The following afternoon, after visiting Meredeth and Esposito in Chelsea, Shane and Alexis had decided to dress for their engagement party at Castle's loft, as Shane knew the father of the bride wanted some of those precious moments with his firstborn baby girl before the night got too crazy for them. He didn't mind those kinds of indulgences because there was a perk for him as well - spending time with RJ being his favourite.

Like now, as he was looping a Windsor knot on his one-and-only Hermes tie, his father's Chanukah present to him, RJ was sitting on the end of the bed in the master bedroom, his expression one of thoughtfulness.

'Shane?'

'Yeah, buddy.'

'I haffa question.'

Shane couldn't control the laugh as he finished tying his tie, RJ watching him studiously. 'RJ, you always have a question.'

'This a weddin' question.'

'Fire away.'

'Wha' you call?' RJ frowned as he tried to sort out his thoughts into words. 'Alessis is a buh-ride, so you a boy-buh-ride?'

'In a manner of speaking. Alexis is the bride, and I'm the groom,' Shane explained, adjusting the knot, then turning around for inspection. 'Who is coming to stay with you tonight?'

'Sho-sho an' me visitin' Tah-rini!'

'Oh, of course.' Shane nodded as it came back to him. Meredeth and Esposito had had to turn down the invitation to the engagement party as Meredeth was already overdue and just wanted a quiet night at home. Esposito had invited RJ and Jojo for a stay-over so that the father and mother of the bride would be unfettered with worries over their other children. 'How could I forget that?'

'I no' know. Wow! Alessis, you so go-shus!'

Shane looked over to where his fiancee had stepped out of the ensuite in a bouncy-looking dress of cerulean blue with glittery silver decals in the form of a line of multi-sized hearts down the left side. She had a pair of kitten-heels pumps in her hand as she did a little twirl for her boys.

'Thanks, do I look as good as Trini?'

'Ah-mos', Alessis,' RJ teased her, then wiggled off the bed. 'I go fin' Mumum, say time-a go.'

When the little guy was out of earshot, Shane looked at her as she did a little hip-shimmy. 'Alexis, that dress is just awful.'

'What?'

'I mean, it's disgusting. I have half-a-mind to take you home and get you out of it right away.'

Realizing he was pulling her leg, Alexis sauntered up to him, wrapped her arms around his neck. 'Funny man,' she murmured, kissing him deeply.

They lost themselves in each other for the moment; only when they heard a throat discreetly being cleared did they break apart and glance over to see Castle fighting not to be embarrassed.

'We have to get going to drop RJ off before we head over to your best man's place, Shane,' he informed the happy couple. 'And he's starting to get that impatient sound just like his mother.'

'Say no more, plenty of time later for mooshin' as the little man says,' Shane replied and picked up his jacket, gallantly offered his arm to Alexis. 'Ready almost-bride?'

'Ready almost-groom.'


The atmosphere of Body and Faisal's apartment was always a welcoming one - a Midtown affair that was a hop skip and a jump from Central Park with the kind of appointments that begged for guests, such as buttery leather sofas and walls of photos that all had a story behind them.

Alexis and Shane had barely stepped through the doorway when Faisal rushed up to them, giving them squeezing hugs and kisses on their cheeks each.

'Congratulations you guys, so happy for you,' he gushed as he helped them with their coats. 'Body was in the kitchen all afternoon making snacks for tonight. Finger foods, as requested, for all courses.'

'Thanks so much Faisal. Have you met my parents yet?' Alexis asked, politely gesturing to Beckett and Castle, and Faisal's dark eyes glittered with welcome.

'I don't believe so, I know I would remember a face like yours, Detective. And I do believe if you look at my shelf,' he added, giving Castle's hand a shake, 'I have all first editions of your books. I'm a collector.'

'Hopefully they'll be worth something one day,' Beckett teased back, making Faisal and Castle laugh. Stretching her neck up, she sniffed a little. 'Something smells yummy.'

'That would be my man, with goodies from the oven.'

Almost on cue, Body walked into the living room, put a tray of delectable treats on the table; his long tangle of mink-brown hair actually looked like it had been brushed within the last week, a sign he was taking his duties as a best man seriously. 'Here we are, help yourself, plenty more where these came from. And yes, Alexis there are only finger foods so there's no worries about spilling things on your dress.'

'Well, I just thought since we want people to be up and mingling and talking, we should have little bite-size things.'

Her prediction was a good one, for in an hour's time, there were enough people in the apartment that it was pretty much standing room only and the idea of being able to sit down to have a full meal was absolute lunacy. The crowd, too, meant that Shane and Alexis did a lot of mingling both together and separately, as they had all the people they wanted to see who were specifically their friends and not the other's, along with the usual suspects like the Parrish-Robbinses, the Bricks and the Ryans.

After escaping a rather boring conversation with his boss' wife, Shane managed to escape to the bar where he caught the eye of the bartender who knew exactly what to pour him while he sat back and watched Alexis laugh and chat with Lanie and Honey-Milk. He loved when she got to have nights like this, to just put aside the stress of studying, kick back and enjoy herself.

'Well, hello.'

Shane glanced over at the sweetly-purring voice and did a short double take. The woman was recognizable from her films, sure, but there was more to it than that. He saw beneath the obviously-repeated trips under the Botox and collagen needle to the classic oval face with its porcelain skin and blue eyes, wondered if Alexis biological mother knew she didn't need things like that since she obviously had strong genes and bones.

'Hello,' he replied.

'Lovely party, isn't it? So nice to go to these things when they're actually about fun and not work,' Evil Meredith sighed in a blase tone that informed whoever listened that she was a Very Busy and Important Actress but she still made time for the little people. 'Are you a friend of the bride or the groom?'

Shane blinked at her, fought back the laugh as he realized the woman had no clue who he was. Then again, why should she? As far as he knew the real mother in Alexis' life was Beckett, not this bimbo, and Alexis tolerated the times when her mother was around. He sipped his drink, chosing his words carefully. 'I met Alexis through a mutual friend, we bonded over going to medical school at Princeton.'

'Oh, you're a doctor?'

'That's right.'

'How fascinating.' Evil Meredith gave him the once-over, libido thrumming. Never mind that he was a doctor and that always meant money, he was sexy too. Italian, probably, or Greek. Not her usual style but the way he filled out his dress shirt with broad shoulders told her a man with that kind of vanity would be the ideal one-time lover. Men like him were usually so self-absorbed they wanted her out of their bed in minutes once the deed was done. It had been so long since she'd had a man just for fun, and she was aching for a little bit of fun.

Leaning forward on an angle towards the bartender, knowing it would give this hunky-stud a nice peep at her plastic-surgeon's work, she asked, 'Could you make me a gin martini, and...what would you like to drink?'

'I'll take a Manhattan, and a sting-ray, a double-barrel, Scott,' Shane added to the bartender who replied with a subtle wink; Scott worked with the catering branch of Body's restaurant and knew exactly who Shane was, why he wanted a double-barrel sting-ray.

'Right away.'

'Thanks Scott.'

'That's quite a combination of drinks,' Evil Meredith said, inching closer. 'You must have quite the...staying power if you can handle those all night.'

Before Shane could open his mouth in reply, he saw Castle double-time it over to them with a fatherly protection in his eye.

'Meredith,' he called out, catchign the redhead's attention and allowing Shane to ease back and get the drinks Scott had made for him.

'Oh, don't run off,' Evil Meredith told him when she saw Shane turning to leave. 'I'm sure I can ditch him in a few minutes.'

'That's no way to talk about my future father in law,' was Shane glib reply and he had the great joy of seeing the woman blanche.

'Your...you're Alexis' fiance?'

'The only and only. I'll let you too catch up,' he added with a lethal wink before going to find Alexis.

When he found her, she was chatting to a very pregnant Sloan and her man Garrett, and when he handed her his Manhattan, she glanced up confused. 'I wanted the sting-ray,' she started, then blinked when he gulped down the double-shot drink. 'What's up, babe?'

'Your bio-mom just tried to pick me up.'

Alexis snorted out a laugh, then stopped when she saw his face and nodded. 'Oh yeah,I think you'll need another one of those.'