Castle's partner

Her Love

I wake again to the noise of the precinct. I sit up to realize someone put a blanket on me.

I rub my eyes and get up.

I examine the model the printer made, and it's perfect.

The fingerprints show up, which is what I wanted.

I start walking to Oliver's, putting the model in a bag.

I call him, making sure Lydia is gone.

"Hey, you said Lydia's out with your mom right now right?"

"Yeah why? Is everything okay?"

"I'll be over in half an hour."

I walk briskly, hoping to get there before they get back.

I knock on the door, and when Oliver opens it I brush past him.

"Where does Lydia keep her paint?" I ask.

"Wait, Samantha. You need to tell me you left yesterday."

"I had an idea for Lydia's birthday, now c'mon."

He leads me to her room and pulls out a drawer full of paints.

I take out black, and a smooth brush with white bristles.

I pour a small amount onto a palette, and carefully paint the space left on the wall.

"What was your dad's favorite color?"

He looks perplexed, but answers with blue.

I take a tiny amount and spread it across the palette, just enough to cover the model of the hand. When it's covered I gently press it to the wall and when I pull back, and perfect handprint has been left.

I paint in cursive "Andrew" under the print.

I turn to look at Oliver, who's still staring at the wall.

His favorite color is yellow, so I do the same thing with the paint. I grab his hand and press it against the paint, then the wall and paint his name in cursive.

"When your mom gets home, she needs to do this before Lydia sees."

Just as I say this, the door opens, and I hear Lydia run to the bathroom.

Oliver runs and grabs his mom.

"Oh Samantha! It's good to see you! Lydia will be happy to see you too!"

Then she sees the wall, and her hands reach for her mouth. Her eyes start to water.

She reaches out and touches her husband's hand. This paint is instant dry which is good, otherwise it would have been ruined.

"Did you do this?"

"Yes I did. I need you to do yours for Lydia. What's your favorite color?"

"Purple," she replies absentmindedly.

I do the same thing with her, and she and Oliver wash their hands. When they get back, we hear Lydia.

"Hey Ollie, where-" she cuts herself off when she sees us in her room.

When she sees the wall, she has almost the same reaction as her mom.

"How did you do this?" She asks.

"Well, I pieced together a model after scanning pictures into a computer software editing program, then I edited it so you could see all the detail, then I printed a model using a 3D printer and used it to make a handprint." I shrug. "You need to add yours on too."