Rick climbed into bed beside her, pushed his pillow behind him and settled back against the headboard. Kate moved up against him, wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head in his lap. With a sigh of contentment she felt his fingers carding through her hair, gently massaging her scalp, her mind asking her for the umpteenth time why she had been so scared of getting into a relationship with her writer. She had never felt so wanted, so desired and so safe … in fact it was pretty scary! She quickly back-tracked out of that rabbit hole and with her finger drawing patterns on his thigh she ventured "So, how many stories did you write for her?"
"I think I did about twelve … " he paused "… maybe fourteen stories, I can't remember exactly. They were just everyday things we would do, or see or imagine. When I did the first one … I have to admit it was pretty awful, I mean I hadn't written any children's stuff before ... and I was sore at Meredith, and trying to keep an eye on Alexis and her friends … a couple of the mothers had stuck around to help, but you know me, I was …"
"Hovering?" she asked on a laugh
"Yeah, I guess 'hovering' just about covers it. Anyway, I wrote about the day we'd spent at the zoo, printed it out and put it in a folder. After everyone had left and I'd given Alexis her bath and put her to bed … I asked her if she wanted me to read her one of her usual bedtime stories or a 'special' one that had mysteriously appeared from outer space!"
Kate chuckled at that "And I can imagine which one she chose!"
"Right!" he laughed. "Anyway, when I read out the title 'Monkey-Bunkey at the Zoo' … oh Kate, you should have seen her! Her eyes were almost popping out of her head and she clutched her stuffed monkey ever tighter and her mouth dropped open and then she said 'A story about Monkey-Bunkey! Daddy, a story about Monkey-Bunkey!' … and she was almost bouncing up and down on the bed, all the sadness and hurt from her Mom not turning up for her birthday just forgotten!"
Kate didn't know whether laugh or cry at the story. She could just picture five year-old Alexis as Castle was describing her and her reaction was not that different to his, earlier on in the evening when she had shown him her discovery.
"Anyway, the next evening, when I went to read her a story, she just pulled out the Monkey-Bunkey one and asked me to read it again. You know how she does the puppy eyes and the pout?"
"Hmm, I wonder who she got those off?"
He playfully slapped her shoulder, "No interrupting the master storyteller!"
She cuddled further into him, tangling her foot in between his and tipping her head back to look up at him, an apologetic pout on her lips.
"Not going to work Kate!" and she huffed a laugh. "So, I opened the folder and found that Alexis had done a couple of drawings of Monkey-Bunkey … and what I assumed was a penguin; although I'd never seen a pink and purple one before! That gave me the idea of leaving large spaces on the sheets of the next stories and getting her to 'illustrate' them …. I thought that would make them even more … personal, to her"
She sighed, kissing his the skin just below his ribs before pulling herself up and straddling him. There were tears in her eyes as she leant forwards to kiss him. "Where did you learn to be such a … great father …. and such a pain in the neck of a shadow?!"
She could feel his answering smile against her lips, his hands sliding in under the back of her t-shirt and holding her round the waist as he pulled her further up into his lap. She could tell he was getting …. enthusiastic …. so she laid a hand flat against his chest, pausing them.
"I just wanted to say something … when I was down in the storeroom, reading the first pages of the story …" she looked up at him from under her lashes, feeling the blood rush up her neck and into her face ".. I suddenly had this picture of you …" she had to clear her throat before continuing, "… of you writing and reading stories to a couple of our kids …. not, not tomorrow … but some day!" she finished in a rush.
If there had been any doubt in her mind over the matter, the look he was giving her would have sent it spinning off into outer space. She didn't think it was possible to get any redder than she already was, but from the sensation of heat on her face she was sure she must look like a beetroot and ….
Any further coherent though left her mind as he crushed his lips to hers, pushed his tongue into her mouth and flipped her over onto her back, his body settling over hers and the fire in his eyes scorching her to her core.