At the sound of the alarm, Kate languidly stretched in a patch of watery sunshine before rolling over and turning the source of the offending noise off. Pulling the comforter over her head and reveling in the feeling of the soft sheets, Kate curled into a ball and attempted to drift back to sleep. Before she could do much more than close her eyes, the smell of freshly brewed coffee and bacon inundated her senses, drawing her back out from under the covers-nose first. Cracking one eye open, she saw a cup of coffee floating just out of reach. Sitting up slightly, Kate freed her arm and reached for the cup. Before she could quite get a hold of it, the cup moved slightly farther away forcing her to sit completely upright.
"Good morning, Sleepyhead. How'd you sleep?"
"I slept fine, Castle. Now, please, hand over that cup of coffee."
"You know, you only call me Castle when you are irritated with me."
Unwittingly, he started waving the coffee cup around just out of Kate's reach as he spoke. Eyes glued to the cup, Kate couldn't help but growl just a little.
Snapping back to reality at the sound of Kate's low growl and realizing what he was doing, Rick decided to tempt fate just a little longer and started purposefully waving the cup around, just out of the reach of Kate's extended arm, while smiling playfully. Retracting her arm, Kate leaned back into the pillows and sent a withering glare in Rick's direction.
"Well, Castle, maybe if you just gave me the coffee I could get back to calling youRick. So what do you say…coffee?...Rick?"
At the sound of the dangerous but teasing lilt in Kate's voice, Rick looked back at Kate and couldn't help but laugh a little as he saw her sitting up on her knees in a manner reminiscent of a cat getting ready to pounce on its unsuspecting prey-this instance, a cup of coffee. Remembering what had happened the last time he had seen her like that, Rick quickly handed her the cup with a hurried "Oh! Sorry about that. Here you go," although the smug grin on his face seemed to suggest otherwise.
Savouring the taste of the coffee while watching Rick talk animatedly, Kate couldn't help but think of how they had gotten to that point-the point of her staying in Castle's guest room...of him bringing her breakfast in bed...but most importantly, of it feeling normal.
After her conversation with Alexis, she and Kate had walked out into the living room only to discover that Rick and Chloe had been busy while they had been talking. They couldn't take more than two steps outside the door without running into blankets that seemed to have eaten the living room. The blanket fort was so expansive that it had taken over not only the living room but also the foyer and kitchen.
"How long were we in there?" Kate couldn't help but murmur in wonder.
Suddenly, Chloe and Rick popped up in front of the two women.
"C'mon…Alexis you have to check this out." Reaching her hand out, Chloe pulled Alexis down onto her hands and knees and led her into the fort.
"What do you say?" Rick asked, holding out his hand for Kate.
"Castle…how am I supposed to crawl through there with a twisted ankle and bruised ribs? And besides that, how am I supposed to get out of here to go home?"
"Firstly, you are not leaving this loft tonight and probably not tomorrow, either."
"Wha-"
"No, Kate. You were injured yesterday and you are not staying alone tonight, and that is final."
Thinking of all the promises she had made that day, Kate resigned herself to fact that she was going to have to stay at the loft and work on the issues she had created. "Okay. I will stay."
"Thank you. Now, as to the crawling thing…I didn't really think that out before building the fort…so give me just a second." And with that, Rick was back on his hands and knees and disappearing back into the fort.
A couple minutes later, Rick reappeared with a blanket in hand.
"Kate…after giving this some thought, I have come up with a solution, but you are going to hate it. Are you sure you don't want to try crawling?"
"Rick, I would rather not. So tell me, what is this solution I am going to hate?"
"Well, I was thinking that you could lay down on this blanket and I could pull you to the 'movie room'?"
"What? That is your great plan."
"Well, I never said it was great." Rick quietly interjected.
Acting as if Rick hadn't said anything, Kate continued on. "No way am I going to be dragged through the fort…I will take my chances and crawl. How far are we going anyways."
Relieved that Kate didn't try and take her crutches to the fort to knock down a path, Rick quickly answered. "Not far…just to the couch…although it is a little farther than normal."
"Fine." Kate groused and braced herself from the pain that she would undoubtedly be feeling from her ribs from crawling around on her hands and knees.
Determined not to let the pain get to her, she steadfastly crawled all the way to the 'movie room'. Upon reaching the room, the pain she felt was momentarily put out of mind by the set-up. The coffee table had been moved out of the way and four pallets had been set up for them to lie on. Crawling over towards the pallets, Kate settled on the pallet closest to her. With a loud sigh, Kate laiddown only to feel a shoot of pain go through her from overdoing it with the crawling.
"Tylenol?" Kate smiled thankfully at Rick who was sitting next to her holding out two capsules and a glass of water. "I figured you wouldn't go for my idea so while I was in here I stopped by the kitchen and got some Tylenol for you knowing how much pain you would be in when you got here."
Only after downing the Tylenol, some deep breaths and motionlessness was Kate able to really look and see what they had set up. In addition to the pallets were bowls of candy and popcorn everywhere and a movie set up on the television. She couldn't believe that they still wanted to have a full-on movie night after everything. By the time she was done looking around; Chloe had taken up the pallet next to her with Castle sitting on the pallet in between Alexis and Chloe.
About halfway through the movie, Kate was shocked when she felt something hitting her leg. Looking down, she saw that Chloe had lain down, using her leg as a pillow, and was trying valiantly to stay awake. Without thinking, Kate reached a hand down and started running it through Chloe's hair murmuring softly. "It's okay, baby girl. You can go to sleep."
-o-O-o-
Waking up the next morning, Kate was surprised to find she was lying on the couch with Chloe snuggled up next to her and Rick sitting in front of her with a travel mug of coffee.
"Good Morning. Sleep well?"
"Not bad. I am assuming you had something to do with this?" Kate said waving her arms over her and Chloe.
"A little, yeah. I didn't think it would be doing you any favours to sleep on the floor so I convinced you to move to the couch before you completely conked out. After that I was about to take Chloe upstairs to her bed but she wouldn't let go of you so I let her sleep with you. I hope you don't mind."
Looking down at the little girl sleeping next to her, Kate couldn't think of anything she minded less and said as much as she reached out for the mug of coffee.
Unsure how exactly Rick had done it, Kate found herself spending her days and nights at the loft for the next week following 'the incident', as Rick had taken to calling it. After how she had treated them, she couldn't quite figure out why he would want her there but she had to admit that it was definitely what they needed. Time to just hang out and have fun: mend fences and show that they were still the same people despite Kate's fears. In that short amount of time, Kate couldn't believe how at home she felt. It had been a long time since she had really felt at home anywhere, even at her own apartment.
Suddenly realizing that Rick was no longer talking, Kate snapped out of her reverie only to find that he was sitting on the edge of the bed once again holding the cup of coffee while regarding her quizzically.
"When... How... Why are you holding my coffee?" Kate asked, confused.
Rick looked at her thoughtfully and gave her a grin. "I noticed that you weren't paying attention to me a while ago so I decided to see if you really are out of it. Imagine my surprise when the formidable-don't talk to me before I have had my morning coffee-Kate Beckett willingly handed over her cup of coffee." He added, teasingly.
Beckett shook her head and covered her face with her hand tiredly. "I'm just tired, Rick. My coffee, now... please."
He grinned and handed it to her. "Aren't you wondering for how long you were out of it?"
She glared at him and sighed reluctantly. "Fine." She dragged out. "How long?"
Rick made a 'so so action' with his hands and stood up, holding a hand out to her. "5 minutes. Give or take."
She stood up, appalled. "5 minutes!"
He laughed, amused. "Oh, Kate...Was it as good for you as it was for me?"
Grabbing the coffee, she took a sip before grinning knowingly over the rim of the cup. "You have no idea." She laughed out heartily as he stuttered, unable to come up with anything in his surprise, and lightly smacked his shoulder. "Now get out. I'm going to freshen up a bit."
"Awww... but Kate. I would love to save the environment with you." He said over his shoulder as she pushed him out the door from behind.
She just rolled her eyes in reply as she stood by her door. "Goodbye, Rick."
"Until later, Kate." Rick said with a smile as he came back to join her by the door before adding teasingly, "I think I am going to go get set up. Hope you don't mind getting a little...messy."
Finally succeeding in pushing him out of the room; she slammed the door shut, took a sip of coffee and ate a piece of bacon off the plate on the bedside table before heading into the en suite. As she prepared to take a shower, thoughts of the previous evening's events stopped her in her tracks.
Kate had finally gotten off her crutches earlier that week and was enjoying the freedom that it gave her. While she still was not back up to wearing heels, the ability to walk on her own two feet was liberating. Walking up to the door of the Castle's loft, she was excited to see them again. She had been so busy with work, even if it was just desk duty, that she hadn't seen them since the Tuesday of the week previous when they had gone shopping for Chloe's party—she hadn't even had the opportunity to meet Grams yet. While they had managed to text and talk on the phone, it just wasn't the same as seeing them in person. Knocking on the door, she stood there nervously.
With a loud crash, the door flew open and Kate was treated to the sight of a flour covered Chloe.
"What happened, munchkin? Have you decided that you are going to be a ghost for Halloween?"
"No, silly. Daddy and I were getting started making the cupcakes."
"I thought you were going to wait for me." Kate said with a mock pout.
"We are. We were just getting the ingredients out. I dropped the flour container though and it is EVERYWHERE! "
"I can see that." Kate said rubbing a finger over Chloe's nose. "How about we go see what you dad is up to before he makes the mess worse."
Grabbing Kate's hand, Chloe pulled her into the loft as best she could.
"Slow down. I need to take off my jacket first."
"Hurry!" Chloe said as she impatiently bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.
"Done. Now, let's go." Kate said as she hung up her coat and threw her bag next to the shoes she had left next to the door.
Walking into the kitchen, Kate was shocked by the sheer amount of flour decorating every surface of the kitchen. Seeing Rick standing in the middle of the mess with a broom in hand: coated in just as much flour as Chloe, Kate backed out of the kitchen as laughter overtook her. She was laughing so hard by time she got to the dining room table that she nearly missed the chair as the tears rolled down her face.
After the laughter had subsided, Kate looked up to see a much cleaner kitchen and two eager faces waiting for her to help make cupcakes.
As they were pulling the last batch of cupcakes out of the oven—an achievement they had earned with only a few more minor messes—the doorbell rang. Running over to the door, Chloe threw it open, barreling out into the women outside with a cry of "Mommy!" Looking over, Kate was surprised to see that the blonde woman was not only accepting the hug from her flour and cupcake batter covered daughter, but she was returning it as well.
"Hey, baby! What is all this?" Gina asked as she fingered some of the flour in Chloe's hair.
"We are making cupcakes for tomorrow! Want to come see them?" Without waiting for a response, Chloe dragged her to the kitchen just as she had done to Kate a couple hours earlier. "See! We made chocolate and white cupcakes. We are going to get to decorate them tomorrow and it is going to be Soooooooo much fun! Are you going to be here tomorrow, Mommy?"
"I see. They look wonderful. I am not sure yet. Mommy has meetings tomorrow, remember? That is why you are going to stay with me tonight. So we can celebrate just in case I can't make it. That way I don't miss your birthday. Now, how about we get you cleaned up so we can go."
"Okay."
Turning to run upstairs, Gina quickly grabbed Chloe's arm to stop her.
"Wait, baby. I want you to try something for me…you ready? I want you to shake your head as hard as you can so that your hair flies every which way. Can you do that for me?"
"Like this, Mommy?" Chloe asked shaking her head from side to side.
"Good job. Now, back and forth and then hang your head to the side and I am going to make your hair fly too."
A couple minutes later, as Chloe's hair was a little more blond and a little less white, Gina gave her a light smack and sent her upstairs to get her bag.
Standing up, Gina reached out a hand and genuinely smiled. "Hi. I'm Gina. You must be the famous Kate I have heard so much about."
"Hi. Yeah, I'm Kate. I must say, though, that you are nothing like what I expected."
"Oh?…ah, you talked to Alexis, didn't you? She never took too kindly to me and Rick's split and has a rather…skewed…perspective on the matter and me in general."
"Oh, okay. Well, it's nice to meet you. I know Chloe is excited to get to spend the night with you. While we were baking, it was a toss-up whether she was more excited for tomorrow's party or to get to spend the night with you. Glad to see that that feeling seems to be mutual."
After Chloe and Gina had left, Kate and Rick set about cleaning the kitchen and decorating the rest of the loft. By time the last streamer was hung, it was nearing one in the morning and both Rick and Kate were getting a little punch drunk. With one final look at the work they had done, they both headed to bed-excited but wary of what the next day was going to bring.
Shuddering at the thought of the mess they made and the thought of the possibility of another mess, Kate withdrew her hand from the shower door and decided to forgo the shower for the time being. After freshening up, Kate walked hesitantly in to the kitchen and was pleasantly surprised to find that Rick had managed to clean up breakfast and get out the ingredients for making frosting: without making a mess of the kitchen or himself. With much more confidence, Kate walked over to the coffee pot and poured herself another cup of coffee before grabbing the recipe book from Rick's hands and reading over what they needed to do.
With Kate acting in a supervisory position—sitting at the counter filling bowls with candies for decorating, they managed to make six large batches of frosting, five coloured and one white, with only one minor mishap involving food colouring and Rick mumbling something that sounded like "two by two, hands of blue" under his breath.
-o-O-o-
Coming downstairs half an hour later dressed up as Nancy Drew, Kate finally had a chance to really look around the loft to see what they had done. The entrance to the study was cordoned off with crime scene tape- or at least appeared to be with the tape attached to the door allowing easy access to the study, all around the loft, clues were set up as well as stations for the different 'witnesses' to stand. More crime scene tape was dangling from the ceiling around the dining room table leaving an open space wide enough to be called an entrance. In front of that entrance sat one of the bar stools with a box sitting on it with a sign propped against it reading 'Crime Lab'.
Before Kate could look around anymore, the front door burst open and a whirlwind of blond and pink came running through the door followed closely behind by Gina.
"Kate, how nice to see you again. The place looks amazing, as does your costume." Gina said with a genuine smile on her face as she spun around a little to take in everything. "Now, more than before, I wish I could stay to see how this plays out. I am so sorry to leave like this but I have a meeting that I just can't miss." Gina said hurriedly, walking over to Kate who was giving Chloe a hug.
Bending down, Gina took a hold of Chloe's hand after she had let go of Kate and pulled her over to her.
"Hey baby, I am so sorry, but I have to leave now. You know Mommy loves you and wishes she could stay, right?"
Without a second's hesitation, Chloe threw herself into Gina's arms for a hug and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Of course, Mommy. That is why we got to have fun last night. I remember."
Trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall, Gina squeezed Chloe tighter and then stood up to leave.
"Tell Rick that I am sorry that I missed him, but I really must be off or I am going to be late." And with that, Gina was up and out the door.
"C'mon Chloe, how about we head upstairs and get you dressed for the party."