Author's Note: Having rampant writer's block on "Simmer", so this little tidbit popped out. It's a scene set sometime after Castle and Beckett have started dating, so probably ahead of where I am in "Simmer" currently. The song Castle singing in this is Lifehouse's "Crash and Burn", which was actually featured in "Overkill". The look on Castle's face as he was watching Kate kiss Demming is part of what inspired this snippet. I wish my muse would come back with wherever she went with "Simmer". :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle.

Jim Beckett was a little nervous, sharing the cab with his daughter to meet her new beau. Of course he'd heard about him – between the bestselling books, and the fact that Katie had been talking about him for over a year (usually about what a pain in the ass he was). The tone of the conversations had shifted lately around the writer boy, and then recently, a confession she was seeing someone. That was rare enough. He didn't want to seem like he was prying so he didn't ask much beyond expressing support, a hope that she was happy. Then, days ago, an invitation to dinner at a swanky loft with the Castle family.

He could tell Katie was a little uncomfortable about the whole thing.

Over dinner, he felt put at ease by the Castle family. They had a selection of non-alcholic beers and other drinks with a nonchalance that made the lack of alcoholic beverages not a big deal. Martha Rogers was a piece of work - still beautiful, and with a host of entertaining stories. He actually remembered seeing a Broadway show years ago with his wife starring her, which he shyly told her about. They talked some baseball, some current events, some funny stories of Kate's co-workers Ryan and Esposito.

Rick's daughter seemed pretty bright. Alexis reminded him a little of Kate at her age – though maybe a little more mature, come to think of it – seemed really responsible. He mentioned that at dinner too, which seemed to entertain his host a great deal.

He slowly relaxed over dinner between the good folk and good food. Stories started flowing a little more freely, and he was happy to tell some of Katie as a girl – though conscious of not wanting to embarrass her too much. To his amusement, he realized over dinner that Rick was a little nervous too – hiding it pretty well, but still a little nervous.

Post-dinner, the Castle family suggested Guitar Hero. He'd never played that before and it looked entertaining. Rick apparently really liked rocking all out. Plus, it was fun watching how surprised they were when Katie belted it out. He was proud of his girl. Martha, of course, could still kick ass, and Alexis inherited the full Castle charm and musicality.

Life taught him that there are a lot of moments that can turn a world on its axis. Rick was rocking out to Guitar Hero, especially with an audience. He was in full form, head banging, playing to entertain...and then he opened his eyes and looked at Kate, and sang, "And if I fall…and crash and burn, at least we both know that I tried. And as I crawl, there's lessons learned, yeah they remind me I survived."

Jim watched the look on Rick's face – the intensity in Rick's blue eyes as he looked at Kate, they way their eyes held as Rick was singing, and the lyrics between them. He watched his daughter go from laughing at the antics of the Castle family to stillness. The look on her face was so unexpectedly open on her typically guarded expression that its beauty took his breath away – as it had since the day she was born. It was a moment so private between Kate and Rick that the rest of the room might not have existed, and Jim was as witness to the moment.

Jim remembered a lot of moments of Katie's life. He remembered the day she was born, the moment the nurse set her in his arms, and he remembered smiling at his wife through tears. He remembered the first night she cried and he couldn't comfort her. He remembered rescuing her from the monsters in her closet, telling her stories until she fell asleep. He remembered the look on her face the first time she'd seen their baseball team hit a home run. He remembered intimidating Katie's prom date, and the way she looked coming down the stairs all done up in her prom dress. He remembered her face as he and Johanna left her in her new dorm room at college. He remembered picking her up at the airport on her return from a semester abroad in Europe, and how grown up she looked. He remembered, all too vividly, the night Johanna died. (There were a lot of moments he didn't remember after that.) He remembered the look on Katie's face, the plea in her eyes and the fierceness in her voice, that finally started him down the road to sobriety, and how she'd been with him every step of that long, long road. He remembered his mixture of pride and trepidation when she graduated from the police academy, so determined to seek justice and fight the monsters roaming the world.

And he would remember this. He absorbed the look in her eyes now, the way she swallowed, the way she looked at this writer. He felt his throat tighten, and he closed his eyes for a second to blink the threat of tears away. Embarrassed, he looked away and found himself looking at Martha, also watching them. She somehow caught his glance, and he saw the same insight in hers about her only child.

"Where's the restroom again?", Jim asked, knowing the answer.

"Down the hall that way," Martha responded, a wealth of quiet understanding in the mundane words.

At the end of the night, he shook folks' hands. He paused in front of Rick, and smiled with warmth, his grip tight in their handshake an extra second longer. "Take care of my Katie."

"Dad…," he heard her half protest from beside him.

Rick just nodded solemnly, without his usual levity. "Yes, sir."

He watched Rick help his daughter with her coat, the way Rick pressed a kiss to her cheek and tangled his fingers with Kate's in a brief, subtle handhold, and the way both Martha and Alexis hugged Kate tight as though she were already one of them. They said a last round of good-byes and the door shut, separating the two families.

Jim started the walk towards the elevators. "I had a nice time, Katie."

"I'm glad." She tucked her arm in his as they walked the rest of the way to the elevator, silent for the moment, still his little girl.