Walking into the living room a few days later, Kate finds her daughter propped up on the couch, blanket covering the lower half of her body and the television on.
"Morning, baby," she says, rounding the coffee table to give Annie a kiss. She squeezes her shoulder. "How are you feeling?"
"Good. It doesn't hurt to walk as much."
"That's great to hear," she smiles, making her way into the kitchen. "Have you eaten yet?" At the shake of her daughter's head, she rummages around in the fridge and the cupboards. "Pancakes? Waffles? Cereal?"
Annie hums, looking up as she thinks. "Waffles?"
"Coming right up."
Kate makes quick work of whipping up a some waffles for the both of them. She grabs a few different fruits from the fridge, tosses some strawberries and blueberries into a bowl.
She's about to bring the waffles into the living room when Annie gets up, trails slowly to the kitchen table to sit down.
"You can eat on the couch, Ann. You should be resting."
"I can walk now, Mommy." When Kate gives her a pointed look, her daughter raises her head. "Waffles please."
"Right here, kid," she says with a shake of her head, sliding the plate in front of her. The strawberries disappear in a matter of 60 seconds and Kate laughs. "Slow down, don't choke." She passes a glass of orange juice. "You'd think I wasn't feeding you."
"You didn't feed me the other day," Annie says, not looking up from her food.
Kate huffs. "The hospital did."
"Gross," her daughter retorts, scrunching her nose. "The meatloaf didn't look like meat."
Chuckling, she ruffles Annie's hair. "Eat your waffles."
She starts cleaning the kitchen, washing the dishes that have been piled up for a few days, putting the waffle mix back into the cupboard and wiping down the counter to rid it of any leftover powder. Finally finished, she sits beside Annie to eat her own, plucking a few strawberries from the top of her waffles to pop into her mouth.
"Do you want any more?" Annie shakes her head. "Okay. What do you want to do today?"
"Don't you have work?" her daughter asks, quirking a brow in her direction.
Kate hums. "Nope."
Her girl's eyes widen, a mix of joy and hesitation. "You don't have to skip work, Mommy. I'm okay, I can walk. I can stay with Grandpa so you can go."
She wraps an arm around her shoulder. "Hey, I'm staying because I want to, okay? I still have a few vacation days saved up, so I figured this was the perfect time to use them."
The look of uncertainty that still lingers on her face has Kate's heart breaking. Annie knows how important her job is to her mother, how much Kate loves it, and she loves it too, loves telling her friends that her mom fights bad guys for a living. She also knows how much she hates calling out.
But this is different; she wants to make sure her daughter knows that she comes first, always. She loves her job, but she loves Annie more.
"I'd choose you over work any day, you know that right?" she asks, skimming her palm over her daughter's forehead. "You're the most important thing in my life."
That gets a small smile. "I know."
"You sure?"
"I'm sure."
"You really sure?" she repeats, moving to dramatically pepper kisses all over her face, just enough to make her squirm, to break the laughter she loves so much from her chest.
"I'm sure," Annie manages between giggles, sliding halfway off the stool to get away from her mother's assault. "I'm sure, I'm sure!"
Kate laughs, pulls her into her side once she's escaped. "Good," she says, kissing the crown of her head. "Never forget that."
"Mommy?" Kate hums in response, turning to look down. "Why doesn't my dad feel the same way?"
Annie's voice is quiet, her eyes now averted, head bowed.
Kate sighs, wishing she didn't have to do this, wishing so badly that Will cared enough to give their daughter at least some of his time. He's not a bad person, he's just—he's like her, work-oriented, puts his job first no matter what else is in his life. But, unlike her, he didn't change (or see a reason to change) when Annie was born.
Kate knew she had to focus on the life they'd created, focus on her well-being, and that meant she had to put her mother's case onto the back burner and put their little girl first. It's been seven years and Will still hasn't reached that place yet, still prioritizes work over anyone else, his daughter included.
"Hey, look at me," she murmurs, using her index finger to tip Annie's chin, and waits until her daughter meets her eyes once more. "Your dad loves you."
Though he doesn't show it well (or at all), she knows Will loves their daughter. That's the sole reason she's kept trying to keep his connection with Annie going, as best as she can, and hasn't called it quits. After this, though—not even bothering to visit her in the hospital, not calling after the fact to see how she's doing—she's done putting forth all the effort.
If he reaches out, good. She won't stop him from seeing Annie. But if he doesn't, so be it. Her daughter doesn't need him walking in and out of her life as he pleases, making appearances once a year for 30 minutes during his lunch break.
"I know," Annie says, pursing her lips. "He has to love me, he's my dad. But I don't think he likes me very much."
Kate sighs. "Oh, baby. That's not true. He's just... bad at showing how he feels." She hates Will in this moment, hates him for making her explain. "But he loves you so much."
"Did I do something?"
"No." Her voice is firm, her grip on Annie's shoulder tight. "You've done nothing wrong, okay? You're perfect just the way you are, and there's nothing you could possibly do differently. He has his own issues, baby, but it has nothing to do with you. Do you understand?"
Annie gives a small nod. "I understand."
"Good," she says, wrapping her arms around her daughter and pulling her closer, resting her chin on her shoulder. "Now. Go pick out a movie for us to watch. We're gonna make a fort, marathon movies, and I'm pretty sure Uncle Kevin and Uncle Javi said they were going to stop by later to see their favorite niece."
That gets a smile from the girl in her arms, a bright eye'd look. "Really?!"
"Would I lie about that?" she chuckles, and Annie shakes her head. "Then we'd better get started. We want to be able to show them our fort when they get here, make them super jealous."
"Yes!"
And like that, her daughter's off, wriggled from her embrace and sliding into the living room to sift through their pile of DVDs. Kate has an idea of what she's going to choose but she watches on as Annie's tongue peeks out between her teeth in concentration.
She follows behind after a few minutes, takes a seat on the couch and watches Annie setting out a row of movies in front of her.
"Choose one?"
Her daughter nods. "How many can we watch?" she asks, looking over her shoulder.
"As many as we can fit in before the boys get here, and then we can watch a few more before you go to bed, how does that sound?"
"Okay," Annie agrees. She stands carefully, handing the DVD to her mother. "Elf first."
A smirk plays on her lips; she knew this was going to be it. They watch Elf every year, usually on Christmas Eve, but they haven't had the chance to watch it yet given the circumstances.
"Elf it is."
She puts the DVD in and lets it sit on the home screen while she heads to the linen closet to grab an armful of blankets and pillows for their fort. The couch cushions are taken off, placed strategically to create three walls for them. A few of the heavier comforters go down next, and the two of them work together to squish them into the fort, followed by an overflow of pillows.
"Grab that end," she tells her daughter, nodding towards the corner of a sheet. "We'll put it on as the roof."
After securing the roof, they stand back to admire their work. The inside looks pretty comfortable, she must say, with the fluffy blankets cushioning where they'll be laying.
"Perfect," Annie beams.
Kate grins, running her hand over the girl's head. "Yeah, it is. Go, get in—carefully—and I'll start the movie."
She stands in front of the television until Annie's settled, her small body cocooned by the fort and its blankets, before she hits play. She joins her then, crawling through the front opening and resting her back on one of the pillows to Annie's right.
They laugh through Elf, the both of them reciting some lines. Certain parts had been memorized long ago and now it's a fun game to see who remembers more.
Next on the agenda is Unaccompanied Minors, a scenario that Kate finds horrifying should it come to life outside of the movie. She's not sure what she'd be less able to handle: being the poor soul in charge of the hoard of uncontrollable minors running around the airport, or having to relinquish Annie into the care of airport security if for some reason she had to stay behind.
In reality she knows it'd be entrusting her daughter with strangers, but the thought of trying to wrangle 20+ out of control kids is also extremely undesirable.
"Would you let me fly by myself?" Annie asks, turning her head slightly.
Kate hums. "I guess if I absolutely had to, but I'd definitely be too worried." Her daughter nods. "Why, you planning a cross country trip without me?"
Annie giggles. "No."
"Good. I'd miss you too much," she says, pressing a kiss to her head.
Annie wiggles over to rest her head on Kate's chest, one of her hands fisted in the blanket covering her body. The corners of her lips quirk upwards as her hands move into Annie's hair, fingers running soothingly through the strands.
They make it through the rest of Unaccompanied Minors and half of Home Alone before there's a knock at the front door.
Kate moves from the fort and towards the door, Annie hot on her heels. Ryan and Esposito stand on the other side, smiles on their faces and little boxes wrapped in decorative print in their hands. She chuckles, shaking her head.
"I said you didn't have to get anything," she tells them, but they wave her off, scoffing. "Ann, look who's—"
Her daughter's already behind her, moving as quickly as she dares to in order to get to the boys. Her little arms wrap around Ryan's middle first and he laughs, returns the hug gently and offers her a wide smile in return.
"There's my favorite Beckett," he says. Annie beams and he shoots a wink at Kate.
She moves onto Espo next, giving him the same enthusiastic hug that she'd given Ryan, and he locks his arms around her back.
"How you feelin', Baby Beckett?"
Annie nods. "Better. The doctor said I should be back to doing normal things in a week, and tomorrow's a week!"
"You'll be back to taking the world by storm in no time," Espo says, holding his fist out for her daughter to bump.
Kate looks on with her arms crossed over her chest, a soft smile on her face. The relationship Annie has with two of her best friends warms her heart. They've been there for her from the second she told them she was pregnant and stood by her after her daughter was born, the two of them often fighting over who got to hold the infant first.
She wouldn't trade the support system she has in them for anything.
"Let's let the boys take their coats off, huh?" she says, and Annie backs away, shuffling into the kitchen. "Where you going?"
"Getting them a drink, Mommy!" Annie calls back, already rummaging through the fridge for the water pitcher.
She laughs, waving for the two of them to follow her to the counter.
"You can put the gifts you weren't supposed to buy up here."
"You didn't really expect us to come empty handed, did you?" Ryan says.
Esposito nods his assent. "Really, Beckett, expecting us not to buy a Christmas present for Annie. You should know better."
Ryan pats her on the shoulder as they walk past, taking their seats on the stools just in time for Annie to walk over holding two very-full glasses of water. She moves slowly, eyes glued to the glasses watching for any sign of spilling, and Kate can't help but grin.
"We have something for you, Ann," Espo says.
Annie's eyes light up, and she looks from the boys to her mother, who nods.
Ryan nods in agreement. "These two. Go ahead, open them."
She picks Ryan's first, opening the small rectangular box after carefully removing the bow from the top. Inside sits a silver necklace with Annie's name spelled out, the cursive letters looping beautifully and connecting to the chain.
"Ryan..."
"Jenny picked it out," he says before she can protest, say that it's too much because it is too much. "She had one just like it as a little girl and insisted that this would be perfect."
"It's so pretty," Annie gasps, picking it up and bringing it over to Kate. "Isn't it pretty?"
"It's beautiful, baby. Do you want me to put it on?" Annie nods and Kate plucks it from her little fingers, motions for her to turn around so she can lay it across her neck and clasp the back. "There you go."
"Thanks!" She moves to Ryan next, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you, Uncle Ryan! Tell Aunt Jenny I said thank you too, please."
"Of course, Ann."
She moves back behind the counter and grabs Esposito's next, unwrapping to reveal two long strips of paper that Kate can't decipher from where she's standing.
"Really?!" Annie squeaks, eyes immediately darting to Espo, who grins at the girl and nods.
"Of course really," he laughs. "I wouldn't put those in there to mess with you, kid."
Her daughter moves around the corner and squeezes Esposito as hard as she can. "Thank you, thank you," she smiles, turning to her very intrigued mother. "Mommy, look!"
She thrusts the present at her, and she realizes now that they're two tickets to the grand opening of the new History Museum that's being revealed upstate. It's a trek, but both she and Annie have been talking about it since they found out it was coming. She's always been interested in history, in the different time periods and eras. It's something that seems to surprise most people, but it seems that interest has passed down to Annie. Ever since her class started to learn about Ancient Egypt and the pyramids Annie's been obsessed, even asked to go as Cleopatra for Halloween.
It just so happens that the new museum will have a hands-on exhibit on Egypt. She's not sure what it'll be, exactly, but Annie's bound to love it.
"Espo, this is..." she pauses, shaking her head. "Thank you." Kate moves between her two friends, wraps an arm around both of them. "Both of you, thank you guys."
"Don't mention it," Espo says. "Now, what's this I hear about a movie marathon?"
The boys stay for one movie (Shrek, at Annie's insistence after learning that Ryan had never seen it) before they head out, leaving the two of them cuddled in the fort once more. They make it through a few more before she feels Annie's weight listing heavily against her side. Looking over, she can see the girl's eyes falling closed despite her attempts to keep them open.
"I think it's time for bed, miss," she says, gently squeezing her daughter's shoulder. Annie makes a noise of dissent and Kate laughs. "Come on, we can finish the movie tomorrow."
The girl shakes her head, burrows her face deeper into Kate's shirt. "No."
"Annie..."
"Few more minutes."
"It was a few more minutes five minutes ago," she says, laughing at the groan that emits from Annie's throat. "You have to get into your pajamas and brush your teeth. You don't want to wake up with awful breath, do you?"
There's a mumble. "No."
"I didn't think so."
Kate sits up, thereby removing Annie from her spot, and crawls out of the fort. Annie sighs but follows after a minute or two, allowing her mother to hold her weight as she leads her down the hall and into the bathroom. She brushes her teeth and gets changed, barely protesting anymore as she's tucked into bed.
"Goodnight, baby. I love you."
"Love you too, Mommy."
Kate closes the door behind her and heads back into the living room to deconstruct their fort; the couch is put together once more, cushions back in their rightful place, and she shoves the blankets back into the linen closet where they belong.
Around 10:30, just as she's settling into her bed and ready to grab a book, her phone rings. She doesn't recognize the number but it's a New York area code. She'd normally let it go to voicemail or ignore it, but for some reason she decides to answer.
"Hello?" she says, stifling a yawn.
There's a brief silence and then, "Kate, hi," the voice says, and her heart jumps at the familiarity of it. "It's uh, it's Rick. From the hospital. I hope it's not too late."
"No, it's fine. Hi."
She's been so wrapped up in Annie's post-surgery state and making sure that she's recovering how she should be that she hasn't even had a chance to really register the fact that though she'd given Rick her number, he hadn't called.
Not until now, of course.
"Hi," he repeats, and she chuckles. "How are you?"
"I'm alright, how are you? How's your mother doing?"
He laughs. "I'm good, and she's doing really well, thanks. Already back on stage with that colorful brace of hers."
"Oh good, I'm glad she seems to be recovering nicely."
"How's Annie doing?" he asks after a few seconds, his voice low. "I wanted to call sooner, but I thought—I figured I'd give you a few days to settle in with her after the surgery, to make sure she's doing okay."
The thoughtfulness brings a smile to her face, has her worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.
Settling deeper into her mattress, she gets comfortable. "She's doing great, actually," she says, and she can hear the grin in his voice when he says I'm so glad. "It's almost been a week, so she's healing and able to move around more."
"I remember how uncomfortable it was the first few days for me," he tells her. "After about a week or so, it stopped pulling and I was able to get back to doing some of my normal activities. Hopefully that's how it's going for her."
"It seems to be," she nods. "She's been a real trooper through all of it."
His voice is warm in her ear. "She seems like a great kid, strong. With you as her mother, though, I'm not surprised."
She's glad he can't see the slight blush that creeps onto her skin at the compliment. It's ridiculous, really, because he barely knows her at all, and yet the words flow from his mouth sounding as genuine as they possibly can.
"Thank you," she breathes. "That's sweet. I got lucky with her."
The conversation turns and he tells her a little about himself, his mother (and wild stories that contributed to what she can only describe as what seems to have been a very... interesting childhood), and his writing. He tells her about how the newest book is coming along and she keeps her cool, doesn't let on just how much of an effect these very characters and his words have had on her and her life.
She doesn't divulge much of anything too personal, but she does tell him about Annie's favorite hobbies, her interest in history and excitement over taking up ice skating. She tells him how all it really takes to entertain her is a good book and laughs when he spends the next ten minutes trying to wheedle information out of her.
Does she use his books to entertain herself? Is she a fan? How much of a fan?
Before she knows it, they've been on the phone for two hours and she's curled into her pillows with the phone trapped between her shoulder and ear.
"I didn't realize what time it was," he says, laughing a little on the other end. "You must be tired."
She hums. "A little," she admits.
"You should get some sleep."
His voice is soft, soothing. "Yeah, probably. This was... it was nice."
"It was," he agrees. "I don't know if you have plans, but I was wondering if you would want to meet me for coffee tomorrow? Annie's more than welcome, of course. I know this little coffee shop not too far that has incredible pastries and hot chocolate."
Kate chews the inside of her cheek. "That sounds nice," she says after a moment. Friends get coffee together, right? "And any hot chocolate with mini marshmallows will be a hit with my kid."
"I'll bring some with me, just in case," he says, and her heart beats harshly against her ribs. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"
"Tomorrow," she echoes.
A/N: You've all been so incredibly sweet, thank you.
