Author's note: if you have any requests of a story you'd like to read, send me a message! I love writing these little family moments.
Disclaimer: Marlowe, can't you write a new season when the kids are older, pretty please?
Her heels echoed off the hallway wall. She sighed as she removed her face mask, placed it in her handbag and grabbed for her key. Beckett was the only one in her household to ever go outside these days; being a senator, she was still expected to show up in office, working with a limited staff. It had been over a month that they were cooped up at home, the pandemic searing fiercely over the globe.
While she was grateful they had the means and space to quarantine, it wasn't easy. Especially with a bunch of raging hormones fighting for the attention of their parents, and a man child who at the age of 61 still had as much youth and play in him than the day she met him all those years ago, if not even more.
Her key turned in the lock, she held in a breath awaiting to see the state her house was in. She had grown accustomed to the ever lively and full energy of her loft. Castle, who had always loved the newest gadget, had passed his interest for nerd and sci-fi stuff on to their three children. In the boredom of staying at home, these gadgets had accumulated at an unseen rate, popping up in seemingly every nook of the house.
The door opened to a dimmed living room, only lit by the flares of candle light, creating monster-like shadows on the walls and bookshelves. In the middle of it all, a giant fortress of pillows and blankets was built. She grinned, pulling of her heels and stowing away her jacket in the nearby closet. Then she slowly approached the castle, her tread ever lightly; once a detective, always a detective.
From the first month Castle and Beckett had been dating, a fortress had become the language of their love. Beckett had still been on suspension, when one day she had awoken to a cold bed, stripped of all its pillows, and blankets. She had grumbled out in frustration, and as she walked over to the kitchen to at least get her daily fill of coffee, she had been blown away by the most elaborate and extraordinary fortress she had ever seen.
A blush had warmed her cheeks, as she had stood in awe for a moment; admiring the work of her new boyfriend, the sun beaming into the space, illuminating the construction of what seemed like all the cushions in the entire loft combined. Then she noticed a gap under one of the chairs, perfect for an entryway. So, she had crouched down, as a curious child, she had peaked her head through the gap, only to be blown away even more. In the center of the castle, her Castle sat. A lamp cap with little holes, creating a kaleidoscope of lights and shimmers on the tarps that made up the roof.
She finished the last stretch into the space, Castle moving a little to the side to allow her some room.
"Castle this is…" she didn't even have the words to tell him what this place did or mean to her. Instead she had placed her lips on his, her actions speaking louder than any words ever could. The rest of the morning, they had lain in their fortress, in a love haze, whispering words of endearment to one another, caressing and kissing each other.
In similar fashion, Beckett now made her way over to the fortress in the half-darkened space of their living room. She peaked around, looking for clues to figure out how many of her household she would find inside the castle. Before she could lift her head in the castle's center, her husband's voice rumbled softly:
"Hey honey, how was work?" she raised her head slightly, to see that she and her husband were the only ones in the castle.
"Hey babe," she responded, her lips brushing his in a broad smile.
"I see your students don't keep you busy enough?" she said, eying the construction. The house seemed to have not only grown in family members over the years, cushions and tarps seemed to magically duplicate themselves every time a new fortress was created. This one must be the most elaborate one she had ever witnessed.
"Actually," Castle said, placing his wife's head on his lap, so he could softly stroke her head while she took in the space, "it was our kids' doing."
"Really?" she lifted her head slightly in surprise. "And you kicked them out?"
"They spent the entire day building it, neglecting their English lit assignments so I sent them up a while ago and told them they aren't allowed down until they have finished their analysis of Edgar Allan Poe," he said in a faked whiney voice.
"Castle?" Kate raised an eyebrow, knowing her husband far better than that.
"Alright, I might have also asked them for a little private time with you. It feels like I haven't seen you in days, Kate" he said, his lips on her forehead.
"Rick, you saw me this morning," she rolled her eyes.
He was about to protest, but she didn't let him. Instead she pulled at his lapels, so she could kiss him appreciatively.
"Missed you too," she whispered into his mouth. Then they let go of one another, the sound of three individuals coming down the stairs awakening them from their short moment of bliss.
"Dad, we finished Edgar," Jake's voice resounded. Beckett eyed her husband, surprised he hadn't been lying about the assignment.
"Can we come in?" Lily's asked warily in the gloomy teenage voice she had perfected in the last two years.
"What's with the candles?" Reece added, the most observant of their kids, "Is mom here?" a head bopped into the fortress's entrance, looked up to see his mother in his father's arms.
"Mom," Jake smiled, entering the space so his siblings could have some room too. While Kate had come home every day, she had been so busy with her job and all the new problems that came with the virus, that her household had started to miss her greatly.
The last one to enter was Lily; seeing her mother in the loving arms of her father, and the lack of any more space, she lay her head on her mother's belly. Grinning softly as her mother's long fingers caressed her hair. Her brothers, not wanting to miss out on the action followed suit; Jake's head finding Lily's stomach, Reece sharing his father's lap with his mother, much to the chagrin of his twin brother.
"Why do I always end up with your feet stuck in my face, Reece?" Jake pushed away the feet dangling in front of him.
"Hey it's that or mom and dad. I thought annoying only one is better than two. Even better when it's you I'm annoying," Reece retorted.
Sensing a storm from miles away, Kate raised her voice to prevent the outdated and repetitive bickering of her children.
"Reece, baby, leave your brother alone. Your feet don't need to be in his face," she said, calming his son down by stroking his short hair with her remaining hand.
Jake stuck out his tongue, reminding her of the first time they had introduced their kids to the fortress.
Jake and Reece had been two months old. Believing they lucked out children wise, seeing as Lily barely ever cried, Castle and Beckett had been surprised to learn that their second peanut wouldn't become one but two screaming babies, keeping them up at every minute of the day and night. Lily had been two and a half at that point, independent as ever, minding her own business while her two brothers would be screaming bloody murder in the crib next to her.
Castle and Beckett had been in an almost comatose state when out of nowhere a fortress had appeared in the middle of their living room. Not believing their eyes, thinking it must be a fata morgana, they crawled into the castle. There, they found Alexis with Ashley, and their two baby sprouts sleeping softly in the bed of pillows they had made. Lily was playing peekaboo with Ashley.
"Hey, I thought you guys could use some sleep," Alexis whispered, seeing her father and stepmother's exhaustion.
"Babe, I think we're dreaming," Kate had whispered, taking in the sight, tears already rolling down her cheeks.
"Oh, no. I'm so sorry Kate. Is everything ok? We'll put them straight ba-" Alexis had tried, but her father had stopped her, his arm on her shoulder.
"Those are tears of joy, honey. This is amazing, thanks," he smiled at his firstborn, and then back down at his new little girl, already with a strong personality of her own.
"Then we'll leave you two to it," Ashley had said kindly, placing his hand on the small of Alexis' back. They had said their goodbyes and opened up space for Castle and Beckett to lie down next to their two sons, who were magically asleep. Lily having slept perfectly still throughout the night, climbed onto her dad's tummy, her little hands reaching out to his cheeks, giggling softly as her father made funny faces.
Never in her life, Kate had felt so complete and loved as she did in that moment. While she still missed her mother every day, the hole that had ruled her life for the better half of it had been filled by her incredible husband and their three perfectly imperfect children. Kate's eyes glistened at the sight of her baby boys. Reece's foot against Jake's cheek; Jake's tongue softly sticking out as drool made its way onto the pillow.
Next thing she knew, she had fallen into a slumber. Not knowing how much time had elapsed, she awoke as tiny legs traversed her stomach, and sticky fingers reached out to her cheek. She opened her eyes onto piercing blue ones, exactly like her husband's.
"Hey, Lily," she cooed. Lily smiled back, a few teeth still missing. While she tried her best to be quiet, she felt her husband's body move next to her, a hand finding its way possessively over her stomach, lips finding the crook of her neck; warm air traveling down her spine.
"Momma, daddy is silly" Lily said, her hands clapping.
"That's right baby girl. Just like you and your brothers. Do you remember their names?" she eyed her sons who remarkably hadn't moved an inch since sleep had overtaken her.
"Jack and Weece," she looked at her new brothers gleefully. Beckett and Castle had done everything to make sure Lily wouldn't feel neglected once her brothers would arrive. Since Alexis had been an only child most of her life, and seeing Beckett and Castle were too, neither of them had any experience with having to divide their attention over multiple children.
They had taken Lily to every sonogram, read various children books about pregnancy and siblings, compared the boys' growth stages to the various fruits, to make sure she would feel as loved and important with the two new additions to their little family. So far, Lily seemed to have taken the shift well. She asked if she could help feed or bathe them, and when they were asleep, she would ask if she could play in the same room to watch over her brothers so she could fight of the monsters.
Lily had dozed off, her body warm, sweating onto Kate; she didn't mind. If she could, she'd stay forever in this moment.
"Thanks," she heard herself say. She wasn't sure if Castle was awake, but didn't care too much anyway. She just needed to breathe out those words, her gratitude never-ending.
"For what?" she heard after a while. Lips finding her neck, making her shiver with excitement and wholesomeness.
"This, Castle. I can't believe we actually made it," she turned her head, cautiously not to wake their sleeping daughter, and found his lips. Their foreheads finding each other, sharing their breaths.
"Remember that case, with the Mayan artefact?" he said, which made her frown.
"Yeah, what about it?" she yawned, fighting the sleep that never seemed to leave her side these days.
"D'you remember that alternative-"
"Please tell me this isn't you abusing my sleep-deprived state to convince me you actually did go to an alternative universe, Castle, because honestly, I'd believe almost anything right about now."
"Really?" he said a little too loud, making Lily stir a little.
"No, not really but… you know what I mean. Just… just talk Castle," she said, her eyes closing again.
"You asked me once if I had any regrets, not going to the prom with Audrey Dompson, and during that Mayan case, I got to see what my life would have been like if I had never met you. Kate, everything that has happened, good and bad; your mom, Montgomery, the freezer, the bomb, everything… it has lead us to exactly this moment. I don't even want to call it luck, because it's more than that. It's equally you as it is me; it's our commitment and love to one another, Kate, that has led us to this exact moment," he kissed her.
"And it doesn't hurt that I now have two mini me-s walking around," he added which earned him an eye roll.
"Why do you always have to ruin everything with your mouth?"
"I thought you liked my mouth?"
"Oh, shut-"
At the same time, Jake and Reece had started to scream at the top of their lungs, which in turn awoke Lily, who looked up dazed, her hair a bird's nest.
"So, what'd you think of Edgar?" Castle asked, enjoying the view of his wife and children, all bunched together underneath a roof of various colored blankets. His question was met with disheartened grunts from his children and a slap from his wife.
"Come on, Rick. Don't pester your children with schoolwork."
"Pester? Me?" he moved in protest, which made their family construction of piled bodies shift, creating a domino effect of elbows knocking down pillows, knees hitting shins and what had been a beautiful fortress just seconds earlier had become one big pile of Castles and pillows.
"Dad, you ruined our work," Lily was the first to recover from the debris caused by earthquake Dad.
"Not cool, dad," his sons pitched in, grabbing some pillows Castle thought were to help rescue him and Beckett, but the next moment, a pillow hit him right in the face.
"Ey, if there's one person to blame it's your mother," he tried, using the chairs as a barricade from his children.
"Excuse me?" he heard Kate respond, after which the weight of his entire household crashed down on him in fury.
"Be careful, cause you just woke the dragon," he rumbled, playing the character he had played many times before when inventing bedtimes stories for his toddlers. While his children weighed significantly more than they had when they were little, he was still able to get up from the pile of cushions and Castles, in retaliation pushing down the first body he could find.
He heard Kate's huffed breath under him. Behind him, he heard his children laughing and fighting amongst themselves, leaving their parents to it seeing as Castle was failing to get up again. Instead, Castle rolled a little to the side, relieving the weight on Kate, and they both watched their children fighting each other.
"That's all you and me, Mr Beckett," Kate said low enough for only Castle's ears to hear.
"Still don't regret a thing, Mrs Castle," he murmured.
Prompt by Coll1973: They decide to build a fort in the living room; after the kids fall asleep Rick and Kate talk about how lucky they are and what a beautiful family they have together? The cuter the better.
