Chapter 14 – Saturday Morning
The next morning Martha breezed into the loft, ready to head up to bed, but stopped short at the sight of a pair of shoes by the door. They definitely didn't belong to Alexis, but they did look like something Kate would wear. Kate! She head shot up and towards her son's closed bedroom door. She wondered, had they finally got together, after 4 years of denial? All of a sudden she wasn't tired any more. Heading to the kitchen she poured herself a cup of coffee, still warming in the pot, and took a seat to wait.
Kate's alarm went off at 7, telling her it was time to get up, go to work. She slapped it off, not wanting to move from the cocoon of warmth she found herself in. Settling back she turned over to face the man in bed with her. He looked so young and boyish in sleep, with no worries (not that he had any anyway), or troubles to bother him. Leaning in she kissed him awake, watching as he slowly rose from the depths of slumber. When his bright blue eyes opened she forgot to breathe again, they really were breathtaking those eyes. She could drown in them, watch the play of emotions in them all day. Unfortunately at that moment her phone rang. She reached around for it and hit answer.
"Beckett. Ok, thanks. Text me the address." She hung up with that look in her eye.
"We got another one." Castle assumed correctly. Her phone pinged, signalling the arrival of a text.
When she nodded he threw the covers back and headed for the shower, unashamedly naked. "You comin?" He asked, pausing to look back at her.
She shook herself from her admiration of his well defined butt and followed him into the bathroom. After taking a quick shower Kate realised she had no fresh clothes and no make-up. She couldn't arrive at a crime scene looking like that, she would get slaughtered by the guys, and especially Lanie. Relaying that to Castle he smiled, telling her not to worry, he'd sort something out. Pulling on a dressing gown she followed him back into the bedroom and waited while he dressed. Stepping into the living room they were unaware they were being watched. They were halfway to the stairs when they realised they were no longer alone.
"Morning kiddo."
"Morning dad." They reversed direction and headed for the kitchen instead to brew more coffee as the pot they made last night was now empty.
"Morning Alexis, Morning mother." He gave them both a kiss on the cheek on his way past. "It's good that you two are here actually. We have a crime scene to get to and Kate doesn't have any clean clothes here. Can either of you help her out?" He eyed them both, hoping they would accept Kate being here this morning.
"Sure, dad. We'll find her something." Alexis stood up, grabbing both Martha and Kate and pulling them upstairs. Castle watched them go, hoping they were going to be nice and not interrogate her over her intentions. He loved Kate almost as much as he loved his mother and daughter, and with the relationship being so new, he didn't want to scare her off. Sipping his coffee in silence he waited for the women of the house to return.
Upstairs Martha had grabbed her make-up case and some surprisingly demure clothes from her closet and met them in Alexis's room. "Here, Katherine, try these. I bought them when I was trying to attract this stuffy old man and didn't want to scare him off with my loud personality." Taking them, Kate went into the bathroom to try them on.
They were a perfect fit, and were sensible enough for work. Returning to the bedroom, she thanked Martha, who waved it off, glad that they were eventually getting used. "Keep them my dear, I don't need them any more. Now make-up. What do you need?" Kate pointed out what she usually wore and in no time she was ready. She was mortified when she asked for their help in covering up the hickeys.
"What are your intentions towards my dad?" Alexis blurted out, unable to wait any longer.
Kate was taken aback by the girl's bluntness and it took a minute for her to recover.
"Alexis, darling, now's not the time." Martha jumped in, seeing the look on Kate's face.
"No, Martha, it's alright." She sat down on the bed, inviting Alexis to do the same. "I'll be straight with you Alexis. I don't know what's going on between your father and I. It only happened yesterday and I haven't had time to sit back and think about it. And I won't. Not until this case is over at least. Whatever happens I don't want to lose your dad. He means too much to me to throw it all away on a fling. He's my best friend, Alexis. I don't want to hurt him. I don't know what's going on between us, or what the future holds. I don't even know what I want out of this relationship, if that's what it is. It's not something that's going to be decided today or even tomorrow. But I do know this, your father and I have so much history between us. I would hope that we could work through anything the world throws at us."
Alexis absorbed that, slightly shocked at the intensity of Kate's speech. It made her feel a little better about the situation, knowing that Kate wasn't going to intentionally hurt her father. "OK, I can understand that. But what about his fame. You know that's going to affect things, don't you?"
"I hope we can deal with that when the time comes. For the time being at least, we want to keep this quiet. So far, you two are the only ones who know, and we'd like to keep it that way. If Gates found out, Castle and I wouldn't be able to work together any more, and I know we could both hate that. We've got something special at the Precinct, and he is, on occasion, a tremendous help when solving cases. I don't want to lose that at all." She told them both, hoping they would understand and keep it between them.
"So Lanie, Ryan and Esposito don't know?" Alexis asked.
"No, and we'd like to keep it that way. It's too new a relationship to have to deal with the ribbing we'd receive. I, at least, just want to enjoy this for now, and see where it goes."
Seeing they were both mulling things over, Kate waited, hoping and praying they'd be ok about it. She didn't want to come between them or cause problems. When they both agreed, she let out the breath she didn't realise she'd been holding. "Thank you both. I'll do my best not to disappoint you or hurt Castle." She directed that last statement at Alexis, knowing it was her she'd have to convince. Alexis understood what Kate was trying to say and hoped she could believe her.
"Ok, Kate. Promise me you won't hurt him."
"I promise Alexis." With her little interrogation over, Alexis stood, saying she had to get ready for school. Martha made an unusually quiet exit, leaving the younger women to bond. "Oh, and Alexis, if you ever want to talk, y'know woman to woman, I'm here." The younger girl thanked her for her offer, not certain she'd take her up on it, but glad for the chance anyway.
Kate left the room, making her way downstairs where, she was sure a fretful Castle awaited. She wasn't wrong. Stopping just out of his sight, she watched as he paced back and forth between the office and the kitchen. She smiled, touched by his concern and continued down.
"You'll wear a hole in the floor doing that." He spun around and hurried over, enveloping her in a giant hug.
"Are you ok?" He asked when he pulled back slightly.
"Yes, Castle I'm fine. We worked it all out, and Alexis understands what's happening. You really don't need to worry. I can handle your daughter's interrogation and your mother's protectiveness. Everything is good." She reassured him, telling him with both words and body language that she was ok with it all.
Seeing in her eyes that she was happy and pleased, he accepted her word as truth. Releasing her he took a step back and got a good look at what she was wearing.
"Where did they find this? Mother would never wear anything so plain and these would never fit Alexis."
"Martha had them. She said she was trying to seduce a stuffy guy and thought the clothes would work." He scrunched up his face, not wanting to picture his mother with other men in any way, shape or form. Shaking his head to clear it, he realised they'd been standing around too long and grabbed his coat and keys, helping Kate into hers after she stepped into her shoes. Standing up straight with her he smiled. He liked the fact that she was nearly as tall as him with shoes on, it made it easier to kiss her. So he did just that. Kate was taken aback when Castle leaned in and kissed her quick.
He leaned over, and breathed in her ear. "Just because I can." Then turned around and opened the door for her.
Two could play at that game. She gave him a saucy smile and strutted out of the loft to the elevator. Getting on she positioned herself slightly behind him. She waited until the elevator reached the bottom and dinged, then pinched his bottom and walked out, acting like nothing had happened.
'Oh, that's how it's gonna be is it?' He thought to himself, liking the new, playful Kate Beckett. Hailing a cab, he purposefully waited in her personal space, brushing the side of her breast as he dropped his arm. She gasped at the light touch which had her nipples pebbling instantly and glanced sharply at him. His too innocent look gave him away and she smirked evilly. On the cab ride Kate though up ways to torture him, whilst still maintaining a professional air.
R&R please.