A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Real life happened. Anyway, lots of thanks to give for this chapter! Firstly to Bukibuki for the wonderful timing with the prompt (even if it was weeks ago – hope I didn't disappoint!) This one's for you as well, YX, Elise and Zi (No poop or uncooperative snow here) :) Olya(Dodge1989) спасибо for the help with the Russian phrases. Let's not forget my wonderful betas, Iris and Anika. Last but not least, thank you, each and every one of you, for continuing to read my stories and for all the favorites, alerts, and of course, all the lovely reviews!
Disclaimer: Neither Castle nor Frozen belong to me. Arriana's all mine though :)
Kate woke to a frantic knocking sound on Sunday morning. Running a hand through her hair to push it back wearily, she propped herself up on the other elbow. Squinting at the clock, she was surprised to see it was already eight in the morning. She must have been more tired than she had thought.
The knocking persisted.
"Mom-my!"
Kate shook her head as her features rearranged themselves to form a smile. Arriana's attempt at whispering was terrible.
Beside her, Castle began to stir.
"Come on in, Arri," Kate called out, pushing herself upright properly. The door swung open silently on its well-oiled hinges. A tangle of brown curls peeked through the gap in the doorway.
Kate patted the empty space beside her, beckoning Arriana to come in. Kate was glad her daughter had finally learned not to barge into her parents' bedroom.
Arriana clambered eagerly onto the bed, a mess of spindly limbs and awkward angles. Kate moved to accommodate her daughter, trying her best to avoid Arriana's knobby knees and pointy elbows. It suddenly hit Kate that her daughter wasn't so little anymore. This growth spurt somehow occurred without her notice.
"It's snowing, Mommy," Arriana whispered excitedly. Kate enveloped her daughter in a hug and rested her head on top of Arriana's. The little girl was positively vibrating with energy. Kate hummed in content, trying to contain her daughter's excitement in order to prolong Castle's sleep.
"The snow's sticking," Arriana continued, her voice tinged with child-like awe.
The bed dipped as Castle rolled over and regarded the two of them through narrowed slits.
"Wha- time's it?" he asked sleepily.
"Time to get up," Kate teased, ruffling his hair lovingly.
"Did Arri-" Castle let loose a wide yawn, continuing after a moment, "say it's snowing?"
He reached for a pillow blindly, tucking it under his arm as he snuggled against Kate.
Arriana looked at Kate, silently asking for permission. Daddy was normally much more tired in the morning and needed his "beauty sleep". To the eight-year-old's delight, Kate gave a small nod.
That was all the indication Arriana needed to clamber over her mother and climb onto her dad's back, bouncing lightly.
"Daddy, Daddy, do you want to build a snowman?" she sang.
He peeked back at her. Arriana had shamelessly stolen that line from Frozen, which the three of them had watched a few weeks back. He shifted deliberately, causing Arriana to tilt and fall into Kate.
He grumbled incoherently and snuggled against his pillows, effectively hiding his face as Arriana shrieked, but not before Kate caught his small smile.
"Come on let's go and play," Kate coaxed, poking Castle in between his ribs as she fed the next line to the song.
Arriana pushed her hair back – it was so reminiscent of Kate that it was a little scary how similar their mannerisms were – and stared down at her father's bulk. She frowned in concentration.
"Dad-dy!"
"Go on, go wake him up," Kate encouraged, pushing her daughter towards Castle once more.
Arriana climbed onto his back, clutching his shoulders tightly with her small hands as she shook him. "Do you want to build a snowman?" she sang once more.
"Go away, Arri," Castle mumbled.
The eight year old's face fell in disappointment. It only lasted for half a second, because Kate leaned over and whispered to her, "It's part of the song, remember?"
Arriana's face brightened as she recalled the scene. Daddy wasn't really asking her to go away, it was all part of the act!
"Do you want to build a snowman? Do you? Do you?" she hollered, leaning close to his head. "Do you want to build a SNOWMAN?"
That got his attention all right.
Castle pushed up, fast enough to spur Arriana into a frenzy of frantically looking for handholds, but not too quickly as to actually throw her off his back.
"All right, let's go build a snowman," he said cheerfully.
Arriana whooped in delight and Kate quickly shot out a hand to steady her. "Go wash up and get your things. Dress warmly, okay?"
"Yes!" she yelled excitedly, scooting down and off her parents' bed and dashing away to her own bedroom.
Kate bubbled with laughter, shaking her head at Arriana's antics.
"Did someone say something about coming out and playing?" he asked, the lingering remnants of his sleep lending a huskier tone to his voice.
"Mmm," Kate hummed in contentment, turning to face her husband. His bedroom voice was certainly doing a good job of waking certain parts within her. She leaned over, sharing a lingering good morning kiss with her husband. Breaking apart, she rested her forehead against his.
"You know she's just going to return in like, five minutes, right?"
He closed the distance between them, giving Kate a chaste kiss. "Raincheck." Rolling away, he got out of bed and headed to the bathroom, leaving Kate sitting in a dazed heap in bed.
Stopping under the doorway, it was his turn to ask her, "You coming, Mrs. Castle?"
The three of them were all bundled up and ready to leave within twenty minutes, which was no small feat, but entirely made possible due to the constant hounding and haranguing from Arriana.
"Castle, you got the keys?" Kate asked, adjusting Arriana's scarf so that it lay more snugly around her little neck.
Arriana huffed in impatience as Castle doubled back into the loft. "What? No, I thought you had them."
"No, I only have my phone on me. Little Miss Bossy Pants here kept rushing me. Grab my purse, will you?"
Castle shuffled out once more, locking the door behind him. "I've got my wallet on me, we'll be fine," he told Kate. Castle pocketed the keys and checked the contents of his pockets.
"Ah, crap, I left my phone."
Sandwiched between her parents, Arriana let out a dramatic moan. She was turning out to be quite the drama queen all right, picking up the flairs and flourishes off of Martha.
Castle winced. "Ahh, it's okay. You're sure you have yours, right? Between your phone and my wallet, we should be able to make things work. Now, who's ready to go build a snowman?"
They didn't go far; they headed straight for the closest park. Despite the early hour, there were already a few families standing in small clusters within the park. A large, boisterous family was in the middle of an elaborate snowball fight; another father looked on as his toddler rolled around in the snow and attempted to make snow angels. Further in the distance, a small boy was running around gleefully with his dog, sliding and crashing into snow banks before erupting in a fit of laughter that carried through the park. At least three other families were building their own snowman.
Rick and Kate looked on as Arriana took it all in, letting her eyes slowly roam across the park. They could see the conflicting thoughts play across Arriana's face. There were just so many options!
Taking the reins, Kate sang, "Do you want to build a snowman?"
Arriana looked up at her mom with eyes that sparkled. Nodding excitedly, Arriana took Rick and Kate's hands in her own smaller ones, tugging them forward excitedly.
They found a small clearing and quickly got to work.
"Let's make a gigantic snowman, Daddy! One of those three-tiered ones," Arriana suggested, crouching down to gather the snow and make a small ball.
"Yeah, Rick, time to get your ass to work," Kate murmured softly. She couldn't help but tease her husband when he's so obviously wrapped around Arriana's pinky finger.
Rick looked up at Kate through narrowed eyes, but before he could retort, Arriana had beat him to it.
"Mommy! That's not a nice word!"
Kate blushed at being reprimanded by her daughter. Arriana wasn't supposed to hear that.
Smirking, Rick said, "Get your hiney to work, Kate."
As soon as their mound began to resemble a medium-sized ball, Rick took over. "All right, Arri, that should do it. You can roll that ball around like this and just let the snow stick on."
He demonstrated how to push the ball around, before Arriana excitedly took over. Rick and Kate promptly sat on the snow-covered ground, content to let their daughter do the hard work for a while.
Arriana pushed her snowball all over the place, quickly building in its size. It wasn't long before she began to struggle with it.
"I should go help her," Rick said, resting his head against Kate's.
"Yeah, you should," she replied.
Neither of them moved. They were probably getting their pants soaked just by sitting on the ground but neither of them wanted to move. A few more seconds passed before Kate bubbled with laughter. Arriana was standing at an inclined angle, throwing her whole weight into the snowball in an effort to plough forward.
"We're terrible parents," Kate said.
In the distance, Arriana wasn't making any more progress.
"Yeah we are," Rick agreed, laughing as well. He turned to press a kiss against Kate's cheek before pushing off the ground. He straightened up and began swatting at his butt with his gloved hands to get rid of the snow that had stuck to his pants. When he was done, he offered a hand to Kate, pulling her up and into his embrace.
"Here, let me help you with that," he said softly, swiping at her tush. Kate bit her lip as her cheeks reddened with a different kind of blush.
"I think I got it," she said, pulling back. She knew his tactics all too well. His gentleman act was just a cover for his caveman tendencies.
"Go help Arri," she told him, "I'll start on the middle piece."
Kate pushed him toward their daughter. She couldn't help but keep her eyes on his retreating figure as he walked off, her vision zoning in on the slightly darker patch of denim across his butt. Shaking her head to clear it of any inappropriate wandering thoughts, Kate knelt and began gathering snow.
Rick and Arriana made quick progress together. All too soon, the base of their snowman was ready. While Rick started on the head, Kate and Arriana began rolling the middle bit around, forming the torso.
When it was the right size, the mother and daughter duo began rolling it back towards Rick and the base. After a lot of groaning and huffing, the three of them successfully mounted the torso on top of the base. Kate held on to the middle part as Rick and Arriana quickly patted on fresh snow to seal the part where the two snowballs met.
"The head, Daddy, put on the head," Arriana said excitedly when the torso and bottom were stable. The head sat just out of Arriana's reach, so Rick and Kate busied themselves securing it in place.
"C'mon, Arri, let's go look for twigs and stones. Mommy can smooth out our snowman's shape."
Kate watched on as Rick and Arri left hand in hand. The image reminded her of the photograph in Castle's study – the one with him and Alexis on the playground. Kate quickly took out her cell phone, unable to resist snapping a picture.
Smiling, she pocketed her phone and looked around. A number of new families had arrived at the park, replacing the ones that had left some time ago.
A few minutes later, Rick and Arriana returned with an assortment of sticks and stones in their arms, dropping it near the base of the snowman. Kate ducked her head, blinking away happy tears.
"Hey, what's wrong, Kate?" Rick sidled up to her, gathering her into a hug as Arriana obliviously began sorting through the twigs and branches.
Shaking her head, Kate sniffled. "Nothing, Rick, I'm just – happy, so happy," she broke off, canting her body further into his embrace. "I mean, just a few years ago– I couldn't even imagine something like this for Arriana and myself," she continued, her sentences choppy and broken but it was the best she could muster.
Rick was at a loss of words too. Some best-selling author he was. "Oh Kate," he breathed, settling for a tight hug and trying to convey all his feelings in that simple gesture.
"How about these two for arms?" Arriana piped suddenly, looking toward her parents.
Kate let out a shaky laugh. Arriana's interruption came at the perfect time. Any longer in her personal bubble with Rick and Kate would've dissolved into a puddle of tears.
"They're perfect."
Rick and Kate broke apart, getting back to work on their snowman. It was time to wrap things up.
Kate broke off twigs to form the mouth while Arriana stuck the arms in. Rick picked two large pebbles and passed them to Arriana to hold. He then carried her up so she was level with the head and Arriana stuck them in, putting the finishing touches on their snowman.
Kate passed her phone to a passing stranger, asking if he would mind snapping a picture of their family with the snowman. He happily obliged, taking a few shots before wandering off after Kate thanked him.
Arriana skipped happily around the snowman, singing a song about snow and fun – she must have learnt it in school – while Kate scrolled through the pictures.
'Where's Rick?' Kate wondered, looking around for her missing husband.
Something hit her squarely in the middle of her back, causing Kate to whip around in confusion. What the-
"Snowball fight!" Rick proclaimed gleefully. Kate narrowed her eyes at her husband, but he was already launching another snowball at her. She quickly ducked, but it was too late. The snowball gave her a glancing blow before crumbling.
Arriana perked up at her father's voice, quickly crouching to form a snowball, her eyes darting around to see where he had gone.
He must have made a small arsenal earlier on and hid them somewhere, because two snowballs arced their way across the air and hit Arriana on the shoulder.
"It's so on, Castle!" Kate yelled, throwing a snowball in return. He ducked and it flew harmlessly over his head.
"Gotta do better than that, Beckett," he taunted, throwing two back.
As her mother ran for cover, Arriana took the opportunity to launch her snowball at her father. It hit him in the thigh.
"Hey!"
Arriana whooped in delight, but Kate was already swooping in and grabbing her daughter's hand.
"C'mon, we need to make more snowballs!"
They ran off a little ways, pausing to survey their surroundings. Castle was kneeling in the distance, making more snowballs.
"Make as many snowballs as you can, Arri, I'll keep an eye out," Kate told her daughter. With Kate launching snowballs to keep Castle away, Arriana quickly made a small heap of ammunition.
"Hey, no ganging up against me!" he whined.
Both Kate and Arriana sent snowballs flying his way.
Kate yelled back, "You started it, Castle!"
There was nothing to it. Castle had to separate them in order to have a fighting chance. Bending low to present a smaller target, Castle ran straight towards the two of them. He tackled into Kate, picking her up and running away, separating mother and daughter.
He dumped Kate at a nearby snowbank, laughing as he ran away. As Kate yelled threats at her husband while attempting to extricate herself, Castle began looking for his daughter. She had run off in the other direction.
Now we're talking.
"Every man for himself, Arri!" he shouted, crouching to make snowballs but warily keeping an eye on Kate as well. She's a sneaky one.
He quickly formed a collection of snowballs in front of him.
Let them come.
Kate was slowly moving closer, three snowballs in her hand. She was still too far off, so he whipped his head in the opposite direction to look at Arriana. She too was holding a snowball in her hand, with a few more cradled between her other arm and body.
'Rule number one: don't be too greedy, kiddo,' he thought, hefting a snowball in his right hand. Arriana was sure to drop some of her snowballs, and when she did, he had the perfect opportunity to attack his youngest.
If only Alexis could be here as well, Castle thought. He had trained her very well. It was such a pity that she had to miss out on this – they would've made a great team against Kate and Arriana. But then again, his eldest would probably side with the girls, leaving him outnumbered three to one.
No, maybe Alexis not being present wasn't such a bad thing after all. Anyway, it was time to get his head back in the game.
He watched on as his prediction unfurled in slow motion. One of Arriana's snowballs slipped and she crouched to pick it up, dropping her guard.
Castle launched a snowball in her direction. His aiming was off, so he didn't hit her but it did startle her.
"Беги на право и спрячься!" (Run to the right and hide!)
Castle got hit on his arm by a snowball as he heard Kate shouting at Arriana. She must have run forward while he was distracted.
"No fair, Beckett! What'd you just tell her?" Castle asked Kate, sending a few snowballs her way.
A peal of laughter floated his way. Kate threw her remaining snowball before retreating, calling over her shoulder, "All's fair in love and war, Castle!"
"Атакуй по моему сигналу!" (Attack on my signal!)
Another phrase in Russian. Kate definitely had something up her sleeves, but Castle was absolutely clueless when it came to deciphering what she had just told Arriana.
He was pushed to play defense now.
Glancing down, Castle saw he still had at least five snowballs. It was too risky to try and form more, so they would have to suffice. He kept his eyes peeled on Kate as she slowly stalked closer, snowballs in each hand.
A dirty quip was at the tip of his tongue, just begging to be voiced aloud.
But Kate narrowed her eyes slightly, and that was all the tell Castle needed in order to know that she was putting her plan in motion.
Grabbing a snowball, he tensed, ready to launch it at her as soon as she was within striking distance. He wanted to look around one last time, just to try and pinpoint where Arriana was, but it was too late now. Too risky with Kate so close by. Might as well make the first move.
Castle threw his snowball at her, quickly picking up a second one and launching that too.
Kate ducked but continued forward, running now. She threw a snowball at him but missed.
"Сейчас!" (Now!)
Castle instinctively whipped his head around, belatedly remembering Arriana was somewhere out there. He was met with a snowball hitting his forehead.
Kate tackled him to the ground while he was still stunned, knocking him out of the fight. Arriana quickly joined their dog pile, launching herself on top of her parents in a loud shriek.
They rolled in the snow, a mess of limbs grappling about, the occasional grunt or laughter piercing the air before quickly being muffled again. Eventually, Castle called truce.
They sat on the ground, panting from exhaustion.
"You Becketts fight dirty," he wheezed, still trying to catch his breath.
Kate and Arriana exchanged a tired fist bump, grinning at him. "C'mon, Castle. Let's go get some hot drinks."
Kate stood up, extending both her hands to her husband and daughter respectively. As she pulled him upright, Rick told her, "You mean let me go get us some hot drinks, right? Because if I recall correctly, I'm the only one with money right now."
Kate stuck out her tongue playfully at her smartass husband.
"Hot chocolate, Daddy! Please? Pretty please?" Arriana begged, putting on her best show.
Rick shook his head in resignation. She was picking up on too many of her Broadway-diva grandmother's antics.
"C'mon, let's get out of here," he said tiredly. Slinging an arm around Kate and holding Arriana's slightly wet, gloved hand in his other, they left the park – happy memories of their morning stamped freshly in all three minds.
A/N: Imagine having 20-something year olds sing "Do you want to build a snowman?" at you for a whole day. My friends even modified the lyrics to apply to our situation. The things I have to deal with… *smh* Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter! Thoughts?
Ps. I'd love to see your snowman. Here's mine on instagram! Just go to their main site and then tack this last part on: /p/ksW_wwixE2/#