Love Begins Again
Chapter 25
Well look who is back with another chapter. I know it's been a long time, 14 months to be exact. But things in my life got crazy, I broke my leg in three places and just as I finished my recovery my wife had a stroke. That coupled with the extended travel I do for work and as you can imagine I had not time to write.
If you couple all of that with the ending of our favorite show I ended up not really wanting to write, but the past few weeks the urge hit me again and so here we are.
Castle awoke to the tickle of a finger swirling around his chest, paying close attention to his nipple; he was afraid to say anything lest the sensation stop.
"I know you're awake," Kate purred in a sultry voice that Castle thought he would only hear in a dream.
"No, I think you're dream groping, but by all means keep it up," he responded, trying his best to subdue his arousal.
Kate's hand made it down his chest, across his toned stomach, searching for a more intimate place to reside. "I don't want to cause you any discomfort, so I think I'll just rest my hand right here," she said with more than a hint of playfulness.
"Are you sure that's where you want to leave your hand? If so, we may have a hard time getting out of bed." He said it with a sexy rumble to his voice and had a smirk on his face.
Kate raised her head from his chest, where it had been residing since dawn, to search his eyes. "I think I can handle anything you can throw at me, no matter how hard."
"I'm pretty sure that no matter what I throw at you, you're more than capable of handling it."
After a playful smack to his chest, Beckett said, "I'm not too sure how I feel about that!"
"Don't lie, you're more than happy about that."
Before Beckett could answer, Castle's phone rang. "What in the world could Paula want?" He punched the accept icon on his phone.
Before he could say a word, he heard Paula shriek in her nasal New Jersey accent, "Ricky, we have a PR nightmare!"
"What did Meredith do now?" a flummoxed Castle demanded, causing Beckett to raise her head to peer at him. He couldn't help but notice Kate's eyebrows climbing up.
"No, not Meredith, Kate's ex-fiancé, whatever-Davidson!" Paula replied angrily.
"Josh?!" Rick inquired, quite annoyed. "What the hell could he have done that has you calling me at this hour of the morning?"
He looked over to see Kate now sitting up in the bed with the sheet pulled up, covering her chest.
"He gave an interview to the Tattler! And to top it off he mentioned Alex!" Paula erupted, not trying to hide her disdain.
"Okay, we'll take a look at it and get back to you," Castle returned, looking to Beckett for her approval. Upon receiving a nod in confirmation he disconnected the call with his thanks for the heads-up.
Castle reached for his phone just as the door flew open. "Dad, you have to see this!" Realizing the state of the room and the obvious lack of clothing, Alexis blushed furiously.
"It's okay, pumpkin. Just… maybe knock next time," Castle said, blushing slightly himself.
"It's okay, Alexis, we're all family here. We'll lock the door if we need privacy," Kate added while hiding her face under the sheet.
"Anyway here, read the Tattler's article on you." The oldest Castle daughter shoved her iPad in her dad's hand.
"What have I told you about reading this filth?" Castle scolded.
"Come on, Dad, it's not like I'm watching porn," Alexis grinned.
"Yeah, Dad, it's not porn," Beckett echoed teasingly, her head still beneath the sheet.
"Paige called and said we needed to see this article. They had the audacity to make some pretty awful claims about you and Kate. They even mentioned Alexandria by name no less! Just for that we need to sue both the Tattler and Kate's ex-fiancé…or whatever that dick was to her."
At the same time Alexis heard, "Language, he is and we will," from both above and below the sheets.
Castle looked over to Beckett whose head was now above the sheet, although the sheet stopped just slightly below her chin. "Well, if he had the audacity to mention a minor, and they mentioned her by name, we should sue and own the Tattler. We can turn it into a teen mag, or better a science mag like Popular Mechanics."
She looked at Alexis and smiled, then turned to Castle. "Listen, we're both big enough to take whatever the press could throw at us, but Alex is a minor who the world doesn't know exists." Beckett smiled at Castle and turned her gaze to Alexis. "I think the world could use another science mag, but maybe we could turn it into a children's mag. Say something that caters to the ten-year-old and younger crowd."
"That's a great idea, Kate," Alexis beamed. "You know I think I hear Alex stirring, so I'll let you two read that trash and I'll tend to my baby sister."
Alexis rose from the foot of the bed where she had been sitting and made her way to the door. Turning, she said, "Love you, Dad. Love you, too, semi-Mom." Then she continued out of the room, leaving a stunned writer and detective in her wake.
"Well that was…"
"Unexpected, but you have to know that Castles are predestined to love Becketts. It could be a law or something."
"You should know that goes both ways and I won't leave out the Rodgers, either," Kate said as she placed a kiss to the corner of Castle's mouth. "Now let's have a look at this article and see if you will have to 'go my bail!'"
How Richard Castle ruined my life! The story of Dr. Joshua Davidson's interactions with world-renowned writer, Richard Castle.
By Suzanne Peterson.
Joshua Davidson is by all accounts the all-American success story. Raised by two doctors in Indiana, he set out on a quest to become a cardiac surgeon; he achieved that dream and then some.
Davidson is on staff at Mercy General and is highly regarded as one of the best in his field. On top of that he has volunteered as much as half of each of the past five years with Doctors without Borders.
As we sat down for this interview I could sense from his demeanor that he was quite uncomfortable in the spotlight. But as we got into the meat of the interview, he loosened up and I could see his easygoing personality begin to shine though.
"Well, Suzanne, it's no secret around here that I spend most of my time in this building, when I'm not away with DWB, that is."
Not understanding what the acronym stood for I asked him to elaborate.
"Oh, I'm sorry. That means Doctors without Borders. It's a volunteer group that travels to third world countries to provide healthcare regardless of the situation. We are quite often in war-torn countries, countries that have sometimes been at war with each other for decades.
"Borders mean nothing to us. There are times that we cross borders two or three times a week, treating innocent casualties on each side of the war.
"There are times where we're lucky enough that there are no hostilities in the area, but that doesn't cut down on our case load. We treat cholera, malnutrition, syphilis, HIV, and on and on. The medical team, which is comprised of both doctors and nurses, work sixteen-hour days on average to provide as much care as we possibly can."
As we sat and sipped our coffee the story turned to his work in the States and inevitably his home life. Davidson was at first reluctant to discuss his personal life but after a cup of coffee or two he began to open up.
"I haven't had much time in my life for the romantic side of things, although the past sixteen months or so, I did have someone in my life who was very special to me. Actually she was so special that I proposed."
I congratulated Davidson and was met with a scathing glare; this is where things got interesting.
"You would think so but Kate Beckett didn't!"
To my shock I couldn't believe that he'd named Kate Beckett and I had to confirm that this was in fact the famous Detective Kate Beckett who was the inspiration for Nikki Heat, the ultra-successful character of Richard Castle's latest franchise which is titled for the aforementioned character.
You may also recall that Detective Beckett was shot last spring while giving the eulogy at Captain Roy Montgomery's funeral.
"Yeah, Kate and I met two summers ago and hit it off. Our love for motorcycles and the open road coupled with our love for red wine made us a match made in heaven.
"When we met she was reeling from a difficult breakup. We spent most of the late summer and early fall together before I had to leave for a trip. When I came back Richard Castle had returned to his research.
"To make a long story short he would call at all hours of the night, get her to run off to check on one of his wild theories. He even talked her into going undercover a couple of times as a couple, or so I heard.
"I could live with that, it wasn't fun but I could handle it. That was until he got her shot; I couldn't live with that!"
This is where I interrupted the interview, asking Davidson to explain his statement.
"It's no secret that Kate has had a difficult time with the death of her mother. Hell, anyone who experienced that kind of trauma would have trouble. But Castle took advantage of that – of her trauma – to sell books. He got her to reopen the investigation so he could write about it, and we all know how that turned out.
"Bracken sent an assassin to the funeral and she was shot. I'm just thankful that I was on call when she was brought into the hospital. I would hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't have been there."
In case any readers are wondering what Dr. Davidson is referring to in his previous statement, Senator Bracken was arrested for orchestrating the murder of four people including Detective Beckett's mother. He was also charged with the attempted murder of Kate Beckett as well as multiple RICO Act violations. He is in a maximum security cell awaiting trial.
"I spent the summer with Kate while she recuperated at her family's cabin upstate. As she grew stronger, we grew closer. I decided to propose but had to wait for the right setting. I didn't want to ask her while she was still so weak so I decided to wait until we returned to the city.
"It just so happened that the week we returned, Castle decided to throw a party and invited us. I find it ironic that he went the entire summer and never tried to contact her, although he did attempt to befriend her father. But that's a story for another time.
"We went the party where he introduced everyone to his new daughter!"
At this point I had to intervene and questioned what Dr. Davidson had just revealed. I questioned who the mother was and when she was born. That was when I got the shock of a lifetime.
"No, Castle didn't have a baby the usual way, he went to Russia and found a child who looked just like a little Katherine Beckett and adopted her. He kept her hidden away until Kate returned to the city as a last-ditch effort to win her heart.
"It's no secret that Richard Castle's in love with Kate Beckett. Hell, he's written three books declaring his love for her; they're practically love stories. But to buy a kid to try to win her heart, well that's despicable. And to get her from Russia."
Dr. Davidson paused and shook his head. "Not many people know that Kate speaks Russian, but he does.
"I did all that I could think of at the time, I dropped to one knee and proposed in front of everyone including the mayor."
That's right folks, the Mayor of New York knows that Richard Castle has a new daughter, one that he apparently bought.
"Kate was stunned, unable to speak. It was just the reaction I had hoped for her to have. Then a week later she gave me back the ring and has been by Castle's side ever since. If it wasn't for Alexandria, Kate and I would be engaged right now."
So there you have it, Richard Castle now has two daughters: Alexis who just turned eighteen and Alexandria, who according to the adoption records in the State of New York, is just a few months shy of three.
Xx
"Son of a bitch, can't we ever catch a break?" Castle fumed as he finished reading the article. "First it's Sorenson, then Meredith, Demming, Gina, and Josh. Every time we get to where we want to be someone else pops up." He knew he was taking liberties with their history but his point was made.
"Let's not forget Ellie Monroe," Beckett added with just a hint of ire.
"No, I can't ever forget her," Castle replied which brought a flash of anger and sorrow to Beckett's face. She instantly schooled her features hoping Castle hadn't seen her reaction. Too late she thought as Castle spoke again. "Yeah, Ellie. She was the start of our mess," he said with disgust.
"How so?" Beckett asked curiously.
"If I hadn't have had a moment of weakness after you moved out of the loft, there would never have been a Demming."
Kate couldn't help but think he was right. No matter how much she wished it wasn't so. During the time she stayed at the loft she felt that she and Castle were getting closer. That his joyful nature was healing something inside of her, putting her broken pieces back together. She moved out but had hoped that they could explore something.
The next thing she knew he was infatuated by the B list actress. It wasn't long after that she met Demming and the cycle started.
"It wasn't really a moment of weakness, though. It was another case of a pretty woman paying me some attention and I dropped everything at the chance for some affection. I knew it wouldn't last." He smirked. "But I thought it would last longer than the proverbial trip through the drive-thru at McDonalds."
Castle reached over and pulled her into his arms. "I hope you know that you changed me; I'm no longer that man. All I want to do is spend my time with you and 'our' girls."
"That's all I want as well. I want to spend all my waking moments with you and 'our' family."
There was the sound of little feet running down the hall. Kate looked up to see Alex jumping on the bed with Alexis hot on her trail.
Kate let out an "Omph!" as Alex landed on her.
"Alex, I said to wait," Alexis chided as she entered the room.
Kate scooted over toward Castle, pulling Alex along with her, leaving room for the elder Castle daughter. "Here's a spot for you, Alexis. Take a seat as we decide who we are going to give our interview to."
Castle's eyebrows shot up, questioning her statement.
"You don't think we're going to let him trash you without a rebuttal, do you? We're going to bury that asshole."
"That's ten you owe her!" This time it wasn't the Castle she expected. Kate glanced over to see Alexis looking sheepishly at her.