A/N: This chapter is set after 'Significant Others' (Ep. 5x10).
"Dad! It's so good to hear from you. How was your trip?"
"Hi Katie," Jim said, smiling as he adjusted the cell-phone against his ear. He'd missed talking to Kate during his recent business trip to northern Italy. "It was good. Verona is beautiful this time of year. Maybe you can come with me sometime."
"I'd love to," Kate said warmly. "It's been years since we took a trip together."
Jim knew that only too well. One of his fondest memories was the trip that he, Kate and Johanna had taken to Morocco, back when Kate was a high school senior. The images were still crystal clear – Johanna and Kate trying on scarves in the market; Johanna pushing Jim into the hotel pool and then jumping in after him; Johanna dragging him and Kate through the streets of Tangier so that they could interact with the locals, the 'real people' as Johanna called them. It was one of the last times they'd been able to spend whole days together as a family, untouched by the demands of everyday life, just enjoying each other's company.
"Dad?" Kate said, breaking into his nostalgic thoughts. "Are you still there?"
"Sorry, Katie. How are you doing?"
"I'm good. Just got back to my apartment. I was getting it fumigated, so I've been staying at Castle's for a while. It was… well, let's just say it was a revealing experience."
"How so?" Jim asked. "I know how comfortable you are around Rick and his family. I wouldn't have thought there'd be any surprises."
"True," Kate confirmed. "But Alexis was sick, and guess who showed up to look after her?"
Jim's eyes widened. "Her mom?"
"Bingo."
"I can see why that would've been a little… awkward. But she must have stayed at a hotel, or something."
"You would think so, right?" Kate said dryly. "But no, she insisted on staying at the loft – and Castle actually let her."
"Uh oh," Jim said. "That was not one of Rick's wiser decisions, and I'm guessing that it was not particularly well-received on your part either."
"Obviously. Castle was left scrambling to smooth things over. He actually wanted us to check into a hotel so that Meredith could stay at the loft, but I wasn't about to let her run us out of his home. So we all stayed at the loft. It was… quite the experience."
"I can only imagine."
"Dad, even your wildest imagination probably won't capture what the last few days were like. But Castle made it up to me eventually, so all's forgiven now."
Not really wanting to know how Rick had made it up to her, Jim moved swiftly on. "So now that you've lived under the same roof, has your opinion of Meredith changed?"
"Actually, yes. I got to see her in a different light this time. I mean, she's still overly dramatic and extremely self-absorbed… but she's also really smart, and she has a wicked sense of humor."
Jim was taken aback by Kate's positive assessment. "It almost sounds like you got along."
"Surprisingly, we kind of did. I mean, we're never going to become best friends or anything, but we went out to dinner together –"
"Yikes," Jim interrupted. "Poor Rick. I bet he wasn't exactly happy about that." Jim imagined that few men would be comfortable with the idea of their current partner dining with their ex.
Kate laughed. "Don't even bother feeling sorry for him, Dad. If anything, spending time with Meredith actually made me appreciate Castle more."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I've always secretly wondered about Meredith, especially after meeting her. I thought she was so flighty and shallow, and Castle seemed to know that too – but he didn't seem to care. It was hard to understand was why he would stay so… friendly with her after the divorce, especially considering how… uninvolved she is as a mother."
"But after spending time with her," Kate continued, "I realized she's not quite as superficial as she seems. She's the kind of woman that sort of sucks you in, almost against your own will – fun, vibrant, a little wild. So I get it now. I feel like I understand not just her, but even Castle, a little better."
"Sounds like a great outcome for what started out as a pretty awkward scenario."
Kate sighed. "Tell me about it. It worked out in the end, but it's never going to happen again. Meredith has no concept of boundaries. She acted like she had every right to be there. I mean, on the first morning, she came downstairs wearing next to nothing – right in front of me and Castle. She didn't even seem to grasp how inappropriate that was. Never again, Dad."
"Well, she certainly sounds like an… interesting woman."
"She is." Kate's voice turned thoughtful. "She did say something that sort of… bothered me though."
Here it comes, Jim thought to himself. I knew this was all sounding a little too good to be true.
"I asked her why she and Castle split up," Kate continued, "and she said it was basically because he knew her inside out, but she didn't really know him the same way. She made him sound like some kind of… woman whisperer, a guy who works his way into your life but then doesn't allow you the same access to his own."
Jim smothered a scornful laugh. "Well, you're not taking any of that seriously, are you, Katie? I mean, this is like that CIA woman all over again… another unreliable source."
She sighed. "I know I shouldn't, Dad, but… maybe there's some truth to it. I mean, Castle does know me inside out. He knows things about me that I've never told anyone else. He could write a book about me." She paused, then added sarcastically, "Oh wait – he already has. Several times."
"Yes," Jim agreed, "but the difference is, you know him too."
"Well, yeah… but –"
"No, listen to me, Katie," Jim interrupted. "You do know him. You know him so well that when he was accused of something you knew him to be absolutely incapable of, you weren't swayed by all the 'evidence'. You know him."
"And," Jim continued, "if there's anything you feel like you don't know, then just ask him. If you ask and he refuses to tell you, that's another story – and one that should definitely raise a red flag – but I think you should at least give him the opportunity first."
"Yeah," Kate admitted. "I mean, it's not that he's super secretive, Dad. It's just… when it comes to some of the… harder questions, I think we both shy away from them a little. I'm not even sure how to bring up those topics."
Jim smiled sadly. Judging from Kate's well-earned reputation as a crack interrogator, she had no compunction about asking hard questions at work. But, as always, when it came to matters of the heart, things were more… complicated. "Well, there's no special formula to it. Just ask. Why not start with this: If you want to know why his first marriage failed, then ask him, not Meredith. Katie, no one knows better than you that there are always at least two sides to every story."
"I know," Kate acknowledged softly.
Jim understood. She knew in her head that Meredith and her stories couldn't be trusted. But her insecurities had her questioning both herself and Rick.
"Something else strikes me about what Meredith said," he observed. "You said Rick knows you, and I agree. But it certainly wasn't easy for him to get to know you. He had to dig deep, because you were – you are – worth it. And that's what you need to do too, Katie. Do what Meredith couldn't be bothered to do – if there's even any accuracy in her version of the story. Keep digging."
"But what if I don't like what I find?"
"Oh, that's bound to happen, Katie. In any relationship, you're going to find out bad things as well as good. Nobody's perfect. But you work through your issues, and hopefully you figure it out. Together."
"You're right, Dad," Kate said. She sighed. "Meredith compared their marriage to a soufflé – delicious but lightweight. It was great while it lasted, but then it was over. I don't want that to be me and Castle, Dad. I guess I still have this fear that it won't last."
"We all have fears, Katie. Take Meredith for example. I doubt very much that her time at Rick's loft was really about 'looking after her daughter', one that she barely ever sees."
"Yeah, she basically admitted that to me. She said she was curious about our relationship."
"Oh, I'll bet she was. But I think it was more than curiosity. You said it yourself: she's smarter than she seems. Smart enough to know that now Rick is with you, and she can't just swan into town and get his attention at the drop of a hat, the way she's probably grown accustomed to doing. And smart enough to use your question to plant doubts in your mind. Don't let her do it. Whatever happens – or doesn't happen – in your relationship with Rick, don't let it be driven by a third party's interference."
Kate sighed. "You're right, Dad. Thanks."
"Anytime, Katie."
"I wish you'd been here when Meredith showed up. I talked to Lanie, and she was great, but she basically wanted me to declare war."
Jim laughed. "Well, I can certainly understand that instinctive reaction, but it sounds like you handled things a little more maturely."
Kate laughed too. "Don't get me wrong, I did my fair share of pouting too. Trust me, Castle has learned his lesson."
"Good," Jim said. "Next time he'll be prepared to put his foot down with Meredith, like he should have this time."
"Yeah," Kate agreed. "I know he's still figuring it all out, trying to navigate this new territory we're in, just like I am. So I'm not going to string him up for a sincere mistake here and there. God knows I've made several of my own."
Jim was proud of his daughter's wisdom and insight. "We all screw up sometimes, but you have to trust that he wouldn't deliberately set out to hurt you. And that knowledge comes from being with the right partner, one that deserves that kind of trust."
"I know he does," Kate said softly. "I knew he wasn't going to do anything crazy. And Meredith might not win any awards for being the world's greatest mom, but she's the only one Alexis has, and they love each other. I'm never going to get in the way of that just to prove a point."
"You took a difficult situation and made the best of it."
"I tried. It's not a situation I ever thought I would be in. But then I guess I never thought I would be dating the guy on the dust-jackets of the books I like to read when I'm off shift. It still feels a little… surreal sometimes."
"You'll figure it out as you go along, Katie," Jim said. "There's no 'relationship playbook' with all the right and wrong answers, and in a way, that's what makes relationships so wonderful and exciting. You and Rick have always written your own story, and that's what you'll continue to do."
"I hope so. Thanks Dad."
"And one more thing, Katie. Always remember that when it comes down to it, Rick is many things –a father, a son, an ex-husband, a wealthy writer… but what's always mattered the most to you is that he's a good man. And that he loves you."
"I know, and I… I… I l-, I mean, I, uh, really appreciate that."
As he hung up moments later, Jim smiled to himself. He was sure that Kate had been about to say something else about Rick. It was something that he knew she'd felt for a long time, but something that she'd never verbally admitted to Jim. But he had a feeling that she would, soon.
A/N: Thanks, as always, for reading and reviewing.
