Monty and His Harley
Summary: Future Fic, One shot, Completely A/U. Kate has become State Senator for the Democratic Party and against her better judgment, Castle bought their 15 year old son a Harley for Christmas. Oh my! What could possibly go wrong with that?
A/N I'm sorry for the delay in "For The Love of Kate, but the holidays came and I lost my beloved father-in-law the day after Christmas and his burial the day before New Year's Eve. and I have to admit to having writer's block, too. But I do plan on finishing it as soon as possible. I've had this started in my docs for awhile and thought I'd just use this as an exercise to help me get back into the swing of things. May be a little OC.
Rick was in the kitchen preparing Pasta Carbonara for dinner . Kate loved his Pasta Carbonara so maybe, just maybe it would help ease the situation somewhat.
Hell no! She was going to be so pissed when she came through that door and he couldn't blame her. He was still mad, too. Monty's actions had landed him in a heap of trouble that Rick was certain that nothing he said or did would help diffuse the situation.
He hoped he could discuss this with Kate and together they could decide the best way to handle this. They both needed to
take a step back and take a few deep breaths before dealing with this. What Monty had done was reckless, dangerous, and completely irresponsible and it's a wonder no one was killed or injured..
Monty was a good kid, smart, level headed… until today. Seriously? What had he been thinking of to pull off that kind of stunt? It's a wonder he hadn't been arrested and thrown under the jail and in all honesty, it was probably his mother's reputation that kept that from happening. Well, that and his uncles at the 12th.
He had been sitting at his desk, staring at a blank doc, willing the words to come when his cell phone rang.
Snatching the buzzing, vibrating thing from his desk, and hoping it was Kate wanting him to pick up her cleaning or go to the market, anything to distract him from the writers block that had been plaguing him for days, he checked the screen and discovered the caller was none other than Kevin Ryan.
Thinking that the boys were calling wanting him and Kate to host another game night or maybe just to meet for lunch, he pressed the accept button and greeted his friend.
"Hey Kev. How's it going?"
There was a slight pause before he answered. There was no easy way to bring this up, so Kevin took a deep breath before he answered. "Actually, not so good today, Castle. I think you need to come down here."
"Why? Is everything okay? Are you hurt? 'Sito?"
"No, nothing like that. We're both fine. It's Monty, Castle. He's here."
Panic welled up inside him, tightening his guts into knots. "What do you mean he's there? Monty is in school today."
"No, Castle. He's here. He was in school."
"What are you talking about Ryan?" Rick asked, fear clutching his insides.
"There was a disturbance call to Stuyvesant High this morning and worried about something happening to Monty, L.T., Javi, and myself responded to that call. When we got there, most of the staff and kids had been evacuated onto the lawns. Utter chaos. We headed to locate the principal to find out what the disturbance had been about. Once the firemen and bomb squad cleared the building we were allowed into the building."
"Bomb Squad?" Rick stammered, incredulously.
"Yeah. The main hallway was destroyed, books, papers, scattered everywhere. Hell, even some of the locker doors were open and barely attached and some of them had been ripped completely off.. It looked like a bomb had gone off."
"A bomb?" Now in full blown panic, his legs suddenly threatening to give away on him, he sank back into his chair, his mind still racing through all sorts of scenarios and they were not good ones.
"No, not a bomb. I said it looked like one had gone off. There was also a brand new Harley laying on it's side in the middle of the hall, firemen lifting it up and pushing it outside as it was leaking gas and the exhaust fumes permeating the air."
"Ryan, is Monty okay?" Please, God, let him be okay!
"Okay. Yes, he's fine. He's here in holding."
What the hell? His smart, intelligent, level headed, responsible kid was in holding at the 12th?
"My son is in holding? For what?"
"Yep. Seems like he's responsible for this whole mess. It seems his friend, Brian Donnelly dared him to race his Harley through the main hallway between first and second periods this morning and Monty took him up on it."
"Ryan, was anyone hurt?"
"Hurt? No, just scared and about 30 of those were half naked girls that scattered when his Harley came sliding through the girls locker room and showers after gym class."
"Does Kate know?'
"No. We figured we'd let you break the news to her."
"Good call. I'll be there in a few minutes. Thanks, Ryan."
"You got it and man, I don't envy you. See you in a few."
After they ended their call and Rick knew that Monty was okay, he leaned back in his chair and pondered the situation.
Apparent;y, Monty had hit his wild child phase and if this was any indication to the way things were going to be with him, then he and Kate would definitely have their hands full
Man, their kid had moxie, he'd give him that. He had just pulled the prank of all pranks on his school. The worst Rick had ever done was place a cow on the roof and that had not been as bad as this.. At least, his prank hadn't endangered lives.
His first instinct was to call Kate and warn her of the trouble Monty had gotten himself into, but then had second thoughts. He knew how busy she'd be and since Monty was technically okay, he saw no reason to disturb her at work and he didn't want her going through her day worrying.
It wasn't like he was trying to hide anything from her, he'd just wait until she got home. Besides, Monty adored his mother and as part of his punishment, he thought Monty should be the one to tell her. And he would tell her. Rick would make sure of that. No, he'd own up and learn that he had responsibilities that he had to own up to. In fact, he thought he'd let Monty sit it out in holding just a little bit longer.
The first call he made was to Stuvy to apologize for his son's behavior and assured them that all property damages would be paid for and they would be compensated. Still, Monty had been kicked from school. He'd expected that. Afterall, he'd been kicked out of all of New York's finer institutions for far less in his youth.
He chuckled. Well, maybe the apple didn't fall far from the tree. So, add finding a private school for Monty on the growing list of to do's.
Oh, Kate was not going to be happy. In fact, Monty wouldn't be the only one in the hot seat when she found out. She had been totally against the idea of getting him one for Christmas in the first place. But she had eventually come around after he'd reminded her that she had one when she was just a little older than he was.
His next call was to his attorney describing the trouble Monty was in. to his long time friend and attorney, Charles Townsend.
Much to Rick's chagrin, Charlie chortled…, and chortled. "You find this funny, Charle?"
"Why, yes, I do. Have you gotten so old that you've forgotten Central Park, a stolen police horse and a certain nude rider?"
"No, I haven't forgotten, but I didn't hurt anyone."
"Did he?"
"No.. but…"
"Well, that's fortunate. I think you may as well face it, old man. Your kid just surpassed your prank of all pranks. Not to be cliche, but what goes around, comes around, Rick. See you at the 12th." Charlie said, ending the call.
"Smart ass." Rick muttered.
His next call had been to his P.R. agent. Paula to get her to try and run interference with the press before grabbing his keys and heading for the 12th.
"Does mom know, yet?" Monty asked, never bringing his gaze from the passenger window.
It had taken all afternoon, calling every resource he had and a sum of 1.5 million dollars plus fines to get Monty out of the big house and bring him home and there was still the matter of court appearances, community service hours, and finding a different private school for him to attend, not to mention the trouble they'd both be in when Kate found out.
"Not yet." Rick replied, flicking his gaze from the road to glance at his son looking so much like he did when he was that age. "But she's going to find out. I'm not going to tell her, but you are."
Monty whipped his head to look at him. "But dad…"
"No. No buts, no exceptions. I'm not running interference for you. You are going to man up and tell her yourself."
"She's going to be so disappointed in me."
"Yes, she will and that's something you should have thought about before you pulled this stunt, but that doesn't mean that she's going to love you any less. That being said, there is nothing, I mean absolutely nothing that you could ever say or do that would change our love for you."
"I know. I'm sorry, dad. I love you, too."
"I know, son."
There was a brief lull in the conversation and Monty had resumed his gazing out the window.
"So, tell me son, was your walk on the wild side worth it?"
Monty turned and grinned at his dad. "Well…, seeing thirty half naked girls scattering from their locker room was pretty cool."
Rick really tried to suppress the bark of laughter that rumbled up from his chest and escaped his throat. Yeah, perhaps there was a little more Richard Castle in his son than he realized and perhaps apples didn't fall far from trees.
"And don't tell your mother I laughed. A word of advice… don't get too close to your mother tonight." he said, bringing his hand up to ruffle his son's hair.
"Why dad? You and mom are not corporal punishment people…. Are you?"
"No, son. We're not, but trust me on this, your mother's fingers can put the hurt on your nose and ears." he answered, bringing his hand up to protect his ear.
"Sounds like the voice of experience to me. What did you do, dad?"
"Well, let's just say that it was for a much lesser misdeed. It was a long time ago and that's a story for a different time."
Arriving at the loft, Rick pulled into the parking garage and into their allotted parking space.
As they stood waiting for the elevator, Monty said, "Hey dad?"
"Yes, son?"
"I just want to thank you for all you did for me today and for being the best dad ever."
Rick clasped Monty around the shoulder. "Well, that's what dads are for, right? Don't thank me, yet. We still have to deal with your mother."
"What do you think she'll do to me?"
Rick shrugged. "I honestly don't know. At this point, you'll be lucky if she doesn't kill you. She knows best how to clean up crime scenes and how to dispose of dead bodies."
Monty turned to look at his dad and seeing the mirth in his father's eyes, the smile he tried to smother bumped his dad's shoulder. "Seriously, dad?"
"Just kidding At first, it will scare her, but she'll be so glad that you weren't hurt or killed or hurt or killed anyone else, then she'll get mad. It may take her awhile, but she'll relax on you eventually."
Hearing Kate's key in the lock, Rick turned the burner for the sauce on low, tried to gird himself for the trouble that was coming.
He greeted Kate at the door with a kiss.
"Hey babe. How was your day? Did you get any writing done?" she asked as Rick helped her out of her coat and hung it in the coat closet next to the door.
"Uhhh, no. I managed to get some of the chapter written, but not all of it."
"I thought you said that it was already outlined and practically written last night."
"Well, it is, but Kate, I need for you to remain calm, okay? There was some trouble at Stuvy today." he replied, grasping her shoulders and turning her to face him.
"Oh? What kind of trouble?"
There was a rumbling sound as Monty descended down the stairs. "Oh, hey, mom."
"Hey yourself. How was your day, sweetheart?"
"Oh. Dad hasn't told you, yet?"
"No. Told me what?" she asked, turning to look at Rick.
"I told you earlier that this one is on you, son. I think you'd better tell her."
"What is going on?" Kate asked, looking from Rick to Monty and back to Rick.
A heavy silence fell between them. "Somebody better tell me what's going on. Now!" Kate demanded in her authoritative voice, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Yeah son. Go ahead." Rick said, taking the same stance as his wife.
Monty hung his head in shame. "Brian kinda dared me to ride my Harley down the main hall at school, so I did."
Kate blinked at Monty and turned to Rick. "Please, tell me that this was an accident" she whispered.
Rick shook his head. "Not an accident."
Kate's head swivelled back to Monty. "So, you're telling me that you did this on purpose?"
At Monty's nod, fear and worry raced through her, clutching at her stomach and causing her to tremble.
"Oh my God! Are you hurt? Was anyone else hurt?"
"No, ma'am. Everyone is fine. Unfortunately, I got kicked out of school and arrested until dad got there.. It's okay, mom." His dad was right, he should have been the one to tell her and seeing the look on her face, knowing he had been the cause for it, he knew that he never wanted to see that look on her face again.
Relief swept through her only to be replaced with anger and disappointment.
"I'm sorry, mom. It won't ever happen again."
"You're damn right it won't! What the hell were you thinking?" she asked, narrowing her gaze upon their son.
"Okay, Kate. I think we need to take a deep breath and calm down a bit." Rick interjected.
"Shut up! I blame you for this mess!"
"Me? Why me? What did I do?" Rick asked, incredulous.
"You were the one who insisted we get him one for Christmas. You said he was mature enough to have one."
"Need I remind you that you had one."
"That's different... I was older and more mature."
"Come on, honey. He's hit his wild child phase. We've both been through that. Everyone goes through it."
"Even in my wild child phase, I never did anything this irresponsible. He's your son and apparently he has taken this side of you."
Monty stood in front of his parents, his eyes bouncing back and forth between each parent.
"He's your son, too. Why am I getting the blame for this? I didn't do this. He did."
Oh yeah. Right. This was about Monty and his actions, not her and Rick's.
She turned to face Monty again. "What you did today was totally irresponsible and you will be punished. As mad as I am at you right now, I am so thankful that you or no one else was injured or worse. You're grounded for three months, you will do every hour of community service and you will meet every court date. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, ma am. Crystal clear.."
"So where is the Harley now?" she asked.
"In police impound." Monty answered.
"Good. It can stay there and be sold at auction and you won't own another one until you're at least 30."
"Honey, you do realize that he can do whatever he wants to at 18,, right?" Rick interjected.
Narrowing her gaze she turned to her husband. "Thank you so much for that reminder, 'Mr. I stole a police horse and rode through Central Park Naked'."
Monty's gaze swivelled to Rick. "Dad?" He'd heard how his dad put a cow on the roof at Fair Croft, but this? He'd never heard of this.
Rick squinted his eyes shut tightly and nodded, "Afraid so."
"Look, I shouldn't have thrown your dad under the bus that way. Sorry, babe. This isn't about what either one of us has done, but about what you did. It absolutely terrifies me at the risks you took today."
"I'm sorry, mom. Dad. It'll never happen again, I promise."
"Glad to hear that. Now, come here."
Remembering his dad's earlier warnings about his mother's fingers and twisting ears and noses, Monty approached her, hesitantly, half expecting her to do the same to him. He actually flinched as her arms came up, but instead of doing what he feared she might, she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I get it, son. I really do, but please, never do that again."
"I won't mom. I promise." he replied, hugging her tightly.
"So, what do you say, we talk about this again in a month and see where we are and maybe, just maybe we can get you another bike. But if we do that, it will be kept at the house in the Hamptons until you're 18. That way, you and I can still ride down the beach."
"Really, mom? You mean that?"
"I do, if you adhere to the punishments I have given you gladly."
"I will and you won't be sorry, mom. Thanks, mom."
"I love you, too. More than you know. Now, your sister should be coming in from basketball practice any time now and it smells like dad nearly has dinner ready. So why don't you go set the table for us so we can eat once she arrives."
"Yes, ma'am." he answered and sauntered off to do her bidding.
"Sorry about throwing you under the bus, babe. It was uncalled for."
"Sorry enough to pony play in the bedroom later?" Rick asked, crossing his arms across his chest, grinning at her.
Smiling that full wattage smile at him, she leaned up and whispered in his ear, "I'd pony play with you anytime." She flicked her tongue over the lobe of his ear before sauntering off to help Monty in the kitchen.
"Keep that up and our son will get an advanced Sex education course." he muttered before following her into the kitchen.
A/N: Okay, that does it for this one. As blocked as I've been on "For The Love of Kate" I am considering writing the next chapter as an epilogue. I've enjoyed writing it though and if I decide to do that, I may bring them back to Otis, Maine at a later date. I kinda like the idea of them having a secret place that is so special to them.
In the meantime, if any of you readers have any suggestions for the next chapter, please PM me.
As always, thank you for your support and your reviews/ favs/ and follows.
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