Chapter 38

"Did you know I made your grandpa stop three times when we brought you out here for the first time?" Kate asked Louis who was silently staring at the passing landscape from his blue booster seat.

"No. Why'd you make him stop?"

She found his curious eyes in the rearview mirror. "The first time was because you were mewling in your sleep and I was sitting up front and couldn't reach you. So I made him stop and climbed in the back with you. But then, when I was sitting in the back, I couldn't see how fast he was going anymore, and it felt a lot more than the ten miles per hour I told him he couldn't go past. It was still snowy in April and I was afraid the car would swing out in one of the curves. I told him to stop again and changed seats once more; kept controlling the speed."

Louis was craning his neck to see the speedometer. "But mom, we're going thirty miles per hour right now," Louis alarmed her.

The speed Castle was driving at was fine.

"See how ridiculous I was back then?" Kate twisted in her seat to grin at Louis and reached out to tug at his ankle. "But I was just so worried about you; you were a tiny thing, really. So precious."

"Were you like that, too, daddy?" Alexis piped up, putting her book aside for the moment.

"Me?" Castle scoffed, feigning incredulity, but he grinned at her when Kate flicked his elbow. "Night by night, I sat by your little bed, just so I could get you the moment you awoke. Your lonely cries were the most terrible thing. And during the day, I strapped you to my chest. I had a little pink carrier, and since I only got very little sleep when you were a baby, I was afraid that one day, I might stumble or drop you altogether. So I put you into the carrier, and we went for long walks, bought groceries, and rode the subway just for the fun of it."

Alexis seemed happy with that answer, but Kate snorted. "For the fun of it, Castle? Really? Not because women must have been all over you, telling you what a handsome, caring, sexy dad you make?"

She watched him busy himself with the windshield wipers for long moments, but she was still tilting her head at him and expecting a truthful answer, when the windshield had been cleared of stray snowflakes-twice-and washed.

"That might have been a - partial reason. But really, Alexis loved seeing things."

Kate shook her head at him, but she was smiling when she looked out the window again, watching the snow-covered pines of the mountains fly by.

"Just for future reference; would you say the same thing to me if I had a, uh, baby strapped to my chest now?"

She reached out to pat his thigh, not at all ready for this yet. "Keep driving, babe, and focus on the road."

Something undefinable glittered in his eyes, his mouth tilted upwards ever so slightly, and she knew she was in for it.

XXX

"You ready, big boy?"

"I'm ready," Louis mumbled, but made no move to open the door.

Kate got out of the car, nose immediately turning red from the cold, and opened his door for him. "Come on, grandpa will be so happy to see you."

Castle helped Alexis out of the car and locked it the exact same moment the front door of the cabin opened to reveal Jim Beckett.

He looked a little anxious-they all did-but he smiled when he spotted them and Kate pulled Louis along.

"Hey dad," Kate greeted and hugged him, before stepping back and pulling Louis into her side. She carded her fingers through his hair and and squeezed his shoulder. "Louis, you remember grandpa, don't you?"

He didn't-not from memories-but still nodded. He'd seen pictures and Kate had made sure he grew up knowing what a great man his grandfather is, but he'd been too little to create any lingering memories.

"Hey Louis," Jim greeted warmly, his eyes coming alight with the sight of his grandson. Louis took his outstretched hand and shook it before pressing a little closer into Kate's side.

Too much.

Castle read Louis well and stepped forward, shook hands with Jim, and Kate reached out to brush a finger over Alexis' cheek, introducing her to her father. "Dad, this is Alexis. Rick's daughter."

"Hi Mr. Beckett," Alexis said obediently, not a trace of shyness in her voice. "It's very nice to meet you."

"It's very nice to meet you, too, young lady. Katie has told me so much about you."

"All good things, though, right?"

Ah, there it was, that slight tension that had been their constant companion ever since they left New York in the morning.

"There are only good things to tell about you," Kate admonished and Alexis grinned at the adults.

Jim already seemed smitten with the redhead, and it gave Louis a chance to breathe and settle down.

"You kids ready for some hot chocolate by the fire? It's freezing out here."

XXX

Lulu the dog was sitting by their feet, staring up at them with her expressive fawn eyes and Kate had to hide her smirk in her cup.

Castle was actually softening a little, shifting under her penetrant gaze, but Jim was shaking his head. "Once you start sharing your food with them, they'll always be begging." He clucked his tongue to get Lulu's attention, then pointed at her little basket by the fire and she trotted off.

Alexis, who was sitting by the fire with her book in her lap, crawled closer and started stroking her between the shoulders. "She's so cute, Grandpa Jim," she called out, and Kate watched her father smile tenderly at the moniker. Just 'Jim' hadn't sounded right to Alexis, and 'grandpa' was for Louis to use only, so she'd decided to call him 'Grandpa Jim'. It was cute and a great display of Alexis' ability to adapt.

Castle nudged Kate's temple with his chin and his face shone with pride; everything was running smoothly. She reached up to trace his eyebrow with her thumb, curled her fingers around his ear; her way of telling him how pleased she was. With him, with Alexis, with the way Louis was almost back to being his old self, with the whole situation.

The moment was over when Alexis giggled into the dog's fur and Jim cleared his throat and stood up. "How about we get a head start on preparing dinner and then take a walk before the sun sets?"

They had left New York City after sleeping in and having brunch to spend the afternoon and evening at the cabin with Jim. Now that Kate had reconciled with her father, she couldn't wait to give her son his grandfather back. "I'd love that, dad. It's beautiful up here in the winter."

"You a good eater, Louis?" Jim called over to the boy who nodded eagerly. "Very. Especially potatoes."

"Let's make sure to peel you some extra then, huh?"

Louis grinned and Castle put his empty mug aside, pushed himself off the old couch to help in the kitchen. He held a hand out to her, but Kate shook her head. "Just a minute, okay?"

"Let us do the nasty work, very classy," he laughed quietly, but flicked his finger over her nose, gazing at her with so much love in his eyes that she couldn't get up if she wanted to - her knees having turned to jelly.

Actually, all this love around her was turning her knees to jelly. Her father loving on both children, Louis and Alexis learning to share their parents, Castle never giving up on them and always finding a silver lining.

Her life was full and rich.

The bit of hot chocolate she had left was now lukewarm but she sipped it anyway. She needed an excuse to absorb all of this in peace.

XXX

Louis had been looking between her and the dog and Jim for the past five minutes and Kate sighed with relief when he finally came over, a question on lips. "Does the dog know any cool tricks?" he asked, only for her to hear.

"I don't know, Tiger, you have to ask grandpa."

Louis looked over to the kitchen where Jim and Castle were peeling potatoes and talking about the fish they would go with tonight. Discouraged, he looked at Kate again.

"I know it's hard, baby."

"Not a baby anymore," Louis mumbled automatically and Kate smiled at him.

"Well, if you're not a baby anymore, you can ask your grandpa if Lulu knows any tricks."

Outsmarted, Louis stared at his mother. Then he gave a heartfelt sigh.

She watched him gather up the courage; waiting for a pause in Castle's and Jim's conversation, making sure nobody was paying attention to him when he crept closer.

He was pressing his lips together when he finally came to stand next to Jim, and her father had always been so attentive that he put the potato peeler away and gave him his undivided attention.

"Grandpa, does Lulu know any tricks? I mean, does she know how to sit or roll over?" Louis asked, his whole posture screaming insecurity and the urge to run, but her father took it in stride and smiled warmly.

"Well, I haven't had her for that long, and there were other things I had to teach her first, so she doesn't really know all that much yet. But you could teach her something; give it a try."

"Really? I could teach her how to sit?"

"Yeah, sure. It'd actually be of great help if she knew how to do that."

Louis grinned at his grandfather, eyes sparkling and cheeks flushed, and Kate managed to turn her head and direct her focus on Alexis at the last moment. He'd be so angry if he knew she had been listening in.

"Mom! Grandpa said I can teach Lulu something."

Upon hearing her name, Lulu got up and started stretching in front of the fire. "Look! She's warming up, she's excited."

The dog looked anything but excited.

"Don't forget to ask grandpa for treats," Kate reminded him, but Jim had already prepared a small bowl of treats and handed it to Louis who took a careful sniff. "It smells fishy. Everyone up here eats fish. We eat fish, the dog eats fish; do coyotes eat fish, too?"

"I don't think coyotes can fish," Alexis added from her spot on the rug on front of the fire. "But bears do. They sit by a river and when they see fish swimming by, they use their paws to get them out."

"That's exactly right, Alexis," Jim praised, ever interested in hunting and wildlife. "Coyotes will eat about anything, and when they find rests of fish somewhere, they'll eat that too."

"Why are we talking about bears and coyotes?" Castle groaned and Kate shook her head at him.

"In the car, daddy told me five times it's okay to be scared of coyotes, and every time I told him I wasn't scared, but that's not the answer he wanted to hear I think," Alexis giggled and Castle narrowed his eyes at her, murmuring, "Sellout."

"Maybe you should teach Lulu to growl," Kate called to Louis while she sidled up to Castle to press a kiss to his cheek. "Teach her how to protect us from the big bad wolf."

"I think your gun is more effective than a dachshund," Castle laughed and slipped an arm around her waist to keep her close.

Louis just shook his head at the adults in the room and knelt down on the rug in front of Lulu.

XXX

"Sit."

The dog tilted her head and started sniffing at Louis' closed fist that contained a treat.

"Sit!" Louis commanded and Lulu started scratching at his fist.

"Sit?" he asked nicely, even smiled, and Kate, who was watching his pitiful attempts, had to hide her laughing mouth in Castle's shoulder.

"Si-it," Louis growled at last, pushing on Lulu's hindquarters. But the dog was stubborn and pushed against his hand, licking at his other fist at the same time.

They were all watching; they weren't even bothering to hide it anymore, and at first it had been quite amusing, but now, Louis was getting frustrated, and the dog was too. Kate looked at her dad, and jerked her head towards Louis to get him to help him.

She took his place at the kitchen counter, cutting mushrooms.

"She's a stubborn little thing, isn't she?" Jim asked and knelt down next to Louis whose hand was glistening with dog slobber.

"Yeah," Louis sighed. "And she keeps scratching at my hand."

"Don't give her a treat when she does that. In fact, don't push her into a sitting position and give her a treat either. Make her work for it. Like this."

Jim opened Louis' fist and took the square treat. He showed it to Lulu and then lifted his hand over the dog's head. Naturally, the dog looked up and started sinking to her haunches.

Kate saw Louis holding his breath, but just about when Lulu's butt was to touch the floor, she got up on two legs and started pawing at Jim's fist.

Jim shook her off and handed the treat back to Louis. "She'll start doing different things to get at the treat, but eventually-and I'll promise you this-she'll sink to her haunches. And that's when you give her the jackpot. Once she's done it right, and you've praised her fulsomely, she'll sit a lot quicker when you hold a treat over her head. Just don't give up."

He patted Louis on the back and got up with popping joints, grimacing. Louis laughed and got back to work. Jim watched him for a few more seconds, pleased when the boy did as he had taught him.

"Need help with the mushrooms?" Jim asked while Kate dabbed off the last mushroom's dirt.

"Almost finished, dad."

Castle was now cutting the potatoes, Alexis was still reading, and with nothing left to do, Jim leaned against the counter. For the first time since they arrived here in the morning, Kate saw her father fully relax.

Everyone was occupied, so she leaned in and breathed a kiss against his cheek. "Thank you, dad - for being so great with Louis. I know today's not easy-"

"I should be thanking you, Katie - for allowing me to be part of this. You have a beautiful family."

They reached for each other at the same time, and Kate basked in the familiar smell of wood and flannel and a hint of cinnamon. "You're part of this family, dad," she whispered, and Jim held her tighter, kissing her cheek over and over again when the words wouldn't come.

"Well done, Louis!" Castle then bellowed and Kate twisted in her father's embrace to see Lulu sitting in her haunches, Louis' face bright with joy.

"You're so smart, Lulu," he squealed and scooped the dog into his lap, feeding her one treat after the other.

"You did it?" Alexis asked, peeking over her book.

"She sat! I'll teach you how to do it. Come on, Alexis!"

Alexis got up on all fours and crawled over to them, her book completely forgotten, and Louis showed her how she had to do it.

Things were still a little rocky, sometimes they were clumsy around each other, but they'd grow to be a tight-knit family given time.

XXX

"Am I handsome, caring and sexy yet?" Castle asked with his eyes twinkling when Kate came back from tucking in the children.

It had gotten late; their walk through the woods had been longer than anticipated, the children had desperately wished for dessert, so Kate and her father had whipped something up while Castle had chased the children around the cabin, the dog always between their feet, and then everyone had been tired and it had been dark already and the roads were a little icy, so they'd decided to stay the night.

Jim was sleeping in Kate's old bed-she had personally made sure he'd changed the sheets since the last time they'd been here-and the children occupied his bed.

That left her and Castle sharing the pull-out couch in the living room with Lulu sleeping by the fire.

Except now, the dog was cradled against Castle's chest like a baby.

"You're not gonna let this go, are you?" Kate groaned and curled further beneath the covers while Castle rocked-rocked-the poor dachshund in front of her.

"Am I?" he probed, turning the dog over and pushing her black and moist nose into Kate's face. "Am I now?"

She rolled over, facing the back of the couch, but Castle was relentless and dropped the dog into the little alcove made by her hips and knees. He got in behind her, started trailing his lips along the sensitive base of her neck, and shit, it set her insides aflame. Because yes, he was handsome, he was caring, he was sexy-so sexy-and her love for him was all-consuming and the image of him with a baby carrier strapped to his broad chest did things to her.

But they were light years away from that.

Castle's hand found her hip under the covers and a gasp broke out of her mouth, startling the poor, confused dog.

Castle grabbed Lulu, put her down, and Kate tilted her head to look at him when he left a little more space between them. "You know, I find myself a little handsome, caring and sexy already. And I'm okay with that - with things as they are right now."

He gave her a shy smile, seemed a little uncertain of himself, so she surged up to kiss the insecurity away with the hot press of her mouth.

"I'm okay with you being only a little handsome, caring and sexy, too," she replied, stroking her fingers along the V cut of his shirt. "For right now. But maybe - in the future?"

"Really?" Castle breathed. "You'd do it all over again? Diapers, baby throw up, all of it?"

She rolled fully on her stomach. "Assuming you'd be there to change half of those diapers."

"I'd change all of them," he promised eagerly, but Kate captured his earlobe between her fingers, gave it a little tug to bring him back to reality.

"Nu-uh, Rick. Doesn't work like that. Partners. Equals, remember? You get one half of the diapers, I get the other."

He took a moment, allowed the words to fully sink it, and then, when he looked at her again, his eyes were a rich blue, shimmering brightly with the prospects of their joint future.

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