Hi!

Thank you so much for all of your praise and support! You guys are awesome! I am having a blast writing this and I hope you are having a blast reading it! It is kind of hard for me to write Braden...I've never done anything like this before so if it doesn't turn out very well please tell me. Writing little kids is extremely hard! So I could use all the help I can get lol. Please leave a review with your thoughts :)

Disclaimer: Castle is not mine :/

[Chapter 3]

"Brae, can you bring me the stakes over on the bench please?" Rick asked after he placed the last support rod in the slip and raised the tent.

Braden was waiting patiently a few away, watching as his dad put the rods in. He nodded enthusiastically at his dad's request and ran over to the bag by the bench to grab the yellow stakes. With his arms full, he headed back toward Rick. "Here you go," Braden smiled, tossing the stakes down on the ground.

Rick smiled at Braden, "Thanks, buddy. Could you grab me the hammer, too? I'll let you hit the stakes in." The boy's eyes grew wide and he ran back to the bench to retrieve the hammer. Returning with it, he kneeled by Rick and handed it to him. "Okay, I'm going to hit the stake in place so it's steady for you and then you can finish it. Sound good?"

He just nodded, the smile never leaving his lips. Rick hammered the yellow stake in, pinning the tent down. He then handed Braden the mallet, his hand covering his son's as he showed him how to do it.

"Got it?"

"Got it!" Braden stated, hitting the stake as hard as he could.

Rick chuckled as he watched his son, pride bubbling through him. He's such a good kid, he thought with a smile. "Is it in there?" Rick reached out, tugging a bit on the stake to make sure it was in place. "It is!"

"I did it!" Braden held out his uninjured hand for a high-five. Rick chuckled while clapping his hand with his son's.

"Let's go do the others and then we can show your Mom."

The two quickly hammered in all four stakes, making sure they were in place. Rick and Braden stood outside the tent, admiring their handiwork. Rick had his arms crossed and Braden copied him, doing the exact same expression and movements as his dad.

"Wow. It looks great, you two." Kate came out of the RV, smiling. "You got it up fast."

Rick kissed her on the lips as soon as she made it over to them. "It was definitely easier than our first time."

She laughed, remembering how they had trouble getting the darn thing up the first trip. Rick had ended up getting caught in it, not once but twice. Kate placed a hand on Braden's shoulder and gave him a little squeeze. "Thank you for helping. That was very nice of you."

Braden gazed up at his mom, beaming at her compliment. He gave her leg a hug, his cheek resting on her hip. Kate laughed a bit, being thrown off balance at the force of his body hitting her. "We had fun," Braden grinned, letting go of Kate's leg. "Right, Dad?"

"Right, Brae. And thank you very much for your help. I don't think I could've done it without you."

The boy's smile grew. "You couldn't."

"Take it easy, buddy. When you throw it, you want the rock to skip on the water. The goal is to get as many skips as you can," Rick informed his son, showing him how to properly throw the stone.

"Watch me," Kate called, getting in her stance and throwing the flat stone toward the lake. It skipped four times before plopping in the water.

Braden stood there with his jaw dropped, impressed with his mom. "Whoa. You're good!" He then threw the stone like a baseball and it made an audible pop as it hit the water. He frowned when he saw that it didn't skip like Kate's stone did.

Kate bent down in front of Braden, "That's okay. You'll get it. It just takes practice." Braden nodded. "Your dad could use a lot of practice, huh?" She whispered.

The four-year-old glanced at his dad and watched as he tossed the stone, only getting two skips. Braden turned back to Kate and chuckled. "He's not very good."

Kate laughed, covering her mouth with her hand to suppress the noise. "No, he's not."

"Can you help me?" Braden asked, his hands on Kate's knees. "I don't want Dad to help, he needs more practice."

"Of course I'll help you."

After working with Braden for a few minutes, the boy was able to get four skips. Kate smirked over at Rick as he attempted to throw, but he'd only get two or three skips each time.

Kate placed her hands on Braden's shoulders, "Show Dad how it's done."

The boy nodded. "Hey! Watch this!" Picking a flat stone, Braden stood up and with a flick of his wrist he sent the stone across the water. It skimmed the surface, bouncing an impressive five times before it splashed and disappeared beneath the lake. Looking over his shoulder, Braden grinned, a sparkle lit in his eyes. And all he said was, "Beat that." He was challenging his dad. Kate stood merely watching as her husband got this look in his eye.

"Oh, you're on little man."

Kate smiled. "Go on, Rick. Ladies first..." She was taunting him, getting him fired up so he'd get flustered and screw up.

Ignoring her remark, Rick grabbed a stone from the gravel. Taking a calming breath, he spread his feet out and crouched down, bending his knees. He kept swinging his arm back and forth, practicing his throwing technique.

"Come on!" Braden shrieked, his arms crossed.

That little shriek happened just as Rick brought his arm forward again, causing him to drop the stone. He wasn't prepared for his son to yell at him...

"Hey!" Rick whined. "That's not fair! You messed me up!" He pointed at Braden, pouting his lip as he did.

"What? It was an accident!" Kate defended, coming up behind Braden who was just smirking. He really was his mother's son. "You were taking your sweet time."

Rick was still pouting like a little kid before she relented. "Fine! Go again, you big crybaby."

"Thank you." He grabbed another stone and got into his position.

Braden giggled as his dad did exactly what he was doing before. "Dad's funny," he grinned, looking up at Kate.

"He sure is..."

Rick flicked the stone across the lake. It bounced three times before hitting the water and sinking. Turning toward Kate and Braden, he sighed and raised his hands in the air as if in surrender. "I guess you win."

Braden jumped in the air and did a little fist pump. "Oh yeah!"

Kate pulled out her phone and hit the record button, videoing her son as he began to dance, not able to resist. This was priceless.

The trio headed back to the campsite after a few more rounds of their little competition. Braden skipped ahead as Kate and Rick stayed back, holding hands.

"How did he hurt his hand?" Kate finally asked. She saw Rick take an in-take of breath. He didn't say anything. Kate rubbed her left hand up and down his forearm. "What happened?"

He sighed. "We were on our way to the lake. And he ran ahead of me. I quickly sprinted after him only to find him sitting on the ground crying his eyes out while he grasped his bleeding hand."

Kate silently listened as Rick continued, her eyes drifting ahead to Braden.

"I asked what happened and he told me that he fell and cut his hand on a rock...I should've kept a better eye on him," he chided himself, feeling guilty.

She squeezed his hand, knowing that the man considered it his fault when it wasn't at all. He merely felt bad about his son getting hurt and he blamed it on himself. "Rick, it wasn't your fault. It was an accident. He's a four-year-old boy, he is bound to get a few scrapes here and there."

"I know," he grumbled, his eyes cast downward. "But still. I-"

Kate stopped them and kissed him in the lips. "But nothing. Rick, you are an incredible father. Alexis and Braden are proof of that. You just need to have more faith in yourself. Yes, he got hurt but it happens. He's not mad at you. That boy loves you so much."

Rick smiled and kissed her on the lips again. His hand coming up and cupping her cheek. "I don't deserve you," he whispered against her lips. "Thank you."

Kate pulled back and locked eyes with him. "Always."

Their lips fell together again, he lips sweeping over Rick's. He moaned when he felt Kate's tongue graze over his lips, begging for entrance. He gladly obliged.

"Mom! Dad! Come on!"

They broke apart. "That's our cue," Kate smirked.

"Yes, it is." Rick smiled down at her, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

Kate pecked him on the lips again. "I love you, Rick."

"I love you, too, Kate. So very much."

"Now come on, let's go make some dinner and then we can have some s'mores," she winked, pulling him along by the hand.

"Remember the first time we came up here?" He asked her, a chuckle escaping.

She glanced up at him, a smirk on her lips. "How could I forget? You almost caught yourself on fire."

He nodded. "Good times, good times..."

"Thank you for dinner, Daddy," Kate said as she kissed her husband on the cheek.

He grinned, pulling her back for another kiss. This time on the lips.

"That's gross," Braden whined, sticking his tongue out.

Rick pulled away from Kate's lips, "Sorry, Brae."

Kate pecked him once more. "Later," she whispered before she began to clear the table off. Braden was sitting on the bench playing with his Batman; Rick sat next to him. After Kate was finished she headed inside the RV, coming back out with bags of marshmallows, bars of chocolate, and boxes of graham crackers. "Who wants s'mores?"

Braden sat up, his right hand in the air. "Oh! Me! Me!"

Kate ruffled his hair as she passed him. "Oh you do, huh? I don't know..."

"Please, Mom!" The boy begged. "I'll be good. I just want a s'more."

Pretending to think about it, she drove the boy crazy. "Of course you can have s'mores, silly," she finally said. Braden did a fist pump. "Hey, Rick. Can you get the fire started? The lighter's in the RV."

"Yeah." Rick went inside, grabbing the lighter before coming back out and kneeling down by the fire pit. There were rocks formed in a circle, making a small barrier. Some twigs and branches were already set up, waiting to be lit. Flicking the lighter on, Rick lit the branches. The fire grew and started burning. A few sparks flew ever so often and little puffs of smoke rose to the sky.

Sitting down on the ground, Braden and Kate leaned against one of the logs surrounding the pit. Rick trudged over to them, plopping down next to Kate.

She already began opening the bags and boxes. "Here you go," handing Braden a slender metal rod. "Be careful."

"I will," he smiled softly, taking the rod from her. Kate handed one to Rick as well.

"Now, let's dig in!" Rick scrambled for the marshmallows and placed one on the tip of the metal rod. Holding onto the end of the rod, he set the tip with the marshmallow in the fire. When his marshmallow was a light brown, he grabbed two graham crackers and a piece of chocolate. Placing the chocolate on one of the graham crackers, he took the rod containing the marshmallow and squished it between the two grahams and chocolate. Slipping it off the rod, he stuffed it in his mouth.

Rick had made and eaten four by the time Braden was done with his first, Kate her second.

"Slow down there, Daddy," Kate instructed, tapping him on the shoulder. "Make sure there's some for the rest of us."

"Sorry," he mumbled with a full mouth. Rick then moved his focus over to Braden, he was covering his mouth with his hand trying to stifle his laughter. "What's so funny?" He had marshmallow remains and chocolate all over his mouth.

His son giggled again and pointed to his mouth. "You're all messy."

Rick gave him a confused look, turning to Kate. "What?"

"Come here," she simply said as she crooked a finger his way.

Rick leaned his head toward hers. Kate swiped her thumb on her tongue before raising it to his face while her other hand was hold his chin, keeping him still. She wiped his mouth clean, her finger sliding across his chin.

"Thanks, Mommy."

"You're welcome, Daddy."

There you go! :) I apologize that this is a short chapter. I just wanted to get this posted so y'all wouldn't have to wait. I will try to post the next chapter as soon as possible. Please leave a review with your thoughts!

Also, if y'all have any ideas or suggestions for this story, please let me know! I want to make sure I get your thoughts and ideas invested in this story! So either Private Message me or leave it in a review!

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