*one month later* Castle's POV:
"Richard!" someone called through the bedroom door in a cheerful sing-song voice.
"Yes Mother!" I shouted back as she let herself in. I tapped my iPad to pause Firefly while she sat on the end of the bed. I propped the pillows up behind me to see her better.
"Look at you," she gestured to my unwashed t-shirt and pajama pants. "You cancelled your book tour because of her, which is understandable, but you need to start doing something with your days. Watching Netflix is only delaying the reality check. Eventually you need to move on."
"It's just," my voice cracked as I held back tears. "I miss her. I miss her so much."
"Oh darling," she scooted over and pulled me in for a hug. It was nice but strange; it reminded me of how she'd comforted me when I was a kid and had had a nightmare. I needed it though. I needed to know that someone was there for me, but even in my mom's loving embrace I still felt so alone.
She pulled away, "I made dinner."
"I thought you were trying to make me feel better," I said with a smirk. She glared at me, but we both laughed.
"See," she cocked her head to the side as she leaned forward and poked me. "There you are."
She added, "Alexis is coming home from Costa Rica tonight, remember?"
"I remember," I answered. "That's why I got up today."
"I wouldn't qualify this as getting up."
As she walked out the door, she said, "Just put on some real clothes okay? Alexis wouldn't want to see you like this."
I nodded as the door shut behind her.
*one hour later*
I walked out of my bedroom, showered and wearing casual, but clean, clothes. The smell of spices and meat filled the kitchen. My mom was sitting on one of the barstools, reading a book. The food was done and on serving platters.
"Is Alexis here yet?" I asked.
She looked up, a bit startled. "No, not yet."
She checked her watch. "She's half an hour late."
"Huh," I said with a concerned expression on my face.
"Oh, Richard. Don't worry! She's 20 years old, she's allowed to be late."
"You know Alexis. This isn't like her," I had an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach.
"It's only been 30 minutes. She probably got stuck in traffic on the way back from the airport."
She saw I wasn't convinced and added, "I know you've been worried about her since Paris, but she'll be okay. If she's not here in an hour, then we'll worry."
"Okay..." I said, moving behind the counter and putting the food into the unheated oven to keep it warm. I went to my office and sat down at my desk for the first time in a long time. The laptop was in the living room so the top of the desk was practically bare. I held my feet out and pushed the side of it, staring at the walls as the chair spun around and around. I began to get dizzy so I stopped and just looked off into nothing. I felt a yank in my heart as I saw the bowl of seashells on the bookshelf in the corner of the room. Those were our shells; the ones we'd collected together in the Hamptons. She hadn't known, but I'd actually been planning to frame them and give them to her as a symbol of our story. It was too late though now. I stared at our shells for what seemed like forever, listening to the tick-tock of the clock on the wall. Eventually, my thoughts circled back to Alexis, so I wiped my face to rid of the tears I hadn't known were falling, and went back into the kitchen. Now it was my mother's turn to look concerned.
"Richard."
"Still no phone call?"
"Nothing," she looked defeated. "I've tried her four times."
I hurried back into my office to grab my cell phone and as I dialed I said, "I'm calling Ryan and Esposito."
"No," she grabbed the phone out of my hand and ended the call. She saw my puzzled look and said, "We have someone else to call, first."
I raised my eyebrows and she explained, "When Alexis was in Costa Rica, she met a boy. She was gonna bring him back here with her for dinner tonight so you could meet him. She was hoping he could stay here for a few nights."
I found I was at a loss for words, "W-w-what?"
My mother sighed. "But why would she tell you and not me?"
"Because Richard," she explained. "She didn't want to make you upset. With your breakup so recent, she didn't want to pour salt on an open wound by seeing her in a relationship. Neither of us want you to be sad."
"But..." I began, but realized it didn't matter right then.
"Whatever," I said. "Just call."
She dialed the number off of a post-it that was in the kitchen. With each ring I became more anxious. After what seemed like forever, a voice came from the other end, "Pi speaking." Normally, I would have spent some time pondering how his parents came up with that kind of a name, but there was a more important matter on my hands.
"Hi, this is Richard Castle, Alexis's father," I said as steadily as possible. Mother was right earlier, of course. Ever since she was abducted and taken to Paris, anything concerning Alexis's safety, or lack thereof, made me antsy.
"I've been informed you and Alexis were coming to dinner tonight. I was wondering if you're almost here. Where are you?"
"Umm," the chirpiness dropped out of his tone. "I'm in Costa Rica, Mr. C."
"What? Is Alexis coming by herself?"
"Not exactly. I don't really know how to say this," I just wanted him to let it out. The anticipation was killing me. "Lex and I were at a party-sort-of-thing about four days ago. She went to get us some food... but she disappeared. I didn't know what to do so I've just been here looking for her. She's not answering my phone calls and now she didn't come home on time? I'm so worried, Mr. C., and I'm so sorry. I haven't seen Alexis in four days."
I dropped the phone.
