Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop
Al insisted on dressing herself for what she had decided to call "her date." Kate had only smiled and left Al's bedroom to change from her own pajamas into jeans and a pale blue v-neck t-shirt, adding a cream scarf against the late April chill. They'd be walking so she went with a pair of tan leather ballet flats from the back of her closet rather than her usual heels.
"Dressed!" announced Al, striking a pose in Kate's doorway.
Conservative, given her rainbow of colors lately. This time the tutu over her heather grey leggings was bright blue with multi-colored sparkles sprinkled over the tulle. Her top was white with little blue butterflies fluttering across the fabric of the t-shirt. Navy ballet flats with bows on the top were on the floor in the hallway.
"We match," Kate said as Al launched herself onto the bed. "All blue."
"Like the sky," Al told the ceiling, lying on her back with tulle settled around her waist.
Kate placed a knee on the mattress so she could lean over and blow raspberries on Al's stomach, pulling a bubble of laughter from the little body. "Just like. Let's hope it stays that way today."
Al sat up, pushing Kate's head away. "No rain on my date." She slid off the bed, running her hands over her tutu before dashing out the door. "Come on, Mom! We need Rick!"
"A date with him would certainly be hard without him actually present." Kate followed Al out to the living room where the girl was already wearing her light jacket, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Balancing a hand on the back of the couch, Kate slipped her shoes on before Al threw her mother's coat at her.
"So slow," Al whined, hand on the doorknob but not turning it; she knew the rules.
"Listen, I'm sure Rick would want me to be fully dressed for the date. Give me two minutes, kid." She pulled on the coat, buttoning the antique brass buttons with anchors on them before tugging her hair from under the collar. She checked that her wallet was in her pocket before holding her hand out to Al. "Come on. Let's go get our date."
The cab ride across the island was short, Al practically climbing into Kate's lap, the seatbelt cutting into her neck as she tried to see out the windows. After two times of pushing Al's shoulders back into the seat, Kate gave up and let Al unbuckle and sit in the vee of her legs, buckling her own seatbelt around the two of them. She ignored the glare from the driver as Al pressed her face against the window, looking for Castle's building.
Kate had texted him when they left and she saw him leaning against the side of the brick building, his hands shoved into his pockets against the gentle breeze. When Al opened her mouth to scream a welcome, Kate clapped her hand over the girl's mouth.
"No yelling, Alexandra," she whispered into Al's hair, removing her palm only when Al relaxed. Kate unbuckled the seatbelt so Al could crawl over into the middle seat, eyes bright as she waited for Castle to open the other door.
He slid in, closing the car door behind him in time for Al to wrap her arms around his bicep. "Hi, Rick," she mumbled against the fabric of his coat.
"Hey, kid." With his free hand, he pulled at the ends of her hair, watching the curls spring back into place. Then he looked over Al's head at Kate and caught her smiling at him, her face wearing that soft, completely-not-Detective-Beckett expression, and his heart leapt when it didn't disappear as their eyes met. "Hi, Kate."
"Hi, Rick," she said. Then she blinked, looking down at her lap for a moment, before placing a hand on the passenger seat and giving the driver the next address as quietly as possible.
"Keeping secrets?" he asked as she sat back, adjusting the belt over her shoulder. Kate's eyes twinkled as she winked at him. Castle frowned, ducking his head down to talk to Al in a stage-whisper. "Mom's keeping secrets, Al. Shall we torture them out of her?"
Al giggled then pushed Castle's face away from her. "No. I like secrets." She grabbed for Kate's hand, weaving her little fingers through her mother's long, thin ones. "We have good secrets."
"Is that so?" Castle mused, watching as Kate rubbed her thumb over Al's hand.
In a movement that should have been comical, both women nodded at the same time, eerily similar smiles of pursed lips on their faces. He sat back, spinning his thumbs as he looked out the window. "Fine then. Guess I'll just keep my secret to myself."
They rode in silence for about thirty seconds; Castle watching out his window while Al tried not to look at the man next to her.
Then Al was suddenly clambering up his arm, her fingers digging into the muscle until she was at eye level with him. "Share. Secrets aren't good anymore. Tell me," she huffed out, breathless from the climb.
He bit his lower lip, shaking his head. "Nope. Not telling."
"Please?" she begged, tugging on his arm until she plopped onto the seat. "Please?"
Kate could see that he was hiding a smile, one that was peeking out in the blue of his eyes as he stared straight ahead, refusing to make eye contact with the girl. She had to turn and look out the window, a hand covering her mouth, in order to hide her own smile. Somehow she schooled her features in time for Al to turn her attention on her mother.
"Mom. Make Rick tell." It was like looking into the mirror in the interrogation room; Al's face was determined, little blue fires in her eyes. Her fists were curled on her lap around the tutu.
Kate shrugged, wrapping a hand around Al's fists. "It's not fair to make him tell his secret if we're not going to share ours. You going to tell him our secret, Al?"
The resolve in the girl's eyes faded a little. "Can we?"
"Maybe just a hint. Think he's smart enough to figure it out?" Kate asked, glancing up at Castle. "You smart enough, Rick?"
"Is that a challenge?"
Kate grinned, then bent her head down to smooth out the tulle of Al's tutu before whispering into her ear. She cut off Al's exclamation of "I don't know what-" with a shushing motion over her mouth. "Trust me. If he's smart, he'll get it." She gave a little nod the man as Al turned around on the seat.
"Why is a raven like a writing desk?" Al asked calmly, looking back at her mother to make sure she said it right.
Castle's smile was immediate. "Really? But what does Carroll have to do with anything?"
"Oh, we didn't say we'd tell you the reasoning behind the hint, did we, Rick?" Kate said with a grin. She held her hand up for a high five from Al who was back to the little girl Kate knew and not a strangely similar reflection of herself at the precinct.
Before Castle could insist that the women share another hint, like what Lewis Carroll had to do with their date, or tell his secret, the cab stopped. Kate was out of the back, helping Al bounce her way across the seat before leaning back in to pay the driver.
"You coming?" she asked, giving his shoulder a poke when he just sat there, trying to get a glimpse of where they were. "Because I'm kinda hungry and I think Al might burst out of her skin if we make her wait any longer."
"Uh, yeah," he said, getting out of his side and closing the door.
The place they had stopped outside of did not look like much. The corner of what seemed to be a residential neighborhood wasn't crowded like the ones in Midtown but a bicyclist did have to dodge the three of them in the middle of the sidewalk. As Castle turned his eyes to Kate, looking for confirmation that this was the right address, he saw that her eyes were as bright as Al's. She was excited, her emotions barely in check as she reached for Al's hand.
"Where are we?" he asked, following as the two women started toward a yellow building, the molding outside painted white. An awning of plum covered a series of three steps down to the door of the place. Kate didn't give him enough time to read the name on the fabric before pulling him down with them.
"No questions. At least we didn't blindfold you," she muttered into his ear as she let Al open the door for them.
The interior was warm, cozy. Light teal walls were accented with dark-stained tables and chairs. Color came in when he saw the objects on those tables. Bright purple, deep green, sunshiny yellow porcelain cups on mismatched saucers mixed with pots with lids of different colors from the bodies. Then there were cups that looked like typical teacups – white with gold along the edges, hand-painted roses and flowers and curling ivy on the sides.
"What is this place, Kate?" Castle asked, spinning in a little circle while simultaneously reaching out for her fingertips.
Before he could respond, Kate placed a kiss on his cheek. "Curiouser and curiouser."
He snagged her hand as she led him to where Al was already sitting. "Seriously. What's this place called?"
"Alice's Tea Cup." Kate sat down at the table, brushing the bit of tutu that hadn't settled around Al's waist off the tabletop. "One of three shops in the city, but this one has always been our favorite, right, kid?"
"Right!" Al exclaimed, tossing her hands into the air.
Kate placed a hand over the girl's teacup so it wouldn't get hit by the flying arms. "Gentle, Al." Then she turned back to Castle. "Inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Some of the most amazing tea I've ever tasted and pretty delicious pastries."
"And fairies!" Al said, pointing at the young lady coming toward them wearing sparkling pink and leaf green fairy wings.
They got in another cab, Kate again telling the driver the address as softly as possible. With sugar from cupcakes and nibbles of scones in her blood, Al was off the wall. She was sprawled out against Castle's side, blue fairy wings, ones that she had somehow gotten Castle to buy her while Kate went to the bathroom, were carefully arranged so she wouldn't crush them.
The five-minute driver from Alice's Tea Cup to their next stop passed by with chatter over favorite movies. When she got out this time, Kate saw that the sky, so blue earlier in the afternoon, had gathered a few clouds during their stop for lunch. Still mostly clear, but those showers that the meteorologist had predicted might decide to make an appearance. Think positively, she told herself as she gave the driver the fare.
"Central Park. Do I get to guess where we're going?" he asked, taking Al's hand as she slid out of his side of the cab.
Kate shrugged. "I'll neither confirm nor deny any guesses." But if he was smart, he'd be able to narrow down the possibilities given where they had been dropped off.
"I'll just ask my best girl here," he said, swinging Al up onto his hip as the girl giggled, burying her head into his shoulder as soon as he had her settled. "Right, Al? You'll tell me where we're going?"
Somehow in the midst of laughter, Al managed to gasp out "Never!" which only prompted more side-tickling as Kate walked along the path in Central Park. It was a five minute walk from Terrace Drive to her final location, one filled with tourists and joggers. She grabbed his free hand, letting him tug her a little closer as they walked along the edge of the paved path.
"I know where we're going," he whispered as she felt his warmth spread over her right side where her arm made contact with his body. "Fan of little Alice, are we?"
Kate hummed noncommittally.
"So the answer's 'yes.' Interesting…" he mused.
The bronze statue is mostly empty. There's a small group of tourists, what looks like high school students on a trip with their school, standing on the edge of the area. A single woman is sitting on one of the benches nearby has a large sketchpad on her lap, a pencil of charcoal smearing black over the paper and her fingers as she looks up at the statue then back at her drawing.
Al squirmed out of Castle's arms, running to pull herself up on one of the lower mushrooms of the statue. When Castle went to help her as she started to slip back down, Kate grabbed his arm, shaking her head.
"She's independent when it comes to this place." They stood, watching as Al stepped back, examining the bronze mushroom for the best place to grab on. "She's tried to get up to see Alice every time we come. Her personal Everest."
Kate sat on the short steps up to the statue, stretching her legs out in front of her. She felt Castle lower himself next to her, both of them angled so that they could watch for Al.
"So," he started, his fingers inching toward hers on the cool stone. "Why this place? Why Alice?"
She took a deep breath, pushing her hair back away from her face. "Two reasons." Might as well start with the one that scared her the most, see if he ran first before she shared the second. "The first is symbolic." When he took her hand, Kate pulled it away, twisting her hands together in her lap. She shot an apology at him, warming her eyes with a smile. "I told you my mother was murdered. What I didn't tell you was just how hard I took it. Dad, he hid in alcohol, dulling the ache. I joined the Academy pretty much the day after I got my diploma. I couldn't drink myself to the point of teetering on the edge of living and dead like he did more than once. But I had my own way of doing just that."
Kate had to pause, couldn't keep plowing ahead through the words, closing her eyes for a moment before focusing on Al. The girl was waving to them from atop the lowest mushroom and Kate made the effort to raise her arm to wave back. When she let it fall, Castle snagged it, pulling it against his thigh where he trapped it under his hand. She didn't fight it this time.
"Rick, my mom's case is my rabbit hole. I go down it and I don't come back. Not without losing some of myself down there. It took a year of therapy for me to even start letting go and that was before Al was born. My daughter is the only reason that Dad hasn't given into alcoholism in years. She's my anchor so I don't fall down into Mom's case. So, symbolism." She finished on the miniscule rising of the corner of her lips, glancing at him sideways for a reaction. "Not heading for the hills?"
Castle squeezed her hand, curling his fingers around so they touched her palm. "No, Kate. Not running."
Kate had to swallow back the flood of emotions that washed over her, a cleansing wave. Giving in to his proximity, she let her head fall onto his shoulder. "Thanks, Rick."
"The second reason?" he asked, his voice rumbling next to her ear.
This time she could smile without worrying. "Al took her first steps here. Pretty much right where we're sitting now." He smoothed his fingers over her wrist, so she continued. "I had one day off a week, one day when I was on call. Those afternoons, I'd bring Al here. She was maybe ten months old and she just got up, mostly using my shirt as leverage, and toddled over to the statue." Kate laughed, hiding her face in Castle's shoulder, her nose digging into the muscle through his coat. "God, I must have looked like a maniac chasing after her, fumbling with my phone as I tried to call Dad to let him know."
The image, spinning itself into existence in his writer's brain, had him laughing as well. When he stopped, he saw that Kate was looking up at him, her cheek still pressed to his shoulder. "I'm sure you looked just like every other nervous mother as they watched their kid start walking."
Without warning, the skies opened up. "Shoot," Kate muttered, scrambling to her feet and running toward the statue. "Come on, Al."
"Mom," the girl said as Kate boosted her up onto her hip. "No rain on my date!"
"Looks like the skies didn't want to stay blue like our outfits."
"Let me take her," Castle said, slipping his arms around Al, prying her away from Kate's side. "I can run faster with her than you could."
Kate narrowed her eyes. "I'll ignore the challenge because it's raining and we're getting wet."
They jogged back down the path past the art student trying to hide her sketchpad under her coat while she huddled against a tree. Cabs were scarce but one stopped against the curb where Castle was waving an arm and Kate suspected it had to do with the girl on his hip, her fairy wings drooping sadly on her back.
The air conditioning made Kate shiver, feeling the water trickle down her back. Castle buckled Al in between them before giving his address.
"Rick…"
"Shush. It's closer."
He had a point so she didn't push it. She was too busy stopping her teeth from chattering and rubbing her hand over Al's thigh, catching on the wet leggings. "Chilly, Al?"
The girl responded by hugging herself close to Kate, nodding her head. "Going to Rick's?"
"Yes, we are."
Eduardo got the door for them, not commenting on their dripping clothes as they walked to the elevator. But Castle did, grinning at the man and humming "Singin' in the Rain" as they stepped into the elevator car. The loft was warm, the rain pounding on the windowpanes along the opposite wall as they kicked their shoes off in the hallway.
"Go," he said, giving Kate a little shove toward the stairs. "There's a guest room upstairs. Take a quick shower to thaw out."
She was trying to untangle Al's fairy wings from her arms, glancing over her shoulder. "Uh, do you have extra clothes for a five year old or…?"
Castle disappeared into the study, socks squelching under his feet as he ran.
"Wings are wet, Mom," Al lamented, touching the edge of the powder blue fairy wings.
Kate laid them out on the floor in the corner near the heater. "They'll dry in no time and you'll be fluttering around the city before you know it."
"Here." Castle was back, holding out a pile of clothes in his hands. "I mean, it's not a tutu and wings, but I think it'll work."
She smiled, thumbing through the pile. Two t-shirts and a pair of sweatpants. "We'll figure something out. Thanks," she said, pressing her hand to his cheek.
They went in separate directions with the same goals. Kate managed to untangle most of Al's hair before nudging her into the shower inside the guest room to warm the girl up. They switched once Kate let Al pick her t-shirt from Castle's two offerings, looking like a dress on her, plopping her onto the bed and making her promise to sit still for two minutes. She showered quickly, scratching her nails over her head in an attempt to wring out any cold rain from her hair before wrapping a towel around her body to go back into the bedroom. Al was still on the bed, sitting on the edge with her heels bouncing off the mattress.
"Warm, Mom?" she asked as Kate pulled the other t-shirt over her head.
Kate pulled on the drawstring of the sweatpants, tying them as tightly as possible but they still slipped a little. They'd work until she could get home and into real clothes. "Definitely. Let's go see if Rick's out of his shower yet."
She let Al hold the railing of the stairs on the walk down, their wet clothes in her arms. Kate dumped them next to the fairy wings; they'd be wrinkled but she'd have to run them through the wash anyway. Castle was in the kitchen, changed into a similar pair of sweats and a white t-shirt. He was pouring milk into a pot on a boiler.
"Hot chocolate," he explained without her asking, stirring the liquid in the pot with a spoon.
Al dashed over to the couch, catapulting up onto the cushions, her face buried in one of the throw pillows. Kate followed, finger-combing her daughter's brown hair, straight from the shower. The opposite of hers, currently a curling mess that refused to stay behind her ear like she wanted. "You want some hot chocolate, kid?"
"Hot chocolate for my date?" she asked, turning her head so Kate could hear her. "Yes, please."
Castle had three mugs balanced in his hands, handing them off to Kate before sitting next to her on the couch. Al was blowing on the surface of her hot chocolate, watching as the steam replaced the stuff she blew away. Kate was watching the routine with a soft smile on her face. And Castle was watching Kate. Her hair was leaving wet spots on his navy blue t-shirt, the neckline exposing a strip of skin where her neck met her shoulder, just begging to be kissed.
"You look good in my clothes," he whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear.
Kate's head spun around so fast he nearly had her chin clip his nose. "What?"
With Al distracted by her mug of chocolate, Castle leaned in and placed a kiss on her open mouth. Short. He felt a smile turning up under his lips as he pulled back. "You look good." Then he was focused on Al, grinning at her like the exchange between he and Kate hadn't happened but still seeing her surprised, slightly-pinked expression. "Al. Good date," he said, clinking his mug to hers.
"Good date," Al agreed on a nod. "Even with rain."