Moments of Always

"Moments of Always" is a series of short stories describing single "moments" in the lives of the Castle Season 9 characters, in the first year after Lily's birth.

These stories have been written by various authors and curated/edited by members of the Castle Season 9 team.
Each story stands alone as its own "universe" - they are not intended to present a continuous narrative. They are not being posted in chronological order.
Think of them as little snapshots of "what might have been."

We hope you enjoy them!

Moments of Always: Play By Play
Written by Her Pegship
Editing/Beta by ipreferwestside

Rick Castle stared out of his office window from his seat in his favorite armchair.

He'd sent in the revisions for the latest - the last - Heat/Storm book. He'd been toying with ideas about what to write next: a writer's view of New York City? a children's book? history of the NYPD in general, or of the 12th Precinct specifically?

(In spite of the plethora of writing already existing about the city, its haunts, its inhabitants, its history, he was confident that his take on it would be wholly original and sell reasonably well.)

And yet, the idea that wouldn't let go of his brain - and his heart - had nothing to do with the city, with Nikki or Derrick, with the police, or even with the advent of his and Kate's bundle of joy, Lily. He'd already written half of it, scribbled in a notebook, too personal to be entered in black and white on a cold keyboard.

Before he tried to shape it into something (still not sure what kind of thing), Kate needed to know about it.

"Castle," came the dulcet tones of his bride, his partner, his beloved. Rick had carried Lily to bed upstairs before returning to his office.

"In here," he said from his armchair. This is where he wanted to be when he showed her his work. Kate came into the office and leaned over to kiss him, her hair dusting over his cheek, and her smile reassured him that he could bare his soul to her. Yet again.

"What's up, babe?" she asked, dropping into the chair opposite.

Castle took a deep breath and looked down at the notebook on his lap.

"I wrote a thing," he said.

Kate started to read, looked up and opened her mouth as if to speak, then apparently thought better of it and continued to read. Rick prided himself on his own poker face, and he could usually size up her expression, but at the moment he wouldn't lay odds on what was going through her head. He got up to make tea, brought back a cup for her along with some sugar cookies, and sank back into his chair. Resolutely, he went back to gazing out the window at the haze of New York's nighttime glow.

At last, she spoke.

"It's not about us," she said. "Not really."

Rick shook his head. It wasn't about them: not who they were in real life, not who they were after the pitfalls of the last two years, after Kate's promotion, the turmoil of the investigation, the euphoria that was Lily Castle. The scars that they both wore, for better or worse.

"It'll probably never be published, or produced," he admitted, turning his head to meet her eyes. "I've only ever dabbled in writing for the stage. But it seemed to suit the characters and the dialogue."

"It does."

"I wanted you to read it," he went on, "not because I want your approval, or permission, or anything like that. I don't mean for anyone but you to read it, ever. I just - felt that before I continued writing it, I needed you to be part of it."

"Even though it's not about us," she said, but her tone was more amused than anxious.

"Even though." Rick got up to wander the room. "Our experiences, our conversations, our conflicts and intentions - I started out trying to write out what I thought and felt. Not a journal; you know that's not my style. More like a case outline."

"Figuring out what happened that summer," said Kate. "What happened to us, last year."

"Yes. And it became more of a dialogue between the two main characters. It was like when we used to build theory, tossing ideas back and forth, talking over and around each other."

"I could hear it," she told him, tapping the notebook. "But it's different enough from what we'd really say and do, that it allows some - I don't know, distance between us and these characters."

He felt much of the tension in his body dissolve. She got it. She got him. How could he have doubted?

"Detachment," he said. "Also not really my style in real life. But in stepping back, I got fascinated by the characters. Although the first part - what you're reading - leans heavily on the man's point of view, obviously."

"Understandably," said Kate. "You're pretty good at the woman's voice, so far. Must be your experience with writing Nikki."

"Maybe. I don't want her to be too much like Nikki, though. More like you, though not exactly."

She looked up at him as he came to stand by her chair.

"Is that why you wanted me to read it?" she asked thoughtfully. "To help you give her a voice?"

"For our eyes only," he said quickly. "A way to collaborate, to express ourselves to each other, in a way that gives a different spin to our story."

She opened the notebook and simply contemplated the last page of his handwriting. He knelt beside her chair, looking over her shoulder at the page.

"See, the first part, the first act, leans on the man's point of view," he said, warming to his subject. "The second act would shift to focus more on the woman's. I haven't decided whether to introduce a new conversation, or to revisit the same discussion from Act I."

"Either way would be interesting," said Kate. "I can see how it could be more than just a rehash of the previous dialogue. Not just 'he said, she said'."

Impulsively, Rick leaned over to press his cheek to hers, his arm coming around her shoulders in a half hug.

"O ye gods, render me worthy of this noble wife," he said fervently.

"We'll see if you still think I'm noble, once we get underway on this collaboration," Kate warned, but she was grinning. She turned her head to kiss him -

- and a soft squawk emerged from the baby monitor app on Rick's phone.

"Speaking of collaborations," he grinned back, and went with his wife to kiss their bundle of joy.