Chapter 8


Rick woke up the next morning to the sound of giggling outside his bedroom door. Lifting his head off his pillow, he looked at the alarm clock on the side of his bed, checking the time.

It was nearly 10:30.

Well that hadn't happened in a while.

He heard his bedroom door creak open and watched as a little head of shaggy hair ducked inside.

Nicholas however was still unaware that Rick was awake. Rick watched as Nick quietly shut the door behind him before dropping swiftly onto his knees, crawling slowly over towards the bed where Rick was currently laying down. Rick lost sight of him once he got towards the edge of the bed. But Nicholas stayed crouched down low. Rich heard him mumbling to himself as he tried to stay hidden from view.

His son was apparently on a covert ops mission. Nothing could stop him from completing the task at hand.

Rick smiled.

Rick heard the floorboards by the bed start to creak, the sheets surrounding him pulling tighter against him as Nick used them to pull himself up off the ground. Nicholas's head slowly became more visible over the edge of the bed, his eyes still closed shut, his breathing even.

When he was finally standing upright, his knees locked and feet planted firmly on the ground, Nick took a deep breath and opened his eyes quickly, the way he would if he had been hit with a bucket of cold water.

When Nick saw that Rick's eyes were open, and staring at him no less, he let out a loud gasp, his hand flying to cover his heart (his hand on the right side of his chest) and staggered backwards away from the bed.

Rick couldn't help it. He laughed. He laughed loudly, despite the fact that his throat felt like someone had scratched his esophagus with a rusty knife. Nick was definitely his father's son.

"Daddy!" Nicholas whined, "Why aren't you sleeping?"

Rick stifled his laughter, looking at his son with a smile.

"Sorry, little man. I just woke up."

Nick pouted, and Rick had to bite back another chuckle. Looking at his son's put out expression, Rick shifted so he was leaning up against his headboard and then patted the space next him.

"Come on up."

Nick didn't need to be told twice. Before Rick even had a chance to move and help him get up, Nick had his hands braced against the edge of the bed, using all of his strength as he pulled himself up on top of the mattress. When he finally pulled himself up, he clambered over towards Rick, immediately curling up against his side. Rick tugged him closer, wrapping his arm around his shoulders.

"So, my little secret agent," Rick said softly, "what was your mission this morning?"

Nick huffed in distaste.

"I can't tell you that Daddy," Nick said, his tone suggesting that it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Then it wouldn't be a secret anymore."

Rick shook his head, silently shaking with laughter, before tugging Nick a little tighter against his side, running his hand gently up and down his arms.

They sat in silence for a moment, Rick trying to make the headache that was undoubtedly still there because of everything that had happened the night before go away by focusing on his son's breathing.

A few minutes later, Nicholas broke the silence with a horrified gasp.

"Daddy," Nicholas's said, his face crumpling in concern, "what happened to your hand?"

Rick looked down at his covered knuckles, the bruises peeking out under what the bandage and medical tape his mother had put on it the night before couldn't cover.

Immediately, Rick's mind went into overdrive, trying to think of an excuse that would appease the 5 year old without scaring him. Telling his son that Daddy had a mental breakdown and went completely blind with fury and overwhelming sadness and helplessness the night before because he was finally confronted with the reality that his mother was gone and wasn't ever coming back didn't seem like the right thing to say.

But, Rick realized almost as quickly, he couldn't lie to him.

Rick took a deep breath.

"Last night I got a little upset…" He paused, "I did some things that I shouldn't have done and got hurt because of it."

Nick nodded before running his tiny fingers lightly over the bandage.

"Are you okay now?"

Rick exhaled unsteadily, "Yeah, bud. I'm fine."

"Does it hurt?"

Rick nodded, "A little bit. But it'll be better before you know it."

Nick bobbed his head before letting the subject drop.

Rick straightened up, his back cracking before he exhaled loudly.

"So, Nick, do we have any plans for today?"

Nick shook his head. "Nope, Grandpa brought me and Lexi home a little while ago. Grams made us lunch and then told me to come get you."

He had no doubt that Martha was telling Alexis the basics of what happened the night before, knowing that she respected her son's need to be strong too much to give her all of the dirty details.

"Then how about this," Rick said, his tone hinting at something exciting. Nicholas looked at him expectantly. "I have a few errands I need to run today. Why don't you come with me?"


Rick had been going to the same hole-in-the-wall watchmaker ever since he bought his first watch right after his first book had been published and he got his first paycheck.

He had searched every department store in New York City, looking at Rolexes and Omegas but nothing he saw was worth the amount of money he was going to spend on a watch. None of the watches screamed "Richard Castle" to him. They were either too much, or not nearly enough.

He had stopped into the old watch shop on a whim after hitting another dead end at yet another department store. The old man behind the counter had introduced himself as soon as Rick had approached the counter.

They had immediately struck up a friendship. The old Jewish man and his wife, 4 months pregnant at the time, had emigrated to the U.S. from Poland as soon as Hitler had come into power in Germany. His wife had claimed that she immediately knew that nothing good was going to come out of it, and they were better off trying to start over new than try to keep living in Europe.

They came to New York and with the little money they had bought the store and started a watch-making industry. Their son was born a few months later, and the old man sold his first watch only a few weeks after that.

Everything single watch in the store had been made by hand. The bands, the watch face, the hands and the circuitry inside of them had all been created by a steady hand, and a seemingly unending stream of patience. Moldings were all done in the back of the store and his wife did all of the engravings by hand.

Rick had been shocked. The store was filled with hundreds upon hundreds of watches. Pocket watches on long chains sat under glass countertops next to the women's watches, each different yet beautiful in its own way.

When the older gentleman, who said his name was Bernard, told Rick he could make him a custom watch, Rick had jumped on the opportunity. It had cost him a small fortune, but it was worth it. It was exactly what he wanted.

He had bought Alexis a watch here after she graduated from University.

This is where Rick had taken Kate's watch to get it repaired after the explosion in her apartment.

He had brought her there once when they had passed it on the street after they had gotten engaged, and she had indulged him because he just looked so excited to show her the place. She tried to hide it, but she was just as amazed as he had been the first time he had walked into the shop.

He introduced her to Bernard and Edmund, his son, who he was preparing to take over the business because arthritis had started to form in the joints in his knuckles.

This is where Kate had gotten him the watch that she had given him on their wedding day.

Bernard had retired from the watch-making business since the last time he had been in there, but he still sat proudly behind the counter, laughing with his son who liked like he was polishing the front of a pocket watch. When they heard the bell ring out, signaling that someone had entered the shop, they both looked up to see Rick and Nicholas walking hand in hand into the store, Nicholas looking around with the same sense of awe that both of his parents had had upon entering the store for the first time so many years ago.

"Richard!" Bernard called out from behind the counter, his European accent still thick even after all of the years he had spent in New York, "Welcome back, son!"

Rick smiled at the old man, greeting him in kind, "Hello Bernard, long time no see."

Both of the men behind the counter stood up, walking to meet the two of them, both of them shaking Rick's hand.

Bernard looked down over the counter, looking at Nicholas with a smile on his face, who was watching the scene unfold in front of him with rapt attention.

"And who is this Richard?"

Rick smiled before reaching down and picking up Nicholas, who had suddenly gone shy on him, "Bernard, Edmund, this is my son, Nicholas."

The two of them were both aware of what had happened to Kate. It had been all over the papers and they had sent flowers to the funeral home where the services were being held. Both Bernard and Edmund knew that Kate and Rick had had a son together, but this was the first time they had met him.

He looked so much like her.

Bernard smiled at the young boy, reaching out a hand and patting Nick's cheek.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Nicholas. We're happy to know you."

Nicholas smiled before pressing his face against his father's neck, mumbling a "nice to meet you, too."

The three men smiled before Edmund spoke up.

"So, is there something you need, Rick?"

Rick nodded, placing Nicholas back on the ground and reaching into the pocket of his jacket and pulling out his broken watch, placing it in the hands of the younger gentleman.

"I'm pretty sure the battery died," Rick said quietly, his fingers tracing the glass on the watch face.

Both Bernard and Edmund immediately recognized the watch. They had made it together. The pearl stone face set against the shining platinum of the metal surrounding it, the hands and number skinny and silver with a touch of black on the sides to make it pop out against the ivory of the face. And of course, the inscription on the back that she had insisted upon with a smile, tearing up when she said the four words to them nearly 6 years earlier.

Thank you for waiting.

If they noticed the blood on the edges, they didn't show it.

Edmund looked up at Rick, a small smile on his face.

"Give us an hour and we'll fix it and shine it up nice and pretty. It'll be as good as new the next time you see it."

Rick nodded his head in thanks, deeply grateful that they understood. He grabbed Nicholas's hand and led him back out of the store.

Rick was about to open his mouth and ask Nicholas if he was in the mood for ice cream when he saw it.

He looked across the street and saw the window display in the leather goods store and immediately froze, though his thoughts were racing through his mind at a mile a minute.

He saw it all unfolding before his eyes, his plan taking shape and spinning around so fast that it knocked him breathless.

It was brilliant. It was perfect.

He couldn't believe that he hadn't thought of it sooner.

He looked down at his son, knowing how much he would appreciate it. Maybe not so much now, but in the future? It would be indispensable. For both of them.

Nick, noticing that something was off, looked up at Rick with his head cocked to the side, his green eyes that looked so much like Kate's looking up at him.

Rick's smile grew.

"Come on," he said, still smiling, "let's go."

With that, he led Nicholas to the nearest crosswalk, waiting for the green man to tell him it was safe to walk and looking both ways before crossing. When the light changed, the two Castle's walked across the street, and Rick and Nicholas walked into the store.


Worth Setting Free, by The Mess


(we're getting to the home stretch)

(I never said "happy"
I said "hopeful".)