The pain in Rick's eyes had nothing to do with his hurt foot, it hit Kate hard and tears prickled her eyes. Suddenly she wanted to hold him in comfort. Instead she sat down beside him on the same bed. "She's not a little girl anymore, Castle. She is almost sixteen, she is a very smart and strong young lady."
"Did you know she went to a prom, my baby at a prom?"
"Yes, you asked me to run a check on her date, remember?"
"Which you wouldn't do for me."
"Castle, her date had just turned sixteen and he had no juvenile record."
Castle smiled to discover that she had actually checked for him. "I went with Alexis to pick out her dress. She looked so grown up. I wanted to somehow turn back time! Alexis is practically a woman now but she is still my baby. She has always been and always will be my baby. I don't care how old she is." He sighed sadly but he smiled at the memories of his daughter.
"I fell in love with my Alexis the minute she was put in my arms after she was born. Meredith didn't want to hold her. My wife was on the phone with her personal trainer, she wanted to get her body back in shape fast for a movie audition that was less than a month later. I found out afterwards that she had the doctor induce her labor two weeks early to make sure she was ready for that audition. How could a mother or any woman not want to hold the child she helped to create?" He grabbed a pillow to punch it.
"I was about to find out, Meredith was hardly the perfect mother or wife for that matter. We made an agreement when we discovered she was pregnant. I would care for Alexis and she would go back to work. As a rising young star, she could make more money that I could as a struggling writer. Everyone knew that she was cheating on me. Our marriage had become a Hollywood joke. Her friends were all so kind; they made sure I knew about every man that she slept with. That's when I started to write my first murder mystery."
"Oh my god! The drugged out hooker from Killing Time, and the nymphomaniac from Time to Die are both based on Meredith." Rick just winked but would not confirm it.
Kate was torn between the need to learn more and the fear that Rick would feel uncomfortable around her later but Castle just continued. "By the time I had finished my first novel, I wanted out of the marriage and out of LA. I just left, took Alexis and came to New York. I wanted to check on my mother but I also needed to find a publisher before I could ask for a divorce. Six months later her divorce attorney contacted me. He told me my wife would not contest the divorce or seek custody of Alexis, if I would waive any alimony from her. That was one agreement that attorney would later regret. Meredith was unable to change those terms very much when my books began to sell. She also has to ask for permission if she wants to see Alexis...not that she bothers to see her very often. My baby was the only good thing about my first marriage."
He looked so sad, Kate couldn't resist teasing him just a little in hopes that he might smile. "Except for deep fried Twinkies!"
He looked up startled but then smiled. "Hey, I'm not gay! No self respecting man will ever turn down mind blowing sex, even from an ex-wife. OK, Meredith can be fun and exciting in very small doses but a steady diet of deep fried Twinkies will kill you. Besides she usually only comes to see me now when she wants something and she is not above using Alexis to get what she wants."
"And Gina?"
"That was a whole other kind of stupid. She loved my work...I thought she loved me. I also thought that Alexis needed to have a mom. Little did I know when I married her, that wife number two hates kids. Gina just wanted me to get a leg up in the publishing world. What can I say, I was used!"
His comment reminded Kate of the Delgado case; a series of robberies that led to a woman's murder. Castle had a theory that a gang of thieves were using charity events to find their wealthy victims. To prove his point, he invited Kate to attend a charity event with him as his date, to set a trap for the killer. As she mingled in and among the rich and famous, another female guest came up to Kate, complimenting her for landing the "White Whale". Beckett quickly realized that the woman was referring to Rick. Until then, Beckett assumed that Castle just chased after anything with breasts. She never realized how many women threw themselves at him just hoping to be Mrs. Castle #3. He was rich, much younger than most millionaires and not bad looking…..oh, alright he was cute when he wasn't annoying. From what he just told her, Kate knew he had been hurt once and used at least once. It was no wonder he had a rather jaded view on love and marriage but not on children. In a typical Castle twist, he adored kids, his daughter most of all. Castle once made an offhand comment about the "many layers of Kate Beckett and that she was always surprising him." It seemed that the Richard Castle she once thought she knew was becoming more and more just a façade created for the press and public.
"Mr. Castle?" A woman's voice crackled out of the intercom and startled them both.
Puzzled, Rick looked around the room for the source of the sound. "Yes?"
"I'm sorry, no cell phone will work way down here but I can hold the phone on my desk up to the intercom. I'm not sure that it will work but if you'll give me the number to call, I can try."
"Yes! Great, thank you. The number is 212-555-7425." Kate pointed to the intercom on the wall. Castle walked over to stand beside it as he heard a phone start to ring. "It's a private line to our apartment. I had to put it in because the press and fans kept calling my home number at all hours of the day and night. Only my daughter and my mother have that number, so she will know it's me...Alexis, come on honey, please pick up, its daddy."
"Hello!" "Hello?" Both Martha and Alexis picked up an extension at the same time.
"Hey Pumpkin, I'm just calling to say goodnight to you and you too, Mother."
"Daddy?" Beckett was surprised to hear how young and scared Alexis sounded. She walked closer to Castle. Rick reached for Kate's hand. She watched his eyes close as if he was in pain.
"Hey baby, I was just calling to let you know no matter what the idiots on the news are saying. I am fine, so please don't worry. Kate is here with me and we are both OK. They don't want me to sue the city, so they came up with this whole quarantine thing. Hell of a publicity stunt, too bad Gina didn't think of it. I'll have to use this storyline in one of the next Nikki Heat books."
"Daddy, the other men...from the ship, they all died. The news said it was a plague ship."
"They were sick, honey, before they ever got on board. Kate and I never touched any of them and we were brought to the hospital and decontaminated immediately. They gave us all kinds of shots as a precaution but we are going to have to stay here for a few more days. So Mother, and this scares me more than the thought any plague ship, you are in charge until I can get out of here. No wild, drunken parties and luckily I locked the liquor cabinet before I left."
"Killjoy!" Martha knew that her son was deliberately trying to focus her granddaughter's attention onto other matters.
'Mother, the last time you had a few people over, I was scraping limes from the ceiling for days. Alexis, I will need you to keep an eye on her, so you have my permission to stay home from school until I can get out of here."
"Can I come to see you, please daddy?" I want to see you, know you really are OK. I can bring you your laptop so you can work...and some ice cream. Come on Dad, you know you can't survive a day without your two scoops."
Rick's grip on Kate's hand increased and she saw a tear fall from the corner of his eye. She could see that Rick did not know how to say no to his daughter.
"Please Alexis, no sugar for him. I am trapped in a very small room with your dad for the next few days, the last thing he needs is a sugar rush. I've already threatened to have him sedated."
Rick mouthed the words "thank you" and kissed her hand. "No honey, ice cream sounds really good for dessert but I need some food first, some decent food. What I wouldn't give for a hamburger from Remy's right now. I'll even skip dessert if I could get a chocolate shake and onion rings."
Kate's stomach growled in agreement. "Sounds good to me, make mine strawberry with fries."
"Richard dear, Michael is still here. He dropped me off some time ago but wouldn't leave. I can have him pick up something for you and Kate to eat. Did you need anything else, my darling?" Martha was concerned for her son but did not want to upset Alexis any further. The teenager was trying to be strong but was very close to tears.
"Yes, Mother but please don't send the lap top. Something, anything to read would be appreciated and maybe a deck of cards, so I can teach Kate how to win at poker."
"On its way, kiddo! And Kate, I am so glad you are there to try and keep him out of trouble."
"I'll give it my best shot, Martha but you know how he is. Can you include some skin lotion for me?"
"Will do, but you deserve a medal instead."
"Why thank you Mother, please put Alexis back on. Hey sweetie, just because you get to skip school, I don't want you to stay up too late. You can watch one chick flick and then into bed. Consider yourself hugged until I can do it in person. I love you, baby."
"Love you Dad, Goodnight! Night, Kate."
