"Look at the ducky mommy!" exclaims the little girl as Detective Kate Beckett scoops up her four year old daughter Aurora Grace from the bathtub.
"I see it honey. Ready to get all dried off?" Aurora nods and squeals as Beckett towel dries her hair and wraps her in her bathrobe.
"Do I hafta go to bed now mommy?"
Beckett takes Aurora into her room and puts her in her pyjama's, telling her "yes you do sweetheart. It's past your bedtime."
Aurora pouts and resists her mother's attempt to dress her. "But mommy I don't wanna!"
Beckett sets her daughter on her bed and looks her in the eyes, trying to hide her smile at how much her daughter is like her father.
"I'll make you a deal then okay?"
Aurora's eyes widen as she considers this, asking curiously "Like you and daddy do with the bad guy's?"
Beckett giggles and smoothes back her daughters unruly brown hair. "Yep. Like daddy and I do with the bad guys." The four year old thinks about this deal, not noticing that Beckett has managed to get her into her pyjama's.
"Okay mommy!"
Beckett smiles and tucks the small girl into her bed, making the blankets nice and snug.
"Since you put your pyjamas on, I'll let daddy tell you a bedtime story tonight." Aurora grins happily and snuggles down under her blankets. "Okay mommy. I like this deal."
Beckett kisses her daughter's forehead and smiles softly. "I knew you would honey. I'll go get daddy."
Aurora nods and holds her worn bunny Mr. Fluffy closer. "Okay. But tell him to hurry this time!"
Beckett nods and goes out to the living room where her husband Richard Castle is drinking a glass of wine and working on his latest novel. "Your daughter is requesting a bedtime story from her father."
Castle glances up from his laptop and smiles at his wife, thinking that time and age has only made him love her more. "Oh boy. I wonder what tonight's theme will be." He gets up and heads to his daughters room, stopping to give his wife a loving kiss on the way in. Beckett takes his hand and follows her husband into Aurora's room, wondering how she could have nearly given him up. Aurora smiles sleepily at her father, happy to see her mommy and daddy holding hands. "Okay daddy, story time!"
Castle sits on the end of his daughter's bed, pulling Beckett onto his lap. "What kind of story do you wanna hear tonight hon?"
Aurora knows the answer right away, this being the story she's always wanted to hear. "Tell me how you and mommy fell in love."
Beckett hides a smile behind her hand as she glances at Castle, thinking back on all their cases together. Castle raises an eyebrow and tugs Beckett closer to him. "Well, it started a very long time ago when your mother arrived at a book signing, desperate to see me." Beckett smacks Castle on the chest and rolls her eyes, listening to the man she loves recount their romance to their daughter for the first time.
