The next morning she wakes early, slips from her bed and pads into the kitchen to start the coffee. Leaning against the counter, she revels in the warmth the mug provides to her chilled fingers.
Once she finishes her first cup she puts it to the side, reasons she can have a second after she's dressed and ready.
She stands in front of her closet with a hand on her hip, lips pursed as she surveys all possible options. Pulling out a few sweaters, she tosses them onto her bed and moves to her dresser to grab a pair of jeans. Dark wash, the pair she knows she looks good in.
It's ridiculous that she's even taking this much time to choose an outfit. It's coffee, and it's not a date. It's coffee with Richard Castle, but Annie will be there too, so again, this is ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is that she keeps thinking of him as Richard Castle; that's lessened since last night, the phone call that lasted much longer than she'd have ever thought, but it's still there in the back of her mind.
But the truth is, he's not only Richard Castle to her; no, now he's Rick, the sweet man who made Christmas special for her daughter in the hospital, who didn't have to bring her coffee or Annie hot chocolate but did anyway because he wanted to, the man whose voice soothes her in a way she can't—and won't let herself—think about.
Blowing out a deep breath she chuckles to herself. He's Rick, just Rick, and with that thought she quickly chooses the first sweater that catches her eye and throws it on.
A royal purple color, perfectly paired with her jeans.
Her makeup comes next (nothing fancy, just a natural look with a little more mascara than she'd normally wear), followed by hair, which she curls in the same way she would for work.
It comes together, and once satisfied with her appearance she returns to the kitchen, allows herself that coffee.
Annie wakes around 10:30 and she hears the shuffling of little feet pattering against the hardwood. She only has to wait 30 seconds before her daughter makes an appearance in the kitchen, rubbing sleepily at her eyes.
"Morning, baby," she says, bending to dust a kiss on the crown of her head. "You sleep okay?"
"Mhm."
"Did the incision give you any trouble?"
She shakes her head. "Doesn't hurt much."
"Perfect," Kate smiles, gently swiveling Annie on her heels and guiding her onto the chair. "Sit. I'll get you some orange juice. You want cereal too?"
"Fruit Loops please," she nods, resting her elbows on the counter top.
She pours the juice and makes the bowl of cereal, sliding both in front of her daughter. She waits a few minutes, until Annie's eaten a considerable amount of the cereal, to bring up the coffee shop.
"Hey, Ann," she starts, waits until the girl lifts her head. "Do you remember Rick from the other day, when you were in the hospital?"
After a second she nods. "Uh huh. He brought me hot chocolate and a muffin," she says, taking another spoonful of Fruit Loops.
"Yeah, he did. And he invited both of us to a coffee shop today to get some more," Kate tells her, watching carefully for any reaction. "What do you think about that?"
"Can I get a chocolate chip cookie this time?"
Well, she expected at least a question or two, but that wasn't exactly the one she'd had in mind.
Kate laughs, her tongue darting out to wet her lips. "Yes, you can get a cookie," she says. "You don't have a problem going to meet up with Rick?"
Annie shakes her head. "He was nice."
She smiles at that, just ruffles Annie's hair and pushes her bangs back as she walks behind her. "Start getting dressed after you finish then, okay? We're going to meet him in about an hour."
"Okay," her daughter says. There's a brief pause. "Mommy?"
"Yeah?"
Annie gives her a smile. "You look pretty."
She responds with a smile of her own, as bright as could be, and wraps her arms around Annie's neck. "Thank you, sweetheart."
Her daughter turns her attention back to her almost-done cereal and the half empty glass of orange juice in front of her, while Kate stands back, watches on with a sense of pride and more love than she ever thought possible for this little girl.
It doesn't occur to her until Annie's in her room, choosing her own outfit, that Kate realizes she'd asked her daughter's opinion on Rick for their non-date.
An hour flies by and they're running a little late, with Kate still working on Annie's hair. She'd asked her to curl it ("like yours, please") and though Kate thinks it looks beautiful just the way it is, with its natural waves, she's more than happy to oblige.
Her daughter sits between the v in her legs, fiddling with one of the games she'd downloaded on Kate's phone while she works through the last few bits of hair. Once the curls are done she lets them sit for a few minutes until they cool down, and then runs her fingers through them to create the wavy curls she does for herself.
"All done," she says, patting Annie's shoulder as she stands. "We have to hurry, kid."
Annie stands and looks in the mirror, grinning at her hair. "We don't curl the bangs?"
"Nope, if we curled them they wouldn't be bangs anymore. They'd be up to here," she laughs, pointing to her hairline. "They look beautiful how they are, Ann."
"Thank you!"
Her daughter nods and skips out of the bathroom and into the living room to grab her shoes and jacket. Kate follows suit, slipping into her peacoat and plucking her gray beanie from the hook. She takes Annie's too, waits until the girl's beside her to slide it over her head.
"It's cold," she says before Annie can protest. She knows she's not the biggest fan of hats, especially when she curls her hair, but she doesn't need her getting a cold or an ear infection because she didn't want to ruin her hair. "You can take it off once we get into the coffee shop."
Annie sighs. "Fine."
"Buck up, kiddo, the curls will still be there when we arrive."
She guides Annie out the door with a hand on the small of her back, grabbing her purse just before she closes the door behind them.
He's already at the coffee shop when they arrive; she catches sight of him before he does them, sitting in a corner table, a notebook in front of him. At the sound of the door chime he looks up, spots them and shoots a wide smile.
"Hi," he says, standing as they walk up. "It's nice to see you again, both of you."
Annie holds onto her mother's side, slowly releasing when Rick offers her his hand. "Hi, Rick."
"And how are you feeling?" he asks, bending slightly to get to her level.
"Better."
"I'm so glad to hear that. You know, I had the same surgery when I was a little older than you."
The girl perks up, takes a step closer. "Really?"
Rick nods. "Yup. It hurt for a while, but you know what the best part was?" Annie shakes her head, and he leans forward, drops his voice to a conspiratorial whisper that has Kate's lips quirking upwards, her arms crossed over her chest as she tries to stifle a laugh. "My mom felt so bad that I was in pain, she let me eat all the ice cream and desserts that I wanted."
Annie laughs. "Yeah! Mommy's been giving me extra treats because I felt bad," she admits, smiling. "And she said I could have a cookie when we got here."
"Maybe she'll let you have two," he bargains in a stage whisper; it gets a grin out of Annie and an eye roll from Kate.
Rick stands back up, turning his attention to Kate. There's an awkward few seconds where it seems as though neither know what to do. A handshake? A quick hug? They've met a few times now, talked on the phone for hours and opened up to each other, so it wouldn't be so weird, would it? She eventually makes the decision (can tell he won't, doesn't want to make any kind of move if she doesn't want it), closing the space between them and giving him a hug. He responds, squeezing once before letting her go.
"Hi," she says. Her gaze falls to the table, then back at him. "Where's your coffee?"
"Oh, I was waiting for you guys."
"You didn't have to—"
"I know," he assures her with a smile. Moving around the table, he pulls out the chairs for both Annie and Kate, and then motions to the counter. "Sit, I'll get our drinks. Coffee for you, and... hot chocolate for Annie?"
Annie nods happily, taking her seat, and he turns to head towards the front of the shop.
"Rick," Kate calls out, stalling him. "I can get our drinks."
He waves her off. "Nonsense," he says, and she raises a brow, shoots him a look. He sighs and she smirks, knows she's got him. "Next one's on you?"
She nods. "Yes, it is."
It takes her until he's already at the counter, ordering, for her to realize she's just agreed that there'll be a next time.
A few hours later she finds herself at the same table, coffees and hot chocolates run almost dry. The coffee shop does have marshmallows, big ones, but still Rick takes a small bag from his jacket pocket, plucks a few mini marshmallows and drops them into Annie's cup. The girl grins in response, bringing the to her mouth, giggling when the whipped cream gets on her nose. A second cookie currently sitting in front of Annie, untouched as her daughter concentrates intensely; her tongue peeks out while she draws on the piece of paper Rick had ripped out of his notebook for her.
"What are you drawing?" Kate asks, peering over only to have a pair of tiny hands obstruct her view.
"It's not done," is the response she gets, a raised brow that's oh too similar to her own. She knows that look, that's her look, the one she uses almost daily on the job and now seems to have rubbed off.
Rick chuckles. "She is definitely your daughter."
"Many hours in the delivery room left me with no doubts about this one," she laughs, resting her palm high on Annie's back, between her shoulder blades. "Sometimes it's scary just how similar we look."
She's a mini version of herself, from the facial features and expressions to the hazel eyes she sees in the mirror every morning. Annie looks a lot like she does now, but more so how she did as a child. She's almost certain she'd had the same hairstyle, bangs and hair chopped to the shoulders, when she was seven or eight, too.
"Both beautiful," Rick says, causes her eyes to dart to his, a blush creeping up her neck. "Really."
"Thank you," she breathes, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear. "I think she takes the cake, though."
Annie looks up at the mention of cake, having been completely uninterested up until that point, and neither adult can hold in the laughter.
"Are we getting cake?" she asks, and Kate grins, shakes her head.
"I think two cookies is enough for now," she says, brushing Annie's hair back. "We haven't eaten lunch yet, kid."
"Oh, I didn't even think," Rick cuts in, eyes wide and a look of guilt on his face. "I didn't realize it was lunchtime."
Kate waves him off. "Don't worry about it, we had fun," she says. "Didn't we, Ann?"
Annie nods as she draws, lifting her head briefly to give Rick a look identical to her mother's. "Lots of fun!"
"I'm glad," Rick laughs. "Hey, if you don't have any lunch plans, there's this nice diner a few blocks away. I was gonna head there anyway to get something to eat. Why don't you two join me?"
"Oh, that's okay. We don't want to interrupt your plans."
Truth is, Kate wouldn't mind going to lunch with him. She's hungry, she's sure Annie's hungry for something other than cookies by now, and it'd be nice to spend some more time together. She doesn't think he's inviting them just because he feels bad about keeping them out through lunch, but she needs to be sure, so she's giving him an out if he needs one.
"Please," he drawls. "It wouldn't be an interruption, it'd be an improvement. What better way to spend my time than with the two lovely Beckett ladies?"
She smiles at that, and Annie tugs on her shirt, gestures for her mother to bend down.
"He called us lovely," she whispers in her ear, and Kate chuckles.
"He's got that right," she whispers. "You are lovely."
Annie beams and glances to Rick, who smiles right back.
"If you have plans, that's totally fine," he says once he's turned back to Kate, a soft look on his face. "But I like you guys, the both of you, and spending time with you is... refreshing."
She raises a brow. "Refreshing?"
"Yeah, I mean, not to sound high and mighty but... it's hard to find someone to talk to and be around when you're not too sure of their intentions, you know?"
She nods, because though their situations are different, she gets it. For him, it must be difficult to know whether or not someone's hanging around for his money or status or for him. With her, Annie's the deal breaker. She has to be careful, to know someone's intentions beforehand, before she even thinks about introducing them to her daughter (and most don't get that far). Even then, most guys run when they know she's a single mom with a young kid.
"With you, I know it's not like that. You're here because, for some odd reason, you want to be. Or at least, I hope," he adds on quickly, making her laugh.
"You think correctly," she promises.
"Good," he smiles, his eyes impossibly blue as they lock with hers. "So, yeah, it's nice to be around someone real, someone I can be myself with. And, of course, it doesn't help that you have the world's most adorable daughter."
Annie slides closer to Kate, leaning into her side as she smiles at the man sitting across from them. She turns her gaze after a few seconds, twisting her neck upwards to look at her mother.
"Can we go to lunch with Rick, Mom?" she asks, going as far as to put the puppy dog eyes into play. "Please?"
Tucking her tighter into her side, she chuckles, trails her eyes from Annie back to Rick, who's looking just as hopeful as the seven year old attached to her hip.
"Lead the way."
Rick leads them a few blocks to Remy's, but she spends the entire walk in awe as she watches on, her daughter holding Rick's hand as they weave through fellow New Yorkers. Annie had asked if she could, and once she knew that Rick didn't mind (though she could tell he was surprised by the request), she couldn't say no.
Now, he ushers them through the entryway.
"I see you brought friends with you this time," the woman up front says with a smile, three menus tucked beneath her arm. "Your usual table?"
He smiles. "That'd be great, please."
The woman guides them to a booth in the back corner and slides the menus onto the table. "Someone will be by in just a minute to take your drink order."
"Thank you, Paige," Rick says as she walks away, then motions to the two of them. "After you."
Kate and Annie sit across from him, the girl immediately picking up the menu to look at the options.
"This place is nice," Kate comments, taking a look around. It's decently low-key, the lighting very subtle and comfortable, a piano in the front. There aren't an obscene amount of people, either, which is always a plus. "A very calm atmosphere."
Rick nods. "Yeah, that's what I love most about it. Aside from the food, of course," he adds with an enthusiastic nod. "Amazing food. The burgers and milkshakes are to die for."
She laughs. "I'll keep that in mind," she says, grabbing her own menu. "You come here a lot?"
He has a usual table which stands to reason that he comes here fairly often, but she finds herself oddly thrilled to realize it doesn't seem as though he brings people with him.
"I come here to write," he explains. "It's a great atmosphere, like you said, and the staff is great here too."
Their waitress arrives to take their drink orders a minute later; a chocolate milkshake for Rick, a vanilla for Annie, and Kate sticks with water.
"Water?"
One brow arches. "Something wrong with water?"
"No, water's perfectly fine. And perfectly boring." She rolls her eyes. "You have to try a milkshake, Kate."
Annie's nodding in agreement. "He said they're good, Mommy. You gotta."
"Hey, kid, you're supposed to be on my side," she teases, nudging at her shoulder.
"I'm on the milkshake's side."
"You haven't even tried it yet," Kate laughs.
Annie shrugs, heaving out a sigh. "But they're milkshakes, they're always good."
Well, it's hard to beat that logic.
"I'll get one with the food, how about that?"
Both her daughter and Rick nod happily.
When it's time to order, all three end up getting burgers and fries, a staple of any diner. Kate, good on her word, adds a strawberry milkshake along with her food to appease the two bodies sitting with her.
"One of each," Rick grins. "Strawberry, chocolate, vanilla."
"It's a set!" Annie says. "That's so cool, isn't it?"
"Yeah, baby. Very cool." Kate pauses, placing her water down. "Hey, speaking of very cool. You never showed us what you drew, Ann."
Annie had stuffed the drawing into Kate's purse as they left, mumbled something about it needing a few final touches.
"Oh yeah," she says, eyes wide. "Can I have it?"
Kate takes it from where it's folded in the front zipper and hands it over. Rick hands over the pen before she can ask for it, earns an appreciative thank you in return. She continues writing something on the drawing for a minute or two and then puts the pen back onto the table.
"All done."
"Can I see?" Kate asks. Annie nods, uncovers the paper from behind her hands and passes it over. Her heart stutters as her eyes gloss over the pen-drawing; a sun in the top corner, a tree on the right, grass all over, and three stick figures (the three of them, with Annie in the middle) with what seem to be cups in their hands. The top, in Annie's child-like writing, it says thanks for the hot chocolate. "It's beautiful, sweetie. Why don't you show Rick?"
Rick looks intrigued, and Kate meets his gaze when he looks to her for some sort of reaction. She just nods towards the paper that Annie's handing him and offers a smile.
His face softens at the drawing, a smile stretching ear to ear and his eyes darting to her little girl.
"Thank you so much, Annie," he says, reaching over to squeeze her hand on the table. "It's the best drawing I've ever been given."
"Really?" she beams, sitting up straighter.
"Really!" He looks back down at the paper once before placing it on the table, gently flattening out the creases and keeping it close. "And it's my pleasure, m'lady. I'm happy to provide hot chocolate whenever necessary."
Annie swings her legs happily beneath the table, a small smile on her face. Kate reaches over, rests her hand on the girl's shoulder and squeezes. When she's sure her daughter's attention is elsewhere, fiddling with the dessert menu, she looks to Rick. His face is filled with awe, so genuinely happy to have gotten this little drawing from her kid and it sends her heart into overdrive, beating hastily against the cage of her ribs.
Their food arrives before she has a chance to say anything, but judging by the way he's looking at her, she's not sure anything needs to be said.
The burgers are just as good as he'd said they would be, and the fries go perfectly with the shakes.
"Here," Kate says, grabbing one of her fries and waiting for Annie's attention. "Dip your fry into the milkshake."
Annie giggles. "What?"
"It makes it so much better," she explains, popping her milkshake-fry into her mouth. "I used to do that all the time when I was little."
"Me too," Rick adds.
"It's been so long, but it tastes just as good as I remember." She looks back to Annie. "Try it, sweets."
Annie looks uncertain but picks up a fry anyway, dips it into her vanilla milkshake and takes a bite. Her eyes widen, a look of appraisal on her face.
"Like it?" Kate laughs, though it's unnecessary. She knows her kid.
"It's really good," she says, immediately going for another fry to do the same thing. "We need to come here a lot more."
A chuckle escapes her throat. "We'll see what we can do, okay?"
The rest of lunch goes by, filled with easy conversation and incredible food. It somehow turns into a game between Annie and Rick with the two of them playing I Spy, picking out random things and making the other guess what it is given only limited clues. She joins in eventually, at the insistence of both of them, and the trio continue on for what seems like ages.
Rick sneaks his card to the waitress before she even has a chance to grab her wallet. He tells her it's the same day and this is still considered this time so, technically, it's still his turn. She begrudgingly lets him have it, but makes a mental note to slip his card from him next time and hide it until she's paid.
"So..." he hedges once they're standing once more, getting their coats on. "I know tomorrow's New Year's Eve and you probably have plans already, but if you don't, I was wondering—you know, you're more than welcome to come over to my loft. It'll just be me and mother, unless she skips out like she has a tendency to do, in which case it'll just be me."
Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, she exhales.
Despite herself, a part of her does want to accept. She had plans to take Annie over to her father's, but he'd told her last minute that he's going to the cabin late on New Years Eve instead. He plans to meet up with a few old friends, maybe regain some kind of normalcy for the holidays, and she can't fault him for that. She wants that for her father.
This time of year is still relatively unpleasant for her, still leaves her with a hole where the memories of holidays with her mother no longer fill, but ever since Annie was born she's tried harder to make it special for her.
Even so...
"I don't know," she breathes, looking to the ground before back at him. "I originally took tomorrow off but there's been some kind of misunderstanding and I've been asked to come in, for a few hours at least, so Annie will be with my dad until I get out."
"Oh, it's no problem," he says, but she watches as his shoulders droop ever so slightly and the hope in his eyes deflates.
She contemplates for a brief second before doing something that surprises even herself.
"But maybe if I get off at a decent hour..."
"Yeah?" he asks, a small smile curving at his mouth.
"Yeah, maybe," she settles for, because she can't say yes but she doesn't want to say no either. "I'll give you a call?"
He nods. "Sounds perfect."
They walk back out onto the streets together and hail a cab. Rick stands at the sidewalk when it pulls up, says he's not going back to the loft just yet and that they should take it.
"Bye, Kate. Bye, Annie," he says, waving to the girl as she slides into the backseat.
"Bye, Rick! I hope we see you tomorrow!"
Kate hadn't realized Annie was listening, had heard his invitation, and her breath catches.
"Me too, kid."
A/N: As usual, I'm immensely grateful for all of your support and kind words. There's one chapter left, followed by an epilogue.
