461. Chapter 461

After Food to Die For

Episode 2.22

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Owning Castle would be to die for, but I won't. Rating: K Time: See above.

Richard Castle inspected his team. He inspected his work area. He inspected his ingredients. He was ready. They were ready.

"Johanna, are you ready?"

Johanna Castle, aged five and a half, almost six, nodded vigorously. "I'm all ready, Daddy."

"Roy, are you ready?"

Roy Castle, aged three and a half, almost four, nodded equally vigorously. "I'm ready, too, Daddy."

Rick smiled at his two helpers. "Now, remember, you're my helpers. I can't do this alone. I need each of you to work very hard so we get this done before Mommy and Alexis come back. Can we do that?"

Both children screamed, "YES!"

"Okay, we're going to make cookies for Mommy because tonight is the anniversary of the day we got married."

"Ann-issery?" Roy asked.

Castle knelt down by the boy. "It was on this very day that I married Mommy and she became my wife. It's called an anniversary. Can you say that?"

Roy frowned in concentration. "Ann I ver serry." He said, then smiled.

"Very good. Now, we have everything, right? The oven is preheated, so don't get too close to it. We have the cookie sheets all ready. We have cookie dough, and raisins for her oatmeal cookies, because Mommy loves those cookies the most. And we have chocolate chips for the men of the house, so we can make chocolate chip cookies, which we love, don't we, Roy?"

Roy nodded. "Love 'em."

"And we have peanut butter for a certain young lady who loves them, don't we, Johanna?"

Johanna smiled radiantly. "They're my favorites. Daddy."

"And we have white chocolate and macadamia nuts so we can make Alexis' favorite, and we'll make sugar cookies because everyone loves sugar cookies."

Castle and his two assistants got busy making the cookies, adding ingredients, shaping the cookies and putting them into the cookie sheets and putting them into the oven.

Castle smiled happily when the last of the cookies were in the oven with a minimum of spilled ingredients and no injuries to anyone. Having one child assistant doubles the time a project takes and having two such assistants triples the time. If we had another child, I don't think any of our projects would ever get done. It wouldn't be anywhere near as much fun if I had to do this myself, of course. He thought to himself.

When they took the cookies out of the oven and let them cool, Castle realized that something had gone seriously wrong when both children spat their cookies out.

"Gross!" Johanna said, frowning.

"Ewww." Roy said.

Castle took a bite of his cookie. It was awful. He shook his head. "How did that happen." He looked at his two assistants. "Did either of you do…anything to the cookies?"

Roy nodded slowly. "I put more sugar in the dough. Sugar is good, isn't it?" Roy looked like he was about to cry.

"I think you added some extra salt rather than sugar, Roy."

"Our cookies are ruined!" Johanna cried. "Mommy won't get her favorite cookies for her anniversary."

Roy began sobbing.

Castle knelt down and put his arms around his children. "Mommy will get her cookies. One thing you have to remember about Daddy. Daddy knows a guy. Or in this case, a girl."

Castle gathered up his children, put them in their car seats and drove them to the Q3 restaurant. He quickly tracked down Madison Queller, the owner.

"Rick!" She said, hugging him. "Who is this beautiful young lady you've brought here and this handsome young man?"

Both children blushed as Rick told Madison that these were his and Kate's children, which Madison knew already, of course.

"You're Roy Castle?" Madison said. "Why, when I saw you last, you were a little boy, not a big boy."

Eventually. Castle explained his problem. "Maddie, we were making some cookies for Kate for our anniversary. We're having the anniversary party on Saturday night so our friends don't have to show up at the precinct tired and hung over, but it's a Castle family tradition to make cookies for everyone on the actual anniversary date. However, things didn't go too well tonight. There was a…problem."

Maddie saw tears start to form in Roy's eyes. "Don't worry. We'll have a batch of cookies made up in no time. The best you've ever eaten. What do you need?"

Rick explained and Maddie took Rick and the children into the kitchen. The children attracted attention at once, everyone coming over to help with the cookies until Maddie had to remind them that they had other customers to serve.

However, the Castles left with a large box of cookies. The oatmeal raisin cookies were full of fresh raisins while the chocolate chip cookies were practically all chocolate chips. The peanut butter cookies were the best that Johanna had ever tasted. The sugar cookies were all frosted and written on them in frosting were the words, "Happy Anniversary."

While it was suggested that they tell Mommy and Alexis that they had baked these cookies, Castle pointed out that they'd need to make even better cookies next year if they did. The idea was voted down.

Kate and Alexis arrived at the loft at the same time and we're thrilled at the cookies, with Kate insisting that they weren't as good as the ones her three children usually made for her.

"Three children?" Rick said.

"Exactly." Kate said with a smile.

After Alexis had gone home and the children were in bed, Kate put her arms around Rick and held him tightly. "Hold me. Hold me tightly." She whispered. "Never let me go."

"I won't. We'll always be together."

She rested her head on his chest, smiling. "I never thought this would happen."

"What? That I'd hug you?" Rick teased.

"No, silly. I never thought I'd end up like this. With you. Married. With children."

"The Universe wouldn't have had it any other way."

She shook her head. "The Universe needed help. Do you remember when I came to the loft the night I resigned from the NYPD? I was standing there, dripping wet and cold. I knew, I absolutely knew that I loved you infinitely more than you loved me and that we'd never last. But I was so miserable without you that I didn't care. Whatever you wanted, I'd accept. Even if it was just a one night stand. That would have been better than never being with you at all."

"Kate, you couldn't possibly have believed that all I wanted was a one night stand. I loved you then, as much as I do now. Always."

She nodded. "I knew that, really. But I thought we might have a year or two together before you moved on. I would have accepted that."

Castle chuckled. "Like hell you would have accepted that. You'd have fought tooth and nail. I know you."

"I would have, but I was prepared to lose. I thought that when I was a lonely old lady living with a houseful of cats, I'd remember that I'd once been loved by the most wonderful man in the world, Richard Castle."

"That's sweet, but you won't be lonely when you're an old lady. And, could we get a puppy?"

"Castle!" She said, then had a giggling fit.

"We'll talk about the puppy later."

Kate ignored that. "When I took the job in DC without discussing it with you, and you met me at the swings, I knew you were going to break up with me."

"And I was amazed that you didn't know I was going to propose."

"Even then, I was afraid we'd never really get married, but then one magical day, I was standing with you, dressed in white and I was Mrs. Kate Castle."

Rick kissed her. "Happy anniversary, Mrs. Castle. We'll have many, many more."

"Always."

Author's note: Having two children, now adults, I can guarantee you that one small assistant will double the time of a project and two will triple it. If I had had three helpers, I'd never have gotten anything done. But it wouldn't have been as much fun alone.