Young at Heart
They make it through Pirates of the Caribbean and a ride through the jungle with a skipper that makes even Castle chuckle with the jokes and a quick stop in the Fairytale Garden to meet Rapunzel. Castle insists on going on the teacups and spinning his girls so fast that it is Kate who is fumbling for his arm and laughing into his ear as he holds onto Al's hand. Their last stop with a girl who was already moving slower than she had when they had gotten off the bus that afternoon was the Laugh Floor where the camera turns on Castle as "the guy who will buy the audience churros after the show," an honor he says he'll gladly fulfill.
But they exit the mock-comedy show with Al up in Castle's arms, her head resting against his shoulder as she fights off sleep.
"Back to the resort?" he asks quietly, trying to duck his head down without losing balance with Al there.
Kate runs her fingers through the end of the girl's ponytail. "Mhm. Could use a nap too."
He grins, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Wait until we're back in bed. I can only carry so many Becketts at once."
"Princesses?" Al murmurs against his neck, fingers curling around his shirt as she shifts.
"We'll come back and find them later," Kate responds, stroking a finger over Al's soft cheek. "They had to go back to the castle for dinner."
The excuse seems to calm Al as she settles back into Castle's arms as they walk back toward the bus stop. When they hit the exit turnstiles, one of the cast members stamps their hands with invisible ink telling them to show the stamp if they wanted to come back that night. There was a short line at the bus stop under the place where their bus would pull up.
Castle leans his lower back against the olive green rail and shifts Al up further. Her flipflops fall to the ground and Kate scoops them up, hooking the bright blue shoes on her fingers as she tucks herself against his side. "Is she out for good?"
"Looks like it," he says, glancing down at the girl in his arms. Al's got her forehead against his neck, eyelashes tickling him lightly. "Lots of excitement for one afternoon."
"I remember crashing my first day here," Kate sighs, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Dad had to carry me back to the resort too."
"Like mother, like daughter."
He pushes her hair from near her ear with his nose, lips brushing over the shell. "Think our kid will tucker out this fast?"
Kate smiles softly, ducking her head away from his so her nose presses against his bicep. "Guess we'll have to wait and see, won't we?" Her hand hovers over her stomach and Kate hopes Castle doesn't see. They've done this a few times, casually mentioning having another child, but that type of thing required clear minds and being alone and definitely fully clothed. And so far, such a moment hasn't presented itself. Soon, she reminds herself.
The bus pulls around and they step into the cool air conditioning. Al wakes a little, squirming until Kate touches her fingers to the girl's shoulder to still her. "Wanna listen to the man," she says against Castle's neck.
"You can listen next time," Kate replies, running her hand over Al's head. "Go back to sleep, Allie-bug."
"Why do you call her that?" Castle asks, leaning back against the seat and letting his pinky brush her leg. "Allie-bug?"
Kate shrugs. "Dad calls her that all of the time. Term of endearment, I guess."
"But you only use it once in a while."
"Wow, Rick. You could be a detective," she teases, winking up at him. "I just like Al better. Allie-bug is for special occasions."
"Why Al?"
Full of questions this afternoon, this man is. But she smiles, shrugging. "For the amusement value. You introduce someone to Al, you expect a boy. Instead, you get…" Kate gestures to the sleeping child. "It's funny."
"Why, Kate. I never thought you to be one to use your child for your own entertainment."
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her."
Instrumental versions of Disney songs play over the silence on the way back through the gates of Old Key West to their bus stop. Kate feels exhaustion settling over her making her leaning her temple against the vertical handrail next to her. Something's off. More than just a long week plus a three hour flight to Orlando followed by a day of rides and trying to keep up with her daughter. But she can't push through the fog to find the epicenter of the problem right now. Maybe later after the pool and a shower and dinner.
The walk over from the bus stop is short, the late afternoon sun adding a layer of heat onto her already warm skin. Her dress is sticking to her back and the leather from her sandals makes her feet slip a little as they climb the stairs to the second floor.
"You have a key handy?" he asks. "Mine's in my back pocket and I don't exactly have a free ha-"
Kate's hand dips into the pocket of his shorts and flips the worn leather open to slide the key card from one of the slots. "I got it," she grins, sliding the key into the door until the light turns green and lets her turn the handle. "Put her in bed. Just take her shoes off. She'll be up for dinner."
They split off; Castle heads for the bedroom while Kate goes for the kitchen. They need food which means a shopping trip sometime tonight. There's a coffee machine but only one packet of grounds. Not nearly enough for a week. That'll be first on the list, she decides.
Kate finds her phone in the exterior pocket of the wristlet and starts a memo.
"What're you doing?" he asks, free from the sleeping child so he can wrap his arms around her waist, chin resting on her shoulder.
"Grocery list. There's a Winn-Dixie about a mile from the gates that we can use." She turns her head, his nose hitting her cheek. "Figured we could let her nap, get a quick shower, then go shopping for dinner and stuff for the rest of the week."
"And where does my reward for being good fall into this plan?"
She narrows her eyes, ducking from his embrace. "You weren't good. Any chance you got, your hands were all over me." He's about to whine. She can tell from the way his eyes soften, turning a brighter blue. "No, Richard Castle. You are a fully-grown man. You do not get to pull the puppy-dog look on me."
Kate ignores what sounds like a whimper, as if she kicked a kitten in front of him, and heads toward their room. He's following her, his footsteps nipping at her heels. So she decides to tease him, pulling the thin straps of her sundress down over her shoulders.
He lunges for her, chasing her down the hall until he catches her around the waist, swinging her up against the doorframe. "You're a tease."
"What're you gonna do about it?" she murmurs, tilting her head up to meet his eyes.
"Shut you up, that's for sure." Castle ducks his head down and nips at her lower lip. He waits until her breathing hitches before he covers her mouth with his, running his tongue along her lip. Her hands inch up to his elbows, pulling him closer so that he crowds her against the door until she breaks off, needing oxygen. "I love you, Kate," he whispers, just as breathless as she, his head resting on her forehead. "I love you so much."
"Prove it," Kate says, twisting her hands into his hair and pulling his mouth back to hers.
But he doesn't need to. Not really. He never needs to prove his love for her.
Still, he reaches around her to unzip the back of her dress, drawing the material down over her body until it pools around her feet. Kate steps from the circle of white and red and black lines and Castle grabs up the dress, tossing it over the bench against the wall. Then he was back, fingers sliding along her still-sweaty skin, walking her toward the bed.
Even now, after almost a year of more than coffee in their cozy little shop, the smallest touch set her aflame. Kate boosts up on her toe tips to brush her lips over his as he sits her on the edge of the mattress to unstrap her sandals. Her hands smooth through his hair, twisting the ends as he presses a kiss to her knee.
"Close the door," she manages, nudging him with her foot. "And get rid of those clothes, Rick."
He runs over, shutting the door and turning the lock before dancing his way out of the cargo shorts and shirts. But Kate's gone from the bed, just her bra and panties left as a trail toward the bathroom. "Kate?"
The shower switches on and he swings into the bathroom, feet skidding on the tile. She's just stepping through the glass door when he reaches her. "You running from me?"
"Never." She lets him push her against the cool wall of the shower as she hooks her leg up around his hip.
She's relaxed as she wrings the last of the water from her hair, twisting it up onto a bun as she makes the rest of the shopping list. Coffee is still at the top of the list, given the spot of honor before milk and frozen vegetables and cold cuts. She has priorities.
"Want me to wake her up?" Castle murmurs into her ear, savoring the shiver that runs across her skin. "Can't leave her here while we shop."
"Yeah. Go get Sleeping Beauty."
He leaves her with a brush of his fingers over the fabric of her tanktop at her waist. She changed into shorts and a tank after the shower, slipping her feet into flip flops for the trip to the grocery story. No need to go to Winn-Dixie in a sundress.
"We goin' to the pool?" asks Al, rubbing her eyes as she stumbles down the hall before Castle.
Kate circles around the island and scoops Al up into her arms. "Tomorrow, kid. Definitely tomorrow. We've got to get food first. Where are your shoes?"
Castle insists on driving, stealing the keys from the island as she helps Al find the flipflops. He grins and she scowls the entire ride off of the Disney campus to the grocery store down the street. Kate slides her feet from her own sandals, resting her bare feet on the dashboard as she tips her sunglasses over her face, playing with the radio until she finds a Top 40 station that she can deal with. She glances back at Al; the girl is fast asleep again.
"We should have let her sleep," she whispers, just loud enough to be heard over Arcade Fire. "She'll be miserable when we wake her up to go inside."
"I'll stay in the car with her." He shrugs when she looks over. "You get whatever we need, I'll make sure no one kidnaps our girl."
"You're sure?"
This time he keeps his eyes on the road as he turns into the parking lot of Winn-Dixie. "Totally. Just make sure you get ice cream. We need that. And all of the toppings. And maybe Goldfish."
"You know there's a difference between 'need' and 'want,' right?" Kate teases, pushing her sunglasses up into her hair as she puts her shoes back on.
Castle hands her the phone and his debit card. "Duh. But when it comes to dessert and fish-shaped crackers and you, it's definitely 'need.'" He snags her hand as she takes the offered items and pulls her across the console for a kiss. "See? Need."
"Thanks for clarifying that, Writer Boy," she murmurs, tugging away. "See you in ten minutes."
The grocery store isn't too crowded and Kate is able to maneuver her way through the aisles for the essentials to last a week in record time. She wants to think most of that has to do with the fact that she doesn't have Castle adding every last thing to the cart and whining when she promptly took it out. Still, she manages to sneak in a few things he'll be happy with.
Al is still sleeping in the backseat as Kate loads the groceries into the trunk, head lolling against the window with her cheek smashed onto the window. Kate's tempted to take a picture of the expression to remind herself that the wildcat that is Alexandra Beckett can be tamed.
"There's a Macaroni Grill along the route back that's amazing. Or we can just make sandwiches at the resort," Kate suggests, sliding into the passenger seat once the trunk was filled.
"Probably best to just go back to Disney. I can't see her staying awake at the table to eat a meal in a restaurant."
Kate nods, setting her head against the back of the seat. "Good point. Plus, I bought ice cream and chocolate syrup and whipped cream for dessert."
His face lights up. "You know, Kate, what else those items are good for?"
"Putting onto something warm and soft and tasty," she says calmly, examining her fingernails. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see his mouth working, trying to form words and failing. It's adorable, how the man who makes his living by stringing words together to make something beautiful and meaningful is mute in this moment.
"Uh… I… Kate," he whines.
A smile breaks out on her face. "Waffles, Rick. I love chocolate and whipped cream on waffles. Whatever were you thinking?"
"Oh, you will so be paying for that."