Chapter 2 – Dispute
I have a niece? Was the very first thing that crossed Rick's mind when Trouble announced her existence—if Trouble really was her name. He highly doubted this, though.
"Now hold on just a second and let me get this straight," Kate piped up and prodded Trouble in the center of her chest. "Are you telling me—us—that your name is actually Trouble?"
"Yep."
"And you're really Rick's—'Mr. Castle's'—niece?"
"Yep."
"And if that's so, how come he doesn't remember you?"
"Of course he doesn't," Trouble said, her eyes twinkling, and turned to face Rick. "We've never met before, but I sure do know loads about him!"
Kate look displeased with her answer. Her lips pursed as if someone had force fed her lemons and was on the brink of losing her temper.
"By the way, what do you think of my outfit?" Trouble said, raising her arms to the side so they had a full view, twirl even. "Tell me what you all think. I didn't outdo it, did I?"
"It's . . ." Rick fumbled for words. "Decent." Kate shot him a look, to which he gave her a 'what-else-was-I-supposed-to-say' look, with negligible rise of his shoulders.
"Oh, good. I wasn't sure whether to wear my denim dungarees or my midnight blue, gold trimmed beach kaftan," she said with a mischievous grin.
"Why on earth would you wear a kaftan in SoHo?" Alexis blurted.
"You can never be too picky with your sense of fashion," Trouble said with a tut-tut and wagged her finger. "I'm in New York, after all."
"The city of fashion is Milan."
"Yeah, but New York is a close second, followed by Paris."
Alexis cringed slightly at the mention of Paris.
"So, Trouble (Rick couldn't help but roll his tongue around the roof of his mouth when he said her name) how did you find me?"
"595 Broome Street, SoHo," Trouble said knowledgably, sounding like she's rehearsed this in front of a mirror multiple times.
"I didn't ask for you to recite my address."
"I know loads about you, Mr. Castle." It was plain as day that Trouble was starting to get bored and weary. "It's been a long journey—"
"That reminds me," Rick cut her off. "Where did you come from?"
"One of the fifty states, that's for sure. Can I come in?"
"Absolutely not!" Kate exclaimed, her face scrunched up, vexed, and barred the doorway with her whole body. Rick and Alexis were completely taken aback by her untimely gesture.
"Okay, fine. May I?"
"Absolutely not!"
Trouble groaned. "What? What do you want me to do, woman? Do the hokey-pokey (and in that moment, she began to do a tap dance routine, but clearly, she didn't know how) and you turn yourself around (she turned herself around, carelessly trampled all over her untied shoelaces and fell on her rear with a thump), 'cause that's what it's all about?" She finished with a flourish hand gesture; one above her head, the other outstretched, bangles jingling like a Christmas bells, until Kate raised her hand to her face.
"Shut up or you'll wake the neighbors, Trouble," she said, keeping her voice even.
"It's still seven, Ms. Beckett." Trouble said matter-of-factly. "Quarter to eight, to be exact. No one sleeps this early in the City that Never Sleeps. I doubt they ever sleep at all. Do you sleep, Ms. Beckett?" Her eyes flitted over to Kate, then to Rick, then back to Kate. "Are you guys an item?"
"No!" Kate half roared at the same time Rick said, "Yes."
Trouble raised an eyebrow.
Kate heaved an exasperated sigh. "Fine, yes, but that's none of your concern."
"Right. You two married or something?"
"No!" they yelled together this time.
"Okay. Sheesh, chill. It was only a question. Nothing too personal."
"Oh, it was sure as hell personal! You ruined my night enough just by showing up out of the blue on this very doorstep!"
At that moment, Alexis decided to retreat to the sofa and reread her biochemistry textbook, which she left on the glass coffee table the previous night. In a matter of minutes, she was completely immersed.
"Why? What were you guys up to?"
Before Kate could come up with a sharp remark, Trouble ducked under her arm and pondered the living room, eyeing the sofa and the kitchen counter in particular. Alexis paid no mind. She was indifferent to Trouble's presence.
"Hey!" Kate cried.
"Well, isn't this interesting . . . and clean," Trouble remarked. "Much better than the foster home I grew up in."
"You grew up in a foster home?" Alexis asked, reading still.
"Yep." Then she caught sight of the bedroom, its door ajar, disclosing the tangled, white sheets. Trouble's eyes gleamed impishly.
"Ah, is that what you meant by 'you ruined my night', Ms. Beckett? I forgot to mention; your cleavage is a little distracting to the eyes."
Scarlet and fuming, Kate rearranged the collar of her blouse.
"So, if you grew up in a foster home," Kate seethed. "How would we know if you're telling the truth or not?"
"Extensive research."
"Extensive research doesn't always prove everything, Trouble."
"Of course, it doesn't. You're the cop, you know better."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
"That was a compliment, Ms. Beckett." Trouble faced Rick. "So, what do you say, Mr. Castle? You gonna take me in?"
"HELL NO—" Kate screeched, but stopped herself, contemplating her words. "Excuse us." She shoved Trouble back outside and slammed the door.
And Kate was finally able to liberate her thoughts.
"Castle, this is ridiculous! Trouble—ugh, that's ridiculous on its own! Who names their child Trouble? She probably came from a family of seers, if anything. Able to foresee their child's character in the future and all that. Yes, very indigenous indeed, not to mention absolutely ludicrous! Pompous little hellion, that's what she is! Rebuff her, Rick."
"But she seems fun," Rick said absentmindedly.
"Fun?! Fun?!" Kate raged, clearly beside herself. "Rick, come to your senses! Trouble is the epitome of trouble! I can feel it in my bones!"
Rick chuckled. "Kate, you haven't even got to know her yet."
"I don't want to get to know her! She drives me nuts!"
"Why so indignant? The Kate I know may be obstinate and but she's never this persistent on hating someone she's never even met before! Come on, give her a chance!"
Kate sulked and didn't say anything. Chances are she's trying to come up with a caustic comment.
"I second dad," Alexis said and Kate groaned involuntarily. "So long she doesn't make too much noise when I'm studying."
"I doubt that," Kate muttered skeptically.
"Oh, I forgot to mention; I have a cello!" came a muffled voice from the other end of the door.
Alexis, at long last, looked up, a shocked expression on her face.
"What's that you say, T?" Rick said. Kate was astounded by how calm he sounded.
"I have a cello," she repeated, "but I promise I won't make too much noise. I hope."
"Tell me, Trouble," Kate said, hinting sarcasm. "How in the world did you afford a cello if you grew up in a foster home?"
"It's always been there. No one played it, so I took it with me."
"What'd I tell you?" Kate said, jerking her thumb towards the door.
"Nobody cares about it. I doubt they even know it's there," Trouble continued as though she just read Kate's mind. "It would be an insult to the string family if I just left it there to rot."
"And you sure you know how to play the cello?" Kate asked again.
"Autodidact. A pretty handy skill, if you ask me."
Alexis arched an eyebrow. Rick heeded the light amusement dancing in her eyes and the corner of her lips tugging into a smile.
"And what are we going to get out of this?" Kate pestered on.
"Not much, to be honest. Do you like pranks, Ms. Beckett?"
"I, uh, no."
"Do you even live here, Ms. Beckett?"
"No?" Kate said with a hint of apprehensiveness, for she wasn't sure where this conversation was leading.
"Then what, Ms. Beckett, gives you the right to tell Mr. Castle that I may or may not stay with him?"
Rick burst into a fit of laughter that even Kate's death glare couldn't stop. She was extremely irritated and angry and it was almost impossible for her to try to stop herself from slapping the sanity out of Trouble.
"I'm just looking out for my partner, you stupid twat!" she spat out.
"Stupid twat? I prefer smartass. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think, Ms. Beckett?"
"ENOUGH WITH ALL THE HONORIFICS! THEY'RE DRIVING ME INSANE! YOU OBNOXIOUS LITTLE—UGH! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"
"I'm Mr.—"
"STOP THAT! YOU STOP THAT RIGHT NOW BEFORE I SLAP THE BITCH OUT OF YOU!"
Trouble drew in her breath sharply. "I'm Richard Castle's niece."
Kate didn't know which one she liked worse and tried her best no to grimace. The way Trouble said Rick's full name made her insides twist.
"And I'm sorry if I angered you. I truly am."
"Sorry?! You're sorry now?!" Kate was on the brink of spitting more less-than-civilized insults when she caught sight of Rick's deploring look.
"From whose side of the family are you from, Trouble?" she inquired as patiently as she could manage.
There was a lengthy, antsy silence between the two before Trouble eventually said, "I don't know."
Kate snorted derisively. "I thought so."
"It's a touchy subject; my family. I don't like talking about them."
"Trouble, you don't even know who they are."
"Still." Kate expected her to say more, but she didn't.
"Let her stay," Alexis said, much to Kate's horror. "I've been thinking. (Oh, so she wasn't reading then? Rick thought). We may not know which side of the family she comes from—hell, she might not even be related to us at all—but we could use some new company, right? She doesn't sound so bad. She's actually pretty funny."
Rick pointed at Alexis, bearing the 'exactly-my-point' expression. Kate was still unconvinced.
"Where's Martha?" she said, not bothering to hide the bitterness in her tone.
"Probably down at her school, closing up; she'll be home any minute now," Rick said. "I'm sure she'll welcome Trouble with open arms—"
Trouble laughed, taking them all by surprise.
"Welcome Trouble. Feeling punny, eh, Mr. Castle?"
Rick smiled despite Kate's dirty looks. "That was unintentional. Come in, Trouble."
"WHAT?!" Kate squawked.
The door flew open with a bang and there stood Trouble, beaming from ear-to-ear. "Seriously? You're letting me stay?" she said excitedly.
Rick nodded and Trouble let out a scream so loud, the whole of New York might not get a wink of sleep that night (if the citizens ever sleep at all).
Kate knew, in that moment, that she would kiss her lovemaking days goodbye, now that trouble is literally living under Rick's roof. She won't ever get a moment of peace.
"Don't worry, Katie," Trouble said and slung an arm roughly around her shoulder, nearly causing her to fall forward. "We'll be fast friends in no time. One of these days, you'll be pouring out your deepest, darkest secrets. I swear I'll keep my lips sealed, zipped and locked." She imitated hand gestures meaning exactly what she just told her.
"Yeah," Kate mumbled, dispirited. "Swell."
