This is a sequel to my story, Surprise, but I don't think it's crucial to read that one first. The only thing you may be confused about at first is that Jessie is Kate's daughter.
This takes place about 6 months or so after Surprise ended, and Kate and Castle have been dating the whole time. Just some background info.
Kate was just putting the last touches of her makeup on, leaning over the sink and getting ready for Rick's book release party, when Jessie walked into the bathroom.
"You're not even dressed yet?" Kate asked her, and Jessie sighed, her shoulders sagging.
"Do I have to wear the dress?" Jessie asked in a slightly whiny voice. Kate smiled affectionately as she stood up. Jessie had been trying to get out of wearing a dress to this party since she was told that she had to.
"Yes, Jessie." She told her, "You have to wear it."
"I'd rather wear a pair of cutoff jeans than a fancy evening dress." Jessie replied, and Kate fought the urge to roll her eyes.
"Stop quoting Brad Paisley and go get dressed." She told the teen.
Jessie pouted slightly, but walked out of the bathroom and grabbed her dress from the bed in the other room.
Kate and Jessie had spent two hours in a hair salon, and Rick had bought them both beautiful dresses to wear. Kate had tried to pay for the dresses herself, but Rick had refused to let her.
Kate had done Jessie's makeup first, something else Jessie didn't want to wear, and then had done her own. She had thought Jessie was going to put her dress on while Kate did her makeup, but apparently she wasn't.
Kate stepped back and looked at herself in the mirror. Her dress was green, and brought out her eyes. It had a sweetheart neckline, and fit like a corset down to her hips, where it became just slightly looser.
She had to admit, Rick had good taste in dresses.
Jessie came back then, in her own dress, and Kate was amazed. Jessie looked so much older with makeup on and her hair all done up, even with the scowl on her face.
"Mom." Jessie stated, "You're staring." Kate smiled again.
"You look so old." She told her
"Mom" Jessie groaned, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. Kate laughed. She definitely wasn't acting any older.
"Sorry." Kate apologized, stepping closer and pulling her daughter into a hug. There was a knock at the door. "That would be Rick." Kate said, releasing Jessie to answer the door.
"Wow." Rick said in greeting. He had imagined her in that dress, which was part of the reason he bought it for her, but he was always amazed at how beautiful she was. "You look… wow." Kate laughed.
"You know, for a writer, you really need to learn some new adjectives." She stepped back and let him enter her apartment.
"Is Jessie ready?" He asked
"Yeah, although she's not too happy about having to wear a dress or makeup." Kate replied as Jessie came out of their bedroom.
"I feel fake." She grumbled.
"But you look great." Rick told her, receiving a glare in return. "So, are you ready to go?" he asked both of them, "There is a limo waiting outside." Jessie's eyes lit up slightly, and Kate rolled hers.
"A limo!" Jessie asked excitedly, and Rick nodded, smiling and matching her enthusiasm.
"A limo?" Kate asked, sounding slightly annoyed. Rick put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.
"Yes, a limo."
"Why?" Every time there was a limo outsider her apartment building, there were paparazzi outside her apartment building. And she hated when there were paparazzi outside her building.
"You know we can't show up to a book release party without a limo." Rick told her as he led the way out. She did know. She had been expecting a limo, but that didn't mean she liked it any more.
After the party, it was late. Very late. Kate, Rick, Jessie, and Alexis (Alexis had been in the limo when Rick had come up to get Kate and Jessie) were heading back to Kate's apartment. Jessie had fallen asleep lying on one of the bench seats in the limo, her head resting on Kate's lap. Kate was taking all the bobby pins out of Jessie's hair. Alexis was trying not to fall asleep.
"Do you want to just go back to my place?" Rick whispered, and Kate smiled, looking down at her daughter, and then over at Rick.
"Sure." Rick smiled too. Six months ago, Kate would've fought going to his loft that late at night, especially with her daughter.
Kate and Jessie had both somehow ended up with some of their clothes at the Castle loft, so Kate wasn't worried about them only having their fancy dresses to wear. She knew Jessie wouldn't mind. It wouldn't be the first time since Kate and Rick had started dating that they spent the night at his place.
Rick got up and told the driver about their change of plans. He nodded and changed course silently.
They got to Rick's apartment a few minutes later.
"Do you want me to take her?" He asked, nodding at Jessie. Kate shook her head.
"No, I got it." She replied, lifting her daughter out of the car.
"Are you sure? She isn't too heavy for you?" He got a glare in return.
"Rick, I got her. She's fine." He shook his head. She could be so stubborn sometimes.
It didn't matter how late the night before had been, Kate could almost never sleep past 8:30, even when everyone else seemed to be able to sleep until noon. So that was why she was alone in the Castle kitchen the next morning, reading the paper, when Rick came down the stairs around ten.
"Good morning." Rick greeted her, pouring himself a cup of coffee from the pot.
"You're up earlier than I expected." She replied as he kissed her cheek.
"The bed got cold." He shrugged and walked around the counter to sit on one of the stools.
He watched Kate read the paper in silence for a few minutes, Kate pretending not to notice, before he said seriously, "This is stupid."
Kate set down the newspaper and looked at him, her brow furrowing. "What is?"
"This. You spend just as much time here, just as many nights here as you do at your place. Move in with me." He shocked her by getting straight to the point.
"Rick…" her tone of voice told him she wasn't going to agree as easily as he had hoped.
"I love you, Kate, and it's stupid for you to keep paying for your apartment when you're barely over there. And what about when you don't get home from work until really late at night? We both know Jessie can't fall asleep when she's the only one in the apartment. If she was here, even if neither of us were here, Alexis probably would be."
Kate knew everything he was saying was true, but she wasn't sure she wanted to take that big of a step yet. What if they didn't work out? It would be hard enough for all of them without Kate and Jessie not having a place to live.
"Alexis is going to college soon. She won't be here then."
"Then I'll come home and make sure Jessie is ok. Listen, Kate, when Alexis leaves, I'll be lonely." He pretended to pout, but Kate was unfazed.
Kate knew Jessie had moved around a lot-the exact number she was still unsure of-before Kate had gotten custody of her. She had just moved again, into Kate's apartment, six months ago. Kate didn't want to make her move yet again.
"What about what Jessie thinks?" Kate asked, her voice coming out louder than she'd meant it to. "Have you asked her if she wants to move again? Have you asked Alexis if she wants us to move in?"
"Of course I asked Alexis. She would be thrilled if you moved in. She loves you. You know that." He paused. "But, no, I haven't said anything to Jessie." He admitted, "I was going to ask you first."
"She's moved so many times. She needs to have a stable home for once. You want to uproot her again?" She asked him. Rick was starting to loose his temper too.
"Stable? You call this stable? She falls asleep in the car and doesn't know where she's going to wake up, and you call that stable? She spends half her nights here, half at your apartment. She wakes up, and never knows where she's going to end up sleeping that night. I don't know if you call that stable, but I know I sure don't." Kate tried to reply, but Rick continued, "And I know she doesn't mind living here and at your place, or at least she doesn't act like she does, but truly, Kate, that isn't stable. Hell, half her stuff is already here. It wouldn't really be moving anyway."
Kate started to say something, but stopped herself. She didn't want to fight with him; especially not when both of their daughters were upstairs and could possibly hear them. She walked past Rick and toward the door.
"Where are you going?" He asked, and it was his turn for his voice to be louder than he wanted it to be.
"Out." She said simply and without turning around. "I need to think"
Wow. Ok, so when I started this fic, it was going to be completely different. The other first chapter I wrote would've made this a completely different story. I'm not even kidding, none of the same things happened.
But anyway, I thought this would be better. Hopefully ya'll like it.
Reviews are greatly appreciated! I'm going to try this new thing called actually replying to the reviews I get!
Oh, and I actually have a plan for this one. The last one I came up with a plan about halfway through it.