Please Don't Argue

What was it about her husband being gone on book tours that made her kids misbehave? It seemed like as soon as he was gone, they worked together to make her life difficult. Sometimes, it made her question her competence as a mother. She was strict, more strict than Castle, and she struggled when he wasn't around to find a balance. He had pointed out to her one day that she tended to question them like they were suspects, hard and unrelenting, causing them to either shut down (Elizabeth) or act out (Oliver). Today was worse than usual. Oliver had been in a fight at school, causing her to leave work early to pick him up. He kept insisting it wasn't his fault, and yeah, the other kid pushed him down, but he either can't remember or doesn't really know who threw the first punch. "It all happened so fast, Mom." He explained from the backseat, his hazel eyes meeting hers in the mirror.

"Do you know what this means? It means you will be branded as a troublemaker. Now any time there's trouble, your teachers are going to look at you. Is that what you want, Oliver?" She fought to keep her voice level.

"But I'm not a troublemaker!" He blurted from the back, his eyes wide as he yelled out in protest. "I'm not, I swear!"

Kate sighed. "I know that, but your teachers look at your track record, and a fight doesn't look good."

"I promise never to fight again. I swear, Mom, it won't happen again." He whined from the backseat, a sound that still sent chills down her spine. She hoped he would soon outgrow that habit.

"Oliver, I can't understand you when you talk like that." She listened to him huff. He knew as well as she did that it was a load of crap, but he stopped, quieting down and relaxing into the seat. Kate tightened her hold on the steering wheel. "Here's the deal." She started, speaking firmly but not raising her voice. "We are going to the precinct. You are not to play with your uncles, they know why you are there and what happened. You will sit in the break room with my pad and a pencil, and you will write one apology note to Justin, and one to your teacher."

"Mom! Not fair!"

She scoffed. "Yes, it is fair! You hit a boy and took extra time out of your teacher's day! They both deserve apologies!"

"But Justin hit me too!"

"And I am your Mom, not Justin's. She will punish him how she wants to." She could hear her son muttering something under his breath. "What did you say?"

"Nothing."

She shook her head. "You know better. I tell you what I'm thinking, so it's only fair you do the same."

He sighed. "I said, Justin's Mom won't do anything to him."

Kate shrugged. "Oh well." That just meant her son would stay out of trouble in the future, and that Justin would be more likely to end up across from her in the interrogation room.

At the precinct, she set him up in the break room while she caught up on paperwork. He worked away for hours, or at least she thought he did. It wasn't until her Dad dropped off Elizabeth, like he did every day around four, that she realized he had been doodling the whole time.

"Mom! Look at the cool pictures Oliver drawed!" Beth enthused, bouncing on her toes, her blue eyes wide and bright.

She sighed. "Yeah, they're cool, but he was supposed to be writing letters." She tucked a loose piece of hair behind her daughter's ear as she picked up her notebook. She looked at him, hoping her disappointment came through in her expression. "You will finish this at home."

Before they could get there, they had to stop to pick up a gift for Beth's friend Theresa, who was having a birthday party in two days. Which of course triggered a tantrum in the four year old, because Kate wouldn't buy her something too. She had to drag the screaming child out of the store, Oliver clutching on to the bag and his Mom's wallet, her face thoroughly red.

At home, Oliver continued to screw around, refusing to write until she was literally standing over him, watching his every move. He had inherited his father's creative streak, and much of his schoolwork had monsters and race cars drawn in the margins. He finished them, his halfhearted apologies written in his messy scrawl on the yellow pages, and handed them to her so she could put them in envelopes. She released him to make dinner, mac and cheese with hot dogs, something simple. The two of them fought over who got to sit in Castle's chair. The fact that it was his clearly made it that much cooler than every other chair in the loft.

They picked on each other all through dinner, Beth kicking Oliver under the table, while he flicked the condensation from the outside of his cup at her, each action making the other kid yell or whine or cry. And she really couldn't take it anymore.

She had to remind herself that it wasn't her. Their routine was disrupted with Castle gone, and they acted out. But she was frustrated and exhausted, and didn't feel bad about sending them both to bed an hour early, not one bit.

She curled herself up on the couch, a tall glass of wine in one hand, and the latest Nikki Heat book in another, and got lost in her husband's words. So lost, that she almost didn't hear her phone ringing on the table next to her, Castle's smiling face flashing in the screen. She smiled for the first time that day as she picked it up. "Please tell me you're coming home early."

"Uh, yeah actually. How did you know?" His confirmation had her smile growing, the warmth in her stomach spreading across her body.

"I didn't, I just guessed. I've had a crazy week, and I just can't wait to see you." She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her elbows on them as she talked.

"Well it's your lucky day. I should be home in about an hour. I can kiss the kids goodnight and everything."

She shook her head, not that he could see it. "They're in bed already."

"Oh." She could hear the disappointment in his voice, and felt somewhat guilty, like she was keeping his children from him.

"I mean, you can kiss them if you want, I just don't know how responsive they'll be."

She heard him chuckle. "They must have been hellions."

She laughed at that, the sound bursting from her chest. "Something like that. We'll talk when you get here."

"Okay. See you soon. I love you."

"Love you too." It still amazed her how her heart fluttered every time he said those three words, even after all these years together. She put the phone back down and returned to her book, a peace settling over her as she awaited her husband's return.

She didn't get as caught up in it this time, and was up before the door closed, her arms wrapping around his neck as she crashed into him, almost knocking him over. She pressed her lips to his urgently, his head held steady in her hands as she peppered kisses across his jaw. He wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her close. "I'm not complaining, but could I actually get in before you attack me?" He teased between their kisses.

She pulled away, meeting his blue eyes with hers. "Castle, I have spent all day fighting with murder suspects and both of our children. I missed you, and I want to unwind. Please don't argue." Her lips meant his again before he could answer.

He didn't argue. He spent the night agreeing with her instead.