Prompt from caskett-yellowumbrella found on castlefanficprompts. Enjoy!

At first, when Gina had suggested that Rick make an appearance at the newest Disney film premiere with his family, he was fervently against it.

He'd already previously established the 'no family in the press' rule when Alexis was born, newfound parenthood turning him into a hypochondriac, constantly terrified that any mention of his baby girl in the media spotlight would make her a vulnerable target.

But when Gina crouched down to Elizabeth, holding out a picture of the newest Disney princess on her phone and asked 'wanna go see her?', he knew that he had lost the battle.

Which brings him to now, shifting nervously from foot to foot in his bedroom, his hands nervously sweating too much to fasten his the silver cufflinks Kate had bought him for their fifth wedding anniversary.

Knowing that he's letting himself in for teasing and torment, he reluctantly shuffles upstairs to Lizzie's room where Kate is helping the four-year-old get dressed to ask for his wife's help with the fiddly cufflinks.

He knocks gently on the door which is plastered in pictures and paintings of various princesses and animals to warn the women of his entrance, turning the knob before a shout resonates through the quiet.

"No!"

Castle stepped back hesitantly, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion at the sound of his daughter's squeal, "No? Why no?"

In order to answer his question, the door opens just a smidge to let Kate's head through the gap, a tired but bright smile apparent on her face, only one eye immaculately covered with grey eye shadow and highlighted with a delicate flick of black eyeliner, whereas its twin still remains bare.

"No because girls are getting ready." She finally replies in an amused tone.

"So I can't see you until you're done?" He whines, particularly loudly so Lizzie can hear too.

"No boys!" She squeals back, and Rick can hear the rhythm of her jumping feet pounding on the pink plush carpet of the girl's bathroom.

Castle turns to Beckett with a smirk, "Well, I can't complain with that one." He comments, but is met with a playful slap on the forearm from his partner. After this, she seems to immediately notice the reason he had meandered upstairs, and jokingly rolls her eyes.

"If I'd known the cufflinks had been such a conundrum for you, I would've bought the engraved whiskey tumbler instead." She mutters under her breath, her red manicured nails a stark contrast from the white of his shirt.

"Yeah, but they're stormtroopers." He rebuts, lifting the arm that Kate isn't holding to show off the silver helmet of the star wars character.

She laughs, finally fastening the second cufflink, "Well, I'm glad I made the right choice then." She concludes, her gaze roaming upwards to meet her husband's.

"I think I did too," He notes, gingerly placing his warm palm on the right side of her neck, his pointer finger lifting up to tap on the dangling silver earring, the red rubies swinging from side to side.

"At least you didn't give them to another woman this time." Kate quips, knowing he had heard same statement from her when she opened the black velvety box of jewellery last Valentine's Day, emitting giggles from the two redheads of the family as they thought back to the memory.

But this time, she may as well have not said it at all, because his crystal blue eyes are fixated on the pale column of her neck. He smiles to himself as he picks up the subtle scent of her perfume, the same one she's been wearing since she was eighteen, since her Mom bought it for her as a Christmas gift. He spots the small pair of beauty marks near the nape of her neck, where he always bites when he's given the opportunity to, always trying to place his teeth precisely over the brown spots as if he's giving her a vampire bite, usually making her pull back with a chuckle and whisper 'dork' at him before swooping in for another kiss.

"No."

The short word snaps him out of his reverie, and he's met with a stern look plastered over his wife's face, though he can see the glee glistening in her hazel eyes.

"This," She motions around her brunette locks which are swept up into a sleek and classy up-do, "Is a precarious balance."

He pouts with his bottom lip jutted out, but nonetheless she clasps her fingers over his and brings them back down, still holding his hand firmly as she continues, "I had to successfully master this hairstyle by curling my hair, spraying it with copious amounts of hairspray, pulling all the strands into the bun, and meticulously pin every curl, whilst a four-year-old tugged at my arms. So no touching."

Rick nods as she finishes her explanation of hair adventures, but is still adamant to get his way, as he always has been, "How about touching later?"

Kate shakes her head incredulously with a smile, making the earrings sway once more, and he uses the opportunity to lean forward, resting his head close enough to hers so he can whisper into her ear.

"I think touching needs to be in order after seeing you in that dress." He comments honestly in a deep, sultry voice, but he knows he's missed the mark when he feels her breath exhaling on his chest as she laughs.

"Wait 'til you see the back, stud."

On cue, she turns back around to return to her baby girl, and Rick's jaw drops slightly.

Her porcelain, smooth back is completely exposed by the low swoop of her dress, meeting the rest of the fabric in a bow on her tailbone that just begs to be undone by his hands.

But before he can comment (as if he's capable of coherent words after seeing that), the door is slammed on his face, and he can hear giggles echoing around the room.

"Come on Momma, pretty!" Lizzie cheers.

"You're already beautiful, baby." Kate answers, leaning down to ruffle the girl's short blonde locks (which she loves, no matter how many times they joke that the baby is actually Ryan's, or that she picked up the wrong one at the hospital because she couldn't deal with the ramifications of a child that combined both Kate's rebellion and Rick's childishness).

Elizabeth sighs exaggeratedly, crossing her arms in a fashion that definitely makes her look like Beckett's child, "Momma…" She groans, making Kate raise her hands up innocently.

"Okay, okay, sorry." She says, turning around to pick up the small red dress with the tulle skirt from the bars on the girl's bright yellow crib.

"Dress! Dress!" Lizzie chants, the s's in the sentence making the girl lisp adorably, her tiny pink tongue poking out from behind her lips.

As soon as the Mother holds the item of clothing above the toddler, her chubby arms immediately raise upwards, her head tilting back with her eyes screwed shut, knowing what's going to happen next. Beckett lets out a small exhale of amusement then quickly pulls the dress over the girl, Elizabeth's head popping out from the top as she takes a deep breath in, showing that she was unnecessarily holding her breath for the whole time.

The child glances down at the puffy skirt that surrounds her, her nimble fingers playing with the material as Kate flattens out her now haphazard hair, removing a few select hairpins then cautiously sliding them back in, hoping the girl won't notice since any hair related business usually unleashes a few tears.

Once she's done, Kate stands upright, her girl's eyes never leaving hers.

"Momma's going to do makeup now, okay baby?" Kate soothes, but Lizzie shakes her head fervently.

"Wanna watch." She explains with a huff.

Beckett shrugs in acceptance, "Okay."

She leans forward once more, putting her hands underneath the girl's underarms and lifting her with ease, placing her on top of a white painted wooden stool next to the mirror. Kate turns back around in order to finish applying her makeup, smiling automatically at her daughter's reflection, her small feet dangling off the stool and swaying to and fro.

Surprisingly, Lizzie stays silent whilst Kate finishes her makeup apart from humming her favourite TV show's theme tune a couple of times, which the Mother unashamedly joins in with.

However, the silence is broken once Kate has finished applying her cherry red lipstick, the sound of a gasp from behind her making her whirl around quickly for fear that her daughter has hurt herself.

Instead of the worst case scenario, she's met with the sight of Lizzie's mouth hung open, her eyes wide in amazement.

"Wanna have some." She says, her arms pushing out in front of her as her hands grab the air.

"What would you like, sweetie?" Kate asks for clarification, crouching down in front of the girl, holding her grabbing hands in hers.

Lizzie purses her lips as she thinks for a moment, then speaks, "Red."

Kate laughs, "You want some of my lipstick?"

Elizabeth nods rapidly, almost falling of the chair with all the energy exerted into the action.

"Well, how about I give you some of my lipstick like… this?"

Beckett leant forward quickly, pushing her lips onto her daughter's in a quick kiss. When she pulls away, the girl's lips are tinted with a darker pink shade, though Kate uses her thumb to wipe away some of the excess that landed around Lizzie's mouth.

The toddler looks behind Kate at her own reflection in the mirror, then squeals with delight, Kate suddenly glad that she's grasping onto the girl's hands as she jumps around on the stool without a care.

"Again! Again!" The girl squeals, already puckering her lips for another kiss.

Kate throws her head back in laughter at her child's eagerness, but fulfills the request, pressing her reddened lips onto her daughter's once more, this time with slightly more force.

A flash from the corner of their eyes distracts them, their two heads whipping to the doorway, where the man of the house is holding his phone sideways with a dazed grin on his face.

Kate raises an eyebrow waiting for a teasing remark, but none comes. Only a wondrous smile with glistening eyes.

"My beautiful girls."

The two women giggle in harmony, Kate gently placing Elizabeth to the ground so each parent can grasp one hand, the girl happily skipping between them as they exit the loft.

When they arrive to the premiere, all three of them have smudged red lips.

Hope this is okay! I literally got home from Uni an hour ago, checked on the castle fanfic prompts tumblr blog (like I do everyday because they're all so good), saw this picture and immediately opened a Word document! Thanks so much for sending it in caskett-yellowumbrella !

Thanks for reading, bubs!

Lou xo