"One grande skim latte with two pumps sugar free vanilla, and a bear claw." Rick beams, placing the steaming to go cup and pastry bag down atop of Kate's desk as he slips into the seat residing beside it.
"Thank you." Kate spears him a glance, the edges of her lips curling upwards as she reaches for the styrofoam cup and quickly brings it to her lips and takes a large sip that has her eyes falling closed and her body sliding back into her seat as she leans back. "Oh, that's good."
She'd been working nonstop for the past few days on an old case that was coming up for trial. She'd been prepping and doing so much paperwork she barely had time to leave work, which is why when Rick asked to meet up for coffee, he'd suggested coming to her place of work.
At first she'd been a bit sceptical; was unsure about having coffee together at her work, but the more he went on about the steaming cup of coffee and the decadent bear claw, Kate's mouth was watering and she was immediately telling Rick to hurry up.
"If you think that's good, then you're going to love the bear claw. It's from that Danish café a few blocks away."
Her brow arches as she places the cup down and reaches for the bag, pulling out one of the bear claws and tearing a piece off it. "A few blocks away? Rick, that's almost halfway up state." She shakes her head at him, though a smirk plays upon her lips.
Rick only shrugs, a light shade of red beginning to sweep across his face. 'Going up that far isn't too much trouble for you.' He won't say it, but he'll definitely think it.
"But it was worth the trip, wasn't it?" He waggles his brows at her, his elbow leaning on top of her desk as he watches her pop a bit of the pastry into her mouth.
She can't contain the smile that spreads across her lips as the flavours burst through her mouth, and all she can do is nod her head at him and tear off another piece from the bear claw.
"So, have you spoken to your dad since he called?"
It'd been over two weeks since she'd gotten the drunken call from her father, something that probably wouldn't shake most people. But considering he was an alcoholic, it had shaken Kate up pretty bad.
A sigh tumbles from her lips, her teeth beginning to dig into the inside of her bottom lip as her fingernails drag through the icing covering the bear claw.
"I went to see him, but he tried to tell me that it was nothing – just my imagination." She pauses, placing the pastry down on the brown paper bag and bringing her fingertips to her mouth. "He failed to rid the dozen bottles of beer behind the couch." She shakes her head, riding the icing off her fingertips.
"I'm sorry, Kate."
She shakes her head once more, her gaze coming to land on Rick.
"It's okay. Well, it's not okay, but, what can I do? He doesn't listen to me, and he refuses to let me help him. It's as if I've suddenly become so unimportant to him. You'd think that I wasn't enough to make him happy." Her brows pull together and furrow, her heart beginning to pound as a small lump begins to form in the middle of her throat.
"Kate, I may not know your dad, but I do know what it's like to be one, and I can tell you this – your child is always everything and more to you. You'll love them till the very end and they'll always be important to you, they'll always be enough for you. And sometimes life won't seem so bad and they'll be the only thing that can get you up in the morning. But a broken heart – that's not something easily handled. Losing the love of your life isn't easy and your child may fill that gaping hole inside, but there will always be a part that's missing. A part that nobody aside from the one you lost can fill." He reaches out for her, his hand coming to rest on top of her arm as he watches her head dip, can see the tears beginning to emerge round the rims of her lids and he squeezes her arm.
"Your dad loves you, Kate. And maybe right now it may not seem like it, maybe it seems he's choosing his drinking over you. But, maybe he's a little lost as well and is having trouble trying to adjust to living life without your mom. He looks at you and sees someone with their whole life ahead of them, and then he looks at himself and sees he's already lived half of his life and the one person he spent that with, who he thought would always be by his side is now gone." He stops, tongue sweeping across his bottom lip as his thumb gently brushes back and forth against Kate's bare arm.
"He needs you now more than ever, Kate. But you don't have to do any of it alone. You may have to be strong with him, but you don't have to always be strong with me."
His words seem to flow so naturally, like a lullaby Kate could fall asleep to. So soothing and relaxing; a sense of tranquillity. Nobody's ever had such an effect on her and it gets to her, it really does. She hates getting emotional, hates people seeing her so vulnerable – especially considering they were sitting at her desk in the middle of the ballpit. But his words hit her hard – she hadn't realised just how desperate she'd been to hear the things he's said.
A few tears slip down her cheeks and she lets them fall, allows herself to feel the emotions that are washing across her as Rick's thumb gently runs back and forth across the skin of her arm.
Her chest rises and she sucks in a breath before letting it out and raising her hand to wipe away the tears that had fallen. She laughs slightly, her gaze snapping to land on Rick who's looking at her with so much comfort and warmth in his eyes she almost never wants to look away.
"How do you always know what to say?"
"I'm a writer. It's kinda my job." He shrugs and she rolls her eyes, shoving his hand away lightly. But she appreciates his words, and appreciates him trying to maneuver it back to a rhythm that's them – lightheaded teasing and fun.
"But really – anything you need, and I mean anything, Kate. I'm here to help."
She smiles lightly at him and tips her head as she reaches across to squeeze his knee. "Thank you, Rick."
She manages to get off work at a reasonable time – mainly because her Captain decided she'd been running herself ragged the entire week because of this case and she deserved a night off to relax and recuperate.
She was planning to do just that – order some Chinese food and slip into a warm and relaxing bubble bath with one of her favourite books and a large glass of red. But then she'd ran into Rick in the elevator and somehow after their brief conversation and him telling her he'd dropped Alexis off at his mother's, she'd invited him back to her apartment for dinner.
So now, here they sat on her couch in her living room with multiple boxes of Chinese food between them. It became a somewhat regular occurrence for them. To order Chinese and sit on her couch chatting away about anything and everything.
"I promise I can cook."
"Uh huh." He smirks, though he doesn't doubt she can, she seems to excel in most things. "I'm sure you're not as bad as my mother. Let's just say… nothing is edible if she's in the kitchen – oh, and you should have a fire extinguisher on hand."
They both can't help but laugh, and Kate shakes her head slightly.
"I get it though. You don't have as much time to prep and cook for a meal as I do. Which, isn't a bad thing. I'm not – I don't mean it in a bad way." He frowns and Kate smirks at him, her brow arching as her head tilts to the side. "I just mean – you're busy saving the world, I doubt you'd want to come home and cook a four-course meal, let alone for just one person. So, I understand ordering takeout. It's the easy and fast option." He shrugs, shovelling his fork around in the box of rice he's just picked up.
"I'm better at making breakfast than I am dinner." She shrugs and reaches for her glass of wine.
"Breakfast, huh?"
She nods at him, a small smile tugging at her lips as she digs her teeth into her bottom lip. "Every Sunday my mom would cook up a storm in the kitchen. Eggs, waffles, pancakes, bacon, fresh fruit – everything you can imagine, she cooked it up. My dad and I would come down and the entire table would be packed to the brim. After she died, well… I tried to keep doing it for my dad and I. of course, it wasn't as spectacular and great as she did it. But I like to think I do a good job." She shrugs, and Rick smiles lightly at her.
"I'm sure it's wonderful. And I hope one day I get the pleasure of your breakfast cooking."
Kate smiles back at Rick, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip and pulling it into her mouth as a small shrug leaves her shoulders. "Maybe, if you're lucky." She smirks and Rick's heart can't help but thump.
"You know, all my mother ever did was have me fetching aspirin and water for her every Sunday." He jokes as he watches the smile blossoming across Kate's face. "Your mom really does sound like a wonderful person though, Kate."
"Oh, she was, Rick." Kate's teeth slide through her lips once more, a happy and content sigh falling free. "You would've liked her." She smiles at him a little shyly, her gaze dropping down to her food.
"Well, if she's anything like you. I'm sure I would."
A light blush can't help but creep across Kate's cheeks and she's thankful the lighting in her living room is dim to hide the red surfacing across her cheeks.
"Oh, before I forget. You are officially invited to Alexis' fifth birthday party. She told me the other day that I had to invite you face to face since you live downstairs, and that sending you an invite in the mail would be silly." He pulls his brows together and shakes his head. "I don't know what she's done with my daughter, but I'd like her silliness back. Sometimes I think she's the adult and I'm the child."
"Oh, I have no doubt she's the adult and you're the child, Rick." Kate muses and Rick shoots her a look, though amusement is evident in his face. "I can't believe she's going to be five. She seems so much older and mature."
"Oh, you're telling me. It feels like just yesterday I was holding her for the very first time." He almost pouts as he goes over the memory in his head of a small Alexis barely longer than his forearm, a light array of red hair sticking up everywhere and blue eyes brighter than he's ever seen.
"So, you'll come?" He looks over at her with hopeful eyes and Kate gazes off for a moment, brows pulling together as she ponders, a smirk playing across her lips as she teases Rick with a long-awaited response.
"Of course, I'll come, Rick. I wouldn't miss it." She shakes her head at him and grins.
"Wonderful! She'll be so excited to know you're coming! It's this Saturday at one!"
Her face immediately falls when he tells her the time and what day it is and as he sees her face drop his brows quickly pull together.
"What?"
Her tongue runs along her bottom lip, a sigh falling. "It's just – this case I'm working on. We're working on it nonstop and I don't know if I can get away..." She chews on her bottom lip, sees the slight pout beginning to form on Rick's lips.
"Oh." Rick's frown becomes more evident and another sigh falls from Kate's lips.
She'd grown so fond of the little redheaded girl and she wanted to be there to help her and Rick celebrate.
"I'll see if I can get away. But, I don't know, Rick…"
He shakes his head, his hand lifting in front of him. "Hey, it's fine. Your work has to come first. It's important, and Alexis will understand."
"I promise I'll make it up to her."
"You don't have to, Kate. Really, she probably won't even notice you, let alone me there. She'll be too engrossed with her friends and all the sugar and presents she's getting. Besides, Meredith's coming into town – and Alexis is more excited to see her than she is for her actual party." He shrugs, but it's the truth. He knows that Alexis was already excited for her birthday, but the minute he'd told her, her mother would be flying in to spend the weekend with her, suddenly Alexis didn't care about her birthday and only cared about seeing her mother.
"Well, I'll just have to get her a kickass present to make up for me not being there."
"It can't be too kickass now. You can't outdo me, Katherine Beckett. That would just make me look very, very bad."
Her brow arches before pulling together in a squint, a smirk beginning to form across her lips. "Oh, challenge accepted, Richard Castle."
"Hold the door!" Kate calls out, rushing towards the elevator and as she slips inside thanks to the arm that stuck itself in the way of the metal doors, she meets Rick's gaze.
"Hey." She laughs slightly, head tilting to the side.
It wasn't that weird, them running into each other in the elevator. But it was weird sometimes to run into one another multiple times in a day.
"Hey." Rick gives her a small smile, and she can immediately tell somethings off.
"You okay?" She asks, brows pulling together slightly.
"Oh, yeah, fine." He nods, and does his best to muster up a wider smile. "What are you doing off so early, what about the big case?"
"I'm just dashing home to change then head back." She'd been working since four this morning and after an intense workout at lunch, Kate decided to use her dinner break to head home and slip into a fresh pair of clothes, rather than the extra pair of clothes she kept in her locker at the precinct.
"You don't look fine though, Rick." She chews on the edge of her lip, gaze darting to the numbers on the elevator slowly going up each level.
Rick sighs beside her and she glances back over to him.
"Got a call from Meredith at lunch… Turns out she can't make Alexis' birthday on Saturday."
"She can't make it?"
Rick shakes his head, hands slipping into his pockets.
"Nope. Apparently, she has an audition – one that's a make or break for her career." His tone comes out so bitter as his jaw tightens slightly and Kate reaches out to place her hand against his arm.
"I'm sorry, Rick. That's – well, that really sucks."
She'd never met Meredith, had only ever heard about the things Rick had told her – which didn't paint the nicest image of her. Any good things she heard about the almost ex-wife was from Alexis who seemed to talk about her mother like she hung the moon and the stars in the sky. Which only made Kate admire Rick even more for trying to shield Alexis from the not so good things.
"I just can't believe she'd let Alexis down like this. Cancelling to come visit her any other weekend I could understand. But her fifth birthday? That's a big thing! You know what Meredith said to me?"
Kate shakes her head, still looking at Rick.
"She's going to have more birthdays, so it's not that big of a deal if she misses one. If she misses one. I can't believe she said that! Sometimes I wonder if she even really loves Alexis as much as she says she does." His head shakes, anger beginning to course through his body.
"The worst part is – when I told Alexis." He stops, eyes closing as his hand comes up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "I've never seen her look sadder in her entire life. And she's had some pretty sad moments – when her pet goldfish passed away and when we moved just before Christmas and she thought Santa wasn't going to be able to find us." He rubs a hand over his face and Kate reaches out to stop the elevator as it almost comes to her floor. If Rick notices, he doesn't say anything about it.
"Each time Meredith has cancelled and I've had to tell Alexis, she's disappointed. But not as disappointed as she was today. She was so excited to show Meredith everything and share her special day with her." His head shakes, his fingers curling into his fists. "How could a mother not want to show up for their own child's birthday? Especially a fifth birthday! You only have one of those once."
She doesn't know what to say, has never been good with words. That's not her specialty and all Kate can do is grip Rick's arm and run her hand up and down it.
"Hey, she'll have you and your mother there."
"Yeah, but she sees us all the time. She barely sees her mother, and when she does – it's special for her. When I dropped her off at preschool earlier… she was so sad. I watched her outside the window for a few minutes and she just sat in the corner flipping through a book while all the other kids played outside. Completely broke my heart. I can't believe Meredith would do this… that she'd ruin Alexis' special day like this."
Kate's teeth slowly dig into her bottom lip before her lips are shrewing to the side and she's shifting her gaze to the ground, pondering for a moment.
She knew it may not mean that much, and she knew it would be completely difficult to get the day off to attend Alexis' birthday, but her Captain was always very understanding and willing to give her time off. She could always put it down to needing extra time to recuperate so she could give this case her all, and instead attend Alexis' party to hopefully put a smile on Rick and Alexis' face.
"Besides Alexis' broken heart, now I'm going to have no help fending off all the single mom's." He mutters, chuckling slightly, and Kate knows his sense of humour is always a defence mechanism – a way for him to process and deal with everything.
"I'll be there."
"Huh?"
"I'll be there to help fend off the single mom's." The edges of her lips twitch slightly as she looks over at him.
"But… your case?"
"I'm allowed days off, Rick."
"You can't, Kate… Your work is important."
"And so are you and Alexis."
Her chest can't help but rise as she sees a twinkle form in one of his eyes and she reaches out to wrap her fingertips around the bone of his elbow, squeezing it lightly. "I'll talk to my Captain, and then Saturday at one I'll be there." She smiles a little wider at him, sees a smile beginning to tug on his own lips.
"You know… I think that may just put a smile back on Alexis' face."
"Good. That's what I'm hoping for." She squeezes his arm one last time before turning back to the buttons and letting the elevator continue.
She stares ahead while Rick stares at her in awe an amazement. His heart thuds, a feeling he hasn't felt in a while starting to surge through his body, and he knows he's a goner. Probably knew from the first day he'd met her. But she never seizes to amaze him and he wonders what good he's done to deserve someone like Kate Beckett in his life.
