Warning: I am not a dress kind of girl. I don't wear dresses and I know zilch about them. So, when describing the dress later, please don't hold it against me if I wasn't very.. Specific. Also, excuse any OOC-ness that occurs in this chapter. It needed to happen.
"There is no way you will ever get me to try a smorlette. That sounds absolutely repulsive."
"Oh come on, Beckett. It is delicious." Castle grinned, pushing the button for his floor as they stepped inside the elevator.
"That's why Alexis won't eat it, hm?" Beckett's eyebrow shot up, her gaze resting on him.
"My daughter has.. Refined taste when it comes to breakfast." He shrugged as he leaned against the wall, his eyes lingering on her.
Beckett laughed, nodding. "Right. She just doesn't want to end up in the hospital with some kind of food poisoning because of your concoctions."
Clutching his heart, Castle feigned hurt. "Detective, you wound me."
With a roll of her eyes and a ding of the elevator, Beckett stepped out and headed for Castle's loft. Having been over more times than she would like to admit, she wasn't about to wait for him. This was probably the hundredth time that he had tried to talk her into having a smorlette and while she was intrigued, she would never try one. After hearing Alexis describe it once before, she was revolted at the idea. Realizing that he wasn't following her, she turned and looked back.
"Coming, Castle?"
That was all it took to have him throwing himself out of the elevator towards her, a smile coming to her lips. She watched as he walked around her and went straight to the door, unlocking it and walking in. She followed in after him glancing around, her mouth dropping open as the air escaped her lungs. Blinking slowly, she glanced at her partner.
"Remember, if you kill your mother I will have to take you in, no matter how justifiable the murder is."
Despite the situation, Castle couldn't help but smile as he tossed his coat on the couch, gazing around at all the shopping bags. Having heard the two come in, Martha and Alexis made their entrance on the stairs.
"Dad!" Alexis yelped in surprise, hurrying over to her father to guide him to the chair that was not covered in bags. "I swear, Grams picked me up after she had done all the shopping." Biting her lip, she gave Martha a quick smile as if to apologize before looking down at her dad who had yet to say a word. "Dad, you okay?"
Beckett wasn't sure whether she wanted to laugh or run from the look on Castle's face but she figured she was already there so she made her way farther into the room and perched herself on the edge of the couch arm.
"Oh, Richard, stop being so dramatic. It's not as bad as it looks." Martha rolled her eyes at her son making her way over to Beckett, taking the younger woman's hands in hers. "Dear, it is so nice to see you."
At this the detective smiled warmly at Martha, nodding. "It's nice to see you as well. Castle said Alexis and you wanted me to come over?"
"That we did," Martha said with a twinkle in her eye, glancing at the younger Castle. "Alexis has a surprise up in her room for you. I think I'll go try to get my son out of this state." With a simple wink of the eye, the older diva patted Beckett's hand and walked over to Castle while Alexis traded places with her grams.
"Come on, I'm so excited for you to see what Grams got!" Alexis grabbed Beckett's hand, forgetting the invisible boundaries she had set for them, and pulled her up from the couch leaving the detective no choice but to be dragged upstairs with a fleeting last glance at Castle.
Feeling as if the youngest Castle was about to yank her arm out of socket, she was relieved as they reached her room. Although she was a little skeptic about what was in store for her, she played a good sport and stepped inside the room as Alexis closed the door. Raising her signature eyebrow, she studied the redhead with the gaze she normally reserved for suspects.
"What's going on here, Alexis?"
Taking a deep breathe, Alexis gave the detective a big grin and starting walking back and forth. "Grams, as you know, went a little crazy shopping today and while she was at it she got me some really neat outfits and also she got you a couple of things. But before you go and say no and tell me that you can't take them, I'm going to go ahead and tell you that Grams will refuse to take them back and they will sit in the back of my closet until I'm old enough to fit them or until dad gets fed up with them and gives them away or something. Also, if you don't take them, it will hurt Grams feelings."
This all came out in one long breath, something that had a small grin forming on Beckett's lips as she took in everything the younger one said. She had every intention of kindly refusing the gifts but upon hearing the rest of Alexis' speech, she frowned.
"What all, exactly, did she get me?" She asked this tentatively, hoping that Martha didn't go too over the top. She knew that poor Castle was probably having heart problems down in the living room.
Accepting this as a form of yes, Alexis grinned from ear to ear as she bounded over to her closet pulling out three dresses that were hidden inside jackets and two more outfits, quickly followed by three boxes of shoes from the floor. She brought them over to her bed, laying the dresses out carefully before placing the shoes on her pillows and other outfits next to them. With a child-like glee that she could have only gotten from her father, she turned back to Beckett.
"I know you're probably thinking, 'that's too much' but really it's not. Grams does this at least once every six months, I'm not sure why dad is so shocked. Of course, this is the worst it has been in a while but still." Seeing the hesitation still on the older woman's face, she grabbed the middle dress and pushed it into her hands. "You have to try this on before you say no, okay?"
Knowing that she couldn't deny the young redhead anything, Beckett took the dress and quietly excused herself to the bathroom. Curious about the dress, it didn't take her long to hang it up on the back of the door and quickly pull down the zipper of the jacket. A quiet gasp escaped her lips as the dark blue dress escaped the bag that was holding it, the purple mesh mesmerizing her. Her fingers brushed delicately over the fabric, her heart fluttering madly.
Quickly she pulled her hair up and started to undress, eager now to try the dress on. Neatly folding her clothes she set them aside and slipped into the slim dress before realizing she'd need someone to zip it up. Opening the bathroom door she glanced around the hallway and dashed into Alexis' bedroom, obviously startling the young girl.
"Zip me up?" Beckett grinned at the younger girl, turning on her spot and waiting patiently. She could feel Alexis' fingers trembling as she zipped the dress up carefully.
"You look gorgeous, Detective."
Turning around, Beckett glanced at the mirror that was hanging on Alexis' closet door. The dark blue fabric clung to every inch of her, the neckline plunging deep enough to show her mother's ring that was hanging there. Taking her quietness as a sign that she liked it, Alexis peeked over her shoulder with a grin on her lips.
"Can I please fix your hair and make up? I know you probably want to take it off but I just bought this new eye shadow the other day and it would go so good with this dress!"
Glancing at her father's watch that still rested on her wrist, she saw that she had a few hours before she had to get ready for her blind date and silently nodded giving Alexis the go ahead. The youngest Castle was just way too excited and Beckett didn't think she could bring herself to tell her no, even if she secretly didn't want to get out of the dress.
"Don't go too crazy, alright?" Beckett's voice was almost shy as Alexis directed her over to the chair in front of her desk, turning her around to face her.
Eyes that were almost identical to her father's glinted as she smiled, nodding. "Just trust me, detective." And with that, Beckett leaned back as she closed her eyes, trusting the girl.
Remember, reviews make me a better writer :3 Hope you enjoy this, Marissa!