A/N: Hi guys! I hope you didn't find the wait too long :) If you like fluff, you're going to enjoy this chapter a lot :P

Big THANK YOU! to my beta CastleWriter16 who took the time to edit this even with a migraine. You're the best Twin! ;)

I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. Please let me know what you think :)


Chapter 9

It was around 7 pm when Kate managed to leave the precinct for the night. After finishing most of the paperwork related to Alyssa's case, she had dismissed the boys, debriefed Gates, and had a final cup of coffee before packing up and heading out.

She walked out of the building lobby, discarded the idea of hailing a cab, and started walking; it was a warm sunny day and she needed the time to think. For all she knew, there was an army of paparazzi waiting outside Castle's door, and she needed to come up with a plan of action. Should she call him and ask him to tell Eduardo to let her in through the back door? Should she try to disguise herself in some way and go through the main door? Or maybe she should just stop overreacting and go, enter the building and let them come to their own conclusions?

Gosh, when did life become so freaking complicated? First the kid and now this…


She arrived at Castle's building by 7:45, and the moment she caught eye of the press, her legs started shaking. She had been walking for over 40 minutes and she still had no idea what to do.

It was clear that she wasn't ready to face the media just yet, so she took out her phone and dialed her boyfriend's number.

"Hello?" Came the voice of a young woman.

"Alexis?" Kate asked, a little surprised that she was answering her father's phone. "Is everything ok?"

The girl chuckled. "Yes. Everything's fine. Dad's giving Aidan a bath and asked me to answer for him."

Oh. "Do you think I could talk to him for a minute?"

"Well, he's kind of soaked… The kid wanted to play pirates and Dad got a little carried away. You should see him." Alexis said, her voice full of amusement, pride and something that resembled longing.

Kate laughed at that, not needing to see the man to know what he would be looking like right then. "I can imagine. Look, I'm down here, but there are like a gazillion paparazzi at the door and…" She trailed off, unsure of how to explain her abhorrence of the press to the girl.

Alexis smiled, nodding her head, even when she knew Kate couldn't see her. "Oh, I see. Let me call Eduardo, ok? He'll let you in from behind; don't worry. The door is right beside the car entrance. You'll find it easily." The girl informed her.

"Ok. Thanks, Alexis. You just saved my life."

The redhead laughed softly. "No problem. See you in a bit." She said, and then she hung up to call the doorman.

Kate circled the building and found Eduardo already waiting for her at the back door. She thanked the man for his help and made her way up to the loft, her legs still a little shaky.

She found herself at the red door in no time, waiting for a member of the Castle household to let her inside.

The door cracked open and she was received by Martha's enthusiastic embrace. "Kate, darling! You made it." The actress said, crushing Kate against her. "Was Eduardo fast enough? Did anyone see you?"

"Um, no; I think I managed to get inside without being seen. How is it that there are so many people outside? I had never seen such a fuss here before. Not even for a book release." She said, putting her jacket away in the closet by the door and following Martha into the kitchen, where the woman was already serving her a glass of wine.

"Oh, they're like hyenas, dear. When they smell the carrion you can't get rid of them." She said, handing Kate the glass she had just filled. "Richard's said that he's going to call Paula; have her send a press release so they leave us alone for a while. I don't think that's going to work, though."

Kate swallowed the sip of wine she had taken with difficulty. These were going to be hard times.

Right that moment Alexis came down the stairs with a very tired Aidan holding her hand. The second the kid saw Kate, he let go of the redhead and ran to her, clutching his chubby, little arms around her thigh like a koala.

"Hey, little bug! A little birdie told me you just had a bath." Kate told the kid, ruffling his wet, dark locks. "Did you have fun playing pirates with Rick?"

Aidan yawned and nodded. "Yes! I have a sword!"

"You have a sword? Wow!" She smiled, looking at a very wet Castle who was coming down the stairs toweling his hair. "Why am I not surprised?"

The writer shrugged and gave her an innocent grin before he leaned in and kissed her. "Hi, beautiful."

"Hi." She replied on a sigh.

"I see you made it safe and sound? Alexis told me you called."

The detective nodded, trying to follow him and the other two women to the couch with the boy still clasped to her leg.

Alexis laughed. "Why does he do that?" She asked, amused.

"I have no idea, but it's a little bit weird. He's only seen me twice in his life." Kate replied, having to stay standing since the boy wouldn't let go of her. "Hey, bug, wanna sit there with me?" She pointed to the spot on the couch right beside Castle. "I'm a little tired."

The kid looked at the patch of couch Castle was now patting and then back to Kate before he nodded and let go of her leg.

"Thank you."

Martha tried to hide her smile behind the glass of wine she was holding, but she failed miserably. "He really likes you, Kate." She said.

Alexis nodded. "Yeah. It must have something to do with the Castle genes. You got us all under your spell." The young woman joked. "Huh, Dad?"

Castle, who was completely absorbed in looking at Kate, turned to look at his daughter, completely lost. "Huh?"

The girl laughed softly and shook her head in amusement.

A comfortable silence filled the living room as they remained just sitting there for a while, Castle and Alexis in the middle, flanked by Martha and Kate, who had little Aidan sitting in her lap, his little hands playing lazily with the fringe on her scarf.

A few minutes passed until Castle's stomach made itself known with a loud growl, making laughter explode in the room.

"Wow, Dad, you could just have said you were hungry." Alexis said through a burst of laughter.

The writer shook his head. "What, and ruin the mood? This is so much more fun."

Martha stood up and walked to the kitchen, opening the drawer where they kept all the brochures and menus from their favorite take-out places. "Ok, kiddo, do you like pizza?" The woman asked the little one.

Aidan looked at Kate a little confused. "It's time for dinner, sweetie. Do you want pizza?" Kate asked him again.

The kid gave her a little nod and then snuggled closer to her, burying his head in her chest.

Kate was starting to get worried about the boy's behavior towards her. She liked the kid and was more than flattered that he felt so comfortable with her, but she found it odd that he felt so attached to her when he hardly knew her.

Castle noticed her subtle nuisance and turned his attention to Aidan. "Hey little man, wanna come here with me while Kate goes and changes her clothes?" He asked, stretching his arm towards the boy.

Aidan shook his head and clutched his arms around Kate's neck. "No. I want with Katie."

"I know, Aidan. She's not going anywhere, just to the bedroom to change into something more comfortable. You like being in your jammies, right?" He tried to negotiate with no success. "Come on, don't you want to play with me?" He pouted.

The kid smiled a little bit but didn't let go of Kate's neck.

"Ok, little bug. You need to let go of me. I have to get changed and ready for dinner, ok? I'll be back in no time. I promise. Go play with Rick."

Aidan's eyes filled with tears in a second, but he nodded and removed himself from Beckett's lap and climbed into Castle's, still looking firmly at the detective.

Kate's heart broke a little at the sad look in the boy's face, so she leaned down, took his face in her hands and kissed his forehead. "I'll be back so soon you won't even notice that I left."


Later that night, after everyone had gone to bed and she and Rick had had their first hand to hand in one week, they talked about Aidan and his fixation with Kate.

"I'm not saying it makes me uncomfortable or anything, Rick. It's just weird that he feels so attached to me so suddenly." Kate said, her hand brushing his side lazily. "You're supposed to be his dad. He's spent more time with you and knows you better. Shouldn't he be more clingy with you?"

"Well, that'd be the rational thing, yes. But he's never had a dad before. His whole world consisted on his mother and I guess he just feels more comfortable with you. He's not used to have a masculine figure around and he doesn't trust me." Rick rationalized.

Kate looked up at his face searching for some kind of discomfort, but she found nothing. "And you're ok with that?" She asked.

He laughed. "No, of course not. But there's nothing I can do, is there? I guess he'll trust me with time."

Kate's face became serious, and pushed herself up so she could look at him in the eyes before asking, "You're keeping him, aren't you?" Castle just looked at her, his face blank. "Even if he's not yours. You're going to keep him."

He sighed and nodded. "Yes. I… He has no one else, Kate. I can't leave him now."

She bit her lip and then leaned down to put a kiss to his nose. "I know."

Before she could retreat from her position, he pushed her head down to his again, so he could trap her lips with his. They kissed for a few minutes until things started escalating into something more and more passionate. Their hands became more daring and soon she was straddling his hips, frantically rocking against him.

The sheets fell down Kate's back, leaving her bare in the dim light of the room, their gasps and moans becoming more urgent with every movement of their hips. Rick grabbed Kate's neck and made her meet his lips once again, turning them over and making her yelp in surprise.

She smiled mischievously at that; grabbing his rear end and pushing him closer to where she wanted him more, making his breath catch in his throat. Kate let out a loud moan just at the same time as the bedroom door burst open and Aidan ran to the bed screaming.

"Katie, Katie, Katie, Katie!" The kid called.

The detective pulled the sheets over her body, trying to cover herself as best as she could, as she signaled Rick to hand her his shirt, which laid discarded by the end of the bed.

"What is it, sweetheart? You ok?" She asked, concerned by the kid's urgency.

The boy climbed on the bed and wrapped his arms around her neck. "I thought you left." He said.

"I didn't leave, bug. I'm right here."

Rick took the occasion to put on his underwear and a shirt and offered to take the boy to the bathroom so Kate could get properly dressed. "It'll be a moment, buddy. We'll be back in no time."


About an hour later, they were lying in bed with a sound asleep Aidan between them, his head resting on Kate's chest.

"This is how our nights are going to be from now on, aren't they?" She asked, stroking the kid's head softly.

Castle smiled and reached to touch her face. "Probably. Yeah." He admitted. "I know it's not the most romantic way to end the night, but it's certainly a beautiful one."

The detective gave him a bright smile and kissed the hand he was cupping her face with. "Good night, Rick."

"Good night, Kate. Sweet dreams."


Kate's free day morning started early. Very early.

Aidan woke up at 6 am and decided that it was the perfect time to jump in the bed, with such luck that he landed on Kate's stomach, waking her up the worst way possible.

Castle grunted at the sudden turmoil and Kate took the kid out of the room to feed him breakfast. She sat him on the table, fixed him some cereal and then went to pick the paper from the doormat.

She was curious about what had been going on the day before, so she went directly for Page Six, and there it was; a picture of Carla Santino and a big black headline that read:

'Lover's Best Friend Talks About Big Rick's New Love Child'

Classic, Kate thought. They should have known it had been her who talked to the press; also, 'love child'? Rick couldn't even remember Alyssa's name when he saw her at the gymnasium.

This was going to piss him off. A lot.


When Castle woke up, he read the paper and called Paula right away, telling her that she had to stop it as soon as possible.

"I can't go out of my apartment, Paula. They're everywhere!" He yelled. "It's only been a day and it's already getting out of control. We can't go on like this."

While Rick talked to Paula, Kate was sitting in the living room, watching Aidan while he played with his plane and some other toys Castle had bought him the day before.

She wasn't paying much attention to the TV until something caught her eye. A woman, some blonde bimbo with blue eyes and big breasts, was talking to a reporter outside a small house in the suburbs.

"Yes. It's true. We slept together a couple of times and I got pregnant." The woman turned and picked up a little girl from the floor. She'd be around four or five years old and had light brown hair and big blue eyes. "Her name is Cassie; she's five. Don't you want to meet her, Ricky? She's your daughter." The woman cried. "She needs her daddy."

Kate's mouth hung open and she dropped the remote. She couldn't believe this. Another one? Could it be true? She just didn't know what to believe.

After taking a minute to recover, she stood up and went to the study to tell Castle, her hands trembling like crazy.

"Rick?" She called.

He was still on the phone with Paula and made her a sign to hold on.

Kate shook her head. "Rick!"

"Honey, I'm on the phone!" He replied a little annoyed.

Kate glared at him and pointed to the door. "You need to see this."

TBC


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