Title: The One

Author: mindy35

Rating: K+/T, some incidental sexy stuff in part 2.

Disclaimer: Not my characters, no money made. All are property of AWM, ABC et al.

Spoilers: Basic stuff, thru to "Significant Others".

Pairing: Castle/Beckett, Castle/Meredith.

Summary: Missing scenes & post-ep for "Significant Others". What instigated Meredith's change of heart and how would Castle react to Beckett trying to know him better?

A/N: As stated above, this story is part missing scene and part post-ep and part what I wish had happened. The first part happens during the episode, the second part happens after the episode. And while I am aware that it doesn't quite gel with the ep itself, I also don't care. Cos it addresses two issues I had with it – one, what motivated Meredith's seemingly out-of-nowhere change of heart, why did she go from manipulating Beckett to befriending her and confiding in her? And two, I'm not sure I buy the whole Castle-doesn't-or-wouldn't-share-with-Beckett ending. So here is my take on both. This fic also gives me the opportunity to hear from Alexis which I was hoping for earlier in the season as well as giving Castle an opportunity to stand up for his relationship which sometimes I just want him to man up and do. Please enjoy and let me know your thoughts.

A/N2: Also this is my 30th fic for "Castle". Just thought I'd share that little milestone.

I.

The elevator doors parted and both redheads performed a perfectly executed if not entirely sincere smile right on cue.

"Ah, Meredith..." Martha ran her eyes over her former daughter-in-law, taking in the string shopping bag that hung from her arm. "Been shopping?"

"Just a few things for Alexis," Meredith replied before reaching into the bag and pulling out a crisp white apron. "And a little something for me…" She held it up against herself, showing Martha the large lipstick-like kiss on its chest, accompanied by the words Kiss the Cook. "Isn't it adorable?"

Martha emitted a mirthless laugh. "Might I ask a very honest question?"

Meredith tucked the apron away. "Of course, Martha. We are family, after all."

"Ye-es…" Martha stepped off the elevator and faced her, leather gloves in hand. "What on earth do you think you're doing here?"

Meredith lifted the bag of overpriced organic vegetables. "Making soup."

Martha opened her mouth on an admonishment. "Meredith Moore—"

"Castle," she interrupted smoothly. "I'm thinking of returning to my married name." She gave a coy one-shouldered shrug. "More marketable. You understand."

Martha pursed her lips and continued on with her brewing speech. "Well, whatever the name, you have never made soup in your life without an ulterior motive attached and I know what it is." She waved her bright pink gloves, gave her a narrow-eyed onceover. "You may fool Richard with this whole doting mother routine but it will take more than a few bats of those botox-enhanced eyes of yours to fool this old broad. I know exactly what you're up to and take it from me, when it comes to Kate Beckett, you are completely out of your depth."

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," Meredith replied, doing her best to play innocent.

"Oh yes, you do," the older woman muttered, a knowing lilt to her tone. "And if you had any sense at all you'd see that she's not some bimbo you can scare off with your I-gave-him-everything-and-he-gave-me-nothing sob story. She's a police detective and a damn intelligent woman. She'll see through your line of BS before you've even finished delivering it. And she won't give him up without a hell of a fight. Trust me—" her voice lowered as she began shoving her hands into her gloves, "those two have walked through hell together. Your flighty little two and a half year marriage barely compares. So," Martha drew herself up to her full height, tossing back her flame-colored curls, "why don't you do us all a favor and quit while you're behind? I'd hate to see you make more of a fool of yourself than you already have."

Never one to ruin a good exit line by saying any more than required, Martha headed for the door, chin tipped heavenward. Meredith pressed the button to recall the elevator and gave a dramatic sigh.

"Oh Martha, whatever happened to us? We used to be such good friends."

Drawing a pair of Jackie O sunglasses from her purse, Martha turned towards her with a deliberately disdainful air. "You broke my boy's heart and deserted his daughter. Call me old-fashioned, but those are two things I find difficult to overlook." She flicked her eyes at the vegetables in Meredith's bag, including a few dark purple mounds. "By the way, Alexis hates beets." And with that, Martha donned her dark glasses and sailed out onto the breezy New York street.

-x-

Pulling herself upright in bed, Alexis eyed her mother as she plumped the pillows behind her. "Mom…? Are you sure it's a good idea, you being here?"

"Of course," Meredith answered perkily, placing the tray she'd prepared on her lap and tucking the napkin into her pyjama collar. "Someone has to take care of you. And with your grandmother immersed in her "Temptation Lane" reunion show and your father all wrapped up in his new relationship, who better than your own mother to feed you soup and watch over you while you recover?"

Alexis drew back as she settled on the bed then offered her a spoonful. "I can feed myself, mom."

Her mother just smiled and scolded her in the same sing-song voice she'd used since she was two years old. "Uh-uh-uh. Open u-up…"

"And anyway, it's just mono," she went on, rolling her eyes but relenting and taking the soup-laden spoon into her mouth. "All I need is rest. And to not have to worry about you torturing dad."

Meredith's eyes dropped to the bowl as she scooped up another spoonful. "Well, I won't deny that torturing your father is one of my favorite pastimes but that's not why I'm here now. I'm here for you." There was an infinitesimal pause before she added, "And I'm very happy that Richard has found someone special."

Alexis' blue blues blinked at her. "Are you really?"

Meredith gave a fleeting pout then shovelled the spoonful into her daughter's mouth. "Are you? Do you like Detective Beckett?"

Alexis swallowed, nodded and lowered her eyes, her fingers worrying the hem of her napkin. "I do."

"Oh, pumpkin…" Meredith lay the spoon down and put two fingers under her chin, tilting it upwards. "You don't have to lie. And you know I can always tell when you're fibbing because you get that little frowny look that you inherited from your father. If you don't like this new girlfriend of his, you can tell me. Maybe I can talk to him about your concerns?"

"No! Mom—" Alexis' eyes lifted, widening in horror, one hand reaching out and grasping her sleeve. "Look…I admit…I wasn't totally okay with the idea of them…when things started getting…you know, serious. But not because I don't like her – I do. She's actually pretty amazing."

Meredith rose from the bed, turning and making her way around it. "Is she really?"

"Yeah," Alexis smiled as she took up the glass of orange juice from her bedside and began sipping it. "I volunteered at the precinct a few years back and a couple of times I asked her advice and she was so nice and smart and…—it's just that I worry about him, you know? I worry about the lengths he'll go to just to be with her. I mean, she's trained for that job but he's not and let's face it, dad is about as fierce as a French poodle. Also, I…I guess I worry that maybe she won't love him like he deserves, as much as he loves her. I couldn't stand seeing that happen again…" She gave a little humph, frowning into the glass. "Which is kind of funny cos I used to worry about him not getting serious with anyone – now I worry about him getting so serious with someone."

Meredith nodded a few times then, locating a pile of clean laundry, she began refolding the perfectly folded sweater on top. "So you really think he's serious about this one. You think he loves her?"

"I know he does," Alexis said softly. "And I want him to be happy. He deserves that. And Beckett does make him happy – I've never seen him as happy as he's been these last few months." She shook her head, gave a shrug. "And it's good that he has someone, now that I'm gone."

"But sweetheart, perhaps you're right to be concerned." Finishing with the sweater, Meredith stepped closer, waving a hand as she stood at the foot of the bed. "I mean about them spending so much time together for her work. While his work—"

"I…didn't say—"

"Because we both saw what a mess blending the personal and the professional made of your father's marriage to the blonde one."

"Her name's Gina, mom, and she and dad tried really hard to make their marriage work."

"Of course they did." Her mother moved back to the bed and took a seat, patting her hand. "I just don't want you to go through that again. Getting a new mother only to have her yanked away again after a few short years."

Alexis reached for her hand but found it already retracted. She sighed but smiled. "You're my mom – no one else. Okay?"

Meredith returned her smile and reached out to rearrange her bed-tousled hair.

"And I'm not a kid anymore. Dad spent eighteen years making me the center of his life. I want this for him now." Alexis captured her fussing hand and lowered it, attempting to pin her mother's inattentive gaze. "So promise me you won't meddle."

"Eat," she replied, nodding at the bowl of cooling soup.

Alexis stubbornly held her mother's eye. "Promise and I'll eat."

"Alright, I promise!" Meredith smiled, throwing her hands up in mock surrender. She spooned some soup and raised it to her daughter's mouth. "Now eat."

Alexis obeyed, eating and swallowing then dabbing her lips with her napkin.

"How is it?" Meredith asked eagerly.

"It's…" Alexis nodded a few times, took a sip of juice, "mm, good."

Her mother's eyes narrowed. "You're making the frowny face again."

"No, I'm not," she protested, stealing the spoon and taking another generous taste. "It's really, really yummy. Way better than Paris cuisine. Merci, maman."

Meredith beamed and didn't take her eyes off her daughter until she finished the whole bowl. Except for the beets. Which she'd forgotten to omit. But next time, she'd remember.

-x-

Looking up from the blinking cursor that had been mocking him for nearly an hour, Castle saw his pale-skinned, red-headed ex-wife standing in the doorway of his office, spot-lit by an errant moonbeam. She was leaning against the doorjamb, wearing a plain white t-shirt with no bra, little polka-dotted shorts and pink ankle socks. On her face was a sly half-smile and cupped in her hands was the mug Kate usually used to bring him his morning coffee.

"Well, ain't this just like old times?" she murmured, the other corner of her mouth curling upwards. "To see you sitting there…" Meredith ran her eyes over him as he sat at his desk in just his boxers, "it's like no time at all has passed." She started towards him, padding across his office as if their midnight meeting was pre-arranged and neither of them wanted it disturbed by their fellow housemates. "I made you a coffee," she whispered, setting the mug down on the desktop. "With nutmeg, of course."

"Thanks," Castle grumbled, tapping at the backspace button a few times. "But I'm not sure I like nutmeg in my coffee anymore."

"Oh?" Meredith straightened, her smile faltering just slightly. "You prefer Beckett's coffee? She's certainly makes a strong cup."

"Yeah, I know. Her coffee sucks," he muttered, his voice stripped of its usual verve. "She's never made a decent pot in her life. It's strong and bitter and I'll consider myself the luckiest man on earth if I get to drink it every morning for the rest of my life."

Meredith gave a muted hum before heading to the window to take in the gleaming city. "Sounds like you're serious about this one."

"She's not "this one"," Castle stated, swivelling in his chair to face her. "She's the one."

Meredith turned, hands behind her back and head cocked to one side. "And what does that make me?"

He regarded her a moment then answered in a softer tone, "The mother of my child."

"Nothing more?" she asked, meandering back towards him.

"Never anything more," he replied, rubbing his tired eyes with two fingers before meeting her gaze again. "Not so long as I have even the slightest chance with her."

Meredith came to a stop at the edge of his desk, she ran a fingertip along its rim, sidling so close that her bare leg grazed his. "If you feel so certain about that," she murmured, standing just inside the open v of his legs, "then why are you in here staring at a blank computer screen instead of in there dreaming in the arms of your darling detective?"

Castle's jaw tightened, his eyes broke with hers. Scooting back in his chair, he gave a decisive nod and rose to his feet. "You're right. I'm going to bed." He leaned down to close off his computer, instructing the persistent cursor to give up its cause. "Where," he continued, face bathed in the harsh light of the screen, "I will wrap my arms around my darling detective and never let her go." He shut the laptop lid and headed for bed but turned on the threshold, adding in a low, resolute voice, "And in the morning, you are going to make this all right. Whatever you have said or insinuated, you are going to uninsinuate it. Whatever you may have done to make Kate doubt us, you're going to undo it. Because I will forgive you many things, Meredith, but I won't forgive you screwing this up." He gave another nod, "So make it right. You owe me that much." Then Castle turned to re-join his sleeping love.

Meredith took a step after him. "Richard?"

Castle faced her, every pore of him oozing reluctance.

Her lips twitched in a sad attempt at a smile. "Sleep well."

His smile was just as unconvincing, his voice just as tight. "Night."

Then he disappeared into the darkness of his bedroom. She heard him treading lightly, lifting the covers. She heard the weight of his body as it settled alongside another body. She heard a soft sigh and the shifting of limbs and the swish of skin smoothing over skin. Followed by the delicate pluck of a kiss and his voice whispering for her to go back to sleep.

Snatching up the coffee from his desk, Meredith headed back into the kitchen where she dumped it down the drain. She stood for a moment, grasping the counter with one hand and twirling her hair with the other. Her little visit was not going to plan. She hated when that happened. It was true that she felt slightly miffed at the prospect of losing Richard Castle as her semi-regular East Coast booty call. Not that there had been any booty calls of late. That alone should have tipped her off earlier to the fact that something major had changed. She didn't like feeling that the power she'd wielded over this particular man for so long had been slowly slipping into the hands of someone else while she wasn't paying attention.

More than that though, even after over a decade of divorce, Meredith still felt oddly protective of the bumbling idiot that was her ex-husband. Probably because for some time he'd been her bumbling idiot. It had been her job to prevent his bumbling or look after him when he bumbled too far. Apparently she wasn't the only female whose protective instincts were aroused by Rick Castle's cluelessness though. And so it appeared that the only thing for her to do now was change tactics. If she couldn't beat 'em then she'd just have to join the We Love Beckett brigade and find out exactly what all the fuss was about.

Meredith headed for the stairs, already devising and relishing her new plan of attack. Dinner with Kate Beckett, Castle family favorite and Muse Extraordinaire, would kill several birds with one stone. It would amuse her while Alexis slept. It would give her the opportunity to determine whether her bumbling idiot was in safe hands. And best of all, it would freak her former spouse out no end wondering exactly what they were sharing in his absence. After all, there was absolutely no reason she couldn't set things right with Beckett and still torture Richard.

Just a little.

For old time's sake.

It was an ex's privilege.

TBC...