Anonymous Prompt: The boys are teasing Castle, and Beckett comes to the rescue.
A/N: Takes place about 5-6 years down the road. :)
Castle slowly woke up, noticing how his fingers felt... different. When he pulled them up to take a look, it was like he'd awakened in a time warp, into the years when Alexis was in her beauty princess obsession. This hadn't happened to him in years.
And of all places for this to happen, it had to happen here, in the precinct.
An hour or so before, Jenny dropped Sarah Grace off with Kevin while she was going to an appointment. Which, normally, isn't a big deal. Then, as luck would have it, the boys had to go out to pick up a suspect, leaving Castle to babysit.
A really easy job. Really easy, so easy... that yeah, they took a nap.
And apparently, he fell asleep first, because now his nails are painted with "I'm Keeping My Maiden Name" purple nail polish. The only reason he knows the color is because Kate had him painting her toe nails with it a few weeks ago, and it started an interesting conversation that he won't be forgetting any time soon. He remembers that conversation with a smile, then pulls himself back to the present.
He needs to get the polish of his nails before the guys see it, and there is no chance of finding polish remover anywhere in the precinct, and he's not going to ask. The stuff could probably be scraped off, but that might do something weird to his nails, and he can't have that happening. So, he's stuck between a rock and a hard place.
In situations like this, he needs coffee.
Thankfully, Sarah Grace is still asleep, or she would surely be showing off the awesome job (he had to admit) she did to every living soul in the building.
Castle gets up slowly, trying not to wake up the girl as he leaves her on the couch. He stands and stretches, sounding like someone stomping on a box of rice crispies with all of the crackling and popping of his joints. Everything aches, and he knows it's because of the too-hard couch. (Next on his to-do list: replace the break room couch before someone ends up with a permanent injury from the thing.)
When he checks his watch, he sees the others should be back soon.
He walks over to the coffee machine and finds the thing empty, so Castle quickly sets the machine up and places the empty pot in. The door opens, and he almost drops it as he quickly shoves his hands into his pockets.
Of course they'd come in sooner than expected.
Ryan sees his little girl asleep on the couch and smiles, "Thanks for watching her, Castle. How did things go?"
"OH, fine," he bobs his head, trying to look calm and collected. "Everything was fine. She just got tired and fell asleep."
"Yo, Castle," 'Sito watches him with a look of suspicion, "Everything okay?"
"Fine. It's fine - I'm okay," he's stumbling, and there is no way to stop it. He really needs to shut up. "How are you?"
The two detectives exchange a look, then Ryan checks on Sarah, taking a small purple bottle out of her clenched hand.
He's trying not to laugh as he shows the bottle to his partner, then to him. "You sure? Because you're acting guilty. Wouldn't you say, Javi?"
"Yeah, I would say so," Esposito answers, then steps up to Castle.
He knows he has to be at least ten shades of red.
Espo turns toward Ryan, then looks at Castle and says, "Your coffee's ready."
"Oh, right, thanks," he says and reaches for the pot.
He reached for the pot. And now the boys are howling in laughter.
Kate walks in, looking more than confused, and Castle waves, even though he wishes he could just fall through the floor, disappear, melt, something.
"Hey, Beckett," Javi calls, "Your boy here has something to show you."
The look she gives them brings a sudden silence into the room, making Castle's ears buzz a little. He can tell she's trying not to laugh, obviously her years of training must be keeping her together. She rolls her eyes at him, then faces the boys.
"Seems like I recall finding you wrapped in *just* a feather boa once, Espo. You care to regale us on that story?" she asks, and he looks properly knocked down a notch or two.
"Um... no," he says, and mumbles some sort of apology as he leaves the room.
When she faces Ryan, she shakes her head, "And Kevin, you might want to check your nails as well." She leans in a little closer and says not-so-quietly, "I think you missed a spot."
"How-?" he checks his nails and notices what Kate was talking about, "Oh man."
"Daddy?" Sarah sits up slowly, thankfully interrupting the others, and rubbing her eyes, still looking very sleepy. "Can we go home now?"
"Yeah, honey, as soon as Mommy gets back." he said, then picks her up. Just as he's about to go out the door, he stops and says, "I'll see you guys later... Thanks, Castle... and sorry."
"It's okay, we had fun," he replies.
When the door shut again, he finds Kate gazing so lovingly at him. "What?" he asks.
"You're pretty amazing, Castle," she says, then kisses him on the cheek. "Even if you do fall asleep on the job."
"How did-?" He starts to ask, but then realizes, it really doesn't matter. Kate has this way of knowing things that he has learned he will never understand.
"So, what do you think?" he asks, showing off both hands and smiling, "Sarah did a pretty awesome job, right?"
"Yeah, she did," Kate answers, then takes his hand, and he's pretty sure she rolled her eyes again. "Purple looks really good you, Castle, but the nail polish needs to go."
"I know," he admits, "I don't pull purple nail polish off very well. And, um, thanks. Thanks for the save."
She smiles, "Anytime, partner."