Alexis bounced the little bit of plastic against her hands, thankful the test strip end had a protective covering on it. 'It has to be one of the women who was here last night, right?'

'Yeah.'

'So that gives us who? Honey-Milk, Meredeth, Lanie-'

'And Beckett.' Castle swallowed deeply as the implication ran into his head like Wile E. Coyote into a brick wall, began to feel the embarrassment he was certain Alexis felt when he'd leapt to the conclusion it was her pregnancy test. He knew his daughter knew he had a social life, especially considering that Beckett had spent more than a few overnights there. But it was one thing to know it and another to know it. 'Maybe we should just put it back and whoever it belongs to can tell us, if they so choose, later at dinner tonight.'

'Tonight?'

'My New Years Day buffet. I have it every year.'

'Oh right.'

Castle started to leave, then saw the look on Alexis' face. It was hard to miss, as he'd seen it once too often on Beckett's when she got an idea at the precinct. 'What are you cooking up in that magnificent brain of yours, girl?'

'Nothing, just...I might have a way to figure out whose it is.'

'Well tread lightly. Wrong words to the wrong person could make a relationship go ka-boom, and I don't have a full-time maid to get chunks of brains out of my ceilings.'

Castle left the bathroom at that, while Alexis decided to turn on the water for a shower. Under the hot, soothing spray, she planned. She formulated, she debated, and she theorized and ultimately came up with an idea.

She'd work the case. The Clear Blue Mystery. No, that sucked as a title. The Life of the Party? Better.

By the time she'd wrapped a towel around herself and scooted back to her room to dress, Lanie had awoken and made it into a sitting position, Twigs still in her lap. She turned gritty, bleary eyes to Alexis, who had retrieved jeans and her beloved Mets jersey from her drawers, headed inside her enormous walk-in closet to dress.

'Hey, girl. Did I wake you last night?'

'Only for a few minutes. How's your head this morning?'

Lanie pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead above her left eye. 'Pumpkin sized and made of glass.'

'Well Twigs is good company if you're feeling hungover. He's a very patient listener, so telling him your sob stories always helps.'

'Who's Twigs?'

'The giraffe?' Alexis came out of the dressing space, found an elastic on her dresser to tie back her damp hair. 'You fell asleep cuddling him last night.'

'Well there was no way I was going to fall asleep cuddling my date last night.'

'No?'

Lanie sent her the understanding smile of a woman. 'You're a woman in the making, Lex, you know how female bodies work.'

'Oh. Oh!' Alexis smiled a little; she could cross suspect number one off her list...and maybe gain a partner in crime. 'So the pregnancy test I found in the trash can couldn't be yours, could it?'

'You found a pregnancy test in the trash? Who does it belong to?'

'No idea, but I was thinking maybe you could help me figure it out, you know, work the case a little?'

Lanie only shook her abused head. She was Rick Castle's daughter through and through. 'I'll help you set up a little case board, but that's it. My brain cells are trying to regenerate right now.'

'Okay, then I suggest getting a shower now, while everyone's still asleep.'

Twenty minutes later, in her casual comfies and hair still damp from the recommended shower, Lanie brought Twigs with her followed the scent of coffee downstairs, heard Alexis fussing in her dad's office. She wandered in, saw that Alexis had set up a little coffee station - pot, mugs, cream and sugar, along with croissants, jam and brie, and fresh fruit. On the large easel of chart paper were the words 'BABY BUMP IN THE NIGHT'. 'Cute title,' Lanie commented, putting Twigs on the desk before pouring a much needed coffee and adding cream.

'So I guess the first part is the crime, right? Or in this case, the discovery.' Alexis uncapped a marker and wrote Pregnancy test - positive - discovered in trash can 1/1 9:15 am under the title.

'And you'll need your suspects.'

'Right.' The words Suspects - Beckett, Honey-Milk, Meredeth were added next. 'So the question is how do I get my clues without being so obvious?'

'Trust me, with everyone so hung over, I think getting info out of them might be easier than you think. And with that in mind, I'm going back to bed. I'll see you in an hour. Maybe longer.'

As Alexis turned back to her board, she munched a jam-smeared croissant and thought. She needed to add in first her own notes from the night before, what she remembered herself seeing that stood out in anyway as unusual. That was going to be tricky, she mused, as they were talking about a Castle holiday party and the only unusual or strange activity would be to not have anything strange or unusual happen.

She heard a stirring in the kitchen, and realized she would be able to hold her first interview of the case.

'The game's afoot, Twigs,' she told the cuddly stuffed giraffe as she grabbed a pad of post-its off her dad's desk and went out to face her first subject.

'Morning.'


R&R&Enjoy!