Thank you for the reivews. CASTLE IS BACK ON TOMORROW. I'm so excited for the episode, it looks so good. Enjoy the next chapter.
People who requested to be my Beta haven't gotten back to me, so if anyone else is interested then message me.
Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.
Chapter 10.
Rick handed Kate another coffee, a small smile forming Kate's lips that broke the tension between them. He still brought her coffee, hope that things could work out between them in the future and that he still cared.
"How's Anna this morning?" Rick asked, the conversation they always spoke about. Anna or Alexis.
"Dancing around the apartment excited about tonight," Kate said.
"Excited?" He smiled.
"At the moment, yes," Kate gave him a small smile. "You know how she reacted around you at first."
"Shy and nervous," Rick said.
"Yeah," Kate said. "She's gone into nursery telling everyone. It's all she's been talking about these past couple of days."
Rick laughed. "Same with Alexis and my mom."
Kate smiled, another silence passing between them. "So, how's the book coming on?"
"Behind deadline," Rick sighed. "I have a few chapters to go, but current events have lead to a block."
Kate looked away, she couldn't imagine what it was like having to write a book based on herself after what she did to him. Did he regret it? "I'm sure your get it done soon."
"In a few days or I'll be expecting a visit," he said, noticing the increase in the tension between them. Kate thought about Gina storming into his house, demanding why the book wasn't finished yet. The conversation dropped, letting them walk the rest of the way in silence.
"Caucasian female. A couple of skinny dippers found her this morning." Esposito said as they reached the crime scene.
"Bet that killed the mood," Rick said.
"Purse is missing. No ID. And get this, we couldn't find her shoes." Ryan informed them.
"I'm gonna go with, still with Prince Charming at the ball. Should we look for a pumpkin and some mice? I guess not." Rick said.
Kate looked around the fountain plaza. "Canvass the buildings surrounding the plaza and get uniforms to check trash cans and dumpsters for her purse."
"Aye, aye."
It turned out their victim was a model for Teddy Farrow, leading them to his current Fashion show for New York Fashion week. Jenna McBoyd was going to become the face of the campaign until she was murdered.
"Rick Castle, it's so funny I ran into you today. I just bought this on my way in." A model smiled at him to Kate's annoyance. She brought out the magazine he was on the cover of, promoting his new book that's coming out in a couple of months since the release date was pushed back.
"Oh, look at that. It's my cover." He grinned, taking the magazine to sign.
"And it's on stands already." Kate sighed, hoping her father didn't think to buy the magazine and show Anna.
"Could you..." The model smiled at him again.
"Yes, absolutely. Who should I make it out to?" He asked.
Kate knew the girls face, not being remembered. It was like the signing all over again. "Oh, you don't remember me."
"Yes, of course I do. Yeah, you're..." Kate clenched her jaw.
"Rina." She said.
"Rina. Yes. We met at that party. With that, that thing. That was late, it was crazy, that... Wow, what a night." He tried to cover.
A man calls for the model to come over, she grins writing her number on Castle's hand with her eye-liner. He turns seeing her reaction and hides his hand behind his back.
Kate didn't speak to him, didn't bring it up with him. It was his life and if he wanted to date a model then that was up to him, but not remembering the girl annoyed her. She knew how that felt. They interviewed the friend and then the husband, which eventually lead them to a stalker.
"Mommy!" Anna called as Kate opened the door. "Look!"
The girl came running up to her, the magazine with Rick on the cover in her hands. She bit back a groan, picking up her daughter and looking at the magazine. "Oh, yeah. Daddy's on the cover."
"I saw it in the shop," Anna said. "Grandpa brought it for me. You're in it mommy!"
Kate opened the magazine, seeing the pictures of Rick and then the picture of Kate. Her arms crossed in her leather jacket. The articles caught her attention, seeing all the compliments towards her and Rick. But in the end the main question was about why Heat Wave had been pushed back, how everyone was desperate and wanting to read the book.
"Grandpa read it to me," Anna told her. "You're famous mommy!"
Kate smiled. "Not as famous as daddy."
"No," Anna smiled. "Do you have daddy's books?"
"I do," Kate said. "They're on my bookshelf."
"Can I look at them?" Anna asked.
"You can look at them," Kate told her. "But they're too grown up for you to read."
Anna jumped down, running into Kate's room to look at her bookshelf. Kate joined her father in the living room, leaving the magazine on the coffee table.
"I brought one for myself as well," her father said. "Now I have two magazines with my daughter in."
"Let's keep the first one a secret from the world," Kate said regretting that one summer as a model. "What did you think?"
"The reporter was kind with what she said, you seemed to be sweet in what you said about Rick given what happened," he said. "Why has the book been pushed back?"
Kate sighed. "He's struggling to write the end."
"Because of you?" He asked.
"Well, his Nikki Heat did keep his daughter from him," Kate said. "I hurt him and now I've caused problems with his book."
"That's not your fault," he smiled. "I'm sure he'll find that motivation again."
"He has to find it in the next few days."
"Mommy!" Anna called from her room. "I found them!"
She jumped up, going into her room to find her daughter holding Richard Castle's books in her small arms. Books fell to the ground, her arms too small to hold so many. Kate smiled, pulling all of his books down for her and laying them out for Anna to see.
Anna looked at them, turning the covers over to the back, where a picture of Rick stared back at her. She giggled. "Daddy's on the back."
"He is," Kate said.
"He's written loads of books," Anna picked them up, looking at them one by one, but not opening them. Kate sat down next to her, watching her go through them with a smile. She looked up at Kate after. "What ones your favorite, mommy?"
"I don't know," Kate smiled. "I like them all."
"Are we going round daddy's tonight?" Anna asked.
"Yes," Kate said. "We're going over for dinner and you can meet Alexis and your grandma."
Anna smiled. "Can I wear a dress?"
Kate knew she wanted to impress Alexis. She took her daughters hand, taking her to her bedroom, where they looked through her closet. In the end they decided on a purple dress that had a white collar just like Kate's shirts. She helped her get dressed, smiling at how adorable she looks in her dress with white tights. It may be over the top for a dinner, but Kate knew how much this meant to Anna.
"Can I wear my lion clip?" Anna asked as Kate brushed her daughters hair. It had gotten so long, the brown strands reminding Kate of when her hair was long.
"Of course," Kate smiled, clipping the front of her daughters hair to the side with her lion clip she had brought the other day. "You wanting to wear your leather jacket?"
"Are you wearing yours?" Kate helped her put the leather jacket on and then her shoes.
"Yeah."
Before leaving, Kate changed tops and put on her leather jacket. Her father smiling at them as they left, Anna skipping excitedly on the way to the car. The drive spent with Anna talking about Alexis and Martha, what she planned on playing with Alexis. Kate smiled, listening and nodding her head.
Kate took Anna's hand as the girl jumped out of the car. "What one's daddy's?"
She pointed up to the top of the building next to them. "That one at the very top."
Her daughter's mouth dropped open in shock, looking up at the building in awe. It was massive, the complete opposite from Kate's apartment. "Daddy lives up there!"
"Yeah," Kate smiled.
The girl pulled on Kate's hand. "Let's go see them!"
"Come on then," Kate said.
The doorman opened the door for them with a smile, he likely knew who they were. Anna looked up at him, giving him a small wave. Her excited skips had slowed down and now she walked close to Kate. They rid the elevator to the top floor of Rick's loft. Anna going quiet as the doors opened, freezing down the hallway.
Kate crouched down, facing her. "What's wrong, baby girl?"
"What if they don't like me?" She asked.
"They will love you," Kate told her.
Anna wrapped her arms around Kate, clinging to her. She sighed, picking her up and walking towards Rick's apartment. Keeping hold of her, she knocked on his door. Anna buried her head in the crook of Kate's neck.
Rick opened the door with a smile. "Hey."
"Hi," Kate said. "Anna its daddy."
She turned her head, giving Rick a smile. "Hi daddy."
"Hi Anna," he smiled. "You want to come in?"
Kate carried her into the apartment, seeing Alexis and Martha sitting in the living room with smiles. Anna's arms tightened around Kate's neck. "Were a little shy and nervous." Kate said, looking down at Anna.
"Anna, you remember Alexis and Martha," Rick said softly.
"Call me Grams," Martha said with a smile.
Anna looked over to the women with a small smile. "Okay, Grams."
"You going to get down and say hello?" Kate asked her.
"Will you come with me, momma?" Anna asked.
"Of course," Kate smiled. She put Anna on the floor, her hand finding hers as they slowly walked towards the living room. Rick followed behind. Anna hid half behind Kate, half facing them as they got closer.
"I like your dress," Alexis said. Her daughters face lit up with a smile, Kate knowing how much that compliment meant to her daughter.
"You do?" She asked.
"It's very pretty," Alexis said. "And I like your jacket, its just like your mommy's."
"It is!" Anna said coming out from behind Kate completely. "I wear it when I help mommy at work."
"Do you?" Alexis asked.
"Yes," Anna giggled.
Alexis stood up, coming over to Anna slowly. "Is that a lion clip?"
"Yes!" Anna pointed to the clip in her hair with a smile.
"I have one with a monkey on," Alexis said. "Do you want to come see my monkey cuddly toys?"
"You have cuddly toys?" Anna asked her.
"I have a monkey called Monkey Bunkey," Alexis said, offering Anna her hand.
Anna took it, looking up at Alexis with a happy smile. "I have a lion called Mr Lion."
The two of them made their way towards the stairs, Kate watching with a small smile with the way her daughter looked at Alexis. She knew that she would look up to her in so many ways, happy that she has a sister in her life.
"Well, that went well," Martha clapped her hands together. "She's a great kid."
"She is," Kate agreed.
"Anna likes spaghetti bolognese, right?" Rick asked.
"She loves spaghetti bolognese," Kate smiled.
"And do you?" He asked.
"Yeah," Kate said.
"Katherine, don't stand awkwardly, come and sit down," Martha said.
Rick gave Kate a small understand smile as Kate sat down next to Martha. She knew both Martha and Alexis was upset and angry that Kate hadn't told Rick sooner, but she didn't know how tonight would go with seeing them.
"I'm just gonna go and – uh – check on the dinner," Rick said disappearing.
"He had all the recipe books out earlier losing his mind over what to cook," Martha said.
Kate smiled slightly. "Anna had all her dresses out losing her mind over what to wear."
Martha laughed. "They're alike more ways than I thought."
"I know," Kate said.
"When I saw her eyes the first time, I had a hunch feeling, but what were the chances of you and Richard meeting before?" Martha smiled at Kate. "You know he came to me with his suspicions, he told me."
"He did?" Kate looked down.
"I sent him to you to ask you, but he believed you would tell him if Anna was his," there was a silence. "I know what its like, Katherine, to raise a child by yourself, working and being a mother is hard. I had the nanny's, you had your father and friends. Richard's father left me after a night, I know how you felt."
"Would you tell him if you saw him again?" Kate asked.
"If I saw him again then I would tell Richard, let him decide," Martha said. "If he came when Richard was younger then I would have told him."
Kate couldn't meet Martha's eye. She didn't know what to say, but Martha could understand her just not her decisions.
"Katherine, he told me about the signing and I know you read all those articles about my son," Martha put a hand on her knee. "After that and that weekend then it would have seemed then that you was doing the right thing. You got to know my son as the man he is and you recognised your mistakes. Now move on and learn from them."
Kate smiled. "I will."
"And by that I don't mean standing awkwardly or feeling unwanted here," Martha said. "Have a glass of wine."
"Your not mad?" Kate asked.
"We're all mad," Martha said. "Including you."
Anna and Alexis came back down the stairs then, laughing and talking together. Kate looked up with a smile, seeing the two girls holding hands. Her daughter held Alexis's hand tightly as she jumped the last step and then Anna came running over to Kate.
"Mommy Alexis' room is big!" Anna told her. "She has loads of cuddly toys and she has monkeys!"
"Does she?" Kate asked her.
"Yeah," Anna nodded her head excitedly.
"Ladies, dinner is served," Rick called.
Martha gave Kate another smile and then Anna was pulling Kate up by the hand. She sat next to Anna at the table, Alexis sitting the other side of the girl and then Rick and Martha sitting opposite the three of them. The girl looked around the table with an excited smile.
"Daddy, I saw your books earlier," Anna giggled looking at Kate like it was a secret between the two. Kate bit her lip hiding her smile as she cut up her daughter's dinner into smaller bites.
"You did?" He asked.
"We didn't read them," Anna said. "You were on the back."
"I showed Anna our hallway where you hang your book covers," Alexis said.
"Yes!" Anna smiled. "Mommy keeps hers on her shelf."
"Doe she?" Rick asked, Kate not enjoying the amusement in his tone.
"Yeah," Anna nodded.
"There you go," Kate told her daughter having cut up her dinner.
"Thank you, mommy," Anna said picking up her fork to eat her first bite.
"Anna why don't you tell Grams about your play you did at nursery?" Kate suggested.
The girl looked up at Martha with a smile remembering. "It was theater week at nursery."
"Was it?" Martha said.
"Yeah, we did Cinderella," Anna told her. "We saw a Cinderella play and then we got to do it."
"What part did you play?" Martha asked her.
"I got to be Cinderella," Anna giggled. "My shoe wouldn't come off and Lauren had to help me."
"Could there finally be another actor in the family?" Martha questioned with a smile.
"No, Grams, I'm going to be an officer with mommy," Anna laughed.
"Officer by day, actor by night," Martha winked.
"I think the only way you'd get her up on stage is if it was the lion king," Kate smiled.
"Or some cop play," Rick added.
"Daddy, cops don't do plays, they're too busy catching the bad guys," Anna told him.
"Yeah, dad," Alexis smiled nodding her head.
Rick poked his tongue out at Alexis, making Anna laugh. She ate her dinner, managing to get it all round her face.
"Did you like that?" Rick asked her after.
She nodded her head. "It was yummy."
"Are you saving the rest on your face for later then?" Kate asked her with a smile.
Anna licked her lips. "Is it gone?"
"I have some wipes upstairs," Alexis said standing up. "I'll go get them."
Alexis disappeared leaving the four of them alone. Rick leaned on the table more, looking at Anna with a smile. "You're going to love what Alexis is doing."
"Getting me a wipe?" Anna questioned.
"Yep," he grinned. "She's been planing this for days now."
Anna looked at him with that way of hers. "You won't tell me?"
"No, it's a surprise," he said.
"Oh, God," Martha sipped her wine.
"Daddy," Anna begged. "Please, please, please can you tell me?"
"You should have kept quiet," Kate told him. "She won't leave you alone now until she knows."
Rick grinned. "Just prepare yourself, Anna, for the greatest surprise ever."
"What?" She asked, dropping her bottom lip. Kate grinned, her daughter getting impatient with waiting.
Rick stood up, leaving the room and entering again with the wipes. Kate raised her eyebrows, wondering exactly what Alexis was doing. He took a wipe out, wiping Anna's face for her before pinching her nose with the wet wipe. Anna giggled and then looked up at him again, blue eyes begging him.
"What's Alexis doing?" She asked.
"Close your eyes," he said and then waited for Anna. "Follow me and keep them closed."
Anna giggled, putting her hands over her eyes. Kate stood up, following behind with Martha, who gave Kate a knowing smile. Rick lead Anna into the living room, keeping a hand on her shoulder. Alexis couldn't be seen, but on the sofa was a vest and a gun. Kate grinned knowing exactly what they were doing. Martha winked at Kate. Her daughter was going to love this.
"Keep your eyes closed," Rick told her. "But put your arms in the air."
Another giggle escaped Anna as she put her arms in the air. Rick put the vest on Anna, them all smiling with how big it was on her. She needed Rick to hold it up for her. With his free hand, Rick picked up the gun, handing it to her.
"What is it?" Anna asked.
"You got it?" He let go, seeing her just able to lift the gun. "Alright, open your eyes."
Anna opened them looking at the gun in her hands and the extremely large vest she was wearing. "What is it?"
"It's a toy gun," Rick said. "You have to shoot Alexis on the tummy and then you score points, whoever gets the highest wins."
"Will it hurt her?" Anna looked at the gun.
"No," Rick told her. "You don't feel anything, its like a torch."
"Where is Alexis?" Anna asked, looking around the room.
"I don't know."
In front of them Alexis jumped up from behind the sofa, wearing the same vest and holding the same gun as Anna. "You ready, Anna?"
Anna held up her gun, surprising them all as she shot Alexis with a giggle. "I'm ready."
"Even cuter than the cookies," Rick said.
"Agreed," Kate said.
Alexis rolled onto the floor, dodging Anna's shots as she aimed at the girl. Rick tried running around with Anna – to Kate's and Martha's amusement – holding up the vest, but in the end they took it off. Anna chased Alexis around the first floor, managing to keep the gun up with both hands. Kate smiled watching them, seeing Anna try to copy Alexis with the rolling on the floor and hiding in places.
"I think I know what I'm getting Anna for Christmas," Rick said with a grin. Her smile grew bigger, knowing that this was a tradition between Rick and Alexis, but now he was bringing his other daughter into it as well.
"She'd love it," Kate said.
Alexis faked dying on the floor, ending up with Anna jumping on top of her with a laugh. The girl shot her one final time, crowning her the winner. When she looked up, she looked over at her parents with a massive smile.
I loved the end of this chapter. I'm planning more laser tag adventures in the future. Please do review.