Mostly Caskett

@missy520

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Castle Ficlet: Positively Inspired 1/1

Positively Inspired (What Happens in AC verse)

Her son wiggles in her arms, pressing his little toes against her belly as he attempts to push himself higher over her shoulder.

“Someone’s squirmy this morning.”

Beckett huffs a laugh, shifting her hand to cradle her baby’s head, listening to him coo. “This time it’s not on me; he just woke up in a good mood, I guess.”

Castle’s lips lift as he leans over and touches his lips to their son’s temple. “He’s an explorer,” he says easily. “An investigator at heart; you can just tell by the way he’s checking out the beach over your shoulder.”

“Is that right?” she coos, smooching the baby’s cheek. “Are you looking for clues on the beach, baby?”

“Watching for the sea monster, maybe,” Castle says, rubbing a finger over Thomas’s chin. “Is that what you’re looking for, buddy?”

Kate grins. “Still planning that children’s book, huh?”

Her husband dusts a kiss to her shoulder, pressing his smile to the gauzy fabric of her dress. “Oh, I’m not just planning. I’m positively inspired. I even have my setting and my main characters already. The perfect, handsome hero and his brilliant parents.”

He winks at her good-natured eye roll. Of course he would say that.

“Uh huh. Write it and we’ll talk, Rick.”

Castle Ficlet: Change of Plans 1/1

Change of Plans

“Oh, that’s good scooping, Sprout,” Rick Castle praises, looking up from his task of preheating the oven.

His daughter grins, lifting her head to show him her chocolate chip-stained lips. Castle hides a chuckle behind his hand, tilting the chocolate chip cup to see what damage she’s done. Almost done – good girl.

“Fanks, Daddy. I’m makin’ em big enough but not too big.”

Rick nods, giving her words the gravity and consideration that they deserve. “Good thinking. We want individual cookies, not a cookie cake, right?”

Her eyes widen and he knows he’s opened a can of worms.

“We can make cookie CAKE?” she says, her jaw nearly on the counter. “Daddy, we needta do it. S'so important.”

He gawks. “It’s so important? But what about our regular cookies?”

Lily shakes her head, dropping the scoop and turning to their carefully measured and placed dough balls. She gathers as many into her hands as she can hold, squishing them together and plopping them back down on the baking sheet. He watches her smooth the mega-ball of dough out a little, leaving room at the edges. “Cookie cake, Daddy. It’s the only choice. Nobody eber makes cookie cakes like this. Mommy will lub it.”

Well, of that he has no doubt.

Castle Ficlet: All You Can See 1/1

All You Can See

It’s hard to believe they’re just a couple of hours from home when they can see the sky like this. There’s nothing like this in the city, too much light, too many people, too few places they can escape to and sway with the breeze while committing the position of the stars to memory. It’s exactly what she’s needed, and she hadn’t even realized how badly.

Castle’s hand skims her side, landing on her hip. His exhale stirs the hair at her neck, causing a shiver to roll down her spine.

“Not fair,” she says, leaning into him a little harder. The hammock sways with the motion, calm and easy.

“Sorry,” he murmurs, dropping a kiss on her shoulder. “It’s beautiful out here. I always forget how much you can see without all the light pollution.”

“And how much you can hear without the noise,” she adds, letting her head swivel around a little, taking in the chirp of the bugs, the rustle of the trees.

Castle chuckles. “That, too. Is your dad’s cabin like this, too?”

She nods. “Yeah. Even quieter and darker, really. I’ll talk to him and see if we can go up there in a few weeks.”

Her boyfriend murmurs an agreement into her hair. “Sounds perfect, Beckett.”

Castle Ficlet: New Perspective 1/1

New Perspective

“Of all the places I expected to find you when I got home, this really wasn’t it.”

Kate Beckett laughs, twisting her head just enough to meet her husband’s eyes. Castle lowers his chin, offering her a lopsided smile.

“Everything okay?” he asks when she offers no explanation for her current position, back flat on the floor, legs and feet against the wall.

“Mhmm. I just needed a change of scenery,” she says. “The chair wasn’t really cutting it anymore.”

Castle snorts. “You got down to grab something and couldn’t get up again, huh?”

“Shut up.” She laughs again, though, shaking her head at how easily he’d seen through that. “I was sitting at the coffee table and my back locked up when I tried to get up. So I scooted over here to stretch.”

Her husband nods, squatting next to her head and dropping a kiss on her mouth. “Want help getting up?”

“Mmm,” she nods, “but not yet. It’s actually nice down here; glad we cleaned up the other day.”

Rick laughs again, toeing out of his shoes and sliding to the floor beside her, adopting her posture.

“Huh,” he says after a moment, moving his hands from his belly to take one of hers, “it really is comfortable.”

She grins, squeezing his fingers. “Yeah. Thanks for joining me.”

Castle Ficlet: Off the Beaten Path 1/1

Off the Beaten Path

Never let it be said that Rick Castle doesn’t deliver. She had wanted off the beaten path, as few potential interruptions or distractions as possible, and boy he’d come through. A resort in the middle of the jungle, a natural swimming hole, even a beach within a short ATV ride. It’s absolutely everything she’d been hoping for – and more.

“Castle,” she breathes, “it’s gorgeous.”

He adjusts his sunglasses, looking around at their home away from home for the next two weeks.

“It is, wow,” he says, clasping his hands. “I really outdid myself, didn’t I?”

Beckett rolls her eyes. “Modest as usual, babe. Modest as usual.”

He grins, leaning over to touch his mouth to her cheek. “Sit, Kate. I’ll grab our drinks and we can begin our relaxation.”

She bites her lip, catching his arm before he can go too far. “Rick, about that – the drinks, I mean.”

He stops, his brow dipping beneath his glasses. “You-”

“You might want to bring me a water, okay?” she says, lifting her chin, trusting him to get what she’s saying. “I’ll be drinking water for the next little while,” she adds, brushing her lips over his.

“Kate,” he breathes. “Are you-you’re saying-”

“Uh huh. I’m pregnant, Castle.”

Castle Ficlet: Matching 1/1

Matching

Exhilaration floods her belly the closer they get, anticipation making her fingers twitch. It’s not nervousness, no she’s done this before, although never like this. Never with someone else.

Her first tattoo had been an impulsive thing, done when she was barely more than a child, and then her second one had been a decision borne of grief for her mother. But this one, this is for the best reasons. Happy reasons, mature reasons. Forever reasons.

Castle’s hand slips over hers, his fingers squeezing hers. “You look excited,” he says, lifting an eyebrow.

She grins, lowering her chin. “I am. I just… it’s been a long time since I got a tattoo. And I never got one with someone else, before.”

He tilts his head. “Really? You didn’t go with Madison?”

She shakes her head. “She hates needles, so she refused to come with me when I went. It was my own personal rebellion. She said it was cute afterward, though. She just didn’t want to be around me when I got it done. And the second time, I just went in the middle of an afternoon one day.”

He chuckles. “I could see that.”

Kate squeezes his hand. “I’m glad we’re doing this together, though. Both of us.”

Rick nods. “Me too. I have to admit I’m a little nervous.”

She hums, leaning in to kiss his cheek. Matching tattoos had been his idea, but she gets it. She really does. “It’ll be great, babe. It’ll be great.”

Castle Ficlet: Not Square 1/1

Not Square

“Gwampa, I like your house.”

Jim smiles, looking up from his peanut butter and jelly preparation to make sure Lily is okay in his living room. Katie’s old track and cars sit on the carpet, but his granddaughter sits at the end of the couch, her eyes locked on the TV.

“You do, hmm?” he asks, seeing her head bob. “I do, too.”

“S'wotsa nice stuff.” She reaches for the sippy cup, popping the spout into her mouth and sinking deeper into the couch. “An’ I wike the shape,” she adds.

He chuckles, allowing the odd word of praise sink in. “The shape?”

“Uh huh. S'not a square. A square’s like this!” She makes a lopsided square with her fingers, grinning.

“Oh, the room isn’t a square.”

His granddaughter nods. “Ya! I like it.”

Jim smiles a little wider. He’d always known Katie’s daughter would be nothing short of brilliant, just like she’d been and Lily proves him right every single day.

“I like it too, Lilypad,” he says, spreading another chunk of peanut butter on Lily’s sandwich. “Lunch is almost ready, are you hungry?”

A dramatic groan comes from the living room. And there’s Rick’s influence. “So hungwy.”

“Well in that case, start picking up the toys so we can sit on the floor and eat at the table.”

He’s pleased to see her do just that.

Sigh. This was so sweet and so perfect.

Castle Ficlet: Twins 1/1

Twins

“Mommy, s'twins!”

Kate follows the point of her son’s finger until her eyes land on the tub – more importantly, the tiny pups in the tub.

“Twins, huh?” she murmurs, kneeling beside Jake. He’s thrumming with energy, with excitement over the possibility they’ve laid out for the family, and she slips her arm around him and draws him closer to make sure he takes a deep breath before it gets the best of him. “The puppies are twins?”

His head bobs. “Wike me an’ Weecey.”

A smile slips across her lips and she presses her mouth to his head. “Like you and Reecey. You’re right. What do you think? Should we give one of them a home in a couple of weeks when they’re bigger?”

Jake shakes his head with enough force that they wobble. “Bof!”

She bites her lip. “Both? Baby, I don’t know if we can take both of them. Our house is pretty tight as it is; we have all five of us and Snickers Kitty, plus Grandpa, Gram, and Lexi come over so much…”

“S'twins, Mama,” Jake insists finding his brother across the room. Evidently Reece is having a similar conversation with Rick and Lily, if the look on her husband’s face is any indication. “Wike me an’ Weece.”

Yeah, she really should’ve known where that train of thought was heading. Kate squeezes him gently, pressing her lips to his hair once more.

“Let’s go talk to Daddy,” she murmurs, locking eyes with her husband. Castle lifts an eyebrow and she already knows how this conversation is going to go.

They put a deposit down for two puppies – the twins, of course – a few minutes later.

Castle Ficlet: Bath Time 1/1

Bath Time

Kate finds her daughter leaning over the tub, humming to herself as her little fingers drift through the water.

“Hey Little Flower, what’s going on?”

To her credit, Lily doesn’t startle. Instead, she just grins over her shoulder, smacking the bathwater. “Getting weady.”

“Yeah?” Kate asks, tilting her head in amusement. Her crazy kid is just like Rick, a whirlwind of energy and big ideas, some she chooses to share and some she never does. It’s always a trip to watch what she does and hear what comes out of her mouth. “For what?”

“Baf time.”

Lil looks back again before her gaze shifts and lands on the jar of bath salts Kate keeps on the ledge above the tub. “Mama, ca’ you help me?”

“Sure, baby,” Beckett murmurs, moving to grab the container for her daughter. She goes the extra step in opening it just to be sure she won’t be cleaning up bath salts all afternoon. “Now, is this a bath for me? Or for you?”

Lily grins, leaning her head back against Kate’s thigh. “Bof.”

A laugh threatens to escape, but she’s able to tamp it down. “Both of us? Well, that sounds luxurious. And in that case, I think we need some bubbles, don’t you?”

Her girl taps her lips in consideration for a moment before nodding. “Ya. So many.”

Kate drops a kiss on Lily’s head. “So many bubbles.”

Castle Ficlet: Soaked Through 1/1

Soaked Through

It’s entirely too cold and too rainy to be out here doing this, but they’ve been cooped up inside for days as the remnants of a storm has made its way across the island. When the rain had slowed, there’d been no talking Kate out of leaving the house, though they had made a deal that it would only be for a little while.

And despite that deal, they stay out when the rain kicks up again, swinging hands and laughing at the whip of the wind. His wife shivers, waving away the offer of his jacket. Stubborn woman.

“I’m okay,” she promises as they speed up, making their way down the beach back to the house. “It’s not that bad.”

“Yet,” Castle says. He moves a little closer to her, lending her some of his body heat as the rain comes down a little harder, soaks their clothes through.

“And we’ll be inside again soon,” she teases, pressing her lips to his cheek. “But first, there’s something I want to do.”

She tugs her hand out of his, leaning over and tracing her name, his as well, in the wet sand. Castle grins, watching her draw a heart around their names.

“Okay,” she breathes, straightening up. “Now I’m ready. Let’s get inside.”

Castle Ficlet: Wacky Mixed-Up Party 1/1

Wacky Mixed-Up Party

Lily takes one look at the living room and cackles.

“Daddy, m’four, not firtteen.”

She holds up her hand, counting her fingers with resolute firmness. “One, two, free, four.”

Castle quirks a little smile, leaning over and pretending to gobble their daughter’s fingers. “One, two, three, four. Yummy Lily fingers,” he teases. “I know you’re four, Sprout, but since this is your wacky mixed up birthday party, I figured it would be fun to have a different balloon.”

“They were out of fours, weren’t they?” Beckett murmurs from behind him, pressing a kiss to his shoulder as he straightens and feigns offense.

His wife lifts an eyebrow, her face a wash of amusement.

“Yeah, they were out of fours. But hey, one plus three is four. So, we’re also working on math this birthday.”

Kate snickers, shaking her head. “That’s one way to spin it. Okay, Little Flower, it’s your day. What should we do first? Keep in mind that your brothers are napping, so we can’t go too far, but everything is up to you right now.”

Lily looks around the room, taking in his Christmas-turned-birthday decorations (sure it’s April, but who cares; she’s only going to be four and in the middle of a global crisis once – hopefully) with wide eyes.

“Movie time!” she declares, bouncing to the bean bag in the center of the room and flinging herself as high on it as she can. “Popcorn, pwease!”

Castle Ficlet: Writer Humor 1/1

Writer Humor

Kate snorts, shaking her head. She’s not laughing at her child, more at the hilarity of the situation. “Really, Castle?”

Until she met Castle, she’d never known there would be so many different ways to joke about fonts (or a hatred of said fonts). Writer humor is certainly something.

Her husband lifts a shoulder, his smile easy despite the horrible noise coming from their son.

“He’s a baby of discerning typeface tastes.”

Beckett hides a chuckle, reaching out instead to rub her son’s belly. The baby calms somewhat, squirming against the sheet. “Seems to me that he’s actually more of a fan of Helvetica,” she quips, tapping his belly. “Did Daddy’s mean shirt make you sad, baby?”

Rick scoffs. “It’s not mean.”

Leaning over, she drops kisses across the baby’s brow, moving to nuzzle his cheeks until soft giggles fill the space instead of his whines. She lifts her head in triumph, blowing a kiss Rick’s way.

“Maybe I’ll buy him a typeface shirt, too, just to see the look on your face.”

He narrows his eyes. “You’ll pick something terrible, won’t you?”

She grins. “Horrible. You’ll see.”

His pained groan when he sees the “Comic Sans Screams ‘Fun!’” onesie she chooses is all she needs to get her through the day. It’s even more validating when the baby seems to like it.

Castle Ficlet: Vigilance 1/1

Vigilance

“She’s still flushed.”

Castle’s large hand rubs gentle circles over her shirt, slipping down to the small of her back and resting his palm there.

“She’s okay. Her fever’s down.”

Kate sighs. She hates seeing Lily sick, hates that agonizing powerlessness that rests on her shoulders. What else can she do? She’s followed all the checklists, called the doctor and the pharmacist to be sure of what they can give her and when, and her daughter is still miserable.

“I just hate that there’s nothing else we can do,” she sighs. “How can we have all these things at our disposal and still be incapable of making her feel better?”

Rick draws her closer, enfolding her in an embrace that encourages her eyes to slip shut. They’re both tired she knows, but god, she’s exhausted.

“She already does feel better, honey,” he murmurs into her hair. “She’s asleep, after all. She’s holding her bunny. She wouldn’t do either of those things earlier in the day, would she?”

“Well, no. Not really.”

He nods, rubbing his hand over her back. “Exactly. She’s going to be fine. And now I think it’s time for us to sleep, too. So, we’ll be fine for her, too.”

Kate nods somewhat grudgingly, pressing her face into the curve of his neck. “Okay, let’s sleep.”

Castle Ficlet: Sunflowers 1/1

Sunflowers

“Mommy, I bwinged you something!” Lily announces at top volume the moment they step into the house, making him wince and hope the boys aren’t sleeping. They’re usually good, able to sleep through Lily’s bellows and the chatter and bustle of the Castle home, but there are exceptions, and they’ve seen all of them this week alone.

“Mommy?” Lily calls again when she gets no response.

Rick touches her shoulder, steering her toward the kitchen with their grocery bags. “Mommy might be sleeping with PB and J, Sprout. Let’s put our stuff away first, then we can go find her and show her the surprise you picked out.”

Lily sighs but nods, heaving the galvanized metal pitcher with sunflowers a little higher. The pumpkins in the bag on her arm sway with the effort, though she doesn’t react at all.

“Atta girl,” he praises, helping her transfer the pitcher to the counter once he’s set his own bags down. “It won’t be long, honey, then we’ll find her.”

They don’t have to look very hard after all; when they step out onto the patio to put the gifts on the table – as per Lily’s explicit instructions – they find Kate and the twins curled up on the chaise lounge under the oversized fleece blanket from the couch, all three of them passed out asleep.

“There they are,” he says, pursing his lips in amusement at the identical looks on their faces. For as much as Kate insists the boys are carbon copies of him, there are always moments like this. “Why don’t you snuggle with them for a few minutes, too? Then we can wake Mommy and show her.”

It’s not entirely a popular suggestion, but Lily does slide onto the lounger near Kate’s feet and contort her body under the blanket, too. She’s out cold in less than five minutes.

Castle grins, rubbing his hands together and making sure the present for Kate will be the first thing she sees when she wakes up.

Castle Ficlet: Walking Together 1/1

Walking Together

She walks with her hood up, hands in her pockets, just a few steps ahead of them. The distance isn’t a surprise, they’re still working on trust with their charge, but the fact that she’s walking with them is beyond what they could’ve hoped to achieve from this outing. She had smiled at the prospect, taking the puffy coat with the fur-lined hood that Kate had offered and shrugging into it so deep she practically disappeared. She’s been strolling with her hands in her pockets the entire time.

Kate nudges her husband’s arm with her elbow, giving a subtle nod to their – well, hopefully soon their daughter. Castle grins, taking in the way Emma’s body sways from side to side as they make their way down the path. She’s enjoying herself, that much is obvious.

“What do you think, Em?” Rick asks. “How cool is this place?”

Emma turns, giving them a shy smile. She’s been with them for weeks and, while it’s taking some time, she is opening up to them.

“Really cool,” she says. “I like the trees over there. They’re all twisty.”

Castle nods. “Me too. Kate used to climb those when she was your age.”

Emma looks to her to be sure Rick’s not putting her on. Kate nods, allowing herself a moment of glee, even if she can’t show it for fear of the girl clamming up again.

“It was fun. We can do it sometime, if you want. I think I can still climb like that.”

Emma’s smile widens. “Yeah! Yeah, that’d be cool.”

This time, Castle’s the one who nudges her elbow, giving her an approving, adoring smile when Emma turns around to stroll again.

Castle Ficlet: Strays 1/1

Strays

She looks sheepish when he comes jogging into her office at the precinct.

“I got your message,” he says, trying hard to not look like he’s out of breath. He’s not, he chases after toddlers for a living these days; he’s in the best shape of his life. “What’s wrong?”

“I-” his wife stops, taking a deep breath. “Nothing’s wrong. But.”

She fumbles a little bit, shifting her weight and looking toward the floor behind her. “Okay, just come over here. It’s easier to show you than it is to tell you.”

He eyes her carefully, moving to join her on her side of the desk.

“Kittens?!” he squawks. “Beckett, there’s a box of kittens in your office!”

His wife chuckles, popping her lips. “Yes, yes there is. LT found them this morning out in the alley. No collars, no information in the box. The shelter he called said to bring them in and they’ll treat them as strays, hold them for a week and then adopt them out.”

Castle kneels by the box, holding out a hand to the mewling little creatures. “Well hi there, little guys. Where did you come from?”

“Well, when a mommy cat and a daddy cat love each other very much,” Kate drawls, making him grin. Her hand connects with the back of his neck, squeezing gently. “So I know this is out of the blue, but they’re here and Lily has been begging for a cat…”

“Perfect. I’ll take them home and-”

“We’re not keeping all six of them, Castle. That is ridiculous. You and I are going to be the ones to clean the litterbox and there’s absolutely no way I’m cleaning six of them.”

He chuckles. “Okay, okay. You have a point. But maybe… two? So they don’t get lonely and miss each other? And maybe so Lily can have one she considers ‘hers’ and the rest of us have the other. And then we can find homes for the rest, too.”

She squeezes his neck again. “Yeah, I think we can do that. I was actually considering…the one with the bigger black markings on its head for my dad? And maybe one for Alexis, too? Then there’s only two who’ll need homes.”

Tilting his head back, Rick grins at her. “I think that’ll be perfect.”

(He finds out later that the fifth and sixth kittens go to LT and Esposito respectively.)

Castle Ficlet: On the Steps 1/1

On the Steps

“You’re up early.”

She startles a little bit, making the cup of coffee he holds out feel a little more like a peace offering instead of a nice gesture.

“Sorry,” he says, stepping to the right and sinking down onto the steps beside her. “I thought you heard me coming. The leaves are all over the deck again.”

She laughs, nodding. “Ah, the joys of being a cabin owner. And I did hear you, Castle,” she adds, “I just wasn’t expecting you to say anything; you lurked long enough.”

His shoulder bumps hers. Cautious but companionable. Beckett lowers her chin, smiling quickly.

“Yeah, I guess I did,” he says. “I’m pretty good at that – like a ninja almost.”

She snorts, grinning into the mug. “Yeah, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Castle,” she teases, taking a sip. “A ninja is a little bit of a stretch.”

He chuckles, sipping his coffee. “Mmm, maybe you’re right. I’m far stealthier than that.”

This time she laughs out loud, leaning her head on his shoulder. “I just didn’t want to wake you.”

His lips brush her hair. “Bad dreams?”

She shakes her head, though he’s not sure he entirely believes her, given how quick she is to deny it. “Just woke up a little restless.”

Castle loops his arm around her, pulling her close.

“That’s okay; I just got cold without you.”

She hums. “Well, you’re warm now.”

He nods. “Yes, I am.”

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