Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Thanks to my dear friend M this story finally has a worthy cover!

Chapter 12

She woke early the next morning when she felt a weight dip into the mattress behind her. Groaning, she turned her head and cracked one eye open, fully expecting to find Louis there, having awoken from a nightmare. But instead, her gaze fell on dark blue eyes and a very goofy grin. Groaning once more, she let her head fall back onto the pillow again.

"Castle, what are you doing in my bed?" she asked with her eyes closed, not ready to let go of her last remnants of sleep just yet.

"Doing something I can do now," he replied somewhat mysteriously with a hint of humor in his voice.

When she didn't react he started playing with a strand of her hair. "Do you want to know what that is?" he asked, leaning over her so he could see her face.

"No," she grumbled and squeezed her eyes closed.

"You're cute when you just woke up."

This time, Kate opened her eyes to glare at him. It was a sleepy glare that didn't have the effect she hoped it would. "Castle, get out of my room," she demanded and made a half-heartedly shooing motion with her arm.

"But don't you want to know what I woke you for?" he pouted.

"Fine." She actually still didn't want to know, but figured this was the only way to get him out of her room and catch another half hour of sleep before the kids awoke.

"I woke you, so I could steal a good morning kiss." He leaned closer to her face, still grinning that goofy grin.

Kate wanted to be angry at him for waking her up this early, she really did, but when she saw his hopeful expression and the grin, she just couldn't. She rolled onto her back and started running a hand through his disheveled hair, that was just as soft as she had always imagined it to be.

"This kiss better be worth waking me at seven on a Sunday."

"Oh, and you're bossy too, I like it," he grinned before capturing her lips in a passionate kiss that left her gasping for air and did all kinds of funny things to her insides.

"So, how did I do?" Castle asked her cockily after he leaned back a couple of inches to get a better look at her face.

"I don't know, maybe you should give it another try." She tried to keep her expression even, tried to keep her lips from spreading into a huge smile that would only inflate his ego further. Something neither he, nor she, were in need of.

"Hah, you wish Detective! In all seriousness though, Alexis is an early riser and seeing me come out of your room might raise some questions," he told her as he got off the bed and moved towards the door. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Eggs and toast please?"

"It'll be ready in thirty minutes, complete with coffee."

When he left the room, Kate's heart was racing. Not because of the fantastic kiss but because of something he had said. He had mentioned Alexis. Alexis. And Louis. Her pulse quickened even more when she thought of her son and his daughter.

They can't be doing this, they can't hurt either of the children like that. Suddenly feeling trapped under the blankets, Kate got out of the bed and started pacing the room. Neither she nor Castle had a good track record when it came to relationships, they had established that much this weekend. Why should this relationship be any different? She was not a part of his world, she didn't belong in his world, this was foreseen to fail, right? They were too different, this couldn't be working. Nothing in her life had ever worked out, so why should this? Insecurity crept through her, relentless like wildfire. Great, she thought with a bitterness that left a bad taste in her mouth, now I have to end this relationship before it barely even started. But were they in a relationship? Thinking about it, she realized, she had no idea what they were exactly. They kissed and agreed to go out on a date. Oh God, the date, she groaned. What was she thinking?! Checking the time, she quickly dressed herself and went downstairs, hoping to be able to talk to him before anyone else woke up.

She found him standing at the stove, scrambling eggs.

"Hey there," he greeted her, a content smile on his lips.

"Castle, can we talk?" She decided to not beat around the bush and the faster she got this over with, the better.

"That doesn't sound too good," he tried for humor, but it fell flat when he saw the tensity in her back and shoulders.

He turned down the heat of the flame, so he could give her his undivided attention. "What's on your mind?"

"Castle, I have no idea how to say this," she placed a hand in front of her mouth, thinking of the right words before speaking up again, "I don't think we should be doing this. We can't."

"And by 'this' you mean us?" he asked slowly, trying to fully comprehend what she was saying.

Kate nodded her head and opened her mouth to speak but Castle was quicker. "Could we maybe have this talk after breakfast? I can already hear the children," he pointed to the ceiling where the soft thuds of footsteps could be heard, "And they really don't need to hear any of this. I'm sure my mother, once she is awake of course, will keep them occupied, so we can talk without being disturbed."

Kate admired his thoughtfulness and how he always thought of his daughter first. She hoped she could take advantage of that and convince him that they had to put their children first, despite the obvious attraction between them.

Soon enough, bare feet trampled down the stairs.

"Morning daddy, morning Kate," Alexis cheerily greeted her, the buns on the sides of her head somewhat askew.

Louis followed after her, not yet as awake as his friend.

"You have to take my buns out, Kate!"

Kate stood behind the girl and carefully removed the elastics, causing the buns to unfurl into curls.

"They're beautiful, Alexis," Kate told the girl with a smile.

"Yeah?" she asked for reassurance, the corners of her lips slightly tilted up.

Kate nodded in agreement and Alexis turned to her father. "Does our hair look alike, daddy?"

Despite the apparent difference in color, Alexis' hair was much longer than Kate's shoulder-length tresses, but seeing the admiration in his daughter's eyes whenever she looked at the older woman made him nod and smile in agreement.

Breakfast was somewhat strained. The kids didn't pick up on it and chit-chatted happily, but Martha noticed immediately when she appeared at the table.

When everyone had finished, Castle got up. "Mother, could you ...," he pointed at Louis and Alexis, and Martha nodded understandingly. "Oh, of course kiddo. Come on Alexis, Louis," she stood up, motioning for them to do the same, "Let's clear this table and get dressed. We need to enjoy this sunshine and get outside!"

The kids got to work right away and Castle went into the library, obviously trusting for Kate to follow him.

We seem to have all of the serious talks in this room, Kate thought and shook her head to refocus on the task on hand. It was important to her to make Castle understand and get her point across.

"Okay Kate, talk to me." Castle closed the door behind her, his arms crossed in front of his chest as if to protect himself from the words that were about to spill from Kate's mouth.

"Do you know how you always say Alexis looks up to me?" Kate began and looked at him for confirmation and when he nodded, a little confused, she continued. "It's the same thing with you and Louis. He doesn't have any male role models in his life, and whenever he is with you, he looks up to you, he admires you. You inspire him and influence him in a positive way. It not only means much to him but to me, too." She stepped a little closer to him, searching his eyes. "It's like you somewhat make up what he's been lacking all of his life, and I don't want him to loose this."

Cluelessness was written all over Castle's features and Kate was quick to explain. "What if this 'us' does not work out? How can we take responsibility for that? How can we justify ourselves to our children?" She was desperate to get him to understand.

"You're right Kate, we can't," Castle replied with an even voice, staring into the distance. "But I'm not ready to let the idea of 'us' go yet." He looked down into her eyes, his own having turned a steely blue. "What if we promised each other that, no matter what happens between us, we will still be there for each other's children? That even if we don't work out, Louis can still come over to the loft after school and Alexis can still come to you when she wants to sport a bun-hawk to school?"

She actually had to chuckle at that mental image but she quickly turned serious again. "Do you really believe that will work?"

"Yes!" He grabbed her hands in both of his and squeezed them. "Yes Kate, I believe it would work. And do you want to know why?" He waited for her to look at him before he continued, "Because we both love our children so much and would put their needs in front of our own hurt any time."

Kate had to agree with that, she would. They both would. "Okay," she breathed. "Promise me."

"Kate, I promise I will never do anything to hurt you or Louis, and no matter what happens, he will always have a friend in me." She searched his face for any trace of doubt, however she only found honesty and a determination that made her heart flutter. In a good way though, knowing, he didn't want to let go of her that easily was good.

Kate nodded and swallowed past the lump that had formed in her throat. He was so good to her. "And I promise you that I will always be there for Alexis."

Desperate to get everything out on the table, she addressed the second reason why they needed to talk.

"Castle, this 'us' ... What are we exactly?"

"We are what ever you want us to be." He looked at her with so much affection and adoration, and maybe a hint of something more brimming in his eyes, it shot straight through her heart. "We will take this slow, as slow as you need it to be and see how it goes for a while before we bring my mother and the kids into the loop. Sound good?"

"Very," Kate smiled softly at him.

"So, are we good?"

"We're good," Kate responded as she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, proving her point.

"Come on then, let's enjoy those last couple of hours we have before we have to go back to the city." He dropped a kiss to her head and led her outside.