Chapter 24
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7:00a
Kate rolled over to turn off the alarm.
"Don't go," Castle mumbled, reaching out for her.
Kate let him drag her back against his body but not before grabbing her cellphone off the bedside table. She checked to see if she had any messages even as she felt his hot breath on her neck. "Castle," she scolded, when she felt his hand inching up and under her tank top, "I have to get ready for work."
"Oh, come on, Kate," he murmured into her ear, "You don't need an hour to get ready."
"I don't like rushing," she said, even as she let Castle grab the cellphone out of her hand and drop it on the carpet.
He rolled on top of her and replied with a glint in his eyes, "Neither do I." He drew out a long kiss from her lips, pulling away just long enough to add, "I think we should just take our time—" his fingers trailed back down her stomach "—don't you?"
"Castle, I—" she let out a moan.
It only encouraged his wandering hands. "—Yes...?" he replied, cheekily.
Her body arched up on its own accord. "Okay, fine," she said breathily, "Just once."
"Once for you?" He started to slide off her shorts and her panties. "Or once for me?" She gasped. "Because I think you're almost…"
She cut him off abruptly, pulling his face down to kiss him, hard. The way he was teasing her already made her want to scream but there was no way she would traumatize the other two people in the house by doing so. Without pulling away, she used her legs to push his boxers down.
"Oh, are we rushing now?" he said with a grin.
"Shut up, Castle," she said, wrapping her legs around his torso.
That was as far as they got, though, because two seconds later a light knock sounded from their door followed by, "Mommy! Daddy! I want juice!"
"Son of a—" Kate rapidly pushed a very dissatisfied Castle off of her.
"You?" he whispered furtively, "What about me?"
Luckily, they had a child safety knob over their door so Zoey couldn't just walk in but usually she wasn't even able to get out of her bedroom by herself. It was too dangerous for Zoey to be walking around the house without them being aware – especially since the little girl often woke up earlier than they did.
"Did you forget to secure the baby gate on her door last night?" Kate asked as she jumped out of bed to grab her robe.
"I don't know," said Castle, pulling his boxers back on, "I thought you did it!"
"I was taking a shower when you tucked her in!"
"Yeah, but you always like to check in on her before you go to bed!"
Kate let out a disgruntled noise.
"Can't we just chalk this up to a one-time instance of bad communication?" Castle said.
"Yeah, yeah," Kate replied, already opening the door. "Good morning, Zo," she said.
"Morning mommy!" Zoey exclaimed. "Can I have juice?"
Kate glanced at the clock – now, she was definitely going to be late and she still had to take a shower – and then at Castle. Her eyes flicked down from his eyes to the pillow he had over his lap and then back up again. He shook his head slightly and her eyes flew skyward in amusement.
"Hi daddy!" Zoey called to him.
"Morning, Zo," he said with a smile, "Mommy's going to get juice for you first and then I'll come down to make you breakfast after I've brushed my teeth. How does that sound?"
Zoey nodded and Kate took her hand to lead her out, shutting the door behind them.
Castle flopped back down on the bed and groaned in frustration.
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11:30a
"Bye dad! Bye Zo!"
The two of them watched as Alexis waved one last time before disappearing past the security checkpoint at JFK.
"Where Lexi going?" Zoey asked for the tenth time since she had woken up, anxiety returning now that they were actually at the airport and Alexis was actually leaving.
"Lexi is visiting her mommy," Castle replied, "Remember?"
"When Lexi coming back?" she asked, grasping Castle's hand as they made their way back out to the parking lot.
"In two weeks," he said, "Fourteen days."
Zoey nodded, although Castle knew she hadn't quite grasped the concept of time. Sure enough, "How many sleeps?" Zoey asked.
Castle took a deep breath. He definitely needed a coffee after the morning he had had.
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1:13p
Castle knew he was lucky that Alexis had always had such a kind and agreeable nature. Likewise, he knew that Zoey's easy-going personality could not be attributed solely to his stellar parenting skills. However, Castle had never realised just how lucky he was until that very moment, while being forced to wait in line at a packed Starbucks.
The line was barely moving and Zoey was standing next to Castle, quietly conversing with her stuffed bunny rabbit, when another little girl suddenly tore through the line and bumped into her.
"Hey!" said Zoey, rubbing at her shoulder, stuffed animal now on the floor.
The other child had been running away from her parents who had just made it to the front of the line. Before the father could catch up to her, though, the girl managed to knock over a display of French presses and travel mugs.
Castle bent down and picked up both Zoey and the slightly dirtied white bunny so that they wouldn't get bowled over twice.
"Are you okay, Zo?" he asked, giving her a consoling kiss on the cheek.
Zoey pointed to her arm. "Just a little owwie, not a big owwie."
He took the fact that she wasn't crying as a good sign. Still, "How about I take a look?" Castle asked.
Zoey's pigtails bobbed up and down. Castle slid her purple cardigan off of her right shoulder to reveal her arm. He made the motion to lift up the edge of her blue t-shirt even though he knew there wouldn't be a bruise. Rubbing the arm gently, he said, "You're okay. Nothing there."
Zoey pouted, "But, she didn't say sorry."
"I know, sweetie," he replied, "That wasn't very nice."
Zoey still looked bothered. "But you and mommy tell me to say sorry when I hurted somebody. So, she should say sorry!"
"Well, maybe that little girl's mommy and daddy didn't teach her that," said a male voice behind them.
Castle turned around to see who had spoken. It was an older gentleman, about the same age as Martha, who looked annoyed and less than impressed at the continued antics of the child (who was now screaming for a cookie).
"Your daughter is very well-behaved," the man continued.
Now that Castle had turned around, he could see that a pair of siblings – a boy and a girl, neither older than six – were poking at each other with straws. He could tell it wouldn't be long before one or both of them ended up in tears. Castle directed his attention back at the man, "Do you have any children?" he asked.
"Two boys," he replied, "But they're all grown up now." He gave the parents at the front a disapproving glare. "And they were never so disrespectful. Kids nowadays are completely spoiled."
Castle refrained from responding to that. He did his own share of spoiling Zoey and Alexis. "Well, I think it depends on the child as well," he said instead.
"Daddy." Zoey interrupted the conversation with a poke to Castle's chest. She was holding up the stuffed bunny by one of its ears. "Flopsy is dirty now."
Castle's conversation with the other man had also caught the attention of some of the other customers in line (who had been glad to hear something besides the screaming of the child at the front and the crying of the children in the back).
"I'm sure that's nothing a bath can't fix," said the woman in front of them. She was young, probably the same age as Castle himself.
Zoey looked at the woman dubiously. "I don't think Flopsy likes baths." She gripped the ear tighter, "I like Flopsy this way."
Castle shared a smile with the woman. To Zoey, he said, "I think Flopsy will feel just as fluffy and look just the same after a bath."
"Especially if your daddy puts Flopsy into a pillowcase and then let him air dry near a dehumidifier," said the woman with a wink before walking up to the register to finally place her order.
Castle chuckled. "Thanks," he said after her.
Zoey tilted her head up to look at Castle. "Are you sure, daddy?" she asked, "I don't want a new Flopsy."
"I'm very sure," said Castle. He then pointed to the little open fridge beside them. "Do you want an apple juice, honey?"
Zoey nodded. "Can we get a cookie for mommy?" she asked.
Castle grinned. "For mommy? Or for Zoey?"
Zoey's guilty expression immediately revealed her true intentions.
"Tell you what," said Castle, "Why don't we go buy mommy a real lunch first and then, maybe, on our way home, we can go get some cupcakes for dessert tonight?"
Zoey wasn't one for temper tantrums anyway but Castle didn't miss the relieved look on the barista's face when Zoey accepted Castle's suggestion without breaking down into tears.
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2:00p
"Wow," said Castle, "How come I never get this kind of welcome?"
He and Zoey had arrived at the precinct a few minutes ago and within seconds, Zoey had been lured away by a group of detectives.
"You just have to get over the fact that you're not that cute, Castle," said Karpowski, walking past him towards the lounge. "And Beckett's out with the boys. Chasing down a suspect."
"Thanks," he replied, only slightly mopey about not getting to see Kate. He sat down at her desk, purposely readjusting her seat (there had to be some indication that he had been there, after all) and placed the takeout box with the Reuben sandwich in it squarely in the centre.
Spotting a stack of scrap paper in the corner, he picked up a sheet.
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3:02p
Kate finished the sandwich before she even spotted the piece of paper taped to the inside of her desk lamp. He never left a note in the same spot twice.
Kate,
Tonight. No interruptions.
Before she could even react, Kate felt the note being lifted out of her hand.
"Unsigned, huh? Like it's a big mystery who this is from."
Kate turned around in her chair and grabbed it back from Lanie. "You know, I really hate when you do that."
Lanie smirked. "So what's this about interruptions?"
Now it was Kate's turn to smirk. If there was anything Lanie hated, it was a nugget of information that she wasn't privy to. Ripping up the note and dropping it in the recycling, Kate spun back around to face her desk. "Is there a reason you're up here, Lanie? Normally, I'm the one who visits you."
There was a minute of silence while Lanie answered a message on her phone. Finally, "Anomaly in the exit wound," she answered and dropped the file folder that she had been holding onto the desk.
In the middle of flipping through the pictures, Lanie suddenly held her cellphone in front of Kate's face. It was a text from Esposito:
Morning delight interrupted by baby B-C.
Kate grabbed at the phone. "What the—" she spluttered.
"Something about 'bros before hos'?" Lanie said with a grin.
"And what exactly is 'B-C' supposed to mean?"
"Baby Beckett-Castle," chimed in Esposito from his desk, loud enough for most of the bullpen to hear.
Ryan then felt the need to add, "Duh."
"You guys are dead, you know that?" The phone started to look like a weapon in Kate's hand.
"Us—" Esposito gestured at him and Ryan, "—or your boy, Castle, there?"
Kate narrowed her eyes. "Why don't you text him back my response and see how funny he thinks he is now?"
"What response?" Ryan asked.
Kate held up a finger as she scrawled onto a sheet of paper. Holding it up, the boys read: How would you like going from a baritone to a soprano?
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3:11p
Castle winced as he imagined the many ways Kate could make that happen.
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3:19p
Kate's phone notified her of a new voicemail. It was Zoey's voice that greeted her:
Hi mommy! Today a girl hurted me and she didn't say sorry and I was very mad. Daddy says you're mad too so I told him to say sorry and he did. Daddy says he's very sorry, mommy and that means you have to forgive him now. Oh! And we got cupcakes for dessert for tonight! Your favourites and my favourites! I love you mommy! Bye!
Kate saved the message. Then, she typed out a reply.
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3:23p
Castle opened the text: That's cheating.
He grinned. Apology accepted.
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6:37p
"Did Alexis call you yet?"
Kate wandered into the kitchen where Castle was making dinner. She had changed out of her work clothes and into black leggings and an old purple t-shirt.
"Yeah," he answered, breaking off the inedible part of an asparagus stalk, "Meredith's already driving her crazy."
"Hm," Kate plucked a sliced cucumber out of the salad bowl and tossed it in her mouth, "Maybe I'll call her later. See how she's settling in." She peered over his shoulder, "Do you need any help?"
He tilted his head back and gave her a quick kiss. "No, salad's done and salmon's almost ready."
Kate grinned, "Are you making up for this afternoon?"
"How about I make it up to you later on tonight?" he answered suggestively.
She slapped his arm, "Isn't that what got you into trouble in the first place?"
"I'll let you punish me."
Kate rolled her eyes.
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9:07p
Castle stepped out of the bathroom after his shower to find that Kate wasn't in their bedroom. Zoey must have demanded an extra bedtime story.
He walked the few steps from their bedroom and stopped at the threshold of their daughter's door. He stayed quiet, not wanting to interrupt the scene in front of him.
The room was dim, save for the shooting star lamp in the corner but Castle could clearly make out Kate curled up beside Zoey, singing softly to her while rubbing her back. He loved hearing Kate sing when she thought nobody else was listening. When she sang to Zoey, there was no pride or inhibition involved – it was just Kate, open and unconcerned about sounding good. Except, of course, she always sounded the most beautiful during those times. It also helped that the jazzy, smoky quality of Kate's voice seemed to perfectly suit nighttime lullabies.
"Mommy," Castle heard Zoey murmur, "Sing the 'dreaming' song."
Kate smiled, "Okay but this is the last one."
Zoey sighed, knowing their routine, "Okay, mommy, I'll close my eyes now."
"Good girl." She leaned in to kiss the tip of Zoey's nose before starting softly: "Stars shining bright above you. Night breezes seem to whisper I love you. Birds singing in the sycamore tree…"
Kate started to gently extract herself out of Zoey's bed midway through the song, though her voice never wavered: "Sweet dreams 'til sunbeams find you. Sweet dreams that leave all worries far behind you. But in your dreams, whatever they be…"
"…dream a little dream of me," Castle finished.
Kate looked up to see him standing in the doorway and met his gaze with a smile. Turning off the lamp, she made sure Zoey's nightlights were on before joining him.
She closed the door behind them before questioning him teasingly, "And why are you smiling so widely?"
He surprised her a little when he pulled her in for a kiss. "Because you're extraordinary."
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10:00p
Castle and Kate finally finished what they had started that morning.
A/N: I know this chapter strays a little from the normal structure but I had planned for it to be another 'light on the plot, heavy on the fluff, fluff, and more fluff' chapter. Then, when I started writing, it just turned into this 'Day in the Life' thing so I decided to roll with it.
(And, the song that Kate was singing to Zoey was: 'Dream a Little Dream of Me', one of my all time favourite songs! Many, many artists throughout the years have covered it although I believe the version by Mama Cass remains the most popular. Also, I highly recommend checking out Zooey Deschanel's beautiful rendition of it on YouTube!)
Anywhoozles, hope it was enjoyable! We will be returning to our regularly scheduled programming in the next chapter. ;) Oh, and a MASSIVE THANK YOU to all of you for reading and helping me reach 1000+ reviews! In the words of Sally Field: You like me! You really like me! (well, not me, more like my writing but... oh, you guys get the gist)... ;)