AN: Caskett Appreciation Week 2020 fic 4 prompt: "Episode insert".
I know this isn't really Caskett, only one part of the team, but I needed some father-daughter cuteness.
Castle closes the loft door behind him, hangs up his coat, and puts his keys in the bowl. He makes his way to his bedroom for a quick outfit change - he may have gotten a bit too scared at the museum depot - and stops by the study to also get a book on the Maya from his collection.
He stops in his tracks when he sees his daughter sitting at his desk. She has her nose deep in her books and has clearly not noticed him coming home. It isn't a frequent occurrence but it happens often enough not to surprise him anymore. Sometimes, she just needs a change of scenery when studying. He's so proud of his little girl.
He softly knocks on the doorframe to let her know he's there.
Alexis finally looks up. "Hey, dad, what are you doing here?" She looks around at the books and papers strewn all across the desk. "Oh, did you want to write? I can go back to my room. Or I can set up at the kitchen island."
He steps into the office and shakes his head. "No, honey, you stay here. I just came home to grab a change of clothes."
"Are you staying the night at the precinct?"
He blushes. "Just had a little accident."
At this, Alexis grins a bit.
"It's a really cool case, though. There's a mummy at the museum, and I opened his coffin, and now I'm cursed. But Beckett doesn't believe me," he starts to ramble.
"The mummy from the new exhibit?"
He nods in affirmation.
"I like the museum. It's been a while since I've been there."
"Remember when you were little, we used to go every week and run around like explorers through all the exhibits, pretending we were travelling all over the world and discovering new artefacts. You were so cute back then. Still are."
She laughs with embarrassment. "Can we go again? Soon?"
"How about, this weekend, we get our old Indiana Jones costumes out of the back of the closet and go explore the ancient Maya civilization," he suggests.
Alexis stands up from behind the desk to go give her dad a hug. "I'd like that."