Thank you for all of the positive feedback!

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle.

10. A Successful Plan

After being settled at home, the Castles added a few final details to the nursery. The letters of Andrew's name now hang on the wall above his crib, and the "w" has the monkey Alexis bought hanging from it. Over the past few weeks, the loft has been full of many visitors. Captain Gates, Lanie, Jenny and the boys have come over, Lanie being a complete baby hog. Maddie and Sophia have both stopped in to meet Andrew, and even Aunt Theresa made a trip out. Martha and Jim come by at least 3 times a week to visit their grandchildren and give both parents a break. Beckett, however, has refused to go out and take a night off. She'll lay down and take a nap, but Castle has not yet convinced her to do anything else. So today they have a plan.

It's a Saturday afternoon when Martha and Jim both arrive around 3 o'clock. Beckett is in the living room with Castle and Andrew. At four weeks old, the baby is making a lot of noises. He gurgles, grunts and coos. Alexis leads her grandparents to the rest of the family, where her brother is lying on his back on a blanket. Castle is lying down next to him, reaching his hands into the air while Beckett watches with affection in her eyes. Their son has started to find the shapes hanging above him absolutely mesmerizing. The mobile in his crib, the toys hanging from his bouncer, his parent's faces.

"Hey kiddos." Both Castle and Beckett look up.

"Hi mother, Jim." Castle says, but stays where he is on the floor next to Andrew.

"I didn't know you guys were coming by today." Beckett says as she stands to hug first Martha, and then her father.

"Alexis actually asked us to." Jim says gently.

Beckett looks over at her step-daughter, surprised. Usually Alexis tells them if she has invited somebody over, even if it's family.

Alexis looks rather nervous when she speaks next, although she is just putting on a show for Beckett.

"I asked Grams and Jim to come over because I have a date next weekend and I need a new outfit. We're going dancing, so I was wondering if you would come shopping with me?" She doesn't take a breath and it all comes out very fast. Alexis looks at Beckett with hopeful eyes.

Beckett is a little confused at first. Why not just get Castle to watch Andrew? Why get my dad and Martha to come babysit? And then it hits her. They're tag teaming her. She has been reluctant to leave the house since they brought their baby boy home. Beckett glances at her son lying down on the ground. In reality, she just doesn't want to miss anything Andrew does. She wants to hear every sound, see every expression her son makes. But she understands that she needs to let go, even just a tiny bit.

Alexis thinks they've lost when Beckett's eyes land on Andrew, so she is surprised when Beckett turns back to her and says: "Sure Alexis, I'll come with you. Did you want to leave now?"

It takes Alexis a moment to find her voice. "Uh, whenever you're ready."

"Okay, I'll just go get changed. Give me 15 minutes."

"Okay, thanks Kate."

When Beckett emerges from her room, she finds Andrew on his stomach, with Castle and Alexis on each of his sides, and Martha and Jim sitting on the couch.

"Ready, Alexis?"

"Yeah!" the red head answer and hops up to get her shoes on. Beckett makes a quick detour, picking Andrew up off his blanket and cradling him to her chest for a moment.

She whispers words that only he can hear.

"Bye Andrew, bye my sweet boy. I'll be back soon, okay? Just a couple hours and mommy will be home. Be good for daddy and Grams and Grandpa. I love you." It takes everything she has to hand her husband their son and walk out the door.

"See you all later." She says as she shuts the front door.

Castle looks down at Andrew, and then up to his mother and Jim. "Part 1: Success."

They walk into a third store, not having had any luck in the first two. Alexis bypasses a few racks of dresses and moves deeper into the store. When she turns around, she finds Beckett looking at a dark green dress. Good, she thinks, just like we planned. She makes her way over to Beckett who can't take her eyes off the knee length dress that would fit her perfectly.

"Wow. That's nice. You should try in on." Alexis says to her step-mom.

Beckett is startled by the sound of Alexis' voice, not having seen her approach. "Oh no. We're here for you, come on." The older of the two women starts to take off. "Kate, seriously. This would look gorgeous on you. Try it on." She checks the tag and adds "It's your size."

Beckett gives in, the dress is exactly her style and imagines it wold look very nice. After gathering a few pieces of clothing for Alexis to try on, they head to the dressing rooms. Needless to say that Beckett leaves the store with a new dress, and so does Alexis.

Part 2: Success

As they walk towards the subway, Beckett realizes she never asked Alexis who this mystery date was.

"So who are you going out on a date with? Anyone I know?" Beckett assumes the answer is no, she only knows a handful of Alexis' friends.

Alexis smiles as she thinks of her date. "No, his name is David. We have some mutual friends."

"Is he still in school?"

"Yes, he goes to Columbia. He's studying to become a teacher. He'll be certified to teach K-12 when he graduates, but his goal is to teach high school."

"What would he be teaching?"

"English and art."

Beckett grins. "He already reminds me of your father." she says teasingly recalling that girls always seem to fall for guys similar to their fathers. She can't deny that she did, her father and Castle certainly share many traits.

When they reach the street where the subway is located, Alexis starts to turn left.

"Alexis, the subway is this way." Beckett says as she reaches out to direct the girl in the opposite direction.

"Actually, I wanted to check something out down this way. Do you mind?"

Beckett is curious and agrees to go with her. They are walking down the sidewalk chatting when something catches Beckett's eye.

"Castle?"

He is wearing a suit, a green tie, and a smug grin. It is then that Beckett realizes where they are, standing outside of a little place they've been once before. Harmony House serves a delicious meal that is followed by lots of dancing.

"You didn't"

"I did."

"So this wasn't just any plan to get me out of the house."

"No, this was a plan to get you on a well-deserved date."

Turning to look at the girl beside her. "Alexis? Did he put you up to this?"

"In a way…I really do have a date next weekend, I really did need a new outfit, and I truly wanted you to come shopping with me. However, that green dress you are holding in your hands may have been planned, as well as the babysitters and the whole timing of this excursion."

Beckett smiles, and then looks down, embarrassed. "I'm sorry it took this much to get me out of the house."

"Kate, no. I understand how you feel. It's hard to leave Andy with other people, no matter how much we trust them. You think of the little things you might miss. But we need to learn to let go sometimes."

Beckett looks up at Castle, and moves towards him, bringing their lips together in a gentle kiss.

"Thank you, Rick. For all of this."

"My pleasure."

Alexis, figuring it's time for her to leave, says "Well I'll leave you guys to it. Enjoy your evening, I'll see you at home."

"Thank you Alexis." Beckett says and adds "Be safe" before the girl heads to the subway.

"So…" Castle starts, "Shall we?"

"We shall."

Part 3: Success

They arrive at home just in time for Andrew's night time feeding. Beckett takes her son from Jim's arms.

"He woke up maybe 15 minutes ago and started to get a little cranky."

"Yeah, he's getting hungry." Beckett moves to sit on the couch, getting in a comfortable position to feed the baby. When Andrew latches on after a few minutes, she covers him up with a blanket. Martha is already sitting down with her daughter-in-law and grandson when Castle and Jim return to the living room after getting a glass of water for Beckett, and a tea for Martha.

"So, how was your night?" asks Jim.

"Part four was a success." Castle says, grinning.

Beckett rolls her eyes. Over dinner, Castle had explained how his whole plan had come together. Getting Alexis, who he knew Beckett would not say "no" to, to ask Beckett for help was the easy part. Making sure she saw the green dress was definitely more difficult. They had store clerks help out a little on that one. And getting Beckett to turn left towards the restaurant instead of heading home to Andrew without a solid explanation was the part of the plan they were most afraid would fail. However, everything worked out well. The couple enjoyed a lovely dinner and some time alone to focus on themselves.

"Yes, we have decided to have date night at the very least once a month. It will definitely be trickier when I'm back at the precinct, but we'll make it work."

"That's wonderful news. We didn't mean to impose, but Richard was rather adamant that you needed a night out."

"Well I'm glad he was so determined."

Soon Martha and Jim have gone and Castle and Beckett are putting Andrew to bed. They have been putting him to sleep in Castle's office, at least until the boy sleeps through the night. This way, they can get to him faster during the night and he doesn't wake Alexis with his cries. Beckett gently lowers Andrew into his crib. She brushes a hand over his head. "Goodnight my sweet boy. Sweet dreams."

Castle stands beside her, with an arm draped around her waist. "Goodnight buddy. Mommy and daddy love you."