Excuses, Excuses; I'm a horrible person. I know. Trying to get back on tack after a horrible few weeks. please don't hate me. Any spelling/Grammar stuff you see is all mine and i'm sorry.

Enjoy!

Disclamor: Not mine, just borrow them sometimes.

"Happy birthday!" Castle cheers, walking past the bar where his kids are seated, watching their mom eagerly, ready to start their project. "Good morning," he says to Kate, accepting a kiss from her. "What are you guys up too?"

"Making cupcakes!" Miyana cheers while she holds her long brown hair back with a hand.

"Oh yeah. You're bringing them to school today, right?" Castle asks, coming around the counter and tying his daughter's hair back with a loose hair band that just so happened to be sitting on the counter.

"Yeah! They are gonna be the best!" The five year old smiles.

For the first, of what will be many, time the kids' birthday fell on a weekday and as they will be in school they were bringing in cupcakes to celebrate with their classmates. Of course the mix came from a box and the frosting from a can, but it was the thought that counted.

"Alright," Kate says, setting the last of the tools and ingredients onto the counter. "Finn, cut this open and pour it into the bowl, okay?" She instructs the child to her left. The kids had picked out both chocolate and vanilla flavors and the plan was to send half of each to both of their classes.

Finn cuts open the package of chocolate mix and dumps the contents into the mixing bowl in front of her. She leans over and breathes deep once the package is empty.

"It smells good," she smiles.

"Yeah it does," Kate agrees. "Okay, Liam," She says turning to the next kid in line. "We need two thirds of a cup of oil, which is two of these guys," Kate explains, holding up the corresponding measuring cup. "Think you can do that?"

"Uh huh," Liam nods, picking up the bottle of oil in one hand and the measuring cup in the other. He tries for a minute to hold both and pour at the same time, but after a moment, looks up to him mom.

"Need help?" Kate offers, reaching for the oil. "How about I pour and you hold?" At Liam's nod, Kate uncaps the bottle and tips it watching the liquid slide out. "That's one." She stops and lets her son dump it into the bowl. "And two," she finishes, screwing the cap back on as Liam taps the measuring cup on the side of the bowl to get all the oil out.

Danielle, knowing her turn comes next, snags the glass measuring cup, sloshing water all over and she slides it towards her.

"Okay, slow down there," Kate says, grabbing a towel to sop up the water her daughter had spilled. "Alright, go ahead." Danielle dups the already measured water into the bowl, watching as it wet the parts of the mix the oil hadn't reached yet.

The remaining two kids got first go at mixing the concoction and managed to do so without getting all over, which has happened in the past.

Kate sets the bowl aside and grabs and empty one for the second batter. They mix the vanilla batter the same way they did to the chocolate, but go in reverse order so the ones who didn't get a chance to add ingredients the first time around get their chance.

Once both batches of cupcakes have been doled out into liners and the pans have been slid into the hot oven, where the five five-year olds were a safe distance away, Kate sends her kids off to finish getting ready for school.

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Finally they get everyone in the car with everything they need for the day and off to school.

"Bye mommy," Danielle says, standing in the doorway to her classroom, she stands on tiptoe to kiss her mom's cheek.

"Bye Dani, be good today, alright? I don't want to find out you had to pull a green card again because you weren't listening," Kate reminds her daughter, giving her a one armed hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"I will. Love you."

"Love you too."

"Don't forget momma," Liam says with a hug.

"I won't; I'll meet you here at lunch, okay?"

"Okay," her son smiles. One of his classmates calls for him and a second later he's off.

Kate gets home from dropping off her kids, and her entire house smells amazing; sugary sweet, and warm.

"Smells great in here," she comments, eyeing the pile of cupcakes cooling on wire racks on the stove.

Castle's muffled voice comes from his office and Kate follows it to his office, the door half closed. She slips through the crack, stopping just inside the room. He's facing the window, back to the door, reclined in his chair. His cellphone is on speaker a he types away on his laptop, trying to keep the click of the keys as quiet as possible so he can still hear whomever is on the other end.

"If you can get me exact numbers ASAP, then I'm sure we can get it set up," the woman on the other line says.

"Great! Thanks, Karen, you're the greatest! I'll e-mail you that info soon."

The call ends and Castle reaches a hand over to lock his phone, pecking at his keyboard with one finger for a minute as he does so.

"Who was that?" Kate asks. Castle startles at her voice, oblivious that she had been standing there.

"Hey. Oh that was nothing," he shrugs. Kate sighs, raising an eyebrow, but lets the obvious lie slide

"You think those cupcakes are cool enough to decorate?"

"Um they might be, why?" he asks, still typing away, writing a new chapter or book research, she can't tell.

"Just wanted to make sure we have some time," she shrugs, throwing him a coy smile that he catches as he looks up finally.

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Three hours later Castle and Beckett arrive back at their kids' school, pans of cupcakes in hand. Both flavors had white icing, but the chocolate ones had M&M's on top and the vanilla was topped with a cherry, like an ice cream sundae. They check in at the desk, putting a visitor sticker onto the front of their shirts. The kind ladies who work the front desk take their share of the treat before Rick and Kate head down the hall to their kids' classrooms.

Miyana, Austin, and Finn's class is eating lunch, perfect timing, as they sneak in. Castle sets the pan on an empty counter as Kate talks to the teacher, Ms. Abby, and remind her that they are there.

"Okay," Ms. Abby announces. "If you are done eating: throw your trash away and put your cup and plate into the bucket." There is a rush of movement as the kids finish their lunch and do as their teacher told them too before returning to their seats. Austin helps his sister in putting her dishes away even though she can do it on her own. Finn thanks him with a smile as he retakes his seat next to her and a little boy named Benjamin.

"Momma!" Miyana shouts, getting out of her seat and scampering over to her. She hugs Kate at the knees before reaching around her for the cupcakes.

Kate smacks her hand away and Mia yelps. "Wait a minute," Kate directs, putting her arm around Mia's shoulders to hold her in place. The other two have noticed their sister and parents and have made their way over as well.

Ms. Abby laughs and gets her class' attention back. "So since it is Miyana, Austin and Finn's birthday, they brought cupcakes for us." The class erupts in excited chatter and Kate has got to admit that it's rather cute. "Okay," Abby continues, quieting the class. "There are two flavors: chocolate and vanilla. Mr and Mrs. Castle and I are gonna come around and give you a napkin and a cupcake, okay?" she questions and gets seventeen nods in return. "So if you want vanilla: touch your nose and if you want chocolate: put your hands on your head." The kids do as they are told, giggling and talking as they look around at their friends and what flavor they picked.

Cupcakes and napkins are passed out, and the Happy Birthday song is sung with silly interjections from the pre-schoolers, and finally everyone is happily eating and talking. Rick and Kate take the opportunity to walk across the hall to the other class to hand out their share of cupcakes.

Danielle and Liam take the lead and pass out the cupcakes to their classmates, and it goes off quite well. Only one kid cries because he didn't get the flavor he wanted. But his teacher reminded him of the age old saying: 'you get what you get, and you don't throw a fit.' It seems to work because after he calms down, he enjoys the cupcake with everyone else.

After helping to clean up and saying good bye to their kids, Rick and Kate head home, tossing the empty foil pans into the trashcan as they walk across the parking lot to their car.

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"Okay: in," Kate says, opening the door and pushing her kids inside the restaurant. She's got three; Castle has one. One?

She does a silent head count. Yep: four.

"Castle," she starts, standing in the air lock between the two sets of doors. "Do you have Mia with you?" He husband looks around him, turning in a circle before looking up at Kate, worried.

"No." he says. "Nemo, go with mommy," he directs their youngest before turning and re-tracing his steps. He rounds a corner and finds the child in question squatting on the ground, looking at something. "Mia? What are you doing?" he asks, walking up to her.

"Dad!" she shouts, holding up a hand. "You're gonna squish it!"

"Squish what?" he looks down, moving so he's not blocking the street lamp shining on them.

"The cat tracks!" Miyana says enthusiastically. And sure enough in the snow covered sidewalk there is a trail of tracks leading from the bushes to their left to the grassy berm on their right and down to the greenbelt behind the restaurant.

"They're kind of cool, huh?" he asks. "Do you think it might have been Scratch who made them? Maybe he's trying to find you to say happy birthday!" Castle smiles, remembering the stray cat that wandered their neighborhood last fall.

"No I don't think so," Mia says, knowing. "He doesn't like the cold," she says shaking her head.

"Ah, right. How could I forget that?" he chuckles, acting dumb for his daughter. "Come on, it's cold out here and Alexis and Max are waiting for us," Castle directs, starting to move.

"But," Miyana sighs, staring wistfully at the tracks.

Castle smiles, and pulls out his cell phone. He unlocks it and turns on the flashlight so he can see before snapping a picture. Mia grins at her dad, standing and stepping over the tracks so as not to ruin them. She grabs her dad's hand and the two finally enter the warm restaurant.

"Thank you," she says, leaning her head on his bicep as Castle opens the door for them.

"Anytime, kiddo," he says, leading her inside first. The girl manning the reception desk smiles at them. "Hey," Castle says, "We have a group already here."

"Sure," the girl smiles. "I'll take you to them," she turns and leads them around a corner into the main dining room. "So are you guys here for something special?" She asks, making small talk as they walk.

"It's my birthday!" Mia cheers.

"Oh really? Happy birthday!" the girl smiles as the reach their party. "Have a good night," she nods to them before turning and walking away.

"Thanks," Castle nods. "Slide in, Mia," He says, pulling out a chair next to Kate as Mia gets into the booth across from him, next to her siblings. Kate throws him a look as he sits. He's on the right end, Kate to his left, Max next to her and Alexis down on the left; the quints all in a line across from the adults. Everyone is sipping on drinks, and their waiter comes around to take the last two party members' orders.

"Where was she?" she asks about Miyana.

"Tracking a wild cat," Castle smiles, to which Kate raises and eyebrow in question. Castle shows her the photo on his cell phone and she laughs, shaking her head; their crazy daughter. Just like her dad sometimes: curious and inquisitive.

The dining room is filled with voices all overlapping one another, and the Castle family is no exception. The littles are excited to see their older sister and almost-brother-in-law, whom they haven't seen in nearly a month due to one being in their final year of medical school, and gearing up to start their internship in the fall, and the other in the midst of his residency. Neither of which allow much time off.

"So are you guys excited for you trip?" Max asks to which Rick and Kate nod happily, smiles on both of their faces. Arrangements had been made, schedules had been cleared and the parents were finally getting a break. A week away to relax and recuperate. Catch their breath.

They are leaving on Monday morning, following the kids' birthday party on Saturday, directly after dropping their kiddos off at school.

"I'm so excited," Kate says with a laugh. "Does that sound bad? That I'm excited to be away from my kids?"

"No!" Alexis announces. "You deserve it!" she smiles. Kate returns the gesture before answering her son's call. They all decide of what to eat for dinner and soon their waiter comes around to get their orders once more.

"And for you?" The brunet man, named Jimmy, asks, looking at Finn. The girl shrinks in her seat for a beat, getting suddenly shy.

"Go on, Nemo," Kate encourages.

"I want chicken fingers," she says, sitting up, gaining a little confidence.

"Alright," Jimmy says marking it down on her pad. "Do you want fries? Fruit? Veggies? What side?"

"Fruit," Finn smiles, looking first at her mom, who winks, then at the waiter.

"Alright, I'll have that out to you soon," he smiles then turns and walks away to deliver their order.

"You can share some of my fries, okay?" Kate asks Finn, the girl back to her menu, trying to find all the words in the word search puzzle.

"Okay," she replies, circling a word, gasping. "Mommy, look!"

"I see! Good job girlie girl," Kate smiles, meeting her daughter's eyes.

Max is engaged in a tie-breaking round of tic-tac-toe with Austin when their food comes. The server distributes their meals, setting plates and baskets in front of its respective diners. "Anything else I can get you?" She asks sweetly.

"No, I think we're good," Max nods. "Thanks." The server nods once more then walks away.

"Careful, it's hot," Kate says, eyeing the quints as they immediately jump into their dinner; each one ordered completely different food, as Kate knew they would. "Break them open, it will cool down faster," she says, taking Finn's plate and opening her chicken finger, watching as steam billows out.

Castle handles the two nearest him, making sure they're careful and that their food is cooling off. He reminds Miyana to blow on her bites of macaroni and cheese to cool it before eating. Finally, once his kids are set, he finally gets to tear into his bacon cheese burger.

The table falls to almost silence as they eat, only small conversations take place between bites. One of which is Alexis and Max's impending wedding.

"So you're parents are flying up still, yeah?" Kate asks, turning to max right as he takes a bit. Kate giggles and apologizes, waiting for him to swallow.

"Yeah they are," he nods, "And they told me to thank them for the offer to stay with you guys that weekend, but they said no. They're too polite to accept something like that, so they are just gonna stay at the hotel with everyone else," Max says, his southern accent, that is usually not as noticeable, coming to the front with his words.

"Oh ok," Kate nods. "Well tell them they are welcome anytime."

"I will," he replies, picking up his food again.

When there is nothing left but scraps and stubby end pieces, birthday desserts are brought out and once again the Happy Birthday song is sung. All five quints eat it up, smiles not leaving their faces.

"Happy birthday," Kate says into Danielle's ear. The girl had moved into her lap sometime during the meal, and is now eating her treat happily, spreading chocolate sauce all over her lips.

It's hard for her to wrap her head around. Five years. These kids; these funny, smart, kind, loving, silly, strong kids have been in her life for five years. The tiny born to early babies, who fit in the palm of her hand, are now running around playing with friends, fighting with their siblings, doing their activities. She can't believe it.

"I love you," she says, leaning into Castle's space, kissing his cheek.

"I love you too," he smiles, that eye crinkling girl, leaning down to kiss her lips.

Five years.

"Oh! We have presents!" That gets the kids' attention again. Alexis laughs, pulling out five wrapped packages. She hands them out to the kids; the boys' and girls' wrapped differently, but hold the exact same gift to reduce fighting as much as possible.

"Whoa!" Austin cheers. "Nerf guns! Dad, look!" He says holding up his new 'Zombie Strike' camouflage gun. There is smaller pistol in the package along with a set of extra bullets, as they get lost rather quickly. "Thank you Lexie!" he smiles.

"You ar very welcome buddy," she returns the smile.

"Hey Austin," Max calls amidst the commotion of opening presents. "You guys owe me a nerf war, alright?"

"You're on!" Austin nods, accepting the challenge.

"Thank you Lexie!" Danielle says, jumping off her mom's lap to hug her older sister, new toy still in hand.

"Oh you're welcome. You like them?" She asks, taking hold of the package.

"Yeah," Dani nods. "It's really cool."

The girls also got a pistol and a pack of bullets, but unlike the boys, they got a cross bow from the 'Nerf Strike' collection. Marketed towards girl so they can finally have their own weapons to use instead of using the boys' all the time; not that those don't work, but sometimes a girl just needs something different, something unexpected.

The gifts are collected back in the large gift bag thy came in so they don't get lost or messed up before arriving home. Last bites of dessert are eaten and a trip to the bathroom is made before everyone gathers their coats and purses and heads back out to the car.

"Bye Nemo," Alexis says, hugging her youngest sister. I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Okay," Finn says, hugging Lexie once more before getting into the car and buckling herself in.

"Alright guys, drive safe, okay?" Rick says, hugging his daughter and shaking hands with his son-in-law.

"We will," Alexis says. "Love you."

"Love you too. Bye," Rick says, before turning to the driver's seat.

"Bye!" Kate calls, closing her door, to keep the frozen February air out as the heaters get turned on and they head home, everyone tired and happy after a great birthday.