Not Your Regular Sugar Plum Fairy

"I don't want to." Lily set her chin and lifted her head so that she was looking at him from under her lashes.

"Why not, sweetheart?" Rick was hunched in front of her at the bar, leaning in against the granite counter with an intensity that seemed out of proportion to Lily's heels digging in. "You know your Mommy took ballet and so did Alexis. They loved it."

"Because I said no." Her imperious sniff made Kate press her lips together, catch Castle by the wrist before he could protest further.

"That's quite alright," she told their daughter. "Lily. You don't have to take ballet classes. But please be polite to your father when reject his ideas." She felt a little hand on the back of her thigh and reached behind her, found one of the boy's clinging to her. Reece, pressing into her knees. "Lily. Apologize and we'll think of something else."

A work of her jaw and a huff before Lily deigned to turn and offer an apology. "I apologize, Daddy. I didn't know you had your heart set on it."

Castle narrowed his eyes at her, then at Kate, then back to Lily. "I do believe that's not the issue here," he started, once again attempting to reason Lily into better behavior.

Kate cleared her throat, released the boy hanging onto her to swivel Lily's chair around ot face her. "Rejection isn't attractive on anyone, much less a spoiled brat. To your room, Lily Rowan, until you can craft an apology that is sincere."

Lily's cheeks turned bright pink with anger, equal parts shame, and she flounced off the bar stool and clomped through the living room to the stairs. There she made them hear every single step all the way up to her room.

"She has some talent for theatre," Castle murmured, shaking his head. "Which I claim entirely. And I was pushing her to-"

"Rick." She gave him a short shake of her head, felt the little boy pushing at her legs again. "She was acting the witch. We're offering her the chance to take dance or some kind of class, karate, anything, and she's turning up her nose. My mother would have-" She shook her head and had to bend down to scoop up the boy.

"I know, I do know," Castle answered quietly. But his eyes were smiling at the twin. "Hey there, Reece. It is Reece, isn't it, buddy?"

He giggled and twined his arms around her neck, watching his father from the side of his eyes as if expecting more hilarity if he turned his back. "It's me, Daddy. I want dance."

"You want what? I made scrambled eggs for dinner, kiddo."

Kate lifted an eyebrow, gesturing for Castle to shut up a second. "Reece. What did you ask? I didn't hear you."

"I want dance. I do ballet."

"Oh."

Castle's snort made her shoot daggers his way and he smothered it in a cough and turned around for the scrambled eggs on the stove.

"You want to do ballet, Reece?"

"I can do dance. I like to dance."

"You dance like Daddy," she said firmly. She was absolutely not discouraging him. But he... danced like Castle. "I bet if you had lessons, you'd be way better than Daddy."

"I do dance!"

"Kiddo," Castle started, scooping eggs onto a plate. But she was glaring at him so hard he stumbled his words. "I just - okay - well. Yeah. You're right. Want waffles or pancakes? And where is your brother?"

"I don't know." Reece shrugged in her arms and leaned out for the recently-vacated seat, crawled into it to perch on his knees. He grabbed a fistful of Lily's syrup-soaked pancake and shoved it into his mouth.

Castle looked over his head at her. Ballet?

"Jake!" she called, ignoring her husband to find her son's whereabouts. Thing Two. "Jake, right this minute. One. Two-"

"Here me, here me!" Jake cried out, crawling out from under a chair in the office, popping his head up. "No counting, Mommy."

"I'll count if I feel like it. Get your little bottom over here for dinner."

"Where is my sister?"

"She's in time out."

"Your mother was about to give her a whooping."

"What's that?"

Castle shook his head with dramatic flair, as if bemoaning the days of truer discipline. The boys were really the only ones they'd ever had to spank, and mostly that was swats as they howled and screamed, the little terrors.

Reece in ballet? She couldn't see it. But she'd definitely take him.

Castle was scrolling on his phone, so she was left dishing out eggs and already-made pancakes to the boys, getting them silverware she knew they wouldn't use - losing battle. She was so busy answering their demands milk, Mommy, no I said juice, no I said milk, that she missed what Castle was actually doing until he came up behind her at the counter and wrapped an arm around her.

With his phone before her eyes.

His kiss at her neck sent a little wash of current down her spine and she shivered.

"Look, three year old classes start at eleven in the morning. I can take him. His teacher will be... ah, looks like Miss Kai. She's good with the little kids. I've seen her."

"Ballet?" she murmured, surprised he had looked it up. Lily had been in tumbling at the community center, then karate, then baton twirling, so they knew the usual teachers, the different classes. But Lily had quit every single one of them.

"Yeah, see? Eleven is can-do. Even if Lily winds up doing a dance class, hers would be around the same time."

Kate turned in his loose embrace and flung her arms around his neck, squeezing hard enough to make him mime choking. The boys giggled like fools and mimicked him, but Kate kissed his neck with louder, and wet, kisses, playing it up.

"You're a good daddy. You're the best."

"I know," he sighed, rolling his eyes as if put out. "He's not exactly your regular sugar plum fairy. But there's no way in the world I'd tell my kid he can't do something."

"Never know. He does like to dance." She grinned and gave him a lighter, sweeter kiss. One he deserved. "He's got your ass wiggle down pat."

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