"Kevin you can't tell anyone."
"Castle already knows. He was with me last night," Ryan reveals.
"Just don't tell anyone else."
"You're not afraid that Castle will tell Beckett?"
"I really can't think about that right now," Esposito's phone buzzes.
"Why not?"
"We have a case," Esposito answers, avoiding the question.
He's lying in bed in the dark, wide awake. He stares up at the ceiling, and sighs loudly. He hears a groan coming from the other side of the bed.
"Rick, what is bothering you?"
"Nothing, why do you think that something is bothering me?"
"Because you have been over there sighing for the last hour."
"Don't worry about it."
"I'm not. I would just like to get some sleep. It is already after midnight. Just tell me what is on your mind so you'll stop thinking about it. I would like to go to sleep."
"Telling you isn't going to make me stop thinking about it."
"Is it a dilemma that I can help solve?"
"It's not a dilemma. It's just a puzzle."
"Can I help solve it, so that I can go to sleep?"
"I don't think so."
"You want to tell me what it is about?"
"I am not supposed to discuss it with you."
"What are you talking about?" She rolls towards him.
"I was sworn to secrecy."
"By whom?"
"Ryan."
"Ryan? What did he swear you to secrecy about? You might as well tell me, because you know that I will figure it out eventually."
"I am just amazed how people always find a way to surprise us. Just when you think that you have gotten to know someone you find out something about them that changes everything you thought you knew."
"Can you be more specific?"
"It is just so hard for me to imagine," he admits.
"What?"
"I can't tell you," he reminds her.
"Rick, I am not playing this game. I have been awake since four o'clock this morning. Tell me what it is so we can put this to rest, please," she insists, impatiently.
"It's about 'Sito."
"What about him?"
"Do you know that he has a kid?"
"What?!"
"He has a kid."
"Castle, don't be ridiculous."
"I'm not."
"Clearly, you are delirious."
"I'm not," he disagrees.
"What makes you think, for a second that Javier Esposito, bachelor extraordinaire has a child?"
"I saw her with my own eyes."
"Is this one of those times where you see something, and make up an entire story in your head that seems logical to you, but is in fact completely false?"
"No, this is not one of those times."
"Just because you saw a kid that looks like him does not automatically mean that it is his kid."
"You do not even know in what context I saw her."
"So tell me."
"Ryan overheard a conversation the other day, while he was on the phone with Esposito. He thought he heard a kid in the background that called Javier, dad. I told him he was crazy, but I like any true friend would do, I agreed to assist him in his investigation. We followed him home the other night."
"That's where you were the other night? You were parked in front of Javier's apartment? Did you actually see a kid, or is this all just supposition?"
"Ryan and I were parked on the street. I had binoculars."
"So you were looking into Javi's apartment? Rick, that is an invasion of privacy on so many levels. I think that you owe the man an apology."
"I think that he owes all of us an apology."
"What makes you say that?"
"I saw her in the window."
"You saw her?"
"And she spotted me."
"Castle, I don't know what you think you saw, but..."
He cuts her off, "It doesn't matter what I think I saw, because the next day Ryan confronted Javier about it. Javier admitted to it."
"You're saying that Javi has a child?"
"He has a thirteen year old daughter," Castle confirms.
"Maybe he didn't tell you because he just found out about her," Kate suggests.
"Nope. He's known about her from day one. He has been a part of her life the entire time that we have known him. He has been keeping her from us all this time."
"So now that you've told me can I go to sleep?" she rolls back over.
"What?!" His voice cracks, "I just told you that 'Sito has a thirteen year old daughter that he never mentioned to any of us, why are you not outraged? Why don't you feel completely betrayed?"
"I am, and I do, but I am too exhausted to discuss this any further. I am sure that Javi had his reasons. Did you ever stop and think that he is just trying to protect her?"
"Yep, and that isn't why he never told us."
"What is your theory on why he has never told us?" She questions knowing she will not be permitted to sleep until he is finished.
"You are absolutely right, that is part of the reason, but not all of it. I think that the reason he never told us was because of her mother. I think he doesn't want us to know who she is. Maybe he is trying to protect her, I don't know."
"Do you have any idea how incredibly crazy you sound right now?"
"If he was just trying to protect his daughter he would have confided in his partner. After everything they have been through together, he would have mentioned it to Ryan. He didn't. I think the reason that he never told Ryan was because he didn't want Ryan to investigate. He didn't want Ryan to start digging around, and find out the truth."
"Who exactly do you think her mother is?"
"An undercover agent, or maybe an important member of the military. She could be a spy, or a diplomat. I don't know who it is, but I am going to find out."
"Let it go," she begs.
"I can't."
"This is not your battle to fight. If Ryan wants to ask those kinds of questions, he can, but you can't."
"Aren't you even curious what she's like? Don't you want to meet her? Why don't you care?"
"I just want to go to sleep."