Rick woke the next morning to find Kate sat up beside him, pen and notepad in hand, jotting things down every few seconds.
"What're ya doin'?" Rick slurred sleepily. Kate looked down at him and shot him a soft smile before turning her page towards him.
"I'm making a list of all the things we need to buy Nevaeh. She has nothing except the outfit she was wearing the day she came into the precinct and a few things you've found of Alexis'. She needs clothes and toys, and books and all sorts. So, I thought we would take her shopping? Maybe have lunch out? Try to spoil her a little, make up for the last couple of days." She looked a little hesitant. Rick chuckled warmly and leaned up to kiss her slowly, making her hum.
"Sounds good. Shower, breakfast, shopping." Kate smiled softly.
"Saving water?" She asked, raising an eyebrow cheekily.
Rick chuckled. "Well, you'll need help wrapping your cast and someone really should help you wash your back." Kate watched him innocently but there was a spark of mischief in her eyes.
"I wonder who I can get to help me. Hmm." She tapped her pen against her chin as she pretended to think before squealing and giggling as Rick scooped her up and carried her to the bathroom.
Rick held Nevaeh's hand firmly in his own, his senses still on high alert, while also keeping an eye out for Kate.
For someone on crutches for the first time, she was doing remarkably well but he still kept one eye on her.
She insisted on doing this in person rather than online, wanting to make it normal and fun for Nevaeh. She'd relented far enough though, to let Rick have the car service follow them and transfer them from shop to shop if they gauged it too far for Kate to comfortably make it. it also meant they needn't carry all their bags.
Nevaeh seemed to be enjoying herself. They had already filled half the trunk of the car with clothes, as many outfits as she liked. Rick and Kate both insisting if she liked something to just pick it up and put it in the cart. There was no price limit. The sweetheart that was Navi though, kept looking back to the adults for permission every few items, as if she still couldn't believe that this was all for her.
Toys were a little less extravagant. Rick had to convince her many a time that having more toys than one Barbie and one baby doll wasn't redundant. Kate had to stifle a laugh at the seven year old's argument that she could only play with one at a time so why did she need more?
They eventually convinced her to put a few more into their basket, both Kate and Castle both slipping in a couple more each before they paid, keeping their purchases away from prying eyes until they could get it home and she couldn't refuse.
Once they hit the book store, Kate's favourite and one Rick had been coming to for as long as he could remember, the elation was clear on the girl's face. She stopped, still as a statue, in the door way, jaw on the floor as she stared at the floor to ceiling shelves of books.
"Navi?" Rick whispered, leaning down to talk in her ear. "You can go look you know?" Navi nodded slowly, trancelike fascination still in tact. Kate chuckled as she hobbled beside her.
"Hey." She chuckled, gently tapping the girl's ankle with her crutch, breaking the spell and gaining the girl's attention. "Wanna go look, Belle?" Nevaeh's entire face lit up at the very suitable comparison.
"Yes please." She murmured, awed, before following her sister to the children's section while Castle watched on, a tight ball of emotion clouding his throat.
As it happened, they didn't stay in the children's section for long, Nevaeh obviously more like her sister than either of them gave her credit.
The seven year old had a thirst for knowledge and a gift for language that rivalled her sister's and such an advanced vocabulary and reading age that she may be able to match or even excel Richard Castle himself.
By the time they left the store, the young girl was adorably flushed with excitement, her nose firmly wedged in Roald Dahl's classic The Witches, while Rick carried everything from Daisy Meadows to Patterson, to Sophie Hannah in two huge bags. The latter two had been expressly inspected by both adults to ensure they kept her nightmares to a minimum.
Once they had eaten, the three took everything back to the loft and unpacked it all into the girl's room, making the guest room look an awful lot more homely for the child, and Kate had insisted that Nevaeh had a nap, citing the fact she'd been let out of hospital only the day before and needed the rest.
The complete lack of a fight Nevaeh gave convinced Castle she was right.
Castle looked up from his keyboard once he'd finished his latest, for once on time, chapter and saw it had been an hour since he had left Kate in the living room, sorting, de-tagging and folding Nevaeh's new clothes while the girl herself slept.
Rick stretched and left the office, surprised to not see Kate entwined in the piles of clothing.
After all this time, she knew better than to interrupt him mid flow, even to just cut through the room, so his first thought was the upstairs bathroom, because of course, Kate had insisted she could manage the stairs just fine. He sighed inwardly and made his way up the stairs to find her.
He managed to get as far as the landing before he noticed that Nevaeh's door, the one he had pulled ajar himself just over an hour ago, now stood open. He swallowed involuntary and unnecessary panic and peered around the frame before his heart fluttered at the sight.
Kate was sat beside the bed, her right leg drawn up under her while her casted left laid straight out in front of her, her arms folded on the side of the bed as she hummed softly, obviously watching the girl sleep.
"Kate?" Castle murmured, not wanting to startle her. Kate lifted one of her hands in greeting and he took that as a sign he was allowed to enter. "Hey." He whispered as he came to sit beside her. "She okay?" Kate nodded slowly.
"I came up to put some of her clothes away but..." she paused and looked at him through her lashes; embarrassment and hesitancy playing in the forest green of her eyes.
"But…?" He prompted gently. Kate shrugged, moving to gently stroke her finger along the slumbering seven year old's arm.
"She just looked so peaceful and calm and after the last couple of days... I just wanted a moment to stop and really absorb that she's here and safe you know?" she looked up at him, her cheeks an adorable pink as she blushed. "Is that really silly?" Rick chuckled and leaned in to kiss her temple gently.
"Not silly at all Kate." He smiled at her and turned to watch Nevaeh sleep for a few moments before his knees started protesting at being folded beneath him. "You ready to leave her to sleep?" Kate nodded. "Come on then." Rick stood before reaching down and taking Kate's hands to help her stand as she pushed up with her good foot.
Once he'd picked up her crutches, he followed her out, pulling the door to behind him.