I told myself I wouldn't write a post Always story and I tried really hard to resist but alas I succumbed to the call. So here is another one. A different perspective of what might happen.

I hope you like it.

Morning Revelation

Alexis unlocked the front door to the loft and paused, hesitating. Reflecting. Last night had been great. She had a wonderful time celebrating with her friends their graduation. There had been much laughter and reminiscing. More than a few people had come up to her complimenting her on her valedictory speech. One or two had hinted that it had been her father who had written the speech for her. Alexis let them think that, she knew who had written the speech and her close friends knew that she had written the speech. That is all that mattered.

And amongst all the laughter and reminiscing there had been a few tears shed as the realisation hit that there would be some people she would not be seeing again despite all the promises of staying in touch.

Amidst all the fun and laughter Alexis had been concerned for her father. He had been unusually subdued yesterday. There was the underlying sadness in those blue eyes of his of seeing his little girl graduating and ready to take the next step on the road of life, moving out of the nest, going to college. She had seen that mixture of sadness and happiness reflected in the eyes of many other parents in the auditorium. She had even seen it in the eyes of her grandmother.

Yet there was another sadness Alexis saw in the eyes of her father. At first she could not quite put her finger on it and he had been evasive when she had questioned him. It did not take her long to figure it out though. The only time she had seen him that emotional and trying hard to hide it from her involved only one person.

Alexis had never been happy about her father at playing a cop. He was not trained to be a cop. It never sat well with her thinking of her father getting into dangerous situations and she was certain her father never told her half of the situations he got into. Alexis had never been more frightened for him than over the events nearly a year ago. She could never understand why her father would willingly put himself in danger. At first she blamed the woman he followed for putting him in danger.

But it was not Detective Beckett who was to blame. She come to realise that. Having that talk with her father after she had overheard her father and grandmother talking about that mystery man had enlightened Alexis a little. Doing that internship with Dr Parish also made her see. Observing her father made her understand why he continued to follow Detective Beckett around. It was not just about Beckett, though that was a big part. Alexis saw that her father made a difference and that made him happy.

Alexis remembered that her father had gone to Detective Beckett's place the day before only to return a little later looking so sad, heartbroken.

Alexis had also sensed his sadness when they had talked on the phone last night. Her father really tried to convince her that he would be all right with all the channels at his disposal not to mention the Xbox but she knew it was just a front he had put up to stop her from worrying about him. The unsaid implication being that this was her night and she should enjoy it to the full and not to worry about him. It did not not work but she played along to humour him.

Alexis remained at the front door still hesitating. The last time her father had been upset with Detective Beckett he had gone a little crazy. He had returned to his bad playboy ways that Alexis thought was long dead and buried It was a side of her father that she had never liked the first time around but she had endured it. She certainly did not like seeing it resurface. She was thankful that reappearance of playboy Castle was short lived. Something bad must have happened between them Alexis concluded sadly.

Alexis realised that she could stand outside the loft forever. Still she was not eager to go in but had to, she told herself. She could only imagine what might confront her when she walked in. With her father in a fragile emotional state anything was possible.

Taking a bracing breath she pushed open the door. Stepping through the door Alexis silently prayed there was no half naked blonde bimbo cavorting around the loft. Setting her overnight bag beside the door and setting her keys on the bench Alexis made a quick scan of the loft. It was with a great sense of relief she did not spot any discarded pieces of lacy lingerie, nor were there any empty bottles of booze. Her father was not passed out on the couch in front of the television in the living room. To her surprise Alexis found that the loft was pretty much the same way she had left it yesterday.

The loft seemed quiet. Some of the lights had been left on. Her ears pricked up at the sound coming from the kitchen. It was the sound of humming. A small frown creased her face as she listened to the humming. Slowly she made her way to the kitchen.

As Alexis cautiously approached the kitchen she found her father moving about in the kitchen preparing breakfast. He was dressed in a t-shirt and boxers. His hair was skewed in all directions from recent sleep. He looked a little tired from what appeared a lack of sleep.

Alexis was not surprised at finding her dad in the kitchen in his sleep attire, nor was she surprised at the amount of food he had made. There were scrambled eggs and bacon, a plate of pancakes holding pride of place in the middle of the breakfast tray along with two large mugs of steaming coffee.

Alexis fought down the pang of disappointment that rose within her. He had brought someone home last night. What surprised her the most was the sight of the big smile on his face. It was the kind of smile she had not seen on her father in such a long time she could not remember the last time she had seen it. Castle continued to hum away as he put the cooking utensils into the sink. Alexis realised with some shock, her father looked genuinely happy. Really happy.

Alexis walked up to island just as Castle turned away from the sink ready to pick up the breakfast tray.

"Dad."

Castle looked up and beamed at the sight of his daughter.

"Hey, pumpkin." He greeted her cheerfully. "Did you have a good time last night?"

"I had a great time last night, Dad."

Castle nodded his head. Alexis came around the island and was swept into her father's welcoming arms for a hug and a kiss.

"You're home early." Castle remarked.

"No, I'm home when I said I would be home."

Alexis broke away from his embrace and looked at the food on the breakfast tray.

"What's with all the food, Dad?"

A furtive look briefly appeared on Castle's face as he looked at his daughter.

"CASTLE!"

Castle's eyes flew in the direction of his study.

"Coming." He called out in a sing song voice.

Suddenly remembering the presence of his daughter in the kitchen he looked at her stricken.

"You wont be if you don't feed me in the next five minutes, Writer Man!" Came the authoritative voice.

Understanding swept across Alexis' face as she recognised the voice emanating from her father's bedroom. She glanced in the direction of where the female voice had come from before turning to her father. She broke out into a big amused smile as she looked knowingly at him. Her smile deepened and had to stop herself from laughing at seeing her father's face turning a very deep shade of red.

"I...I...can...explain..." Castle stammered.

"A thousand channels and an Xbox not enough for you, Dad?" Alexis said, enjoying her father's discomfort.

"Umm...I...I..."

"It's okay, Dad." Alexis announced, deciding to put him out his misery. "I'm happy for you."

"You are?"

"For the both of you." Alexis nodded her head.

"Yeah?" Castle could not keep the surprise from his face.

Alexis nodded again. She reached over and snared a small piece of crispy bacon.

"I just stopped by to change my clothes, I'm going over to Paige, she invited me to brunch." Alexis announced. The thought had just popped into her head and decided to run with it. Better to give them some privacy, she thought.

"B..but...you only just got home." Castle's parental responsibilities coming to the fore.

"CASTLE!"

"Dad." Alexis nudged her father.

Huh?" Castle stammered not knowing which why to turn.

"It's not a good idea to keep a lady waiting." Alexis reminded him gently.

"Oh...yes...right."

Castle leaned down planted a big kiss on his daughter's head before he swept up the breakfast tray and vanished in the direction of his study and bed room beyond. Alexis popped the now cold piece of bacon into her mouth and headed upstairs. She reached for her phone and started texting Paige, hoping that her friend was up for a lunch time date.

The end.

What do you think, dear reader?

Con