boys remind him more and more of the women in his life each day, in the best possible way. They're fierce like their mother, feisty like their grandmother, and sweet like their sisters, but he's confident that if he doesn't let them dive into their cookie dough right now, he's going to see the side of them that they've inherited from him.
"Absolutely no eating it." He taps their fingers. "You get me, Peanut Butter? Jelly?"
Reece and Jake share a look, their lips lifting. At just over a year old, they've caught on to mischief, have embraced it as a way of life in a way Lily and Alexis never had, and it is keeping him – wonderfully, mind you – on his toes.
"Uh huh," he says, lifting his hands and watching them dig into the dough. "You gotta be careful; too much could make your tummies hurt. Ya hear me?"
They ignore him, giggling at the squish of the cookie dough between their fingers. (Truthfully, he doesn't expect their creations to survive their little hands long enough to make it into the oven, but it helps them feel included while he works, so he's willing to let them go for it.) Rick wipes his hands on a damp cloth, grabbing his phone off the counter to take a photo and send it to Kate.
My helpers are getting into their work.
He imagines Kate's quiet chuckle at the picture, can see her shaking her head.
Just watch them, they'll devour those whole if you're not careful.
He eyes the boys again, spots their pinched fingers halfway to their mouths and calls their names. They jump, freezing mid-bite.
"These are cookies to make, guys," he tries, "not to eat. We eat what's leftover. That's the way of the baker."
Jake giggles, popping his little piece of dough into his mouth. Rick watches his eyes widen with delight at the combination of butter, vanilla, and sugar hitting his tongue.
"Yeah, it is pretty good, isn't it?" Castle asks, swiping Jake's hair off his forehead. "Make a cookie so you can try it after we bake it, too."
"Dada!" Reece calls, showing Rick his hand.
"I see you too, Reece. Are you gonna eat your bite?"
Reece bounces in the chair, popping the piece of cookie dough in his mouth. He grins in satisfaction, kicking his legs.
Rick chuckles. "Well now I feel left out. Should I try some, too? Just to be sure it's good before we make a bunch of cookies out of it?"
They bounce, babbling a response he takes as an enthusiastic agreement.
"Okay then, my turn," he says, pinching off a small piece of dough and popping it into his mouth.
His sons giggle, taking advantage of his wonderful example and taking another bite of dough. They make little satisfied sounds, which are enough to make him grin as well.
"All right. Just go slow and we won't tell Mom about this. Or Lily; she'll be jealous that we ate cookie dough while she was napping."
Kate, of course, finds out later in the day when the boys turn their noses up at their dinner and whine until she gives in and cuddles them both on the couch.
"What's wrong, guys?" she asks from the center cushion, her arms around them both. "You love your chicken nuggets."
Castle winces, glancing toward the plate of cookies on the counter where Lily's helping herself to another of the star shaped cookies. She's still wearing her costume, refusing to take it off until bedtime, at least. "Last one, Sprout."
She pauses before picking another one and hopping down. "S'to share. Pwomise, Daddy."
"To share with me?" he asks, opening his mouth as she passes. She giggles, shaking her head all the while making a beeline for Kate.
"Wif Mommy," she says grinning over her shoulder.
Kate laughs. "Thanks, Little Flower. Can you hold it for me while I take a bite?"
Lily does, standing dutifully while Kate leans forward and chomps down on the cookie in her hand. The boys squirm, pressing their cheeks to Kate's chest.
"That uh, may be on me," he says, gesturing to the twins and their general malaise. "We may have overindulged a little in the process of making cookies."
Kate exhales, shaking her head. "Uh huh. How much dough did they eat?"
He rubs Jake's back. "Less than I did?"
His wife rolls her eyes, taking the rest of the cookie from Lily. "That is not the metric I would use to determine if they had too much, Castle; you would eat the entire batch if you could. Actually, you would make an entire batch just to eat if you could."
He gives her that, dropping a kiss on her head. "They pretty much finished the dough balls I gave them – a little at a time, but there were no cookies to be made from them. It was maybe a cookie or two's worth, that's all."
"But," Beckett leads, looking down at the boys. Her lips brush their foreheads before she hums in satisfaction.
"But it was probably a little much for their stomachs."
She nods. "Yeah, probably. Just save the chicken for a little bit and maybe we can convince them to nibble a little more later."
"Got it."
"And Castle?" she calls once he's back in the kitchen. "The cookies were great. I can see why you'd eat so many of them, even raw."
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for reading.