P/N: Some more goodness from Tom. JT

Ann - Chapter 4

A body dropped Saturday so she and Lanie had to cancel out on shopping since they both had obligations to the victim but promised to get together Sunday for brunch and then a quick round of shopping.

Esposito and Ryan took their own sweet time about getting to the scene and she had sharp looks for both of them but mellowed when Espo mentioned his God Daughter's birthday and how he hoped this was open and shut because he didn't want to miss the party.

"Sorry. I guess we all got dragged away from something we'd rather be doing."

"Did you call Castle?" Ryan opened his mouth and shut it just as quickly after bringing up 'the name' that they hadn't mentioned lately. At least those two weren't. When he saw Lanie giving him a dirty look he thought, 'okay, make that three'.

"He's done with us, I guess. It's just as well. He was in the way more than he helped." 'Sour grapes, Katie,' said her mother's voice in her head. Lately it had been her mom's voice that scolded her rather than her own when she thought about things that had gone wrong.

Lanie glanced up at her and thought, 'Burning bridges. I smell burning bridges and she's gonna regret those words some day.' From the look on the boys' faces, she knew she was right.

Rick took a cab down to his tailor to have a few alterations made to some shirts and two suits and a sport coat. He wanted to dress 'normally' for his day-to-day activities and a Polo didn't cut it in his social circles.

"I'll have them ready for you before 5, Mr. Castle. You'd be surprised how common these alterations have become since the tunnel carpal syndrome thing. You're a writer so it was only a matter of time, y'know?"

If a tailor could dismiss the evidence of his stupidity, maybe others would too, although his temper was legendary among those who knew him. Just ask his ex-wives and their attorneys. It was Beckett who brought the physical to his anger; only she could get under his skin and drive him to a physical act.

Rick didn't answer his tailor, changing the subject quickly to safer ground. "So, Max, how's that granddaughter of yours doing at Yale?"

Much safer ground.

Central Park East

"Erik, I have to cancel out on Sunday, honey. My dad made plans for the two of us and we had a fight and I was ugly to him and now I feel bad so, I have this thing I have to do with him."

"Hey, Lexie, don't feel bad. My mom dropped a load of crap on me about college applications and stuff and the next thing I knew, I'd agreed to meet some stuffed shirt guy about a possible 'recommendation' to Columbia."

He sat on the top of a retaining wall overlooking a pond and she sat sideways with her long jean-clad legs over his, holding on to his hand and occasionally pulling her in for a leisurely kiss. Saturday afternoons were special and this place was theirs unless it rained or they went shopping or to a movie or something.

"Y'know, we talk more about our parents sometimes than we do about us. That's kinda weird but I really like your mom and sometimes I think 'what if Erik's mom and my dad got together?' That would be – "

"Really weird, Lexie, especially since you've never introduced me to your dad. I'm beginning to think you're ashamed of me or something."

He darted in for a kiss but missed when she leaned back, laughing. "No, dummy, it's just that, well, things have been intense with him lately but I think he's ready to meet you. He's finally quit shadowing Beckett and he seems, I don't know, more at peace with himself."

"That's cool. From what you've told me, he's been in some hairy situations and then there's that whole UST thing those two had going for them."

"I'll tell you a secret – she was never going to let him in. I mean, she's not the kind who could ever really accept my dad for who he is, y'know? Her kind always wants to be in control and my dad's the exact opposite, more like your mom, y'know?"

"Oh, I don't know. Ann can be really intense sometimes. She still cries herself to sleep some nights, especially around the holidays. I worry about going away to school and leaving her knocking around the Museum all by herself."

"Dad was like that for a while last summer but then we came back to the city – "

Soft lips stopped her from talking for a while and then he glanced at his watch and showed her the time.

"Crap! We really have to run to catch the next showing. I really want to see this movie, honey, and this is the last day…"

"Well then, Red, let's fly."

"Don't call me 'Red', Erik. You know how I hate that."

"You know what they call us around York Academy, don't you? Erik & the Red. You, my little redhead, are my Red Sonja and I'm your – "

She punched him lightly in the stomach and laughed and ran for the park entrance. They could grab the subway and catch the next showing. She'd make him pay for that comparison to Red Sonja. They'd watched it at his house one afternoon and he obsessed over the main character. Actually, she was flattered by the comparison but would never give him the satisfaction of knowing it.

Sunday

Rick and Alexis arrived by cab a few minutes before 11am. Alexis' attitude had not improved appreciably but Rick just hid a worried smile and wondered if this was really the wisest course of action to take. If Alexis had kept her relationship with Erik a secret, she must have had a damned good reason.

His mind was flipping through various scenarios that might explain why she kept it from him but none seemed to offer an explanation that stood the test of simple questions.

"Dad, are you okay? You seem, I don't know, more 'unfocused' that usual?" She didn't mean to sound so crabby but she would rather be with Erik and his mom than here with her dad and his 'snobby friends'. She just hoped it wasn't anyone from the 12th or from his poker crew. 'Oh, crap, he wouldn't…he wouldn't use brunch as a way of introducing me to his new squeeze, would he?' He hadn't said anything about seeing any one new but…there was that glass with the lipstick stain…

Ann and her son had arrived a little before Castle and his daughter and she told the hostess to direct the 'Castle party' to her table and then walked out onto the verandah and sat at a table for four.

"Coffee, right? And a couple of those little pastry things you love to tide you over until your guests arrive?" He knew his stepmother. She had skipped breakfast and was probably working on low blood sugar and needed coffee and something sweet to keep her getting antsy. She wasn't big on 'brunch' preferring an Egg McMuffin and coffee when she ate breakfast at all. She was a simple girl with simple tastes.

"Sure, why not? It's not like intellectuals really care about anyone else's time. Go, fetch sustenance. There's a good boy."

They shared a laugh and he went to get coffee and pastries. Maybe if they got done here soon enough, he and Lexie could catch a movie or stake out their favorite wall in the park and scandalize the oldsters with a serious make-out session. He flipped open his cell and sent her a quick text.

Rick was checking with the hostess to see if Ann had arrived yet. Their plan was to have the first arrivals escorted to the others – a grand entrance of sorts. Alexis lagged behind checking her cell and sending back a quick text and then snapped shut her cell when her dad shot her a dirty look.

The hostess was escorting them through the maze of tables and out onto the verandah when she caught sight of a tall gangly figure wending his way through the people, two coffees and a plate of pastries balanced precariously. He made it look so easy. He made everything look easy.

She ran into her dad's broad back when he stopped suddenly and she stepped around to see why he'd stopped but –

"Mrs. Price?!" Erik's mom was in a lip-lock with her dad and obviously it wasn't the first one they'd shared either. Oh, crap!

Castle had been surprised and then tickled when Ann had looked up and spotted him and walked quickly over to him and pulled him down into a heated kiss by way of saying 'Hi'. She knew her son would probably see it and…she really didn't care. She could do this for hours and hours and… Mrs. Price! pierced her bubble and she eased down Rick's front as he slowly set her down on her feet. She hadn't realized he'd picked her up. She was lost in his kiss.

"Hi, Lexie! Erik's off on a coffee run. Why don't we sit down and…" Oh, this was priceless. The look on Lexie's face…

"You were kissing my dad!"

"Mrs. Price? I thought your name was Smith?"

"Mom, who's this guy? Red?"

"Don't call me that, Erik. Back to kissing my dad…"

"Smith is my maiden name. I use it at the hospital. It saved a lot of confusion when my husband was alive. And yeah, Lexie, back to kissing your dad…I really liked that, Rick." The conversation was getting difficult to follow.

"Mom? This is the 'stuffed shirt' who's going to give me a recommendation? He's freaking Richard Castle! Wait – Alexis, he's your dad? Richard Castle is your dad?"

"Let's let the kids sort things out, Ann. I hear the buffet calling." He eyeballed the tray Erik was balancing and said, "Surely that's not all you're going to be having, is it?"

"Girl's gotta watch her figure, Rick," she smiled and he just laughed. "I'll watch your figure for you, Ann. You eat. I'll let you know when you're losing your…um…"

"Think the kids have figured it out yet?" She glanced over her shoulder and saw Lexie and Erik sitting at the table talking.

"They're smart. Eventually they'll figure it out, Mrs. Price."

Rick carried their plates while Ann piled them both high with things she'd normally never eat but suddenly craved a walk on the wild side. 'He does that to me. Encourages my wild child to bust out and misbehave. That kiss…mmm.'

"You do know that after eating all this we'll be in food comas for the entire afternoon?"

"Not if I have my way." She just had to get control of her mouth and her wild child that was currently bouncing from mental wall to mental wall in absolute exstacy at being allowed 'out' to play.

"Oh? And just what does M'lady have planned?"

"Dumping the kids, sending them to a matinee, and then going back to your place and making out on that lovely couch of yours…"

Castle's mind was racing, trying to remember his mother's schedule. "Um, that's a problem. I don't live alone. There's another woman in residence and I've been with her forever but…"

"What? Who? I thought you said you were divorced…"

"I am, really, I am, twice divorced. It's my mother. Her last husband cleaned her out and headed off to Rio or someplace like it. She was…she's an actress and about as organized and responsible…"

"Oh, well, in that case, as long as you whisper, we can hit the Museum."