Author's Notes:
Thank you for reading my story, I hope you enjoy it.
This story is a reposting of one I did on another Castle FanFic site.
By all means, please leave me feedback/reviews on this or any of the other stories I've posted here.
This is all a first for me and I'd like to know what's good and what needs improvement. (And what smells badly.)

Story Notes:
This takes place before season 5, while they were still flirting all the time.
This originally was a one-shot but has turned into something more.

Disclaimer:
All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Martha padded down the stairs and into the kitchen in her stocking feet with a dish to put in the sink when she heard the rustling of papers from the living room.

"Hello?" she called out, "Richard is that you?"

A woman's arm comes up from the couch waving at her. "Hi Martha! It's just me. Sorry to surprise you." said Kate as she struggled to sit up. "I've been hiding here reading Castle's newest manuscript."

"Kaate! That's fine, I just was surprised to hear the noise."

"I have a late night stake-out tonight so I'm taking the morning off and Castle's letting me hang here while they fix the windows in my place. Everything stinks of tar and paint."

"That's wonderful, does Richard know you're reading that?" Martha asks pointing to the document.

"Yes, he gave it to me to read, why?"

"Oh.. I see... hmmmm" said Martha in a very knowing manner.

"Why do you say it like that?"

"He's never let anyone read his manuscripts except for Alexis and one other person. He doesn't even give them to Gina, he gives them to one of the people in her office."

"Really?" asks Kate, surprised.

"Kate, the only other person he's ever let do this was an old girlfriend, you might have heard of her, her name was Kira." Martha smiled, turning to continue her what she came down for and letting the gravity of the statement sink in to Kate.

"Oh."

"Yes dear, this means a lot to him. Did he hesitate when you asked to read it?"

"Ummm... No, I didn't ask. He gave it to me and asked me to read it."

Martha, surprised, abruptly turns around to face Beckett's direction "He asked you, really? My ... my ... this seems to be a serious situation you have here. He doesn't trust many people to know what's going on in his books. Looks like Cupid's target was hit squarely."

Martha, done with her kitchen tasks, and her emotional 'pot-stirring', heads for the stairs. "Kate, enjoy the book. I'll leave you to rest up for your night shift. Ta ta daaling!"

Martha climbs the stairs to her room leaving our heroine sitting awkwardly on the couch, staring at the sheaf of papers clipped together in her hand unsure of herself and only slightly realizing the depth of this relationship she's in. Smiling, partly to herself but more for the joy she feels inside. It has been a long time since she's had that feeling, the sensation of hope, love, and trust. He's still like a nine-year-old on a sugar rush but, now it seems, he's her's.

Still absorbed in the significance of the moment, Kate sits up fully and looks around her. She thinks "Here I am, Katherine Beckett, sitting in the home of Richard Castle, world famous mystery writer, the 'Master of The Macabre', reading his newest book, based on ME, how can this be real? Who would have imagined this? This is one of those moments I'd love to be able to pick up the phone and call my mom. 'Mom! Guess where I am?'" wiping away a small tear, she can't decide if she's happy or sad.

"How did this happen? How did I get so lucky?" she thinks. All those years of reading his books and wanting to tell him how much it meant when I was at my lowest. Although I did once get to meet him at a book signing and say 'thank you' but luckily he has no idea. Thank goodness Will Sorenson never squealed on me or I'd be sunk. It seems so long ago now, I wonder if that's Castle's influence still helping me along.

From behind her on the stairs, Martha came back "Kate, I've been meaning to ask you, did you ever read his books before you met him?" she asked innocently.

"Yes Martha. I knew who he was the first time I had to drag him out of that party to go downtown for questioning." replied Kate.

"Oh that's wonderful!" declared Martha continuing to walk to the living room "I'm glad, it makes your reading that manuscript even more significant to him."

"Really?" Kate asks.

"Oh yes. You know his voice and style, you will have much more constructive criticisms for him."

"I guess I'll have to be nice to him when I critique his work. I don't want to bruise that delicate male ego." Kate said laughing.

"Oddly enough Kate, despite his egotistical manner, not many people get through those outer shells to actually bruise that huge ego of his." offers Martha as she joins Kate in the living room "I think that's why he doesn't let anyone read the manuscripts before he submits them. Until he does that, it's still a part of him, after that, it's still his child but it is left to survive on it's own."

"Wow, that's wild. I never would have expected him to have that soft gooey spot under all that armor." marveled Kate.

Martha sits down on the end of the couch with Kate "You did a good job of controlling yourself and not being 'star struck' when you were talking to him that first time. Usually, everyone sees his ego first and not the little boy inside it. More often than not, he smiles and charms his way out of any problems he might be in, especially with women. Any time an attractive woman approaches him, he turns on the charm, says the right thing and viola, he's out of trouble and smelling like a rose. That is of course, until you showed up."

Kate, enjoying the girl-talk loosens up "Martha, you can keep a secret right?"

"Of course daaling, I'm the embodiment of discretion, have no fear." Martha assured Kate with a dramatic wave of the hand.

Kate continued "I actually had a small fan-girl moment when I knew that I'd have to question him. Yeah, I knew who he was but I wasn't going to show it during that interview. I did my damnedest to not let on and when that 'nine-year-old boy on a sugar rush' came out, it made it much easier for me. Don't let him know but it was his books that helped me get through the early days of my Mom's death. I even once stood in line to get his autograph." she says grinning like a school-girl "I'll tell you Martha, there's times I sit here and find it hard to believe where I am. Inside me that little fan-girl is jumping up and down squealing with delight but he's never going to know that."

"That's so wonderful Kate, I'm so glad for you. Quite frankly, I'm glad for the rest of us too, he's grown up quite a bit since you came into his life." Offers Martha patting Kate on the knee.

Smiling, Kate continues "Martha, I have seriously considered that maybe his involvement in my life has done more to help me not 'get over' but 'deal with' my mom's case and my own growing up than all the therapy I'd paid for. Here again, I'm never going to let him hear that. The ego inflation might throw the planet out of its orbit it'll get so bad."

"Wise girl Kate. He'd be his own Macy's balloon if he found out. I doubt even Alexis could bring him back to normal after that." They both had a good laugh about the idea as Martha rises to head up-stairs.

"Thanks for the chat Martha. The guy's a bottomless pit of things to learn." says Kate

"I'd like to warn you off but we all know that it's too late for that." Laughed Martha "I have a lunch date to get ready for, I'll let you get back to your drudgery, have fun!" as she heads for the stairs.

"Thanks Martha!" Kate calls after her.

Just then, Kate hears a key in the door and Alexis comes in.

"Oh! Hello Detective Beckett." she says cheerily, surprised to see the Detective.

"Hi Alexis! Your father is letting me hang out here while work is being done on my place." Beckett says trying to head off the obviously uncomfortable situation with Alexis "Do you think you might ever get comfortable calling me Kate?"

"Well, time will tell." says Alexis off handily, not meaning to sound cold. "I'll try but please forgive me if old habits die hard."

"Of course Alexis."

"Is Grams here still?"

"Yes, she's upstairs, getting ready for a lunch date she said. We had a good chat earlier."

"Oh." Alexis says with a touch of remorse in her voice.

"What's the matter?"

"Ummm De... Kate, do you remember how you found my dad the first time you arrested him?"

"Yea, we found him at the library."

"Yes but what lead you to the library?"

"Your gran... uh oh..."

"Yea, her nickname is 'Martha the snitch', you have to be careful about what you tell her."

Kate felt her face go pale as the blood drained from it. "Oh no." she said softly.

"Oh yes. It may not happen immediately but odds are, it will happen. Remember the poker game when she called to tell you he threw his hand? And the time he kept hiding Detective Esposito's police belt and she called him to tell him where it was each time?"

"Uh oh... I might have told her things I don't want your father to know."

"That's what would be called 'a rookie mistake' around here. The good news is, she's not evil and you will laugh about it one day but she doesn't seem to understand the concept of 'secret' and you should always remember that. She pauses while walking away to turn to Kate. "You should also prepare yourself for when she pulls the trigger on that, or those, secrets she is now privy to. My dad describes it as being in a speeding car on ice. You know what's going to happen but there's very little you can do to stop it, you can only sit back and enjoy the ride until you hit the snowbank and it is always going to happen sooner than you think it will."

"Thanks for the explanation and advice. Alexis."

"You're welcome Detec... Kate." Replies Alexis as she hurries up the stairs. "Grams!"

"Oh crap. What did I do to myself." She sits back on the couch knowing whatever's coming is going to be like a hurricane. She might not mind it all but some of it is going to get very uncomfortable and the timing of it all sucks. "I guess there's not much I can do. The horse is out of the proverbial barn." she thinks to herself.