A/N: Sorry for the delay, guys but life got a little bit out of hand. So, here is a new part, hope you really like it. Tell me what you think about it.

Chapter 11

"Hello Amanda, this is Kate Beckett. How are you doing?", Kate asked.

"Katie, nice to hear from you. I'm fine, just got my first job as attorney. What about you? Last time we spoke you just got a new boyfriend. So, how is it?"

"Was it really this long ago since we spoke? Well, my boyfriend is long history, but I got a new one since a few weeks and this one I hope is going to last. He is my one and done."

"Oh, Kate. I'm so happy for you. I have to meet him someday."

"Oh believe me. You will meet him. But that wasn't the reason I was calling."

"Do you need my advice as attorney?", Amanda asked.

"No, I don't need your business know-how. Actually I was calling about your brothers, or more exactly your brother Aaron. What is he doing at the moment?"

"Aaron just got his first job offer at a high school in New York. I think he likes it there, but I haven't talked to him in a few weeks. I just don't have any luck getting him on the phone. But you know how he is, when he is deeply in his work. But why do you ask?"

"I was thinking to invite him over for dinner. It would be nice to see him again and since he is in New York it would be nice to spend some time together."

"Oh, that's a great idea and you were good friends when we were children. And you could be my spy, since Aaron doesn't tell me anything about his life. I'll send you his contact info and you keep my informed about his life."

"Thanks Amanda and I will tell you a few things I will get out of him. Hope to see you soon, Amanda.", Kate said and ended the call. Soon after Kate's cell chirped announcing that she had a new message. She opened the message and saved the contact data. Then she sent a message at the cell phone number. /Hi Aaron, meet me at the teachers parking lot at four pm. Becks/

"Hey, what are you doing?", Kate asked, when she went back to the living room where Castle was still sitting on the couch.

"Oh, just reading some of my mails, while waiting for my beautiful girlfriend. Are you finished with your task?"

"For the moment, yeah. But I'm having a meeting at four pm. And after this I probably will go to my apartment for a while.", Kate explained.

"Are you going to be here tonight or are you staying at your place?", Castle asked, not really sure if he want to know the answer.

"That is a question I can't answer at the moment. But I will tell you when I know. And remember it's all for a surprise for your daughter."

"I will try to remember this while I miss you. And I really want to know what you are planning for her."

"I will tell you, when time is right. And now I just want to cuddle up next to you. You up for this?"

They spent the day cuddling up on the sofa. Castle read to her, they watched a bit of TV and had sandwiches for lunch. When Alexis got home, Kate went to the guest room to change for her meeting.

"You really have to go?", Castle asked when Kate came back to the living room.

"Yeah, I'm meeting an old friend I haven't seen in some years. I will call you later, Rick. And don't worry about me. Spend some time with Alexis, help her with her studies and wait for my call. I love you Rick.", Kate said, kissing Castle good-bye.

Kate went to the teacher's parking lot of a local high school and waited for her old friend. At sharp four pm, Aaron was arriving at the lot.

"Katie! What a surprise seeing you here? Where did you get my number? Why do you want to see me?", Aaron asked, hugging Kate close.

"Aaron, it's so good to see you. You look great and so grown-up. And you should really know, where I got your number from.", Kate said smiling.

"Amanda?", Aaron asked, knowing his sister. Kate just nodded. "But you didn't tell me the reason, why you decided to see me now after all this years."

"How does meeting your girlfriends father as a reason sounds?", Kate asked grinning.

Aaron's face froze in shock. "What? How do you know about my girlfriend? Nobody knows about us."

"Well, I'm Detective, that's what I'm paid for. So, would you like to meet him? Like tonight?"

"Tonight? I won't have time tonight, since I'm meeting with my study group.", Aaron tried to ditch the invitation.

"Just text your girlfriend that something came up in school. She will understand and she really needs to spend some quality time with her father. And I promise you, you will see your girl tonight. So, are you up to meet the famous Richard Castle?"

"Okay, I agree to meet him, but only if you tell me where the heck you got wind about this.", Aaron said, walking toward his car.

"Deal. We are going up to my apartment, where we will get ready for a fancy dinner. You still got your cooking skills.", Kate grinned.

"You bet, Katie. So, where are we going now?"

"First we need to go shopping. I don't have any food at home, so we really need to do this first. Any idea what we are going to make."

"How about something exotic? I really like to cook exotic food in the last years. You are okay with this."

"That's fine with me. I really like exotic food and I know that our other guests like this kind of food, too."

The two of them went to a grocery store, where they shopped for dinner. Then they went to Kate's apartment.

"Welcome to casa Beckett. You can put your things into my bed room and then we can get started on dinner."

"Oh, no Kate. First you tell what you know about my girlfriend and who told you about us? I really need this info."

"Okay, let's have some coffee first.", Kate said and got the coffee maker started. When the drink was ready she got two mugs out of her cupboard and filled them up. She put cream and sugar on the kitchen island and set down on a chair. Aaron sat down, too.

"So, are you going to tell me now? I really need that info. It's important for the future of my girlfriend."

"And it's important for your own future as well, since your girlfriend is one of your students. And don't worry I'm not going to tell anyone. After all, it's about the future of my hopefully future step-daughter."

"Your future step-daughter? What the hell are you trying to tell me, Becks?"

"Your sweet girlfriend Alexis is the daughter of my boyfriend. Alexis told me yesterday that she is in love with one of her teachers. I got her to tell her father and Rick really wants to meet you. But Alexis told us, that this could be difficult, since you just can't walk up to the loft without looking suspicious."

"So, you got this brilliant idea to invite me over for dinner. But if you are in a relationship with Richard Castle, it will look suspicious, too when you have dinner with your family and me."

"Our relationship is still a secret and it's not out of ordinary that Castle comes up to my apartment. We are working together for the last three years and he was over a lot of times. And Alexis was over for some visits, too. So, you don't have to be afraid. I wouldn't do anything to endanger Alexis' future. So, are we starting on dinner? I still have to tell Rick to come over for dinner."

They were preparing dinner in harmony, while they talked about the years they haven't seen each other. Beckett had sent Castle a message that he and Alexis should come to her place for dinner at seven pm.

With only thirty minutes left until Rick and Alexis should arrive, Kate had send Aaron on an errand to get some pastry for dessert. In the meantime Kate set the table for four persons and got changed in a short dress. She just finished her make-up when there was a knock on her front door. She went to let her guests in.

"Hello Kate, what a surprise to get an invitation for dinner. I really hoped you would come back to the loft after meeting your friend. Did you have fun, at least?", Rick asked, entering the apartment.

"Oh, I did have fun meeting him. It was really nice, seeing him after all those years. Do you want to have some wine?", Kate asked ushering her guest into her kitchen.

"Kate, why is the table set for four persons? And you never told me, that you were seeing a guy.", Castle said.

"Oh, are you jealous, Rick? There is no need for, since he is already taken and way too young for me. And the table is set for four, because we are waiting for someone else. I think you will like my guest.", Kate said grinning and went for the door, when she heard it knocking.

"They are already here.", Kate whispered to the new arrived guest.

"Desert just arrived.", Kate said louder and pushed her new guest into the kitchen.

"Aaron, what are you doing here?", Alexis asked, when she saw her boyfriend entering the kitchen.

"I'm here to meet the father of my girlfriend, that's why I'm here. Hello darling.", Aaron said, greeting Alexis with a quick kiss on her cheeks.

"But how? Kate, how could you? Just yesterday you told me, that it is dangerous if someone sees us together. Do you want to ruin everything?"

"Hey Alexis, there is no need to be worried. I'm really a friend of Kate, we grew up together and we are still friends. At the moment I'm just a guy visiting a friend and her boyfriend and his daughter. Nobody has to know, that this sweet daughter is my girlfriend. So, everything is fine. By the way, I'm Aaron Cooper. Nice to finally meet you Mr. Castle."

"Please call me Rick and the pleasure is mine. I must tell you, that I was surprised when my daughter told my she is seeing one of her teachers, but I must say you don't really look like a teacher. And you are really a friend of Kate? This is not just some trick for us to meet?", Castle asked.

"Yeah Aaron is really a friend of my. His sister Amanda and I were best friend when we grew up. And Alexis I can tell you, I have seen more and I know more about Aaron than you."

"What? Does that mean the two of you were a couple?", Alexis asked shocked.

"No, Alexis. We never had been a couple, but I used to babysit Aaron when he was a baby. I can tell you some stories about him you wouldn't believe anything of it."

"Same goes for you, Becks. I know things about you I think you never want anyone to know about.", Aaron said.

"Okay, now that we cleared that no secrets are told, how about you tell us something about you. We already know, that you are intelligent and that you have various kinds of hobbies.", Castle said, wanting to know more about his daughter's boyfriend.

"Well, that's right. When I was a child, I did have many hobbies. And it didn't matter if it was sports like football, soccer, swimming or cross track. I did learn some instruments and I still like to play guitar and violin, sometimes I try my luck on the piano, but not too much anymore. I like to read good books for relaxation. I really liked your Storm series, thanks to Becks."

"You sound like a busy guy, Aaron."

"I used to be busy, but now I think I'm ready to settle down. I really like my life here in the city and I love my work at the high school. I think the kids like me."

"That they do.", Alexis said smiling. "And that's not only my opinion. You are the favorite teacher of all my friends, they like you because you are close to our age. You still know, what it's like to be a teenager and you try really hard to be a friend to your students and not the bad teacher. And you are a really good teacher. I know off some students who could improve their grades two or more steps since you started teaching."

"Thanks Lexi, that's really improving my self-esteem. So it really was a good idea to become a teacher.", Aaron said, kissing Alexis on her cheek.

"So, you want to stay in the city?", Castle asked.

"Yeah, that's the plan so far. For now I keep working at the high school and helping Alexis with her studying. You know, she is a great student. The best I got and I don't think there will a problem with her graduation. I earn enough to rent an apartment, it's not much, but enough for two persons. Not that Alexis is moving in with me any time soon."

"That's good to hear. But while are at the topic about the future, what are you going to do in the fall. I mean, you will graduate in a few weeks and we never spoke about what you are doing afterwards.", Castle asked his daughter.

"Since I already was going to try graduating this year, I wrote some application to colleges and just today I got an acceptance letter of one of them. Looks like I'm going to NYU in the fall. Only problem is, that I don't really know what direction I will take. I would really like to become a doctor or a teacher. I think I would like to work with children, helping them to learn for life or get them better from any illness."

"But you always wanted to get to Harvard and become a lawyer? What happened to this dream?", Castle asked.

"Yeah, this was my dream when I was a child. But I don't think I would have much fun in this profession. But I will make this decision when the time is right. For now I just want to spent the rest of the night with my family and my boyfriend and enjoy the weekend trip with Kate. Everything else has to wait for now."

"That's a good plan, Alexis.", Aaron said, kissing her cheek.

The rest of the night they spend telling more stories about their past and enjoyed the food. When it was way past ten, Aaron went on his way back to his apartment and Alexis went home to the loft. Castle insisted on staying, helping Kate cleaning up the mess they made.

"This was an excellent idea, Kate. I really liked meeting him and he is a good guy. I can tell, he really loves Alexis and she feels the same. They are going to be a great couple.", Castle said, doing the dishes.

"Yeah, I can tell this, too. But I really hope they can survive the next few months living in secret. Alexis will be stressing over the finals and she does need every bit of help she can get. And I think she made a great decision about her future. She is going to be great no matter what she will start studying in the fall."

"That she will be. I was just surprised that she changed her mind. Since she was a little girl, she wanted to be a lawyer and now she wants to work with children. But I must admit, it suites her better, since she is really great with our young neighbor Becky and she is good in tutoring the little ones."

"And NYU is not so far away so I'm sure she will visit you a lot."

"I really hope she will do this, even I have to get used to the idea that she is moving out any time soon. I think as soon as she gets her graduation paper she will move in with Aaron. It will be hard for me, to let my little girl go."

"I know, and I will be there for you when the time is right. But you have to accept that your little girl is growing up. She is a young woman now, who is in love with a great guy."

"Oh, don't say something like this. I'm not ready to think about my girl being with a guy. She is way too young for this."

"Rick, please. Alexis will be 18 in a few weeks and she is old enough for this part of a relationship. And I don't need to remind you that she already was in a relationship with Ashley. It could be that she already did this part of a partnership."

"Kate, I really love you, but could we change the topic? I'm not ready to have this conversation with my girl.", Castle said, shuddering at the thought.

"Okay, we won't talk about this any longer. And I will try to talk to her when we are on our weekend trip. It might be easier for her to speak to another female about this topic, than her father. But I'm not promising to tell you anything."

"I'm not even sure I would want to know anything. So, what are we doing now since the kids are out of the house?", Castle asked grinning.

"Well, we finished cleaning away the mess and I could really do with some sleep. So, back to the loft or do you want to sleep over here?", Kate asked liking the idea of Rick staying.

"I would really like to stay over, but I want to be there for Alexis in the morning. So I think we are going back to the loft. And we are spending the next day just relaxing. This was the plan I had for today, but I really liked your surprise. And so did Alexis. How small the world is.", Castle said, helping Kate into her jacket so they could leave for the loft.

A/N: How did you like this part? Do you want to read more? Please leave a review.