And Everything Nice

6. Eggnog

Pushing the stroller down the busy street, Kate navigated her way through the other pedestrians. She was running a little late, which annoyed her. Most of her tardiness was due to Castle. She loved her husband dearly, but sometimes he could be downright aggravating.

Lily gurgled happily in the seat, oblivious to the little spat between her parents.

Gripping the handles of the stroller tighter, Kate took a turn on the corner, besides a bodega, and saw the diner. She could spot Jim Beckett through the windows, already seated at a booth.

"Grandpa's already there," she told Lily, who babbled back at her.

Nudging the door open with her hip, Kate maneuvered the stroller in and paused at the entrance to catch her breath. Jim saw them and waved, smiling the smile he saved only for Lily. Letting out a sigh, Kate plastered a smile onto her face and coaxed the stroller around the aisles until they joined her father at the booth.

"Sorry we're late, Dad," Kate said, accepting a brief hug from her father.

"Oh, don't worry, Katie, I understand," he assured, dropping down to tickle Lily's chin. "Children can be a handful."

"It wasn't because of this child," Kate muttered under her breath, the irritation seeping through her voice.

"Oh no, I recognize that tone," Jim commented, glancing up. "Your mother had the exact same one when I did something to upset her. So, what did Rick do?"

Bending to unstrap Lily, Kate lifted her up and deftly placed her in the highchair Jim had already procured.

"The genius thought it was 'just fine' to give Lily some eggnog—nonalcoholic, of course—at breakfast," Kate explained as she secured Lily into the highchair.

"Ah, yeah, I take it she didn't… um… keep it down," Jim deduced, glancing over at his babbling granddaughter.

Kate nodded in the affirmative, and bent down to snap the foldup stroller into its storage position and slid it underneath the table, before scooting in opposite her father and taking a seat.

"She's been eating solid foods for a while, but she's wasn't ready for that mixture," she elaborated. "She made a mess, which I had to clean up as he got to be the hero and give her a bath."

"You could have been the hero," Jim noted.

"One of us has to be the adult," Kate muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. "He just wants to be the cool dad."

Jim sat thoughtfully for a moment, observing his daughter. "Sleeping better?"

"Uh… yeah," Kate answered distractedly, turning to run a hand over Lily's fuzz of hair. "This one's sleeping more soundly through the night."

"And work?" Jim prompted.

"Lots of paperwork," she replied. "Sometimes I question why I ever sought promotion, but then," she glanced over at Lily, before meeting her Dad's curious eyes, "I remember why. I wanted a home life with a family. Being a detective with an active case all the time didn't really give me that."

Jim nodded, listening as she continued.

"It worked fine when it was just me, and then when it was just me and Castle, but… once we decided to start trying for a baby, wanting to build a family, I knew I needed to do some changes in my work if I wanted to be the kind of mother I wanted to be. One that…," she paused, choking up with emotion, "Mom would be proud of."

"Oh, Katie, hon," Jim reached across the table to take her hand. "She's proud of you. I'm proud of you. You're a great mother."

She gave him a watery smile. "You think so?"

"I know so," Jim insisted. "Don't ever doubt it. Just look at how happy Lily is."

They both glanced over to see Lily babbling and swinging her arms, occasionally jerking her little heard around to take in the diner and the other patrons.

"She's a very happy baby," Jim noted. "Very much like you."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Kate objected with a slight chuckle. "She's got a lot of her father in her."

"The best of both, I'd say."

"Yeah," Kate agreed, smiling softly as she bit her lip. "Castle's a handful sometimes, but I'd never trade a life with him for anything. Even when he gets on my nerves."

Her father nodded thoughtfully. "Your mother used to say that love wasn't conditional, that when you truly loved someone, you loved all of them," Jim said with a faraway look in his eye. He blinked and looked back at his daughter. "That man loves you unconditional, Katie. And I know you feel the same about him."

"I do," Kate nodded, exhaling slowly, calming. "Mom would have called him my soulmate. On that, at least, she'd agree with Castle on. The man's much more of a romantic than I initial gave him credit for."

"Well, he makes you happy, which is all I can ask for," Jim asserted.

"He does at that," Kate smiled and turned to Lily, reaching to playfully bop her cute little nose. "Never a dull moment with Daddy, isn't that right, Lily?"

Her baby daughter made a little noise that had to be agreement. Both Kate and Jim grinned, exchanging a look.

"See," Jim said, gesturing toward Lily. "Happy baby."

Kate decided she couldn't dispute that assessment. Lily was generally a happy baby, and especially had been since Castle started putting up Christmas decorations. Which reminded her, Jim hadn't yet been by to visit since the tree and décor had gone up, having not had time to come in when he dropped off the box with her mom's ornaments, which were no proudly sitting on the tree alongside the Castle clan ornaments.

"You should see the Loft, Dad," she said, unaware of the amount of enthusiasm she was exuding. "Castle's gone all out this year, more so than last year, all because it's our little girl's first Christmas." She caressed Lily's cheek, making the girl giggle with delight. "He's got the living room covered in garland and ribbons, red and gold, twinkling lights all over the place. And we picked out a really nice tree. We went to that tree farm, you know, the one Mom used to drag us to."

"If I recall, she especially liked it because I had to get down on all fours to use the saw to cut the tree down," Jim interjected.

Kate frowned, momentarily caught off guard by the similarity in what she herself had done with ogling Castle's magnificent posterior when he'd taken the saw and got down on the ground to cut down their tree.

"Don't look so embarrassed, Katie," Jim chuckled. "If I recall, we—well, your Mother, at least, was pretty open with you about…"

"No, it's not that," she flushed, unknowingly giving herself away.

"Ah, enjoyed the view yourself, did you?" Jim laughed at his daughter's expense.

"Dad!" she blushed furiously. Lily squealed with laughter, oblivious to what the adults found so funny, but wanting to participate.

"Nothing to be embarrassed about," Jim said. "You're married and, well, though I don't like to think about it, you will always be my little girl, but um… er…," he gestured to Lily, "here's proof that you do certain things that I don't want to know about."

"Can we change the subject?" Kate pleaded.

"God, yes please!"

They both laughed at themselves, and Lily, still oblivious, but having a great time, giggled along with them.

"Okay, back to the Loft," Kate said, still slightly flushed with embarrassment at where their conversation had gone. "You should really stop by, before Christmas dinner. It's quite magical. We decorated together. He waited until I was off work so we could. Silly, but sweet, really." A warm glow washed over her as she remembered that night. "He's really made Christmas special for me again."

"I'm glad," Jim spoke softly. "I struggled with the holidays a lot back when… well, you know… but it's gotten better, especially the last few years, since my little girl finally found happiness and love, the kind she always deserved."

"Dad," Kate bit her lower lip and ducked her head down. She reached across the table and took his hand in his, squeezing.

"I've even got a little tree up in my apartment," he confessed. "It's not much, nothing like what you two got, but it's a start."

"That's great, Dad," Kate said, smiling widely, so proud and happy at the same time.

The waitress appeared at that moment and smiled warmly at Lily, who arched her neck up to look at the older woman. Lily swung her arms around and babbled excitedly.

"What I can get you three?" the woman asked. "We have a special on eggnog today."
"No," Kate practically yelled, but not enough to draw everyone in the diner's attention. "No eggnog," she said more calmly. "No thanks."

The waitress raised her eyebrows in confusion at the reaction. Jim just smirked while exchanging a knowing look with his daughter. Before she could ask, Kate quickly ordered herself a Belgian waffle with strawberries and a side of sausage. And a large coffee.

"I'll have the same," Jim said, handing the waitress the menus they hadn't even looked at it. They practically had it memorized, seeing as this was their regular diner for their monthly Saturday brunch.

"No eggs today?" Kate asked once the waitress had departed with their orders.

Jim shrugged. "Figured I'd indulge a bit. It is the holiday season, after all."

"Yeah," Kate agreed, feeling her heart clench beneath her chest as she looked between her dad and daughter. "Yeah, it is."