Chapter 10

When she got home that night, Rick was already dressed to go. She breezed past him, lighting like a hummingbird for a quick kiss, before dashing up the stairs. "I'll be ready in 10" she called down.

True to her word, she reappeared ten minutes later, dressed in her yoga pants and a tunic. Rick looked at her, thinking she was beautiful whatever she wore. At the moment, though, what she was wearing was a cautious, skeptical look.

"You're sure you want to do this?" she asked him.

He scoffed. "Of course. I've done it before, you know that."

The 'this' they were referring to was Couples Yoga. Lanie and Esposito had evidently gone in together on a gift certificate for their engagement. The return on their investment, naturally, would be the host of opportunities there would be for ribbing the couple, or more specifically, Castle, about the experience.

Kate's skepticism did not abate. "I know you're able to spout tidbits about caffeine throwing off your Chi, but I maintain my theory that you only went to yoga to pick up women."

He gave her his best wounded look, but she seemed to be immune.

Rick and Kate took a cab to the yoga studio. Kate instantly relaxed as she crossed the doorway. There was soft music playing, of course, and the lights were dimmed. The incense burning at the front of the room gave off a lovely exotic scent. Special double width mats had been laid out. Kate strode to an empty spot, Rick in tow. Now that they were there his bravado seemed to have diminished a bit.

While they waited, Kate sat down and encouraged him to mirror her. She slowly folded her legs into a meditative Lotus pose. He followed suit with an ease and flexibility she hadn't given him credit for.

Before they got much further, though, an Indian woman rang a set of chimes to command the attention of the room. She introduced herself as Parita and gave them a quick summary of her background and what would be covered in the class. She beckoned to an unseen person, and all heads turned toward the doorway. A lithe man approached her. "This is Tushar, he will be my partner and help me demonstrate these exercises."

She nodded and the man turned his back to her. He lowered himself so that he was squatting, then leaned backward so that his back was braced against her thighs. He raised his arms and grasped her upper arms, and she, in turn, grasped his. She leaned backward as he straightened his legs. She continued leaning until his body was board-straight and parallel to the ground. They held this pose for a moment before she slowly straightened, lowering him to the floor.

Kate was in awe, but she had long ago developed the ability to display a demeanor of calm regardless of what she was actually feeling. In an interrogation you heard all sorts of shocking things, but it was better not to let the suspect know they surprised you. She employed this ability now as she glanced over at Castle. No need to alarm him by letting him think she wasn't taking it in stride. He had no such expression filter, except when a publicity obligation necessitated it. Now, good, old-fashioned flabbergasted was all over his face. Kate gave him a serene, reassuring smile and watched his Adam's apple bob repeatedly as he swallowed uncomfortably.

Parita surveyed the class and grinned. "You may all relax. The pose we have just demonstrated is extremely advanced. Such a thing will not be expected of you. It was merely an example of the things you might achieve with extensive practice." A collective sigh of relief went up.

Parita continued. "We will begin simply, with a side-by-side bow pose." She gestured to Tushar to demonstrate, while she circulated around the room.

Kate lay on her stomach, bent her legs at the knees, and reached back to grab her feet. She turned to see how Castle was doing. He was on his stomach alright, but as she watched, he rolled over to his side as he tried to reach back for his feet. She straightened and stood to help him. She saw his lips moving as he grumbled to himself, and she bent to hear what he was saying.

"Bow pose, my ass. Out west they call this hog tied." With her help he achieved the pose, but it certainly didn't look like he was relaxed.

Comparatively the next exercise was a piece of cake. They were encouraged to stand side by side and assume mirrored tree poses, and link arms for balance. Kate studied their reflection in the wall mirror. This was the embodiment of them, two halves of a whole.

They finished with something that should have been called 'missing chairs'. Parita and Tushar demonstrated by standing facing one another and grabbing one another's wrists, then lowering themselves until their thighs were parallel to the floor. It was fortunate that the instructors had the foresight to arrange the mats with adequate space in between them, because when Kate and Rick tried it, his larger mass pulled them off balance and they collapsed in a laughing heap. Tushar came over and showed him how to lean forward more to avoid that in the future.

As they were riding the elevator up to their apartment, Kate glanced over and found Castle wearing a smirk. "Alright, what?" she demanded, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Nothing….I was just thinking once this class is done, we can start working our way through the Kama Sutra."

Rick had invited Martha and Chet to join poker night. Although she normally handled herself well, luck was not on Kate's side this night. Tired of losing, she quit and moved to the side lines and stepped up to the role of gracious hostess. She got drink refills for everyone and cleared away the dirty glasses. When Rick started to get up to help her, she stilled him with a hand on his shoulder and "Relax, I've got this" whispered in his ear. He smiled warmly at her and then went back to studying his cards. Esposito had not missed this subtle exchange, and for a fleeting moment wondered if he had slipped into some bizarre alternate Stepford universe. Beckett was waiting on Castle, not to mention himself and Ryan, her subordinates?

After observing Chet all evening, Kate had made her decision. Back in the kitchen, she took Chet's glass and slipped it into a plastic zip-top bag. She stowed it in her purse, along with Rick's toothbrush. Obtaining that had been simple enough. She'd bought him one of the new gadget-y battery operated ones with a super hero on it. It never occurred to the Peter Pan within him to ask what became of the old one.

She offered a silent prayer that what she was going to do would not end in disaster.

The cell phone in Kate's pocket buzzed, signaling an incoming text, ID Lanie Parish "Got what you asked for, come and get it." Kate pocketed the phone and headed down to the morgue. She found Lanie dressed in blue scrubs, preparing a corpse for autopsy. The M.E. glanced up and motioned to a file sitting alone on the corner of the desk.

"I just want to go on record AGAIN as saying this was a bad idea." Lanie pinned her with a look.

"Why's that?"

"Girl, you know why."

Kate waved aside the objection. She opened the file, glanced at the contents and whistled.

"You're positive about this?"

"You DOUBT me?" Before Kate could explain, Lanie continued. "Yes, I ran it twice, to be sure."

Now that she'd done it, she had some second thoughts, especially knowing Lanie didn't approve. Right now only the two of them knew, maybe it ought to stay that way. She could just put the report in a locked cabinet, or burn it, forget about it. She knew Lanie would never breathe a word…

She took the report, folded it in three and tucked it into her purse.

After dinner, they decided to work on the guest list for the wedding. After showing her a Travel Channel piece on Scotland, Rick had finally persuaded her that they should hold the ceremony at Edinburgh Castle. Their family and a few friends would come, stay for the weekend to enjoy the city, then head back to the states. Kate and Rick would spend their honeymoon hitting other European cities. Paula left daily voicemails pitching ways he could work publicity appearances into their travel schedule.

Since it would be an intimate affair, they would not be flanked by a large group of attendants. Kate had asked Lanie to stand with her, and naturally her father would give her away. Rick was actually toying with the idea of having Alexis beside him. There was no rule set in stone that the "best man" actually had to BE one. His daughter was, after all, his staunchest ally, and he was never one to worry about bucking convention. His musings were derailed when he noticed that Kate had gotten extremely quiet, and was biting at her lip with a vigor he'd rarely seen.

"Kate? What's bothering you?" he asked softly.

She was touched by the concern on his face. She took a deep breath and decided to jump in.

"What if…" she began carefully "your father could stand up with you?"

He started to laugh. "Don't be ridiculous, we don't even know who that is."

She stood and went into her purse, retrieving the folded report. She opened it and smoothed it out, placing it in front of him. "But what if we did?" she whispered.

His brow knitted with confusion as he read the report. What happened next, she could only think of it as the human version of a volcano erupting. He quaked for a moment, then came the eruption, loud and full of blistering heat. He stood up so fast he knocked his chair over.

"What the HELL? YOU. HAD. NO. RIGHT!" he exploded. "How did you even…? DNA test…? You'd have needed samples from me and him."

"He has a name, honey. Chet."

She doubted he actually heard her. He was pacing now. "And you lectured ME about invading your privacy, digging around in your life. What the hell do you call this?"

"Yes, I lectured you because I specifically told you NOT to. I only kept this a secret because I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Oh yes, thank you" he said. He'd lowered the volume, but his tone was acidic.

Kate heard a creak on the stairs. Rick followed her gaze, squeezed his eyes closed, and swore under his breath. Alexis stood on the landing. Her face was powder white, her eyes wide. "Dad, what…?" she began uncertainly.

"Alexis go back to your room please!" Rick snapped.

If it were possible, the girl's eyes got wider. "But…"

"No buts. NOW" he ground out. She retreated, the hurt and confusion plain on her face. Kate nearly cried watching her go.

Rick spun on her. "And YOU. Did you even consider what this is going to do to my mother, to my relationship with her? She told me she didn't know who my dad was, what his name was. What am I supposed to do now that she's living with him? Call her a liar? Or worse, a sl…"

Kate cringed, realizing he couldn't even bring himself to say the word. Suddenly she noticed he wasn't saying ANY words. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment again and clenched his fist. When he opened his eyes, he made straight for the door and left, slamming it shut behind him.

Stunned by his reaction, Kate went to sit on the couch. In minutes the tears were flowing freely. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Alexis, evidence of a recent cry all over her face, was holding out a box of tissues. Kate allowed a small smile and patted the couch beside her.

Alexis sat warily. "What's going on?"

Kate regarded her with a rueful smile. "How about you tell me what you've put together so far. In my experience, you don't miss much, not that your father's reaction was a state secret."

"Chet is Dad's…dad. Which, would make him my grandfather?" Kate nodded in response.

"And Dad went off like a missile because….?" Alexis prompted.

"That's the part you might actually be able to help me with. You have known him far longer, after all."

"Well, he told me once he didn't mind not knowing, because this way his dad could be anyone, even someone really important. He might be mad at you for blowing that theory."

Kate didn't dare broach the subject of Martha's morality. Clearly there was more to the story, and it was too much for her, a relative outsider, to start discussing, especially with the woman's granddaughter. She stayed in the marginally safer zone of Rick's anger. "Ever seen him this angry?"

"Once or twice. He thinks he's protected me from this stuff, but like you say, I don't miss much."

Kate hated the pathetic way this was going to sound. "Any idea when he'll be back?"

Alexis shrugged at that. "I've always gone to bed, he's always been home by breakfast." She yawned.

Kate now felt guilty for the turmoil she'd stirred up. "Speaking of, why don't you go to bed sweetie. School tomorrow."

Alexis nodded and hugged her. "He'll cool down, he always does."

Kate watched her head upstairs, then settled on the couch to wait. "I hope you're right…" she whispered.