Life is Gourd - Chapter 2
Little Red Jack-o'lantern Delivery Wagon
A Post-Series Ficlet
"How ya doing back there?" Kate calls, glancing over her shoulder to check on the other members of her party.
Her husband and daughter grin in response before the baby looks away. Castle holds eye contact, though, his gaze reminding her that he's willing to pull the wagon instead of trailing along to be sure neither the baby nor the pumpkins go bouncing out.
"We're good, Kate," he says, leaning over to check Lily's face. "Sprout is, too. She's taking it all in."
"I'll bet she is. It's not every day that she gets pulled around in a wagon with a bunch of jack 'o lanterns as ride sharers. And speaking of, I can't believe you just had a random red wagon in the storage room, Castle."
He chuckles. "Be honest, Beckett, it's not that surprising. Or at least not the most surprising item in that storage space."
She snorts, nodding in concession. Some of the other things they'd catalogued in the loft's storage unit take the cake for unbelievability.
"Alexis went through a little red wagon phase when she was little and then I just never thought about getting rid of it," he explains.
Her lips lift. He's such a good dad, doing everything he can for Alexis and now Lily to give them a happy normal life. And if that involves keeping a red wagon for almost twenty years, then so be it.
"Plus, you have to admit it's coming in handy now," he adds, grinning when she rolls her eyes.
Yes, he'd told her that it would when he convinced her to help him and Lily hand deliver a batch of carved pumpkins to her father, his mother, and Alexis. And yes, he'd been right.
She moves the wagon handle from one hand to the other, delighting in Lily's squeal of joy.
"Yes, you were right."
He grins. She watches him lean over to adjust the large pumpkin in the back of the wagon and rolls her eyes at the smug satisfaction she feels radiating off him.
"Come on, Castle. Let's finish this up and get home and carve our own pumpkin."
She doesn't need to tell him twice; he jogs up beside her and takes the handle of the wagon from her, pressing a kiss to her temple.
"I'll take over. You're on Sprout duty now."
She hums, leaning into him and pressing her hand to his chest. Thankfully, the sidewalk isn't crowded, and they're able to savor the moment before being interrupted by another grumbling New Yorker.
"Yeah, same to you," she mutters, dusting another kiss to her husband's lips. "Okay, let's get to your mom's place before Lily gets in touch with her inner diva."
Castle chuckles. "Kay. Though, you know Mother would find that both adorable and endearing."
"Uh huh. Just wait until we leave her with Martha while she's in that mood," she says, moving to the back of the wagon. "We'll see how adorable and endearing Martha finds her grandchild then."