Disclaimer: I make no claim of owning Castle, or any of it's characters.
"Castle?" Kate called out as she walked into the loft. "I stopped to pick up dinner on the way back. Figured you didn't have anything planned yet with taking care of Alexis." It was pretty late, but she knew he would have waited for her to eat.
She moved into the kitchen with the bags of take-out, setting them on the counter.
Castle had been in the kitchen staring forlornly into the refrigerator, apparently trying to decide what he could make for dinner. He shut the door to the fridge and turned to hug Kate from behind, giving a little hum as he felt her relax immediately back into his body.
"Have I ever told you how amazing you are?" He asked. "This smells delicious."
Kate laughed, "So all I have to do is give you food, and you're a goner?" She turned to face him. "I missed you at the precinct, even though it was just paperwork today."
"I missed you today too." Castle whispered before capturing her lips in a kiss.
A voice rang out from upstairs, interrupting them. "Richard, what are we having for dinner?" Meredith appeared at the top of the stairs, "Oh, hi Kate." She gave the greeting in an overly cheerful voice. "Alexis is asleep, and I'm famished."
Castle looked over at Kate, who sighed, but gave the slightest nod, before saying "I guess we have enough take-out to share. You can join Kate and me for dinner if you want."
"Thank you Richard." Meredith said as she waltzed into the kitchen, sitting down at the bar while Kate went about setting the table, and Rick worked at putting the food into dishes to serve. It might as well feel like a nice meal, and not just take-out.
If looks could kill, Meredith would have been dead ten times over as Kate glared over at her while she looked. Meredith paid her no mind though, choosing instead to talk animatedly to Castle about her plans to bring Paris to Alexis while she was sick, how her acting was progressing, and whatever topics struck her fancy. Castle nodded to acknowledge some of what his ex-wife was saying, but his eyes followed Kate around the room.
As the trio sat down to eat, with Castle between the two women, an uncomfortable silence descended for a moment before they turned to their food.
Eventually, Meredith broke the silence, "Yum, this soup is to die for. Wherever did you find it Richard?" This opened the way for an awkward conversation through the rest of dinner, but the women would barely speak to one another. Kate kept scowling at Meredith, and Meredith only attempted to flirt with Castle.
Everyone was relieved when the food was gone and dinner was over and they no longer had to strain for conversation topics.
This was even worse than dinner with the parents Castle thought. He just wanted to go to bed and forget his ex-wife was even around.
Kate had decided she needed to act though. Lanie was right, Meredith was marking her territory, and Kate was not okay with that. "Meredith, can we talk for a minute? Just the two of us? Castle, I'll come to bed in a bit."
Castle gave her a look, but started to head towards his bedroom, then thought better of it and came back over to whisper in her ear, "All right, but don't take too long, I still have a lot of making up to do." Kate blushed and smiled as Castle kissed her on the cheek before turning and finally leaving the room.
This left Kate and Meredith alone together at the table. The ex-wife and girlfriend, a potentially explosive combination. The room was awkwardly silent.
Meredith spoke first, much to Kate's surprise. "Look, Kate, I want to thank you for putting up with me here. I really appreciate being able to be here to take care of Alexis. I'll be honest, I had thought about getting back together with Rick while I was here, I mean, sex with him… well, I guess you know about that. It's pretty obvious that's not going to happen though."
"What?" This was not how Kate had expected this conversation to go.
"Didn't you notice how he looked at you all through dinner? Richard's never looked at me like that, ever. Not even before we were married. Plus, he's barely said two words to me all day that he hasn't absolutely had to. It's clear he's yours. Rick's a good man, I'm glad he has you to love him."
Kate looked at the other woman in shock. Was it really that obvious? "Um, thank you Meredith. I guess we should probably be getting to bed."
"You're probably right." Meredith agreed, "I'll just go check on Alexis before I go to sleep."
Both women turned to walk out of the room.
Kate couldn't resist just one more comment. "Hey Meredith? I'm glad you liked that cow's foot stew. It's one of our favorites."
Meredith turned a strange shade of green, as she turned to look at Kate incredulously. Kate just smirked as she walked out of the room. After all, Meredith deserved something for the way she flirted with Castle at dinner. And she had liked the stew.
A/N: Whether you loved it or hated it, please review! I always appreciate constructive criticism.