Work Text:
Happy Birthday! I know it’s not your 30th, but it was a good excuse for Castle to throw Ryan a birthday party. J I know Seamus’ birthday is in the summer, but I needed Ryan’s to be some time in the Fall.
The Big 3-0.
Although it was just another day, Detective Kevin Ryan couldn’t deny the significance. As of 1:17 that morning, Ryan had officially waved goodbye to his youth. He was thirty years old. Of course, thirty wasn’t exactly old and he knew it was ridiculous to feel a little depressed just because of the date, but Ryan couldn’t help how he felt. An early morning callout for a dead body in an alley was just the way he could’ve expected to start his thirtieth birthday.
He had already interviewed the two homeless men who’d found the victim, so he walked over to join his partners Kate Beckett and Javier Esposito by the body. A uniformed officer was politely holding an umbrella over the crouched form of Medical Examiner Dr. Lanie Parish as she examined the deceased. Turning up his collar against the cold rain, Ryan wished he’d thought about an umbrella. The icy wetness trickled down the back of his neck and dripped off his bangs, making him shiver. Even the weather was reflecting his mood.
The sight of the poor woman crumpled in a heap on the filthy, wet alley floor made Kevin feel a twinge of guilt for dwelling on his own problems. At least he woke up that morning. The young lady being covered by a yellow emergency blanket hadn’t been so lucky. Her slightly rounded, pale face looked like it had never had the chance to see thirty.
Standing and flashing the officer a grateful smile, Lanie took the umbrella from him and waved at the attendants waiting with a stretcher. She stepped away to give them room to access the body and shared the umbrella with her friend, Kate Beckett.
“Well, the rain will make finding any trace evidence difficult. Looks like she was killed elsewhere and dumped here, so you still have a crime scene somewhere. No purse, but her ID and a credit card were tucked inside her bra.”
Taking over the narrative, Detective Javier Epsosito held up a small clear evidence bag. “Grace Adams, 26 years old. Got an address in SoHo. We’ll run the credit card and see what her recent purchases were. I’m guessing she was out clubbing or something and didn’t want to carry a purse.”
Pursing her lips, Beckett brushed her damp chestnut hair behind her ears and shook her head slightly. “I don’t know, Espo. Most girls won’t go to a place like a club without at least some lipstick and a brush or comb in her purse. Gotta keep up the appearance throughout the night, you know?”
Esposito wiped the rain from his face and grimaced. “No, I don’t know. I was never big on clubbing, and I’m not a chick. Can we please get out of this rain? I think Ryan’s mouth froze shut already.”
When three pairs of eyes swiveled his way, Ryan shrugged. “It’s early. I’m cold and wet and have nothing to add. I’ll run the credit card back at the precinct.”
When he reached out his hand for the evidence bag holding the ID and credit card, Beckett snatched it first. “Nice try, Ryan. You boys canvass the area. Find out if anyone saw a vehicle in this alley in the last few hours, and check for cameras. I’ll head back to the 12th and run the credit card.”
As she and Lanie followed the stretcher back toward the crime scene tape, Ryan glared at Beckett’s back. There were times he really, really hated being the junior partner and today was one of them. Pulling the collar of his coat closed with a cold hand, Ryan turned his glare onto the brick walk-up next to them.
“C’mon, Espo. The sooner we do this, the sooner we’re back at the precinct.” He hopscotched his way through the alley in an attempt to avoid the larger puddles of water, mud and refuse.
With a shake of his head, Esposito followed his partner. He wasn’t sure what had got Ryan’s undies in a twist, but the older detective sure hoped the mood didn’t last. Part of what made his job so great, was working with his perpetually sunny partner. Maybe if they stopped for donuts on the way back to the precinct…
*******
Well, it had been a good thought. Esposito tried to ignore Ryan’s grumbled mutters behind him. It wasn’t his fault his partner had gone right for the raspberry jelly-filled donut. And it certainly wasn’t his fault a glob of the sugary red jelly squeezed out of the donut and fell onto Ryan’s new tie. With a martyred sigh, Javier stood and made his way to the break room. Maybe another espresso would nudge Ryan out of his funk.
Castle was already at the machine, making himself and Beckett espressos. The writer glanced up with a smile as he steamed the milk. “What’s eating your partner this morning?”
Grabbing a couple of ceramic cups, Esposito sighed and leaned his hip against the counter. “I don’t know, man. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ryan so grumpy and it’s starting to grate on my nerves.”
With a chuckle, Castle drew a heart in the foam of Beckett’s finished drink. “You never realize how much one person affects morale, until they act out of character. Do you think it’s a family thing?”
“Nah, he’d be ranting non-stop about it if it was just something his parents or sisters did or said that bothered him.” Esposito and Castle traded places at the espresso machine and the detective frowned as he started the coffees. “Nah, this is something else. Ryan’s not someone you have to pry things out of. If he wanted me to know about it, he would’ve said something.”
The writer nudged Esposito with his elbow, hands full with his and Beckett’s drinks. “Well, good luck Espo. I better get Beckett her caffeine or she might get as grumpy as your partner.”
“Hurry up, then. I don’t need two of ‘em.” Javier ignored the writer’s chuckles as he concentrated on finishing up the hot drinks. He added a dash of cinnamon to Ryan’s and took a fortifying breath, grabbed the two cups and headed back to bullpen.
He did get a mumbled thanks from his partner as he slid one of the cups onto Ryan’s desk, which Esposito counted as a minor victory. Settling into his chair, Javier nudged his mouse to wake up his screen and went back to going over their victim’s financials. He was hoping to find a credit card charge from that day or the night before. As his eyes scrolled over the dates, Esposito stopped and grinned. Now he understood Ryan’s bad mood.
He stood once more and waved a hand to get Castle’s attention. When the writer looked up, Esposito jerked his head toward the back. Without waiting to see if Castle was following, Javier walked once more to the break room. Natural curiosity had the writer trailing close behind. Shutting the door so the two had a little privacy, Esposito laughed and shook his head.
“I know why Ryan’s in such a pissy mood.”
Raising his eyebrows, Castle smiled broadly and waved a hand in a go-ahead motion. “Do tell.”
“It’s his birthday.”
Castle just stared at him a moment, as if waiting for a punchline. When none came, he frowned. “And? Why would that have him in such a foul mood?”
“Nah, bro. Not just any birthday. Today, Ryan is thirty years old.”
“Ah, I see.” Castle’s blue eyes had a mischievous gleam. “He’s having a freak-out about this, isn’t he?”
“Looks that way.”
Smiling broadly, Rick rubbed his hands together gleefully. “Want to have a little fun with him?”
He actually considered it for half a minute, but Espo finally shook his head. “Nah, man. I have to work with the guy. While it would be fun to mess around with him, I’d be the one stuck with dealing with his bad mood all day.”
“C’mon, ‘Sito,” Castle wheedled, pressing his hand together and actually begging. “He’s in a bad mood anyway. Let’s have a little fun. Look, I’ll throw a surprise party together. We’ll lure him to my loft and spring it on him. Today’s Friday…we’ll say it’s poker night. What do you say?”
“I don’t know, Castle.” Kevin probably would like a surprise party.
“Please, Espo?”
Jeez, Castle was like a kid in line at the grocery store begging for a piece of candy. With a deep sigh, Esposito caved. “Fine. But I reserve the right to call a halt to the messing with him part if he really starts getting pissy.”
Thrusting out his hand, Rick shook on it. “Deal.” The writer leaned forward and lowered his voice. “You know what would really be a great birthday surprise for Kevin?”
Esposito leaned back with a suspicious frown. “What?”
“If you manned up and told him you love him.”
Holding up his hands palm out, as if to ward off the writer’s words, Javier shook his head in denial. “Whoa. I don’t-he isn’t-you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
With a smirk, Castle shrugged. “I observe people for a living, Esposito. I see the way you watch him when he’s not looking at you. You two are practically joined at the hip. I’ve seen married couples who aren’t as in sync as you guys. If Ryan didn’t return whatever feelings you have for him, none of that would be so obvious. Besides…I’ve seen the way he watches you.”
He could see that Esposito was actually mulling over his words, so he left the detective to his thoughts and returned to the bullpen. Smothering a laugh, Castle paused at Ryan’s desk and leaned over the younger man. “Hey, Ryan. I do believe you have some grey hairs there. I can give you the name of a really great hair dye if you want.”
Predictably, Ryan reached up to cover the top of his head with a frown. “Shut up, Castle. Go pester Beckett and leave me alone.”
Chuckling softly, Rick did just that. He slid into his customary seat by Beckett’s desk and pulled out his phone to shoot texts to his daughter Alexis and to his mother. Martha Rodgers was the queen of planning surprise parties. After his last text was sent, he waggled his fingers at Beckett and leaned forward to indicate that he wanted to whisper.
Though she frowned in annoyance, Beckett nevertheless leaned sideways in her chair so that Castle could whisper in her ear.
“It’s Ryan’s birthday. He turned thirty today, so he’s in a bad mood. Surprise party at my loft tonight after work. You in?”
With a sly grin, Kate straightened up in her chair and hid a laugh behind her hand. “I’m in. I take it from your gray hair comment that we’re going to have a little fun at Ryan’s expense today.”
“You betcha.”
Oh, yeah. Kate was going to get her revenge on Ryan for putting that modeling picture onto her computer.
*********
As the day progressed, Ryan grew more and more disgruntled with his colleagues. Espo had also claimed he was going gray, causing Kevin to spend ten minutes in the men’s room checking himself in the mirror over the sink. Maybe it was the bad lighting, but he couldn’t find a single gray hair. Then Beckett frowned at him while they discussed the timeline on the murder board and said he was developing crow’s feet. She claimed that it made him seem more distinguished, but Ryan just took it as another sign that his youth was over. Next thing you knew, he’d be one of those burned out old cops who never promoted.
By the time their shift neared its end, Kevin just wanted to go home and drown his sorrows in a good bottle of Jamison’s. When Castle invited him over for an impromptu poker night, he tried to decline. But the combined cajoling from the writer and Beckett made him waver in his resolve. The doe-like brown eyes of his partner, however, is what tipped him over the edge. He never could say no to Esposito.
“Fine. Might as well complete the day by losing all of my savings to a guy who already has millions.”
No lie, Castle kind of felt bad when Ryan said that. The Irishman did end up losing more often than not. The writer made a mental note to be a little more conservative in his betting for the next game. With a smile, he pushed the thought aside and draped an arm across the smaller man’s shoulders.
“That’s the spirit, Ryan. It’ll be fun, I promise. I had Martha send out for food and everything.”
Ryan made an effort to smile at Castle’s enthusiasm. “At least I’ll get dinner out of it.”
“Exactly! You guys want a lift?”
As they’d both taken the subway to work that morning, Esposito and Ryan both accepted the offer of a ride to the loft. Beckett said she needed to run a quick errand first and would meet them there. Trapped in the car with Castle and his partner, Ryan felt his spirits begin to lift a little. Maybe he was getting a little older, but he’d found some really great friends to share the future years with. Not everyone was that lucky.
By the time they made it to Castle’s door, all three were laughing at a story Esposito had shared from his days at the 54th. The writer slid his key in the lock, turned the handle and pushed the heavy metal door open. As the three stepped through the door, voices shouted “Surprise!” making Ryan startle and bump into his partner. He blinked a few times then burst into laughter. He’d been had.
Captain Montgomery stepped forward with a wide smile and handed the birthday boy a tumbler of whisky. “Happy birthday, Ryan.”
“Thanks, Cap.” Kevin took the offered drink and let the cut crystal clink gently against Montgomery’s wine glass.
Martha and Alexis gave him quick hugs and matching grins then ushered both detectives toward the kitchen and the food spread out across the marble island. Lanie bussed Ryan on the cheek then laughed at his blush.
“Happy birthday, sweetie. I’m glad to know you were just having a birthday freak-out and not suffering male PMS or something.”
With a sheepish grin Ryan shrugged and mumbled something into his drink. Luckily, Lanie didn’t hear it. Esposito did, however, and spent the next two minutes trying to clear Crown and Coke from his airway.
As the surprise party got into full swing, Ryan shed his jacket and whatever was left of his bad mood. He made the rounds, thanking everyone for their thoughtfulness. By the time he made it back to Rick, Beckett had arrived. Ryan sat his drink on the coffee table as his boss handed him a small package wrapped in paper decorated with tiny cartoon police cars.
Inside the paper was a small box. He lifted the lid and smiled in delight at the gleaming metal nestled on cotton batting. As he held it up, his gaze sought Kate’s hazel eyes.
She returned his smile and nodded. “It’s an antique callbox key.”
And not just a callbox key. Ryan could see that it had been dipped in gold, and was engraved with his precinct and badge numbers. It was a dear and thoughtful gift, making him choke up for a moment. He cleared his throat and wrapped his arms around Kate in a tight hug.
“Thanks, Kate. It’s a perfect gift.”
From Castle, Martha and Alexis he received Yankee tickets and an autographed advance copy of Rick’s next novel. The tickets were for two seats, which Ryan eagerly showed to his partner. Esposito smiled nervously and cleared his throat.
“Um, my gift is, uh, back at my apartment. We can go check it out after the party.”
Rick grinned like a maniac and practically vibrated with excitement. Esposito glared at the writer and made it very clear by his body language that Castle would die a grisly death if he opened his mouth. Just to make sure, Espo steered his partner back over to the snacks. Javier wasn’t even sure he would follow through on his idea when they got back to his apartment. Odds were that he’d chicken out.
As the party wound down and guests began to leave, Esposito’s nervousness increased. What if Castle had been wrong about Ryan’s interest? The writer seemed to sense the faltering of courage, because he managed to corner Espo in the kitchen. Slipping an arm around the detective’s shoulders, Rick smiled encouragingly.
“You’ll do just fine, Espo. If you haven’t believed anything I’ve said before, believe me now when I say that Ryan wants more than just a work partnership. Take a leap of faith, Detective.”
Taking a fortifying breath, Esposito smiled shakily and nodded. Lifting his chin and straightening his spine, he went to extricate the birthday boy from Lanie and Beckett. Both women seemed to sense what he was about to do and each gave Javier a bright smile and a wink. How was it that everyone knew but he and Ryan?
The two said their goodbyes and made their way down to the sidewalk and hailed a cab. Ryan spent the entire ride to Esposito’s apartment thanking him for the surprise birthday party and repeatedly showing him the callbox key. Javier smiled indulgently and nodded in all the right places, but his nerves were making his hands shake.
He managed to keep up the small talk all the way to his apartment. Ryan immediately went to the sofa and picked up a game controller. “Madden?”
“Maybe later.” Espo cleared his throat nervously and took his partner’s hand to pull Kevin back up from the sofa. “I still have my gift to give to you.”
Javier’s voice had gone soft and deeper with desire, which had an amusing affect on his partner. Ryan stood mere inches away, his crystal blue eyes wide with uncertainty. “What gift?”
“This.” Holding onto his courage with an iron grip, Javier closed the remaining distance between them and kissed his partner. He put all of the longing, all of his hope and love into that one kiss. Kevin’s body relaxed against his own, long thin hands sliding around to pull Javier closer. Well, hot damn. Castle had been right.
They finally had to break the kiss in order to breath. Kevin rested his head on his partner’s shoulder and Javier could feel the smile against his neck.
“Now that was worth turning thirty for.”
With a relieved laugh Javier pushed Kevin back far enough to see those beautiful eyes. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Kevin leaned forward to initiate the next kiss. Which led to more kissing, needy sighs and wandering hands.
Javier finally broke away and nibbled along Kevin’s jaw just below his ear. “I can give you an even better birthday present if you want.”
“Fuck yeah.”
Smiling a little, definitely a little smug, Javier took a moment to suck a mark on Kevin’s long pale neck then led his partner down the short hallway to his bedroom. Taking his time undressing the birthday boy, Javier let his hands caress each newly revealed patch of pale skin.
As strong tan hands mapped every inch of his body, Kevin hoped that his next birthday was as good as this one was turning out to be. Once they were both down to their…well…birthday suits, Kevin wrapped long fingers around his partner’s erection and licked his lips with a grin. It was only fair that he hand out party favors at his birthday. Right? Then he’d let Javier give him what he’d really wanted for his birthday, if he’d only known he could ask for it. Or beg for it. Or, much later, demand it.
*************
Of course, once Monday rolled around and they dragged themselves back to the 12th, Castle was insufferably smug. Neither Ryan nor Esposito gave him the satisfaction of reacting to it. They were too busy counting down the hours until they could go back to Espo’s apartment. Javier had ordered a few more “birthday presents” Saturday morning, and they were supposed to be delivered that day. Kevin couldn’t wait to get home to open them then properly thank his partner for his generosity.
It really had been the best birthday yet. Javi had promised that the next one would be better, so really…now Kevin couldn’t wait to turn thirty-one.
END