Castle Baby One Shots (A Castle Fanfic)

Chapter 2

~~~~~3 years later~~~~~

"Come on kitty. Let's get you home," Alex says to a poor three-legged orange tabby from behind the school playground's fence. He picks up the cat and stuffs it in his Captain America backpack.

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"How was school?" Castle asks from the front of the car.

"Fine." Both boys reply in unison.

Alex shoots a grin across the backseat to his brother.

"What are you two smiling about?"

Alexs' smile immediately disappears.

"Nothing." He says as he clutches his backpack. Castle gives him a confused look in the rearview mirror as Tyler changes the subject.

"Daddy! I drew you a picture!"

Tyler hands him a picture with five stick figures on it.

"That's you, and mommy, and me, and Alex, and Johanna." Tyler carefully points to each stick figure. Castle laughs when he sees that Tyler didn't forget to add Beckett's high heels. "There is a very special spot for this on the fridge." Castle says as he hands Tyler back his picture.

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Alex had been playing with his new cat for three hours. He decided to name the orange tabby cat Scruffy.

"Come on Scruffy, we have to hide you in my closet. Mommy will be home soon and she doesn't like the animals I pick up from the park. Trust me."

Alex looked nervously around his brother's room. Just in three hours the cat had managed to tear up two pillows, chew through three shoes, and break Tyler's favorite lightning McQueen car.

"Now I'm going to have to give him my Mater!" Alex said unhappily. He quickly threw the pillows in the linen cabinet, put the shoes in the trash, hid the car, and then put Scruffy in his hiding spot. But after dinner, Scruffy was completely forgotten.

Alex was tucked in tightly and was starting to drift until he heard growling and scratching noises from his closet. He shut his eyes tighter thinking it was just his imagination, but the growling turned into weird animal noises. Alex shot straight out of bed and made a beeline down to his parent's room.

"Daddy! Daddy! There's a monster in my closet!"

Castle chuckled at the words he just heard and picked up a frightened Alex.

"There's no such thing as monsters, baby. It's all in your head." Beckett said calmly.

"No it's not!" Alex retorted.

Castle sighed. "Come on. We'll show you then." The three of them made their way upstairs. Beckett stopped to check on Tyler and Johanna while Alex and Castle made their way to Alex's room.

Castle turned on the light and set Alex on the bed before opening the closet. Then he heard it. It sounded like coughing and scratching. Now both boys had frightened expressions. In one swift move, Castle had Alex in his arms and the two of them out the door.

"Kate! There really is a monster! Get your gun!"

"What?" She asked irritability as she shut Tyler's door.

She marched down the hallway and right into Alex's room and threw open the closet door.

"Scruffy! You scared us!" Alex shouted as he leaned down to pet the matted cat covered in fleas.

"Don't touch it!" Both Castle and Beckett yelled at the same time.

"Why not?" Alex asked as he watches his parents' faces change from disgusted to realization. Beckett crouched down so that she was eye level with him.

"Alexander James, did you bring another cat into this house?"

"No. I guess it must have wandered in and hid in my closet because he knew we would have to adopt him. He knows his fate." Alex finished with a satisfied look on his face.

Castle had crouched down with them. "Alex we have to put the cat back where it belongs. How would you feel if someone picked you up and took you away from your family? Wouldn't you feel sad?"

"Yeah." Alex replied looking at the floor. "I guess I Would."

"Then lets take that scraggly cat to the shelter," Beckett said." It'd be the best for us all."

"You can't take Scruffy from me!" Alex shouted. "He's family now! We can't just abandon him!"

Beckett sighs, obvioisly frustrated and tired. "We can't keep a cat. Especially one that you found on the streets."

Alex's eyes started watering, "But we can't! He'll be lonely and scared." A tear fell down his cute, little face.

"What if we get you a puppy?' Castle offers with a tired face of his own.

Alex's face immediately drys and his face brightens. "Okay!" He says with a huge smile on his face and climbs back into his red racecar bed.

Beckett sends Castle a glare with her arms crossed. "I'll deal with you tomorrow."