A/n:I really appreciated the feedback on the last chapter. I love to hear from people!I hope this chapter has what you're looking for: fun, games (literally) and a bit of the usual fluff to keep things sweet. Oh I included the way my family plays 'Clue' we always come up with a story to explain why it was _ in the _ room with a _. Makes things more interesting. It also seemed like the way Castle the imaginative writer that he is would play it. :)
Let the games begin!
Thanks for all the faves/subscribing/reviewing.
Chapter 2: They Games We Play
As waves crashed outside the window, Kate Beckett realized she'd woken up in something close to paradise.
"What's on the menu tonight chef?" Beckett asked as she came down the stairs. It smelled like little winged cooking angels has ascended onto the kitchen while she had taken her afternoon nap. She was exhausted from a combination of getting the beach house ready for their friends tonight, and just general pregnancy tiredness. The baby was wearing her out.
Castle called back from the kitchen. "Why, a Richard Castle specialty… pasta carbonara. Wanna taste?"
"Of course!" She loved when he cooked. Though she dabbled in a few gastronomic adventures from time to time, her specialty was Chinese or any other kind of take-out. She'd become an expert after years of tireless nights at stakeouts and getting home late from the precinct. That meant when Rick was cooking she was happy to do the dishes. Kate padded into the kitchen and accepted his outstretched spoon. She rolled her eyes at his campy 'Kiss the Cook' apron. "So when are our special guests arriving?" She blew on her steaming spoonful of sauce.
"Around six thirty. Ryan and Jenny have to drop baby Lilly off at her sister's on the way. Espo and Lanie said they'd come as soon as they could."
"Mmmmm- delicious." Kate took a heavenly bite of the sauce.
"Well thank you," Castle flashed a thousand watt grin at her. "-Oh you mean the sauce. Yeah I guess it's pretty good."
"It's amazing. In fact I think I'm going to take you up on that offer…" She said gesturing to his apron. She clutched his apron and pulled him in for a kiss, maneuvering the best she could with a baby bump. Just as their kiss deepened, Castle wrapped his arms around, and let a hand fall to her stomach. An odd and sudden sensation rushed through her belly. Kate pulled away first.
"Oh my god-"
"What, what is it?" Castle asked looking concerned.
"I think, I think the baby just kicked."
"What?" Castle looked down at her bump, and ran his hand gently across it.
"There it is again." Kate's eyes widened. Their eyes met. A warm smile spread across her face. Rick's face echoed hers. She leaned her head into her boyfriend's shoulder contently. Though she was in the last months of pregnancy and had experienced allot the other things that came with having a tiny human inside of her… it was at that moment it finally hit her: He/She's moving around in there. We are having a baby.
-Later that day-
"This is great Castle, seriously man…" Espo praised taking bite after bite of his pasta.
"Yeah I really appreciate you inviting us all. 'Means allot." Ryan added, passing salad across the table to his wife Jenny. Beckett leaned over to Rick and gave him a kiss on the cheek and whispered in his ear: "Thanks for making dinner." He beamed at her, squeezing her hand under the table.
In the dimmed light, the Castle's Hamptons beach house was full of friendly conversation.
"When you've got good friends, good food, good wine- what could be better?" Castle toasted lifting his wine glass. "A toast to great friends…" Everyone followed suit, clinking glasses.
"Here, here." Lanie said with a smile.
When the meal was over, and everyone was clearing the table for dish duty- Castle called everyone into the living room. They all gathered around a table, plopped on couches. "Now for the main event." Castle clutched a board game box. 'Clue' was inscribed across the front.
"Clue or Cluedo as it's called in the U.K, is a game of wit, challenge and crime solving prowess. That is why I've brought together the best crime solvers I know together under one roof to test your skills." His voice was excited like a little boy on Christmas. He set the board on the table amongst their wine glasses and began to dole out to pieces and arrange the game.
"There are six characters. Six different weapons, nine rooms… and one poor cold stiff. The ultimate Agatha Christie-style 'whodunit'. First to get the correct set of killer, weapon, and room wins. The best part? You can come up with whatever explanation you want. Anything goes as long as you get all the parts correct."
"No wonder you like this game." Kate added, leaning back into the sofa. Castle shuffled the cards and arranged the different decks. Pieces were passed to each member of the group. Beckett snapped up the instruction manual and flipped it open.
"Who's the stiff?" Espo asked, as if they were accessing a crime scene.
"Mr. Boddy. Rich tycoon. Found dead at his Tudor Mansion. His body was found at the foot of the cellar stairs by Miss Scarlett."
"Let me guess? You're Coronel Mustard."
Castle nodded, "How did you know?" Beckett flipped a page in the instruction pamphlet. "'Coronel Mustard, the dashing and suave military man with rugged good looks and an extensive lady killer history… but is he a real killer?' Need I say more?" Beckett eyed as her boyfriend took in an extra-long sip of wine.
"Wait a second! I don't remember that bio from my childhood game set…" Ryan said leaning over to read what Beckett had read. "Did you come up with your own bios for the characters?" The detective asked, realizing that a few pages had been haphazardly stapled into the book; the type face was different than the rest of the book.
"I'm a dedicated fan of the game, okay?" He admitted his eyes darted across his friends faces. Chatter spread across the group, a few giggled.
"Wait which piece did I get?" Beckett asked, looking at her plastic figurine. A svelte femme fatale in vivid red. "Miss Scarlet," Reading it, Kate sucked in a frustrated breathe. "Let's see: This girl is fiery: a true femme fatale. An aspiring but not very talented actress. Has decided on a career change and is now setting her sights on rich old widowers… what?" Castle comically avoided her gaze.
"You planned this! First Nikki, now this- why am I always the slut?" Beckett gave Castle a look. She was only half teasing him, half complaining. He seemed to have a thing for making her the 'a certain kind of character'.
"Not as bad as me- I'm Mrs. White the maid!" Ryan complained. Jenny giggled, "I'm Mr. Green. What about you Lanie?"
"Mrs. Peacock." Lanie reported. She turned to Espo.
"Professor Plum," Espo said grumbling, turning the piece in his hand. "Who goes first?"
"I believe it says here that Miss Scarlett does. Miss Scarlet will you do the honors?" Castle asked.
Beckett rolled the dice.
"Let the games begin!"
(Break)
Things were getting heated.
"Obviously it's Miss Scarlet with the revolver in the study!" Castle said. "Mr. Boddy keeps a gun in his desk in his office, because that's where he probably keeps his safe, it's behind that painting." He pointed to a little picture printed into the side of the little cardboard room. The rest of the group inspected the inside of the eyelids with a group eye roll. "Besides there's a hidden passage over there that leads to the cellar. Miss Scarlett could easily move him down to the steps and pretend she just 'found' him there."
The group of detectives and crime solving friends got wrapped up in trying to outdo each other, mostly Castle with their explanations.
"But what motive does she have?" Beckett asked, defending her character. She leaned into Castle's gaze on the couch. Their eye contact added to the drama; the dance their eyes seemed to play.
"She's after his money of course! Maybe he caught her breaking into his safe, they fought, and she grabbed gun- and 'wa-bang' " He made a gun with his hands.
"So you're saying it was an accident? Miss Scarlet's hands just slipped and the gun went off?" Kate's voice was comically dramatic.
Castle was taking this whole thing seriously. "No… she planned to kill him anyway… it was all part of her plan. She would seduce him, get herself put into his will and then when the time was right knock him off. It just happened earlier than expected."
The rest of the group had given up interrupted the two of them hours ago. When they were on a roll, there was no stopping them until the case was solved. Their friends just sat riveted watching the story unfold.
Kate sighed. "It could have been someone within the household staff. Like you always say: it's the butler!" She smiled wryly. "What about Mrs. White? In the dining room with a candlestick. Would have been close by, handy murder weapon."
Castle and Beckett had been going at it like this for a few hours. It was just like their usual bickering in the precinct over Castle's zany ideas. Just like old times. This whole experience had brought out all their old sexual tension, all the bantering they'd started their relationship with.
"Wait what? Me!" Ryan protested. "It couldn't have been me, I'm just *cough cough* the maid." He wasn't too fond of his character, but it was all fun and games.
Castle grinned, "You know, Detective Beckett- that's plausible. 'She' had motive." Gesturing to Ryan who scoffed it all off. "If you'll look at my bios Detective Beckett under Mrs. White…" She scooped up the book again like he asked.
"Mrs. White, though she's seems innocent has quite a past. She's Mr. Boddy's long-time widowed housekeeper and cook, but before she had a secret life as showgirl. She's always dreamed of a more glamorous life for herself. Mr. White died in World War II and since then she's taken up a torrid affair with Mr. Boddy's mysterious Uncle Sir Hugh Black."
"Obviously, she planned to rob Boddy blind after gaining his trust over the years… as revenge. Who wants to give someone sponge baths and cook their meals for twenty years without a little incentive, anyway? The revengeful maid is a common theme," Rick raised an eyebrow.
"And White probably planned to eliminate Boddy so that his Uncle and her lover, Boddy's only heir could get the riches and the estate…" Beckett finished his statement. As usual they were almost psychic.
"How do you guys come up with this stuff?!" Ryan asked, only half surprised because it was Castle.
"Easy, it's always got something to do with either revenge, sex, or money. Sometimes all three. Those ones are the best." Castle explained proudly taking a sip of his wine. "Right Kate?" He winked at her.
"Pretty much. We just put it together." She smiled, held his hand. He kissed her. They were probably the only couple on earth, who got all hot and bothered when they talked about murder. I guess every couple's got to have their 'thing' right?
Castle realized then that despite her maternity leave, He and Beckett could still solve murders together… just on a less serious stage and with little plastic people. But it still did the trick.
Thanks for reading! More maybe coming soon, but I need suggestions for the rest of it… any ideas? I'll use the ones I like the best!
Much love, Oreos and smiley faces,
W.E.C. (Wild Endangered Cantaloupe)