A/N: You guys are all amazing as usual. Thank you so much for the awesome feedback. This story should be only 4-5 chapters long at most, but it was an idea I just couldn't get over until I got it down on paper. Hope you like it!
Disclaimer: Castle is not mine.
Family Affairs
Chapter 2
Morning filtered in through the window when Kate opened her eyes. The sun was shining outside, but she doubted it felt as warm as it looked in a January morning in Atlanta. Although it was not as freezing as it had been back in New York, she knew it could get pretty chilly there during the winter. She watched the few dust specks floating in the light shining into the room for a moment, before her brain registered that she was alone in her bed. The comforting weight of Castle's arm was no longer resting on her waist as it had been the last time she had woken up and she suddenly felt cold without his warmth enveloping her.
That was when the door to the bathroom flew open and she watched as he reentered the room with his phone sandwiched between his right ear and shoulder. He seemed to be talking to Alexis and the tender look on his face made her smile. Stretching her body lazily, she pulled the covers tighter around herself, trying to retain the remaining warmth under it.
"Yeah, I'll call you later, pumpkin. Be careful today, alright? Okay, love you too, sweetie. Bye." He hung up and seemed to realize she was awake. "Hey, sleeping beauty." He teased and she rolled her eyes, offering him a sleepy smile nonetheless.
"Morning." She croaked out and tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes. "What time is it?"
"A little after 7. Alexis just wanted to check in before leaving for school." He explained and she nodded, closing her eyes again. Feeling the bed dip under his weight suddenly, she turned her head to look at him sitting on the edge of the mattress. "You going to sleep some more?" He asked, touching her ankle and she nodded again.
"If you don't mind. Way too early." She turned around and propped her head on her hand to look at him. "You?"
"I guess." He shrugged and seemed to be having an internal debate with himself, his fingers tracing circles on her covered ankle absentmindedly. She smiled, amused, at his inner struggle and held up the end of the blanket for him, lifting an eyebrow in his direction. They had already spent the night in the same bed; what were a couple of extra hours going to hurt, right? And if she was honest with herself, she was enjoying this. Now that he had touched her, she craved more. "You sure?" He asked uncertain and she sighed.
"Might as well finish your assignment as a human heating pad, Castle." She grinned weakly at him and the happy, surprised smile that blossomed on his lips made her heart skip a beat. "Come on." She threw the end of the blanket in his direction and shook her head, amused, when he immediately sprung to action, slipping under the covers next to her. She felt him moving around, trying to get comfortable. "Jesus, Castle. Your feet are freezing." She complained when his foot touched hers. He nudged her feet apart and slipped his cold one between them.
"They'll be warm in a minute." He whispered in her ear and she felt him gently touch her hip with his hand, hesitant as to what was appropriate or not now that it was morning and they were both aware of what was going on. "This okay?" He asked quietly and she yawned, moving closer until her back touched his chest slightly and she was once again surrounded by his warmth.
"I don't remember you asking for my permission last night." She teased and felt him freeze for a moment. Turning her head to meet his eyes, she gave him a small smile to reassure him. "Hey, I wouldn't have invited you back in here if it wasn't." She admitted in a quiet voice and turned her back to him again. This time, when she felt his hand on her hip again, he seemed to be a little more confident, sliding his arm around her and pulling her back against his chest gently.
"Do we have any plans for today? Besides the party, I mean." His breath was hot against her neck and she had to try really hard to suppress a shiver at his lips being so close to her skin. He seemed to have settled on her pillow, his nose gently nuzzling against the back of her neck.
"Not really. You ever been here before?" She asked, debating with herself if she should touch his hand that was currently resting on her stomach. It was weird; she kept expecting this to become awkward, but strangely enough, she felt comfortable lying in his arms like this, like it was something that they had always been gravitating to, something normal.
"Yeah, but just for a couple of days during a book tour. Never really got around to see much of the city."
A yawn escaped his lips and she felt one taking over her as well. Covering his hand with hers, she hesitated for a moment before threading her fingers through his. The smile she felt forming on his lips against the back of her neck only encouraged her.
She could do this. They could do this.
"We can play tourists later, then, if you want. We don't really have anywhere we have to be until 8." She told him and brushed her thumb over his skin and felt him tighten his hold on her. "How's that?"
"Sounds great." He agreed and she felt him breathing her in. "Sleep now?" She chuckled at his sleepy voice and nodded. "Okay. Night, Kate."
"Night." She yawned again and moved even closer to him until her back was flush against his chest. Letting out a sigh, she closed her eyes and slowly started to relax, hoping this wouldn't ruin everything for them.
By 2pm, they were walking downtown, trying to find a good place to eat. They had been out since 10 and Kate had taken him to a few places she remembered going with her mom when she was a kid. Up until age 12, they had come to Atlanta once a year during the summer to visit her grandmother. Those visits were usually tense and uncomfortable and her mom always tried to make things fun for her so they had a few places that were obligatory during their brief stay in Atlanta every year. During her twelfth summer, however, something happened between her mother and grandmother and they returned only a couple of times since then. Her mom had never told her what had really happened that day, but Kate figured they had most likely had a really big fight, for their yearly visits were suddenly cut short.
She explained all of that to Castle, as much as she could. A lot of her mother's relationship with her own mother was still a mystery to Kate, even now, all these years later. In a way, she wished she could have known what it was like to have a loving grandmother, but she had never gotten a chance. Her dad's mother died when she was a baby and she obviously didn't remember her.
"At least, I had my grandpa for a while, you know?" She told him as they walked through a busy street in downtown Atlanta.
"The magician?" He asked, taking her hand in his, tugging on it so they could cross the street.
He had been doing this on and off since they'd woken up for the second time this morning. They hadn't talked about it or made a big deal out of the fact they had spent the night in each other's arms, for which she was thankful. She didn't want this to be a big thing; in fact, she was more than okay with this natural progression that they had going on. She knew they would have to talk things through eventually, but for now she just wanted to enjoy this – his company, his touch; she could worry about the big conversations later.
"Yeah. My dad's dad." She gave him a small smile, a clear memory of her grandfather suddenly coming to mind, almost overwhelming in its intensity. "You know, if I close my eyes I can almost sense the way he used to smell. He was such a great guy. Taught me lots of tricks."
"I'm glad you had him, at least. I've always only had my mom and a distant uncle. But he died years ago, when I was in college, I think." He told her, entwining their fingers with a small smile. "Don't know anything about my father, so it's always been just us."
"Don't you…" She hesitated and bit her lip, but he squeezed her hand, encouraging her to continue. "Don't you think about finding out who he is?" She asked timidly, unsure if she was invading his privacy too much. He just shrugged.
"Sometimes." He admitted as they crossed another street. "For Alexis' sake, you know? So she knows where she came from. But then sometimes I think I'm better off not knowing."
"Has she asked about him? Alexis?" She asked quietly and he nodded. "What'd you say?"
"I told her once that not knowing was better. That he could be anything I wanted him to be. But sometimes I wish I knew at least his name." He gave her a sad smile and she squeezed his hand, trying to give him any sort of comfort. She couldn't even imagine what it was like to not know your origins, where half your DNA came from. Even though she had lost her mother in a very tragic, brutal way, she was immensely grateful for having nineteen wonderful years with both her parents. "But I guess that's life, right? Nothing is ever perfect." He said after a moment, but before she could think of anything to say, someone bumped into her, making her lose her balance. If it wasn't for Castle's quick reflex of catching her around the waist, she would've fallen on her face in the middle of the sidewalk.
Turning around to apologize and see if the other person had gotten hurt, she was surprised to find herself staring into her Aunt Lizzie's wide eyes. The woman was looking at her as if she was seeing a ghost and it took Kate a moment to place a name to the face. Her Aunt had certainly changed in the past thirteen years, but her eyes remained the same. They were the exact same shade her mother's had been, but her brown hair was now a vivid red that contrasted starkly with her tanned skin.
"Oh, my goodness. Katie?" Aunt Lizzie asked, eyes still wide in shock. "Is that you, darling?"
"Hi, Aunt Lizzie." She replied with a tight smile and turned to meet Castle's eyes for a moment. He was watching the scene curiously.
"Oh, Katie, look at you. You're the spitting image of your mother. I thought I was seeing a ghost for a moment." She smiled brightly at Kate, who tried to think of what to say.
Even though her Aunt Lizzie had never treated her badly, she had always sided with her grandmother and had completely abandoned them once her mother was gone. As her only Aunt, Kate thought she should have at least showed some support to her young niece after her sister died, but she had fallen off the face of the Earth. Last she heard, she had been busy spending the family's money in plastic surgery and travelling around the world.
"You look good." She offered and Lizzie's smile widened. "How's everyone?" She asked politely, squeezing Castle's hand, and hoped they could get out of this soon.
"Everyone's great, darling. They'll be so happy to see you. You're so grown up, so gorgeous." She winked at her and reached out to touch her hair. Kate felt the urge to roll her eyes. She knew was just being bitter and spiteful, but those people hadn't even picked up the phone to call her in years. They'd be happy, her ass. "And who's this?" Lizzie asked, almost leering at Castle, which just made Kate dislike her even more.
"This is Rick Castle, my partner." She squeezed Castle's fingers again and looked at him questioningly when he let go of her hand, sighing in relief when she felt his arm encircle her waist. "Rick, this is my mom's sister, Elizabeth Black."
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Black." He offered a hand for her to shake, which she did enthusiastically.
"Darling, the pleasure is all mine." She grinned at him meaningfully and Kate closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep, calming breath and covered the hand that was resting on her hip with her own.
"Well, it's been great seeing you again, Aunt Lizzie. We'll see you tonight at the party." She said, tightening her hold on his hand to keep him from saying anything that might somehow extend this already awkward conversation.
"See you then, Katie. And what a great taste you have." She leaned in and kissed Kate's cheek, her perfume making her want to sneeze. "I'll tell mom I ran into you. She'll be thrilled that you came to her party. Rick, looking forward to seeing you tonight, darling."
When she finally left, Kate let out a breath she hadn't been aware she had been holding and sagged against his side. God, she had really hoped she could keep her interaction with the family to a minimum and during the party only. Her Aunt Lizzie always left her with a feeling of falsehood, of completely fake emotions and relationships.
"Well… that was awkward." He commented casually after a moment, arm still holding her tightly by the waist.
"God, I'm sorry about that." Kate covered her face with her hands and sighed, frustrated.
"Don't worry about it. You okay?" He turned her around to face him and pulled her hands from her face. She nodded and, without thinking, rested her forehead on his shoulder, trying to pull herself together. "So, is that your only Aunt?"
"Thank God." She groaned and felt him chuckle, his arms encircling her waist tentatively again. "It was just my mom and her. Complete opposites as you could see."
"Yeah, she was… something, alright." He offered and she hit his chest lightly. "Was it just me or did she look like she was about to eat me if she had the chance?" He said lightly and she pulled back, but didn't go far, restrained by his arms around her.
"She's always been like that. Chasing after men. Especially younger men." She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to dismiss the image of her Aunt trying to flirt with Castle. "God, that was mortifying." She mumbled and felt him press a kiss to her forehead.
"Come on, let's go get something to eat." He tugged on her waist and they started making their way down the sidewalk again. "Are all of them like that?" He asked curiously after a minute.
"Some more than others, but yeah. My Dad owes me big time." She vowed to herself and heard him chuckling.
"Well, there was a positive side to this whole thing." He mused and she turned to him, curious.
"What?"
"Seeing you get all territorial. That was pretty great." He grinned at her and Kate rolled her eyes, feeling heat creeping up her neck, and elbowed his side. "Ow!"
"Shut up." She grumbled and took his hand. "Let's go eat already."
A/N: Thoughts?
