A/N: Chapter 2! This chapter can be credited to the lovely people in the CastleTV chat last night. It was brought up that Alexis might come home and be a bit surprised, to say the least, at a visitor in her dad's bed. I don't remember who specifically came up with this idea. If the person who did reads this, I will credit you if you would like.

Disclaimer: Don't own...yada, yada, yada...

When Beckett thought that she was ready to face anything the next day, as long as Rick was by her side, she hadn't anticipated Alexis being her first obstacle.

Kate awoke to bright sunlight streaming through the windows and Rick's door being swung open by an excited, chatty Alexis.

"Dad, you would not believe what happened last night. I had such a great-" Alexis's voice cut off as she noticed her dad wasn't alone in bed.

At that point, both Kate and Alexis flushed in embarrassment. Kate pulled up the sheet to cover herself while Alexis quickly backed out of the room while hurriedly saying "Oh hi Detective Beckett. I, uh, didn't know you would be here. I will be upstairs trying to wipe this from my mind if you guys need me." Alexis quickly shut the door behind her and fled the scene.

Rick had awoken while this was happening. "Did Alexis just come in here and…" his voice trailed off.

"Yeah," Kate confirmed.

Rick looked over at her face and began chuckling. "Your face is the color of the tomato."

"Ugh," Kate said, rolling over and burying her face in her pillow.

"I guess our secret, if you can call it that is out on the open. I should probably go talk to her. I will put some coffee on before I go upstairs. You can shower if you like. Towels are in the cabinet beside the door when you enter. I will also see whether I can find you some dry clothes."

Removing her face from its hiding place, she looked up at him. "Okay. Do you think she will be okay with us…you know, being together?" It surprised Kate how much this meant to her. She wanted Alexis to like her.

Rick nodded. "I know she will. She has a great deal of respect for you Kate. I think we just shocked her then. There are certain things in life you never want to see. One of them is your parent in bed with someone. Now you go ahead and take a nice shower and I will straighten things out with Alexis." He gave her a lingering kiss on her lips then slipped out of bed and dressed before heading out of the room.

Kate looked around his room. It was nicely furnished, with pictures of his daughter everywhere. It was obvious how much that man loved his daughter. She saw the door to the bathroom and slipped out of bed. She found herself a towel and turned on the water to take a nice hot shower.

It was still somewhat surreal that she was using Castle's shower after having slept with him. While they had always been leading towards the point of being together, the part of her who was still 19 and a Richard Castle fan girl was amazed that she was here. Parts of her, even recently, had doubted that they would make it, but here they were. She loved him and he loved her.

When she came back into the bedroom, she found a shirt and a pair of pants lying on the bed. They looked to be Alexis's. She would have to thank the girl. Her clothes were still wet from the night before. She dressed and walked into the kitchen to be bombarded with the smell of cooking food. She saw Castle and Alexis working side by side cooking what looked to be bacon, eggs and pancakes.

"Mmm, smells good," she commented.

Castle and Alexis both looked up as she spoke. Castle's naked expression of blatant love nearly made her knees give out.

"Come on in," Alexis invited.

Kate wandered in. "Anything I can do to help?" she questioned.

Castle pointed out a cabinet and a door and offered, "You can set the table."

Kate pulled out plates and silverware and placed them on the table. Things weren't nearly as uncomfortable as she expected. She didn't know how Castle and Alexis's conversation went, but it must have gone semi-well at least.

They sat down to eat and Alexis began sharing tales of the night before. She evidently had great time with her friends. She glanced at Castle as Alexis was sharing tale after tale. His expression was filled with love and pride. She knew it would be hard on him when she went off to college. He and his daughter were so close. She would have to help him through that.

Soon, Kate found herself sharing tales of her own graduation and night after with Alexis. Before she knew it, they were all laughing at a story Kate shared. It was almost like they were a family. Kate realized with a twinge in her heart that this was what she had been missing.

After the meal, all three of them worked on washing the dishes. Alexis then got a phone call from a friend and went off again, leaving Castle and Kate in the loft by themselves yet again.

They made their way to the couch. Rick settled onto the end of the couch and Kate settled in next to him, allowing his arm to wrap around her.

"She really does look up to you, you know." Rick commented to Kate. "She hasn't had many strong females in her life, only my mother really. Her mother was absent most of the time. You and Lanie have both been really important to her."

Kate felt her heart swell. "She is a wonderful kid Rick. She has been important to me too. You have raised her well."

They fell into silence again. While there were still things they needed to discuss, there was time for that later. They had all the time in the world between them now. Kate knew she was secure in Rick's arms, and Rick knew she wasn't leaving any time soon.

So, as I said at the beginning of the first chapter, this could be a two-shot fanfic, so it could end here. However, if you think this would be worth continuing throughout the summer, let me know. I do have a few ideas as to where this could go. So, in other words, lovely reviews might produce more chapters. :) Thanks for reading!