Chapter One

Something about this dinner irked Castle. As he pulled the last dish out of the oven, he took a deep breath. Alexis and Pi would be there in about five minutes, and he definetely wasn't ready to see his daughters boyfriend again. "I mean, they haven't been over since christmas. Its been three months. I'd just rather see my daughter than my daugher and her boyfriend!"

"I know, Castle, but she's probably just been busy. Look on the bright side, at least she's coming to see you." He felt his fiance's arms supportively wrap around him and smiled lightly, still upset that the first time he would see his daughter in months would be with her annoying boyfriend by her side.

"Yeah, at least there's that." He sighed and turned so that he was facing the woman he was set to marry in two months. He laid a light kiss on her lips, "Hey, thanks for agreeing to be here."

"You don't have to thank me Castle. Like I said before, we're practically family." Kate smiled at him, a bit nervous about the dinner as well. But more so nervous about seeing Alexis. Things were still a bit hard, she was still trying to navigate her way through the Castle family.

Hearing her say that made Castle smile a bit more. He really loved this woman.

A knock at the door shook them out of their romantic moment, and they knew that it was their guests for the evening.

Both Castle and Beckett exchanged a look that essentially said, 'good luck' before Castle opened the door with a grin, exclaiming, "Alexis!"

"Dad!" She went up and hugged him, before handing him the dish that she had prepared.

"Hey Mr.C! How's it cracking?" Pi said, his voice energetic and not the least bit nervous. He gave Castle a hug, which was awkward to say the least, because Castle did not return the hug. Instead he stood there, stiff as a board, wondering when this dinner would be over.

"Hi, Pi." Castle said, moving the dish Alexis had brought to the counter and politely taking their coats. He needed to find something to talk about, and fast. Something to fill the awkward silence. So he glanced over at his red haired daughter, the one who looked nearly the same after three months. But even though she looked the same, there was something slightly off that he just couldn't place. "So, Alexis, how's school?"

The red haired Alexis smiled, her nervousness at this dinner and the news she had to tell him fading just slightly. "It's fine. I have A's in all my classes."

Castle smiled, the father in him coming out as he exclaimed, "That's my girl! What about work?"

"Works fine…" Her voice trailed off with a sort of shaky breath. They were seated around the table now, and she knew that things were so tense that she couldn't hold off much longer, or she was honestly going to burst out with it, and that probably wasn't the best thing to do. She swallowed, then held her head up high, "Actually dad, there's a reason I asked to come over for dinner."

Beckett hadn't spoken, with the exception of saying hello. Things were too awkward for her to find any attempt at speaking. However, now, she could see the nervousness on Alexis's face and the fear in Castle's mind. She placed her hand on his back. "What's going on Alexis?" Her tone was slow, concerned. Because something about the girl's behavior was reading that she needed someone to worry about her right now.

Castle's mind spun. His little girl looked afraid. What was going on? Was someone trying to kill her again? Was she in danger? He had almost never seen her that afraid before, and he didn't want to ask, he didn't want to know.

Meanwhile, Pi sat there, a smile on his face. He was too excited to hold it any longer, and he couldn't really see any reason to. "We're having a baby Mr. C!"

AN: I don't even know what I wrote, lol. But this is going to be a multichapter fic, kind of focusing on trying to make the best of a sticky situation. And yes, there will plenty of Caskettyness :3 Please read and review.

Here's where you can find me:

My tumblr (I follow back if you send me an ask): notalonedarling

My instagram and twitter (I follow back on both): ashesunbroken

My wattpad is ElizabethAshes (I follow back here as well)