Disclaimers: In a perfect world.

Summary: Castle spends quality baby time with his new daughter.

A/N #1: The next couple of chapters are going to be fairly short. Short, by my standards, anyway.

A/N #2: In Chapter 20 of 'Mind Games,' Kate overhears Castle on the baby monitor talking to Ariel. This chapter will include more of those kinds of conversations.

A/N #3: My timeline will jump around from time to time. I apologize for that.

Chapter 5: Daddy Tales –Part 1

May

"So, grandma and I are sure that we're going to die," Castle was holding his five-day-old daughter in the rocker in the nursery. "The very bad guys had locked all of us up in the bank vault. Suddenly, there was a huge explosion and we couldn't see anything. There was dust and smoke everywhere-"

Downstairs in their bedroom, Kate lay awake smiling as she listened to Castle talking to Ariel over the baby monitor. This had been an every night occurrence since the birth of their daughter. He'd go upstairs at night and just talk to her. The stories varied, but the basic theme was always the same. They were always stories about her. Kate did the same thing, but Castle was a talker. He was never happier than he was when his mouth was moving. She loved listening to him weaving these tales for Ariel. She wondered if he'd done the same thing for Alexis.

Downstairs, Castle was continuing his story. "—So, there was dust and smoke everywhere. We couldn't breathe. And we were so scared. Suddenly, I heard a voice calling, 'Castle! Castle!' I'd never heard a sweeter sound in my life. There was mommy and the whole New York City Police Department. She had the biggest smile on her face when she rescued me. Your mommy has the most beautiful smile, Ariel. But I'm guessing that you already know that. I hope that you've inherited that smile."

Kate was almost asleep when she felt Castle get into bed. "Did you tell Alexis stories like that when she was a baby?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I guess I didn't see anything special enough about Meredith to share with Alexis."

Kate rolled over toward Castle and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her cheek into his back. She loved him so much and he'd been so badly hurt by both of his ex-wives. Also by her before she'd come to her senses. "I think it's sweet that you sit with Ari and talk to her. I love you, Rick." She placed a gently kiss on his shoulder blade.

June

"I'm taking Ariel for a walk!" Castle called out as he left the loft with the baby in her stroller.

"Where is Richard off to?" Martha asked Kate.

"You heard him. He's taking the baby for a walk," Kate smiled.

Castle walked down the street and across to the park, heading over to the swing set. Sitting on his swing, he made sure that Ariel was covered and she was shaded from the sun. "This is the park, Ariel. New York City has a lot of parks, the most famous of which is Central Park. I'll take you to Central Park another time. I'll show you Strawberry Fields, and take you on a carriage ride. This park is special to me and mommy. This is my swing and this one," he pointed to the swing beside him, "is mommy's. This is where I first asked mommy to marry me, although she turned me down the first time I asked her," he smiled ruefully. "This is where we decided that we wanted to have a baby. This is where mommy and I come when we need to work things out. When you're older, we'll come up here and feed the ducks. Alexis loved to come up here and feed the ducks when she was little."

He then left the park and walked back across the street, strolling into the coffee shop they frequented. "Mommy's a little bummed because she can't have coffee right now. I have brought your mommy a coffee every morning for the past six years. A Grande Skim Latte with two pumps of sugar free vanilla," he smiled. "Well, these days it's tea. When you're a little older, I'll start making you hot cocoa. But right now you're way too young to start a caffeine habit."

"Oh my gosh, Mr. Castle!" The barista behind the counter gushed as she came around and bent down to look inside of the stroller. "She's adorable!"

"Thank you," Castle smiled proudly as a small crowd began to form around the baby. "Uh, can everybody please back up?"

Kate and Martha were drinking tea when Castle walked into the loft about 20 minutes later. "So, how did Ariel like the neighborhood?" Kate teased her husband as he carefully removed Ariel from her stroller. "Did she tell you her coffee preferences yet?" She asked, noticing the cardboard cup in his hand.

"No, but I have a question. What is it about a newborn baby that turns people into lions on a feeding frenzy?" He sat down with the baby, before taking a sip of his coffee.

"They're little and cute," his mother told him. "It's the same thing with puppies and kittens."

"And baby seals," Kate added.

"Okay, okay. Stop. First off, our daughter is not a baby animal. I don't like people herding around her like she's part of the Rodney King riots. Maybe I should hang a sign from her stroller."

"Castle, I don't like it when people gather around her either, but from what I understand it's what people do. Just keep her away from places where there are a lot of people like coffee shops," Kate got up and took Ariel from his arms.

Castle sighed, watching Kate go upstairs to the nursery. "She's a mother lion and thus, she's very protective of her cub," Martha told him.

Kate was sitting in the rocker, rocking and humming to Ari at her breast. She kept stroking her fingers through the downy hair on top of the baby's head, loving the way that it curled around her fingers. She then touched her fingers, smiling at the silky softness of her skin. "Ari, your daddy loves you very much. But, I think he learned that you're way too young for coffee. And, unless you're going to grow up to be a best-selling author or a celebrity," she stopped when she saw Castle standing in the doorway, "you're also too young for crowds."

"Kate, I'm sorry. I took her to the park first," he smiled, walking into the room and sitting down at her feet by the rocker. "I think she liked our swings," he looked up at her as she smiled. "We'll leave for the Hamptons house in the morning. You don't mind if I give her the tour, do you?"

"You can give her the tour, Castle. I can't wait to finally see her room."

Ariel's room in the loft was decorated with Disney characters, but the nursery at the Hamptons house had been decorated with fairies. So far, Kate had only seen pictures of it. She couldn't wait to put Ariel to sleep in it for the first time.

July

Castle held two-month-old Ariel up so that she could see his face. She seemed to have recovered nicely from her first shots, although Kate was still somewhat shaken by the experience. Ariel grinned and reached a chubby hand out to her father's face. As with Alexis when she was a baby, Castle found it fascinating to watch Ariel's personality develop. So far, she was an extremely happy baby. He put her in her stroller and walked out onto the wide green lawn, sitting in one of the chairs that faced the ocean. "Right over there," he lifted the baby from her stroller and sat her on his lap, supporting her head and neck, "is where mommy and daddy got married. For the record, I'm not even letting you date until you're 30."

Ariel smiled widely as Castle laughed. "I'm glad that you find that so amusing. Maybe I should buy a couple of shotguns. No, never mind. Mommy can shoot your boyfriends when they get out of line."

"There won't be any boyfriends to shoot, because I'm having her fitted with a chastity belt," Kate sat in the chair beside him.

"Ooh, I like it."

"I thought that you might. Now, if you're done entertaining our daughter, I need to take her inside, feed her, bathe her, and put her to bed. She shouldn't be out in the sun for too long," she reached out as he reluctantly handed Ariel over to her as Kate grinned at her. "Hey, chunky monkey. Let's go eat dinner."

Later that night, Kate groaned when she heard the sound of the baby crying through the monitor beside her bed. "I've got her," she heard Castle whisper against her neck.

"I don't know why she's awake. She's not due to be fed for another two hours," she looked at her phone.

She was drifting off to sleep when she heard Castle's voice over the monitor. "What's going on, young lady? Do you have a tummy ache? Let's see if daddy can make it all better."

He sat in the rocker and put the baby on his shoulder as he slowly rocked, rubbing the baby's back as he rocked. "What story can I tell you tonight? I know what I can tell you. This weekend, your uncles Javi and Kevin are going to come over. They're going to play poker with daddy, but you don't need to know about that right now. Your uncles are the best, Ariel. They work with mommy, so you'll always be safe if anybody tries to mess with you. And one time they saved mommy and daddy from a tiger. A tiger is a very, very big cat. Uncle Javi thought that it had eaten mommy and daddy, but we were just hanging on very high."

In their room across the hall, Kate smiled as she listened to Castle recounting the tale of the tiger. At least he was leaving out the part where they were handcuffed together. There was no sense in traumatizing her any more than he needed to.

Castle glanced down to where his daughter had fallen asleep on his shoulder, her baby breath warm against his cheek. He kissed her on the cheek before getting up and putting her back in her crib. After covering her, he returned to their bedroom across the hall. "I think that she had a tummy ache," he said as he got into bed beside Kate.

"Either that, or she really likes daddy telling her stories," Kate rolled over toward him. "Does daddy have any stories for mommy? Something with a more adult theme," she arched her eyebrow.

"Yeah, but this story has no words," he slipped further under the covers as Kate began to laugh. "Beckett, quiet! You're going to wake up the kid!"

"Then stop tickling me, Castle," she tried to pull away from him until she felt his mouth reach its intended destination. After that, her giggling turned to quiet moans. Castle was right. He didn't need any words for this story.

A/N #4: There'll be an M-rated version of this chapter soon, too. Please read and review.

A/N #5: It took me forever to finally get Beckett's coffee order right.

I can be found on Twitter Caskett1960.