Couples
Chapter 44
The message appearing on Rick's phone from an unidentified sender is short and to the point: "Park. 16:00." Rick has no doubt who sent it or which park he means. Meryl is taking Belle to a well-baby check that afternoon. That means Lily will be meeting up with her paternal grandfather, such as he is.
It's sunny and warm out, almost too warm for early summer. Rick fits a sunshade to Lily's stroller and covers her in baby sunscreen. He wonders if he should pull a hat down over his eyes. It would fit the cliché of meeting with a spy. But Rick puts a lot of effort into avoiding clichés in his writing. He doesn't need them in life. He settles for using enough adult sunblock to keep from looking like Santa's favorite reindeer.
Lily burbles merrily as Rick wheels her over her favorite bumps. He doesn't see Jack, but that's hardly unexpected. When he feels like it, the intelligence asset can appear from nowhere. It's a trick Rick sometimes wishes he could master.
It's almost anti-climactic when Rick spots the tall white-haired figure sitting on a bench in an apparent conversation with a squirrel. Rick drops beside his father, with one hand on Lily's stroller. "Is it safe for the baby?"
Jack nods. "Fine. Fully scoped out."
Rick gestures at the squirrel. "Friend of yours?"
"A source. It's amazing how much they pick up, especially when we implant them with microchips."
"Really?" Castle asks.
Jack chuckles. "No, not really. At least not yet. But they do occasionally sense unexpected predators, especially if they have food on them."
"Seems like you'd be better off getting a dog for that," Rick offers.
"If I knew I'd be in one place long enough, I might. But you called this little get-together. What's on your mind, son?"
Rick eyes his father suspiciously. "I suspect you know that. Cecil Newbridge, actually both Cecil Newbridges. Are they part of the club?"
Jack shakes his head. "You know I can't tell you that."
"You just did," Rick points out, "just by not asking me who I meant. So now that we're past that, what can you tell me about them? I'm especially interested in Cecil the departed."
"That's classified, Richard."
"And I've been read in on plenty that's classified. Look, Jack. Whatever missions Cecil pursued died with him. All I want to know is how an emerald came to be in a wooden elephant. That can't be any great state secret. If it were, that elephant never would have made it into my hands."
"Ma, eh," Lily interrupts.
Jack favors Lily with a smile Rick doesn't recognize. "Are you talking?"
"Ta," Lily responds.
"She's not even a year yet, is she?" Jack inquires, fully aware of the answer.
"Next month. And whether she talks or not is open to debate. According to her pediatrician, it's babbling, possibly in preparation for speech. But what she says sometimes seems to fit the situation too well to be babble. Alexis talked early. Mother said I did too, and by the time I was eighteen months, she couldn't shut me up."
"Some things don't change," Jack comments. "Son, declassification isn't up to me. But if you're determined not to let the Newbridge matter go, I can take it upstairs."
"I'm determined," Rick confirms.
Jack points at the mandrill tucked into Lily's stroller. "Who's this?" he asks his granddaughter.
She clutches the monkey possessively. "Ga-moh-ee."
"She's been calling him Gamoee ever since I bought him for her," Rick explains. "He's a little worse for wear, and he was the ugliest thing in the store to start with. I think she loves the bright colors – Mother's genes. But whatever the reason, she won't go out without him.
"Stubbornness runs in the family," Jack observes, glancing around as the squirrel scampers off. "I should go. Don't attract attention. Sit tight until I'm out of visual range. When a decision comes down, I'll let you know."
Rick shrugs. "I suppose I don't have much choice."
Jack pushes himself off the bench. "Neither of us has much choice. I'll be in touch."
Lily leans forward in her stroller as he walks away. "Ja."
Rick strokes the dark silk of her hair. "I suppose that's as good a thing to call him as any."
Alexis surveys the jobs on the bulletin board in the Hudson University administration building. Nothing is posted about an opening for house parents. She really didn't expect there would be. Barton and Zev will be in Colbert Hall through the end of the summer. But she couldn't resist checking. Colbert Hall isn't the only dorm on campus. Something could open up.
She tries to tell herself to be patient. Dana will be working late in the lab tonight, and she has to be up early to start her shift. She should go home. Maybe it's time to talk to her father. Kate saw the change in her stepdaughter's mood immediately. Alexis doesn't expect her dad's uptake to be any slower. And she'd rather tell him her plans in her own way than have him try to pull it out of her.
Maybe if she uses his recipe to make triple chocolate brownies, it will smooth the way through their conversation. In any case, she can use the chocolate. She can really use the chocolate.
Alexis hands Rick a mug of coffee. "I shaved a little of an 85% dark cacao bar into the grounds. It should go well with the brownies."
Rick pats the seat beside him on the couch. "I appreciate all the attention, Sweetheart, and the goodies. So what do you want?"
The teen paints her face with innocence. "What do you mean, Dad?"
"What I mean is that you bring me food when I'm sick, injured or when you want something. Since I'm perfectly healthy, it must be the last option. As I recall, last time you wanted a Vespa. Is this about something bigger? Have you been around Kate long enough to catch Harley fever, or are you thinking about a car?"
Shaking her head, Alexis grabs hold of a throw pillow and hugs it against her chest. "No motorcycle. No car. I don't want you to buy me anything. I want to get married."
Rick slowly expels the air from his lungs. "When?"
Alexis's mouth gapes. "You're not going to try to talk me out of it?"
"When have I ever been able to talk you out of anything?" Rick demands. "But I do want you to be happy. And I don't want you and Dana running off to Vegas or having your ceremony in the City Clerk's office. Your gram already had a dream wedding, two in fact. She didn't need another one, and she and Craig were eager to avoid the paparazzi. For you, this will be the first and hopefully the last.
"And I know you've had nuptial dreams. I remember when you put an old gauze curtain on your head and pretended it was a veil. You may not be asking me to buy you anything, but I'm volunteering. I want you to have a wedding that is everything you ever wanted one to be. And I'll be grinning like a jack o'lantern as the proud papa. So tell me. When is the magic hour for the fairytale?"
"When, is by the end of the summer so Dana and I can qualify to be house parents in a Hudson U dorm. But I haven't thought that much about the fairytale except for marrying my prince."
"You and Dana are going to be busy royalty as dorm mommy and daddy," Rick warns. "I remember – uh, never mind. Why don't you sleep on it and give me the Disney version in the morning?"
Alexis kisses her father's cheek. "I will, but not Sleeping Beauty or Snow White. I'm not waiting that long."