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The storm had calmed down during the night and they all had found their ways into bed eventually, even the girls had gone to sleep without much trouble, everyone being tired after the day they had. Kate and Rick had snuggled up to each other once the house was quiet, but now, waking to the early morning sun Castle found his wife's side of the bed empty and cold.
Blinking his eyes against the intruding light he pushed himself up on his elbows, scanning the room to find his wife standing in front of the window, one of their throw blankets wrapped around her.
"You're up early," he yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and watching his wife keep staring out onto the lake. "You okay?"
She simply shrugged and Castle rolled out of bed with a grunt, staying on the living room floor for half of the night had obviously not been the best idea for his aging body. He hissed when his naked feet hit the cold floor, the temperatures much cooler after the storm hadpassed and stepping up behind Kate, he wrapped his arms around her asking, "What's wrong?"
"He sneaked out," she muttered, but Castle had no idea whom she was referring to until he followed her line of sight to spot Jim Beckett out on the dock, talking on the phone.
"He probably didn't want to wake the girls, or the signal is better out there," he tried to reason with her, but knew she already had her mind set on what they had been talking about only two days ago, about the possibility that her father had met someone.
"No," she shook her head, "he's hiding something. I can feel it."
"Then go and talk to him," Castle suggested, feeling her tense in his embrace once the words left his mouth.
"I don't know if I want to hear the truth, if I'm ready for it," she admitted quietly and Castle sighed, pressing a kiss against the top of her head. "I'm not sure how to react if he …," she paused, "I don't want things to be difficult between us, but I'm not sure I can prevent it. It's been so great for the last couple of years. I don't want to lose that," she tried to explain.
"Okay," Castle nodded and pulled her with him, "go back to bed then. It's still early and there's nothing you can do about it right now anyway."
"What about you?", she asked as she let him tuck her back under the covers with another kiss. "You're not gonna stay?"
"I'll get breakfast started," he smiled at her, hoping he was convincing and then left her alone, hoping she would be able to get some more rest.
Castle waited until Jim had ended his call, staying out of earshot before he approached him, hoping not to startle Kate's father, but he obviously hadn't been as stealth in his approach as he had hoped, because before Jim even turned around he already greeted his son-in-law.
"Morning Rick," he smiled. "You're up early."
"Yeah," Castle chuckled, "I sure am. Could say the same about you though."
"I'm an early riser, you know that and I think that's not why you're here. Something on your mind, son?", Jim questioned, eyeing Rick carefully.
"No -, well yes, sort of," he admitted, coming to stand next to the older man, both of them facing the lake. "It's about Kate."
Jim was immediately alarmed, "Is she okay? What's wrong?"
"There's something on her mind that's been troubling her for a while now," Rick started carefully, gauging Jim's reaction.
"And I'm the reason?", her father frowned.
"Yes," Castle nodded slowly. He wasn't quite sure how to approach the subject but in the end decided to just spit it out, knowing Jim appreciated a direct approach. "She thinks you're seeing someone and she doesn't know how she feels about it."
"Oh," was all Jim said before he was silent for a long time.
"So it's true?", Castle finally asked when he couldn't stand the silence any longer.
"Yes and no," Jim replied quietly, keeping his gaze steady out on the water. "I met someone, but I'm not seeing her, not in that way."
"I'm not sure I understand," Rick frowned, knowing Jim always chose his words wisely.
"Her name is Judith, I met her after an AA meeting a couple of months ago. She was in the same building attending a grief counseling group. Her husband has passed away earlier in the year, cancer. We started talking, been out for coffee a couple of times. We talk on the phone a lot, she's become a good friend. But neither her nor I are in a place where we are ready to start something new even if we wanted to. Her loss is still too fresh and I -," he paused, "I have never properly dealt with mine, so we are just two friends helping each other and that's all we will be. At least for now."
"I see, " Castle nodded, before asking, "Why haven't you told Kate about her."
"I didn't want Katie to worry," Jim said, shaking his head. "Look how that turned out."
"Look Jim, I'm not trying to tell you what to do here, but -," Jim cut him off, his hand coming to rest on Castle's shoulder, giving it a squeeze.
"No, no. I know. I'll talk to her. Right after breakfast, I'll explain everything. It was never my intention to hurt her," Jim said. "I just thought it would be the best to wait until I tell her."
"I know," Castle replied, "and I'm sure she'll understand once she knows why."
"Thanks for telling me Rick," Jim smiled, "and for looking out for her. I can never tell you how much that means to me. That she found such a good man."
Castle blushed, "I think I'm the lucky one here."
"Why don't we say, you are both lucky to have each other, mmh?", Jim patted Rick on the back, "Come on, lets get breakfast started for our girls and then I can talk to Katie."
When Kate and Jim returned from their walk after breakfast, Rick was relieved to see a big smile on his wife's face. Obviously the talk between father and daughter had gone well and Kate had her arm linked with her father's as they made their way up to the house laughing about something that Castle couldn't catch over the distance.
"I'll grab my tools," Jim informed them as they stepped up to Rick on the front porch, "I promised Jamie we would have a look at the tree house before we need to leave."
Kate kissed her father's cheek, watching him disappear into the house before turning to her husband with a big grin on her face.
"You okay?", Castle asked nevertheless, always needing to make sure.
"I'm good," she nodded with a smile. "We had a really good talk."
"And how do you feel about the whole situation? About Judith?"
"I actually asked Dad to bring her over for dinner some time," she replied, pride shining in her eyes. "She sounds nice and she seems to be good for him. I think that's all that matters anyway."
"Okay," Rick grinned. "That's great."
"You know it's funny," she frowned, "once he told me that they're just friends, the thought of them becoming more one day wasn't as weird anymore. He deserves to be happy and if Judith makes him happy in whatever way that might be, then that's a good thing and I'm okay with it."
He pressed a kiss against her lips, before pulling her into a tight embrace, her arms slipping around his waist to pull him closer, inhaling his scent and pressing her nose into the crook of his neck.
"Thanks for talking to him," she mumbled into his neck after a moment, pressing her lips against his warm skin.
"I have no idea what you mean," her husband replied innocently.
"You know exactly what I mean," she laughed. " Love you."
"Love you, too."
"So, what have you guys been up to?", Kate asked when she finally pulled away, blinking up at him.
"Not much," Castle shrugged. "I've been doing some packing, brought some stuff to the car and the girls are playing inside. The grass is still pretty wet after the rain."
"I see, any plans for later?", she questioned as she followed him into the house.
"Jim and Jamie want to work on the tree house as you heard and I thought we could just lay low, Alexis and Ellie are still a bit under the weather because of yesterday," he suggested. "And then a late lunch before we head home."
"Sounds good," Kate nodded in agreement, before starting for the stairs. "I'll get the rest of our stuff packed so we don't have to worry about it later."
Castle held her back, "Let me do that, you go and spent some time with the girls. You have to go back to the precinct tomorrow I'm sure they'll enjoy some mommy-time."
"Alright," she smiled and with a quick peck to his cheek left him to do the packing to join the girls in the living room.
They spent a nice quiet last day out at the cabin and after some sandwiches and leftovers for lunch Jim was the first to leave, wanting to visit an old friend on his way. The rest of the family stayed behind, the girls running after their grandpa's car, waving their hands until he couldn't be seen any longer and their parents called them back to the house.
An hour later they had cleaned and locked up the cabin, their belongings and the kids already in the car as Kate and Rick took one last look to make sure everything was in order until their next visit.
"Until we meet again," Rick mumbled quietly at Kate's side and she squeezed his hand.
"Come on, Babe," she finally pulled him away. "Let's go home."
AN: We'll dive into season two next, which will hold a little bit more action for our little family here and the potential of some more conflict.
I seriously wish I could update more often, give this story more time, but it's simply not possible at the moment. I hope you still enjoy it.
"Kids in bed?", Kate asked as Rick made his way back into their bedroom.
"All out," he chuckled. "Even Alexis. Must be all of that fresh air out at the lake."
"Must be," Kate yawned as if to prove his point.
"Tired?", he asked, plopping down next to her and Kate placed the book she was reading on her night stand.
"A bit," she shrugged. "But it was worth it. We had a good time, didn't we?"
"Absolutely," Rick agreed, slipping under the covers and rolling over to her, his head coming to rest in Kate's lap while she was still sitting up against the head board, her fingers starting to run through his hair. "How tired are you exactly?"
Kate chuckled, "Not too tired, if that's what you mean."
"When do you have to be at the precinct?", he asked while his fingers moved under her shirt and upwards.
"Around nine, unless there's a body. Why, you wanna come?"
He shook his head, "No, I have some writing to do. Gina's been asking about the last chapters, they want the book to come out in September."
"I see," Kate sighed as his fingers reached the underside of her breast. "How's Nikki coming along."
"I'll tell you later," Castle muttered, before his lips where on hers.
