Disclaimers: Castle still belongs to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC.

Summary: Castle returns home from his book tour and works on rebuilding his relationship with his two daughters.

A/N #1: This chapter is going to explore another first; the first tooth.

A/N #2: As you can tell, I just finished re-watching 'Target' and 'Hunt.' I figured that if I had questions, maybe Alexis would, too.

Chapter 10: Returning Home

Kate was standing by the baggage claim at JFK, constantly checking the passengers that were arriving. It was a chilly October evening and Castle was returning home. Even though he'd been home for a short time a week and a half before, she felt as if she hadn't seen or touched him in weeks. She bounced Ari in her arms, smiling at her. "Do you see daddy, yet?" She asked her daughter. "Daddy's going to be so happy to see you."

At the mention of the word 'daddy,' Ari chortled and waved her arms up and down. Kate had made it a point to show her pictures of Rick every night, making sure that she knew who her daddy was and how much he missed her. Kate looked toward more passengers and broke into a huge smile at the sight of the ruggedly handsome man walking toward her. Her heart began galloping in her chest as she walked toward him. "Hey," she breathed as his lips came down on hers in a long, tender kiss.

He finally broke away and smiled at his daughter. "Hey, Ariel. Did you miss daddy?"

"Ari has a surprise," Kate told Rick. "Let's just say that breast feeding got a lot more interesting."

"She has her first tooth?" Rick took the baby who gave him a huge grin, revealing one pearly white tooth in her bottom gum.

"I got up to feed her a few mornings ago and . . . surprise. I wasn't expecting to get bit by my daughter," she pulled him closer to whisper in his ear. "I thought that you were the only biter in the family."

"I missed you," he wrapped his arms around her and just held her as tightly as he could. "Let's get my bags and get the hell out of here."

It seemed to take forever for Castle's large roll-around suitcase and smaller suitcase to appear on the baggage carousel, but finally he spotted them and quickly yanked them off. They then walked out into the crisp fall night. When they got to the Mercedes, he stashed his bags into the trunk before Kate handed him the keys. She buckled Ari into her car seat and walked around to the passenger seat. She was putting on her seat belt when Castle got behind the wheel and adjusted the seat and mirrors to his satisfaction before starting the car. "I'm so glad that you're home," she couldn't stop grinning.

"That makes two of us. But I'm telling you that you're coming on the next tour. I'm not doing that alone ever again. How's everybody at home?"

"Good. Castle, you might want to talk to Alexis," she looked at her husband.

"Paris?" The one word was all that was needed.

"I think she's ready."

"She knows that there are some parts that we've been sworn to secrecy about."

"She just wants you to fill in some of the missing pieces. Castle, you can't tell her about the van or Douglas Stevens," she warned him.

"No, she's never going to know about that," he agreed.

"I think she's upset because Meredith wasn't here when she came home."

"Kate, our relationship with Meredith is so . . . strange. Don't worry about it. I'll talk to her."

When they entered the loft, Castle was happy to see his older daughter waiting for him. "Hi, daddy!" Alexis flew into his arms and threw her arms around his neck. "How was your trip?"

"Long. I missed you," he kissed her as she clung to him.

"I missed you, too."

"So, are you staying here tonight?"

"Yeah. That's okay, isn't it?"

"Of course it's okay. I have to go to Black Pawn in the morning. Why don't we go and have breakfast before you go back to the dorm?" Castle suggested.

"Okay," Alexis was agreeable.

"Uh, somebody's ready for bed," Kate nodded toward Ari, who was beginning to fuss and rub at her eyes.

"I'll be up in a few minutes," Castle kissed Kate. "God, I missed the three of you so much."

"Do you want some hot chocolate?" Alexis asked after Kate had taken the baby upstairs.

"That sounds great," Castle sat on one of the bar stools as Alexis busied herself in the kitchen. "How's school?"

"Good. I have some finals coming up before the holidays. Daddy, mom called. She wants me to go to Paris with her for Christmas. Why doesn't she understand that Paris doesn't hold good memories for me, anymore?"

"Oh, sweetie," Castle got up and came into the kitchen where he pulled his daughter into his arms. "She doesn't understand because she's your mom. Does that make sense?"

"Because it's not about her," she looked at her father as he nodded. "I don't know how many more ways I can possibly explain it to her. I also don't want to miss Ariel's first Christmas."

"Then, tell her no. Tell her that you'll go somewhere with her after the holidays. Anywhere but Paris," he stressed to her.

"Okay," Alexis gave her dad a kiss on the lips. "Go upstairs and say goodnight to the baby. Your chocolate will be ready when you come back down."

Kate was nursing the baby when Castle came into the nursery. "Is Alexis okay?"

"Meredith wants to go to Paris for Christmas. As usual, she doesn't seem to get it. Typical Meredith behavior. It's always about what she wants."

"She's never going to change, Castle. You knew what she was like when you were married to her. Why should anything be different now?"

"I know. It just upsets me."

"Alexis is a big girl. Sooner or later she's going to have to draw a line in the sand where her mother's concerned and stop letting her manipulate her."

"Like I have?"

"I didn't say that. And I don't want to get into a fight about your ex-wife when you just got home. I have bigger and better plans for your first night home," she smiled at him.

"So do I. Weren't we going to reenact our first night together?" He reminded her.

"Uh, Castle. I don't want to be thumping into walls with our daughters sleeping right above our heads."

"Party pooper," he complained.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll give you a reunion to remember," she kissed him before getting up and walking Ari over to her crib.

"Promise?"

"Oh, yeah," she turned to give him a bright smile.

***CCC***

Castle and Alexis left for their errand early the next morning. First, Castle stopped by Black Pawn to turn in his expense reports before he took his daughter to breakfast. "Kate said that you might be ready to talk about Paris," he told her as he handed her a coffee.

"How did Hunt find you?"

"I really don't know. According to what he told me, he'd been tracking all of us for years. Me, you, and your gram."

"How do you feel about knowing who your dad is?"

"I don't feel any way about it, Alexis. Besides, he's not my dad. I'm your dad. I was there for your first steps, your first words, and your first day of school. Hunt might have fathered me, but that doesn't make him my dad."

"I'm sorry, dad," she hung her head.

"Alexis, no," he reached for her hand. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I understand that you're upset that your mother wasn't here."

"I wish that just once that she'd drop everything where I'm concerned," Alexis burst into tears. "Isn't that what a mom is supposed to do? Kate drops everything where Ariel's concerned! Why can't my mother love me like that?"

"Oh, Alexis," he sighed, getting out of his chair and walking over to her to pull her close. "You know what? Let's take a walk."

They grabbed their coffees and left the diner, walking down the street to a small park. "Can I ask you something?" Alexis wiped at her face. "Did she ever want me?"

"Alexis, please believe me when I tell you that your mother loves you very much. It's just . . . she's self-absorbed. She lives in the moment and she only thinks about things in terms of how they affect her. When I called her after your abduction, she wanted to come here. But, I was falling apart and I was trying to also take care of your grandmother. I just couldn't deal with her and how this was affecting her."

"Well, at least she offered to come," Alexis said.

"Alexis, you're old enough to know how your mother's mind works by now."

"Dad, I knew how her mind worked when I was six."

"And yes, she wanted you very much. We were just both surprised by you."

"I love you, daddy," she hugged him. "I was never happier in my life than I was when you showed up in that house in Paris."

"I was never happier to see anybody in my life than I was to see you that day," he smiled in remembrance. "You were a sight for sore eyes. If you want, I can talk to your mom about Christmas. Maybe you can go to Zurich or somewhere else."

"I'll talk to her, daddy. I need to make her start listening to me and stop using you to mediate."

Later that afternoon Kate was reading while keeping an eye on Ari who was rolling around the living room floor. Since learning that she could roll over, rolling was her primary means of getting around. Kate looked over at Castle, who was sleeping in the corner of the sofa, still recovering from jet lag. She got up and moved Ari back over to her busy blanket for the fifth time. "I'm about to go and get the playpen," Kate warned her very active daughter. "Daddy and mommy need to start baby proofing."

"No, we don't," she heard Castle's sleepy voice. "She just needs to learn the word 'no.' I didn't baby proof with Alexis. Bring me my baby."

"She won't stay," Kate told him. "She doesn't like being held now that she's learned that she can go from place to place."

"Wait until she starts crawling," Castle reached out his hands as Kate handed him the baby. "Hi, sweet pea. Daddy sure missed you," he placed her on his stomach as she reached her hands toward his mouth, grabbing his nose as he made funny noises at her.

"How was breakfast with Alexis?"

"Interesting. She sees how you are with Ariel and then she starts making comparisons to Meredith."

"Can I ask you a question?" She asked, watching him play with the baby. "Was Meredith that way when you first met her?"

"You mean selfish and self-centered?" He clarified as Kate nodded. "Yeah, but so was I. She was fun and she made me laugh. That's all that you think about when you're in your early 20's. I had no idea that she'd still be that way 20 years later. It didn't take me long to realize that she wasn't mature enough to care for a child."

"And you were?"

"Compared to her, I was like Alexis has always been. Kate, I might act childish at times, but at least I made sure that Alexis was clean and fed."

"Please don't get defensive. You just don't talk about either of your marriages that much. Don't you think that I might be a little curious?"

"Kate, I don't talk about them because there isn't much to talk about. Meredith felt trapped by marriage and motherhood, while I married Gina for all of the wrong reasons."

"Why did you marry Gina?"

"Because she liked Alexis and Alexis liked her. She'd do all of the girlie things that I didn't know anything about and my mother was too busy to do or she was between marriages at the time. Alexis was at the age where she really needed a mom. It didn't take me long to realize how wrong that was. We were miserable and we fought constantly. Alexis heard a lot of our fights. I figured that it would be better to raise Alexis alone than to ever subject her to anything like that again. After that, I made it a point to not even bring women around Alexis."

"You did a wonderful job with her, Rick. She's smart, considerate, and sweet. If Ari grows up to be half the person her big sister is, then I'll feel that we did a good job."

"Yes, we will," he grinned, bouncing the baby in his lap as she laughed out loud.

"I'm sorry that they both hurt you so badly."

"Well, they prepared me for the third time," he pulled her close as he kissed her.

They were still kissing when Kate felt a light tap on her face. She pulled away from Castle and laughed at Ari, who was patting her face with her tiny hand. "I think someone's feeling left out," she laughed as she reached for the baby so that they could cuddle her between them. "I'm so damn glad that you're back home."

"Me, too. You, Alexis, and Ariel are my home," he captured her lips for another sweet kiss.

A/N #3: It was pointed out to me that Kate always calls the baby 'Ari,' while everybody else calls her 'Ariel.' Hmmm, I do something similar in my other fan fiction universe.

A/N #4: Yes, Ryan, Esposito, and Gates are going to make an appearance in this story.

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