When Kate woke in the morning Rick was no longer next to her in the bed. It didn't take long for her to notice the smell of cooking bacon wafting through into the bedroom. She remembered Rick had mentioned something about making her breakfast in bed so she fought he urge to get up immediately and remained where she was.

She wasn't waiting long before Rick came back into the bedroom.

"Hey," he said as he made his way towards her.

"Hey," she responded sitting up and resting back on the bedhead.

Rick sat down on the bed beside her, placed one hand over her legs so he was facing her and leaned in for a morning kiss which she gladly returned.

"How did you sleep?" he asked, remaining close.

"Better than ever."

"I'm glad. Now, I have one rather excited young woman in the kitchen who is quite eager to see you. Are you ready for breakfast?"

"Almost," she said cheekily.

Rick was a little confused. "Almost?"

Kate lifted her hand to the back of his head and pulled him in capturing his lips once more. She could have easily stayed there for a while, but she knew Alexis was waiting.

"Now I'm ready," she said as she pulled away.

Rick stood up from the bed and went to get Alexis. It seemed like barely a few seconds passed before Alexis entered with a tray in her hands.

"Hi Kate," Alexis said beaming.

"Hey"

"Dad says your spending the day with us."

"I am. No work for me today. We solved the case yesterday."

Alexis handed Kate the tray of breakfast before making her way to the other side of the bed and climbing up to sit beside her.

"Have you eaten?" Kate asked, just as Rick walked through the door with another tray of food.

"We're all eating in bed today," he said and then made his way over to the women.

Alexis crossed her legs on the bed and Rick made himself comfortable at the end of the bed with the tray in between them all. Kate decided to do the same and crossed her legs placing the tray she was holding into the centre of the bed as well.

"Now Kate, no getting crumbs or egg in my bed. And no greasy fingerprints," Rick said with a serious expression.

Kate knew immediately that his serious expression wasn't really all that serious and she laughed. "Alexis, feel free to drop some on that side of the bed. I'll keep this side clean for me," she joked.

"No, Alexis, no dropping food on my side of the bed." He grabbed a slice of toast from the tray and lifted it over Kate's lap. "For that, I'm purposely going to put crumbs on your side," he said as he started to shake the toast above her.

Kate picked up a piece of bacon in her hands, and ate a little before wiping her hand across the sheet on Rick's side of the bed leaving a greasy mark. "Take that!" she said.

Rick responded by doing the same on the side where Kate had slept.

Alexis watched the two of them laughing as they went back and forth getting crumbs all through the bed and wiping greasy fingerprints all over the sheets.

Kate eventually gave in deciding she didn't want the food to go cold before they got to eat it.

"Are you staying again tonight?" Alexis suddenly asked, full of excitement.

"I, uh…." Kate stuttered. She could understand why the girl had asked with the way they had been acting and talking but she wasn't really sure how to respond. She really hadn't put any thought into it, nor had she even spoken to Rick about it. How could she be sure he would want her there two nights in a row?

"Let's just see what happens today," Rick suggested to calm Alexis down. Kate hadn't even left the bed since waking up and Alexis was already asking if she'd be staying again. He knew that Kate would probably need a little time to think about it. "But Kate," he smiled turning his attention to her. "You are more than welcome to stay again tonight, or any other night."

"Well, I'm not staying if you don't change your sheets today. I'm not sleeping in grease and crumbs."

Rick laughed. "If changing my sheets is all it takes to get you to stay, consider it done."

The look Kate gave Rick was all he needed to realise that she planned on staying another night.

The three of them finished off the food they had in front of them and then Alexis and Rick took the empty plates and trays back to the kitchen allowing Kate some time to shower and get herself ready for the day.

After showering, Kate realised she had left her bag in the bedroom with her clothes in it. She wrapped the towel around her body just as Rick was coming back into the bedroom.

"Oh, sorry," he said sounding a little startled, as if he hadn't expected her to appear when she did. "I can go and come back when you're finished in here."

Kate found his thoughtfulness to be sweet, and his nervousness was cute. If Kate wasn't aware of Alexis being in the next room she probably would have just dropped the towel and taken him to bed with her. She was a little saddened that she had been so tired the night before, but she was glad they waited and didn't force anything.

"No, it's okay. I just need my bag," she responded.

Her bag was closer to Rick so he took it over to her.

"Thanks," she said, taking the bag from him. "I wont be long."

Rick leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Take your time," he said. "There's no rush."

She guessed that he was only talking about taking her time to get ready but for some reason she couldn't help but wonder if there was another meaning behind those words. Was he feeling nervous about taking the next step in their relationship? She wasn't sure how it was possible but she was confident and nervous about it all at the same time. She hoped it would happen soon, she was going to wait until she knew the time was right. After taking the bag from him and having him so close while she was practically naked, she did find herself feeling a little more confident, so when she returned to the bathroom she didn't completely close the door behind her. She left a slithering of a gap between the door and the doorframe allowing Rick to peek through, if he wanted.

Rick didn't fail to notice that Kate had left the door slightly ajar, but he refrained from looking through. It wasn't that he didn't want to, it was that he wanted to a little too much. He knew that if he had a peek, he would have an extremely hard time stopping himself from going through the door and joining her. Alexis was there though, and waiting in the kitchen for them to discuss plans for the day. He had to behave.

Kate faced away from the door, not really wanting to know if Rick had gone past looking in. Just knowing that he might was enough excitement for her. She got dressed, applied a little bit of make up and tied her hair back in a loose braid before going back out to find Rick and Alexis.

She found them in the kitchen talking between them about something Martha had done that morning. When Rick saw Kate he excused himself so he could shower and get himself ready, leaving the women to chat amongst themselves.

"Kate," Alexis said as Kate sat down on the stool beside her. "Could you braid my hair for me? I love braids and mom said she'd show me how to do it, but she never seems to have time, and well dad honestly, he does his best but, he really doesn't know how to braid nicely, and grams, actually, I don't know if I've ever asked her but…."

"Alexis. Of course I'll braid your hair for you. And we've got a whole day together. I'm sure we can find some time to teach you how to do it for yourself too."

"Really?"

Kate nodded. "Let's go sit where it's more comfortable first though."

They found a hair elastic and comb before they moved over to the lounge. While Kate took a seat on the sofa, Alexis sat between her legs on the floor.

Kate brushed her fingers through Alexis's hair and started braiding away. It was strange at first, she'd never really done anyone else's hair before. She'd imagined one day she would do her own children's hair, and it almost felt like that, only it wasn't. No matter how she looked at it though, it felt right. Sitting there doing Rick's daughters hair, it felt natural.

"So, what did you want to do today?" Kate asked Alexis when she was getting towards the end of the braid.

"I don't know really. Something outside, it's a beautiful day out."

"How about the Central Park Zoo?" Kate suggested. "It's been a while since I've been there."

"They have penguins," Alexis said with delight.

"Yeah, they do," Kate laughed. "So what do you say? Should we go to the zoo?"

"Who's going to the zoo?" Rick asked coming back out of his bedroom.

"We are!" Alexis said.

"Is that okay?" Kate asked him. "I haven't been in a while and Alexis said it's a nice day out."

"The zoo sounds perfect," Rick said as he made his way over to the ladies. He took a seat next to Kate as she finished the end of the braid and gave her a thankful smile. "As long as we get ice cream after."

"Tradition," Alexis added. "We always get ice cream after the zoo."

"Zoo then ice cream sounds like a great idea. My treat!"

Rick shook his head. "No no no, you don't pay for anything."

Kate raised her eyebrows and looked at him. "We'll make a deal, I'll pay for the zoo since it was my idea, and you can buy the ice cream."

Rick thought about it briefly. "How about, I pay to get into the zoo, you buy the ice cream?" He knew the zoo would be more expensive than the ice cream and it didn't seem right letting Kate pay for it.

Knowing she wasn't going to win an argument about money, Kate agreed.

As Alexis went to find her small backpack, Kate and Rick went to the kitchen to find snacks and drinks they could take with them.

"You two have matching hair styles," Rick said quietly as Alexis made her way upstairs.

"I know," Kate said smiling. "I said I'd teach her how to braid it herself later today."

Rick reached out and pulled Kate into his arms and held her tightly. "Kate, honestly, finding you, has been the best thing that could have ever happened for both Alexis and myself. Thank you."

Kate leaned her upper body away from Rick while keeping her arms around him. "I think finding you has been the best thing that could have happened to me. If I didn't have you, I think I would have continued to shut myself off from the world, and my job would be all I'd have. So thank you," she said before leaning up to kiss him.

As luck would have it, Alexis chose that moment to come back downstairs again.

"Oh man, not again," she said when she saw Kate and her father in another embrace.

The couple just laughed and separated. Rick continued going about the kitchen finding things and handing them over to Kate while she packed them into the bag Alexis brought down.

Many hours later they had been around to see all the animals at the zoo, once again they had found themselves in front of the penguins for an extended period of time, and they were now making their way to a nearby ice cream parlour.

When Kate mentioned she was going to get herself a strawberry milkshake, Alexis decided she wanted one too, rather than an ice cream, and Rick thought he'd join them and had a chocolate one ordered for himself.

With their milkshakes ordered they found a table and sat down, resting their tired legs. Before Rick took his seat he was sure to look around to make sure there was no paparazzi near by. Other than the shopping trip, this was the first time he and Kate had really been out in public in the city so he'd been watching out for them all day but thankfully he'd seen no one. While shopping he could easily go into a store to get away from cameras, but at the zoo, they were out in the open, and had no where to run and hide. He guessed because he hadn't released a new book in a while, nobody was really interested in him, and he was glad. Even so, he had still made sure he kept a little bit of space between them while wandering around, but now that he was tucked away in the ice cream parlour, he decided he didn't need to be quite as cautious.

He took his seat, right up next to Kate and draped his arm over her shoulder to hold her close to him. He would never grow tired of being able to do that, holding her next to him, showing whoever saw that she was his. He wasn't trying to be overly possessive of her, but she was his girlfriend, and he didn't want any guys walking past to get any ideas. She was an attractive woman, he was sure she would get the attention of many men if he wasn't with her.

When Rick took his place next to Kate and placed his arm over her shoulder, she immediately relaxed into his side. She wasn't sure why but he had been keeping himself a little further from her than usual as they wandered around the zoo, and she missed him being close, holding his hand and feeling the warmth of his body next to hers. She hummed in appreciation as she wiggled in next to him.

"What's that for?" he asked.

"I missed this today. I was beginning to think that maybe I smelt bad," she said with a laugh.

"Sorry," he said, then placed a kiss to her temple. "I was on the look out for cameras. You don't smell bad at all."

Kate nodded in understanding.

"So, what are the plans for the rest of the day?" Rick asked two women.

"No more walking," Alexis said quickly. "My legs need rest."

Rick laughed and agreed. "I like that idea."

"How about movies and pizza at home?" Alexis suggested before turning to Kate, "And we'll kick dad out so we can watch something girly."

"Hey, I like the girly movies," Rick said without even thinking about what he was saying.

Kate giggled as she placed her hand on his thigh and squeezed it gently. "Oh, I'm sure you do. But I think a couple of hours for us girls would be nice."

She looked at Rick with almost pleading eyes, like she really wanted that girls time. He wasn't quite sure why, but he was happy to allow them some time alone.

"I'm sure I can get out of the way while you have some girl time. I'll do some more writing. I have a meeting tomorrow so I'll make sure I've got everything ready."

"Great," Alexis said. "How about we start with the girly movie, then dad can join us for the rest of the night," she said to Kate.

"I think that sounds like a great idea."

They continued drinking their milkshakes discussing the girly things they could do later and Rick had been fairly quiet, which was rather unusual. But when he heard Alexis mention Laser Tag he was quick to open his mouth again.

"You can't play Laser Tag without me!"

Alexis laughed, and then looked to Kate, "Told you he wasn't listening."

"Looks like you were right."

"We were talking about things we could all do together, with you too, after our girl time," Alexis said to Rick and watched as his face changed from a look of horror to one that just spilled joy.

"Laser tag sounds like a great idea," he said. "As long as you girls aren't ganging up on me again."

The two women looked at each other and nodded.

"Ok," Alexis said. "Me against you and Kate."

Rick was not sure he understood what her plan was. There had to be a reason she was planning to pair him with Kate, but he wasn't going to complain. He imagined she was going to be the best laser tag partner ever.

I'll be honest, this definitely is not among my favourite chapters, but I hope to get things happening in the next few chapters, and hopefully get this going somewhere.

I just put in my Castle season 1 DVD... Stana and Nathan look so different!

I'm hoping that watching it will stop me from going to sleep too early. I barely slept last night and so now I'm tired and its not even 8pm but I know if I go to sleep now I'll be awake again at like 4am and I don't want that!

Also... one last random piece of information. I have decided I need to go on a health kick after the last few weeks... TOO MUCH CHOCOLATE. So if I mention chocolate in the near future, be sure to tell me off!