A/N: Hey everyone! I'm finally here :) It took me a little longer than I thought to put this chapter together, but well, I did it! Good news is that I have the next one all figured out and I think I'll be able to write and post it soon. *crosses fingers*.

Thanks for being so understanding and supportive, and for keeping on reading this, and for following it, and for reviewing it… Well, just thank you for everything! :)

A big hug and a huge 'Thank You' to my beta, CastleWriter16. You make all this so much easier! Luv ya! :P

I hope you guys are having a nice summer and a relatively easy hiatus (the wait is killing me!). Enjoy the chapter! ;)


Chapter 11.

Heat. The only thing she could feel right then was the warmth that was engulfing her completely. After a long fight with her dopey limbs, she managed to move to push the covers down, but something hindered her task. She turned her head towards the annoying obstacle, opening her eyes very slowly, almost ready to poke Castle out of her way, when she realized it was not him obstructing her movements. It was Aidan.

The kid was curled up at her side, his hand tangled in her hair and his little knees pressed against her ribs. No wonder she was so stifled; the boy was like a little heater against her body.

Kate untangled Aidan's hand from her hair and moved him away so she could push the sheets down. When she was done, she ran her hand through the boy's head and stroked his sleeping, adorable face. It was weird how much she had grown to like that kid in just a few days. But, at the same time, he made her feel insecure, scared and the worst of all, jealous

Yes, she was jealous of a three year old.

Thinking about it coldly, it might seem stupid and selfish, but she had her reasons, right? Thanks to that kid she was being bereft of the most important thing in her life. Her partner.

Just as if thinking about her working relationship with Castle were an omen, her phone started ringing, startling her out of her reverie.

They had a case. Well, she had a case.

She listened as Esposito gave her the relevant information and then hung up and headed to the bathroom, leaving her warm and cozy spot on Castle's bed to her newest competitor.

It was the first time she left his loft alone to go to a crime scene since they had gotten together. They had developed a ritual for early mornings like this one. He made coffee while she showered, and then she got dressed and did her make up while he took care of his own morning routines. But nothing of that was going to happen from now on. He would have to stay home to take care of Aidan, and she would have to sneak out of bed at odd hours to go do her job, missing him like crazy. This was so not fair.

She came out of the bathroom already dressed for the day, her hair still a little damp, wetting her shirt. She startled when she looked up and found Aidan sitting on the bed watching her intently.

"You leaving?" The boy asked, his voice low and shaky.

Kate walked to him and sat beside him. "Yes, sweetie. I have to go to work."

"Can I go?"

She smiled and stroked the kid's head. "I'm sorry, Aidan, but you can't."

The boy pouted and leaned on her side, his face hidden against her arm. "Why?"

"Well, I have a dangerous job, bug. You're lucky to stay here, you know? You get to spend the day with Rick."

"But I want with you!" the kid whined. "Please?"

Kate sighed and rounded the boy with her arm. "Listen to me, baby boy. I'll be out for just a few hours." She told him, kissing his forehead and putting him back down to bed. "Now, you're going to lay down and sleep. Then, in the morning, you'll get up and have breakfast - Rick makes the best breakfasts ever."

Aidan opened his eyes wide and smiled. "Pancakes?"

"Of course!" She said, tickling his side. "Then you guys will go out to that park you wanted to go to, remember?"

"The one with monkey bars?" The kid asked excitedly

"Yes. That one." She nodded. "Then you'll have lunch, take a nap, play some more, and before you know it, it'll be dinner time and I'll be here with you."

Aidan studied her for a moment, his blue eyes piercing hers. "You promise?"

"I promise, little bug. Now sleep." She said, pressing a soft kiss to the boy's cheek and tucking him in.

At the other side of the bed, a very amused and touched Castle tried to hide the traitorous smile that wanted to creep into his face.


Kate arrived at the crime scene about 40 minutes after Esposito's call. Thank God, there were no paparazzi camping at the main door, so she could get out the door without being bothered with stupid questions and unwanted photos.

The victim had been found in his own bed and Lanie was crouching beside it, leaning over the bloody body of the middle-aged man. When she entered the room, the ME removed her eyes from the guy and smirked at her mischievously.

"Morning, detective! How's your boyfriend, 'The Stud', doing today?" She asked.

Kate's expression fell from amused to completely annoyed. "Oh, very funny, Lanie. Really."

The boys, who had entered the room right after her, laughed at the ME's remark, and Ryan put a hand on Beckett's shoulder.

"Come on, we all know that woman's lying. Try and see the humor in it, Beckett."

"Yeah, as if that was something easy to do…" She sighed.

Espo kneeled beside the bed, patting Lanie's, knee and smiling. "Well, you could always bottle up Castle's little swimmers and sell them online. You'd make a fortune. I bet that'd help you see the bright side." He mocked her.

"Oh, come on, you guys! Could you please save the jokes for later? I could do without this right now. Seriously."

The three of them lowered their heads, mumbled low 'Oks' and went back to their jobs in an instant. Thank goodness for loyal friends.


After discussing the case with Lanie, Beckett sat down on an empty table in the morgue and took a deep breath.

"So. Are you going to ask something or do I have to do all the dirty work?" Kate asked, looking at her friend through thick eyelashes.

Lanie smiled and took a seat right beside the detective, bumping her shoulder with her own. "I think that question took care of it." She said. "How are you?"

"Mmm. To be honest, I don't know. This is over my head. All of it." She said, rubbing her thighs with both palms. "First Aidan, and now this… As if the press wasn't already too much to deal with."

"Do you think she's his?" The ME asked carefully.

Kate shook her head and smiled. "No. He's pretty sure that she's not his daughter. He was still married to Gina back then. He swears he never cheated."

"And you believe him?"

The detective released her lower lip from the attack she was submitting it to and nodded. "Yes. I do."

Lanie got up from the table and sat on a chair in front of Kate, searching for her eyes. "Then I assume that's not what's bothering you. Spill, girl."

Kate let out a soft laugh and then took a deep breath. "I… Gosh, Lanie, I'm such a horrible person!"

"No, you're not!" The ME yelled.

"You don't even know what I'm talking about."

"Doesn't matter. You're one of the best people I know, Kate Beckett. Nothing you think or do would ever be so bad."

Beckett snorted and ran a hand through her hair. "It's the boy."

"What about him?" Lanie asked.

Kate blushed and looked away from her friend, trying to hide herself in some way. "He's… Everything is changing because of him. Not even a week ago I had everything I had always wanted. A job I love, great friends and a wonderful and loving boyfriend… But, now? That boy's appeared and everything's gone to hell!"

Lanie frowned. "What do you mean 'everything'?"

"Castle. He won't be shadowing me anymore, which means that the part I love the most about my job is gone for good. And that's not the worst part. The worst part is that everything's changing between us as a couple too!"

She had hopped off the table and started pacing the floor without even realizing it, and had her friend following her along the room with her eyes, turning her head left and right as she moved.

"The other night he caught us in the middle of… Well, you know… I had to sneak into the bathroom and get dressed so the kid could sleep with us."

Lanie laughed out loud at that, trying to excuse herself with her friend when she saw the glare Kate was directing at her. "Sorry, girl, but it's funny!"

"Yeah. You can't imagine how much I laughed when it happened." She growled. "Do you know what bothers me?"

"No. Please, tell me." Lanie let out with a smirk.

"That I like him. I like that boy. He's the cutest, sweetest thing ever, and he's totally smitten with me! I can't keep him away from me when I'm around. Yesterday we sent him upstairs to play with Alexis and he almost cried because I wasn't going." Kate explained. "Gosh, even this morning… I had to make him go back to sleep because he wanted to come to work with me."

"Aww. So cute!" Lanie said. "He's adopted you!"

Kate grimaced. "Oh, please, tell me you're joking."

"Nuh-uh. That boy's lost his mommy and he's made you the replacement one. You should be honored." The ME said.

"I am, I guess… It's just… I'm not a mom, Lanie. I'm far from being ready to have kids. I want them someday, but now? I'm still enjoying the Honeymoon phase with Castle. I'm good with practicing making babies, but having them? Hell, no!"

"Well, look at the bright side. You won't have to make this one. No labor, no diapers, no sleepless nights because of colic... It's a win-win situation."

Kate narrowed her eyes at her friend and shook her head in annoyance. "Are you serious, Lanie?"

The ME shrugged. "A little bit? I mean, I know this is huge, Kate. I know that Castle having a kid wasn't even remotely in your head, but it wasn't in his either. Have you talked to him about all this?"

"Yes. Well, more or less. We had a fight the other day, but I never got to tell him what my real fears are. I don't want him to think that I don't want to support him. I don't want him to think that I'm a selfish bitch."

"You are not a selfish bitch, Kate, you're just human. This would overwhelm anyone, but you guys need to talk this through before things get worse. You need to be honest with him."


By 10:30 am Castle was walking out of a coffee shop with Aidan's hand in one of his and a steaming cup in the other. Right when they were about to step out the door, Rick bumped into someone.

"Rick? Rick Castle?" The man asked, holding onto the writer's shoulder to steady himself.

"Um, yeah… Who are y- Oh! Hi!" Castle said, placing his coffee on a small shelve nearby the door and shaking Jim Beckett's hand.

The older man smiled and returned the shook effusively. "It's good to see you, son. Are you in a rush? Meeting Katie, maybe?"

At the mention of Kate's name, Aidan showed his dark head from behind Castle, looking at Jim with curiosity.

"Katie? Where is she?" The kid asked a little confused.

"Oh. Um… She's not here, kid." Jim said, looking back and forth between Castle and the boy.

Rick smiled at the man's confusion. "Kate's working Aidan. We'll see her later." He said, ruffling the boy's hair a little. "Do you know who this man is?"

Aidan shook his head, his eyes never leaving Jim. "No."

"It's Kate's dad. Why don't you say hello?"

The kid moved closer to Jim and made the man crouch to his level moving his tiny finger. "You're Katie's daddy?"

"Yes, little man, I am. And you are…?" Jim asked, smiling broadly at the boy.

"Aidan." He replied. "I… I don't have a daddy…" The kid said, frowning a little as if he had just realized that fact.

"You don't?" Jim asked, his eyes flying up to Rick's. "But I thought-…"

"I haven't told him yet." Castle interrupted. "Not until the tests come out. It's… Well, I want to make it easy for him."

"I understand." Jim replied.

Right then Aidan tugged on the man's jacket, making him look back down at him. "We're going to the park. Wanna come?"

Castle smiled at that and looked at Jim in askance.

"Oh, sure. Let me get my coffee and I'll join you in a minute, ok?"


They walked for a couple of blocks until they arrived to a small park with colorful swings, monkey bars, and slides. The place was surrounded by benches and a three feet tall bush fence.

There were a bunch of kids playing around with their parents and/or nannies watching for their safety from the green wooden benches.

"We can sit here." Castle pointed to one of the few free benches left.

Jim nodded and sat down, letting go of Aidan's hand, who was already trying to run to the monkey bars.

"Hey, wait a sec, munchkin! You be careful there, ok? Don't go on the tall ones; you'll hurt yourself."

"Ok." Said the boy, running fast to the set of red and blue bars where a couple of kids were hanging from.

Castle and Jim watched the boy for a few minutes, both drinking their coffee, lost in their thoughts.

Jim was the first to break the ice. "He's a nice boy."

"Yes, he is." Castle agreed.

"Katie's very fond of him." Jim added, taking another sip of coffee. "She's always loved kids, my daughter."

Castle's brows joined in the middle of his forehead, furrowing furiously. "She's told you about Aidan?"

The older man laughed. "Of course! How do you think I know about him?"

"Well, the press has been doing a great job informing the public lately. I don't think there are many people out there who don't know about Aidan."

"Right. Sorry." Jim apologized. "I don't watch TV and Page Six is not something I normally check when I read the paper… Katie called me the day you got the news. She was worried about you."

"Worried about me?" Rick asked. "Why?"

Jim shrugged. "She thought you'd do something stupid."

"Like fostering him without telling her?"

"Yeah." The man laughed. "Like that."

Castle took another sip of his coffee and took a look at Aidan, who was climbing up the monkey bars. "She knows me too well." He mumbled. "Has she told you anything else? How she feels about all this?"

Jim looked at Castle over the rim of his cup and smirked. "Shouldn't you ask that to her?"

The writer sighed. "Yeah, I guess. It's just that… Well, Aidan's really attached to her and she's wonderful with him, but I can tell she's not comfortable with all this. I don't even know if I'm comfortable with all this…"

"It's not an easy situation, son. I can understand why you'd feel insecure." The older man said, patting Castle's shoulder. "About Katie… She's worried about how this is going to change your life, her life. You have to understand that, even though it's been a surprise for both of you, you at least have been a parent before. She has no idea what her place is now."

"She's my girlfriend! I don't want her to feel like I'm neglecting her or shutting her out of this." Castle said, almost feeling angry with himself.

"I don't think she feels that way, Rick, but you'll have to give her time until she figures out where she fits."

"All the time she needs." He replied, smiling to Kate's father. He would give her anything she needed, no matter what it was.

"You love her." And it was not a question.

"I do, sir. With all I've got."

Jim nodded and smiled back at Rick. "Then you'll be fine."

TBC


Kind of a transition chapter; I hope you guys enjoyed it.

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