A/N: Hey, Nerds! So after 'Gotcha Day' where we meet Henry, a guest reviewer wanted a follow up to it showing how Caskett react to meeting their newest grandchild. So here's that for you!
Enjoy!
Cartoons play quietly from the TV as a little girl sipping from a cup of chocolate milk watches on. Her momma sits nearby getting the girl's new baby brother changed and dressed for the day. The baby protests loudly and tries to roll away, but only gets to his belly when Ashley pulls him back to face her.
"No you don't, Papas," she scolds him. "I know it's not fun, but if you sit still, it will be over soon." She plays peek-a-boo with Henry as she slips a new onesie over his head, this one is green with a smiling frog on the front, and snaps the buttons between his legs. She slides gray pants over his legs, and with a tickle to his stomach, she finishes with him and turns to grab his sister's outfit. "Come on, Mace. Let's get dressed."
But their morning routine is interrupted when a knock comes at their door. Ashley gets up to answer it, grumbling the whole time about how knocking on someone's door this early should be illegal. She turns the lock and opens the door to reveal her in-laws.
"Hey!" They both say smiling.
"Hey!" Ashley says, hugging Kate first and then Rick.
"You know, you should really look into getting a better doorman. He let us with no trouble," Castle tells her with a smirk.
Ashley laughs. "Sam's the best. He likes you, that's why you got in so easily. Whenever my brother comes by, Sam makes him wait out on the street for as long as possible. He claims Mat rubs him the wrong way." Everyone chuckles at that and finally move out of the hallway.
"Grandma! Grandpa!" Macey, who had been hiding behind the couch to see who was at the door, shouts, racing into the open arms of her grandparents.
"Hi, baby!" Castle scoops her up and kisses her cheeks. "How are you?"
"Good," Macey replies, reaching out for a hug from her grandma. Kate takes her and hugs the toddler tight. "Do you want to see Baby Henry?" She asks, wiggling to be let down, and, not waiting for an answer, takes her grandma's hand and leads her into the living room where her brother is laying on the floor trying to get a toy a few feet away from him.
"Oh my gosh," Kate gasps. "Oh, he is gorgeous," she says, turning to look at Ashley. The mom is smiling back, taking in the moment of grandmother meeting her newest grandson for the first time. "Hey, buddy," Kate says to Henry, kneeling on the floor next to him. The baby turns at the new voice and doesn't even hesitate in giving his grandma a giant, dimpled smile. "You are so sweet!" Kate says, scooping Henry into her arms and kissing his round cheeks.
"Does Grandma got you, huh? Does she got you?" Ashley asks her son, getting his attention. She watches as Henry looks from her to Kate and back again before smiling and sticking his hand into his mouth.
"He's smiles so easy! Macey was never like that as a baby," Kate says.
"That's what my mom said!" Ashley laughs.
"Here: let me have him," Castle tells his wife, requesting his turn to meet the new baby. Kate hands him over and holds back a surprised gasp when Castle lifts Henry to the sky before bringing him to his chest. "Hey, buddy. It's good to finally meet you," he smiles down at him. Henry is a bit apprehensive at the new person holding him, but after reassuring words and smiles from his momma realizes that everything is okay and settles down.
While Castle is enjoying the baby, Kate attends to her granddaughter who had been demanding her attention since she picked up the baby.
"Wow! Very pretty," Kate says, admiring the new outfit Henry had brought Macey for her baby doll. When the toddler scampers off for something else to show her grandparents, Kate settles onto the couch next to Castle and makes faces at the baby still in his arms.
"Sorry Dani's not up yet," Ashley apologizes sitting next to them. "They had a night shoot last night and she didn't get home until five."
"Ouch," Kate grimaces.
"Yeah," Ashley agrees, nodding. "Tell me about it. But it wasn't like I was sleeping. This one doesn't sleep but a couple of hours if we're lucky." Ashley says, pointing to her son.
"Oh no! I'm sorry," Kate tells her with a pat on her leg.
"Eh, it's fine," Ashley shrugs. "He doesn't seem too bothered by it." She points at her son who is happily smiling at his grandpa and grabbing at his glasses.
Castle takes them off and puts them on his grandson's face. The adults laugh and 'aw' at the sight and quickly snap pictures before Henry realizes and rips them off, flinging them as far as he can.
"Henry, no!" Ashley cries.
"It's fine," Castle says. "It's not the first time, won't be the last. Macey, will you grab my glasses for me, please?" He asks his granddaughter. The girl obliges, bringing them over and snuggling close to Castle. He gets the girl talking all about her preschool class and gymnastics lessons and her brother.
Ashley lets nearly a quarter hour pass, watching her kids interact with their grandparents when a casual glance at her cell phone brought realization to her very quickly. "Oh, we are so late! Macey Kate, we gotta get dressed and go to school," she says, standing and going for the forgotten outfit still laid out on the floor.
"No!" Macey cries, clinging to her grandpa's neck.
Ashley sighs, raking back her hair. "Mace, we don't have time for this. Come get dressed, you're going to be late for school."
"Uh-uh," the girl refuses.
"Macey Katherine, you have until three. One. Two-"
"No! I wanna stay with grandma and grandpa!" Macey is truly crying now, tears falling down her cheeks.
"Hey, hey, none of that," Castle croons, hugging Macey and kissing her temple. "I know you're excited that grandma and I are here. And you're scared that you're gonna miss something fun while you're at school, huh?"
"Uh-huh," Macey nods, bottom lip puffed out.
"Yeah, I would be too. But I promise you're not. Grandma and I are just gonna rest and hang out with your brother and wait for your mommy to get up. The only fun you're gonna miss is at preschool if you don't go. Okay?" when she nods against him, Rick smiles. "Okay. Now, go put on that pretty flower dress. I wanna see you in it." Macey slides down, grabs her dress and follows her mom into her bedroom. They return a few minutes later, Macey, dressed and ready for school, is smiling as she skips over to her brother and grandparents.
"Wow! Look at you! So pretty!" Rick exaggerates, grinning wide. Mace preens for them, her dimples coming out in her smile.
"Okay, we really have to go now," Ashley insists. And after a round of hugs, the girls leave Henry under the watch of his grandparents and head off to school.
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It's more afternoon than morning, and nearly time to pick Macey up from school, when Danielle finally emerges from her bedroom. She walks down the hall rubbing the remnants of sleep from her eyes, her blonde curls bed ruffled, wearing cotton sleep shorts and a navy camisole, and stops short in the doorway when she sees her mom sitting on the couch.
"Hey," she says, voice thick with sleep.
"Hey, baby girl!" Kate smiles, patting the seat next to her. Danielle goes to her, sitting down slowly, trying as much as possible not to jostle a sleeping Henry on her mom's chest. "He's beautiful," Kate murmurs, leaning close to her daughter.
"Thank you," Danielle replies. She runs a soft hand around his round cheek and through his soft, dark hair.
"How are you guys doing?"
"We're good," Danielle nods. "Not getting much sleep, but we're good."
"Yeah, I know how that is," Kate adds with a dry chuckle.
"Yeah. And Macey loves him to death. She's such a big help. And Ashley and I make sure we get some one-on-one time with her. Especially that first week we brought him home. It was such a big change and we were worried she would start acting out, but she didn't. We were kind of surprised. Let's hope it stays that way," Dani says, crossing her fingers.
"I think she'll be okay. If they're anything like you and Liam, they're gonna fight like an old married couple one minute and the next they're best friends."
"Oh, God, I hope not!" Danielle laughs, remembering how she and her brother were as kids. "Where is everyone?" she asks, standing and heading for the kitchen and the coffee maker.
"You know your dad, he can't sit still for ten minutes," Kate says, shaking her head. "Ashley took him to the store to pick up a few things."
"Oh, okay. Hey, have you talked to Miyana and Byron? How are they doing? How's Emi?." Henry wasn't the only new member of their family, Miyana, only a few week prior, had given birth to her second child, a girl they named Emilia.
"They're good. Same as you guys: adjusting. Jaycee stayed with us for a few days, so we spoiled her rotten. Mia says it's pretty tough with her now, having a younger sibling and not being the center of attention anymore, but they are working through it. Oh, she is too cute, Dani, You're not going to be able to handle it."
"Oh, I know, Mia sent me pictures," Danielle says, smiling. "Thank God we have Henry now. Simon was starting to get outnumbered. At least now, the boys stand a chance I'll have to call them, check on things." Dani finishes putting together her drink and resettles on the couch. Twenty minutes later, Ashley and Rick come through the front door, arms loaded with shopping bags.
"Whoa! Where did you guys go?" Danielle asks, surprised.
"A few places," Ashley says, underplaying the amount of groceries they had brought home.
"I can see that," Dani nods. "Hey, Dad," she says hugging him.
"Hey, baby," he smiles.
During all the commotion, Henry had woken up and was not happy about it, so while Ashley attended to him, Danielle helped finish unpacking the groceries with her dad. The two rejoined the others on the couch and had only sat down for a moment when the alarm went off signaling it was time to leave to collect Macey from school.
"I'll get her," Danielle insists, standing. "I haven't seen since yesterday. It will be nice to spend some time together." And a moment later, she disappears into her room to get cleaned up.