It was too early for his phone to be ringing, but Castle obliged the dastardly piece of technology anyways. 'Castle.'

'It's Ryan, Esposito and I will see you in twenty.'

'I thought the opening arguments weren't happening until nine?'

'They aren't but the press is already starting to circle the steps of the courthouse. It's a big case, bro, so we're going to pick you up early, eat and be inside the court-room by eight.'

'Sounds good, see you shortly.'

He hung up the phone, and turned to give Beckett a kiss. 'Morning, sweetie. Ryan and Esposito are picking me up early for the court-date today.'

'Okay. Is RJ's playpen set up downstairs?'

'Yes, why?'

'So I can go for a run while he's in there and I'm not going to worry about him. I need to start my fitness training for when I go back to work.'

Castle nodded as he went to the closet to pick out his clothes. He knew she'd been struggling with this since Lanie had gone back to work and was trying to figure out how to make it work so that she was a good mother and her usual ass-kicking detective self. The conundrum of being a devoted cop and a devoted mother had started to give her some sleepless nights, but he'd be there to hold her purse while she battled her demons. 'I know, and I'll be taking the time to work from home to be with RJ and do my writing. It sucks I won't get to see the guys every day but our family comes first.' Castle gave her a supportive reassuring kiss. 'Being a cop and being a mom aren't separate spheres. Remember Jordan Shaw?'

'Yes, I do.'

'And if that's not convincing, look at Ryan. He and his wife both work outside the home, one of their kids is diabetic and they still have a great family life and great personal life together as a couple.'

Beckett sat up as her husband dressed. 'That they do, and we've got a secret weapon in Alexis, who just loves her little brother. You'll still be able to come with me while she's home, and take a few days when she wants to see her boyfriend or her friends.'

'Not to mention we've got your dad and my mother.'

'See? I'd tell you to stop worrying, but I know how much you love to multitask.'

Beckett swung her feet out of bed as she heard the sounds of RJ in his crib through the baby monitor. 'Well, then I'll go get our little prince and he can wave bye-bye to Daddy.'

As Ryan had predicted there was already a fleet of newsvans and about double that in print and digital media on foot outside the courthouse, which had Castle shaking his head.

'It's always been something that fascinates me.'

'What?' Esposito asked as he unbuckled his seatbelt, slipped on his Ray-Bans that had been a gift for his fortieth birthday from his wife. 'Writers who report on real things.'

'Sort of. I mean, how do they decide which are the 'big' cases? What makes the murder of Mortimer Wilkes so much more important than another child who came from a home-life of violence?'

'You figure that you and it will be the unraveling of modern media coverage, I think.' Ryan stepped out of the car, also in sunglasses and a sharp suit. He carried the paperwork of their notes that they needed to go over, and when they jogged up the stairs into the courthouse, they found Ian Link going over some last minute details with Shane Weaver in the empty court-room. As Shane would be the first person to testify for the prosecution, it made sense that he would be here even earlier than the detectives to review the finer points.

'You'll be fine, Doctor,' the ADA assured Shane, then stood up to leave the courtroom as his cellphone went off. 'Excuse me, I need to take this. Link.'

Castle watched the high-octane lawyer do his thing, turned back to Shane. Today he looked like a sombre doctor of death in his onyx-black suit with his pearl-grey shirt and black tie, dress shoes shined to a high glossy finish. No one looking at him would think of him as one of the sweetest, most compassionate people Castle had ever met in this line of work, nor would they guess that he had a tattoo of Homer Simpson as the Grim Reaper on his left shoulder or that he had a girlfriend fifteen years his junior that he worshipped liked a goddess.

'Doctor Weaver,' he said in a business-like voice. 'You ready for this?'

'Yeah. It's never easy when it's a kid, especially one with Tim's history. His friends called him Tim,' he explained. 'His mother told me that when she claimed the body.'

'That's good. Using his pet name with the jury goes right for the heart, reminds them he's a real boy.'

'I know, Castle.' Shane understood what his friend was trying to do and was grateful for it. He gave a little laugh. 'You know it's weird. All I could think about when I woke up this morning was Lex and RJ. She'd do anything to keep him safe, and he's her brother, not her son. Why didn't this mother protect her baby?'

'Because she feared the father more,' Esposito said. 'She was a mail-order bride who didn't even speak English when she came here. From what I read in the files CSU techs pulled on her, Isaiah Wilkes didn't do a damn thing to help her socialize herself into American society until they started going to church after the CPS visit.'

The men all stood in silence, making little unsaid promises to each other in their family that they would never let this kind of thing happen. When the sobriety became too much, Esposito broke it by asking Shane, 'Alexis call and wish you good luck this morning?'

'Yeah, she did, she was on her break at the counseling clinic. She's going to be a hell of a doctor.'

'Excuse me, Shane, Detectives, I need to meet with you in private.' Ian Link stuck his head back in the courtroom door and the three men of the law filed out. Castle didn't have time to be alone long as people interested in hearing the trial - reporters, law students, teachers and friends of Mortimer 'Tim' Wilkes, people from their church - began to file in and find seats in the long wooden benches. He found his place near the front beside Captain Montgomery, gave him a solemn nod.

'Sir.'

'Castle. Glad you're here for this one.'

Since it had befuddled Castle entirely, he just went with it, and watched as they filed in with Ian Link and his assistant, along with the defense counsel for Isaiah Wilkes and the prisoner himself; the court stood for Markaway's entrance and after Ian and the defense lawyer had presented opening arguments, he watched as Shane took the stand first. The man who'd played with RJ and given him goofy raspberry tummy kisses to make the baby giggle was off-duty now, it was Doctor Weaver who sat in the chair giving forensic testimony to the judge and jury. As he detailed the horrific nature of the crime along with the evidence of past abuse, Castle had a new layer of respect for him. His job was almost worse than his wife's; she had to tell someone their loved one was dead while Shane had the task of discovering the gruesome details of just how their end came about.

Shane was excused from the witness chair some time later, after a few sustained and overruled objections from the lawyers' legal dance, and he sat down beside Castle once he'd passed the gate.

'You did good, Shane,' Castle murmured.

'Thanks.'

'Alexis will be very proud of you.'

R&R&Enjoy.