Hey guys! Did you miss me? Of course you did. Here is next chapter in this crazy little thing i'm doing. I had fun writing it, especially since poarts of this chapter come from actual events that have taken place in my family. Oh, before i forget: i want to thank all of you who have been reviewing. It really maks me happy knowing people are reading this and liking it, so thank you. Enjoy!
Disclamor: If it were mine Esplanie would be back together and Gates wouldn't hate Castle anymore.
"Okay now all we need is something for you to wear to daddy's book signing tomorrow night," Kate said to her daughter. Johanna jumped off her perch on the bed and ran for her closet. She flicked past the multitude of dresses until she found the one she wanted.
"This one," she said pulling the dress out and showing it to her mom. It was a jean 'overall' style dress with flowers all over it. Kate smiled. The dress was a gift from her dad. He had bought it for Johanna for her last birthday.
Kate turned and reached into the girl's sock drawer. She pulled out a pair of purple tights to go along with the dress. "How about these?" she asked
Johanna smiled and nodded, then darted back for her closet. "And my party shoes!" she said excitedly. Kate smile as her daughter dropped the dress and black shoes into the bag on the floor.
The girls didn't notice they were being watched. Richard Castle stood leaning up against the door-frame to his daughter's bedroom. He had made it his nightly routine to listen in on his wife and daughter. They would pick out clothes to wear for the next day, cuddle close together on the bed and Kate would begin to tell the young girl about her adventures as a cop. Of courses she would leave out the parts that were not suitable for a three year-olds ears.
On this particular night Kate was telling the story of how she and Rick were handcuffed together and found a live tiger. He listened in silence to the story, a smile reaching his eyes as he remembered. Soon the little girl's giggles stopped and Rick could tell she had finally fallen asleep.
Kate stood up and returned to the abandoned suitcase. She quickly wrapped a few hair ties around the end of a brush and threw it into the bag. After placing a few more things inside, she bent down and zipped the bag shut.
She had been having that 'I'm being watched' feeling all night but when she looked around there was no one there. Kate just shrugged it off as sleepiness. She flicked the light off and closed the door to let the little girl sleep.
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"You all packed?" she asked Rick as she entered their room. There were two suitcases sitting on the floor, both of them closed.
"I'm all set. Like I said I can pack fast," he said with a smile.
Kate bent down and unzipped the smaller of the two suitcases. It had been filled with the clothes she had waned to take of the trip. She looked up to see her husband smiling like the Cheshire cat.
"You packed for me?" she asked kneeling on the end of their bed.
"Well I had some help. All I did was put the pile of things you had out into a bag. It wasn't hard. A monkey could have done it," he smiled and opened his arms to her.
She crawled into his embrace, her head resting in the spot between his jaw and shoulder. He ran his hand through her hair, taking out any of the tangles that might have formed. After a while he began rubbing circles onto her shoulder blade. He could feel her breathing slow, and he knew she was asleep.
Rick kisses the top if her copper colored hair and falls asleep.
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The sun filtered in through the curtains. Kate opened her eyes to see long brown eyelashes and a cute button nose. Somehow in the middle of the night Johanna crawled into bed with mom and dad, and now lay fast asleep in the crook of Kate's arm.
"Rick," she whispered careful not to wake the little girl.
"Hm?" he said, awake but not quite ready to open his eyes.
"How did she get in here?"
"You let her," he said his voice dark and thick with sleep. "She had a nightmare and wanted to sleep in here. You told her no but the she started crying, so you help her until she fell asleep."
"How come I don't remember any of this?" she asked not recalling the alleged event that took place earlier that morning.
"Because you were half asleep at the time, and didn't want to deal with a crying child," he said chuckling slightly.
She nodded, taking his word for it. "What time is it?"
"Just after eight," he said finally opening his eyes to reveal Frank Sinatra blues looking right into her olive greens.
Johanna rolled over in Kate's arms mumbling something in her sleep about dinosaurs.
Kate stood, pulling the covers over her daughter before walking out of the bathroom. She came out a minute later wearing a faded grey NYPD sweatshirt and her hair flicked up into a messy bun.
"I'll go make us some coffee," she said leaving the now sunny bedroom. Rick listened to her fading footsteps for a minute before getting up himself and pulling on a tee shirt and following his wife into the kitchen.
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Two hours later
The house smelled of cinnamon and maple syrup, which only meant one thing: pancakes. A favorite among the entire Castle family, pancakes were something they had every Saturday morning, not just on morning when there was something to be thankful for.
Dora the Explorer played in the background. Johanna would take a bit of her food then look up at the show for a few minutes then take another bite. This went on a few times before Kate spoke up.
"Johanna, eat your food," Kate said touching her daughter's cheek so the girl would meet her eyes.
"But mommy, I like this one," Johanna whined.
"It will still be there when you finish eating," Kate said. The three year-old stuck her bottom lip out and began to pout. "Johanna Rae, if you keep acting like this you will go in time out," Kate warned. But still the girl pouted and began getting more and more upset.
Kate had had enough. She had given her daughter a warning, and when she didn't listen, Kate picked her up from her booster seat and sat the girl in the corner.
She set the timer on the stove for three minutes and began clearing the table. The cop barely noticed her still crying daughter in the background.
The buzzer sounder and Kate walked over to the girl, whose cries had been reduced to sniffling. She crouched down to meet her daughter's eyes.
"Johanna, I sent you to time out because you did not listen to me when I said to stop watching TV and eat your food." She said her voice low, not angry but definitely serious.
"I'm sorry mommy," Johanna said wiping her nose in the hem of her pajama shirt.
"I know you are," Kate said pulling the girl in for a hug. "Now will you be a good girl and play down here while I go take a shower?" Johanna nodded and skipped off to where her unfinished picture lay and continued coloring in it.
Kate went into her room, closing the door behind her. The bathroom door was closed so she busied herself with making the bed, while Rick finished his shower. He came out a few minutes later wearing nothing but boxer shorts.
She smiled and walked past him and into the still humid bathroom. She turned the water on and as it warmed up again, she shed her clothes.
Once the water was hot enough for her liking, she stepped inside, letting the stream hit her square in the face. She stood in front of the water for a while letting the water hit all of her muscles, relaxing them from their constant stress induced tightness.
She heard Rick knock on the door.
"Kate, I'm going to get Johanna ready," he said.
She opened the door a few minutes later; a rush of cold air hit her face sending chills down her spine. She dressed quickly, knowing her daughter could burst through the door at any moment.
And as if on cue, there was a knock on the door. Kate grants the person behind the door entrance and a second later the door is thrown wide open. Rick enters with a now dressed Johanna on his hip. He sets her down on the bed and turns towards his closet looking for a jacket.
Kate turns to her daughter and smiles at the shirt she's wearing. It's a light pink "Team Nikki" shirt that Rick had gotten for her the week before. He had gotten Kate and Alexis one as well but Johanna was the frills of the Castle girls to wear it.
Kate scanned the girl up and down; stopping abruptly on the way her hair was styled. She could only smile and laugh.
"Johann, turn around and show daddy your hair," she said to the girl Johanna did as she was told and turned backwards. "Castle, did you fix her hair this morning?" Kate asked her husband.
"Yes, why?' He asked, his voice muffled slightly from inside the walk-in closet.
"Because they are completely lopsided, one side is higher than the other," she said.
Rick looked up at his daughter before shrugging his shoulders. "They look good to me."
Kate sighed and sat on the bed next to the young girl. "Would you like me to fix you pig tails Jojo?" she asked. The girl shook her head.
"Daddy did them, I like them that way," Kate threw her hands up in defeat.
"Alright whatever you say, your majesty," she said smiling.
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"Are you guys ready yet?" Rick practically whined up the stairs.
"Relax Castle, we are not late, we have time." Kate said coming down the stairs; Johanna holding one of her hand, a tote bag in the other and a backpack slung over her shoulder.
They reached the bottom and Johanna let go of her mom's hand and ran to her older sister for a hug.
"Bye Lexi," the young girl said to her sister who had arrived a few minutes later to look after the house while they were gone.
"Bye jellybean. Have fun and don't get into too much trouble ok?" Alexis asked her sister. The girl nodded before putting on the jacket her dad held out to her.
"Ok we need to go," Rick said pulling his oldest daughter in for a hug. "No parties while I'm gone." Alexis laughed and kissed her dad's cheek.
"Be safe this weekend, ok?" Kate said into Alexis's ear while she gave the young woman a hug.
"Don't worry about me Kate. I can handle myself," Alexis said.
"Ok but if you need anything; Ryan and Esposito are on call this weekend. Don't be afraid to call them."
"I won't. Bye guys, have fun."
The family walked out of the apartment, Johanna running ahead of them yelling something about wanting to push the button.
Rick linked his fingers in between Kate's and kissed the top of her hand.
"Chicago, here we come," he said as the elevator carried down to ground level.
They reached the front door where a town car waited for them, their bags already in the trunk. The family got in, Johanna in between her parents.
"Hey Jellybean, are you ready?" Rick asked his daughter. She was nodding profusely and the smile on her face could have lit up the whole island of Manhattan for a year.
"Well then let's go," Castle said signaling to the driver. They pulled away from the curb and headed out on their first book tour as a family.
Well what did you think? Really, i'm dying to know. What do you want to see? What do you think will happen next? REVIEW!
p.s.- Happy belated Canadian Thanksgiving!