章 47: 47. Chapter 47
Castle glances down at Ella sitting on his chest and lays his hand over her leg. "Stop squirming, little cricket. It's rest time."
She settles down again, pressing her cheek against his chest while she watches 'Toy Story' from their spot on the couch. Castle feels Kate's fingers run through his hair, and he lifts his eyes to see her face over his; he's got his head in her lap and the kids piled on top of him while they all 'rest' this afternoon.
He lifts his book up, propping it against the back of the couch, and resumes reading. Kate's idle fingers stroke his hair, skim the lines of his face, gentle his skin, rub his ears. He likes that, her fingers curling along his ears. He's having trouble keeping track of where he is in the book. His eyes slide shut again as her thumb strokes that place behind his ear where his hairline begins.
The moment Ellery falls asleep, he's putting her in her bunk bed and then coming back for Kate. He wants his wife.
Of course, as usual, Dash is alert and only half-watching 'Toy Story' while he listens to music on his mother's ipod. Castle really needs to find his own. It has to be around somewhere.
The music keeps Dash sedate enough though. And when Ellery falls asleep, Dash can go in his room and watch tv in bed. And then Castle can put Kate to bed too. Their bed.
He reaches back and strokes his fingers down the back of her arm, takes her by the wrist to kiss the heel of her hand, eyes still closed. Her fingers curl around his mouth, a strange caress, and then her thumb slips between his lips, a cool intrusion of skin. She startles, obviously not intending it, but he gets his teeth on her thumb, swirls his tongue around the digit.
She shudders; he feels her abs contract as she hunches over him, cradling his head, bowing until her mouth touches his ear. "Bedtime."
Yes. It definitely is.
"I'll take one, you take one?" he murmurs back, lifting both hands to wind through her hair, holding her down to him. His book is abandoned; the kids weighing down his legs, his chest are practically forgotten.
"Dibs on baby," she says and then reaches back to disengage his hands, squeezing his fingers. "She's practically out already."
Castle lets go, wraps his arms around Ellery as he lifts up off Kate's lap. Ella stirs, her eyelids bob, but she doesn't seem with it enough to protest. Kate crawls out from behind him, then takes Ellery from him, murmuring in her daughter's ear. More of that mystery talk she has with their kids, the enchanting spell she weaves around them.
Sometimes he really wants to know what she says. Sometimes, he just feels honored to witness it. This is one of those honored moments, because Ella's whole body sinks down against Kate's chest as if her mother has just given her permission to let go.
For his part, Castle sits up and reaches for Dashiell as Kate takes Ellery back. The boy glances at him without comprehension, so Castle pushes the headphones back from the kid's head. "Time to rest in your room."
Dashiell wants to turn off the dvd player and tv himself, so Castle waits on him, then follows behind the kid as he heads down the hallway to his room. Castle flips the lights off, lifts the boy up into the bed as he struggles to climb up. Dash trades him the ipod for the remote, a little sigh escaping his lips.
It makes Castle pause; he gets down on his knees beside the boy's bed, strokes his thumb over Dashiell's forehead, avoiding the bandaged stitches. Dash's flinches anyway, so the area must be bruised. "You okay there, my man?"
"Yeah, Daddy."
"Tired?"
"Mm. I miss the ocean."
"I'm sorry. Did you and Mommy find something fun for us to do after nap time?"
"Oh, yes! But Mommy says we need to be sure that baby girl won't be scared."
Castle laughs, runs his fingers back through Dashiell's bangs, lifting them off his forehead. "You call her baby girl again and she might take offense."
"Where?"
Wh. . .where? "Uh."
"She can't pick up a fence, Daddy. And that's stealing. Mommy wouldn't let her steal."
Castle bursts into laughter, unable to help it, wiping a hand down his face to get control of himself. Dashiell doesn't look too pleased with his amusement.
"No, buddy, you're right. Ella's too small to lift any fences." The wordplay in that is delicious, and he wishes Kate were in here to hear it. Fences. Lifting. Stealing. Offense. "But you remember how I said words can mean more than one thing?"
Dashiell's little eyebrows raise and he sits up. "Yeah?"
"Offense. And. A. Fence. Two different things."
"Sound the same."
"They're not spelled the same. Offense is like off. O-F-F. And it means that she'd get upset with you if you called her a baby."
"But that's kinda her name. Baby girl."
"Well, you know how much you hate it when I call you Dashiell Hammett?"
Dash frowns intensely. "Yes."
"She's feeling like that about us calling her baby girl. It's her name, sure. Nickname. Just like us calling you Dashiell Hammett. It's kinda me and Mommy's thing. But it makes her sullen. And she takes offense."
"Off."
"Yes. The 'off' kind."
"Huh," Dashiell grunts, leaning back down against his pillow, the remote cradled against his chest. "I see."
"You do?"
"Yeah. Ellie isn't really a baby. But what can I call her?"
"Ellery."
"That's not any fun though."
Yeah, sometimes people need pet names. Kate needs one. She doesn't let him get away with much, but lately he's managed babe and Katie but those are kind of jokes. "You call her Ellie. Neither me nor Mommy call her that. And there's Ella. And when she was a baby, she used to make little chirrups like a cricket. So we called her-"
"Cricket! Can I say that too?"
"Yeah. That's fine. So long as it doesn't make her mad."
"Cricket, crick-et, criiiiiick-et." Dash grins and stretches his neck out to crow one more. "Criiiiiiick-ehhhht."
"Okay, enough, wild man. Watch your tv shows while you rest."
"It's gonna make me fall asleep," he says with a sigh.
"That's okay. I'll wake you up in time for the maze."
"Cricket won't get too scared, will she? I told Mommy she's brave. Better than an Indian princess."
"She is brave, isn't she? Not much scares Ella. I bet she'll be fine, but we'll be careful."
"But it'll still be kinda scary, won't it, Daddy? It's no fun if it's not a little scary. 'Member how last year I peed in my pants?"
Only Dashiell would find that entertaining. They went to a haunted house, he and Dash, because the kid absolutely begged him. Rick's mother watched Ellery at home, and he took the boy while Kate was at work. At one point in the haunted house, hands came out from underneath a table and grabbed their legs, and after everything Dash had seen, it was the hands that did him in. He was so violently scared that he peed in his pants. Castle didn't even know about it until they'd walked outside and Dash was walking funny and shivering.
"Yeah. I remember."
"That was so scary. I liked it, but I don't know if Ellery would be okay."
"You're a good brother for trying to protect her. But I bet Ella will be fine in the maze."
"Can we bring extra clothes though? Just in case."
Castle can see the hesitation on Dashiell's face as he says it, which means the kid is thinking that *he* might need the extra clothes. Doesn't stop Dash from wanting to be scared silly though. This is the boy who dove headfirst off of counters as a baby and runs full-tilt into whatever obstacle is in his way. Fearless in an unthinking, plow-straight-ahead kind of way, where Ellery's fearlessness comes out of a confident intelligence. Castle versus Kate, pretty much.
"Yeah, we can bring extra clothes. Now rest."
"Rest. Can I have a hug?"
Castle immediately envelopes his son in a bear hug, squeezing him tightly, growling into his neck to make the boy giggle. That little spurt of laughter is the best sound in the world.
"Castle."
He turns his head and sees Kate in the doorway, gesturing to him. Her eyes are intent on him.
Ohhh yeah. Time for bed.
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット