Gifts of Love Large and Small - Chapter 7
Monday isn't her usual day off, but after spending most of Sunday rushing back and forth between a crime scene and the precinct, she decides to let her team know she's going to be working from home instead of coming into her office. They can still reach her by phone, and she'll be available for video conference, but they have to give her some notice because she'll need the time to throw a blazer on over the lounge clothes she has no intention of changing out of, pull her hair out of the messy bun she tosses it into when she rolls out of bed, and set Reece and Jake up with something to keep them occupied for the duration of the call.
Her husband looks surprised when she makes the call, still decked out in his own pajamas, his bacon halfway to his mouth. She leans over the counter, tapping his hand closer to his mouth, much to their children's amusement.
"You're staying home?" he asks once she's off the phone, tilting his head.
"Yeah. I figured we can take Lily to school together and then I can have a lazy day with PB and J while you take care of anything you need to – or have a lazy day with us. I'll check on things at the precinct occasionally, but as I've been reminded a time or two in the past, I have sergeants on duty for a reason."
Kate tickles the back of Jake's neck, then blows a raspberry on Reece's cheek. Moving down the line, she pecks her daughter's forehead, brushing a hand over one of Lily's off-kilter pigtails. She hopes Lily won't be jealous about the fact that her brothers will get Kate to themselves for the entire first part of the day, but the plan barely gets a reaction from her daughter. No doubt due to the excitement that's ahead for her. The girl has two more days of preschool before winter break starts (and the boys one – tomorrow) and her teachers have declared them "nothing but fun" days. Today is crazy hair day – a challenge Lily has accepted with gusto, if the glitter, the sparkly pipe cleaners, and the candy canes are any indication – and tomorrow is pajama day (and Lily has already picked out which of the special Christmas pajamas she wants to wear then).
Castle grins, moving to steal an affectionate kiss from her mouth as well. "That sounds great, Kate. And oh, once break starts, we can figure out a day for all of us to just be lazy, too."
She laughs, pressing her nose to his cheek. "Isn't that called Christmas Day? Or the day after Christmas?"
As of right now, she's not scheduled to work on either day, and is planning on only going in for a half day on Christmas Eve, so his wish will probably come true then.
"Touché," he agrees, rubbing her back. She can tell by the way he swallows and the way his mouth opens and closes a couple of times that he has more on his mind, something else he wants to say, but he keeps it to himself instead. "Okay, in that case, let's do a time check. Sprout?"
Lily twists in her seat to find the clock on the wall, reading the position of the hands and talking through what that means for the time.
"Good girl," Castle praises. "What time do we need to leave to get you to school?"
She chomps on the last piece of her bacon, grinning at Kate as she answers.
"Well, that's only a few minutes away," Beckett murmurs. "Eat up, Little Flower. I'll go grab coats and shoes for PB and J."
The car drop-off line at the kids' school is nothing if not controlled insanity, making her glad that they'd decided to walk instead. As it is, it's something of a minefield to push the stroller and hold Lily's hand as they pass the throng of other parents, babysitters, and nannies doing the same thing.
For her part, Lily seems unaffected by the chaos, chatting up a storm and waving to the teacher who's greeting kids and checking them in when they approach. Kate grins at her excitement, leaning over to sneak a kiss before Lily dons her mask and goes running into the building.
"See you later, honey," she murmurs. "Have so much fun at school today."
Lily smacks kisses on Jake and Reece's heads before throwing her arms around Rick and then tearing off.
"And away she goes," Rick murmurs once Lily disappears through the school doors, checking around them before turning the stroller and pointing it toward home.
"Mama, schoo'!" Reece calls. "Schoo'!"
"Uh huh. That's your school," she says, moving the stroller canopy away from their faces. They grin up at her, their noses a little pink from the cold. "Daddy will take you guys to school tomorrow, but we're going to hang out at home today. We'll put on our nice slippers and snuggle and watch a movie."
"Paw Patwol!" Jake announces, bouncing in the stroller.
Yeah, she should've seen that one coming. Beside her, Castle winces, giving her the look of a man who has seen too much Paw Patrol in his life.
"One or two episodes of Paw Patrol," her husband bargains. "And then Rudolph or the Grinch. Or anything else," he adds under his breath, earning a breathy laugh from her.
"Please," she agrees, linking their arms and helping him steer the stroller home.
Two episodes of Paw Patrol, of course, turns into four as somehow her boys use their ever-expanding vocabularies to Castle her into agreeing to two episodes for each of them. It's a cute trick and a part of her is proud of how they're learning, but the rest of her is ready for a break after the first pair of episodes of their show.
Thankfully, they're agreeable to the original bargain, and after the fourth episode ends, they decide they're up for watching the Grinch in a heap of pillows and blankets on the floor. She joins them at first, curling her arms around them and propping her head on a large cushion, but after just a few minutes, her back starts to scream for relief and she moves back to the couch.
By the time the Grinch has a change of heart, they're asleep with their fuzzy slipper-covered feet sticking out of the bed of blankets they've made for themselves.
She waits until the end of the movie to stand and stretch, tiptoeing around her sleeping sons and heading for the bathroom.
Castle looks up as she emerges from their bedroom and makes a detour through the office, smiling softly. "They out?" he asks, pulling an earbud out of his ear.
"Like lights," she says, tilting her head and studying him. "What're you up to?"
He lifts his hands from the keyboard, wiggling his fingers. "Just writing. I turned on some music a little while ago, but I was afraid it might bother you, so I put in earbuds."
"It won't bother us," she insists. "Especially now. You know those two could sleep through the vacuum going right by their heads."
Her husband chuckles. "True. Okay," he agrees, turning his earbuds off and allowing his music to fill the room.
It takes a moment, but she recognizes what he's listening to: some really, really vintage Christmas carols. Carols she remembers her mom playing on vinyl as Johanna baked and coaxed Kate into helping.
Her heart sinks a little bit as the music washes over her and a new tune begins. She hasn't listened to any of these songs in decades, not since her mom died. In fact, she'd put them out of her mind entirely.
"Kate, you okay?"
"Yeah," she breathes, blinking away the image of her mother fussing with the record sleeves. "Yeah, I'm okay."
"But…" he coaxes.
"Mom used to listen to all of these when I was a kid. I teased her because they were so painfully cheesy," she admits.
"Honey," he starts, but she waves him off, keeps him in his seat. "I'll turn to another station."
"No, no. It's okay, Rick. It just caught me by surprise." She moves to the armchair beside his desk, picking up the throw blanket and wrapping it around her shoulders before she drops onto the seat. "I think… I think I need to remember things like this, especially now."
Castle holds out a hand, capturing her fingers and giving them a gentle squeeze. "Whatever you need. Whatever you need."
She leans her cheek against the back of his hand, nodding. "I think I'll call my dad again later, but let's start with this and we'll go from there."
Castle nods in return, lifting his laptop from the desk and moving to join her on the chair. It's a tight squeeze but they manage to both fit, manage to settle together and simply listen to the music of her memories.
Thank you for reading! I hope you liked this chapter.