Please forgive my grammar, I know it's bad. I hope you enjoy this. It's set in my "Wedding Rhymes" 'verse.

Also, if you're a fan of firefly, could you please hop on over to the Firefly section and take a peer at Family Ties, by ramsaybaggins? Thank you much, shameless advertising of my girlfriend's fanfiction is now done

Disclamer: If I owned castle, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction for it

Bedtime Stories

2015

Hannah is 3, J.J. is 4

"Daddy, tell us a bedtime story?" Hannah asked softly as Castle tucked her into bed

"Yeah, one we've never heard before!" J.J. said excitedly.

"Hmm. Okay, let me see. How about I tell you the story of Stephen and Jacob, and their search for the Last True Thing?"

"Okay daddy, I wanna hear that one." Hannah said smiling at him. "Okay Dad." J.J. nodded

"Now, where to start? At the beginning of course," Castle said thinking, spinning the realm of his story into being.

Castle smiled, and looking from one to the other of his children, began to tell the story, unconsciously dropping into a deeper, booming voice as he spoke.

"The story of Stephen and Jacob takes place a long time ago, in a world not quite like ours. At the beginning of times, 3 gods got together, and decided to build a world. They took some rock, a bit of dirt, some water, and a big piece of sky, and put it all together with a piece of magic."

Kate looked into her children's bedroom about half an hour later, to hear Rick telling their children about two knights. She grinned, and settled back to listen.

15 minutes later she shook her head and interrupted. "Richard, the kids are practically asleep. Save the rest for another time"

Castle looked up, pausing for a moment in his rendition of Stephen and Jacob's first battle against the Kobolds. He then looked down at his children again, and smiled gently. "Okay little ones, time to sleep" he said softly, before kissing Hannah's forehead and tucking her blankets around her, as Kate did the same for J.J.

They swapped places, repeated the relevant actions, and then left the room quietly, closing the door carefully behind them

"I enjoyed that" Castle said smiling. "Telling that story I mean"

Winter, 2016

"And so it came about that Stephen was held fast by the lord's knights, and no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't get free and could only watch as the evil lord Krogger raised a sword to cut off Jacob's head"

J.J. and Hannah gasped "Noo!"

Castle thought for a moment, or paused for dramatic effect, depending on which side you were on. He had no idea what was happening next until he said it. He was keeping it that way with this story.

"Krogger had just started to swing the sword, when all of a sudden, an arrow buzzed out of no-where and knocked the sword out of his hand, and a young lady descended from the ceiling on a rope, and spoke – 'You boys looked like you could use some help' "

Summer 2018

J.J. looked at his father for a moment. "DAD! You're getting it wrong! Sarah's bow is magic! She never misses! You told us that!"

Castle laughed and kissed his son's forehead. "Trust me." he said before continuing

"Sarah!" Jacob gasped "You missed!"

"Wait for it" she replied. Then, all of a sudden, the rope that she'd hit snapped, and the chandelier dropped, and knocked the guards standing under it flying

Early 2020

"We're close now" Stephen commented to Jacob and Sarah

"It's taken us a long time to get here brother" Jacob replied, looking at the mountain looming in the distance

"And I've enjoyed every step I've taken with you boys" Sarah added. "So. On to the citadel of the Last True Thing

Many, Many years later

Kate smiled to herself as she walked up the steps to the book launch party. She'd been to so many of them before. She made her way through the party, wandering, and socialising. She saw Captain (I'm retired and you outrank me) Montgomery, Javier and Lanie Esposito, him Capitan of the 54th, and Kevin Ryan, Captain of the 32nd. Eventually, it was time for the speech, so she made her way until she could see the podium, and waited for the man to start speaking.

"Well, you all know me, so let's get this show on the road. This book is for many things. This is for children, and bedtime stories, and the comfort they provide."

He crouched down behind the podium and retrieved a very old, and very tattered teddy bear that he placed on the podium with me.

"I found Jeremy here in a box in the attic not long ago. The book is also about adventure, and the days we all spent with pots on out head. So, for those days"

He crouched again, and came back up with a kitchen pot on his head. "Don't tell my mother I took this, okay? And for that matter, don't tell my wife!"

He then cleared his throat, and looked down at the book.

"But most of all, this book is in memory of my father."

He opened the book on the podium to the first page and began to read

"In Search of the Last True Thing, by Jonathan James Castle."

"The story of Stephen and Jacob takes place a long time ago, in a world not quite like ours"

Kate smiled and sat down, listening once more to the words her husband had span for their children's bedtime stories.

Fin