Yay! Two chapters in a 24-hour period! I'm on a roll! No Leggy in this one, but he'll be making an appearance soon. He's been getting petted by everyone and has not yet graced us with his presence.

Also, I'm looking for a beta for this story. I've been working on my own for every story so far and I think it's about time I started working with someone. If you're interested, please PM me!

To say the least, entering the home of Castles was pretty overwhelming for Elise. Kate watched as she walked in through the doorway and her sapphire eyes grew wide. She walked in and spun around in an attempt to take everything in at once.

Kate followed with Ridley and then Castle came with Elise's luggage (only a suitcase and a duffle bag). He set them by the stairs.

"Why don't I fix us some lunch?" Castle suggested, clapping his hands together, "I could use a special helper for this though."

Ridley practically bounced into her father. "Me, Daddy, me!" she squealed. Castle chuckled and picked his little one up to spin her around. Kate caught sight of Elise looking just a bit longingly at the father and daughter. She touched the girl's shoulder.

"Would you like to see your room?" she asked. Elise nodded gently and followed Kate upstairs, grabbing the duffle bag while the woman grabbed the suitcase.

They passed Ridley's room and stopped at the last in the hall. Kate motioned for Elise to open the door –which she did- and then followed her in. The room was painted in lavender with different purple hues throughout the ensemble. It all came together quite nicely.

"We thought you'd like the purple since you mentioned it was your favorite color," Kate said, opening up the wardrobe to start helping the girl put her clothes away, "But we can always change it if you don't."

Elise had moved to open her suitcase. Eyes fixed on her task she replied quietly, "No, I like it." They set to work in mostly silence, only talking when Kate asked Elise a direct question. Eventually, Castle came up to say it was time for lunch and the girls followed him downstairs.

Elise took a seat next to Ridley, whose eyes lit up when the girl sat down. The twelve-year old gave the two-year old a small smile and then fixed her eyes on Kate and Castle. She watched as he pulled out the chair for her. She watched as he moved his chair much closer to her than necessary. She watched as they showed more affection than anyone she had ever seen, even in movies. It was so subtle it was almost imperceptible, but Elise saw it. She wondered what story lay behind them for them to be that close. Though she had gotten to know her adopters, a lot of their meetings had been question and answer and only about Elise. She barely even knew what jobs they had, other than Mr. Castle being a writer.

"Hey, Castle, can you pass me a napkin?" Kate asked her husband with a smile.

"Arms suddenly not working?" he teased her.

"Just saving energy for later," she replied. Even though the reply was innocent, her eyes held so much more meaning. Elise noticed that half their conversation was not verbal. She did not know what it meant, but she knew it was powerful to them.

"Why do you call Mr. Castle 'Castle?'" Elise blurted out, "Don't husbands and wives call each other by their first names?"

Kate looked at Castle and then at Elise again and shrugged. "He's always been Castle to me," she said, "I called him that long before we were even dating. Calling him Rick is reserved for very special occasions."

"One correction to this," Castle interjected, "First, Elise, you can't call me Mr. Castle. You can call be Richard, or Rick, whatever you want, but we're not formal anymore."

Elise nodded in understanding, her black hair swaying with her head.

Sunday morning (the day before Elise started school), the girl walked down the stairs in the new pajamas she had gotten the day before. Saturday had been a shopping spree day and somehow, that made Elise open up a little bit. She was still very quiet, but she had starting talking about herself a little bit more without coaxing.

She had been brought out of bed by delicious smells wafting into her bedroom and came down to find Rick cooking a very large breakfast and Ridley playing with her toys on the dining room table.

"Hey," Rick greeted her, looking up and smiling, "Guess the food smells woke you up?"

"A bit," Elise replied, pouring herself a glass of orange juice. After a few minutes of silence, she asked, "Where's Kate?"

"Should be home any minute. She got called in early today with a case but it was pretty cut-and-dry," Rick explained.

"A case?" Elise asked. They still had not talked about Kate's work much.

"Yeah," Rick said, "I think it's better we told you about that together. Speak of the devil." Kate opened the door at that minute and brushed her hair out of her face. She was wearing a pea coat and a scarf; work pants and then Elise noticed her shoes. The heels were crazy! What kind of work would she be doing in those?

"Hey guys," she greeted everyone breathlessly. Castle had finished up with breakfast and went over to help his wife out of her coat. While he hung that and the scarf up, Elise had time to notice what other accessories Kate had on. She could not say anything but could only stare as Kate took a gun out of its holster on her body and then took off the holster and put both things away in the desk drawer. Although Elise did not say anything, Kate noticed.

"It's okay, Elise," Kate said to her, "I'm not a bank robber or anything. I'm a detective. We thought it was better you came home first and got a feel for everything before knowing that I was a cop."

Elise nodded and asked, "So you hunt down bad guys?"

"Yep, every day," Kate replied.

"What did they do?"

"Unfortunately," Kate began, moving over to the girl, "I hunt down people who have murdered others."

"That's the bravest job ever," Elise told her, "I'm glad you do." It was surprising to hear that response, Kate thought, she had expected more of a protest. She felt an arm wrap around her shoulders and lips kiss her hair.

"I think so too," Castle said with a smile.

Later, when Castle and Ridley retreated in the office for a reading session, Kate and Elise sat in the lavender bedroom and folded new clothes together.

"Kate?" Elise asked. The woman looked up from what she was doing and fixed her hazel eyes on Elise.

"Is being a homicide detective very dangerous?" she asked.

"It can be," Kate replied, "Especially if you take stupid risks."

"Have you even been hurt on the job?"

"Yes," Kate answered honestly.

"Badly?"

"A few times."

"How?"

Kate stared questioningly at Elise. "Why do you need to know so badly?" she asked gently.

Elise gazed down at the shirt she was folding. "I don't want you to not come back one day," she murmured, "I like being part of this family already."

Although she was not one to usually cry at things like this, Kate felt tears prick her eyes. "Oh Elise," she said, dropping her folding and tugging the girl in for a tight embrace, "You will never, ever be part of another family again. This is your home and that means that we will never give you back."

Elise gripped tightly onto Kate. None of her other "parents" ever made physical contact before. She could not remember the last time she was hugged.

"I'm glad," she whispered.

Aww, I think that was sweet. I've written two chapters in a very short amount of time- I think I deserve a review, don't you?