Twenty

Richard Castle viewed his ability to turn a bad situation into a good situation as one of his best qualities. For instance, when his thirteen year old daughter ditched him during their afternoon of father-daughter bonding so that she could go and hang out with her friends, did he wallow in the fact that he'd suddenly become the old, uncool dad? No. (Well, maybe for a minute.)

Instead, he asked himself, "Self, what would you like to do with your evening now that you have no plans?" The answer, he decided, was simple and ten minutes later he was in a cab headed uptown towards Kate's apartment.

Really, he decided as he rode, he was saving her from herself. The prior day when he'd asked her about her Saturday plans she'd shrugged, shook her head and said she would probably be spring cleaning her apartment or possibly catching up on laundry. Cleaning? Laundry? Pst! She could do those anytime. Or, knowing Kate and how efficient she was, she was probably already done. If not, she clearly was in need of a break. A naked break. On her couch. Or possibly even on the rug in her sitting room. They hadn't done it there—yet.

With a notable spring in his step, Castle entered Kate's apartment building and stepped into the elevator. There, he smiled at an elderly woman and patted the head of her panting poodle before casually pressing the button for the fourth floor. The woman got off on the third floor affording Castle the opportunity to check his reflection in the back of the shiny elevator doors.

On the fourth floor he walked directly to Kate's apartment door and rapped on it with the knuckles of his index and middle fingers. He rocked back on his heels with his hands in his pockets before he heard footsteps inside. Much to his surprise, the door did not open quickly as it normally did. Instead, she only opened it a quarter of the way and poked her head into the opening.

"Castle," she began, her tone more of a hiss than anything, "What the hell are you here?"

"I came to surprise you," he said, still too consumed by his own glee to notice her level of annoyance.

"Well, I'm surprised."

Finally, he caught her tone and the flash of irritation in her eyes. His fading smile was replaced by a wrinkled brow. "But…not in a good way. Is this a bad time?"

From inside the apartment, Castle heard, "Katie, who's at the door?"

Shit—holy shit! He thought. Was there a man in her apartment? Another man? A man she was—oh god—sleeping with? Sure, seven months earlier when they started sleeping together she said she didn't want to be exclusive, but he didn't think she meant it! Especially…well, they did spend a lot of nights together… When in the hell did she have time to—oh, the man was older. Much older, Castle noted when he saw a face appear behind Kate's in the doorway.

With great reluctance, Kate stepped back and opened the door a bit further. The older man smiled and Castle spotted the resemblance immediately; this was Kate's father. He had seen the man before, but only once and from across the room.

"Oh, hello," the older man said to him. Castle lifted his hand to give a dopey wave.

"Castle, ah, this is my father, Jim Beckett. Dad, this is my partner, Richard Castle."

Kate looked as though she was back in high school and being forced to introduce her father to all of her school friends. Had Castle not been so distracted by the fact that he was officially meeting her father for the first time, he would have found her expression and the emotions within it endlessly adorable.

Instead, he stuck his hand through the partially open door. "It's nice to meet you, sir."

Jim shook the younger man's hand firmly. "Pleasure to meet you too Mr. Castle."

"Ah, please call me Rick."

"Rick." Jim nodded. "I've heard so much about you I feel like I already know you."

Castle let out an embarrassed laugh and glanced over to Kate; she appeared to be attempting to vanish into the floor. "Well I, ah, I guess I should have called first. I don't mean to intrude so I'll just-"

"Hang on a second there, Rick," Jim interrupted. He reached around behind his daughter and forcibly pulled the door from her grasp so it would open further. "Why don't you join us for dinner?"

"Oh," Castle began, his eyes darting between father and daughter. "No, I couldn't intrude-"

"No intrusion. In fact, I insist." The elder Beckett smiled ever broader. "We have more than enough food for another person, don't we Katie?"

Castle looked at her and saw plainly a "please don't" expression, but what was he to do? He was already trapped and he didn't want Kate's father to think he was rude just in case…well, just in case he counted on making a good first impression for the future.

Jim took a step away from the door and called over his shoulder, "Don't be shy, Rick."

"Ah, right. Sure of course," he said, stepping in the apartment. When Kate shut the door behind him, he muttered to her, "Sorry."

"'s okay," she mumbled back.

"So, Rick, what were you up to on this fine Saturday?" Jim asked as the trio made their way into Kate's cramped kitchen area.

"Well, ah, actually," he began with a laugh. "I intended on spending the afternoon with my daughter, but she ditched me for her friends."

"You have a daughter?" Jim asked before shooting his own child a look; Jim had heard many details about her illustrious partner over the prior year, but she'd evidently left that one out.

"Yes, Alexis; she's thirteen," Castle said before showing the elder man a picture of her on his phone.

Jim smiled down at the photo. "She's beautiful." Then, he glanced down at the man's left hand. No ring as he suspected. "So, are you married, then?"

"Dad!" Kate snapped, feeling her ears begin to heat. "He's not a client you're trying to vet; back off."

"It's okay, Kate," Castle said with a smile before turning to her father. "No; I've been divorced for a long time. I have full custody though, in case that's your next question."

Jim nodded. "Well, in that case, I hope your daughter doesn't give you as many gray hairs as Katie gave me during her teens."

While Kate groaned and covered her face with her hands, Castle let out a loud laugh. "Is that so? Well, I wouldn't mind hearing a story or two."

"Don't you dare!"

Jim ignored his daughter's warning. "I assume you know about her motorcycle."

"I know she has one," Castle said, taking the glass of wine offered to him by his extremely perturbed partner.

"Well, along with the motorcycle came her grungy rocker boyfriend-"

"He was in a punk band!" Kate interjected, though neither man paid much attention to her.

"-and they stumbled in one evening, slightly inebriated. He was so out of it I managed to convince him that I, a lawyer, could arrest and charge him for several crimes."

Castle almost doubled over with laughter. "What I love most about that story is that if that ever happens to Alexis, I actually could arrest the kid!"

"Oh no—this is a cautionary tale," Kate said, stepping between the men. Then she looked at her father and gestured towards Castle with her wine glass. "Tell him what happened next—after you disapproved."

Jim blinked at the male detective. "She moved in with him after high school graduation."

While Castle paled, Kate beamed. "Let this be a lesson, Castle: disapproving of your daughter's boyfriend only makes her want him more."

"So, if I like the guy, she'll break up with him?! Wait, seriously—what are the rules for this?" he practically squeaked out.

Both Becketts laughed. "Relax, Rick; I think you still have a few more years before you have to worry about this."

Kate clapped him on the back of his shoulder with her hand. "C'mon Castle, let's eat."

An hour later, Kate's kitchen was still filled with laughter from the three adults even long after their plates had been emptied. Each of them took turns telling tales. Of course, Jim took more than his fair share, much to his daughter's embarrassment, but she took it in good stride. Castle, on the other hand, loved every moment of it. Hearing about that side of Kate was an absolute joy; he was almost sad when she began clearing the table signaling the end of their meal.

Jim Beckett watched as his daughter elbow-nudged her partner on the way into the kitchen. He observed Castle smile down at her and her expression reflect his. Even before this little exchange they shared, he knew; Jim Beckett was a lawyer not a fool.

For over a year he could hardly think of a conversation with his daughter that didn't involve the name Castle being brought up over and over again. "Castle did this," "Castle said that," "Castle told me the funniest thing" – the variations were endless. It certainly didn't take a detective to put together those clues. Now that he'd seen them interact in person he was even more convinced.

Standing from the table, Jim cleared his throat and casually approached them. "So, ah, what is the NYPD policy on romantic relationships between partners?"

The moment the words left Jim's mouth Castle choked wine he was drinking and Kate scolded, "Dad!"

While her father smiled innocently, Castle slapped his palm against his chest and coughed a few more times. "Swallowed wrong," he confessed in a gravely tone.

"Well?" her father asked expectantly.

Castle gazed over at his partner. Yeah, he was definitely going to let her field this one, even if it was painfully evident she didn't want to. Before she could open her mouth, they were interrupted by Castle's cell phone ringing. Thank god!

"Ah excuse me," he told them upon seeing the display on his phone screen. "It's my daughter; I have to take this." He stepped into the hall leaving the silent father-daughter duo behind only to return a minute later. "I'm sorry, I have to go. Alexis needs me to pick her up."

"Is everything ok?" Kate asked on instinct.

"I think so. Sounds like she just had an argument with one of her friends. Jim," he said, extending his hand toward the elder man. "Nice to meet you. And, Kate, I'll, ah, talk to you later." Feeling just as awkward as he had on his first date he leaned over, kissed her cheek, and then headed directly out the door.

Once he was gone, Kate let out the breath she'd been holding in ever since her father asked the question. Deciding her best course of action would be to pretend it never happened, Kate turned back to the table to bring the serving dishes into the kitchen. "You wanna take any of these leftovers with you, Dad?"

Bemused, Jim followed her. "No. And you never answered my question, Katherine."

Oooh, her full name. Kate knew things were serious when he addressed her that way, but she was a thirty-year-old adult and she wasn't going to fold. "That's because it was completely inappropriate. Castle is my partner—my coworker and nothing more."

Jim folded his arms over his chest and gave her his perfect lawyer stare. "You sure that's the answer you want to stick with? He is, after all, the first man of yours I've had a meal with since…well, I can't even remember the last time."

"Because you twisted his arm into staying," Kate informed him pointedly.

"And yet, you seemed to be enjoying yourself quite a bit," her father countered. Kate bit on her bottom lip but said nothing. Taking a step towards her, he dropped his arms to his sides and continued. "Look, Katie this isn't a bad thing. In fact, it's the opposite."

Jim reached out his hands to stroke his daughter's arms. "I don't think I've seen you this happy…well, since your mother was alive. I know I had no small part in your sadness over the last few years but I do want you to find happiness. Find love."

Kate remained silent, though her father feared if she bit her lip any harder she'd draw blood; however, it amused him that she maintained her silence even though her facial expression was an absolute dead giveaway.

Finally, she spoke. "It's complicated."

Jim chuckled and patted her arm. "It always is, isn't it? He has a child and I don't know how that would factor in for you…"

Kate's eyebrows rose momentarily. "Oh she isn't. I mean, Alexis is great; that's not an issue."

"Then what is? He seems like a good man."

She nodded her head. "He is; a very good man."

When his daughter said no more, Jim leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Don't be afraid of happiness, Katie; it looks good on you."

A/N: I just wanted to thank everyone for their reviews - i really appreciate them!