Life is Gourd - Chapter 5
Pumpkin Pranking
A Post-Series Ficlet
Maybe it's terrible and mean to plan a prank like this on the love of his life, the mother of his children, his best friend and favorite person in the world, but it is Halloween. So, even knowing that she might just shoot him, he does it anyway, pulling the pumpkin helmet the boys had picked up at the party store last week over his head and making himself comfortable in the armchair before picking up a book he's not going to be able to see to read anyway.
And he waits.
And waits.
And waits.
He might even start to doze off, but the click of heels on the hardwood floor is enough to wake him from his light stupor. He sits up straighter, doing his best to take a deep breath and be still.
"Jake, Reece, Lily, come on!" she calls, sounding neither closer nor farther away than he'd been hoping. "We're going to be late for the Halloween festival if you're not careful."
Right. That's what he was supposed to be doing, making sure the cakes they're donating for the cake walk are ready to go. Well, that's easy enough; they're all made, they're just chilling in their containers in the fridge. He can just pluck them out when –
"And where's your dad?" Kate calls. Now she's getting closer.
He thinks he hears Lily respond that she thinks he's writing, because a moment later, his beautiful wife walks past the living room and into the office, never looking his way. She doesn't find him at his desk, of course, and he can tell by the extra snap in her step that she's getting a little frustrated.
She's going to kill him for this, he knows, but oh it'll be a great way to go.
"Looking for me?" he asks as she gets closer.
There have only been a couple of times he's seen his wife jump like this, and even fewer that she'll actually admit to, but that just makes the fact that he sees her feet actually leave the ground as a yelp falls from her lips even better.
"Castle! What the hell?!"
He laughs, clapping his hands together with glee. He doesn't often pull one over on her – usually she's made him from the start and lets him think he has her until she turns the tables on him – but this time… this time he got her. He got her good.
"You are so gonna get it," she breathes, pushing at his shoulder. "What is on your head? And why? And you're gonna get it, Rick; you better look over your shoulder."
He chuckles, catching her hand and pulling her closer, encouraging her to slide her legs over his and settle on his lap. "I'll sleep with one eye open tonight," he murmurs.
"You'd better." She helps him tug the pumpkin off of his head, giving it an extra yank just to let him know he's not forgiven just yet. "I can't even decide what I'm going to do to make you pay, but it'll be something. Just you wait."
"Oh," he says, slipping his hands up and down her back, over her hips. His lips touch her jaw, teasing the tension from her body with the press of his mouth. "I'm looking forward to that, Beckett."