Chapter 13- Monster Toast
Lets jump right in with the story telling today, shall we kids?
The sun peeked its large yellow head over the city, the buildings and skyscrapers basking in its fresh morning glow. The morning fog cleared up, leaving its dewy path behind as a reminder of its existence before nature gave in to the inevitable day. The same orange light seeped into Kate Beckett's apartment, filtering through the blinds uninvited and pouring over the three sleeping bodies. Two on the floor- one merely a shapeless sleeping bag, the other obviously a man, his head and feet sticking out of the small cot. The third body was on the couch, a young redhead, one arm dangling perilously off the edge of the sofa.
Kate awoke, no longer able to prolong the inevitable, letting her eyes open and stretching her neck to see above her bag and take in the scene around her. The soft snore coming from the man beside her told her he was still sleeping soundly. He had stretched almost completely out of his bag, his arm escaping its warm confines and draping over her waist, pulling her into him even through the sleeping bag. The six pillows he had been so insistent were imperative to his sleeping patterns were strewn all about- he was only using one- cradling it with the arm not wrapped around her to his head. She made a mental note to mock him about it later and took a moment to snuggle into his arms before looking up. Alexis, however, was wide awake. She noticed Kate's open eyes and waved the hand that was dangling, lazily. "Morn," the teen mumbled, not quite ready to form proper words.
Kate all of a sudden felt very embarrassed, as if she was caught doing something wrong. She mumbled a sorry and tried to slip out of Castle's arms, for Alexis's benefit, something about a therapist coming to mind. Little Castle just let out a light chuckle.
"Don't be," Alexis said, smiling. "He looks so happy," she told Kate, nodding to her father. Kate looked at the sleeping man, and she had to agree. She had never heard of someone actually smiling in their sleep, but sure enough, he was. He looked adorable. And very, very content. It was that, along with Alexis's…approval? Consent? That had her relaxing back into his hold.
"He does," she agreed aloud.
"You should have seen yourself," Alexis said, still smiling, eyes half-lidded as she fought sleeps gravitational pull. Despite common belief, she, like her father, was not a morning person.
Again, Kate felt the blood rushing to her face, and again Alexis laughed. "We should get up," Kate said, hating the way the words tasted. She was so comfortable. The teen winced but nodded her head. It still wasn't ten minutes later until they forced themselves up, Alexis abandoning the throw she had draped over her small frame and Kate slipped stealthily from Castle's warm embrace, dreading the loss when she was free. "Breakfast?" she asked Alexis, who nodded and made her way to Kate's kitchen.
The adventure into the fridge turned out to be a huge disappointment. She had orange juice, coffee, and that was about it. "We will just have to get a little creative," Alexis declared, taking charge. Kate, not entirely sure about this creativity' Alexis was exclaiming about, nodded warily.
"Okay," she said, equally as hesitant. "What did you have in mind?"
Twenty minutes later they had scrounged up breakfast- bagels, topped with heavy amounts of Nutella, one of Beckett's only vice's-Nutella covered-anything and a good book-So that was one thing she always had on hand. Kate was toasting the bagels to warm perfection, and beside her Alexis was sitting atop the counter, applying the hazelnut spread generously, her feet swinging as they two women talked. "I still can't believe you have never tried Nutella," Kate said, for maybe the third time.
Alexis swiped a drop of the brown, edible gold and popped it into her mouth. "I feel like my dad has deprived me of something great," she said, earning a laugh from the older woman. Talking, laughing- being. It was easier than she thought it would be.
"When I was younger, my mom would make the biggest breakfast- she was all about it. Eggs, bacon, pancakes. The whole omelet." Alexis snorted in laughter at the detective's pun. Kate bowed her head, hiding a smile of her own. "That was bad. I'm sorry."
"No wonder my dad likes you so much," Kate caught the teenager's eye for a split second before resuming her toasting.
"I think I have some O.J. in here somewhere," she lost herself in the refrigerator, searching for something to drink. The coffee was brewing, but little castle needed something and orange juice just sounded so good. "No, but my mom had the best breakfasts. There was this one time on my birthday and she actually did these chocolate bowls filled with cereal. It was wicked cool." She returned, orange juice in hand, along with some cups of applesauce she found in the door.
"That sounds really cool. My mom never really cooks. I'm not sure if she knows how to work an oven, to be honest. Frozen waffles, though- She's real good at those. And room service. My dad has always been the cook- he loves it. That's why he had me, you know," Kate gave the redhead a quizzical look. "I am both legally and emotionally obligated to try his experiments. I have no choice." Kate laughed.
"Yes, well you should consult somebody about that. I'm sure you could have some sort of document drawn. I could give you the names of some great lawyers."
"My dad used to do Monster Toast with me when I was little."
"Monster Toast?"
"Every Tuesday morning, I would come down and there it would be. It was just melted butter with food coloring, but man was it fun. We would draw silly faces or monsters or whatever on the bread and then toast it. Boom. Monster Toast.
Kate was touched by the little story, struck by Castle's life beyond what she knew. All the things she had yet to learn.
"Hey-" she said, putting down the bagel she was holding. I have butter. And I know I have food coloring around here somewhere." Alexis's face lit up like a child's on Christmas morning.
"Really?" she asked, her voice raising a few octaves in pure childish glee. Kate felt similar feelings rising in her own chest.
"Really really."
"Do you mean to tell me that you, Kate Beckett, sat down with a teenager and made monster toast?" Lanie interrupted. For some reason, her morning with Alexis was much harder to share than her evening with Castle the other night. Lanie could tell this, which made the story all that more touching. She was in awe of how much her friend had opened up in the last week or so. It wasn't easy, she could tell. It took Beckett a whole damn of a lot to get to this point, but it was happening much sooner and nicer than she could ever have imagined. Kate Beckett a year ago would have retreated and repressed and pushed away but if Lanie Parish knew anything about Kate Beckett, it was that her best friend was one hard-headed woman.
"Yes. And it was delicious. Of course Castle had to come in and ruin it," Kate explained, only feigning her annoyance.
"How are my two favorite ladies doing this fine morning?" Castle asked. It was clear he hadn't fully woken, for he was yawning and rubbing his eyes or any remaining eye monkeys before he opened them to. Kate watched him look from Alexis to her and back again, and then eying the mess made by the morning madness. Kate looked at Alexis- the girl was absolutely covered in mutli-colored butter. She actually laughed at the sight- and then the realization- she probably didn't look much different. They had both gotten really into the toast-making process, and maybe a little carried away.
"Castle," Kate greeted, looking like a deer in the headlights. "You're awake."
"It was kind of hard to sleep with the circus moving through the kitchen," he smiled, seeming to have finally pieced together the situation.
Food coloring.
Half a loaf of bread.
Butter.
Half a loaf of bread already toasted.
It was Monster Toast.
Again, she watched his gaze move from her to Alexis, their mess, and back again. "You're making Monster Toast?" he asked. He sounded hurt, almost. Crestfallen? Doubt struck deep in Kate's core. She didn't think this through. What if she was totally disrupted the sacred rituals of Father and Daughter? What if he was offended, what if she overstepped?
God, she overstepped.
"You're making Monster Toast and you didn't wake me?" he finished, a smile breaking on his phony 'I'm a puppy who just got kicked' face. She hated him. She smacked him in the shoulder when he approached her to prove it. He said nothing but came closer still, then dipped is finger in a puddle of blue colored butter and traced a stream down her nose.
She went cross eyed a moment, looking at the mark it left behind, and returned them to their normal frontal setting to see his face mere centimeters from hers.
And then there weren't any at all.
"I'm still in the room," Alexis said, as politely as she could from atop the counter.
It was only a few seconds after that did Castle pull away. "Good Morning," he told her, murmuring it because he could and they were close enough. Despite Alexis's present, Kate felt herself smiling back at him.
"Morning," she murmured back. His arm snaked around her as he faced the counter to examine her and Alexis's handiwork.
"This isn't have bad, for an amateur," he told her, causing her to turn her head upward, questioningly.
"What do you mean, and amateur?" she asked him, offended. "Are you questioning my Monster-drawing abilities?"
"Dad likes to consider himself the Leonardo of Monster-making," Alexis explained. It was Castle's turn to whip his head around.
"Picasso, I am the Picasso of Monster-toastery," he corrected. She smiled at him, and he returned it. "Picasso once said, he said 'My mother said to me, "If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope." Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso.' The same could be said for me." At this, both women rolled their eyes.
"Well I will have you know, Mr. Pablo, that I was head of my class in finger painting in the first grade," Kate told him, matter of fact-ly. "I'm extremely practiced in the ar-"
She couldn't finish, for Castle shoved a piece of toast in her mouth.
"And so that's why you're beaming like an idiot?" Lanie asked her, when it was clear the story was done. Beckett was done sharing. A nod was her response. "Well damn. I was hoping for some morning sex or a shower, or even pancakes!"
"Ew to the first two things, Alexis was there. That's a where I draw the line," Kate explained.
"Valid point."
"And besides I think the fact that it was great without either of those things says something."
"Who are you and what the hell have you done to my best friend?"
"I kidnapped her and hid her away," Castle entered at that moment, causing Lanie to grin, slyly, and Kate to blush, madly. Just how long had he been standing there?
Long enough, said the smoldering look he sent her way.
Oh God.
What a loaded look.
"First of all," he turned to Lanie, who was still grinning. "You lied about hopping a lift with Marcus's tail- they laughed at me. You, Lanie Parish, are a jerk. Secondly," he turned to Kate. "Since you shared our dirty little secrets to Lanie does that mean we can tell people?" he asked her. He was asking rhetorically and with full-expectancy of rejection- if he were being serious he wouldn't have asked in front of Lanie like that, but Beckett was not blind to the glimmer of hope in her eyes.
"Oh honey," Lanie answered, before Kate could come up with an adequate placeholder comeback. Now was not the time nor place for that conversation. "If you think every person in this precinct doesn't know, you are both dumber than I thought."
And at that sassy little comment, both Kate and Castle's heads swung her way. Kate was struck once again with the urge to touch him- just have the solid human contact. She repressed those urges.
There was always the 8-floor elevator ride up.
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