Sorry for the very late update. For those of you who are still reading: I hope you enjoy this chapter.
O-o-o-o-o
"Are you sure you are going to be alright?" asked Castle for the millionth time. At least it felt like it for Alexis.
She groaned. "Yes dad"
"Because I could stay here if you weren't" He continued.
"And cancel a date with Kate Beckett?" Alexis arched a brow at her father. "No way. You've been swooning over her for almost three years. I won't let you cancel a date with her"
"Right" Castle said, remembering that this was probably the most important first date of his life. Canceling wasn't really an option. "But if anything happens…"
"… I'll call you immediately" Alexis finished. "Now go, get dressed! You don't want to be late, do you?"
o-o-o-o-o
Kate threw another look in the mirror. Was her make-up okay? How was her hair? Did the dress stay where it should? She eyed herself critically, wondering what Castle would think about her appearance.
God, why was she so fucking nervous? Logically there really was no reason to feel insecure. All her adult life Kate had been self-confident about her appearance. And she knew for sure that Castle really really liked her looks.
But there was just something about this date that made her incredibly nervous. Which was ridiculous because she already knew Castle. They were friends already. They had already kissed. She already liked him. Really liked him.
And that was the problem, wasn't it? That she liked (okay, loved) him so much that she feared she was going to ruin it tonight.
Before she could start thinking about all the ways she could possibly screw this up, there was a knock at her door. Kate took a deep breath before slipping into her high heels and opening the door.
She was greeted with a very handsome looking Castle who currently held the most beautiful flowers in his hands that Kate had ever seen. He gave her his brightest smile before scanning her body.
For a moment he just stared at her, mouth slightly open. Kate felt her nerves flutter.
"You look absolutely stunningly beautiful" said Castle and Kate blushed slightly.
"Thanks Castle" she said, stepping back so he could come in. "You don't look so bad yourself."
„I didn't know if you wanted to go out or stay in your apartment. So I made a reservation at a restaurant but I brought groceries and wine and a selection of movies too." Castle said. „oh, and candles" he added as an afterthought.
Kate could already kiss him. He was so thoughtful.
„But I see you dressed to go out, so…" Castle started but Kate interrupted him.
„I dressed like this for you, not for some waiter at some restaurant" she told him honestly and watched his eyes sparkle. „Would be a shame to let these candles go to waste, wouldn't it?"
„Yes, absolutely" Castle nodded eagerly and stepped into her apartment when she opened the door wider. She closed the door while he shrugged out of his jacket.
„So what did you bring?" Kate asked, nodding at the paper bag in his hand.
„Chicken, some vegetables, some other things" he told her. „Want me to cook for you?"
„No way!" Kate said, taking the bag from him. „You already brought the food, I'm not gonna let you cook in my kitchen on our first date. We can do it together?" she suggested.
„Of course, good idea" Castle agreed.
Kate smiled back at him. She hoped this was a good idea. She didn't usually cook with other people. Not that she cooked that often anyway…
When she'd been younger she'd loved to cook with her mother. They were always such a good team. They were singing and chatting and gossiping all the time. She'd liked cooking with her dad too. With him she'd worked in companionable silence. As a teenager she'd liked cooking with Maddie and some other friends too. It hadn't always worked out, sometimes they had to throw away entire burned meals but they had always had fun.
But in her adult life she'd only once cooked with another person. That had been with Will. It had ended in total disaster, almost in a break up and she'd decided that she'd never do it again. At least not with a boyfriend. Certainly not on a date. But with Castle… well, Castle was an exception from many of her rules.
„How about I prepare the chicken while you cut the vegetables?" Castle asked after he'd unpacked the groceries.
„Sure" Kate agreed. „Do you have a recipe?" she asked.
„Um… no. I usually just throw things together and see what happens" he scratched his head and threw her an adorable smile. „Is that okay? Or do you want me to find a recipe on my phone?"
„No, it's okay. Let's see what happens" she smiled back at him and went to take the vegetables and a slicing board to start working on their meal.
„Great" Castle said and took another slicing board. Then they both noticed that they needed a knife too and reached for one. In doing so they bumped their heads against each other's.
„Sorry" they said in unison and started to laugh.
„Take it" Kate said. „I'm getting another one from the drawer."
Once Castle finished cutting the chicken he turned around to get some spices he could use on it. Kate who'd finished cutting the vegetables took a step back and stumbled over Castle's foot. She gasped and would have fallen backward and hit the floor if Castle wouldn't have caught her before that could happen.
If it were any other person than Castle this would have been already too much for Kate. Bumping heads and stumbling over feet wasn't what she usually wanted to include in the process of cooking a meal. But bumping heads with Castle and being caught in his arms to prevent her from falling wasn't that bad.
On the contrary, she enjoyed being held in his arms now. She'd even forgotten why she'd taken a step back in the first place when she saw the smile on his lips and the amused glint in his eyes.
„Careful, Beckett. You should watch where you go" he teased, still holding onto her. „Maybe you should put your high heels back on. Seems like you can hold your balance better while wearing those murder shoes" he said and Kate couldn't help but laugh. He was funny after all. She often had to bite her lip or hide her amusement with a roll of her eyes at the precinct but now she laughed.
Castle just smiled. He felt so happy right now, he thought his chest was going to burst with love for her. She was so incredibly beautiful. Especially when she laughed so freely.
„Maybe we should start drinking wine so you have an excuse next time you stumble" he winked at her.
„Oh, just shut up, Castle" she said, still laughing. „But yeah, we can open the wine" she said and pulled out of his arms to get them glasses from the cabinet.
O-o-o-o-o
„I want another one" Sophie said. „Pizza is my new favorite food."
Alexis had made home-made pizza for Sophie and the little girl just loved it. She'd already had five slices of pizza.
But now the elder girl shook her head. „I think you had enough. I don't want you to feel sick later because you had too much pizza, Sophie. Plus, we want to have some ice cream later, don't we?"
„Yes! Ice cream!" Sophie exclaimed.
Alexis laughed. „Yeah, you are definitely dad's daughter" she muttered under her breath before she said „Yes, but later. Now we are going upstairs and get our nails and hair done okay?"
„Okay" Sophie beamed in excitement. „Can I have blue and pink nails? Blue and pink are my most favoritest colors"
„Of course. You can have whatever colors you want" Alexis told her, smiling.
They walked up the stairs together. At Alexis door Sophie paused and looked up at her older sister.
„Can we sleep in your room tonight?" The little girl asked.
Alexis bit her lip. Her dad had asked her to sleep in Sophie's room so she would get used to her own room. Alexis had promised him she would try but they had agreed that she would take Sophie to his bedroom if she was having any trouble. She was used to sleep in his bedroom. He'd started to accustom her to sleeping in her own room the last two days though and it had gone well as long as he stayed there with her. She was still more comfortable in his bedroom.
„Don't you want to sleep in your new room, Sophie? You've got such a nice bed and these glowing stars dad put on the wall are so cool" Alexis tried.
„Please" Sophie said with wide eyes. And how could Alexis say no to that puppy dog look?
„We'll see" Alexis said. „For now we are going to my room anyway because I keep all my nail polish there."
Alexis opened the door and let Sophie go in before her. The little girl immediately started to examine everything. In some things she really was just like dad, Alexis thought. It wasn't like Sophie had never been in Alexis' room before but she always found something new that interested her.
While Sophie walked around the room Alexis started to carry all her nail polish from the shelf to the bed.
„Wow. That's a big book" Sophie held up one of Alexis' school books. „Is it like the fairy tale book dad sometimes reads to me?"
„Ah, no" Alexis said. „That's not a story book. That's one of my books for school. It's for my French class and it's called a dictionary. There are all the words in English and beside them are all the words in French. So I can look up if I don't know how to say something in French."
„What is English? And French?" Sophie asked.
Oh, Alexis thought. Her explanation obviously held a lot of new information for Sophie. Too much for her to understand anything.
„That's the language we speak. You, me, dad, grams, Kate and all the other people you've met" Alexis explained.
„What's a language?" Sophie asked.
Alexis had an idea. „Wait a second." She got up from the bed where they had both sat down and walked over to her desk where she got her globe from.
„Okay, let me try to explain it to you" Alexis said when she sat down again. She felt a strange sense of excitement. She had fun explaining things to Sophie. She loved how curious her little sister was being about everything.
„So this is the world" she said, showing her the globe. „It's called earth. All the people and all animals live on earth. Every house, every zoo, every playground is on earth. Everything that's blue is water."
Alexis showed her all the blue spaces on the globe. Half an hour later Alexis had explained countries and languages to Sophie.
„Est que tu veux regarder un film?" Alexis asked in French.
Sophie's eyes grew wide at the strange sounds coming from Alexis' mouth.
„That sounded funny" Sophie said.
„That was french. I asked if you wanted to watch a movie?" Alexis said.
„But what about painting our nails?" The little girl asked, remembering what they had wanted to do before her curiosity had gotten the better of her.
„We can do that first" Alexis answered. „and later we watch a movie."
She let Sophie choose nail polishes she liked. She'd decided to have a different color for each fingernail. Every color she'd chosen was some shade of pink or blue. One hand she wanted blue the other pink.
When Alexis reached her third finger, Sophie asked „Why can you speak French? Can daddy too? Why does it sound so funny?"
„It only sounds funny because it is unfamiliar for you. And no, daddy can not speak or understand French. I think he knows some of the basics but not that much. As for me, I know how to speak French because I'm learning it at school. I like it because if I ever go to France I will be able to talk to the people there" Alexis told her while she finished polishing Sophie's left hand and took the next five bottles of pink nail polish for her other hand.
„Can I learn it too?" Sophie asked. She was so fascinated by everything Alexis was telling her that she hadn't even looked at her fingers yet.
„Not yet" Alexis said. „When you are older. You have to go to school first, learn how to write and read in English and a lot of other stuff."
„I want to go to school. When can I go to school?" Sophie asked. School sounded like an amazing place. Alexis always went there and every time she came back she knew something new. Sophie wanted that too. She wanted to know as many things as Alexis and daddy and Kate and grams.
„Um… I don't know. You'll have to ask daddy tomorrow." Alexis didn't know her dad's plans when he wanted to put Sophie into preschool.
„Why? Can't you just take me with you?" Sophie asked.
„No Sophie. School doesn't work like that. My school is too difficult for you yet. You have to go to preschool first. There will be a lot of kids your age. You can make friends there. Like when you played with that boy at the playground at the zoo today. Only that you will go to school every day and see the same kids every day. That's even better for making friends than only meeting someone once at a playground."
„Do I have to go there all alone? I don't want to go there all alone" Sophie said, feeling sad. She wanted to go to school but not alone. She wanted to stay with daddy or Alexis.
„You'll have to eventually. But I'm sure daddy would stay with you the first days until you make some friends" Alexis said. „Now look at your nails. Do you like it?"
Sophie looked at her nails and grinned. „It's so beautiful. Thank you Alexis."
And then they chose the movie they wanted to watch after they ate their ice cream.
O-o-o-o-o
They'd finished eating and cleaning up and were now sitting on Kate's couch. They were holding wine glasses. And Kate was giggling. Giggling. It was the cutest thing Castle had ever seen. There was no doubt that she was at least a little tipsy from the wine which was cute too. They hadn't had that much and Castle didn't feel affected in the slightest. It was a little strange too. Normally Kate didn't get drunk easily.
Kate was still giggling. Her tummy and face muscles already hurt but she just couldn't stop. It really wasn't that funny what Castle had told her but she could not stop.
Castle just watched her. She was so beautiful. He could look at her all night and wouldn't get bored. Especially when she was relaxed like that.
„What's in that wine?" she asked when she was finally able to calm down a little.
„Grapes" Castle said dryly. And Kate started giggling again and almost fell from the couch. Castle reached out to steady her. Kate gasped in surprise.
„Careful Kate" Castle warned with a smile. Kate stared at him, her giggling forgotten. He was so handsome. She wanted him. Like right now.
„Say that again" she asked, staring at his lips. She wanted to kiss him. She was going to kiss him. Soon.
„Grapes?" Castle said confused. It didn't make Kate giggle this time though. It seemed like she had reached another phase of tipsy-ness. Castle just wasn't sure what it included. But he was sure he was going to find it adorable.
„No" Kate shook her head.
„Careful?" he was even more confused now. But Kate shook her head again. „What then? I didn't say anything else."
„Yes, you did. You said Kate. I like it when you say my name" she stated and looked at him expectantly.
Castle laughed but obeyed. „Kate" he said and watched her eyes grow darker. Oh. Oh.
„Does me saying your name make you hot for me, Kate?" he asked in a husky voice, emphasizing her name.
„Yeah" Kate said. She'd leaned forward. Her mouth was almost touching his. „Say it again" she whispered.
„Kate. I'm gonna kiss you now, Kate" he said and closed the remaining gap between their lips.
Their kiss was gentle at first. Castle wanted them to go slow. They had all night. He wanted to show Kate how much he loved her. He simply wanted to make love to her.
But Kate was more eager, she deepened the kiss and pushed against his shoulders with just a little too much force and Castle let out a surprised yelp when he fall backwards on the couch and was now lying with Kate on top of him.
Kate started to giggle again. „Sorry Castle" she said. „I think there is something in that wine. Makes me a little giggly and clumsy." She giggled again and then she pushed her hips against his and let out a groan. „And horny" she whispered and leaned down to kiss him again.
Castle made a mental note to buy a lot more of that wine. When Kate started unbuttoning his shirt he wasn't able to make any more mental notes. Or to think at all.
O-o-o-o-o
Sophie was laying with her head on Alexis tummy, sleeping soundly. They'd gotten ready for bed somewhere between polishing their nails, eating ice cream and putting on a nice Disney movie.
First the little girl had been excited about watching a movie but after half an hour she started to yawn a lot and had asked Alexis if she could cuddle into her. Of course Alexis had told her she could and ten minutes later Sophie had fallen asleep.
Alexis watched her little sister sleep for a while. Her little body was warm against her and Alexis really enjoyed the feeling. She imagined what it would have been like to hold a baby-Sophie in her arms. She would have loved to get to know her sooner but she was happy that she knew her now. She already loved her little sister very much.
She was so cute. Alexis contemplated if she should send her dad a picture or if she would disturb his date that way. She didn't want that. But then she thought that even if he were to look at his phone to see the picture Kate wouldn't mind. He'd show the picture to her, they'd both find it cute and they would go on with their date. Her dad would probably be even more relaxed because he would have proof that they were fine.
So Alexis took her phone from her nightstand, took a selfie and sent it to her father. Then she continued watching the movie they had started. It was actually one of her favorites.
Suddenly Sophie curled into a ball, scooting even closer to Alexis. She had goosebumps on her arms and Alexis figured she was getting cold so she pulled the covers over her.
Not that much later Alexis fell asleep too.
O-o-o-o-o
Kate was laying with her head on Castle's chest, trailing her finger against his abdomen in lazy circles. She was feeling warm and comfy and a little sleepy.
„That was amazing" she said.
„Yeah" Castle agreed, he kissed her on the top of her head.
„Kate?" he asked.
„Hm?" she mumbled, too lazy to speak.
„Are you still tipsy?" he asked.
„I don't think so, why?"
„Just wanted to know" he said. Kate didn't believe him that he had asked that without reason but she didn't say anything. She just enjoyed cuddling with him.
They cuddled for a few minutes longer when Castle broke the silence again.
„I love you" he blurted out. Just like that.
Kate was speechless. The butterflies in her stomach started to flutter in excitement. She hadn't expected him to say that so soon.
„I…" she started but despite the fact that she was very happy about it she couldn't say it back yet. She was sure, she loved him too but the words didn't want to leave her mouth yet. So she just turned in his arms so she could reach his lips with her own. She kissed him sweetly.
„I'll say it back soon" she said and tried to show him with her kisses that that day wasn't far away at all.
„That's okay, Kate" Castle whispered, lovingly caressing her face with his hand. „Just tell me that you're in this."
„I want to be with you, Rick. I'm in this" she told him and gave him another kiss before she went back to laying her head down on his chest. Because she was really a little tired. He had worn her out. She yawned and he chuckled.
„Sleep Kate" Castle told her. „We can talk in the morning. I'll be there."
Kate hummed contently and then she just laid in his arms, her breathing even. Castle was sure she'd fallen asleep when she mumbled into the silence again.
„Rick?" her voice sounded sleepy but happy.
„Hm?" he asked, on the brink of sleep too.
„I really really like you and I can't imagine my life without you" she told him dozily. And Castle's heart skipped a beat. Because she'd practically told him that she loved him. These were the exact words she'd used to explain to Sophie what I love you meant. And now she'd said them to him. He felt like the luckiest man on earth.
O-o-o-o-o
I'm planning on writing at least one more chapter/epilogue for this story but I don't know when I'll find the time (and inspiration)