A/N: For those who wanted Castle to say and do something, here you go!
Sunday morning found Rick Castle first one awake in their household. That was unusual, but he decided to take advantage of it. His baby girl was hurting, and he had just the thing to make her feel better – strawberry happy face pancakes. Well, if he was honest, he would admit to thinking of a smorelette first, but Hannah did not like them. So strawberry happy face pancakes it would be. As he prepared pancake batter and cut up strawberries, he reflected on the last few days' events. Hannah's boyfriend had broken up with her on Friday night. Hannah had told him and Kate the news, and went straight to her room. Kate had comforted her with some sugar therapy. Yesterday, her big brother Jamie had dropped by and shared some of Kate's mac and cheese with his little sister.
Rick had been relieved when Hannah joined the family for dinner, showered and quiet. She didn't eat much dinner, but she had congratulated her little brother Alex when Kate told them he had made a few baskets and played great defense in his basketball game. Jamie and the magical mac and cheese had done wonders for Hannah, but Rick could see the pain under her small smile. Now it was his turn to provide comfort food. He turned when he heard footsteps on the stairs. The young lady in question was coming downstairs.
"Good morning, sweet pea," he said. "Strawberry happy face pancakes sound good?"
"Oh yes, daddy, that sounds perfect," said Hannah. Now Rick's heart broke a little. Hannah hadn't called him daddy in a long time.
"How are you feeling, sweetheart? If you want me to, I can call Uncle Javi and have him scare Mark a little," Rick said. Hannah shook her head "no" and then she looked at him with Kate's hazel eyes, and all he wanted to do was hug his baby girl until she felt one hundred percent better.
And then a grown up question came out of her lips, "is the coffee ready?"
Yes, Hannah Rose Castle was Kate Beckett's daughter in more ways than one. She was smart, caring, loving and oh so capable of taking care of herself. She had her mother's hair, eyes and megawatt smile. And she also shared her mother's love of caffeine. It had started as a way for Hannah to feel special. Kate would make her a "coffee" every morning – it was really 99 percent milk with a splash of coffee, but it meant the world to Hannah. It meant she was just like mommy. As she got older, the percentage of coffee increased, and now she had a real cup of coffee every morning.
"Of course the coffee's ready," Rick said with a dramatic flourish. "Have you ever known me to not make coffee first thing in the morning? I am hurt daughter, you wound me." Rick knew his mother would make some sort of joke about the quality of his acting, but all his drama got a giggle from his little girl. And right now, that felt like he had just won a Pulitzer. Then when he placed the plate of warm, sweet pancakes in front of her, and then a few minutes later, he handed her a coffee with a foam heart, he got a great big smile and a "thanks, daddy" from her. He hoped the comfort of pancakes would make his daughter's heart feel a little better. Because watching her dig in to the breakfast with enthusiasm made his heart feel warm and happy. And it made him happy to know he could make her feel better by feeding her with love.
But he still wanted to get even with Mark the Weasel. Give him time, he'd come up with something!