Chapter 37

Alexis' orchestra concert was on Thursday night, and this time Kate neither had to work late nor to try to behave as simply a friend of the family. Rick could stretch his arm across the back of her chair and now and then run his fingers across her arm and give her a loving look. When she complimented the concert after the program, Alexis answered, "Thanks, Mom," and properly introduced Kate to her friends, who were fascinated to meet the parents whose recent activities had been seen on television for several days that week.

Rick had introduced Kate to several of the other parents he had known during Alexis' years at the school and had drifted away to speak to someone he hadn't seen in a while.

"Where's Dad?" Alexis asked when she saw only Kate talking to the parents of one of her friends.

"He said he'd be right back. Do you need him for something? I think I can find him."

"You could just tell him for me. All the orchestra seniors are going for coffee, and Shelley said she'd take me home."

"He knows Shelley?"

"Since grade school."

"Okay. Call if you need one of us."

"Yes, Mom," she teased.

"Don't sass me, young lady."

Alexis laughed and gave her a quick hug. "Thanks for wanting to come tonight."

"I wouldn't have missed it."

"Would you take this home for me?" She held up her violin case and Kate took it. "I'll be home by eleven."

Alexis hurried back to her friends, and Kate turned back to the couple she had been talking to. The other couple smiled at the exchange.

"It looks like you and Alexis have a good relationship," the woman said.

"She's easy to love," Kate answered. She felt out of her element, but most of the people there were welcoming.

Rick came back right after Alexis left, just in time to catch the last bit of conversation.

"Alexis and I are both lucky to have her," he told the other couple, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"I was just coming to find you," Kate said. "Alexis is going for coffee with the other seniors. She said Shelley would bring her home by eleven."

"We could stop somewhere for coffee, too if you want…and maybe dessert."

"I think I'd rather just go home. It's been a long day."

"Then home it is. I see Alexis has found someone else to take care of that fiddle."

"I guess she's still breaking me in," Kate said with a little smirk.

They said goodnight to the other parents and left their first planned event as a married couple.

xxxxx

Graduation was now barely more than a week away, and Ash would be home in time to be there. Alexis was expecting Kate, Rick, Meredith, Martha, Ash and Lanie. She had invited Lanie the week before, and Lanie had accepted immediately. Knowing her young intern had decided to be a doctor, Lanie had been pleased at the invitation to be there for her first step in that direction.

Ash would be home for the summer on Monday, so they would all see him after work that day. Alexis was much more excited about that than Rick was.

Meredith would arrive late the following Friday morning for graduation on Sunday; and although it wasn't put into words, no one in the loft except Alexis was happy about it. Even though Alexis wanted her mother to be there for her graduation, she could foresee, at minimum, some awkward moments with both Kate and Meredith in the house. She knew that her mother had always been rather territorial and wasn't always entirely thoughtful of others. All she could do was hope for the best…and probably apologize to Kate after things were over.

Meanwhile, Rick, Kate and Alexis all went to work on Monday. There was no reprieve for Rick and Kate, but Lanie had some leeway for her intern.

"Hi, Dr. Parish," Alexis called as she came into the morgue.

"What are you doing here?" Lanie asked. "I thought I told you not to come in this week."

"I can work most of today and tomorrow," Alexis answered.

"You're working too hard for your own good, young lady," Lanie told her. You can work today if you want, but you're leaving early; and I don't want to see you back here until the Tuesday after you graduate, understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Alexis answered with a twinkle in her eyes.

They got started and worked well into the afternoon before they realized neither of them had thought about lunch.

"It's almost three o'clock," Lanie told Alexis. "I'm sending you home. Don't I remember that you get to see your boyfriend tonight?"

"We're going to dinner and a movie."

"Well, go home and take a long bubble bath and relax, then make yourself look nice for him. Take the week off and act like a teenager for a change. You only graduate from high school once, so get out of here and enjoy everything that goes with it."

"Thanks, Dr. Parish. I'll see you on Sunday?"

"Wild horses couldn't keep me away," Lanie promised.

"Mom and Dad said you could meet us at the house and go with us."

"I might do that. Tell Kate I'll call her. Now, out with you. Have fun tonight."

Alexis changed out of her scrubs and left to run a couple of quick errands before she went home.

Ash came for her early that night and talked with the rest of the family a little while before they left. As they were about to leave, Alexis realized she had left her purse in her room. While she was going to get it, Ash held his hand out to Kate. It's nice to meet you Mrs. Castle, he told her. Alexis has nothing but good things to say about you. Then he shook Rick's hand, saying, "It's nice to see you again, too, sir."

"Good to see you, too. You'll have her home by?"

"No later than midnight. We're having dinner first, and the movie starts a little late."

Alexis was back then. "Have fun," Rick told them as they left. "Just not too much fun," he muttered after the door closed.

Kate laughed. "Remembering yourself at his age? Is that what's worrying you?"

"That's probably a lot of it," he admitted. "I wasn't much older than he is when Alexis happened."

"Dinner and a movie, Castle. She's okay. Relax. He seems like a really nice young man." She stroked her hand up and down his upper arm to soothe him. After getting a quick hug and kiss in response, she said, "I hope your mother's audition goes well. She seemed excited about this part."

She enjoys working with this director, and she always did enjoy historical pieces. She loves the costuming and the atmosphere."

"That doesn't surprise me."

Martha had heard from her agent over the weekend and had been asked at the last minute to audition for a miniseries. Auditions were the week of graduation, and again, were in California. She had recently added another staff member at the school who would be able to cover her classes temporarily, so she promised Alexis to be back before the weekend, arranged for plane tickets, and was gone on Monday morning.

"We have the place to ourselves. We could create some endorphins to help me through being a worried dad."

"Any old excuse will do?"

"We're married now. Do we really need an excuse?"

"Not on my account," she answered, pulling him along behind her toward their room.

xxxxx

Alexis was so sure of Stanford that she hadn't applied anywhere else originally. Once she had time to settle down after her rejection letter, she and her father had discussed some of the other colleges she had researched before planning so heavily on Stanford; and she had mailed applications to most of them on the same day, all of them within that same week. She had decided that if those didn't work out, she would continue her internship as long as Dr. Parish could let her stay, and she could start college during the second semester. That internship would look good on an application when she reapplied. The week before graduation exceeded her imagination.

Being in the habit of getting up early, Alexis went downstairs to have breakfast with Rick and Kate before they left for work.

As he finished his coffee, Rick seemed to think of something. "Honey, there was some mail for you yesterday. Did you find it? I didn't think to check the mail until this morning."

"I didn't check it either. I was excited about Ash being home."

"It looked like college envelopes." Kate told her.

"Really?" She got up and quickly retrieved her mail and opened it, her eyes lighting up as she read. "Both of them are acceptances, and one has a really good medical school!" she squealed.

Both Kate and her father smiled broadly at the excitement. "Congratulations, Pumpkin. I'm proud of you."

"I have to call Ash."

"You might want to send him a text or an email. It's a little early," Kate answered with a smile.

"Oh, yeah. I guess you're right. Over excited. I probably can't even tell Mother or Grams until at least eleven. It's a ridiculous hour of the morning for them in California right now."

"Lanie will be at work in a little while. You can call her while you wait for the rest of your world to wake up. You know she'll be happy for you."

"I might do that. I'm so excited."

"We hate to leave all this excitement," Kate said, "but we have to get to work. I take it both of these were schools you were satisfied with."

"Yeah, but that was before I decided on medicine…and one of these fits that qualification, too."

"That's great," Kate told her. "Seriously. Call Lanie if you need somebody else to tell before the normal world wakes up. She'd love knowing you thought to include her."

"Okay." Alexis beamed. "I might have to do that."

Rick and Kate put their dishes in the dishwasher and left. A few minutes later she got a couple of congratulatory texts from Mom and Dad and smiled, imagining them sitting in the car with their phones before they drove off.

By Wednesday of that week, she had five acceptance letters, and her self-image rose with each one. She had some fast decision making ahead of her. Three of them had well-respected medical schools, so those were the ones to consider. A good talk with Dr. Parish about medical schools was probably in order.

xxxxx

Martha returned on Thursday morning, and her agent called that evening to let her know that the role in the mini-series was hers. Shooting would start at the end of July.

Hurricane Meredith blew in on Friday morning, perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfect make-up, and enough luggage that Martha was afraid she had decided to stay a full week. She settled herself into the guest room she usually used, and much to Martha's pleasure, took Alexis out for lunch…away from Martha and the loft.

Rick and Kate left work at five and got home about five-thirty. When they arrived, Meredith wasn't in sight, so Kate went to put away her badge and gun, leaving Rick in the foyer checking through the mail. Meredith came down the stairs while his back was turned and hurried toward him angrily, grabbing his arm to turn him toward her.

"Where have you been?! Those were quite the performances last weekend. Afraid to face me after not bothering to tell me you're married again? How long do you think this one will last?" she jeered.

"Meredith," Castle countered with an air of resignation. "Charming as always, I see."

"Don't you dare patronize me, Richard Castle."

"I refuse to apologize. We didn't tell anybody, not even Paula...or Gina, if that makes you feel any better. We had good reasons, which are now resolved…and which are none of your business, by the way; and I owe you no explanations or apologies. Our daughter is about to graduate from high school. Let's try to make this weekend about her."

"Very noble of you when you weren't even home today. I did make the day about her."

"Kate and I were at work. We just got home, we're tired, and it would be nice not to walk into a confrontation as soon as I get in the door of my own home."

Kate stood in the doorway of the study watching Meredith with barely disguised disgust.

"You were at work?" Meredith sneered. "I don't see your computer, and I haven't heard the sound of typing from your study since I got here. What are you calling work these days?"

Using a lot of will power, Kate made an effort to look pleasant. "He works with my team at the twelfth precinct," Kate said from the doorway of the study. "He's balances that with his writing."

"You must be his newest toy. The amazing Nikki Heat, I presume."

"Meredith," Castle warned sharply.

"Not ever Nikki Heat. And just Kate here at home," Kate answered. Although Kate's first urge was to slam this woman against the wall and scare some manners into her, she walked toward Meredith and reached out to shake her hand. This was Alexis' weekend, and she wasn't going to have any part of spoiling it by having an altercation with Meredith.

Meredith glared at Kate. She had been trapped into shaking her hand because Kate didn't rise to her insults, and she was obviously unhappy that neither Kate nor Rick seemed willing to have the outright battle she was so clearly trying to start.

"Alexis is excited that you're here," Kate commented. "She called and said the two of you went out for lunch."

"Are you checking up on me?"

"No. She checked in to let us know you were here and that the two of you would be out for a while. That's all," Kate assured her.

"Us? Does she assume you're always together?"

"We work together…remember?" Rick answered. "She knows we're usually together."

"That must get old, being together twenty-four/seven."

"We've annoyed each other for four years and still decided we wanted to be married. It isn't that bad," Kate said with the best smile she could manage.

Martha had been to her school to look in on things and assure herself that nothing had gone wrong during her absence earlier in the week, and she came in the front door about the same time Alexis came down the stairs. Martha said nothing to any of them, just walked through to the kitchen, patting Kate's upper arm in sympathy as she passed through.

"Hi, Dad. Hi, M… Kate." The tension in the air was easy to spot, and it wouldn't have been the right moment for Alexis to call Kate 'Mom' in front of Meredith. She glanced at Kate apologetically, and when Kate winked at her, she relaxed.

Meredith was still looking annoyed and didn't appear to notice the small stutter in the greeting.

"Did you have a good day?" Kate asked Alexis with a smile.

"Yeah. Mother and I went to lunch and then went shopping for something for her to wear to graduation. She's going to look great. And she bought me new shoes to wear with my graduation dress."

"You'll have to show me later."

"All that luggage you had Alexis haul up to your room, and you still needed another dress?" Martha asked dryly from the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of wine.

"I want my daughter to be proud of me at her graduation," Meredith said in her own defense.

"That's likely to take more than a new dress," Martha grumbled quietly to herself behind her wine glass and then drained the glass of half of what she had just poured.

"This is how you dress for work?" Meredith asked Kate with mock innocence. "Paula must have worked overtime getting you ready for the cameras."

Meredith heard simultaneous exclamations of reprimand from Rick and Alexis and realized she had pushed too far and it was time to back off. Being an actress, she could turn her bad behavior on and off when she knew she had to.

Kate walked into the kitchen with Martha. When she heard Meredith's comment, Martha, without another word, took down a second glass, filled it for Kate and handed it to her, then refilled her own glass.

Kate downed about half of what Martha had poured into the glass and then told Meredith, with much more civility than her comment warranted, "Actually, Martha and Alexis and I chose the dresses for the weekend.

"Well, I've been teaching my daughter good taste in clothes since she was little," Meredith answered.

Both Martha and Kate took more than a sip from their glasses to keep their mouths occupied as they heard Alexis coming to Kate's defense, saying, "Kate chose everything she wore. She has great taste in clothes on her own."

"Somewhere in your mind, did you think she always pins bad guys to the wall in evening wear?" Rick asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Murder scenes and chasing criminals aren't dress-up occasions, Meredith. Kate and I don't work in your movies. This is real life."

"I'm taking Alexis and her young man out to dinner," Meredith announced, changing the subject abruptly. "I haven't had a chance to meet him yet. Time to get ready, Alexis. He should be here in about an hour." She turned and started back upstairs, stopping and turning when she didn't hear Alexis follow her.

"I'll be up in a few minutes," Alexis promised her.

Meredith went back to her room, and Alexis went to Kate.

"I'm so sorry, Mom. I don't know what's gotten into her."

"You don't need to apologize," Kate assured her. "None of it is your fault. Don't worry about it. Go on and get ready for your date…and honestly, don't worry about it," Kate assured her.

Alexis gave her a hug before she went upstairs.

"I might be happy locked in the study…or the bedroom," Rick ventured.

"Is she always like this?"

"Not usually this bad. A snide remark toward Mother now and then, but nothing like this. She's probably taking it out on you because I didn't bother to tell her before it hit the news. She was a lot like this about Gina, too, come to think of it. It's like she still thinks she has some claim to something…other than Alexis."

"Speaking of Gina, did you meet your deadline?"

"Yes."

"And how did that go? We were so busy after you got back this afternoon that I didn't remember to ask."

"Gina gave me the same sort of treatment Meredith did. Paula is going to talk to her. She was in no mood to listen to me."

"Probably for the best," they heard from Martha. "We'll all have our hands full around here this weekend."

"Grab your book and join us in the study, Mother. I had an idea earlier. I can do a little writing, and the two of you can hang out and read in a Meredith-free zone."

Martha picked up her book and followed them into the study. "Does this idea involve a man plotting the demise of an ex-wife?" she asked, sounding hopeful. "You could read it to us later.

A while later, Ash was in the foyer being introduced to a Meredith none of them could believe was the same person who couldn't stop insulting Kate less than an hour ago. Alexis came in to say they were leaving, and Martha, her son and her daughter-in-law all relaxed. They mutually agreed that all of them would go to bed early and avoid any further contact with Meredith until morning. Another day and a half. They could all get through another day and a half.

xxxxx

Saturday morning the loft was quiet and peaceful, and everybody slept late, even Kate for a change. Rick went and started the coffee then came back to take a shower, closing the door to the study behind him. Kate was up a little earlier, had already taken a shower, and was wrapped in a towel, gathering her clothes. Rick couldn't help stopping to make appreciative sounds, run his hands under the towel until it fell to the floor, and kiss whatever looked interesting.

"You know, this late in the morning, the coffee is going to bring somebody, if not somebodies, down the stairs soon. This is nice, but go ahead and take your shower. I don't think I want to be alone with Meredith. I'm supposed to investigate homicides, not commit them. Go. And hurry up.

Kate dressed in jeans and a lightweight, zippered sleeveless hoodie. There was no reason for her to appear to compete with Meredith's perfect fashion sense. Rick seemed happy with her just the way she was, and that's what counted. Not ready to give up the peace and quiet of their space, Kate went to the study, picked up the book she had started the night before, and sat down on the sofa.

She was reading while Rick took his shower and had heard the water stop a few minutes before, when suddenly the door to the study opened, and there was Meredith, fully made up, coifed, dressed and apparently hungry.

"Is someone going to fix breakfast, or are we all on our own?" she asked with a hint of accusation.

"We'll start breakfast as soon as Rick is dressed."

"Detectives don't cook?"

"We planned to do it together," Kate answered, using every bit of the self control she often had to use in her job.

"Do the two of you do everything together?" Meredith obviously got up still looking for a fight.

"We were good friends way before we were a couple. We like doing things together, Kate answered, standing and putting her book down."

"Does my daughter have to wait this long for breakfast? She'd be off to school in the mornings with nothing to eat."

"Your daughter is eighteen. She gets her own breakfast, sometimes makes it for us because she wants to. The whole family takes turns cooking. It's a good system. It works for us."

"You talk about family like they're yours. You haven't been here that long."

"I won't argue that with you. We make a good family. It's working for us. You can form your own opinions."

Meredith was glaring. If looks could kill, Kate would have been gone in an instant.

"Alexis and Ash talked about you last night. You've certainly won them over. They said you were shot last year."

"Yes, I was."

"Rick always liked perfection. That must have left some scars. How does he deal with that? Can he bear to look?

"You know what, Meredith. If you're so interested in my scars, take a look." She unzipped the hoodie and held it open for Meredith to see. Around her bra, the surgical scars and bullet wound were clearly visible. "Take a good look, and satisfy yourself that I'm not perfect. I survived this, and I'll survive you. I've tolerated your rude remarks since you got here, and to keep what peace in our home we can manage, I can tolerate more; but what I won't tolerate is your blatant disrespect for your daughter's feelings."

"How dare…"

"Last night you verbally attacked me in front of your daughter. Whether you like it or not, she loves me, too; and you're forcing her to hear one person she loves verbally assaulting another person she loves. This is her graduation weekend. Is that really how you want her to remember it?"

"Her scars, Meredith? Really? That's lower than I imagined you'd go," Rick said from the bedroom doorway.

Meredith blanched. She had thought they were alone. The pain in his voice brought her back to the reality of what she had just done.

He walked to Kate, put his hands at her waist, his forehead against hers, moved his thumbs across the scars, and said softly, "I'm so sorry to have put you through this. You didn't owe her that. You don't owe her anything."

"I'm fine, Rick. I'm just angry."

He moved far enough to give her a short kiss, then he slowly zipped the hoodie back in place. "I'm sorry." Then he turned to Meredith. "She's right. You need to have more respect for your daughter. It isn't fair to put her in that position, and I'd suggest you get yourself together and be civil for the rest of the weekend before she hears something like the unmitigated heartlessness you just threw at my wife."

"Too late," they heard from Alexis' voice outside the door. She came in with tears welling in her eyes and went straight to Kate. "Mom, I'm so sorry."

"Mom?" Meredith's anger was rising again. "You make her call you Mom?"

"I asked if I could call her Mom because she treats me like one, and I love her. How could you say those things?" Alexis demanded. "What makes you want to insult a decorated police officer about her battle scars?"

"She wasn't in battle. She was giving the eulogy at a funeral."

"Because she got too close to identifying a group that ordered the murder of her mother. The funeral was for the man they had already killed, and they tried to kill her, too….and came pretty close." Rick informed her coldly. "And that information goes no farther than this room. That needs to be perfectly clear.

"I didn't know," Meredith said, feeling rather small at that point, to say nothing of outnumbered.

"Mother, I love you, and I want you to be there when I graduate; but I won't be the reason that anybody here has to put up with the kind of abuse you've apparently been dishing out since you got here. We do make a good family, and if you can't let our family have more peace in our own home, I'll personally make a reservation for you at a nice hotel. I'm sure Dad would be glad to pay for it."

"Alexis…" Meredith started.

"Are you okay, Pumpkin?" Rick asked. Seeing Alexis nod, he told Meredith, "Go talk to your daughter and see if you can salvage the rest of her weekend, but take it out of my study and close the door behind you."

As soon as the door closed, Rick's arms closed around Kate.

"Why does she hate me so much?" Kate asked.

"I don't know, but I'm going to talk to her. Are you all right? Do you want to sit in on this talk?"

"No. This needs to be settled between you and Alexis and Meredith. I doubt that my presence would help. I don't want to hide in here, either, though. I might go for a short run. Blow off some steam."

"Whatever you need to do. I hate that she said those things to you."

"I probably didn't handle it too well, either."

"I love you."

"I love you, too, Partner. Go talk to your daughter. I'll get my iPod and change shoes and run some of this off. I should be a little more tolerant when I get back." She gave him a lingering kiss and said, "Thank you."

They walked out of the study together, Rick gave her another quick kiss, and she left for her run.

"Where is Kate going?" Alexis asked, looking concerned.

"For a run. Don't worry. She'll be back. Now, while she's running off some steam, Meredith, would you tell me why you think you should be allowed to stay here after that show of disregard for the rest of us?"

"I don't know. I probably shouldn't. I was an absolute shrew. I've apologized to Alexis. You were both right. I was so focused on being jealous of…"

"Kate. My wife's name is Kate."

"Of…Kate, that I never thought about what it would mean to Alexis. After I realized how attached Alexis is to her, it was even worse. She has everything I used to have."

"But you walked away from all that so long ago that Alexis doesn't even remember when you lived here," Rick reminded her. "I don't think this is what you really want. It's just an image that still appeals to you."

Tears rose in Meredith's eyes. "Maybe you're right, but I was still jealous."

"Alexis, would you go up to your room and let me talk to your mother, please. Give her a hug, and let us talk for a few minutes. I'll call you when we're done."

Alexis was still upset, but she did feel bad when she saw tears in her mother's eyes. She stood behind her and wrapped her arms around her neck then went upstairs.

"Are you kicking me into a hotel? I wouldn't blame you."

"Can you get your act together enough to stay?"

"I think so."

"What in the world triggered that much jealousy? We haven't been together since Alexis was little, and you don't even know Kate."

"But we used to get together when I'd come to visit our daughter."

"That hasn't happened in a good while, and even then we both knew we were just using each other. Why would you expect it to happen now?"

"I don't know. I didn't know you were seeing anybody. Alexis didn't say anything about that when she came to visit a month or so ago. She was so excited about graduation, and I had this beautiful picture in my mind…the three of us acting like a family one more time, going to see her graduate together, us going to bed after she went to a party with her friends. Then I saw you and…Kate…at the movie premiere; and she looked so perfect and confident, and then the two of you stopped that man with the knife like you didn't even have to think about it. She looked like she really could be Nikki Heat. And then you said she was your wife, and my little fantasy world came crashing down around me. And I hated her for taking it away from me."

"But the reality is that you left us voluntarily, and you slept with another man before you did. Does that ever figure into your fantasies?"

"No. I've always been good at blocking out what I didn't want to see. I guess I always imagine that I'm coming home to see my family."

"This hasn't been your home since Alexis was barely two. It's Kate's home now. And I think it's going to be her home for the rest of our lives. She and I have done this right, Meredith. We floundered a lot before we figured it out, but we did finally figure it out. Nothing is going to pull us apart. We're planning to get old together."

"I could see that this morning when you were protecting her from me. I doubt anybody could compete with that. Then Alexis protected her, too. That's what really got my attention. I don't even want to think what Martha would have had to say. I know what I've done…and how stupid it was…and how bad I looked. I really am sorry. I ran her out of her own home, didn't I?"

"For a little while. She doesn't give up easily, but she knew the three of us needed to work this out." He looked down at where his hands were clasped in front of him on the table, then looked back up at his ex-wife. "It hurts all of us when something hurts any of us. That's how families work. Alexis and I aren't the only ones you need to apologize to."

"I know. Are we done? I'll go talk to Alexis…apologize again…and tell her I'll apologize to Kate."

Rick nodded and Meredith went up the stairs. He ran a hand through his hair, then both hands over his face, and then he went through his study, closing the bedroom door behind him, and flopped down on his bed to unwind.