I don't own Castle - ABC Studios and Andrew Marlowe do. I'm just borrowing the characters for a while to play.

I am not making any money from this; it's just to freeshare with my ff friends.

AN: Another snapshot requested by CBurns1995 - Molly Mae and Kevin visit the library

"The point is, there's always a story... you just have to find it."

Richard Castle : Flowers For Your Grave

The library

April 2031

...

"Daddy, Daddy, wake up! It's library day!"

Kevin groaned and rolled over, closer to Alexis, burying his head in her shoulder. He tried manfully to ignore the tiny hands pulling at his bedding, the small body pushing into his back and the excited voice currently calling straight into his ear.

Alexis chuckled and pushed her husband back towards their daughter. She knew that even though he had not gotten in from work until three a.m., there was no real chance he would ever ignore her. Molly Mae had her father wrapped completely around her little finger and he would never disappoint her, however tired he was.

With another groan, Kevin suddenly shot straight up in the bed and mock glared at his precious child.

"Molly Mae! It is time for sleep!"

"No, Daddy, it's time to get up! It's half past seven and I have been waiting forever!"

"Forever?"

She nodded, solemnly. "Forever."

"The library doesn't even open until ten."

"But, Daddy! It's library day. We always have smiley face pancakes for breakfast on library day. And you need to get up so we can make them."

"So, why do you need me? Go make them."

Molly pursed her lips and shook her head at the father. Kneeling on the bed, and crossing her little arms across her chest, she gave him the half exasperated, half pouting look perfected by her mother and spoke in a clear, stern voice.

"Daddy! Don't be silly. I need you to help me cos I am too little to make them by myself. You knows that."

"Too little, eh?"

She nodded.

"But not too little to help me make them?"

She nodded again.

"Or to go to the library and choose a new book?"

A third nod.

"Or too little for tickles?" And he dived at her and began to tickle her unmercifully causing Molly to squeal in delight. Alexis was laughing uncontrollably and Kevin suddenly turned on her and included her in the tickling, and then two more bodies appeared on the bed, as the boys joined in and the whole family was involved in an all-out tickle and pillow fight.

…

A little later Kevin and Molly sat side by side at the breakfast counter tucking into the smiley face pancakes made to the recipe perfected by Castle long ago for his little girl.

The boys had already helped themselves to a cereal breakfast and Alexis had grabbed coffee and gone off to tidy up their bedroom and finish up a little bit of work for the lab. She still worked for them, but only went in for a few hours a week, working mainly from home so that she was available for their children. With the unpredictability of Kevin's hours, this ensured there was always someone available for them, although Kevin tried to be available as much as he possibly could. The days of beers after work and weekly Madden games were long gone, with the partners now tending to do things together with their whole families, including of course the Castles, although occasionally when there was a bad case the four originals would have an hour or so at the Haunt.

Alexis planned to grab herself some food a little later, for the whole family knew the 'library day' ritual and left Kevin and Molly to their alone time at breakfast on those days. Most Saturdays, bad case and family events excluded, Molly and Kevin had their 'library day', when after a smiley face pancake breakfast they would go down to their local library to discuss and choose books.

Surprisingly, considering the love their parents had for books and the fact that one of their grandfathers was a writer, only Molly Mae of the three siblings had any great love for reading. The boys were much more into action games and activities, and left the reading to their sister. This meant that books became a 'thing' for Kevin and Molly, and a cherished connection that they both adored.

Molly had started to read at the age of three, impatient to know what happened next, and not content to wait until Kevin was available to read to her. She still, of course, liked to hear it again from him and loved having stories read to her anytime. Stories and escaping into them were one of her favorite pastimes, but they were made even more fun when she could share them with her Daddy. Stories with Mommy were fun too, but not like the ones with Daddy, who could do lots of interesting voices, bringing each character alive, and whose voice could also build up excitement and suspense.

Kevin loved sharing the stories he read as a child with his daughter, introducing her to magical lands and wonderful characters he had long enjoyed, so taking her to the library and hunting out the books had become a very special event he could share with his daughter alone. With the advent of e-books, so many people no longer bothered to read actual paper books, but to Kevin, and to Molly, the tactile experience of turning pages with each one depicting a new image or event was an experience they both enjoyed immensely. Another of their 'library day' treats was the regular Storytime which happened at eleven o'clock every Saturday, and where they were both introduced to new stories and authors. Then afterwards they would go to the coffee shop attached to the library and have hot chocolate and marshmallows in the winter, and ice cream sundaes in the summer. They would enjoy their food and drink, and talk about the books she had chosen for the week, and the new ones they had heard read aloud in the library.

...

Kevin Ryan cherished all the moments he spent with his family; dinner and dancing with his beautiful wife; action games or sport in the park with his sons; outings and events with some or all of his family, be they family events in New York or Philadelphia; but he had to admit that some of the most cherished moments of his life were spent with his precious daughter, Molly Mae, in the library they both loved.

…

A HUGE thank you to Firestar385 for beta reading, Americanizing and generally correcting this work. Any remaining mistakes are mine!

Please let me know what you think. All constructive criticism is welcomed - I haven't written in quite a while and the only way to improve is to take on board other people's comments. I hope you will enjoy the reading journey as much as I am enjoying the writing one.